trucks world news: July 2006

TRUCKINGS' PROFITS USA

* P.A.M. Reports Higher 2Q Earnings, Revenue
USA -TTNews -26 July 2006: -- Truckload carrier P.A.M. Transportation Services Wednesday reported its second-quarter net earnings jumped to $5.2 million or 51 cents a share, from $3.7 million or 33 cents a year ago...

* C.H. Robinson Net Income Improves in Second Quarter
USA -TTNews -26 July 2006: -- Transportation and logistics firm C.H. Robinson Worldwide late Tuesday reported second-quarter net income of $66.6 million or 38 cents a share, up from $49.3 million or 28 cents a year earlier...

Product - Canada - Fuel saving device gets favourable result from Mullen trial

GATINEAU, Que.,CAN -Trucks News -(Ont.,Can), by Steven Macleod -27 July 2006: -- Mullen Trucking, one of twenty five companies making up the Mullen Group, has adopted the Tadger for their fleet and has signed a distribution agreement for the distribution of the Tadger to their independent contractors and sister companies...

Announcement - USA - Isuzu Launches New Web Site

For Diesel Engines, and Updates Commercial Vehicle Site
CERRITOS ,Cal.,USA –WebWire-press release (Atlanta,GA) -27 July2006: -- To keep consumers’ up to date with changes resulting from the 2007 emissions standards, Isuzu Commercial Truck of America Inc. has launched a new Web site, isuzudieselengine.com, and enhanced its current commercial vehicle site, isuzucv.com...

Products - Canada - Imperial Oil continues preparations for new engines

CALGARY, Alta.,Canada -Truck News (Toronto,ON,Can), by Steven Macleod -27 July 2006: -- Imperial Oil has added a new product to the family of Esso XD-3 Extra heavy-duty engine oils in further preparation for upcoming emission regulation changes... In October, Imperial Oil will introduce Esso XD-3 Extra CJ-4 15W-40 heavy-duty engine oil to meet the American Petroleum Institute's API CJ-4 diesel engine oil specification, which encompasses the new requirements for Proposed Category 10 (PC-10)...

Heat wave - Poland - Forces heavy trucks off Polish roads

Temporary ban has been introduced because of soaring temperatures
Varsaw,Poland -Radio Polonia -27 July 2006: -- The General Road and Highway Directorate has introduced a temporary ban on heavy vehicle transport from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m... Heavy trucks over 12 tons will not be allowed in this period on roads of 11 provinces, mostly in the central and southern parts of Poland... The temporary ban has been introduced because of soaring temperatures for the past three weeks, which have melted the asphalt in many places ruining roads and creating hazardous conditions for drivers.

Trucker Shortage - USA - Tries to solve trucker shortage

USA -People's Daily Online (Beijing,China) -27 July 2006: -- US trucking companies have been enjoying a boom period, but executives say it's never been harder to find people to do the driving... In fact, the driver shortage has become so serious that some experts are proposing moves like raising pay by 30 per cent or inviting workers from Mexico to do the job... But even those solutions might not be enough to meet demand in the industry, which moves more than 80 per cent of domestic freight cargo... The problem for the trucking business is that young Americans are more focused on quality of life, executives say. Many people would rather work for less money than sit behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer on journeys that can keep them away from home for days on end... According to May 2005 data from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, truck drivers earned average annual wages of US$35,460, but the top-paid in the industry made more than US$50,000... Others in the industry say money is not the only problem... Logistics expert John Vande Vate of Georgia Tech suggested allowing Mexican truck drivers access to the US market as a way to alleviate the personnel shortage... He added, however, that US drivers would probably oppose such a measure as it could push pay levels down. With immigration a contentious issue in US politics this year, Vande Vate said any moves to allow in Mexican drivers would be a long time coming...

Experience - UK - The Times turns its attention to trucking

A shortage of approximately 15,000 truck drivers in the UK

Chester,UK -Easier (UK) -27 July 2006: -- A female journalist from The Times newspaper spent two hours behind the wheel of an Iveco Stralis this week (26 July, 2006) at the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire, experiencing a taste of life as a truck driver... "The introduction of power steering and automated gearboxes have made modern day trucks a lot easier to drive, and in this day and age, there is really no reason why more women shouldn’t consider truck driving a worthwhile career path to follow," she adds... The event was set-up to encourage women to consider a career in the road transport industry, where the latest analysis by Skills for Logistics has highlighted a shortage of approximately 15,000 drivers, with female drivers accounting for just one per cent of the total number of truck drivers in the UK...

Changes - USA - Oregon proposes intrastate HOS

USA - eTrucker -27 July 2006: -- The Oregon Department of Transportation has published a proposed rule that would bring two of its intrastate hours-of-service exceptions into alignment with the federal interstate requirements... Oregon currently allows a driver to operate a commercial motor vehicle after taking eight consecutive hours off duty. The proposed rule would require the driver to take 10 consecutive hours off duty before operating a CMV... Oregon currently allows a driver to operate on a time card rather than a record-of-duty status (log) if he stays with a 100 air-mile radius of the starting point and returns to the starting point within 16 hours. The proposed rule would require the driver to stay within the 100 air-mile radius and to return to the starting point within 12 consecutive hours...

Study - USA - At any amount, per-mile pay makes drivers unhappy

USA -eTrucker , by Jill Dunn -27 July 2006: -- A study of 326 large U.S. trucking companies found truckers dissatisfied with per-mile pay, which does not allow them control over their performance, researchers said... Alternative pay systems, such as hourly or yearly salaries, could improve driver turnover rates, the researchers said... Nina Gupta, University of Arkansas management professor, and colleagues, found that in addition to working conditions and lack of home time, many truckers are unhappy with their per-mile payment method... Drivers at 75 percent of the companies listed "not enough driving hours/runs scheduled" as a problem...

Against - USA - Expanding range of Mexican trucks a mistake, OOIDA says

USA - eTrucker/Traffic World magazine -27 July 2006: -- The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association has come out strongly against a pilot program described by Acting U.S. Secretary of Transportation Maria Cino that would allow Mexican truckers beyond the 20-mile border zone to which they now are restricted... Cino’s comments appeared in an interview published in the July 24 issue of Traffic World magazine. The magazine quoted Cino as saying the proposed one-year pilot program would involve about 100 Mexican motor carriers and could be unveiled by the end of 2006...

Purchases - Philippines - Board approves governor's deal to get 10 more trucks

Manila,Philippines -Sun.Star - July 27, 2006: -- The deal to get 10 more new dump trucks for the Provincial Government was approved... The majority of the Provincial Board (PB) Members gave leeway to the Provincial Government in acquiring 10 more dump trucks aside from the 10 new ones they got...

Hazmat Clearance - USA - Canadian drivers can now use FAST card for

Washington,DC,USA -Truck News (Toronto,ON,Canada), by Adam Ledlow -26 July 2006: -- The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has announced that beginning Aug. 10 drivers licensed in Canada or Mexico to commercially transport hazardous materials will be required to undergo a background check via the FAST program before transporting in the US. The requirement is restricted to quantities requiring a hazardous materials placard, and includes explosives...

Prognosis - Sweden - Volvo Motors Along for Now

It's a tough time to invest in trucks, but here's one Fool who's doing it anyway

Sweden - MSNBC (USA) -26 July 2006: -- If you've followed the trucking industry for a while, you probably already know that upcoming changes to European and American emissions standards should put the brakes on sales of new trucks before too long. But the geopolitical concerns that are affecting other sectors are having an effect on truck builders, too. Just listen to what Volvo management says about market risks today... "I worry about what is happening in the Middle East. Partly because of the direct effect it is having on our sales, partly because it can drive oil prices up. It can create worldwide unrest that depresses world trade. War doesn't benefit anybody," said CEO Leif Johansson in last Friday's earnings call...

Trucker Shortage - USA - Higher pay may help solve

CHICAGO, Mich.,USA -Reuters Canada (Toronto,Ont.,Can.), by Nick Carey -Jul 25, 2006: -- U.S. trucking companies have been enjoying a boom period, but executives say it's never been harder to find people to do the driving... In fact, the driver shortage has become so serious that some experts are proposing moves like raising pay by 30 percent or inviting workers from Mexico to do the job... But even those solutions might not be enough to meet demand in the industry, which moves more than 80 percent of domestic freight cargo. Some analysts see shippers turning to the railroads, which need fewer staff and charge lower prices....

Problem - Philippines - Truck overloading as top road maintenance trouble

Laoag City,Philippines -Philippine Information Agency, by Aleli Aggasid Batara -26 July 2006: -- Engr. Milagrina Palma, of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) admits that overloading of cargo trucks is still their number one problem with regards to road maintenance... Overloading, she said, is the major cause of deterioration of roads and bridges in the province...

TRANSPORTS' WORLDWIDE

* Swiss - K+N growth/profits out-perform the market
Swiss -Transport Intelligence(UK) -24 July 2006: -- Swiss logistics group Kuehne + Nagel (K+N) has announced half-year results for 2006 with turnover up an impressive 35% on the similar period last-year. The performance of its ACR Logistics acquisition is included for the first time...

*USA - Con-Way sells expedited transportation unit to Panther
USA -Transport Intelligence(UK) -24 July 2006: -- US based logistics company Con-way has announed that it is selling the expedited freight transportation business of Con-way Expedite & Brokerage to Panther Expedited...

* Taiwan - APL Logistics gains Taiwan FTZ licence
Taiwan -Transport Intelligence(UK) -24 July 2006: -- Global supply chain solutions provider, APL Logistics, has announced that it is the first international logistics provider to obtain a licence to operate in Taiwan’s Kaohsiung Free Trade Zone (FTZ)...

Fuel - USA - Crude supply flat; gasoline supply down

San Fco.,CAL,USA -MarketWatch, by Myra P. Saefong -Jul 26, 2006: -- The Energy Department said crude supplies were unchanged for the week ended July 21, totaling 335.5 million... Motor gasoline inventories fell a bigger than expected 3.2 million barrels to total 211 million barrels. Distillate supplies climbed 800,000 barrels to 131.9 million... Following the news, September crude rose 40 cents to $74.15 a barrel after trading as low as $73.60 earlier. August unleaded gas shed 0.24 cent to $2.2825 a gallon and August heating oil was at $1.952 a gallon, up 0.81 cent...

AUTOS' WORLDWIDE

* USA - Foreign cars pass Big 3 - For the 1st time, U.S. drivers buy more import brands
Detroit,Mich,USA -The Detroit News, by Josee Valcourt -July 25, 2006: -- For the first time, U.S. consumers are buying more cars and trucks built by foreign automakers than vehicles made by Detroit's traditional Big Three... New statistics compiled by R.L. Polk and Co., which counts new car registrations and excludes sales to rental car agencies and other fleet customers, show foreign brands commanded 52.9 percent of the retail auto market in the first five months of 2006, while domestic automakers fell to 47.1 percent... Domestic brands led foreign makes 51 percent to 49 percent over the same period last year...

* USA - GM surges after posting adjusted profit
San Francisco,CAL,USA -MarketWatch, by Shawn Langlois & Padraic Cassidy -Jul 26, 2006: -- General Motors Corp. shares jumped as much as 8% early Wednesday after the company's adjusted profit wowed Wall Street even as heavy charges from its massive restructuring led to a $3.2 billion loss in the second quarter... GM also reported a profit, excluding charges, in its global automotive operations for the first time since 2004... And as expected, GM didn't go into detail about the potential three-way alliance with Nissan and Renault, per an agreed upon 90-day period during which all three automakers will study the benefits of such an agreement...

* USA - GM posts $3.2 billion loss for second quarter
DETROIT,Mich,USA -Reuters -26 July 2006: -- General Motors on Wednesday posted a larger-than-expected operating profit, but a wider quarterly net loss after writing down costs associated with buyouts for almost a third of its factory work force... The world's largest automaker posted a second-quarter net loss of $3.2 billion, or $5.62 per share, compared with a loss of $987 million, or $1.75 per share, for the year-ago quarter...

* Japan - Nissan first quarter operating profit sinks on global sales slump
TOKYO,Japan -Reuters -25 July 2006: -- Nissan Motor Co. posted a worse-than-expected 26 percent slump in quarterly operating profit on Tuesday as an empty product pipeline caused a global sales slump, but maintained its full-year forecast for a marginal profit rise...

* Italy - Fiat second quarter profit up 83.1 percent
MILAN,Italy -Reuters -24 July 2006: -- Italy's Fiat S.p.A. beat analyst expectations on Monday with an 83.1 percent rise in trading profit, as its key automotive business enjoyed its third quarterly profit in a row...

* Russia - AvtoVAz may buy GM stake in venture
MOSCOW,Russia -Reuters/RBC magazine -24 July 2006: -- AvtoVAZ, Russia's No.1 carmaker, will buy out the stake of General Motors in their joint venture if GM offers the right conditions, AvtoVAZ's head said... "If GM offers favorable terms, we will accept them and will buy out their stake," AvtoVAZ Board Chairman Vladimir Artyakov told...

* China - Toyota targets 52 percent rise in China sales
SHANGHAI,China -Reuters -24 July 2006: -- Toyota Motor Corp. said on Monday it expected a 52 percent jump in its China car sales this year, helped by new models... Toyota aims to move 278,000 vehicles in China in 2006, up from 183,000 last year, including imported and locally made models, a company executive told...

* USA - Ford teams to attack costs - As carmaker considers cutting jobs and benefits, two groups will reduce product, operation costs.
DEARBORN,Mich,USA -The Detroit News, by Bryce G. Hoffman -July 26, 2006: -- Ford Motor Co. has formed two internal teams to reduce costs in product development and manufacturing operations and review capital investments as part of an acceleration of its North American turnaround plan launched in January... The automaker is also contemplating additional cost-cutting moves -- including more white-collar job and benefit cuts...

TRUCKINGS' WORLDWIDE

* Canada - TransForce Income Fund Acquires Byers Transportation System
Montreal, Can -Transport Topics -24 July 2006: -- TransForce Income Fund, Montreal, Canada, announced Monday in a release that it has acquired Canadian less-than-truckload carrier Byers Transportation System Inc. and its subsidiaries from Landtran Systems Inc., an Edmonton, Alberta, Canada transportation and logistics firm...

* USA - Arkansas Best Corp. Earnings, Revenue Rise
Arkansas,USA -Transport Topics -24 July 2006: -- Best Corp., the parent of less-than-truckload carrier ABF Freight System, said Monday its second-quarter profit rose to $32.3 million or $1.26 cents a share, up from $23.4 million or 91 cents a year earlier...

* USA - UPS profit rises, but company dims earnings growth
NEW YORK,NY,USA -MarketWatch, by Padraic Cassidy -Jul 25, 2006: -- UPS said Tuesday its second-quarter net income rose to $1.06 billion, or 97 cents a share, from $986 million, or 88 cents a share, in the year-earlier period. The Atlanta-based package delivery giant said sales in the three months ended June 30 rose more than 15% to $11.74 billion from $10.19 billion...

Truck Reduction Program - USA - PierPASS reaches a successful peak

Ports: Officials say 2.5 million truck trips diverted from daytime traffic

Long Beach,CA,USA -Long Beach Press-Telegram, by Felix Sanchez -25 July 2006: -- After a year of double digit success, operators of an "offpeak" truck program at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles are now focusing on increased security and easing the red tape on processing exports at the marine complex... Officials with PierPASS Inc.'s offpeak truck reduction program celebrated its first year of operation on Monday, saying it has been able to divert about 2.5 million truck trips from daytime traffic...

Inauguration - Turkmenistan - International terminal at Gaudan-Bajgiran checkpoint on Turkmen-Iranian border

Turkmenistan -Turkmenistan.ru -25 July 2006: -- On July 25, president Saparmurat Niyazov and visiting Turkmenistan president of the Islamic Republic of Iran Mahmud Ahmadinezhad attended an inauguration ceremony of an international terminal at Gaudan-Bajgiran checkpoint on the border between two countries... The total area of Gaudan check point is 36,230 square meters... Special equipment from the leading foreign companies ensures fast and quality service of passenger traffic. In particular, examination of luggage and hand luggage is carried out by the powerful X-ray device Linescan 231-V with the capacity to detect explosives and drugs, weapons, precious metals and foreign currency...

Generation X - USA - Has let truck driving pass by

Busy fleets seek ways to stem driver shortage

Houston,TX,USA -The Houston Chronicle/Reuters, by NICK CAREY -July 24, 2006: -- U.S. trucking companies have been enjoying a boom period, but executives say it's never been harder to find people to do the driving... In fact, the driver shortage has become so serious that some experts are proposing moves like raising pay 30 percent or inviting workers from Mexico to do the job... The problem for the trucking business is that young Americans are more focused on quality of life, executives say. Many people would rather work for less money than sit behind the wheel of a tractor-trailer on journeys that can keep them out for days on end...

Excellence Award - USA - Transport America Receives Top Safety Recognition

Eagan, Minn,USA -Layover -25 July 2006: -- Great West Risk Management awarded Transport Corporation of America with the 2005 Platinum Safety & Operational Excellence Award... This award was based on various criteria, which included loss results, prompt and fair claim settlement practices, timely reporting of serious claims to Great West, innovated loss prevention programs and demonstrated operational excellence...

Study - USA - Medium & Heavy Truck Aftermarket to Exceed $12 Billion in 2010

CLEVELAND, OH,USA -MARKET WIRE -July 25, 2006: -- The U.S. aftermarket for medium- and heavy-duty (MD/HD) truck components and parts is projected to increase at an annual rate of 3.9 percent, exceeding $12 billion in 2010... Some segments of the market such as electronics and emissions controls are expected to experience faster growth... Aftermarket revenue growth will result from both the expected increases in the overall truck park and strong U.S. economic performance over the next five years... As new trucks replace old, demand for maintenance- and overhaul-related parts and components will decelerate... However, new exhaust emissions control systems -- especially those mandated for diesel engines -- will provide new opportunities for MD/HD suppliers, as new technologies are added to the mix and resulting higher underhood temperatures place greater stress on engines and related components. These and other trends are presented in "Medium- & Heavy-Duty Truck Aftermarket," a new study from The Freedonia Group, Inc., a Cleveland-based industry market research firm...

Products - USA - Kohler Power Systems Enters Heavy-Duty Truck Market

KOHLER, Wis.,USA -Layover -25 July 2006: -- Taking its 85-plus year history in the power generation market, Kohler Power Systems announced it will expand its generator product line to include an auxiliary power unit (APU) for the heavy-duty trucking industry... Understanding that compactness is crucial, Kohler designed its first APU product to be one of the smallest and lightest air-cooled generators on the market (27" W x 26" H x 23"D and weighing less than 350 pounds)...

Speculation - Sweden - Volvo trucks climbing amid investor

STOCKHOLM,Swewden -DOW JONES NEWSWIRES/MarketWatch, by Louise Nordstrom -Jul 25, 2006: -- Shares in Swedish truck maker Volvo AB have climbed 9% in the last month amid persistent rumors that the business is being targeted by private equity firms, with U.S. investor Carl Icahn rumored to be among some of the co-investors... Stock trackers say share performance is the more remarkable because other big Swedish industrials are down by as much as 10% over the same period on fears of slumping export demand... "There's been speculation that someone is buying into it (Volvo trucks) since it has a strong cash position, but that the company is very undervalued," said Michael Andersson, senior analyst at Evli Bank. "Despite the messy bourse climate we've had, Volvo is still up there," he said...

EcoNews - USA - MoDOT Selected to Test Hybrid Bucket Trucks

New High-Tech Trucks Expected to Reduce Fuel, Maintenance Costs

Jefferson City, Mo.,USA -Kansas City infoZine (Kansas City,MO) -July 25, 2006: -- The Missouri Department of Transportation is the first government agency in the nation to test a new energy saving, environmentally friendly, diesel-electric bucket truck... MoDOT expects the Utility Hybrid Truck Pilot Program to demonstrate the vehicle's ability to cut fuel costs and smog-producing emissions in half, while also reducing maintenance costs, reducing noise and providing an alternative power source in emergencies... The hybrid truck is manufactured by Warrenville, Ill.-based International and Cleveland, Ohio-based Eaton Corporation, a manufacturer of electrical systems and components. The truck's aerial device is manufactured by Altec Industries. Its complex electric motor operates from advanced lithium ion batteries and a diesel engine...

Production - India - Fully-built trucks by Leyland soon

Chennai,India -Business Standard, by S Bridget Leena -July 26, 2006: -- In a move which may bring about major changes in the way truck companies operate, the second largest vehicle maker in the country, Ashok Leyland is planning to sell fully built trucks (HCV- high density commercial vehicles and MDV- medium density commercial vehicles) in the market... So far, truck owners used to buy chassis from commercial vehicle manufacturers such as Tata Motors, Ashok Leyland, Eicher, Mahindra & Mahindra and get the body built from small enterprises so as to minimise the costs...

NAFTA - USA - Trade falls in April after recent March all-time high

WASHINGTON,DC,USA -The Trucker, by KEVIN JONES -24 July 2006: -- A year before, it would been have a record month, but coming on the heels of an all-time high in March, the April report of trade with Canada and Mexico is noteworthy for its downward turn... Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners reached $61.7 billion, down 9.5 percent from the month before. The result was, however, 5.9 percent higher in April 2006 than in April 2005, and one of the best months on record, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) of the U.S. Department of Transportation...

Prognosis - USA - June truck sales hold on to record levels

USA -The Trucker -24 July 2006: -- Class 8 new truck sales totals were flat in June, but no bad news could be considered very good news for heavy-duty truck original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) caught between an expected period of record production (2005-2006) and an approaching cycle of uncertainty... Sales in June totaled 25,240 trucks compared with 25,149 in May, an increase of 0.4 percent, according to figures by Ward’s Automotive. The June total falls just short of the record monthly high of 25,895 set in March... Some industry insiders, however, had expected woeful tidings by this point in the calendar, and attribute the ongoing strength in new equipment orders to some “stockpiling” of pre-2007 EPA compliant engines that could feed a production line through the first few months of next year...

Reports - USA - Expect class 8 slump for next 18 months: Bear Stearns

NEW YORK,NY,USA -Today's Trucking News -24 July 2006: -- The month of June showed the first clear sign of weakness in the class 8 truck building market since the pre-buy boom erupted a year ago... The truck equipment group of New York market analysts Bear Stearns reports that heavy-duty truck builds weakened 11.5 percent from the same period last year -- versus a year-to-year boost of 15.6 percent in May 2006...

Business - Italy - Fiat signs deal with Russians

Turin,Italy -International Herald Tribune (France)/Bloomberg -July 24, 2006: -- Fiat said Monday that it had signed an agreement expanding a pact with Severstal-Avto to add the assembly of Ducato vans in Russia. Fiat also finalized an agreement to build trucks in China... Severstal, Russia's third-largest automaker, will build 75,000 of the vans a year starting in late 2007, for sale in Russia and for export... Fiat also said, that it had completed a joint venture of its Iveco trucks unit with SAIC Motor and Chongqing Heavy Vehicle Group to build trucks in China... Fiat and SAIC will create a 50-50 joint venture called SAIC Iveco Commercial Vehicle Investment, which in turn will buy 67 percent of Chongqing Hongyan Motor, a unit of Chongqing Heavy, Fiat said...

Recognition - Australia - Hartwig’s men know how to sell top trucks

Albury,New South Wales,Australia -Border Mail, by BREANNA TUCKER -24 July 2006: -- Whether they have been in the business for 10 years or two, the salesmen at Hartwig’s Trucks have proven they know their stuff... At the start of last month, two of the Lavington company’s salesmen were bestowed top recognition at the National DaimlerChrysler Salesman of the Year Awards... Branch manager Alan Kibble won the Sales Manager for Freightliner, Sterling and Mercedes Benz award and salesman Cameron Marshall won the Star Guild Award, which places him among the top five salesmen for Mercedes Benz... As a truck owner-operator of 23 years, he said his key to success was his background knowledge of the truck industry... (Picture: PETER MERKESTEYN Cameron Marshall and Alan Kibble have been recognised for their hard work at the DaimlerChrysler awards)

Infraestructures - China - Overloaded trucks force tunnel repairs

Shanghai,China -The Shanghai Daily, by Zhang Jun -25 July 2006: -- The city's Outer Ring Road Tunnel will undergo a complete renovation only three years after it opens as many of its roads have been ruined by overloaded trucks, officials said yesterday... Tunnel managers complained the city lacks any system to control the number of vehicles that use the tunnel every day, or keep overloaded trucks out of it. "The tunnel is free and we don't have a regular team to check its users," said Dong Hui, an official with the Shanghai Engineering Administrative Bureau... She said the city does have a law covering overloaded trucks - which forces drivers to unload cargo immediately and could see vehicle owners fined up to 30,000 yuan (US$3,750)... There is no permanent system in place to check on trucks before they enter the tunnel, however. Currently, more than 80,000 vehicles use the tunnel every day, about four times more than three years ago when it was put into use...

Drivers' Health - Australia - WorkCover to monitor fatigue plan implementation

Australia - ATN -25 July 2006: -- WorkCover will be contacting transport operators around New South Wales to make sure they are adopting appropriate fatigue management plans... The move is to ensure operators are making moves to comply, according to WorkCover CEO Jon Blackwell... "Driver fatigue has been attributed to a number of accidents involving long distance truck drivers and it is important that operators are able to demonstrate that they are improving safety for their drivers and other road users," he says...

Drivers' Health - USA - Petro installs blood pressure monitors

USA -eTrucker, by Brittani Tingle -25 July 2006: -- To help drivers become aware of potential blood pressure problems, Petro Stopping Centers has installed free blood pressure monitors at most of its locations nationwide... According to the truck stop chain, the decision to install the monitors was made in response to stricter federal government regulations that now require professional drivers to have blood pressure of 140/90 or below in order to maintain a CDL. The old standard was 160/90...

Award - USA - Dart driver receives NSC

USA -eTrucker, by Brittani Tingle -25 July 2006: -- Roosevelt Howard, a professional truck driver from Columbus, Ga., is the recipient of the National Safety Council’s Million Mile Safety Award, which is given to drivers attaining at least one million miles of accident-free driving... Howard has been an owner-operator with Dart Transit Co. in Saint Paul, Minn., since 1994. He participates in the company's professional driver development program, which involves a yearly driver improvement course, safety advisors, driver performance analysis and professional recognition...

Earnings - USA - Caterpillar records highest profits ever

PEORIA, Ill,USA -Today's Trucking -25 July 2006: -- Heavy-duty enginemaker Caterpillar Inc. has reported a 41 percent increase in profit per share on a 13 percent increase in sales and revenues compared with the second quarter 2005... Sales and revenues in the quarter were $10.605 billion, and profit was $1.046 billion, or $1.52 per share -- all were the highest for any quarter in Caterpillar's history.

Breaker, Breaker - USA - Sirius Signs Up Peterbilt

NEW YORK,NY,USA -Edmunds.com/Inside Line -25 July 2006: -- Peterbilt Motors is the latest vehicle manufacturer to install Sirius satellite radio as standard equipment on its vehicles. The twist, of course, is that Peterbilt builds heavy-duty commercial trucks... Peterbilt, a division of PACCAR, said that it will package Sirius radios in a variety of its premium models equipped with Platinum-level sleepers, including traditional Model 389 and Model 388 trucks as well as the aerodynamic Model 386...

Earnings - Italy - Iveco doubles quarterly profit

Italy -Australasian Transport News (Australia) -25 July 2006: -- Truck manufacturer Iveco has doubled its quarterly profit as part of a resurgence by the FIAT car, truck and tractor Group... FIAT directors said that Iveco had doubled profit to 163 million Euros for the second quarter of 2006 on the back of increased volumes and cost efficiencies... The Fiat car division is now in profit, following a resolution with General Motors which led to a significant reduction in debt while sales volumes were up 20.8 percent in major markets of western and eastern Europe and Brazil. Aside from Iveco Trucks, the other star in the Fiat Group was Ferrari which doubled profits to 64 million euros on deliveries of just 2,749 units...

Story - USA - Founder's son, 86, drives truck for 86-year-old firm

Salt Lake,UH,USA -The Salt Lake Tribune, by Paul Beebe -23 July 2006: -- The truck: A 5-year-old Freightliner rigged with a special 600-horsepower motor, an 18-speed automatic transmission and showing 225,000 miles on the odometer... The driver: Gene England, age 86, blessed with a younger face, eyeglasses that correct his vision to 20-20, and body as trim as his truck, even after seven decades and 4 million miles behind the wheel... Actually, the mileage is just a guess. England is not sure how far he's traveled since obtaining a driver license when he was 14. What is certain is he's by far the oldest long-haul driver at C.R. England Inc., a Salt Lake City trucking giant that runs refrigerated trucks coast to coast and into Mexico... (Photo: Melinda Hom-Williams/ The Salt Lake Tribune -- Gene England's father founded C.R. England, a Salt Lake City-based trucking firm. Gene's still an over-the-road driver and makes cross-country trips with his wife who keeps him company)

Earnings - USA - Paccar 2nd-qtr profit up 53 percent

CHICAGO,Ill,USA -Reuters -July 25, 2006: -- Paccar Inc., the No. 2 U.S. maker of heavy trucks, on Tuesday said quarterly profit rose 53 percent thanks to strong North American truck sales and revenue growth in its financial services arm... But the company forecast the North American market for heavy trucks would contract more than previously expected next year as new environmental rules take effect, sending its shares lower...

Laws - USA - Changes made to flag laws for loaded log trucks

Nacogdoches,TX,USA -The Nacogdoches Daily Sentinel, by Michael Rodden -July 23, 2006: -- Changes in the laws for displaying red warning flags on loaded log trucks and other trucks carrying extended loads are being enforced, and Justice of the Peace Precinct 4 Judge David Perkins wants to warn haulers before they find out the hard way... According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations 393.87, any commercial motor vehicle transporting a load that extends beyond the sides more than four inches or beyond the rear more than four feet must have the extremities marked with red or orange fluorescent warning flags...

Controls - Canada - Almost half trucks in blitz unsafe

City of London,Ont,Can -London Free Press -July 22, 2006: -- Nearly half the "heavy trucks" stopped in a London safety blitz were unfit for service -- but other drivers shouldn't be too concerned, police said yesterday... The crackdown, organized by city police, the OPP and government officials, stopped 17 "commercial" vehicles -- such as rigs and cube vans -- eight of which were forced off the road over various problems, including defective brakes...

Earnings - Sweden - Mack sales strong in June

Customers buying before emissions standards are raised

Stockholm,Sweden -The Allentown Morning Call (Allentown,PA,USA)/Associated Press, by Sam Kennedy -22 July 2006: -- Mack Trucks enjoyed another month of strong sales as customers rushed to buy vehicles before new emissions standards drive up costs... Mack's parent company, Volvo AB, said Friday the Allentown truckmaker delivered 3,429 trucks in June, nearly matching its performance during the same month last year... Volvo earnings grew 19 percent in the second quarter, to 4.68 billion kronor ($640 million), on strong sales in Europe and North America, the Swedish company said...

Fuel Costs - Canada - Trucking firms forced 'to pass on' , groups says

AMHERST,Nova Scotia,Canada -ChronicleHerald.ca (Halifax), by TOM McCOAG -22 July 2006: -- Rising fuel costs will inevitably affect the price of consumer goods because truckers no longer have the ability to absorb the increases, the board chairman of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association said... If trucking companies can't stay in business, he said, fewer trucks will be on the roads hauling goods to market, which means less product will be getting to the stores... The trucking industry is trying to get around this problem by establishing an automatic surcharge, but not all companies have contracts with that clause in them...

Trucking Wives - USA - Hold Reunion in St. Louis

USA - Layover -21 July 2006: -- Sixteen women who met via the Internet converged on St. Louis June 8-11, 2006, to meet each other in person. They are part of a 375 member online community of mostly truckers' wives who support each other with friendship and advice while their husbands are on the road... The online group, dubbed the Family Center E-List, is part of the trucking website www.layover.com. The email community connects women managing the home front who face unique challenges due to the trucking lifestyle...

Business - India - Ashok Leyland Acquiring Czech Truck Maker Avia AS

Mumbai, India -(AHN)All Headline News, by Som Patidar -July 22, 2006: -- India's second largest truck and bus maker Ashok Leyland is acquiring Avia AS, the loss making Czech truck maker... Avia AS chairman, Michael Saran said that it is a very compelling fit. Ashok Leyland will gain a modern truck, design, capabilities and access to the European market and the Avia truck business unit will gain a strategic resulting in significant saving in purchasing and access to Ashok Leyland's existing markets...

Protests - USA - Truck drivers from India to take U.S. jobs?

Union protests plan as attempt to undercut 'hard-working Americans'

Grants Pass,OR,USA -WorldNetDaily, by Jerome R. Corsi -July 21, 2006: -- An American company is recruiting long-haul truck drivers from India with the goal of placing them with U.S. trucking firms... The Teamsters Union strongly opposes the plan by Gagan Global LLC of Garnerville, N.Y... Teamsters Union spokesman Galen Munroe told the plan "is yet another example of corporations exploiting a visa program to replace highly trained, hard-working Americans with cheap labor from overseas"... Gagan Global has contracted with the Indian state government of Andra Pradesh and its Overseas Manpower Consultancy to run a training school in the Asian country... The Teamsters' Munroe objected to Gagan Global's program, concluding, "It is time for American companies to invest in the American workforce. Outsourcing will only quicken the demise of the middle class"...

Production - Iran - MAN trucks on Iranian roads

Tehran,Iran -ISNA -21 July 2006: -- Iranian truck manufacturer, Avrin Diesel announced that it will start the production of German "MAN" trucks from next year... This manufacturer has announced its readiness to produce annually 25 thousand trucks which this process will first be carried out as CKD and then gradually be changed to domestic made trucks... The imported and produced MAN TGA18480 trucks have a 480hp engine and meet Euro 3 standards...

Production - Mexico - Detroit, Far South

MEXICO CITY,DF,MEX -The New York Times (NY,USA), by ELISABETH MALKIN -July 21, 2006: -- For Mexico, the recent groundbreaking of a new $650 million auto factory was worth celebrating. ... General Motors, the investor, flew in to the central state of San Luis Potosí, where the assembly plant now under construction is expected to eventually employ up to 1,800 people and churn out as many as 160,000 compact cars a year... Automotive production in Mexico is expected to hit record levels this year, surpassing two million cars, as automakers pour billions of dollars of new investment into their Mexican factories... The expansion, being fueled by Mexico’s top five automakers — General Motors, Ford Motor, DaimlerChrysler, Nissan and Volkswagen — stands in contrast to the plans by G.M. and Ford to cut 60,000 jobs in the United States and close two dozen North American plants through 2012... The reason for Mexico’s new wave of growth is twofold: First, it is next to the world’s largest auto market, allowing greater production integration because auto companies can easily ship cars and parts by truck and rail... And second, it is still cheap to operate here compared with the United States, where unionized workers earn at least $27 an hour and benefits can double or even triple the total cost. By comparison, Mexico’s typical auto industry wage of about $3.50 an hour for an experienced worker — which doubles with benefits — looks like a bargain... (Photo: A DaimlerChrysler plant in Toluca, Mexico, turns out Chrysler PT Cruisers, made to order, for 60 countries)

AUTOS' WORLDWIDE

* USA - Ford to cut more - After $123M loss, Bill Ford says he'll speed up cutbacks
DEARBORN,Mich,USA -The Detroit News, by Bryce G. Hoffman -21 July 2006: -- Ford Motor Co. Chairman and CEO Bill Ford Jr. said Thursday that the "way forward" restructuring plan unveiled in January does not go far enough and that quick action and deeper cuts will be needed to save the company's struggling North American car and truck business... He said the downsizing moves already outlined will be accelerated following a $123 million second quarter loss that surprised an already skeptical Wall Street...

* Japan - Reprimands Toyota over recall, says no laws broken
Tokyo,Japan -The Detroit Free Press/Associated Press, byYuri Kageyama -July 20, 2006: -- The government will reprimand Toyota for failing to act more quickly in a recall case that is now under criminal investigation, but authorities determined no laws were broken and no fines will be imposed... Japan's biggest automaker will be issued administrative "guidance" -- or a public scolding -- and demand that Toyota make improvements on its recall procedures, according to a Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport official who spoke on customary condition of anonymity...

* USA - J.D. Power exec says Chinese are 5 years away from quality autos
BEIJING,China -Automotive News (USA), by ALYSHA WEBB -17 July 2006: -- Chinese automakers are about five years away from matching the quality ratings of cars sold in the United States, says Jamey Power, executive vice president of international operations for J.D. Power and Associates... "They realize there is a quality gap (compared to cars in the U.S. market now)," says Power. "But they don't know how to close it."...

* Russia - Foreign brands are hot in a growing market -- Customers wait while dealers scramble
Moscow,Russia - Automotive News, by JASON STEIN -18 July 2006: -- ... This is life in the new Russia, where one dealer can sell as many Hummers a month as GM's monthly average in all of western Europe last year... The supreme irony: For decades, Russians waited in lines for essentials. Now they are waiting again -- this time for cars... Capitalism is the culprit, and inomarka (Russian for foreign brand) is the hot commodity... Foreign automakers are rushing to set up manufacturing. GM, Nissan and Volkswagen have announced production plans in the past month, as Russia's new-car market is expected to hit 2 million units by 2008, an increase of 22 percent over last year. Foreign cars could capture 70 percent of the market by 2010 by some estimates...

* China - Geely goes back to the drawing board to design US-spec car
Beijing,China -Autoblog. (USA) by John Neff -July 21, 2006: -- Li Shufu, the chairman of Geely Automobile, has decided to put on hold his plans to export a Chinese produced vehicle to the United States by 2008 that would start at $10,000. The reason? According to AutoWeek, it sounds like Shufu doesn't think his Chinese domestic cars can hack it in the U.S. on low cost alone. The move apparently prompted the removal of John Harmer, the former COO of Geely USA Inc., from his position, though Shufu has retained him as a consultant...

Petroleum - USA - Record Oil? Not Yet.

USA -Forbes, by Paul Maidment -17 July 2006: -- A summary of the headlines: The potential for a Middle East war drives up the cost of oil and the markets tank... -- What you're not hearing: Even at today's prices, crude oil is still not as expensive once inflation is taken into account as it was in the early 1980s, at least not yet... The price would have to top $87.70 for it to be a high in real as well as nominal terms for modern times. To set a record, crude would have to reach $104 a barrel, which is the value in 2006 dollars of the $8.06 a barrel oil hit in the mid-1860s shortly after it was first discovered in Pennsylvania...

Comments - USA - Logistics Costs Soar

USA -Forbes, by Robert Malone -18 July 2006: -- The costs of logistics in the U.S.--moving goods into and through the nation--soared more than 15% last year, the largest rise in 30 years, meaning shipping and forwarding sopped up 9.5% of the gross domestic product... "Domestic freight transportation, in terms of tons of freight transported, has grown over 20% in the last decade and is expected to increase another 65% to 70% by 2020," says Rosalyn Wilson, a consultant with Reality Based IT Services. In a recent paper produced for the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals, she adds that costs are rising in virtually every stage and mode of U.S. transportation and movement of freight and commerce... Most of the $1.18 trillion in logistics costs last year were eventually passed on down to consumers...

TechnoNews - USA - PrePass looking to upgrading the Interstate

USA -Fleet Owner, by Terrence Nguyen -July 20, 2006: -- Advances in vehicle-to-roadside wireless communications technology will in turn become a significant component of making the existing Interstate highway system run more efficiently... Dick Landis, president & CEO of Help Inc., detailed how the PrePass highway weigh station pre-clearance system will evolve by expanding services and upgrading its technology...

Warning - USA - Capitol Hill sees truck safety in action

WASHINGTON, D.C.,USA -Fleet Owner, by Sean Kilcarr -July 19, 2006: -- Don Ellmore guns the throttle, shifting his International tractor up for speed in searing heat here along a wide swath of empty parking lot alongside Robert F. Kennedy (RFK) memorial stadium... He turns on his blinker to merge right and suddenly an alarm sounds, with a yellow warning light mounted on the cab’s right roof pillar blinking rapidly to tell him there’s a vehicle in his blind spot...

TRUCKINGS' PROFITS WORLDWIDE

* USA - Navistar Again Reaffirms ’06 Guidance
USA -Transport Topics -July 21, 2006: -- Navistar International Corp. late Wednesday again reaffirmed that it expects to earn at least $5.38 per share this year... Navistar is the International Truck and Engine Corp., which makes trucks and engines... The company said in April it would restate earnings from 2002 through 2005 and that it had replaced its outside auditor...

* USA - Drews Trucking sells unit to KK
OCONTO FALLS,Wis,USA -Oshkosh Northwestern (Oshkosh,Wisconsin) -July 20, 2006: -- Drews Trucking of Oconto Falls is selling its dry van truckload division to KK Integrated Logistics of Menominee, Mich... The combined companies will operate 85 tractors and 400 trailers across the Midwest. KK also has operations in Marinette, Oconto, Green Bay and Manitowoc...

* USA - Caterpillar Reports 38% Q2 Increase
USA -Associated Press -21 July 2006: -- Engine and heavy-equipment manufacturer Caterpillar Inc.’s second-quarter profit jumped 38% to $1.05 billion, or $1.52 a share, up from $760 million, or $1.08 a share in the previous year... Sales rose 13% to $10.61 billion from 9.36 billion last year, AP said...

* USA - Hub Group Income Jumps in Second Quarter
USA -Transport Topics -July 21, 2006: -- Third-party logistics provider Hub Group Inc. reported late Thursday that its net income increased to $12.5 million, or 30 cents a share, up from $7.9 million or 19 cents a share last year...

* USA - SCS Transportation Reports Q2 Earnings, Revenue
USA -Transport Topics -July 21, 2006: -- SCS Transportation reported Thursday a loss of $35.9 million, or $2.47 for the second quarter, compared with a loss of $33.6 million or $2.31 a share a year ago...

* Sweden - Volvo Second-Quarter Profit Up 19%
Stockholm,Sweden -Bloomberg -July 21, 2006: -- Volvo AB said its second quarter profit rose 19% on a 7% sales increase, reported Friday... Profits for Volvo’s truck division increased 18% to about $553 million on a 5.8% sales increase...

* USA - U.S. Xpress Reports Higher Second-Quarter Earnings
USA -Transport Topics -July 21, 2006: -- Truckload carrier U.S. Xpress Enterprises Inc. said late Thursday its second-quarter income rose to $5.7 million or 37 cents a share, compared with $482,000 or 3 cents a share in the previous year...

* USA - Smithway Reports 15% Increase in Second Quarter
USA -Transport Topics -July 21, 2006: -- Smithway Motor Xpress Corp., Fort Dodge, Iowa, said net earnings for the second quarter rose to $1.6 million, up 15% from $1.4 million in 2005...

* USA - BNSF to Increase Quarterly Dividend
USA -Transport Topics -July 21, 2006: -- Western freight rail line Burlington Northern Santa Fe Corp. said Thursday it will increase its quarterly dividend by 5 cents per share to 25 cents...

* USA - Qualcomm’s Income Rises for Third Fiscal Quarter
USA -Transport Topics -July 21, 2006: -- Wireless-services provider Qualcomm Inc. reported net income for its third fiscal quarter ended June 25 rose 15% to $643 million or 37 cents a share from the previous third quarter...

Job Index - USA - Trucking, shipping lower recruitment here

Denver,CO,USA -The Denver Business Journal -20 July 2006: -- Concerns over higher gasoline prices apparently has caused the trucking and shipping industries to scale back their recruitment efforts in Denver, a survey released... The survey by Monster Worldwide Inc., found a marked dip in the online recruitment of employees for those areas. The Monster Local Employment Index is based on employers posting jobs on more than 1,500 Web sites, including Monster.com... Monster's transportation and material moving category -- which includes moving, trucking and shipping companies -- shows a steady drop this year, falling eight points in June from the month earlier. The index for the category reached a high of 110 points in March before starting its fall...

Trucking in the black - USA - 2Q a good business

USA -Fleet Owner, by Terrence Nguyen -Jul 20, 2006: -- A diverse spread of trucking companies—from truckload to LTL and seemingly of all sizes and lengths of haul—reported seeing profits and rates expand in the quarter ended June 30... However, some saw utilization drop due to the driver shortage and hours-of-service constraints...

Ethanol - USA - A distribution facility planned in Manly

MANLY,IO,USA -AP/Charles City Press -July 21, 2006: -- An ethanol distribution facility will be built in this northern Iowa city to accommodate the dozens of ethanol plants sprouting across the Midwest... Manly Terminal estimates about 75 ethanol plants will operate within 275 miles of Manly by 2009, producing nearly half the country’s ethanol... The facility will be built on 100 acres and have a 20-million-gallon storage capacity. The Iowa Northern Railway Co. and the trucking arm of LB Transport/MinnIowa Distributing Inc. will transport ethanol from the facility...

TRANSPORTS' WORLDWIDE

* UAE - Gulf Air launches new Middle East road feeder services
United Arab Emirates -Transport Intelligence (UK) -20 July 2006: -- Gulf Air Cargo - a dedicated division of Gulf Air - has started new road feeder services (RFS) from Muscat to Dubai/Abu Dhabi and, from Bahrain to Dammam... The service from Muscat is daily, whilst that from Bahrain operates six days a week, excluding Fridays and public holidays...

* Sweden - BALtrans acquires in Sweden
Gothenburg,Sweden -Transport Intelligence (UK) -20 July 2006: -- BALtrans Holdings Limited, a leading freight forwarding and logistics company in Asia Pacific, has announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire the entire issued share capital of Gothenburg Shipping Logistics AB (GSL) at a consideration of not more than SEK153,440,000 (approximately €17m)...

Report - UK - Middle East express/logistics growth at risk

UK -Transport Intelligence -19 July 2006: -- The Middle East represents some of the best opportunities for express and logistics companies anywhere in the world, according to the latest report by industry leading market research company Transport Intelligence... However the report, Middle East Logistics 2006, also strikes a note of caution that stellar growth could be compromised by the latest conflict in Lebanon... According to John Manners-Bell, Chief Executive of Transport Intelligence, although there is no immediate region-wide threat to the prospects for the express and logistics sectors due to the size and socio-economic diversity of the geography, this could change if neighbouring countries are drawn in...

Production - South Korea - Tata Daewoo develops first LNG-powered tractor-trailer

Seoul,S.Korea -domainB (Mumbai,India) -20 July 2006: -- Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle Company Ltd., the second largest commercial vehicle manufacturer in South Korea and a 100-per cent subsidiary of Tata Motors, has developed South Korea's first liquefied natural gas (LNG) powered heavy tractor-trailer... TDCV pioneered the design, development and manufacture of the new LNG tractor, under an arrangement sponsored by the Korea Gas Corporation. The development work on the vehicle began in September 2004...

Market Overview - China - Heavy-duty truck sector in 2005-2006

Beijing,China -Auto China/chinadaily.com.cn, by Rong Xiandong -19 July 2006: -- The Chinese heavy-duty truck market plummeted by 36.2 percent in 2005 after experiencing a growth spurt of 44.96 percent in 2004, said an industry source... Factors that hindered the development of the heavy truck sector included central government policies intended to rein in overheating industries like real estate and coal and the policy to curb truck overload, according to Li Qingsheng of Beijing Runew, an auto marketing and consultation company... Banks' tightening of credit controls also worked against truck sales in 2005. Vehicle loans accounted for a maximum of 60 percent of heavy-duty truck purchases, especially extra-heavy trucks...

Opinion - USA - Shift freight from trucks to trains

Seattle,Wash,USA -The Seattle Post Intelligencer, by WENDELL COXGUEST -July 20, 2006: -- In Seattle and in cities across the U.S., soaring fuel costs and worsening gridlock are like a one-two punch hitting drivers this summer, pinching our wallets and costing us valuable time lost in traffic... The gridlock situation today is already alarming. The average commuter in the U.S. spends an extra 43 hours each year -- more than a full work week -- caught in traffic... According to the U.S. Department of Transportation, freight traffic is expected to increase by two-thirds by 2020... Members of Congress concerned about gridlock plan to introduce the Freight Rail Infrastructure Capacity Expansion Act, to stimulate much-needed investment in the freight rail infrastructure. The legislation would provide any organization, including railroads, trucking companies and shipping lines a 25 percent tax credit for their investments... (Wendell Cox is president and CEO of Demographia, a market research and urban policy consultancy)

On the Road Again - USA - Fresh Start 2002

USA -Fast Company, Issue 54, by Chuck Salter -20 July 2006: -- After suffering through the worst years in its history, Yellow Freight System hired Bill Zollars to drive an old-economy company in a new direction. Now, almost six years later, Yellow is faster and more reliable and caters to customers like never before, and has become a different company since 1996. It is driven by CEO Bill Zollars and a frontline revolution that emphasizes the customer... Long known for its bright orange trucks, the company is now considered to be a technology leader in its industry. Yellow's systems monitor 13,000 trucks nationwide and around 70,000 national and international shipping orders each day. The once-rigid delivery schedule is flexible. Customers decide when their freight will be delivered: in a week, three days, or several hours. They specify morning or afternoon delivery or, if they prefer, the exact hour. Yellow offers a money-back guarantee on expedited deliveries... The following principles are its road map for reinvention:
- Share the new vision every day.
- Avoid behavior that undermines the mission.
- Get out of the office.
- Don't be afraid to tell the truth.

Fuel Alternatives - Australia - Largest biodiesel facility completes first production

Brisbane,Australia -Supply Chain Review -19 July 2006: -- The Australian Biodiesel Group’s (ABG) new Narangba biodiesel production facility, located on the outskirts of Brisbane, has successfully completed its first production run, manufacturing biodiesel from Canola oil... The Narangba facility is the largest biodiesel plant in Australia, with a design production capacity of 160 million litres of fuel per annum... With the introduction of the Queensland plant, ABG’s total production capacity in Australia will be 200 million litres per annum...

Production - China - Nissan to manufacture and sell small trucks in

Tolyo,Japan -Supply Chain Review (Australia)/ Dow Jones report -20 July 2006: -- Nissan Motor Company will manufacture and sell small trucks under its own brand in China starting as early as 2008... The report says Nissan is drawing up plans to assemble trucks in the two to four-tonne class at plants in Hubei and Henan provinces owned by a subsidiary of Dongfeng Motor Company, or DFL, the joint venture between Nissan and China's Dongfeng Motor Corp. Nissan will produce a completely remodeled version of the Atlas 10 truck, known as the Cabstar in Europe, for the Chinese market...

Solutions - Australia - Trucking regulation needs to get smart

Melbourne,Victoria,Australia -The Age, by Philip Hopkins -July 20, 2006: -- Cutting red tape to allow more efficient trucks on the road will boost productivity and help solve the growing freight task, according to the National Transport Commission... NTC acting chief executive Phil Giltinan said truck productivity reform was crucial to dealing with the expected doubling of freight by 2020... Despite expected improvements in rail, only trucks could transport freight to and from warehouses, retail outlets, construction sites and homes, he said. Road transport would raise its market share by 6 per cent to 42 per cent by the same date... New SMART trucks (Safer Management of Road Transport) were already more productive. These included B-triples, quad-axle groups, high productivity rigid trucks and the Trackaxle steerable axle, Mr Giltinan said... that, under performance-based standards, the vehicle's overall performance — such as rollover risk, the ability to turn safely and road wear qualities — determined whether it was allowed on the road... (Photo: Paul Rovere - SMART trucks struggle to get a run.)

Guilty - Australia - COR fine for QLD trucking company

Queensland,Australia -Supply Chain Review -19 July 2006: -- A long-haul trucking company based in south-western Queensland has been convicted and fined a total of $26,000 after its drivers were found to have exceeded permissible driving hours... The company, Paul Hansen Transport Pty Ltd, pleaded guilty in the Charleville Magistrates Court to 33 charges of allowing eight drivers to drive for longer periods than permitted by law... Company principal Paul Jeffrey Hansen also pleaded guilty to 33 charges of failing to ensure the company complied with the law. Magistrate John Costello convicted and fined him $14,000...

TRUCKINGS' WORLDWIDE

* USA - OrderPro Logistics Subsidiary TransMex Logistics Obtains Renewed Trucking Commitments
TUCSON, AZ,USA -MARKET WIRE -July 19, 2006: -- OrderPro Logistics, Inc., announced today its subsidiary TransMex Logistics has renewed its commitment to both N.S.C.S.A. and FESCO for trucking services throughout the greater Chicago, IL., area...

* USA - Landstar net profit up, beats expectations
CHICAGO,Ill.USA -Reuters -July 20, 2006: -- Truck brokerage company Landstar System Inc., said on Thursday its quarterly net profit rose, citing improving margins and strong growth in both its truck brokerage and intermodal operations, beating expectations... The Jacksonville, Florida-based company reported second-quarter net income of $29.5 million, or 50 cents a share, compared with $22.4 million or 37 cents a share a year earlier...

* USA - Drews Trucking sells unit to KK
Oconto County,Wis.,USA -Oshkosh Northwestern -July 20, 2006: -- Drews Trucking of Oconto Falls is selling its dry van truckload division to KK Integrated Logistics of Menominee, Mich... The sale will allow Drews to focus on more specialized markets, including expansion of its flatbed and refrigerated van business and its service business in Abrams, said company president Troy Drews...

* USA - Werner Enterprises Reports Improved Second Quarter 2006
OMAHA, Neb.,USA -BUSINESS WIRE -July 19, 2006: -- Werner Enterprises, Inc., one of the nation's largest truckload transportation and logistics companies, reported improved operating revenues and earnings for the second quarter ended June 30, 2006... Operating revenues increased 9% to $528.9 million compared to $485.8 million in second quarter 2005. Net income increased 11% to $28.0 million compared to $25.3 million in second quarter 2005. Earnings per share for second quarter 2006 were $.35 per share, or 12% higher than the $.31 per share earned in second quarter 2005...

* USA - Rush Enterprises, Inc. Reports EPS Increases 31% to $0.59 on a Revenue Increase of 23%
SAN ANTONIO,TX.USA -BUSINESS WIRE -July 19, 2006: -- Rush Enterprises, Inc., which operates the largest network of heavy-duty and medium-duty truck dealerships in North America and a John Deere construction equipment dealership in Houston, Texas, today announced results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2006... In the second quarter, the Company's gross revenues totaled $569.2 million, a 23.3% increase from gross revenues of $461.8 million reported for the second quarter ended June 30, 2005. Net income for the quarter was $14.9 million, or $0.59 per diluted share, compared with net income of $11.2 million, or $0.45 per diluted share, in the quarter ended June 30, 2005...

* USA - R.I. Sets Tougher Idling Law With State Trucking Group’s Blessing
USA -Transport Topics 17 July 2006: -- Rhode Island Gov. Donald Carcieri, signed a bill July 10 prohibiting truck drivers from idling their engines for more than five consecutive minutes during any 60-minute period... John Atwood, president of the Rhode Island Trucking Association, told the association supported the legislation...

* USA - Eaton Reports Record 2Q Sales, Income
USA -Transport Topics -17 July 2006: -- Vehicle parts maker Eaton Corp. Monday reported record sales and income for the second quarter... Eaton earned $253 million or $1.64 a share, compared with $209 million or $1.37 a year earlier... Second-quarter sales jumped 12% to $3.2 billion, Eaton said in a statement...

* USA - Marten’s 2Q Earnings, Revenue Increase
USA -Transport Topics -17 July 2006: -- Refrigerated truckload carrier Marten Transport’s second-quarter income rose to $7.5 million or 34 cents a share, from $6.8 million or 31 cents a year earlier, the company said late Wednesday...

* Canada - Vitran Reports Record Second-Quarter Income, Revenue
Canada -Transport Topics -17 July 2006: -- Toronto-based transportation and logistics firm Vitran Corp.’s second-quarter profit and revenue rose to records, as it posted net income of $5.8 million or 45 cents a share, up from $4.8 million or 38 cents last year...

* USA Truck’s 2Q Income, Revenue Reach Records
USA -Transport Topics -17 July 2006: -- Truckload carrier USA Truck said Thursday its second-quarter net income rose to a record $4.4 million, from $4.3 million a year earlier. Earnings per share fell to 38 cents from 45 cents in the previous second quarter...

* USA - Knight Transportation Reports Record 2Q Income, Revenue
USA -Transport Topics -17 July 2006: -- Truckload carrier Knight Transportation reported record second-quarter net income and revenue late Wednesday, posting a profit of $18.1 million or 21 cents a share, up from $15 million or 17 cents a year earlier...

* USA - Swift’s Second-Quarter Income Rises on Higher Fuel Surcharges
USA -Transport Topics -17 July 2006: -- Truckload carrier Swift Transportation Co. Wednesday reported its second-quarter net income rose to $45.5 million or 60 cents a share, up from $29.8 million or 40 cents a year earlier... The company said said that it has adopted a stockholder protection rights agreement in order to discourage "potentially abusive" takeover tactics and also reported that its profit rose 53% in the second quarter... Despite achieving excellent results in the quarter, it experienced challenges including limited driver availability. On its protection plan agreement, it said it will declare a dividend of one right for each share of outstanding common stock...

* USA - Con-way Reports Higher Second-Quarter Income, Revenue
USA -Transport Topics -17 July 2006: -- Transportation firm Con-way Inc. reported second-quarter net income of $74.1 million or $1.40 a share, up from $66.8 million or $1.20 a year earlier...

* USA - Universal Express to Buy Oil and Gas Distributor
USA -Transport Topics -17 July 2006: -- Transportation and logistics firm Universal Express said Wednesday it signed an agreement to purchase Jacksonville Oil Co., an oil and gas retailer, for $15.8 million...

* USA - Heartland Express’ Second-Quarter Profit Increases
USA -Transport Topics -18 July 2006: -- Truckload carrier Heartland Express’ second-quarter profit rose to $24.8 million or 25 cents a share, up from $17.6 million or 18 cents a year ago... Heartland’s operating revenue rose 11% to $143.1 million, the company said Tuesday...

* USA - J.B. Hunt Reports Record Revenue, Earnings for 2Q
USA -Transport Topics -18 July 2006: -- Truckload carrier J.B. Hunt Transport Services reported Tuesday that it earned a record $55.3 million or 36 cents a share, up from $54.6 million or 33 cents a year ago... Revenue rose 10% to a record $838 million, the company said. Operating income rose to $95 million from $93 million a year earlier...

Fuel Levies - Australia - Trucking companies called upon to introduce they

The World Today,Andrew Geoghegan -19 July 2006: -- ELEANOR HALL: Australian household budgets may be about to feel more pain, with the trucking industry looking to pass on the cost of higher fuel costs to its customers... The Victorian Transport Association has called on trucking companies to introduce fuel levies, which would add to the cost of groceries and other consumer items... But the Federal Government has warned that this will spur inflation and put more pressure on interest rates...

Purchase - Canada - Hy-Drive rolls out conditional program

TORONTO, Ont.,CAN -Truck News, by James Menzies -18 July 2006: -- Hy-Drive Technologies has announced it has placed its G2 hydrogen generating system in 37 truck fleets through its conditional purchase program... The Hy-Drive systems generate and inject hydrogen gas into the engine, enhancing the combustion process by allowing fuel to burn more efficiently and completely, the company says. It claims users realize improved fuel mileage and reduced emissions...

Service - USA - Free Freight Matching Load Board

Sponsored by 1st Commercial Credit

EL PASO, Texas,USA -PRNewswire -July 18, 2006: -- 1st Commercial Credit introduces www.PickaTruckLoad.com -- a simple website designed for carriers, direct shippers and freight brokers to efficiently use freight matching services at no charge... The site streamlines freight matching and reduces the time it takes to search for loads or trucks...

Controls - USA - DMV inspectors converge on Tony's Long Wharf

New Haven,CT,USA -WTNH/News Channel 8,by Sara Welch -July 17, 2006: -- The state is making good on its promise to go after trucking companies for safety violations... This time a prominent New Haven trucking firm is in trouble... The governor has made truck safety a priority since last summer's deadly truck crash on Avon Mountain... Tony's Long Wharf is temporarily out of business after more than 60 vehicles in the fleet were found to have numerous safety violations...

Jobs - USA - Celadon Trucking adds 165 drivers in 6-month span

INDIANAPOLIS,IA,USA -IndyStar -July 18, 2006: -- Celadon Trucking Services says the number of drivers in its U.S. shipping fleet has increased by 165 over the past six months... By reducing its reliance on hauling goods for the ailing automotive industry, the company doubled its cash flow from 2001 to 2005, boosting its share price from a low of $3 in April 2001 to $18.39 Monday, a fifteenfold increase when adjusted for splits...

Survey - Canada - Professional Driver Satisfaction

* Last Chance to Participate

Canada -Truck News -18 July 2006: -- Does your carrier respect the hard work you do? Do you see a future in trucking? How satisfied are you with your driving career these days?. We want to know and we're hoping you'll help us find out.... Transportation Media Research (Truck News, Truck West and Motortruck) have partnered with the Canadian Trucking Human Resources Council to compile an annual survey to find out exactly how you feel about the working conditions involved in driving a truck for a living... (Click the link below to enter the Professional Driver Satisfaction Survey!http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.asp?u=39851693784)

Prognosis - UK - Analyst Predicts Significant 3PL Growth

UK -TNN -18 July 2006: -- Global expenditure on outsourced third-party logistics (3PL) services across contract logistics, air and sea freight, and road transport is set to increase significantly over the coming five years, according to independent market analyst Datamonitor’s latest research Logistics Global Outlook 2006... The research reveals that while the EU17 (Austria, Belgium, Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) will remain the region with the largest spending on 3PL services, the largest growth in demand for 3PLs is expected to occur in Asia-Pacific (APAC)—expected to account for almost one-fifth of global spend on 3PL services by 2010...

Statistics - Europe - Eurostat Publishes Data on Cabotage

Brussels,Belgium -TNN (UK) -18 July 2006: -- On 5th July, Eurostat published a "Statistics in focus" leaflet on road freight cabotage and road freight transport with non-EU countries, covering the period between 1999 and 2004... According to the publication, Benelux road hauliers remained the most active caboteurs. German hauliers were also major players, taking a 13% share of the total. Growth in cabotage nearly doubled in the EU15 in the period 1999-2004, with however strong differences between countries...

Study - USA - Complete truck crash, now available

WASHINGTON,DC.USA -Today's Trucking -18 July 2006: -- The Large Truck Crash Causation Study announced by U.S. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration this past spring is now available to the public... The three-year data collection project conducted by FMCSA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), found that driver behavior -- not other factors such as weather, road conditions, and vehicle performance -- is more likely to be the cause of a crash involving large trucks and other vehicles... The study also found that passenger car drivers were more likely at fault than truck drivers in those cases... The study further examines driver factors such as use of prescription and over-the-counter drugs, speeding, fatigue, inattention, distractions, work environment, and unfamiliarity with the road... (The complete report can be downloaded at this URL: http://ai.fmcsa.dot.gov/ltccs/default.asp or clicking on the link at the bottom of this page)

Under Inflated - UK - 30% of Truck Tyres

UK -TNN -18 July 2006: -- Dr Hans Joachim Nikolin, executive director at Continental Tyre and responsible for its Commercial Tyre Division said that the firm thinks at least 30% of all truck tyres are under-inflated... "This causes increased rolling resistance and higher fuel bills; for instance a 10% improvement in rolling resistance saves around €0.01 a kilometre for a typical truck."... Nikolin stressed the importance of properly monitored truck tyre pressures and loads...

Possibilities - USA - Guard low on relief trucks

With equipment shortages, the Florida National Guard is scurrying to stay prepared to handle multiple storms at the same time during the hurricane season
Miami,FL,USA -The Miami Herald, by PHIL LONG -Jul. 17, 2006: -- In the second month of hurricane season, the Florida National Guard is still short of trucks, trailers and other equipment that soldiers use in the immediate aftermath of violent storms... With at least 400 of its trucks, Humvees and other vehicles left behind in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Guard's rolling stock is at its lowest level in years, Guard leaders say... National Guards in general have never been fully equipped, Sutphin said. Before Sept. 11, the Florida National Guard routinely carried only 75 percent of the rolling stock and other equipment authorized by the Army. Today, that's down to 37 percent or just about half the amount of equipment the Guard normally has...
(Photo: AP FILE, 1996 - RUNNING LOW: At least 400 of the Florida National Guard's trucks are in service overseas, leaving equipment levels for storm relief 'close to the line,' according to a top officer)

Controls - USA - More Than Half Of Inspected Trucks Declared Unsafe

Many Commercial Trucks Fail Virginia Inspection

SOUTH RIDING, Va.,USA -NBC 4.com (Washington,DC) -July 17, 2006: -- More than half of the 19 trucks inspected at a commercial motor vehicle checkpoint Friday were taken out of service... Fifty-three percent of the trucks inspected were found to have safety violations, forcing the trucks to be pulled to the side of the roadway until the problems could be either fixed or the issues resolved... Fifty-four citations were issued for various problems, including defective brakes and tires and improper licensing...

Management-Led - USA - Buyout of JHT Holdings Completed

KENOSHA, Wis.,USA -PRNewswire -July 17, 206: -- New Ownership Group and Experienced Management Team Bring Capital and Expansion Plan to Kenosha-Based Transporter... Chief Executive Officer T. Michael Riggs today announced the completion of a management buyout of JHT Holdings Inc., a specialty transportation and logistics company that is the market leader in the delivery of medium- and heavy-duty trucks throughout North America...

TechnoNews - USA - Meritor Wabco Shows Advanced Vehicle Control

Akron,OH,USA -Tire Review -July 19, 2006: -- Meritor Wabco Vehicle Control Systems gave Congressmen and federal agency employees a detailed look at the impact of advanced vehicle control technology during a recent ride-and-drive event put together by the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association (MEMA)... During the event, Meritor Wabco demonstrated its advanced vehicle control technologies and how they contribute to advancing commercial vehicle safety...

Class 8 Production - USA - Crimped by supplier issues

USA - Fleet Owner, by Terrence Nguyen -Jul 17, 2006: -- June saw a modest expansion of heavy-duty Class 8 truck retail sales but supplier disruptions slowed production abruptly in the face of unprecedented demand from fleet customers... According to Chris Brady, president of Commercial Motor Vehicle Consulting, OEMs produced a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 252,899 units in June, a 15% drop from the rate of 294,217 in May...

Jobs - USA - Large trucking company to open hub

Create 400 jobs

EDWARDSVILLE,Belleville,IL,USA -Belleville News Democrat -Jul. 17, 2006: -- North America's largest trucking freight carrier will create a hub operation here that will eventually create 400 new jobs... Company officials from Schneider National Inc. of Green Bay, Wis., will join state and federal officials at a press conference Tuesday morning to make the announcement... The new 25,000-square-foot repair and service center will be located at the Gateway Commerce Center in Edwardsville...

Markets - USA - JB Hunt Transport Services "outperform"

NEW YORK,NY,USA -newratings.com, by Robert W. Baird, July 19, 2006: -- Analysts at Robert W Baird maintain their "outperform" rating on JB Hunt Transport Services Inc. ... The target price is set to $28... In a research note published yesterday, the analysts mention that the company has reported its 2Q EPS short of the consensus... The shortfall was due to higher costs in trucking and lower truck revenue growth, the analysts say. Intermodal rail growth remained robust through 2Q and the truck division’s performance improved in June, Robert W Baird adds...

Drivers' Payment - USA - Epes Boosts Pay for Company Drivers, Owner-Operators

USA -TTNews -14 July 2006: -- Truckload carrier Epes Transport System said it has raised pay for company drivers, owner-operators and dedicated teams, to be effective July 31... The new package increases top company pay to 42 cents a mile, while independent contractors pay will rise to 90 cents a mile loaded and empty, plus fuel surcharge... The wait time for detention pay has been reduced from four hours to two hours, in response to recommendations made by their driver fleet...

Purchases - Germany - More Dingos for Deutschland

Germany -Strategy Page (USA) - July 17, 2006: -- Germany has ordered another 149 Dingo 2 combat trucks. The Germans already have 52 Dingo 2s, and plan to eventually get 450... Officially called a "mine protected vehicle," the Dingo 2 is basically an armored truck that is bullet proof and explosion resistant. This vehicle is a commercial Mercedes-Benz UNIMOG 4 x 4 truck with an armored body...

Improvement Program - Pakistan - To get $1.8 billion from World Bank for NTC plan

Pakistan -Middle East North Africa Financial Network (MENAFN -Amman,Jordan)/Xinhuanet -16 July 2006: -- Pakistan announced that the World Bank has agreed to provide it with $1.8 billion for its $6 billion National Trade Corridor (NTC) improvement program to meet domestic transportation requirements and provide transit facilities to Central Asia, western China, Afghanistan and Iran... It covers six core areas like ports and shipping, trade facilitation, highways and trucking modernization, railway improvement and aviation and air transport modernization...

Uninsured Drivers - USA - State Delays Crackdown On

AUSTIN,TX,USA -Click 2 Houston.com -July 17, 2006: -- The state has delayed a program to verify that motorists have auto insurance while it figures out the best way to manage the data of 15 million drivers... Officials said the program, which the Legislature approved last year, is on hold until next year while they figure out how to step up enforcement without accidentally ticketing motorists because of bad information...

Florida Checkpoints - USA - Officials to begin for commercial vehicles

Naples,FL,USA -Naples Daily News -July 17, 2006: -- Authorities are set to begin commercial motor vehicle inspections over the next several weeks in Collier and Lee counties... Deputies from the Collier County Sheriff’s Office’s commercial motor vehicle unit and officers from the Florida Department of Transportation’s motor vehicle compliance will assist in the random checkpoints, authorities said... Inspectors will be looking for vehicle equipment violations, unsecured or improperly secured loads and drivers with improper or invalid paperwork, the Sheriff’s Office said.

Story - USA - Walkchalk trucker earns safe-driving award

WALKCHALK,PA,USA -- LEADER TIMES (Kittanning,PAS), by Mitch Fryer -July 15, 2006: -- It has been easy for trucker Randy Smith to keep his mind on the road for the past 31 years... "I have a good family at home that I didn't have to worry about when I was out on the road for weeks at a time," said Smith, 52, of Walkchalk... "I'd call home, the kids needed a shot or something, and my wife, Bella, was taking care of it. When I'd get home on the weekend, I only had some little stuff to do"... Not having to worry about things at home helped Smith drive safely for more than 3 million miles... It allowed him to earn a safe-driving award from the American Trucking Associations for "3 million perfect miles"...

Companys' - Sweden - Volvo keeps on trucking in an uphill struggle

Sweden -Business Online (London,UK), by Graeme Davies -16 July 2006: -- Swedish truck making giant Volvo reports second-quarter results on Friday and the recent recovery in its share price suggests investors are expecting a good performance... But there are concerns in some quarters of a marked slowdown in the key US heavy truck market in 2007 when stricter emissions regulations take hold... In the meantime Volvo has been performing well in North America and at its last update it reported a 13% year-on-year rise in truck deliveries to the region between January and May...

Tests - USA - Additive boosts fuel economy

USA -Fleet Owner, by Terrence Nguyen -Jul 17, 2006: -- International Fuel Technology (IFT) has announced that its DiesoLIFT fuel additive has demonstrated its ability to increase fuel economy by 3% to 5.6% in long-haul applications, according to independent tests conducted under Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) protocols by the Southwest Research Institute and the Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada, according to ITF... DiesoLIFT lowers a fuel’s surface tension, which helps engines produce “a cleaner burn"...

Purchase - Israel - Emergency campaign launched to 100 fire trucks

Jerusalem,Israel -Jerusalem Post, by NATHANIEL ROSEN -Jul. 13, 2006: -- In the wake of a recent fire that ravaged nearly 200 acres of forest land near Haifa, the Jewish National Fund (JNF) and the Friends of Israel Firefighters (FIF) officially inaugurated a joint emergency campaign on Monday, aimed at purchasing much-needed fire trucks for the depleted Israeli fire department... The campaign's goal is twofold. It intends to raise enough money to purchase 100 small, first-response fire trucks. These trucks are especially effective since they are small enough to get through narrow city streets, yet rugged enough to handle off-road terrain...

Production - Ukraine - LuAZ and one of China’s largest carmakers sign contract

Kyiv,Ukraine -Kyiv Post (subscription), by Orysia Kulick -Jul 13 2006: -- Ukraine’s second largest car producer, the Lutsk Motor Plant (LuAZ), and one of China’s largest carmakers, Dongfeng Motor Corporation, signed a contract June 30 to jointly develop a new freight and cargo truck manufacturing plant in Cherkasy Region... In a recent press release, LuAZ announced that the new facility will produce freight and cargo trucks with a capacity of 2-10 tons, and is expected to be operational by the end of 2007. The plant will have the capacity to produce 12,000 freight and cargo trucks annually and potentially about 1,000 new jobs as early as next year...

TechnoNews - USA - International to keep an eye on tires and batteries

WARRENVILLE,Ill.,USA -Truck News (Canada), by Steven Macleod -14 July 2006: -- International Truck and Engine has developed a new tire and battery monitoring technology that will be introduced on its International 8600 model, aimed primarily towards regional haul fleets... A high-resolution, on-board colour display screen will indicate for drivers tire pressure and battery health. Optional exterior cameras to reveal blind spots and provide assistance when backing can also feed images into the on-board information display... The tire pressure monitoring system quickly and accurately identifies tire temperature and pressure, says the manufacturer...

Jobs - Australia - Foreign truckies to be exploited: Union

Melbourne,Victoria,Australia -The Age -July 13, 2006: -- Foreign truckies granted semi-skilled visa status to drive on Australian roads will be subjected to poor wages and a lack of training, the Transport Workers Union (TWU) says... The Australian Trucking Association (ATA) has called for semi-skilled workers to be considered for work visas under a pilot scheme instead of skilled workers only... The (ATA) has put the proposal to the Immigration Department for consideration and its chief Stuart St Clair said 100 foreign truck drivers would be brought in under the scheme... The union has already denounced it as deluded and exploitative...

TRUCKINGS WORLWIDE

* USA - Scottsboro trucking company Noble & Pitts acquired by Universal Truckload
Birmingham,AL,USA -Birmingham Business Journal -July 13, 2006: -- Universal Truckload Services Inc. has purchased Noble & Pitts Inc., a Scottsboro, Ala., truckload carrier with nationwide services... A news release on the acquisition says Noble & Pitts will operate as part of Universal Truckload Services' Mason & Dixon Lines subsidiary...

* USA - World's largest truck stop growing
WALCOTT,IA,USA -Cedar Rapids Gazette/Associated Press -13 July 2006: -- A truck stop billed as the world's largest is getting even bigger... The Iowa 80 Truckstop at Walcott will open its 67,000-square-foot Super Truck Showroom tomorrow... Construction on the $5 million complex started last fall and wrapped up last week. It also includes an expanded foot court and remodeled convenience and gift stores.The truck stop offers restaurants, a movie theater, a library, dentist and the Trucking Hall of Fame...

* Canada - OTA launches new compliance product line
TORONTO, Ont.,Canada -Truck News, by Steven Macleod -13 July 2006: -- An accident reporting kit will feature as the centerpiece of a product line focused on providing improved compliance product options by the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA)... The accident reporting kit includes a flash camera with 27 pictures; flashlight with battery; measuring tape; ballpoint pen; crayon; and accident reporting form. The kit is packaged in a pouch that will fit in a truck's glove box. Custom or private labeling is available for the pouch (colour and graphics), the camera and forms...

* USA - Trucking firms are revved up over costly background checks
Homeland Security proposal would cost drivers $149
Buffalo,NY,USA - Buffalo News, by JOSEPH GALANTE -17 July 2006: -- The trucking industry, already facing a shortage of drivers who feel burdened by costly mandated criminal background checks, could take another hit when the Department of Homeland Security rolls out a new program requiring drivers to undergo yet another background check... The proposal has many companies frustrated by what they call redundant and costly mandates. While most independent operators bear these costs themselves, some companies plan to pay for the checks to attract drivers... Patrick Garvey, vice president of Productive Transportation in Tonawanda, says a new ID card for truckers from the Department of Homeland Security would cost his company $8,500...

* USA - Kenworth's parts catalogs now on Web site
USA -eTrucker, by Brittani Tingle -13 July 2006: -- Kenworth PremierCare Parts & Service now offers electronic versions of the company’s latest all-makes parts catalogs on its Web site... The catalogs feature brands such as Mirrex, ClimaTech, INLINE, Dynacraft, RoadLeveler and Acrafit. Detailed product descriptions, vendor cross-reference guides and part-number indexes facilitate the search for the right part, and several catalogs offer full-color photographs, menus and illustrations for a more comprehensive presentation...

* USA - Owner-operator financial service leaders merge
USA -eTrucker, by Max Heine -13 July 2006: -- American Truck Business Services this week announced its merger with The Alliance of Independent Trucking Professionals, an association of professionals providing education and services to owner-operators and company drivers... The combination creates the largest company dedicated to improving the profitability of owner-operators and company drivers through business services, products and education offerings...

* USA - DMV Takes Action Against Trucking Firm
Hartford,CT,USA -Hartford Courant, by CAROLYN MOREAU -July 14, 2006: -- The vehicle registrations of a New Haven trucking company with a long history of safety violations was revoked Friday by the state Department of Motor Vehicles... The action came a day after a truck delivering a massive concrete slab to the Blue Back Square development in West Hartford lost its trailer on Trout Brook Drive. The truck is owned by Tony's Long Wharf Transport, LLC., owned by Anthony Juliano of Madison, according to business records maintained by the secretary of the state's office...

* USA - Management-Led Buyout of JHT Holdings Completed
KENOSHA, Wis.,USA -PRNewswire -July 17, 2006: -- Chief Executive Officer T. Michael Riggs today announced the completion of a management buyout of JHT Holdings Inc., a specialty transportation and logistics company that is the market leader in the delivery of medium- and heavy-duty trucks throughout North America...

License Yanked - USA - Firm illegally stored waste

LANCASTER,CA,USA -Los Angeles Daily News (Los Angeles,CA), by CHARLES F. BOSTWICK -13 July 2006: -- City officials ordered the shutdown of a waste-hauling business that for nearly two years has been the target of complaints from neighbors who say they have been sickened by fumes and dust... the City Council voted to affirm the revocation of Smith & Thompson Pumping Co.'s business license on the grounds that the firm stored waste in its trucking yard in violation of the area's light-industrial zoning rules... The company appealed the revocation to the City Council. The council in its vote Tuesday night upheld the revocation and told city staffers to stop any business operations on the property that violate the municipal code...

Production - Russia - Isuzu to start making Elf, other small trucks in

Moscow,Russia -The Associated Press -July 12, 2006: -- Isuzu Motors Ltd. said Tuesday it will start producing small trucks in Russia, the latest move by a global manufacturer to strengthen its business in the growing market... Isuzu Motors will begin full-scale production of the Elf light-duty commercial truck in Russia this month, with a sales goal of 500 units this year, the company said in a statement...

Production - Mexico - Michelin Brand Tires Now Being Made in Mexico

Queretaro plant converts production line to meet strong Mexican demand

QUERETARO, Mexico -PRNewswire -July 12, 2006: -- For the first time, Michelin-brand passenger and light truck tires are being built in Mexico... The company announced today that strong consumer demand in Mexico drove Michelin's decision to upgrade production capacity at its Queretaro plant to include Michelin-brand tires...

Cargo theft - Canada - Suspected in shooting

Thunder Bay,Canada -Thunder Bay's Source -13 July 2006: -- Truck-jacking is not being ruled out as the motive behind the shooting death of an Ontario trucker three weeks ago... The Ontario Trucking Association estimates the cost of cargo theft to Canadian businesses at about $1 billion a year and Ontario accounts for almost half of the cases. Cargo theft is a common problem in the industry and is one of the fastest growing crimes especially in the Greater Toronto Area...

AUTOS' WORLDWIDE

* USA - Toyota, Nissan recall tops 500,000
Automakers say dealers will repair faulty parts on Lexus, Highlander, Altima and Sentra models
Washington,DC,USA -Associated Press, by Ken Thomas -July 13, 2006: -- Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it was recalling 367,500 Toyota and Lexus sport utility vehicles in the United States because a piece in the front console area could come loose and interfere with the gas pedal... In a separate announcement, Nissan North America Inc. said it would recall 200,000 Altima and Sentra sedans from the 2003 model year to fix a faulty sensor that can cause the engine to shut down in routine traffic...

*Japan - Inquiry Into Accident Could Tarnish Toyota Image
Tokyo,Japan -The New Yorl Times, by MARTIN FACKLER & Chieko Tsuneoka -July 12, 2006: -- An investigation by the local Japanese police into an accident involving a Toyota sport utility vehicle threatens to turn into an embarrassing scandal for the carmaker, which has built its success on a reputation for reliability... The police in Kumamoto, accused Toyota of failing to recall the type of S.U.V. involved in an accident in 2004 that injured a family of five, despite having known for years of a fault in the steering assembly. Toyota started issuing recalls for the vehicle, called a Hilux Surf in Japan and a 4Runner in the United States, two months after the accident... In the accident, a sudden steering problem caused a Hilux Surf to swerve into oncoming traffic and strike another vehicle, Toyota and the police said. The driver of the Hilux Surf was unharmed, but all five members of the family traveling in the other vehicle, including three children, were injured, some seriously... Two months later, Toyota recalled the Hilux Surf and two pickup truck models that used a similar steering assembly, the T100 and the Hilux, as the Tacoma pickup truck in the United States... Toyota recalled affected models including the 4Runner in the United States in September 2005...

* USA - Executive shakeups impacting Chrysler Group???
USA -chryslerweblog.com -13 July 2006: -- Gary Dilts - Raymond Fisher - Julie Roehm - Jeff Bell - Simon Boag... What do all the above names have in common? They are the names of senior VPs in Chrysler Group who have either left Chrysler, or transplanted to Mercedes (Boag) . With the uncertainity of the future of PT Cruiser, is it partly due to all of the executives roles being changed so frequently? Jeff Bell was in charge of Product Strategy at Chrysler Group before he left for Microsoft... Exactly how much do you think all the executive shuffling is impacting Chrysler Group’s execution plans?...

* USA - Twelve Worst Polluters
USA -autobloggreen, by Joel Arellano -Jul 13, 2006: -- ... Now we go to the smoggy side to find the 12 worst polluters... Our source, this time, is the Green Book issued by the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE). Each year, the ACEEE reviews vehicles and gives it a Green Score: the vehicle's overall environmental impact... The Green Score is based on fuel efficiency, tailpipe emissions, and vehicle gases contributing to global warming... Those with the worse scores are considered "mean" machines.The worst top 12 Mean Machines from "least" worse to "most" worse are:...

* China - Car company Chang'an to enter hybrid market
USA -autobloggreen, by Sebastian Blanco Jul 12th 2006: -- Chang'an Motor Corp (Ford and Suzuki's Chinese partner) will build a gasoline-electric hybrid for the Chinese market (and possibly overseas) by 2008... The company said it hopes the hybrids will make up 10 percent of it's sales by 2010... and ... will invest about $31 million as part of its $620 million investment in its own-brand cars. Chang'an's announcement comes after other automakers – Toyota and Geely Automobile – said they would bring hybrids to China in the next few years... The cost difference between regular engines and hybrid engines could hinder hybrid acceptance in China as it has in other markets...

* China - SAIC transfers assets to Shanghai subsidiary
BEIJING,China -Bloomberg/Associated Press -July 12, 2006: -- Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp. (SAIC), said Wednesday that it had injected 20 billion yuan of assets into its Shanghai-listed subsidiary, creating China's largest publicly traded carmaker as the group seeks funds for expansion... The stock surged 10 percent... Shanghai Auto will pay the equivalent of $2.5 billion in cash and stock for parent's stakes in factories and consumer finance outlets shared with its joint venture partners General Motors and Volkswagen...

* Canada - Ford to install Sirius radios in vehicles
Toronto,ONT,Canada -The Toronto Star -July 13, 2006: -- Ford Canada plans to install Sirius satellite radios in virtually all its vehicles by 2008, the carmaker said Thursday... As part of the exclusive, long-term deal, Ford will offer the factory-installed satellite radio receivers bundled with a subscription to Sirius Canada's channel satellite radio service... Sirius satellite radio delivers 110 commercial-free radio channels to paid subscribers...

Biofuels - USA - Starts Construction of 36 Million Gallon Per Year Biodiesel Plant

MEMPHIS, TN,USA -grainnet.com -Jul. 13 2006: -- Memphis Biofuels LLC today announced the closing of its funding and the start of construction on its 36 million gallon per year biodiesel production facility... Located in Memphis, TN, the facility is designed to be expanded to 100 million gallons per year in the future. The Company plans to be in production this fall... The Company will utilize state of the art technology and regionally available, high quality vegetable and animal feed stocks to produce biodiesel for the mid-south and national markets...

Oil Change Interval - USA - Master Mechanics vote for 3,000-mile

USA -Autoblog,by John Neff -Jul 13th 2006: -- In a survey conducted by Valvoline, sixty-percent of ASE certified Master Automobile technicians questioned said that a vehicle's oil should be changed every 3,000 miles. Twenty-nine percent said between 3,000-5,000 miles is acceptable and just two percent voted that between 5,000-10,000 miles is okay... This has to be one of the oldest running debates in the world of car care. The advents of synthetic motor oil and systems that monitor oil life have weakened the age-old 3,000-mile argument...

Biofuels Debate - USA - It’s Corn vs. Soybeans ?

Chicago,Ill,USA -The New York Times -July 12, 2006: -- Biodiesel produced from soybeans produces more usable energy and reduces greenhouse gases more than corn-based ethanol, making it more deserving of subsidies, according to a study being published this month in The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences... The study, done by researchers at the University of Minnesota and at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minn., points to the environmental benefits of the biodiesel over ethanol made from corn, stating that ethanol provides 25 percent more energy a gallon than is required for its production, while soybean biodiesel generates 93 percent more energy... The Minnesota researchers write that with a projected doubling of global demand for food within 50 years and an even greater expected increase in demand for transportation fuels, “there is a great need for renewable energy supplies that do not cause significant harm and do not compete with food supply”... (Photo: Andy Manis/Associated Press - A study says the rising interests in alternative fuels, like ethanol made from corn, above, could affect the food supply. The study recommends an emphasis on ethanol made from waste materials)

AUTOS' WORLDWIDE

* Japan - Toyota's managers targeted - Japanese police say 3 quality-control officials may have played down steering problems in '90s
Tokyo,Japan -AP/The Detroit News, by Christine Tierney -12 July 2006: -- Toyota Motor Corp. finds itself in a deeply uncomfortable position as three of its quality-control managers in Japan are the focus of a criminal investigation into whether they downplayed reports of steering problems in the mid-1990s... That problem was subsequently cited as the possible cause of an accident in Japan that injured five people and eventually led to a global recall by Toyota of more than 1 million vehicles...

* USA - MG will be Chinese owned and U.S. made
DETROIT,Mich,USA -The New York Times, by Nick Bunkley -JULY 12, 2006: -- Can the mystique of a British sports car be recreated by a Chinese company in America's heartland? ... That is the bet by Nanjing Automobile Group, which plans to resurrect the fabled MG marque in a demonstration of how truly global the automotive industry has become... Nanjing, which purchased the assets of the bankrupt MG Rover Group last year, is aiming to be the first Chinese carmaker to open a factory in the United States. The company was set to hold a news conference Wednesday in Oklahoma to announce plans to build a newly designed MG TF Coupe there starting in 2008...

* UK - Comments on GLOBAL MOTORS? - Will GM Shrink its Way to Success?
The embattled automaker has now shown it can downsize like nobody's business. But in a brutal summer selling season, the real trick will be growing its business
London,UK -Time, by DAREN FONDA -Jun. 27, 2006: -- General Motors isn’t the most efficient automaker in America. It does not produce the highest-quality cars (that would be Porsche), the funkiest designs (check out Scion), or offer the best prices when you factor in resale values (versus Honda and Toyota). But say this for the General: nobody beats it at downsizing. GM CEO Rick Wagoner acknowledged as much in a press conference this week, noting that “over the past 10 years, [GM] has had a lot of experience in this regard.”...

* UK - 'Ghosn Motors' (or Global Motors): Emerging markets could be the key
UK -just-auto.com (subscription) -12 July 2006: -- If Kirk Kerkorian gets his way and installs Renault-Nissan as General Motors’ partner, he’ll want to see a return... Clearly Kerkorian, GM’s single largest shareholder, is unhappy with the speed of the company’s turnaround, and he believes Renault-Nissan boss Carlos Ghosn – “Le Cost Killer” – will sort things out at a brisker pace...

* USA - Government opens investigation of Scion tC sedans
WASHINGTON,DC,USA -Associated Press -July 11, 2006: -- The government is investigating Scion tC sedans after receiving reports that the vehicle's glass moonroof may shatter, dropping fragments into the passenger compartment... The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said in a posting on its Web site Tuesday that it had opened a preliminary evaluation involving an estimated 112,800 tCs from the 2005-06 model years...

Liquid materials handling - Australia - Explostop safety factor

Australia - ATN Australasian -12 July 2006: -- Explostop was a materials handling solution featured at last month’s Queensland Safety Show, it is a product that reduces the chances of explosion and reduces fluid motion of gases and liquids that are being transported... Explostop is made from a special anti-corrosive aluminium alloy foil that is manufactured into a meshed net of hexagonal cells or spherical ball which can be installed into all types of tanks to prevent the explosion of flammable gases or liquids by using the principal of heat conductivity... The net is recommended for installation to large existing storage tanks or for installation to new tanks during production...

Recall - Australia - VW issue T5 Transporter van

Australia -ATN Australasian -12 July 2006: -- Volkswagen Group Australia has issued a recall on the T5 Transporter van model years 2004-2005... For vehicles manufactured between February 2004 and June 2004 Volkswagen would like to inspect the handbrake lever...

Noise - USA - Highway barriers a sound idea

Montreal,Quebec,Canada- Montreal Gazette (subscription) -July 11, 2006: -- Along with pollution and greenhouses gases, the automobiles that North Americans love so well also generate noise... One solution to this problem is the sound barrier, a wall alongside a highway to deflect some of those decibels upward, away from highway-side neighbourhoods... We're driving more than ever, in more cars, and so we're generating more noise, even before you factor in all those heavy trucks and light-but-loud motorcycles. So it's no surprise there's more demand for sound barriers all over Montreal Island...

Production - Russia - Isuzu to assemble up to 10,000 trucks a year

TOKYO,Japan -KAZINFORM (Russia) -July 11, 2006: -- Japan's leading truck producer Isuzu plans to assemble up to 10,000 trucks a year in Russia... In 2006, UAZ will assemble 500 medium-duty trucks ELF with a payload capacity of 3 tonnes. In the future, it may also produce CXZ 51 heavy-duty trucks with a payload capacity of 20 tonnes... Isuzu plans to increase its output to 30,000 trucks a year in the future...

GLOBAL MOTOR II - USA - Inside GM's game plan

Under fire from Kerkorian, Wagoner and his team take go-slow approach

DETROIT,Mich,USA -The Detroit News, by Bill Vlasic -11 July 2006: -- General Motors Corp. Chairman Rick Wagoner opened the automaker's board meeting last Friday with a subtle jab at his largest shareholder's plan to ally GM with two foreign automakers... While he didn't mention Kirk Kerkorian by name, Wagoner said "some of us are mildly uncomfortable" with how the billionaire investor secretly courted Carlos Ghosn, the CEO of Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co., a GM source with direct knowledge of the meeting... But that was as provocative as Wagoner would get at possibly the most important board meeting of his career...

GLOBAL MOTORS - USA - How about Ford-Renault-Nissan?

Detroit,Mich,USA - The Detroit News, by Christine Tierney -July 11, 2006: -- Chemistry with Ghosn, complementary lineup could make more sense than alliance with GM... Might Ford Motor Co. be a better fit? As investors weigh the pros and cons of an alliance among General Motors Corp., Renault SA and Nissan Motor Co., the Dearborn automaker's name keeps cropping up... According to the local version of events, Carlos Ghosn, CEO of both Renault and Nissan, first sounded out Ford when he began his search a little over a year ago for a third partner for the Renault-Nissan alliance...

Comments - USA - Brazil paves way for Ford

Division's surprising turnaround offers vital lessons for automaker to recover, prosper in U.S.

SAO BERNARDO DO CAMPO,SP, Brazil -Wall Street Journal, by Geraldo Samor -July 11, 2006: -- Ford Motor Co.'s Brazil unit here was straining to succeed in 1999 as much as Detroit and the U.S. auto industry are struggling today. After four consecutive years in the red, Ford had seen its market share in Brazil slip to just 6.5 percent, fourth place behind rivals like General Motors Corp... Executives at the company's Dearborn headquarters were seriously considering pulling out of South America... (To change) The steps the company took in Brazil were basic but vital. First, Ford Brazil overhauled manufacturing by closing inefficient plants -- a move that is now being mimicked by Detroit -- and took a huge risk by opening a low-cost factory that now ranks among Ford's most efficient. Second, Ford Brazil started making cars that were in synch with consumer tastes. That is something Ford needs to do in North America, industry consultants say...

Hours Of Service - UK - VOSA to Target Foreign Trucks

The Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) is to wage a year-long campaign, targeting foreign lorries on the roads of Britain

Essex,UK -Tyres & Accessories -10 July 206: -- This follows news that Government inspectors have found that foreign trucks are more than three times more likely than British trucks to be flouting safety rules... One quarter of foreign truck drivers checked in the year up to the end of March had exceeded the maximum number of driving hours allowed between breaks; this compares to only eight per cent of British drivers... Romanian, Turkish and Irish drivers proved to be the worst offenders. While it was found that Romanian trucks were twice as likely as British lorries to have major safety defects, such as faulty brakes and bald tyres... VOSA plans to check 22,500 foreign trucks over the next 12 months...

AUTOS WORLDWIDE

* USA - Toyota recalls pickup trucks
Chicago,IL, USA -ABC7Chicago.com -July 10, 2006: -- Toyota will recall Tundra pickup trucks from model years 2003 through 2005... The recall is so the automaker can deactivate an airbag cut-off switch designed to protect children who ride in the front passenger seat...

* China - GM joint venture takes lead in China car sales
SHANGHAI, China -Associated Press/Xinhua News Agen -11 July 2006: -- Overall market hits 1.8 million units sold so far this year; GM knocks VW from top spot... Auto sales in China rose nearly 50 percent in the first half of this year, with General Motors taking the lead, according to industry data reported Monday... The data from the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers showed total sales in the first half at 1.8 million units, up 46.9 percent from the same period of 2005... Shanghai GM, General Motors Corp.'s joint venture with state-owned Shanghai Automotive Industrial Corp., or SAIC, nudged aside former market leader FAW Volkswagen...

* Japan - Isuzu Motors to produce trucks in Russia
TOKYO,Japan -Nihon Keizai Shimbun /AFX News Limited/XFN-ASIA/Forbes (USA) -10 July 2006: -- Isuzu Motors Ltd plans to manufacture Isuzu-brand trucks in tandem with Russian partner OAO Severstal-auto... Severstal-auto will start assembling this month Isuzu's Elf 2-ton-class truck at its Ulyanovsky plant, some 800 kilometers southeast of Moscow, using engines and other key components shipped by Isuzu from Japan...

Service - USA/Canada - Kenworth dealers offer one-hour express

KIRKLAND, Wash.,USA -TruckNews, by Steven Macleod -10 July 2006: -- In an effort to reduce downtime and prevent costly repairs on the road, Kenworth PremierCare ExpressLube Service has been made available for heavy- and medium-duty trucks at participating Kenworth dealers in the US and Canada...

... and Solutions - USA - Five major challenges facing the nation's transportation system...

National Center for Intermodal Transportation testifies before US House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure

Denver, CO,USA -Canadian Transportation & Logistics, by Julia Kuzeljevich -11 July 2006: -- Dr. Patrick Sherry, PhD, Co-director of the National Center for Intermodal Transportation (NCIT) and a Professor with the Intermodal Transportation Institute (ITI) at the University of Denver, has addressed the US House of Representatives' Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure and identified five major challenges facing the nation's transportation system. * Congestion – * Conservation – * Capacity – * Competition – * Connectivity – ... Professor Sherry made nine recommendations to the House Committee to help alleviate the U.S. transportation problems...

Increasing freight - South Africa - 'Roads cracking up under weight of freight'

Cape Town,South Africa -Independent Online, by Melanie Gosling -July 10 2006: -- Transport Minister Jeff Radebe has said South Africa's roads cannot take the 10 percent annual increase in freight trucks that throng our national highways, while the ability of the railways to deal with freight is diminishing... The rapid increase of freight trucks on the roads was not entirely because rail capacity was decreasing, but also because road transport gave freight movers "flexibility" and "the quick response needed" for South African companies to compete globally... The National Freight Logistics Strategy report, released last year and adopted by the government, says the entire freight transport system, from the harbours to rail operations, is hampered by a lack of infrastructure, an absence of integrated planning, big information gaps and a serious lack of skills...

Health - Canada - Border guards concerned over diesel exhaust exposure

The union for Canada's border guards says seven female officers working at the Ambassador have got cancer

OTTAWA,BC,Canada -Today's Trucking/Ottawa Citizen -10 July 2006: -- The union representing Canada's border officers is launching an investigation to find out if gas and diesel emissions from idling cars and trucks lined up at crossings is affecting officers' health... According to a recent story, Customs officers working at border crossings want to know if prolonged exposure to petroleum emissions could contribute to illnesses such as respiratory diseases or cancer... Prolonged exposure to diesel exhaust, which is arguably a cause of cancer, is a particular concern for officers who work near transport trucks that queue up In their approach to Canada-U.S. border crossings...

Drivers penalties - USA - Harsher ones for violating state’s move over law

Nashville,TN,USA -AP/Southern Standard (McMinnville,TN) - 10 July 2006: -- Motorists who fail to make room on Tennessee roads for emergency vehicles and law enforcement now face fines as high as $500... "We encourage drivers to use courtesy and a little common sense", Tennessee Highway Patrol Col. Mike Walker said. “I do not want to tell another family their loved one was killed by a careless driver”... The law, which was enacted in 2004, requires drivers to move over a lane if there are police, emergency or service vehicles on the shoulder of the road. If drivers cannot safely move over, they are required to slow down until they pass the site...

Branded - Australia - NTC ‘out of touch’ on fatigue proposals

Australia -Supply Chain Review -10 July 2006: -- The Australian Trucking Association (ATA) has branded fatigue penalty proposals from the National Transport Commission (NTC) problematic and out of touch with the real world... ATA Chief Executive Stuart St Clair says the proposals — which would see even minor rest break breaches cop a $600 fine and the loss of three demerit points — would create problems in compliance and diminish productivity by making unrealistic demands on operators...

Drivers' Payment II - USA - Researches find trucking rate-per-mile system outdated

Arkansas U researchers hint that it may be time to change the way long-haulers are paid

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.,USA -Today's Trucking (Canada) -10 July 2006: -- Management researchers at the University of Arkansas have reinforced what many of North America's truckers already believe -- that a combination of poor working conditions and sub standard pay issues is why many truckers put the brakes on their driving careers... With turnover rates near 30 percent on average in the U.S, trucking firms have instituted various measures to address recruitment and retention of good drivers, but R&R problems persist, says John Delery, professor of management in the Sam M. Walton College of Business...

Jobs Groundbreaking Today - USA - For Shelby County Trucking Facility

Indianapolis,IN,USA -INdiana Business Report/Shelbyville News -10 July 2006: -- Morristown Express is breaking ground today on a new truck washing facility in the Shelby County town... Once the facility is complete, the trucking company will be able to wash its own tanker trucks, which currently must be driven another 100 miles to be cleaned... The facility is expected to employ as many as 25 people when its opens in late October...

Record - USA - 74 FedEx drivers to compete nationally

Memphis,TN,USA Memphis Business Journal -10 July 206: -- FedEx Corp. will send a record 74 drivers from 38 states to compete in the National Truck Driving Championships in New Orleans Aug. 15-19, the company announced Monday... Sponsored by the American Trucking Associations, the NTDC recognizes industry leadership in safety and professionalism... At the NTDC, the FedEx state champions will compete against 400 others for national titles in eight different classes of vehicles and for the National Grand Champion title... The world's largest package shipper, FedEx employs about 30,000 in Memphis and more than 200,000 globally...

Comments - UK - First signs of China slowdown?

UK - Transport Intelligence -July 11, 2006: -- Rising interest rates around the world seem to be biting, resulting in a reduction in consumer spending. Another reason for the slowdown could also be the increasing price of Chinese manufactured goods. Costs in the market are increasing – be it labour or fuel – and these are being reflected in rising prices... This has led some commentators to believe that China is now ‘exporting inflation’ and the inevitable result of this will be to make Chinese goods less competitive. Although it is still too early to talk about a longer term slowdown, especially when sea freight volumes are on many trades are still buoyant, it is a reminder that China will not always be relied upon to continually drive the industry...

Fuel Alternatives - USA - Michigan Enacts Biodiesel, Ethanol Tax Breaks

Mich.,USA -AP -10 July 206: -- Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm, signed into law Friday legislation lowering the state’s tax on biodiesel to 12 cents from 15 cents a gallon, and the tax on ethanol blends to 12 cents from 19 cents... Granholm also signed a bill that offers grants to gas station owners who want to sell biodiesel and ethanol-blended fuel... Ethanol is a gasoline additive made primarily from corn. Biodiesel is a made from renewable sources such as soybean oil... The Michigan House approved both bills in March...

Trucking Industry - USA - Reaches Major Freight Transportation Milestone Trucks

Haul 10.7 billion tons of freight; 68.9 percent of freight moved in 2005

ALEXANDRIA, Va.,USA -truckline -July 5, 2006: -- The U.S. trucking industry increased its share of the nation’s freight pool, hauling more goods than ever in 2005, the American Trucking Associations reported today... ATA’s American Trucking Trends 2005-2006, the industry’s almanac on U.S. trucking, reports that the trucking industry hauled 68.9 percent of the total volume of freight transported in the United States in 2005. This equates to an all-time high carrying load of 10.7 billion tons, and $623 billion in revenue, representing 84.3 percent of the nation’s freight bill...

Drivers' Payment - USA - J.B. Hunt Boosts it

USA -TTNews -10 July 2006: -- Truckload carrier J.B. Hunt Transport Services raised its driver pay scales for truckers holding commercial driver’s licenses as of Monday, the National Transportation Institute said... The pay scales range from 37 cents to 45 cents per mile in 12 states mostly in the south, southwest and including California and Florida... In 16 states including most of the East Coast, pay will range from 40 cents for new drivers to 45 cents maximum... In four Midwestern states and Kentucky, pay will range from 42 cents to 47 cents maximum... The carrier’s owner-operator pay is not changing, NTI said...

Controls - USA - S.C. Using High-Tech Radar to Catch Speeders

USA -Associated Press - 10 July 2006: -- South Carolina state police have received a federal grant for new technologies to help catch speeders, even on highways divided by a concrete wall or cable median barriers, the reported... The state’s Highway Patrol plans to buy about 80 new devices, including seven special radars equipped with a beam so narrow it can calculate a vehicle’s speed from 1,000 feet away... The money is coming from a $127,250 grant from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration... Most of the radars are dual-antenna, enabling troopers to clock vehicles in front and behind them...

More Oil - Saudi Arabia - Chevron Testing Method to Extract

S.Arabia -Wall Street Journal(NY,USA) - -9 July 2006: -- Crude oil prices have more than tripled since 1992 and prices reached an all-time closing-price high last Wednesday, finishing the day on the New York Mercantile Exchange at $75.19 a barrel... So, Saudi Arabia is exploring technologies to unlock its hard-to-tap reserves of heavy crude oil... The efforts could boost the world’s largest oil producer’s output to even higher than its easier-to-pump light crude... Earlier this year, U.S. oil firm Chevron ran field tests that inject stem into sludge-like heavy wells in Saudi Arabia, and the company plans more tests after positive initial results...

Oil Makers - USA - Introduce Redesigned Products For ’07 Engines

Companies Advise They Will Cost More

USA -TTNews - 10 July 2006: -- Manufacturers of heavy-duty diesel engine oils said they have introduced — or plan to soon introduce — reformulated lubricants designed to meet the requirements of 2007 truck engines. And like just about everything else associated with meeting the government’s tightened emission standards, the new oils will cost more... The new oils are made to meet the American Petroleum Institute’s CJ-4 specification, which says the oil should allow fleets to maintain existing required change intervals, although it must operate in a hotter engine environment, oil company representatives said...

TRANSPORTS NEWS WORLDWIDE

* UAE - P&O to be re-launched on stock exchange
UK - Transport Intelligence Ltd. -10 July 2006: -- Press reports in London are suggesting that P&O will be re-launched on the stock exchange less than a year after state-owned Dubai Ports World (DPW) bought the company for £3.8billion... It is suggested that DPW will use the name P&O to make an IPO on both the London Stock Exchange and the embryonic Dubai International Financial Centre. The new company will include Dubai’s original assets – notably the Jebel Ali Port complex in Dubai- as well as P&O Ports global network of ports... What might be of greater relevance to DPW is the number of Arab investors who appear to find the logistics sector an attractive destination for the investment flows from their oil revenues. A good example of this is the Kuwait based PWC which continues to expand through acquisition, this week purchasing the Swiss Freight forwarder Cronat Holdings...

* USA - Ozburn-Hessey Logistics makes US acquisitions
USA - Transport Intelligence Ltd. -10 July 2006: -- Ozburn-Hessey Logistics one of the US’ largest third party logistics providers, has acquired Barthco International, Inc., of Philadelphia and Turbo Logistics of Gainesville, GA... According to Ozburn-Hessey Logistics CEO Scott McWilliams the two acquisitions will see the company's 2006 combined operating revenues exceed $600 million...

* China - DFDS buys out Asia Pacific partner
Hong Kong,China - Transport Intelligence Ltd. -10 July 2006: -- In a further acquisition in the Asia Pacific region, DFDS Transport (Hong Kong) Ltd. has announced that it has acquired the activities of CDS-Frans Maas (Asia) Ltd... The activities and staff of CDS-Frans Maas (Asia) Ltd. will be integrated into the current organization of DFDS Transport in Hong Kong, Guangzhou (Southern China), Shanghai and Vietnam. DFDS Transport Air and Sea is operating in 11 countries in Asia and employs a total of 790 employees in that region...

* UK - Private equity company buys DX Services
London,UK -Transport Intelligence Ltd. -10 July 2006: -- The Boards of UK express operator DX Services and Mail Acquisitions Limited (MAL) have announced the terms of a recommended cash offer by MAL to acquire the whole of the share capital of DX Services... MAL is a newly incorporated company established for the purposes of making the offer, and is ultimately controlled by private equity group Candover Partners. The offer will be 415 pence in cash for each DX Share and values the existing issued share capital of DX Services at £348.7 million... The Offer represents a premium of 25.6 per cent. to the Closing Price of 330.5 pence per DX Share on 3 July 2006...

* India - Allcargo buys ECU Line
Mumbai,India -Transport Intelligence Ltd. -10 July 2006: -- Allcargo Global Logistics Ltd., India's leading Non Vessel Operating Common Carrier (NVOCC) has, in a notice to investors, announced that it has acquired 100 per cent stake in the Belgium firm, ECU Hold NV, the holding company of the ECU Line Group... A global multinational and a world leader in consolidation and NVOCC operations, ECU Hold NV is headquartered in Antwerp, Belgium. It serves 5,000 destinations worldwide through its network of offices around the world... Allcargo had early this month floated an Initial Public Offering (IPO) for the purpose of , among other things, undetaking acquistions...

Story - USA - Big machinery is his specialty

Ocala,FL,USA -Ocala.com, by RON MALPASS -9 July 206: -- When Jim Milliron was just 16 years old, he went to work in a coal mine as a mechanic's helper. "I knew right then what I wanted to do with my life," said... Jim eventually went to work for Femco Machine. Femco is a world-class machining, repair and field service organization with offices in Pennsylvania and Florida. The company repairs and makes gears for the behemoth 300-ton cranes and some of the largest draglines in the world... When one of these mammoth machines breaks down, the cost can be hundreds of dollars an hour... "We have worked in every state east of the Mississippi as well as Canada and the Caribbean Islands"... Jim is relaxing with his wife Nancy at their home in Belleview now. Soon he will head back to New Orleans or to wherever there is a need for heavy-duty mechanical expertise... (Photo: RON MALPASS/SPECIAL TO STAR-BANNER - Jim Milliron stands next to his maintenance truck)

Products - USA - Caterpillar shows off newest models of off-road heavy duty trucks

Big CATs

Decatur,GA,USA -Herald & Review, by ASHLEY RUEFF -Jul 8, 2006 : -- The new model of the 773F off-highway truck was introduced at the Caterpillar Inc. plant Saturday... Used for mining, can can reach a speed of 40.1 mph and carry 100 tons - enough hauling capacity for every one of the more than 1,300 students at MacArthur High School to pile on. It has six tires that cost $12,000 apiece and an average list price of $1.273 million... Instead of boarding the huge trucks by ladder, operators will now use a staircase to reach the cab. That was one change customers had requested to increase safety... The operator's environment was also upgraded to make it more user-friendly... It takes about a month to build a truck, with two to four trucks coming off the line a day...

New state law - USA - Bans billboard trucks

"... display are visual pollution ..."

Honolulu,HI,USA -Pacific Business News (Honolulu) -July 7, 2006: -- Billboard trucks that display paid advertising on their sides are now banned in Hawaii... Gov. Linda Lingle signed legislation that prohibits billboard trucks from operating in the state and also from being parked on public roadways or on private property that can be easily seen. Trailers are also banned... Hawaii has some of the most aggressive outdoor sign laws in the nation and was one of the first states to ban most kinds of billboards and outdoor advertising... "Billboard trucks are the latest effort by the advertising industry to make an end run around Hawaii's billboard law," said Mary Steiner CEO of The Outdoor Circle. "The ads they display are visual pollution that helps to destroy the scenic beauty of Hawai'i"...

Purchases - UK - British Tactical Truck Order Rises to GBP 1.35B

Chesapeake City,MD,USA -Defense Industry Daily -10 July 2006: -- A deal announced on June 29, 2006 by UK Defence Procurement Minister Lord Drayson will add more trucks to Britain's program to replace its Armed Forces' tri-service fleet of 4-tonne, 8-tonne, and 14-tonne cargo and recovery trucks... The UK Ministry of Defense release notes that it is exercising an option for 2,077 more vehicles, extending the GBP 1.1 Billion contract it placed with MAN Nutzfahrzeuge AG subsidiary MAN ERF UK Ltd by about GBP 250 million...

Fuel Alternatives - Holland - Shell executive: Food crops to produce biofuels "morally inappropriate”

Singapore -planetark.com -7 July 2006: -- Royal Dutch Shell, the world's top marketer of biofuels, considers using food crops to make biofuels "morally inappropriate" as long as there are people in the world who are starving, an executive of the company said yesterday at a seminar... Eric G Holthusen, Shell’s Fuels Technology Manager Asia/Pacific, said: "We think morally it is inappropriate because what we are doing here is using food and turning it into fuel. If you look at Africa, there are still countries that have a lack of food, people are starving, and because we are more wealthy, we use food and turn it into fuel. This is not what we would like to see. But sometimes economics force you to do it"...

Equipment for Trucks - Switzerland - Pioneer retro-fit NOx reduction

Switzerland -Le Temps /Auto Industry (UK) -7 July 2006: -- The environmental technology institute of the Hochschule Rapperswil in Switzerland has developed two bits of equipment permitting trucks to cut their NOx emissions by 75-90%... The ‘NOxOPT’ system, fitted to a particulate filter, costs 3,000 Swiss francs (circa £850), while a ‘NOxOFF’ system, ten times more expensive, uses selective catalyst reduction (SCR) to clean up nitrous oxide emissions. Fitting either would entitle operators of older, more polluting trucks to a reduction in the operating taxes levied on commercial vehicles...

Silencing trash trucks - USA - New noise ordinance could

New Haven,CT,USA --WTNH/News Channel 8's, by Chris Velardi -July 7, 2006: -- City living can be filled with fun, excitement and noise. But soon those unwanted sounds will be muffled thanks to a new ordinance aimed at improving the quality of life... When you live in a city you learn to expect and accept certain sounds. Things that are tolerable during the day, like a loud car stereo, can be a real source of anger in the middle of the night...

New Biodiesel Source - Australia - Powering trucks with animal fat: plans for a

Victoria,Australia -ABC Regional Online, by Kirsty Bradmore -7 July 2006: -- A new project is launched in Warrnambool to develop animal fats into a source of fuel for the trucks that transport them... The Victorian Government is forming a partnership with one of Victoria's largest meat processors and exporters in a project that could see the very animals transported to the Warrnambool plant providing the fuel for the trucks that carry them... With the global price of oil again on the rise, and predictions of further inflationary spikes as producers pass on the costs to consumers, it is a project keenly anticipated by all... (Image courtesy: ABC Rural Online - Could these cattle soon be powering livestock trucks around Warrnambool and South West Victoria?)

Markets - Russia - KamAZ sells 36% more trucks 1H06

KAZAN,Russia -RIA Novosti (Moscow) -July 7 2006: -- KamAZ, Russia's largest truck producer, said Friday its sales had increased by 36% year-on-year in January-June to 18,500 trucks... The company exported 4,500 trucks, 22,700 engines and transmission units (up 34%), and components worth 3.5 billion rubles (almost $130 million) during the period...

Toledo employees - USA - Banned from reading in city trucks

Toledo,OH,USA -13abc.com/AP -July 7, 2006: -- Truck drivers for the city of Toledo won't be able to spend their breaks reading newspapers or magazines in their trucks now that the city has banned them... The ban on periodicals in city-owned trucks will take effect July 20th... Bill Franklin, director of the Department of Public Services, says officials want to improve residents' pride in their work forces...

Warn - Canada - More trucks disappear in east Hamilton

Hamilton,Ontario,Canada -AM900-CHML, by Jay McQueen -July 07 2006: -- Two more tractor trailers have been stolen in Hamilton's east end... Police say suspects hooked up their own tractor to the trailer and made off with the trailer which was full of appliances from Sears... At least 5 tractor trailers have been stolen from lots in east Hamilton in the last couple weeks...

Internal document - USA - Anticipates increasing volume of traffic

Mexican trucks coming to U.S.

Kansas, Miss.,USA -WorldNetDaily.com/Missouri Sunshine Law , by Jerome R. CorsiJuly 8, 2006: -- An internal document shows a planned "inland port" in Kansas City anticipates an increasing volume of Mexican truck traffic, despite claims it will be restricted to railroad transports from south of the border... WND has obtained, an internal spreadsheet analysis prepared by the port project, Kansas City SmartPort, indicating that "with marketing," it projects that in 2010 a high of 508 trucks per day would pass through a Mexican customs facility located at the port. The volume would grow to a projected high of 881 trucks per day in 2015... KC SmartPort plans to utilize deep-sea Mexican ports such as Lazaro Cardenas to unload containers from China and the Far East as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement super-highway plan...

Jobs in Demand List? - Australia - Truck drivers, next to be added to Migration Occupations

Australia -Australian Visa Bureau -7 July 2006: -- Nick Grimm of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation is reporting that Australia's trucking industy is lobbying the Government to have truck drivers recognised as skilled workers... According to the latest official figures, more than 150 foreign workers are arriving here every day in response to the nation's shortage of skilled workers. Now the transport industry wants to deal itself into the game, arguing there aren't enough trained truck drivers to keep the wheels turning, underscoring just how widespread the shortage really is... The problem for the industry is that truck drivers are regarded as only semi-skilled, making foreign drivers ineligible under the Federal Government's skilled migration rules. But the union is arguing that the industry move is part of a strategy to drive down wages, and adds to the concern that Australia will simply end up with more and more low-paid foreign workers... According to official forecasts, Australia's total freight workload is expected to double in the next 15 years...

Figures - Canada - Stats Can updates Canadian trucking pool

Ontario home to third of small carriers

OTTAWA,BC,Canada -Today's Trucking (CAN) -7 July 2006: -- There were 44,400 firms active in the truck transportation industry in 2003... Overall, 35000 firms identified themselves as owner-operators, followed by 5900 small for-hire carriers, or those with less than $1 million in revenue, and 3,500 for-hire carriers above that threshold, Stats Canada reports... Small for-hire carriers generated total operating revenues of $1.63 billion, for a $273,000 per carrier average... For these carriers, intra-provincial movements were responsible for almost three-quarters of the total operating expenses. Geographically, Ontario was home to almost a third (31%) of these small for-hire carriers, followed by Quebec with 26 percent... Meanwhile, owner operators generated total revenue of $6.80 billion or about $194,000 per carrier... Intra-provincial movements accounted for 67 percent of the total operating revenues generated by owner operators ($4.55 billion). On a distinctive note, 53 percent of these carriers specialized in long distance transportation. However, their geographic distribution was similar to the one observed for small for-hire carriers, according to Stats Canada... (Photo: Intra-provincial hauls make up about 75 percent of operating expenses for small carriers)

Terror Threat? - USA - Hazardous-materials trucks

Technology could reduce the risk by a third, but at a cost of $1.1 billion to the industry

Boston,MA,USA - The Christian Science Monitor, by Mark Clayton -July 07, 2006: -- The federal government's post-9/11 programs are enough to protect hazmat trucking, say federal officials and trucking organizations... Some security experts say more needs to be done... At issue: Should the government force the industry to spend $1.1 billion - about $5,500 per truck - on new technologies that could reduce the truck-bomb threat by a third?... Every day, some 800,000 hazmat loads hit the road, carrying everything from chlorine and gasoline to liquefied natural gas and radioactive material each year, according to a recent study by the Transportation Security Administration. Nearly 2 in 5 of those shipments are classified as "extreme risk"... Available technologies, however, could prove a major deterrent, says the Transportation Department. Its 2004 study found eight technologies were largely successful, including satellite-based communications, global positioning tracking systems, remote vehicle-disabling devices, and "panic buttons" that send out an instantaneous alert to law enforcement. Biometric identification had some problems but was considered promising... Such a portfolio of technologies could reduce the hijacking threat by about 36 percent, the DOT study concluded. At the same time, the technologies could save the industry an estimated $4.1 billion through improved operating efficiencies, it found... Some truckers say the technology is vital. "I don't know why this technology isn't moving faster into the industry," says Reggie Dupre, president of Dupre Transport, which transports a range of hazardous materials in a 350-truck tanker fleet based in Lafayette, La... During a year-long federal test, one of Dupre's drivers accidentally bumped a "panic button" device. Within minutes, police had the rig surrounded... (Photo: LIAISON/FILE - HAZMAT: This load of radioactive waste in 2001 is one of 800,000 hazardous shipments that hit US roads daily, offering targets for terrorists, some experts say)

AUTOS' WORLDWIDE

* USA - Tennessee could benefit from GM, Nissan alliance, analysts say
NASHVILLE, Tenn.,wood8tv -8 July 2006: -- Economic analysts say it's unlikely that the Music City could become the next Motor City... However, some analysts say the possible alliance between General Motors, Nissan and Renault could boost Tennessee's reputation as a new hub for automotive manufacturing... Nissan recently moved its North American headquarters from California to the Nashville area, and both Nissan and GM have manufacturing plants nearby...

* USA - Honda revs up to double new hires
Decatur County, Indiana,USA -IndyStar.com, by Norm Heikens -July 8, 2006: -- Honda Motor Co. is laying the groundwork to employ as many as 4,000 workers at its Greensburg auto plant -- double the 2,000 the company announced last week... Decatur County area Plan Director David Neuman said water pipes, electrical lines and other utilities at Honda's 1,700-acre plant site in Greensburg are being designed to handle at least 3,500 workers and possibly 4,000...

* India - After China, global auto makers heading to low-cost India
MUMBAI, India -Gulf Times (Doha,Qatar) - 8 July, 2006: -- India is becoming key to the growth plans of global auto makers as its emerging market and low-cost manufacturing base offer an alternative to rival China... Japan’s Suzuki Motor Corp said this week it would build a new compact car in India for Nissan Motor Co to sell in Europe, as part of a broad-based pact to supply vehicles and share manufacturing in emerging markets...

* Germany -Authority OKs Porsche raising VW stake
FRANKFURT,Germany -Reuters -7 July 2006: -- The German cartel office on Friday said it approved Porsche AG's request to increase its voting rights stake in Volkswagen AG to a theoretical blocking minority of 25.1 percent...

* Germany - GM Europe sales flat in first half
FRANKFURT,Germany -Reuters -7 July 2006: General Motors Europe reported on Friday that sales were flat in the first half at 1.07 million vehicles and market share stagnated at 9.4 percent, the company said on Friday...

* Germany - BMW group vehicle sales rise 1 percent in June
FRANKFURT,Germany -Reuters -7 July 2006: BMW AG sold only 1 percent more vehicles to customers in June amid a tough comparison from a year earlier, it said on Friday. "Consequently, the at times above-average strong growth in the previous months was not achieved," BMW said in a statement...

* Germany - BMW says first half China sales rise 55.8 percent
SHANGHAI,China -Reuters -7 July 206: -- BMW AG said on Friday its sales in China and Taiwan rose 55.8 percent in the first half of 2006 from a year earlier, due largely to robust demand in the mainland...

* China - Car sales growth slows in June
SHANGHAI,China -Reuters -7 July 206: -- Car sales in China, the world's second-largest vehicle market, rose at their slowest annual pace this year in June as tax measures and higher fuel prices hit sales of SUVs...

* China - PSA/Peugeot-Citroen to build a new auto plant in China
SHANGHAI,China -Reuters -7 July 206: -- PSA/Peugeot-Citroen said on Friday it will build a new plant with its Chinese partner in central China capable of producing 150,000 vehicles per year...

* India - After China, automakers head to low-cost India
MUMBAI,India -Reuters -7 July 206: -- India is becoming key to the growth plans of global automakers as its emerging market and low-cost manufacturing base offer an alternative to rival China...

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28.7.06

TRUCKINGS' PROFITS USA

Product - Canada - Fuel saving device gets favourable result from Mullen trial

Announcement - USA - Isuzu Launches New Web Site

Products - Canada - Imperial Oil continues preparations for new engines

Heat wave - Poland - Forces heavy trucks off Polish roads

Trucker Shortage - USA - Tries to solve trucker shortage

Experience - UK - The Times turns its attention to trucking

Changes - USA - Oregon proposes intrastate HOS

Study - USA - At any amount, per-mile pay makes drivers unhappy

Against - USA - Expanding range of Mexican trucks a mistake, OOIDA says

Purchases - Philippines - Board approves governor's deal to get 10 more trucks

Hazmat Clearance - USA - Canadian drivers can now use FAST card for

Prognosis - Sweden - Volvo Motors Along for Now

Trucker Shortage - USA - Higher pay may help solve

Problem - Philippines - Truck overloading as top road maintenance trouble

26.7.06

TRANSPORTS' WORLDWIDE

Fuel - USA - Crude supply flat; gasoline supply down

AUTOS' WORLDWIDE

TRUCKINGS' WORLDWIDE

Truck Reduction Program - USA - PierPASS reaches a successful peak

Inauguration - Turkmenistan - International terminal at Gaudan-Bajgiran checkpoint on Turkmen-Iranian border

Generation X - USA - Has let truck driving pass by

Excellence Award - USA - Transport America Receives Top Safety Recognition

Study - USA - Medium & Heavy Truck Aftermarket to Exceed $12 Billion in 2010

Products - USA - Kohler Power Systems Enters Heavy-Duty Truck Market

Speculation - Sweden - Volvo trucks climbing amid investor

EcoNews - USA - MoDOT Selected to Test Hybrid Bucket Trucks

Production - India - Fully-built trucks by Leyland soon

25.7.06

NAFTA - USA - Trade falls in April after recent March all-time high

Prognosis - USA - June truck sales hold on to record levels

Reports - USA - Expect class 8 slump for next 18 months: Bear Stearns

Business - Italy - Fiat signs deal with Russians

Recognition - Australia - Hartwig’s men know how to sell top trucks

Infraestructures - China - Overloaded trucks force tunnel repairs

Drivers' Health - Australia - WorkCover to monitor fatigue plan implementation

Drivers' Health - USA - Petro installs blood pressure monitors

Award - USA - Dart driver receives NSC

Earnings - USA - Caterpillar records highest profits ever

Breaker, Breaker - USA - Sirius Signs Up Peterbilt

Earnings - Italy - Iveco doubles quarterly profit

Story - USA - Founder's son, 86, drives truck for 86-year-old firm

Earnings - USA - Paccar 2nd-qtr profit up 53 percent

Laws - USA - Changes made to flag laws for loaded log trucks

Controls - Canada - Almost half trucks in blitz unsafe

Earnings - Sweden - Mack sales strong in June

Fuel Costs - Canada - Trucking firms forced 'to pass on' , groups says

22.7.06

Trucking Wives - USA - Hold Reunion in St. Louis

Business - India - Ashok Leyland Acquiring Czech Truck Maker Avia AS

Protests - USA - Truck drivers from India to take U.S. jobs?

Production - Iran - MAN trucks on Iranian roads

21.7.06

Production - Mexico - Detroit, Far South

AUTOS' WORLDWIDE

Petroleum - USA - Record Oil? Not Yet.

Comments - USA - Logistics Costs Soar

TechnoNews - USA - PrePass looking to upgrading the Interstate

Warning - USA - Capitol Hill sees truck safety in action

TRUCKINGS' PROFITS WORLDWIDE

Job Index - USA - Trucking, shipping lower recruitment here

Trucking in the black - USA - 2Q a good business

Ethanol - USA - A distribution facility planned in Manly

20.7.06

TRANSPORTS' WORLDWIDE

Report - UK - Middle East express/logistics growth at risk

Production - South Korea - Tata Daewoo develops first LNG-powered tractor-trailer

Market Overview - China - Heavy-duty truck sector in 2005-2006

Opinion - USA - Shift freight from trucks to trains

On the Road Again - USA - Fresh Start 2002

Fuel Alternatives - Australia - Largest biodiesel facility completes first production

Production - China - Nissan to manufacture and sell small trucks in

Solutions - Australia - Trucking regulation needs to get smart