trucks world news: May 2007

"GREEN" NEWS * USA - U-Haul Partners With The Conservation Fund's Go Zero Program

U-Haul International, Inc. today announced its partnership with The Conservation Fund's Go Zero Program.

Phoenix,AZ,USA -PRIME NEWSWIRE -May 29, 2007: -- Customers renting equipment at participating U-Haul locations across North America and on uhaul.com will have the option to donate to The Conservation Fund's Go Zero Program to offset carbon emissions... The Conservation Fund launched its Go Zero Program in an effort to make it easy and affordable for individuals, corporations and even entire communities to "Go Zero" by measuring and then offsetting their carbon emissions by planting trees. This effort will address climate change, protect the wildlife habitat and enhance North America's public recreation areas...

Labels: green news

EVENTS * USA - 'Tricked trucks' highlight weekend fest on 18 wheels

They aren't your ordinary "18-wheelers."

MI,USA -MLive.com/Muskegon Chronicle, by Dave Alexander -May 29, 2007: -- Polished chrome and flashy paint jobs on the outside conceal inside "living" quarters that include everything from custom upholstery to big-screen TVs, old-fashioned jukeboxes and even hot tubs. And it's all done within the ordinary confines of a commercial truck cab... Local people will get to view some of these rigs when they roll into town June 22-23 for the first West Michigan Truck Show 2007, which is being staged by Kirksey & Associates Inc., a local event marketing company...

Labels: events

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS WORLDWIDE

* China - Cummins venture reaches million milestone
Xiangfan, Hubei, China -Truck News (Ontario,CAN), by Steven Macleod -30 May 2007: -- Dongfeng Cummins Engine Company (DCEC), a 50/50 joint venture between Cummins and Chinese auto maker Dongfeng Motor Corporation (DFM), has reached a significant milestone by producing its one millionth engine.The engine, a Cummins ISLe to be installed in a Dongfeng heavy-duty Tianlong truck, highlights the companies' engine partnership in China that dates back to 1986...

* France - Renault Trucks to create 500 jobs at two assembly plants
Paris,France -Automotive World (UK) -29 May, 2007: -- Renault Trucks will create 500 additional jobs this year at its manufacturing sites in France, according to the company... The OEM notes that it has decided to increase its staff at the Bourg-en-Bresse, Ain and Blainville-sur-Orne, Calvados plants to me...

Labels: truckmakers news

SAVING FUEL COST

* USA - Trucking firm looks a way to cut - Rising gas prices probably have many local motorists scrambling to find fuel-saving possibilities. One local hauler has taken the job into its own hands

Oil City,PA,USA -The Oil City Derrick, by NICHOLAS A. HESS -29 May 2007: -- Klapec Trucking of Reno, which operates more than 70 diesel-powered trucks, has introduced several cost-saving programs, hoping the changes will help company revenues and perhaps pay for themselves in the long haul... Cindy Urban, the president of Klapec Trucking, said the firm is testing various additives in its vehicles. She thinks the changes could help reinvent the company and prepare it for the possibility of further increases in diesel prices... Each truck holds 200 gallons of diesel fuel and gets about six miles to the gallon. With diesel prices rounding out at above $3 a gallon and Klapec Trucking delivering to 48 states and to parts of Canada, fuel charges can be daunting... The company offers its drivers discounted fuel prices; bulk fuel tanks containing about 7,500 gallons of diesel each are on site. The company pays for the drivers' fuel... Another cost-saving options are: the use self-contained generators called Auxiliary Power Supply Units, in each truck to reduce costs during idle time. Urban said the rigs use one gallon of diesel fuel per one hour of idling time. With the new generators, trucks would only require two-tenths of a gallon of diesel fuel per hour... Klapec has not had any cutbacks and recently purchased seven new trucks and 11 new trailers, also increasing employment... (Photo: Klapec Trucking Company driver Jim Patterson refills his truck with diesel fuel at the company's on-sight station in Reno. The local business has taken several measures to decrease fuel usage due to rising costs)

* Israel - Ingenuity Builds Fuel-Saver for U.S. Truckers
Tel Aviv,Israel -Israel National News/Isra Good -30 May 2007: -- Professor Avraham Seifert and his colleagues at the Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering at Tel Aviv University have developed a device which is likely to save the U.S. trucking industry some $400 million per year... The drag reduction device, an actuator, was exhibited at the “World’s Best Technologies Showcase” in Texas... Through the combined action of suction and pulsed blowing of airflow, the device reduces drag in a controlled manner when it is attached to the back of the truck or trailer... Israeli researchers say the device is projected to increase fuel economy in trucks and trailers by as much as ten percent...

Labels: ideas fuel saving

RECALL * Japan - Mitsubishi to doit with Super Great trucks

Melbourne,Australia -The Age -May 29, 2007: -- Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp said Tuesday it will recall 5,023 units of the Super Great truck to fix a defect in its engine mount for free... In a report filed with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler AG said the affected trucks were manufactured between December 1999 and February 2006 and that it has received a total of 22 complaints from users... The engine could move out of position because the bolts fixing the engine on the truck's underbody could fall away as they were not fastened properly, it said...

Labels: recalls

Report * Canada - Too soon to judge 07 engines

Surprise: Diesel particulate filter (DPF) re-generations are occurring "every 25,000 miles instead of 50,000 miles”

Toronto,Ont,CAN -Truck News, by James Menzies -28 May 2007: -- Everyone at the Canadian Fleet Maintenance Seminars this morning was curious to hear first-hand reports on the performance of new 2007 engines. Performance of the new engines is the industry’s “best kept secret,” according to Technology and Maintenance Council (TMC) co-chairman, Darry Stuart... To date, the biggest surprise is that diesel particulate filter (DPF) re-generations are occurring far more frequently than expected, said Rob Braswell, technical director of TMC... “We’re seeing re-generations every 25,000 miles instead of 50,000 miles,” Braswell said. Other concerns have arisen about the intense heat created during re-generations – as much as 1,200 C. The high re-gen temperatures have actually melted the cowlings off some auxiliary power units, Braswell said... Beyond that, 2007 engines appear to be operating relatively problem-free, according to Stuart...

Labels: engines 07

* Canada - Truckers blast Councillor's second attempt at T.O.

The OTA says the idea to ban Toronto bound trucks in rush hour is 'absurd' and 'impractical.'

Toronto,ONT,CAN -Truckstop Canada News -29 May 2007: -- Toronto Councillor Michael Walker renewed calls recently to ban all trucks from hogtown's downtown core during rush hours... It's deja vu all over again at City Hall as Walker is once more asking city council's executive committee to study his plan to restrict delivery trucks from downtown from 7 to 10 a.m. and 3 to 6 p.m.... Ontario Trucking Association President David Bradley said as much this time around when he described the plan as being "designed solely to garner headlines and votes for Michael Walker as opposed to doing anything to resolve gridlock."... And just as when the controversial idea was first floated (and subsequently scrapped) two years ago, trucking, shipping and retail groups have responded by calling the plan "absurd," "ill-conceived," and "impractical."...

Labels: rush hours ban

HOV * Canada - Ontario paves way for more lanes, on 400 series hwys

Most truck drivers won't be allowed on them

Toronto,Ontario,Canada -Truckstop Canada News, by Harry -May 29, 2007: -- Greater Toronto's 400-series highways are getting more vehicle lane capacity, the Ontario government announced -- except most truck drivers won't be allowed on them... Faced with a "commuter logjam" that could see up to two million more vehicles on Toronto-area highways in the next 25 years, the Ontario government will expand the number of high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes on the province's 400-series highways to encourage car pooling and transit use... The HOV lanes are restricted to vehicles carrying at least two occupants. Motorists without passengers who are caught using the lanes face fines of $110 and three demerit points...

Labels: infrastructures

Teamster vs. FedEx * USA - Scuffle could pinch local trucking cos.

Despite engine noise, unions may be coasting

Worcester,MA,USA -The Worcester Business Journal, by Matthew L. Brown -28 May 2007: -- The ongoing dust-up between Teamsters Local 170 in Worcester and FedEx Ground in Northborough over whether the company’s drivers should be classified as employees and be permitted to vote on whether to unionize doesn’t have Central Massachusetts trucking companies worried... But perhaps it should... The Teamsters have accused FedEx of threatening, intimidating, punishing and economically injuring drivers who were trying to form a union in late 2005 and early 2006... FedEx considers its drivers independent contractors. The union thinks otherwise, and has been fighting over it with FedEx before the National Labor Relations Board and in courtrooms. The NLRB has previously sided with the union, but that decision is being appealed by FedEx, preventing a vote from moving forward... Central Massachusetts has a number of smaller over-the-road trucking companies that use independent contractors, or a mix of independent contractors and company drivers. Why hasn’t Local 170 targeted them for unionization?... According to the company, it’s because FedEx is a big target... (Photo: The FedEx Ground facility in Northborough)

Labels: drivers unionization

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS WORLDWIDE

* India - Ashok Leyland enters used trucks market
Jaipur,India -PTI/The Hindu News -May 29, 2007: -- Hinduja group Flagship company Ashok Leyland has announced entering the market for buying and selling pre-owned trucks, making it the first commercial vehicle manufacturer in the country to do so... The trucks would be given a complete makeover and resold under the name 'Altrux' at half the price of new vehicles... Refurbishment of the body and chassis would be carried out to set Altrux quality standards by qualified personnel to ensure optimum performance and enable the buyer to operate the truck right from delivery point...

* Russia - GAZ intends to raise the dividends
Moscow,Russia -"AK&M" -29 May 2007: -- GAZ BOD recommended the holders to approve the 2006-dividends payment at the annual meeting June 21, the company informed... In 2005 the dividends were paid at 38.4 rub./stock in the total volume of 560.1mln rub. which is 100 fold higher prior year figures... The 2006-net profit (RAS) increased to 1.36bn rub. from 836.234mln; revenues - 23.765bn rub. from 23.136bn rub... GAZ Group is the largest car maker in Russia. It involves the car, trucks and buses producers. The major holder is Russian Machines...

Labels: truckmakers news

Border crossing charges * USA - Set to increase in June

Ottawa,Ont,CAN -Truck News, by Steven Macleod -28 May 2007: -- It now appears certain the US will proceed with its plan to impose a border crossing fee of $US 5.25 per truck on June 1st...- The levy is designed to fund additional agricultural quarantine inspections on the Canada/US border. The fee will be applied to trucks that pay to enter the US on a per crossing basis - regardless of what they are carrying - but will not impact those carriers who have already purchased a 2007 user fee transponder...

Labels: border charges

TRUCKS´ SALES WORLDWIDE

* Russia - Major order for Volvo Trucks

Russia -The Easier (Chester,UK) -27 May 2007: -- Russian logistics company Sunflower has signed a contract to buy 300 trucks from Volvo Trucks in Russia... The order covers 300 Volvo FM trailer trucks powered by the D13 engine with a power output of 440 hp. The new Volvo FM will also have the latest-generation I-Shift, Volvo’s automatic gear changing system. The system enables the driver to focus solely on the road and the surroundings, thus improving traffic safety... Deliveries of the new Volvo FM trucks will start at the end of May 2007 and will be completed during the first quarter of 2008...

Labels: sales trucks

DEBATE: RECORDING DEVICES * USA

* Use recorders to keep tired truckers parked

Cherry Hill,NJ,USA -The Cherry Hill Courier Post -May 27, 2007: -- ... New Jersey's representatives in Washington should work to make our highways safer by voicing their support for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's effort to get more trucking companies to install devices on trucks that make sure drivers don't stay behind the wheel for more than 11 hours at a time... The idea is to cut down the number of accidents caused by drowsy driving... Truckers, by the nature of their job, are more likely than the average driver to drive for long, continuous stretches. The problem is, after 14 or 15 hours on the road and 700 miles, a driver can be incredibily fatigued while operating a huge, dangerous vehicle... Federal "hours of service" regulations say truck drivers can't drive more than 11 hours in a row without calling it a day... But what's stopping truckers and their bosses from fudging the books?...

Labels: electronic recorder on board

DEBATE: TRUCK LANES * USA - Big-rig lobby wants to slam brakes on mandatory toll use

The state is getting to the point of making some decisions, and controversy is starting to surface

Atlanta,GA,USA -The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, by ARIEL HART -27 May 2007: -- ... No decisions have been made about what to build to deal with increasing truck traffic from the Atlanta airport and the Savannah ports and other business passing through the Georgia crossroads of metro Atlanta — or how to pay for it... Even now, traffic tops 10,000 trucks per day on the north end of I-285 and 30,000 trucks per day on parts of I-75... It's not the usual: Truckers and car drivers who might be expected to brawl over who owns the highway frequently seem in harmony over the benefits of building separate lanes for trucks, for safety if nothing else... What often divides them is whether truckers should be forced to use them and pay a toll... State and national trucking groups couldn't disagree more. They point out that they pay 24.4 cents federal tax per gallon of diesel to car drivers' 18.4 cents per gallon of gas, and that they carry goods those car drivers wear, eat and use. They say truckers should have a choice... The stagnant gas tax, which doesn't rise with inflation, is one reason tolls are an issue at all...

* USA - Make truckers pay for lanes
Atlanta,GA,USA -Atlanta Magazine On Line, by Doug Monroe -May 27, 2007: -- Toll truck-only lanes are a good idea. Have you been on the interstates around here lately? All trucks. All speeding. Truckers like the idea of truck lanes, until they're asked to pay... "I didn't know they were going to be tolled," [truck owner Perry Wilson] said. If they're mandatory, "that's going to put it on the back of the trucking companies to build the roads"... They SHOULD build the roads. Of course, the trucking industry doesn't want to pay for tearing up the highways. They've never paid their fair share for the damage they cause and they lobby very effectively to remain a beneficiary of the socialistic world of road-building -- the state bears the cost of their doing business...

Labels: tolls roads debate

DANGEROUS DRIVERS * South Africa - Roadworks truck and lorry collide

KwaZulu,South Africa -IOL/sapa -May 15 2007: -- Nine people were injured when a heavy duty lorry collided with a stationary road works lorry in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands on Tuesday, traffic authorities said... Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said three of the nine injured were taken to hospital in a critical condition... Four others were described as being in a serious condition. Two were listed as having minor injuries... Pietermaritzburg.Govender said the cause of the accident was not known, but the driver had been charged with reckless and negligent driving...

Labels: dangerous drivers

LHVs a modern thing?... You obviously haven't heard about this older longer heavier vehicle...

London,UK -Biglorryblog. Picture thanks to Bob Tuck -26 May 2007: -- ... is referring to is none other than Carters Royal Berkshire Steam Fair who run a bunch of vintage Scammells, Atkinsons and AECs amongst others... and he got to drive a roadtrain (pictured above) not once but three times all the way from Wandsworth to Hemel Hempstead. "This was one of those jobs that I would have done for nothing..."

Labels: antiques trucks

... or this... a three-trailer Daimler roadtrain!

London,UK -Biglorryblog. Picture thanks to Will Shierstells -26 May 2007: -- ... Clearly we've all be labouring under the false impression that longer heavier vehicles (LHVs) are something new. However ... take a look... Apparently this picture is from Motor Transport's old picture archives and dates back to December 1925. "All the caption on the back says is Daimler road train" concluding, "Note the air brakes on all 16 wheels" ... ¿?

Labels: antiques trucks

FMCSA study * USA - Tractor-trailer crashes prove costly

A single truck crash in the U.S. costs nearly $100,000

Washington,DC,USA -TruckStop Canada, by Harry -May 24, 2007: -- ... The bill for longer tractor-trailer accidents, however, costs significantly more, according to a new study commissioned by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration... The new study provides the latest estimates of unit costs for highway crashes involving medium-duty and heavy trucks by severity. Based on the latest data available, the estimated cost of police-reported crashes involving trucks with a gross weight rating of more than 10,000 lbs averaged $91,112 (in 2005 dollars)... Crashes involving long combination vehicles (LCVs) -- trucks with two or three trailers -- were the rarest, but their cost was the highest among all crashes -- $ 289,549 per crash... Straight truck crashes with no trailers had the lowest cost – $ 56,296 per crash. The average cost of property damage only (PDO) crashes was $15,114; while the costs per non-fatal injury crash averaged $ 195,258... Not surprisingly, fatal crashes cost more than any other incidents. The average cost was $ 3,604,518. The total estimate excludes mental health care costs for crash victims, roadside repair costs, cargo delays, earnings lost by family and friends caring for the injured...

Labels: crashes costs

Dangerous Enterprises * USA - Trucking company in maze crash sees license suspended

Sabek Trucking's hazardous materials license is pulled as officials celebrate freeway re-opening

CA,USA -The Daily Review Online, by Erik N. Nelson, Josh Richman and Ian Hoffman -25 May 2007: -- ... the trucking company involved in the fiery April 29 gasoline tanker wreck that weakened the ramp lost its license to carry gasoline... The California Highway Patrol slapped Sabek Trucking of South San Francisco with an indefinite suspension of its hazardous materials transportation license, in effect killing its only business of hauling gasoline to a about 20 Bay Area convenience stores... It was the first time the state suspended any trucking company since 1992, when the law empowering the highway patrol commissioner to do so was enacted...

Labels: suspended

* USA - FMCSA Moves to Protect Fleets From ID Theft

Alexandria,VA,USA -Transport Topics, by Eric Miller -May 21, 2007: -- Brent Jones first got word March 27 that his trucking company’s name was being used as part of a freight load board fraud scheme... “I got a phone call from a credit agency,” said Jones, owner of Baja Enterprises Inc... “They said they were doing some research and something seemed fishy because our company had an address in San Francisco”... Fishy indeed, because Baja’s headquarters are in Cedar Falls, Iowa. It didn’t take Jones long to discover that someone had gone into a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Web site and changed the address of his company. The address change apparently allowed a California-based freight-load broker to receive payment for fraudulent contracts using Baja’s name and federal motor carrier number... Jones said his small trucking company was lucky that it has not suffered any apparent financial damage... Web site security improvements aside, truckers such as Regina Wood, co-owner of Apple Trucking Inc., Germantown, Wis., said she now checks the FMCSA Web site every day to make sure her company’s information has not been altered... Wood discovered in March that someone had changed the address of her two-truck company to somewhere in California when she got a call from an insurance agent who was wondering what happened to a trailer full of roses that Apple was supposed to deliver... Right away, Wood knew something was wrong because her company owns no refrigerated trucks... She said Apple’s information on the FMCSA Web site has since been corrected, but she remains vigilant...

Labels: safety

MEXICANS`S TRUCKS DEBATE * USA

* Pilot program restrictions expected to pass Congress
Washington,DC,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Jami Jones -May 24, 2007: -- A supplemental spending bill has emerged from a congressional conference committee with a provision restricting the Mexican cross-border program attempt by the Bush administration... The DOT faces a lot more paperwork before launching the pilot program if the bill is signed into law... The bill would mandate a list of laws and regulations, including commercial driver’s license requirements, that the Secretary of Transportation will accept compliance with a corresponding Mexican law. That notice will also have to include an analysis of how the U.S. and Mexican laws and regulations differ...

* Border Opening, SafeStat Scores
Mechanicsville,Va,USA -TTNews, Letters to the Editor, by Stephen Bradley (Overland Distribution Corp.) -22 May 2007: -- Opening the border to Mexican trucks will hurt the American trucker and thousands of owner-operators. By allowing Mexican trucks in, we will lose thousands of dollars in road taxes... Who is going to make them pay what we do in taxes?... Also, if we open the border to Mexican trucks, who is going to police them?... Who is going to foot the bill?... The American people and the politicians need to open their eyes and see what the real problems are going to be. A lot of Americans are going to lose their jobs if we open the borders. The Mexican truckers will drive our already suffering freight rates into the ground. They will start hauling freight for little or nothing. Most of their trucks are junk — scrap buckets...

Labels: mexican's trucks

TRUCKMAKERS` NEWS

* USA - Mack options idle-free system for trucks
Lehigh Valley,PA,USA -Truck News, by Steven Macleod -May 24, 2007: -- Mack Trucks has introduced the Idle Free Hybrid System as an option on its trucks, in an effort to allow drivers to heat or cool their cabs, and run electric items without idling the engine... This non-polluting anti-idling system utilizes battery power to provide reliable electrical power and to save fuel, noted the truck maker...

Labels: truckmakers news

Statistics * USA - ATA Truck Tonnage Index Falls 2.2 Percent in April

Alexandria,Va,USA -Truck Line -May 25, 2007: -- The American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 2.2 percent in April, after posting a 1.2 percent jump in March... ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said the year-over-year decrease was not surprising, given the weak anecdotal reports from carriers as well as the unexpected strength in March. “April’s tonnage figures highlight that the economy hasn’t turned the corner just yet. We can expect this volatility to continue over the next few months, with the potential for more year-over-year contractions.”...

Labels: trucking statistics

Electric Trucks * UK - European manufacturer to double output of electric vehicles

Newcastle-Upon-Tyne,England,UK -Truck News (Canada), by Adam Ledlow/Reuters -24 May 2007: -- Electric vehicle maker Tanfield Group plans to double output this year to meet growing demand from emissions-conscious customers... Tanfield currently assembles five vehicles a week, but will make 10 a week by the end of the year and 30 next year, the report said... At present, Tanfield offers a variety of electric vehicles, including a 7.5-tonne Newton truck, a 9.0-tonne variant and a 12-tonne vehicle scheduled to launch shortly... (Picture: The Tanfield Group`s Smith ST is designed to carry heavier loads and larger volumes than most commercial electric vehicles)

Labels: electric trucks

TOLL ROADS DEBATE * USA

* OOIDA takes truckers’ privatization concerns to DC
Washington,DC,USA -Land Line Magazine -May 24, 2007: -- The privatization of public assets is a lot like taking Aunt Sophie’s china set to a pawnshop. You get a little quick cash for the short term, not getting nearly what the items are worth, and then you still need something to eat on next Thanksgiving when the price goes up for dishes... This was just one of the sentiments shared Thursday, May 24, when OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer testified during a hearing before the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Highways and Transit... Spencer pointed out that when highways are privately owned, those private companies are able to raise toll rates year after year. It is the Association’s position that the motoring public has already paid taxes and user fees to build those roads. Subsequent toll raises may force highway users on to alternate routes on local roads, resulting in congestion and safety hazards, along with additional costs to purchase those roads... (Photo by Dustin Watkins, OOIDA staff - OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer, second from left, testified Thursday, May 24, before the U.S. House T&I Committee’s Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. Also testifying were, from left, Bill Graves, president of ATA, Greg Cohen, president of the Highway Users Alliance, and Michael Replogle, transportation director for Environmental Defense)

* American Trucking Associations Against Public-Private Partnerships

USA -Truck Line -24 May 2007: -- Bill Graves, President and CEO of the American Trucking Associations, testified this morning before the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure regarding public-private partnerships... The American Trucking Associations opposes the lease or sale of existing toll roads, bridges or tunnels to private parties and has called on government to abandon these financing techniques... The trucking industry supports the objective of a toll-free national highway system where funds to finance highway improvement primarily come from highway user fees...

Labels: tolls roads debate

TRUCKERS' STORIES * India - "The truck took 8 days averaging speed of 11 kms per hour to cover 2150 kms"

Man Mohan @3: Good Roads, but Many New Speed-breakers

India -Indra’s Drishtikona (Viewpoint) -25 May 2007: -- Here is a study that appeared in Times of India: A truck’s journey from Kolkata to Mumbai on NH 6 carrying a 9 tonnes of cargo is revealing. The truck took 8 days averaging speed of 11 kms per hour to cover 2150 kms, as it wasted 32 hours in just waiting at toll booths (1,940 minutes) and border posts (840 minutes)... After completing the loading at 2pm, it could have departed only after 10pm when ‘no entry’ hours get lifted, but the traffic jam at the city’s exit point made it leave only at 4am. The truck reached WB-Jharkhand border at 6pm, but had to halt, as night clearance was not allowed. It took 2 hours for clearance on WB-Jharkhand and Jharkhand-Orissa borders and Nagpur Naka, and 4 hours at Orissa-Chhatisgarh border. When it reached Mumbai at night, and called octrai agents, it waited all night for processing. Can’t the delays of the journey be reduced or eliminated to attain the global benchmark? An Indian truck manages to log just 7,500 kms every month as against 17,500 kms in USA...

Labels: truckers stories

* Malaysia - Port Klang: Potential tourist port city?

There are no places of attraction for tourists - no shopping malls or cultural centres. Just a skyline dotted with gantry cranes, huge haulier trucks and other heavy machinery on the ground and miles and miles of warehouses, depots and godowns

Port Klang,Malaysia -The Business Times, by Kang siew Li -May 25 2007: -- Despite its success as a principal gateway for a huge portion of Malaysia's trade, Port Klang has remained what it is - just a port... The port, which handles close to half of Malaysia's containerised cargo remains largely a destination for only those who have dealings with imports, exports and all matters related to maritime trade and the shipping industry... Port Klang is included in the voyages of many of the world's major shipping lines. Maersk Line, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Cosco Container Lines, Evergreen Marine, Hanjin Shipping and France's CMA-CGM call on the port, and international corporations such as Schenker Logistics, Kuehne & Nagle and BAX Global have set up their logistics activities in the vicinity... Nonetheless, Port Klang has a long way to go before becoming a port city as it requires extensive development of facilities and attractions which involve huge costs... (Picture: "Little India": Klang is the biggest Indian street in Malaysia)

Labels: tourist ports

The Future of Trucking? * USA - Chassis Chief Thinks it Will be Plug In and Go

P&D fleets likely to lead the way

Union City,IN,USA - Vocus/Emediawire (press release-Ferndale,WA) -May 24, 2007: -- A recent trade show sponsored by the National Truck Equipment Association included a special display of hybrid trucks. At the same show, a special hybrid truck seminar sponsored by International Truck and Engine Corporation attracted an overflow crowd... Don't be surprised if trucking fleets will just plug in to an electrical outlet to refuel in the not-so-distant future. Jay Sandler, vice president of commercial products for Workhorse Custom Chassis, a truck chassis manufacturer, thinks medium-duty work trucks of all kinds powered mainly by electricity are only five to 10 years away... While hybrid electric cars have been in the news for some time, only recently have hybrid truck options come to the fore for heavy-duty pick up and delivery chores, as well as for an array of construction, maintenance and service trucks... (Biglorryblog (UK) Photo: "Can you see yourself running a truck like that in future John?")

Labels: trucks future

TECHNO NEWS

* Japan - Nissan Says U.S. Mobile Phones May Disable Altima, G35 Key
Tokyo,Japan -Bloomberg, by Alan Ohnsman -May 25, 2007: -- Nissan Motor Co., Japan's third- largest automaker, said U.S. mobile phones may disable a high- tech key used on two of its newest U.S. models, erasing a code that lets the key open doors and start the car... "Intelligent Keys'' used on Tokyo-based Nissan's 2007 model Altima sedan and Infiniti G35 sports car have been disabled when certain types of phones are kept too close to the device, erasing electronic codes, spokesman Tim Gallagher said today. Nissan plans to send new keys to customers later this year, he said...

Labels: technonews

TRUCKS' MARKETS

* Belgium - European Truck Sales Plunge 40% After Surge Last Year
Brussels,Belgium -Bloomberg, by Chad Thomas -May 24, 2007: -- European heavy-truck sales in April plunged 40 percent after a surge a year earlier when customers bought vehicles ahead of European Union regulations requiring trucks to have tamper-proof mileage-measurement devices... Registrations of trucks heavier than 16 tons plummeted to 28,254 vehicles from 47,336 a year earlier, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said in a statement today. Four-month sales fell 11 percent to 103,483 units...

* Germany - Stocks Rise, Led by DaimlerChrysler, Lufthansa, Telekom
Germany -Bloomberg (NY,USA), by Henrietta Rumberger -May 23, 2007: -- Germany's benchmark DAX Index rose for the fifth day, led by DaimlerChrysler AG after Morgan Stanley analysts said the stock has potential to gain... DaimlerChrysler, the world's fifth-largest carmaker, rose 2.45 euros, or 3.8 percent, to 67.84 euros. Volkswagen AG, Europe's largest carmaker, advanced 2.86 euros, or 2.6 percent, to 113.96 euros... DaimlerChrysler is "our preferred way to play trucks in Europe,'' Morgan Stanley analysts including Adam Jonas wrote in a note to investors... "Our 75 euros price target implies 16 percent upside, but we see 55 percent upside to 100 euros as possible in the event of a more focused organization with improved margins.''...

* China - Daimler Sells China Venture Stake; Poised for New One
Shanghai,China -Bloomberg, by Tian Ying -May 21, 2007: -- DaimlerChrysler AG, the world's largest commercial-vehicles maker, sold its stake in a 10-year- old Chinese bus-making venture, paving the way for it to form a separate partnership producing trucks... Jiangsu Yaxing Motor Coach Co., the other partner in Yaxing Benz Co., bought DaimlerChrysler's 50 percent stake in March, Trevor Hale, the German automaker's Beijing-based spokesman said by phone today... Selling the Yaxing stake will enable DaimlerChrysler to cooperate with Beiqi Foton Motor Co., the country's biggest light-truck maker... Overseas automakers are only allowed two commercial vehicle-making partners in China, the world's second largest auto market...

* Iran, Belarus Form Alliance in Face of U.S. Pressure
Teheran,Iran -Bloomberg, by Lucian Kim -May 21, 2007: -- Iran and Belarus, both under U.S. sanctions, formed a "strategic'' alliance today to boost energy ties and counter American pressure on their economies... Iran plans to assemble Belarusian MAZ trucks, and Belarus is preparing to produce Iran Khodro Co.'s Samand passenger car...

Labels: trucks markets

Two Million Mile Haul * USA - B20 vs. Diesel in

Santa Fe,NM,USA -CleanAIR Systems -24 May 2007: -- The Two Million Mile Haul is the first major study in a real-world setting comparing the performance of B20 biodiesel (a mixture of 20% soy biodiesel and 80% diesel) with diesel on long haul trucks on an over-the-road test covering 2 million miles... To date the test has completed 350,000 miles of its goal with favorable results and only minor issues... Final conclusions and assessments concerning mileage and fuel efficiency will not be available until the 2 million mile mark has been reach...

Labels: biodiesel

DEBATE: "Congestion Pricing" * USA - New York Voters Oppose Manhattan Car Fees, Poll Says

A majority of New York City voters oppose Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposal to impose fees on drivers entering congested parts of Manhattan, according to a Quinnipiac University poll

New York,NY,USA -Bloomberg, by William Goldschlag -May 24, 2007: -- The mayor is asking the state Legislature to approve a three-year pilot program for "congestion pricing'' that would charge most car drivers $8 and truckers $21 between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays to travel south of 86th Street in Manhattan... Citywide, voters are against the plan by 56 percent to 37 percent, the Quinnipiac poll found. In the five boroughs, only voters in Manhattan favored it, 62 percent to 29 percent. Opposition elsewhere was 67 percent to 26 percent in the Bronx, 63 percent to 29 percent in Brooklyn, 61 percent to 32 percent in Queens and 69 percent to 26 percent in Staten Island... (Posted by Bob Fois /NewsCopyNewYork)

Labels: congestion pricing debate

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS

* Japan - Hino's Fourth-Quarter Profit Falls on Costs, Year-Earlier Gain
Tokyo,Japan -Bloomberg, by Naoko Fujimura & Kae Inoue-April 25, 2007: -- Hino Motors Ltd., half owned by Toyota Motor Corp., posted a 43 percent drop in fourth-quarter earnings as the price of raw materials rose and it had a one-time gain from selling assets a year earlier... The company said rising prices of platinum, copper and resin used to make trucks and buses increased costs by 8 billion yen in the year just ended, while sales of assets boosted net income in the year-earlier period by 2.2 billion yen. Hino, Japan's largest maker of heavy-duty trucks, is trying to raise sales in overseas markets as the domestic truck market is shrinking...

* Japan - Hino May Build Truck Assembly Plant in Colombia for Tax Benefit
Tokyo,Japan -Bloomberg, by Chris Cooper -May 25, 2007: -- Hino Motors Ltd., Japan's largest maker of heavy-duty trucks, is considering building an assembly plant in Colombia to make vehicles at less than the cost of importing them from Japan... Hino's President Shoji Kondo seeks to catch up to rivals Isuzu Motors Ltd. and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp. in sales of mid- and heavy-duty trucks that can haul more than 4 metric tons. More than half of Hino's sales in the last business year came from Japan, the company said in its April 25 earnings statement...

* Japan - Isuzu Motor Revamps Forward Trucks to Take on Hino
Tokyo,Japan -Bloomberg, by Naoko Fujimura -May 24, 2007: -- Isuzu Motors Ltd., Japan's biggest truckmaker, redesigned its mid-duty trucks for the first time in 13 years to compete with Hino Motors Ltd. and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp.... Isuzu plans to sell 15,000 mid-duty Forward trucks a year in Japan... The Forward is priced between 6.53 million yen ($53,700) and 10.2 million yen, excluding the cost of modifications... The new vehicle may help Isuzu compete in the mid-duty truck segment in Japan, where it lags behind Hino...

* Japan - Fuso Warned by Japan's Government on Failing Repairs
Tokyo,Japan -Bloomberg, by Naoko Fujimura -May 23, 2007: -- Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp., 85 percent owned by DaimlerChrysler AG, was warned by Japan's Ministry of Transport to improve operations after failures were found in auto parts the company recalled three years ago following a fatal accident... The truckmaker reported one fractured clutch housing and seven cases of cracks formed in the parts. No accidents involving injuries resulted from the eight cases, the ministry said...

* Sweden - Volvo Four-Month Truck Sales Drop 17% as U.S. Deliveries Plunge
Gothenburg,Sweden -Bloomberg, by Chad Thomas -May 24, 2007: -- Volvo AB, the world's second-largest truckmaker, said vehicle sales in the first four months of the year declined 17 percent as U.S. deliveries plunged after tougher emissions standards made trucks more expensive... Sales through the end of April fell to 60,536 vehicles worldwide from 72,661 trucks a year earlier... North American sales plummeted 57 percent to 9,964 units... Volvo said May 11 that first-quarter North American truck orders, an indicator of future sales, declined 80 percent to 5,273 vehicles...

* Brazil - Volkswagen May Hire 200 at brazilian Truck and Bus Unit
Sao Paulo,Brazil -Bloomberg, by Romina Nicaretta & Joao Oliveira -May 21, 2007: -- Volkswagen AG, Europe's largest carmaker, may add as many as 200 jobs at its truck unit in Brazil to boost output 21 percent by the end of the year... The division, which employs 3,700 people, is seeking to increase daily production to 200 units from 165 to meet rising demand in the domestic market, Antonio Roberto Cortes, president of the division, said today in an interview in Sao Paulo...

Labels: truckmakers news

DRIVERS' JOBS * Canada - First Nations recruited for trucking industry

Prince George,British Columbia,Canada -The Prince George Citizen, by GORDON HOEKSTRA -23 May 2007: -- A north-central B.C. aboriginal training group and the B.C. Trucking Association on Tuesday agreed to work together to examine marketing trucking as a career to First Nations communities... B.C. Trucking Association president and CEO Paul Landry said, the trucking industry can accommodate virtually any lifestyle choice, including a nine-to-five job or a more adventurous one. "For the right people, a rewarding career in the trucking industry is a real opportunity," he said. "We are a growing industry. We provide a vital and important service. We are the lifeblood of the economy"... McLeod Lake Indian Band chief Alec Chingee, who attended the ceremony, said he believed the co-operative move was long overdue. The way forward for First Nations is to work with industry, he said...

Labels: drivers jobs

STUDY * Canada - Asian carmakers on cusp of overtaking Big Three in NA

One of the most significant impacts on the Canadian economy over the last 20 years has been the rapid change automotive industry landscape

Ottaswa,BC,Canada -Today's Trucking -23 May 2007: -- So says a new report by Statistics Canada, titled Canada's changing auto industry... Still, the auto industry in Canada remains on a solid footing, according to the report... Overseas carmakers moving their auto production to North America, following their success in sales, has left a lasting impression on the domestic market. Asian auto manufacturers have sustained output, investment and employment in this industry at a high level, with the prospect for future growth... Japanese-based manufacturers have filled much of the gap left by the traditional North American automakers in production in Canada. In 2006, Japanese automakers produced just over 900,000 automobiles in Canada, double their level in 1998. As a result, their share of the domestic market in production jumped from 16 percent to more than one-third (36%) during this period... (Picture: More overseas brands than North American cars have been sold in Canada every year since 2001)

Labels: studies

TECHNO NEWS * USA - "Ultra High-Efficiency Engine Concepts"

Sanderson Engine Receives Technology Patents For -- Patents cover core mechanical advancements that enable new generation of engines, pumps and compressors --

Upton,Mass,USA -By Tiziani Whitmyre, Inc. (Boston,Mass) PR -May 22, 2007: -- Sanderson Engine Development Company, a developer of ultra high-efficiency engine technology, has announced the receipt of three new patents by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office... The patents cover a highly innovative piston assembly, an associated piston connecting joint, and a variable compression ratio mechanism. The piston joint and associated components are core components of the Sanderson Rocker Arm Mechanism (SRAM) invented by Robert and Albert Sanderson... The SRAM mechanism is being evaluated for use in a new type of high-efficiency engine presently undergoing development and testing. The engine combines revolutionary technologies that allow direct conversion between reciprocating and rotational motion without use of a conventional crankshaft. The result is an internal combustion engine for vehicles that is much simpler and more fuel efficient than conventional piston engines...

Labels: technonews

* USA - A Look at the Culture That Moves Us

Behind the Wheel With American Truckers

CAL,USA -abcnewsnow, by CHRISTINA LaROSA -May 22, 2007: -- It's easy to forget that America runs on trucks in this age of instant electronic communication. Yet everything we have, including the food, clothes and goods we buy online, has at one point traveled through the country in the back of an 18-wheeler... "The only thing that's not delivered by trucks is babies," said Kim Reierson, the photographer behind the new book "Eighteen — A Look at the Culture That Moves Us"...

Labels: truckers books

SAFETY * USA - Officials want truckers to be safe for long haul

Anderson is a small part of a larger message that local law enforcement officials are sending directly to big rig drivers: Buckle up or face a traffic ticket

Roanoke,VA,USA -The Roanoke Times, by Annie Johnson -23 May 2007: -- In response to a survey which found that only 52 percent of truckers use their seat belts, law enforcement officials are sending a direct message to big rig drivers: Buckle up or face a traffic ticket... David Anderson scoots slowly up and down Interstate 81, listening to music with no real place to go... He is unlike most truck drivers, who deliver freight across the country on ultra-tight schedules... "Everybody passes me," he said. "I'm like a turtle.".. Anderson drives an ad truck -- a 13-foot-high, 36-foot-long mobile banner that tends to be difficult to maneuver in high winds... He makes about $12 an hour cruising up and down I-81 between Bristol and Wytheville on his most recent of jobs, toting a banner that reads, "Smokey Prowling For Violations Next 50 Miles."...

Labels: seat belts

TRUCKERS' STORIES

* USA - U-Haul Renting Tips: "That truck is a real clunker"

Savannah,GA,USA -successCREEations, by Chris -May 22, 2007: -- We made it back to Savannah. But along the way it was far from a sure thing... We rented a little truck like the one here in the photo (LEFT). Only ours wasn’t as nice... To quote what the technician who checked us back in at the U-Haul store here in Savannah told his Assistant Manager,"That truck is a real clunker"... Yep. That’s me and Gorgeous. We live on the edge... We’re just the type to rent a clunker to drive a bunch of prized possessions 1300 miles or so across country... We specifically requested a newer vehicle when we reserved our truck weeks in advance because we were driving so far. Then we took the clunker they offered because I didn’t want to take the time to argue about it...

* USA - I Love Penske Trucks

Cleveland,OH,USA -pomomusings, by Adam Walker -22 May 2007: -- While I was enjoying my Penske truck, I did feel sorry for all those U-Haul renters on the road, with their old-looking, U-Haul trucks that would probably break down somewhere... We drove from Atlanta to Hagerstown, Maryland today. I’ll admit it - I was just a little terrified getting on I-85 today in Atlanta with the 22 ft. Penske truck... We ended up filling the whole truck; so there I was, a newbie “trucker” with all of our worldly possessions in the back. The first time two semis passed me on both sides, I about screamed. But…it got better. Soon I realized I could go faster than 55mph…faster than 65mph…but no faster than 70mph. It probably wouldn’t have been good to go faster than 70mph, but the truck really wouldn’t go any faster than that. I started to get into my groove with the truck, and after a few hours, felt pretty comfortable in it...

Labels: truckers stories

"GREEN" NEWS

* USA - UPS Rolling Out Hybrid Trucks

Atlanta,GA,USA -The Houston Chronicle (Houston,TX) /The Associated Press -22 May 2007: -- UPS Inc. is rolling out 50 hybrid electric delivery trucks that are expected to be fuel efficient and reduce pollution, the world's largest shipping carrier said Tuesday... The Atlanta-based company said the hybrid vehicles, which will operate in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston and Phoenix, are expected to reduce fuel consumption by roughly 44,000 gallons over the course of a year compared the same number of traditional diesel trucks... The hybrids also are expected to reduce carbon emissions, UPS said...

Labels: green trucks

Truck inspection * USA - Detect many dangerous vehicles

The 48-hours commercial truck inspection program on Highway 6 wraps up early this morning

Dillon,CO,USA - The Summit Daily News (Frisco,CO), by NICOLE FORMOSA -22 May 2007: -- During the past two days, Dillon police officers and state port of entry inspectors have seen commercial trucks roll through Dillon with problems ranging from barely-hitched trailers to duct-taped brake lines... Truck inspections by the numbers -Source: Dillon Police Chief John Mackey-: 542 commercial trucks passed through the inspection area between Monday at 6 a.m. and Tuesday afternoon. Of those:

• 272 trucks were weighed;

• 422 violations were documented;

• 41 full inspections were performed;

• and 72 citations were handed out. Almost all the citations were for equipment violations ... (Photo by Mark Fox/The Summit Daily - Trucks line the shoulder of Highway 6 near Dillon as they wait to be weighed and inspected Tuesday morning. Inspections were conducted by the Dillon Police Department, Colorado State Patrol and the Port of Entry, and found a range of violations, including a truck's brakes being held together by Duct tape)

Labels: trucks inspections

TRUCKMAKERS NEWS WORLDWIDE

* Sweden - Volvo Trucks’ new Umeå paintshop meets customers demands on finish

Stockholm,Sweden -Easier (Chester,UK) -22 May 2007: -- Volvo Trucks Umeå’s new topcoat paint-shop in northern Sweden is an advanced and fully automated facility that meets and even surpasses customers’ ever-higher demands on quality and finish... Volvo Trucks Umeå now has a comprehensive paint-shop of absolute world class. The new topcoat application facility is the third and final step in creating the world’s cleanest and most modern paint-shop..

* Canada - Army reloads with MB Actros truck
Ottawa,BC,CAN -Today's Trucking -23 May 2007: -- The Canadian Defence Ministry has ordered 82 Mercedes-Benz Actros transport trucks, with an option for another 26 units of the same model... The four-axle all-wheel-drive chassis from the Mercedes-Benz Actros model series are fitted with a specially armoured cab that helps to provide an exceptionally high level of protection for the Canadian soldiers from mines, hostile fire and roadside bombs during missions... The "Armoured Heavy Actros" trucks come in numerous body variants and are ideally suited to a wide range of applications in unstable crisis areas, the company says...

* USA - Mack Financial launches in-house insurance
Allentown,Pa,USA -Today's Trucking -23 May 2007: -- Mack Financial Services has announced the addition of its new insurance agency, VFS Insurance Services. The agency offers customers and dealers greater support through an expanded insurance offering and dedicated insurance staff, the company says...

Labels: truckmakers news

TOLL ROADS DEBATE * USA - Bills advance in Tennessee

With the state struggling to pay for transportation work, legislation on the move in the Tennessee statehouse would authorize tolling as a method to pay for new road and bridge work in the state

TENN,USA -Land Line Magazine -May 22, 2007: -- ... The proposed “Tennessee Tollway Act” would allow the state to issue bonds and incur debt to pay for toll projects. Private groups also would be allowed to build and operate the “pay-to-play” routes... The Senate Transportation Committee unanimously approved a bill – SB1152 – that would allow tolls “as an additional and alternative method” to pay for highway work. It doesn’t specify toll roads or rates... An amendment added to the bill would limit the initial number of projects to two locations... (Photo thanks Twotimes Public Gallery: We're glad Georgia is on your mind)

Labels: toll roads

BILL * USA - Pennsylvania's one, would split speed limits, ban trucks from left lanes

PEN,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Keith Goble -May 22, 2007: -- A bill in the Pennsylvania Senate would require truck drivers to travel 5 mph slower than they do now and stay to the right on certain highways in the state... The bill would mandate that vehicles with a registered gross weight in excess of 26,000 pounds be slowed to 60 mph on the Pennsylvania Turnpike, rural interstates and other limited-access routes. All other vehicles would be allowed to continue to travel at the current 65 mph speed limit... Opponents say requiring trucks to drive at speeds slower than other vehicles does not promote safety on the highways... (Photo by westcoastdriver Public Gallery: Hwy 23 South North Carolina Beautiful Morning)

Labels: trucking bills

Fuel Economy * USA - Lawmakers demand more for big trucks

By 2011, manufacturers of heavy trucks could be required to increase fuel mileage by 4 percent each year for the following 20 years.

Washington,DC,USA -Land Line Magazine (Grain Valley,MO), by David Tanner -May 22, 2007: -- A U.S. Senate bill introduced by Sen. Harry Reid, D-NV, aims to do just that. It includes emissions and fuel economy as part of a larger package relating to energy and the environment... Reid’s bill – S1419 – includes a provision to amend the Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards – known as the CAFE standards – for cars, light trucks, medium-duty trucks and heavy trucks... The bill gives the Secretary of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency authorization to set the fuel economy standards...

Labels: fuel savings

Surging Oil Prices * USA - House moves on

The House, eager to do something about record high gasoline prices in advance of the Memorial Day weekend, voted narrowly Wednesday to approve stiff penalties for those found guilty of gasoline price gouging

Washington,DC,USA-Associated Press, by H. JOSEF HEBERT -23 May 2007: -- ... The bill directs the Federal Trade Commission and Justice Department to go after oil companies, traders or retail operators if they take "unfair advantage" or charge "unconscionably excessive" prices for gasoline and other fuels... The White House called the measure a form of price controls that could result in fuel shortages. It said President Bush would be urged to veto the legislation should it pass Congress... The bill needed the approval of two-thirds of the members of the House because the leadership considered it under an expedited legislative process. Thus, the 284-141 vote was only one over the threshold for passage. A similar measure is being considered by the Senate... The bill would for the first time create a federal law making energy price gouging illegal. It would cover not only gasoline, but also other fuels such as natural gas and heating oil... (AP Photo: High gas prices posted at this Shell gas station in San Mateo, Calif., Monday, May)

Labels: oil prices

ADVENTURERS TRUCKS ... "what are these two Aussies doing with an FH16 roadtrain?"

Who are they? (don't ask me)... What are they doing? (ditto)

Australia -Biglorryblog (London,UK) -21 May 2007: -- What you see here is one of the original Volvo`s FH16 test units in Australia and in a series of shots, these two blokes suddenly appear overtaking the roadtrain in a rather strange fashion.... But clearly they look impressive with their Snowy River Akubra hats and cut down 4x4 (probably a Land Cruiser). And as for the extra bumpers on the front, tyres can be put to other uses you know... "Tread carefully! This could be a new design frontal impact protection 'roo bar' to meet the forthcoming regs on 25th May. I suggest you get in and buy one as it could be subject to 'inflation'...", and added, "its the making of the latest 'Mad Max' film!"...

Labels: adventurers trucks

... YESTERDAY TRUCKS` * MALTA - Old Bedfords never die

...nor to they go unrecognised, and especially if they're featured on

Malta -Biglorryblog, by Dutchman Henk Kruit -21 May 2007: -- ... viewers may recall me showing these pictures of a wonderful old Bedford working in Malta... Henk has posted the following comment to me: "Good Morning Brian, Yesterday the Malta DAF Dealer Bonicci phoned me and told me that the pictures of the old Bedford were published in The "Independent" of Malta..."

Labels: older trucks

Survey * Ireland - Shows shortage of women truckers

Dublin,Ireland -Fleet Transport -21 May 2007: -- Just 3% of Irish truck fleets a female truck driver, according to joint Fleet Transport and Michelin 'Transport Barometer', a monthly survey of top owners and managers in the Irish road transport industry... "The data shows that despite the small number of lady truckers, feedback from employers with female drivers is extremely positive, helping to debunk the myth that truck driving is a 'man's job," says Jarlath Sweeney, Editor of monthly commercial vehicle magazine Fleet Transport... This is despite hefty insurance premiums for drivers under the age of 25 and a lack of 'young blood' choosing to follow a career in road transport...

* UK - Getting women into the driving seat
UK -octopuscomms.net, by Sophie Orlando -21 May 2007: -- Clearstone, which says it is the UK's leading truck driver training and recruitment outfit says it won deal to offer subsidised truck driver training to women across the East Midlands, West Midlands and London. This is part of the 'Women & Work – Women intoo Transport' plan by Skills for Logistics, the Sector Skills Council for the freight logistics industries. It aims to attract more women into truck driving as a career...

Labels: female drivers

* UK - Planning White Paper Good News for Transport

UK -TNN -21 May 2007: -- The Freight Transport Association has welcomed proposals for an Independent Planning Commission which will result in a vastly improved process for the progress of major infrastructure projects including trunk roads and motorways, rail freight interchanges, access to ports and national distribution centres...

Labels: infrastructures

HIGHWAY HERO * USA - Illinois driver chosen for award

Alexandria,Va,USA -Truck Stop USA -21 May 2007: -- The Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) recently recognized Richard Filiczkowski of Zion, Ill., as a Highway Angel for rescuing an eight-year-old girl from a sinking vehicle... Filiczkowski’s co-driver and wife, Janet, was driving eastbound on Interstate 90 near Plankinton, S.D., when she noticed a 2005 PT Cruiser cross over both lanes and the median to the opposite side of the road, through a field, and into a stock pond. Upon witnessing the incident, Janet woke up her husband and safely brought their truck to a stop. However, before their truck had completely stopped, Richard Filiczkowski jumped from the cab and ran nearly a quarter-mile towards the quickly sinking car in the stock pond. He dived into the water, noticing that a young girl was screaming for help. The girl, Abby, had climbed to the rear seat after the car crashed and her father was unresponsive. Filiczkowski instructed Abby to unlock all the doors; after which he was able to pull her out of the car through the rear hatch and swim with her to the shore. Janet then began to tend to Abby as her husband returned to the stock pond to attempt to pull the young girl’s father, Dr. Jeff Bern, a physician from Worthington, Minn., from the vehicle...

Labels: driver hero

* USA - Bill would allow suing OPEC

Washington,DC,USA -Land Line Magazine (Grain Valley,MO) -21 May 2007: -- The U.S. House Judiciary Committee on Thursday, May 17, approved a bill that would allow the U.S. to sue OPEC nations under anti-trust laws for colluding to set oil prices... Connecticut Attorney General Richard Blumenthal told Congressional Quarterly he’s arguing in favor of the House bill... Blumenthal cited OPEC’s practices, saying “There is no clearer instance of monopolistic pricing"...

Labels: against monopolies

TRUCKMAKERS` NEWS * USA - Trucking investors 'pre-buying' the pre-buy

As expected, class 5 to 8 new truck orders remain weak in North America

New York,NY,USA -Truck Stop Canada (CAN) -May 21, 2007: -- ... Builds are down 35 percent in April from the same period last year, which at this time was experiencing the height of the pre-buy, spurred by customers looking to buy equipment in advance of new, more expensive EPA-mandated engines in 2007... Weakness was driven by Volvo (down 82% y/y), then Freightliner (down 43% y/y). Navistar, (down 36% y/y), and Paccar (down 33% y/y)... According to transportation market experts at Bear Stearns in New York, class 8 orders were reported at 10,491 IN April, down 65 percent from last year... On that note, Bear Stearns is standing firm on past predictions that the current 2007 downturn is deeper and will last longer than most industry insides originally expected...

Labels: truckmakers news

Research * USA - ATRI identifies billions in highway revenues

USA- etrucker, by CCJ -22 May 2007: -- In a new study, the American Transportation Research Institute proposes new transportation funding options and identifies losses exceeding $900 million annually in transportation funding resulting from state and federal fuel tax exemptions... The study identifies an additional $10 billion to $38 billion that could be raised in annual revenues for highway infrastructure...

Labels: researchs

Organized criminals * Canada - Target cargo trucks

Transport trucks and their cargo are becoming more popular targets for organized criminals

Toronto,ONT,CAN -680 News Radio, by Katie Simpson/Toronto Star -May 22, 2007: -- Criminals are taking anything - gum, shoes, shrimp, even diapers - from tractor trailers and are re-selling the items. That it's becoming more and more of a problem for police... Canada faces a billion dollars in losses because of cargo pirates every year... On Friday, a truck full of Nike shoes was raided while security guards on the Toronto premise were tied up, allowing the thieves to escape... Police say criminals are often given inside information by a company's freight and its movements, making the vehicles an easy target...

Labels: robbed loads

"GREEN" NEWS * USA - California urges EPA to approve its greenhouse gas rule, allowing states to adopt its standard

At least 11 states are ready to implement standards crafted by California that would lower the emissions of greenhouse gases from cars, sport utility vehicles and pickup trucks

Sacramento,CA,USA -WSVN/FOXNEWS (Miami,FL)/AP -22 May 2007: -- But first they need permission from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency... California officials hoped to make their case Tuesday to get a waiver from federal rules and win approval for regulations that would force the auto industry to change how it makes cars... That plan is a 2002 California law that requires automakers to cut emissions by 25 percent from cars and light trucks and 18 percent from sport utility vehicles starting with the 2009 model year...

Labels: green news

MEXICANS´ TRUCKS DEBATE * USA = Problems of Assimilation

USA -laglux.blogspot.com, by Lawrance George Lux -May 21, 2007: -- ... Mexican Trucks were prohibited in the 1970s more from inability to get through Customs, rather than through Government edict... Some 23% of Mexican Trucks were found to be carrying illegal Substances, approximately 34% of Mexican Trucks were found to have insufficient Braking systems, and about 15% of Mexican Truckers did not even possess Mexican Trucking licenses... Today, some 85,000 Trucks cross at Border Stations daily; Most delivering loads to Customers residing within 175 miles of the Border, because of their reluctance to do business in the English language... NAFTA is not as easy to implement as One might imagine... (Photo: Look the plates)

Labels: mexican's trucks

FIGURES * USA/North American freight - Trucks remain dominant transporting $534 billion or 62 percent of the total value

* USA - Number of trucks passing through Wyoming nears 3 million
Cheyenne,WY,USA -The Wyoming Tribune/WTE -21 May 2007: -- The number of trucks passing through Wyoming ports of entry reached 3 million for the first time in 2006 and is expected to exceed that number this year, the Wyoming Department of Transportation reported in a news release today... At the same time, the most recent national statistics available show the state's fatality rate was below the national rate for crashes involving trucks, the release said... Wyoming's fatality rate was 2 per 100 million vehicle miles traveled in the state by commercial vehicles in 2005, when more than 2.8 million trucks cleared the state's ports... That was the 15th lowest rate in the nation and below the national rate of 2.4 fatalities per 100 million miles traveled by commercial vehicles...

* USA - Detroit and Laredo were top 2006 ports for trade by
Washington,DC,USA -Truck Stop USA News -May 17, 2007: -- Detroit on the Canadian border and Laredo, Texas, on the Mexican border were the top ports for the value of trade moved by truck in 2006, according to a new special report on North American freight transportation from the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS)... BTS, a part of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration, reported that Detroit was the gateway for $64 billion in merchandise carried by truck to Canada and $51 billion from Canada... Port Huron, Mich., was the third-ranking port... On the Mexican border, $34 billion in merchandise was exported and $44 billion was imported through Laredo by truck, almost double the value of the goods that passed through El Paso, the next-ranking port on the Mexican border... Otay Mesa, Calif., was the third-ranking port...

* Canada - First quarter manufacturing shipments end on positive note
Ottawa,Ont,CAN -Truck News, by Lou Smyrlis -18 May 2007:-- Manufacturing shipments during the first quarter finished on a strong note, with a 2.8% gain (by value) in March over the previous month, Statistics Canada reported this week... For the first quarter, shipments were up 1.0% compared to the fourth quarter of 2006... In March, manufacturers shipped goods worth an estimated $50.1 billion. Using constant dollars, which take price fluctuations into account, the volume of shipments rose 1.6% to $45.1 billion, the fourth increase in five months...

Labels: figures

Businesses * USA - Hot prospects for buyers

Financiers with money to spend are turning more frequently to the mini-mart or small trucking company as a good investment

Chicago,Ill,USA -The Chicago Tribune -May 21, 2007: -- Among the most avid buyers are private-equity funds flush with cash... "There's no question that small businesses are becoming more frequent takeover targets," said Joe Astrachan, director of the Cox Family Enterprise Center at Kennesaw (Ga.) State University and editor of the Family Business Review... Proof that the buying spree has heated up is partly in the growing ranks of business owners and executives seeking out advisers for a review of their personal finances, according to M. Holly Isdale, managing director and head of wealth advisory services at Lehman Brothers Inc... Prime targets are well-oiled businesses with an annual profit of at least $150,000. Manufacturing, trucking and garbage-collecting concerns are popular targets...

Labels: businesses

New fuel * USA - For 21st century: Aluminum pellets?

Pellets made out of aluminum and gallium can produce pure hydrogen when water is poured on them, offering a possible alternative to gasoline-powered engines, U.S. scientists say

Chicago,Ill,USA -Reuters, by Julie Steenhuysen -May 18, 2007: -- Hydrogen is seen as the ultimate in clean fuels, especially for powering cars, because it emits only water when burned... The metal compound pellets may offer a way, said Jerry Woodall, an engineering professor at Purdue University in Indiana who invented the system... For now, the Purdue scientists think the system could be used for smaller engines like lawn mowers and chain saws. But they think it would work for cars and trucks as well, either as a replacement for gasoline or as a means of powering hydrogen fuel cells... (Photo REUTERS, by Ilya Naymushin: A worker walks between stacks of high purity aluminum ingots at the RUSAL aluminum smelter in the Siberian city of Krasnoyarsk April 4, 2007) .

Labels: new fuels

MEX' TRUCKS DEBATE * USA - Letter from: John H. Hill, administrator - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration - U.S. Dept. of Transportation

Trucking standards consistently applied

Terre Haute,IN,USA -Terre Haute Tribune Star: Readers' Forum -May 21, 2007: -- A recent letter to the editor concerning the U.S. Department of Transportation’s cross-border trucking demonstration program contained several misperceptions (“Keep those borders from Mexico closed,” May 6)... Under the program, Mexican carriers and drivers are held to the same safety standards as U.S. carriers and drivers. We have U.S. inspections teams in Mexico verifying that every participating carrier meets the same requirements that apply to U.S. truckers, including: driver training; verification of a U.S. insurance policy; full compliance with hours-of-service regulations; vehicle maintenance; ability to communicate in English; and drug and alcohol testing... Every inspected carrier has sent its drivers to U.S. labs to collect samples and conduct these tests. The inspectors also conduct full, 39-point, front-to-back inspections of every vehicle that the carrier intends to use in the U.S... Everyday we inspect hundreds of Mexican trucks in border commercial zones; these inspections show that their equipment is as safe as U.S. trucks. We actually pull a slightly smaller percentage of Mexican trucks inspected out of service than we do U.S. trucks... This program allows U.S. carriers to expand their businesses into Mexico for the first time ever, beginning at the same time Mexican trucks are allowed to operate beyond U.S. border areas. These opportunities put the program on track to lower costs for U.S. consumers and make our economy more competitive...

Labels: mexican's trucks

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS WORLDWIDE

* India - Tatas to launch new range of trucks to take on global players
New Delhi,India -My Iris.com/ Economic Times -21 May 2007: -- Tata Motors will introduce a new range of trucks to compete with global players; revamping a whole range of products in the commercial vehicles segment, reports... The auto major sold 298,586 units of commercial vehicles during the last fiscal, a 22% increase over FY 2005-06... In 2008, the company will launch new trucks in the Korean market and has also formed a joint venture company with Thonburi Automotive Assembly Plant, the Thailand-based independent assembler of automobiles, to manufacture, assemble and pick-up trucks. Tata Motors, has plans to set up a plant for its mini-truck, `Ace`, in Uttarakhand with an investment of Rs 10 billion... The company has introduced commercial vehicle models in South Africa, launched Ace in Sri Lanka and also furnished its presence in Ghana... Moreover, Tata Daewoo Commercial Vehicle and Afzal Motors in Pakistan have commissioned a new truck and bus assembling plant in Karachi to assemble heavy-duty trucks...

Labels: truckmakers news

SAFETY * USA - Big trucks need hour counters

Washington,DC,USA -Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis,IN), by Raju Chebium/Gannett News Service -21 May 2007: -- Large trucks -- delivery vans to 18-wheelers -- were involved in 5,000 fatal accidents on U.S. highways and 82,000 crashes where someone was injured in one year... Experts say drowsy truck drivers who've been behind the wheel for long periods caused many of those crashes in 2005, the most recent year for which statistics are available, but no one knows how many... Mark Rosenker, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, says the government must require the industry to use electronic onboard recorders to make sure drivers comply with federal "hours of service" regulation...

Labels: electronic recorder on board

TECHNO-NEWS * Canada - Thermal imaging targets dangerous trucks

Thermal imaging a new technology that could reduce the number of accidents caused by such unsafe commercial vehicles

Scarborough,ON,Canada -CTV.ca -May. 19 2007: -- ... The new technology is helping officers to use more than just their eyes and instincts to figure out which trucks should be pulled over and inspected... Unmarked vans carrying cameras are parked along the side of busy highways. The cameras are then placed near the pavement to capture thermal images of the wheels and axles of passing trucks... Inside the van, an officer checks the images on a screen and can determine whether the vehicle should be stopped based on specific heat patterns. Braking generates heat, so a lack of heat in a braking system indicates brake failure... While it is primarily used to detect bad brakes, the thermal imaging inspection system can also help to identify other wheel and tire-related issues like under-inflated tires...

Labels: safety

"GREEN" NEWS * TRUCKING INDUSTRY

* USA - FedEx Express has hired Azure Dynamics to develop gasoline hybrid-electric vehicles for their delivery fleet...
USA -Green Energy News (Baltimore,MD) -19 May 2007: -- ... With an interest in saving fuel, a desire to make its delivery operations greener, and tired of waiting for the automakers to produce fuel efficient delivery vans. Under the contract, Azure Dynamics, a Toronto, Ontario-based developer of hybrid and electric vehicles and drive systems, will provide a test vehicle to FedEx Express for its Ford E-450 hybrid commercial delivery van development program. After the development phase FedEx will purchase a minimum of 20 E-450 hybrid electric vans from Azure Dynamics. FedEx claims to have the largest fleet of hybrid delivery vans in the transportation industry, with 93 operating in North America...

* USA - Wal-Mart developing their own hybrid trucks
Baltimore,MD,USA -Green Energy News (Baltimore,MD) -19 May 2007: -- Also taking the unusual step, the company has taken delivery of the first Class 8 hybrid truck in the heavy-duty trucking industry. The Peterbilt Model 386 Hybrid was developed as part of Wal-Mart’s green initiative it calls Sustainability 360 which promotes innovations to increase environmental conscientiousness within the company as well as to vendors and customers... The Peterbilt Hybrid, using hybrid technology from Eaton Corporation, achieves a 7-8 percent improvement in fuel economy. In dollars and cents the system will save about $9000 per year per truck in fuel. The large battery pack also provides quiet emission-free power for heating, air conditioning and electrical goodies when the engine is shut down. Typically truckers run engines continuously to provide power during rest periods...

* USA - Pepco Holdings will convert their entire 2000-vehicle fleet to alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles
Washington,DC,USA -Green Energy News (Baltimore,MD) -19 May 2007: -- PHI the -based parent of a number of mid-Atlantic US power companies, is willing to wait for vehicle manufacturers to offer alternatively fueled and hybrid vehicles. But the company has committed to buying them when available and will convert their entire 2000-vehicle fleet to alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles... The company is in the process of converting all of its fueling facilities to biodiesel blend and will add thirty additional hybrid vehicles this year... The company, too, will be examining new technologies as they come along, including plug-in hybrids that would recharge from the company’s own grid overnight...

Labels: green trucking industry

"GREEN" NEWS * AUTOMAKERS WORLDWIDE - Jumping on the green vehicle bandwagon

* USA - In a plug-in hybrid charging from the grid overnight could give a 60 mile (100 km) range in all electric mode...

Baltimore,MD,USA -Green Energy News -May 19, 2007: -- Lithium is the premier rechargeable battery technology of the day. However did you know that most lithium battery packs are just boxes containers of flashlight battery-sized cells? Lithium Technology Corporation (LTC) thinks that specially-designed, large format lithium batteries are a better bet than a bunch of little cells for hybrids and all-electric vehicles... In a new product line the company is offering its lithium iron phosphate technology (LiFePO4) in cells ranging from 6 Amp/hours to 35... LTC’ says the new cells can provide 3000 charging cycles which equates to 150,000 miles of service life... To prove the new cells’ capabilities, the company will soon unwrap a Toyota Prius retrofitted with its new batteries. The company says the converted Prius is proof that a plug-in hybrid can get the equivalent of 125 miles per gallon...

* Brazil - Green from assembly line to highway is what new brazilian car maker Obvio! is trying to accomplish

Brazil -Green Energy News (Baltimore,MD,USA) -May 19, 2007: -- A new car or two being readied for world introduction in a year or so. Obvio! plans to power its production line with renewables, will recycle waste and conserve water. Its cars, the 828 and the 012, will be able to run on electricity, or any proportion of ethanol, compressed natural gas or gasoline. As if green production of a green car weren’t enough, the company will be including carbon offsets with each car purchase. The offsets will be in the form of a social carbon fund that will contribute to environmentally sustainable projects designed to offset carbon emissions associated with Obvio! The projects may be in communities near the factory, along distribution and supply routes, or elsewhere... The company plans to begin shipping up to 50,000 of the aluminum and composite cars to the US market in 2008 as well as possibly export 100,000 cars to Japan and Europe... CantorCO2e has been handling the carbon offsets program and other financial work for Obvio!, Lotus has been doing engineering work... (Picture: Obvio's model 012E)

Labels: automakers green news

IDEAS * USA - Drastic ways to save gasoline

Here are some simple, and not so simple, ideas that would make a dent in our gasoline usage:

USA -carlist.com, by Lou Ann Hammond -19 May 2007: -- 1. A really good way to reduce fuel consumption would be to make the diamond/ high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes truck lanes in off-peak hours. (anytime except 6-10am and 3-7pm). This would give truckers an incentive to be in urban areas before the rush hours or after them, freeing up the highways for people scurrying to work... Why? Fuel savings to the trucker, retail price savings to the consumer... On average a long-hauler drives 130,000 miles per year. At 6 mpg the long-hauler purchases 21,667 gallons of gas per year. By saving just 1/3 mpg, there would be a savings of close to 1,032 gallons of gas a year. There are approximately 1,250,000 long-haulers on the road yearly, bringing the savings of fuel to 12,900,000 gallons of fuel yearly. The demand of diesel has risen, causing the price to average around $2.79 a gallon, saving truckers $35,991,000, a year... Have all the fun you’ve had every year, just remember, the less gasoline we all use, the less we will have to spend on gasoline and the more we can spend on anything else... Have a great summer!

Labels: ideas fuel saving

MEX's TRUCKS DEBATE * USA - Safety, honor and NAFTA

Full access was part of the North American Free Trade Agreement that was supposed to have been implemented by 2000 - The agreement was approved way back in 1993. It ought to be honored

Charlottesville,VA,USA -The Charlottesville Daily Progress -May 18, 2007: -- The United States has an obligation to honor its treaties and agreements. NAFTA is one of those agreements... The House approved an altered pilot program. It extended the test period to three years and set criteria for measuring success, along with an independent board to do the measuring... The House program would open the border to no more than 100 trucking firms from Mexico, which would be allowed to operate no more than 1,000 trucks in the United States. Before they are allowed to roll, they would have to be certified as safe and an independent review panel would have to be set up to monitor the pilot program... U.S. truckers would also have to have the same access to Mexico as the United States grants to Mexican truckers... But if the United States can do so while protecting the safety of its people, then by all means that’s exactly what it should do...

* USA - How's That Old Alamo Song Go? - What if Mexican truckers gained a foothold in the North American trucking market?

USA -Today's Trucking, by Jim Park -21 May 2007: -- If you're still thinking this is a pretty far-fetched idea, you may want to reconsider. Under the terms of our beloved NAFTA agreement, Mexican trucks could have equal access to any and all international freight on the continent -- including Canadian loads bound for the U.S. and vice versa... There's not much standing in the way of an influx of Mexican trucks right at the moment, except for the determined lobbying of a few groups that see the inherent risk of such a move... The American Trucking Associations (ATA) supports the opening of the American southern border to Mexican carriers, calling it "a step toward efficiency"... ATA is thinking in terms of the movement of goods between the U.S. and Mexico. They're probably not terribly concerned with what might happen on their northern border...

Labels: mexican's trucks

TECHNO NEWS * UK - Advanced Crack Detection Technology

Highway surveying specialist Data Collection Limited has achieved significant improvements in crack detection surveying following the introduction of new image recognition technology

UK -TNN -18 May 2007: -- Data Collection's fleet of Aran survey vehicles are equipped with an innovative crack detection system called WiseCrax... The processing software can detect cracks as small as two millimetres and comparative tests have shown the system to meet the stringent requirements required in the UK... The new image processing developments have proved so successful that Data Collection has re-processed 60,000 kilometres of survey data... Collected as part of the government-specified program called Surface Condition Assessment for the National Network of Roads (SCANNER), highway authorities are now able to gain a much more accurate picture of highway surface condition...

Labels: infrastructures

TRUCKS * UK - First Euro 4 Renault Midlum Tanker is a Kinch

Oil fuel distributor, Kinch Fuel Oils, has taken delivery of the first Euro 4 Renault Midlum tanker in the UK

UK -TNN -18 May 2007: -- The Renault Midlum 220.12, supplied through Renault Trucks South West, has a six speed gearbox, SCR (AdBlue) technology and is fully compliant with new petroleum regulations... The truck has been fitted with a three compartment Maidment tank, to enable the tanker to carry individual or mixed loads of oil. As a local distributor for JET oils, the company’s new the tanker will be used to undertake door to door delivery of heating oil to domestic properties in the South West...

Labels: trucks

Payment Troubles * USA - Visa no longer everywhere Flying J wants to be

UT,USA -Truckstop USA -18 May 2007: -- Beginning in late May, it seems customers will no longer be able to use Visa credit cards at Flying J outlets, a Utah-based truck stop chain which Forbes Magazine recently dubbed “the largest retail distributor of diesel fuel in North America”... A customer service employee for a local Flying J confirmed that the new rule will take effect on Friday, May 25... However, the credit card company is not aware of the truck stop chain’s decision to not accept Visa cards, said Visa spokeswoman Randa Ghnaim...

Labels: pumps troubles

TRUCKERS HEALTH * Canada - Drivers apparently nodding off behind the wheel

A lot of Canadian drivers are literally asleep at the wheel – at least briefly – according to a study by the Insurance Bureau of Canada...

Toronto,ONT,Canada -Truckstop Canada -18 May 2007: -- In a press release, bureau officials said the study found that 20 percent of the respondents admitted to dozing off at the wheel within the past year... If that percentage held up nationally, it would mean more than 4 million drivers nodded off during the past 12 months...

Labels: truckers health

Truck World * Canada - To follow in the steps of successful ExpoCam

The trucking capital of Canada is getting ready to move west down Hwy 401 next year

Toronto,ONT,CAN -Truckstop Canada -18 May 2007: -- Montreal proved to be worthy of the title in April, as close to 18,000 exhibitors and visitors crowded into Place Bonaventure for ExpoCam 2007... Exhibitors said it was "the best and biggest" trucking show ever held in Montreal... That success will be repeated next year at Truck World 2008 in Toronto...

Labels: events

DEBATE * Canada - Truckers not sold on tolling as a congestion fi

Canada -Truck Stop Canada, by Harry -May 18, 2007: -- Joanne Ritchie, executive director of the Owner-Operators’ Business Association of Canada, said truckers in Canada generally oppose toll roads and that there aren’t many toll roads to speak of... “As a matter of principle, we would certainly not be happy with toll roads replacing comparable free routes,” Ritchie told... Ritchie was reacting to a brand new study by a university professor in Canada encouraging provinces to consider toll roads to relieve congestion in and around major cities... The 36-page report, released by Canadian think tank C.D. Howe Institute on Tuesday, May 15, asserts without question that congestion will only get worse in metro areas unless action is taken. The report is called “Congestion relief: Assessing the case for road tolls in Canada.”... (Photo by Super Fly's Public Gallery - On the Road: Shipshewana)

Labels: toll roads

STORY * USA - Local residents' trucking company a family affair

Bradenton,FL,USA -The Bradenton Herald, by SARA KENNEDY -May 13, 2007: -- Long-time trucker Barbara Roberts, who hails from Manatee County, has just signed on with her brother and sister-in-law to launch a homegrown trucking business... "We will probably be running our first load, beginning of next week," said Nicole Blizzard, 31, of Myakka City, on Friday... Nicole and Roberts' brother, Jay Blizzard, 38, have just formed Blizzard Express, LLC... They recently purchased a flashy 1986 Kenworth tractor-trailer that will be the company's sole piece of equipment... As a means of alleviating the shortage of long-haul drivers, some trucking companies are hiring inexperienced, younger people, to whom Roberts gives lots of elbow room on the highway... Long-haul truck driving is a terrific occupation for older people who might want to earn good money, and see the world as well, Roberts said... And loves it... "I've always called myself a 'paid tourist,' she said. You do get to see the world"... (Photo by Traveling Roses' Public Gallery: St. Augustine FL drawbridge)

Labels: truckers stories

Complains * USA - The huge trucks are going to be a problem.

Coconut Grove,MI,USA -Coconut Gove Grapevine -May 18, 2007: -- I really want to find some good things to say about the new Home Depot... The customers seem to be at a minimum, while the parking lot is full, it isn't a madhouse, and it seems nice to have life there instead of that empty lot which was sitting there empty for so long... So far, the only problem I can see are the large trucks. They block traffic and hold up traffic. Like today, this huge truck could not make a right on a red, it is too large and slow to do that, so traffic behind it was clogged for what seemed blocks. It held traffic up on Bird Ave. and then when it turned onto 32nd Ave. it held traffic up there, taking up both lanes at US1, trying to make a right turn without jack knifing...

Labels: neighboring complains

* Canada - Delta mayor wants list of shame for owners of unsafe trucks

... "the worst-offending truck owners should be publicly identified...

Vancouver,BC,CAN -The Vancouver Sun, by Doug Ward & Kelly Sinoski -May 18, 2007: -- Public safety is threatened by unsafe trucks travelling through Delta, says Mayor Louis Jackson, adding that the worst-offending truck owners should be publicly identified... "It's very concerning," Jackson said Thursday about a recent Delta Police Department inspection blitz that found 41 per cent of trucks violate road safety standards -- about double last year's national average... The police and other agencies conducted 613 inspections and two out of five trucks were ordered towed off the road for a variety of road safety violations, ranging from bald tires, broken axles, poor brakes and for carrying more than the allowed weight... (W J Andy's Public Photo Gallery: Looking East, long hill down to Green River UT I-70)

Labels: controls

Bribes * USA - Feds allege Alaska legislators accepted they from oil producer

Alaska,USA -Land Line Magazine -May 16, 2007: -- An Alaska state representative and two former legislators have been arrested and indicted for bribery and conspiracy charges after the men allegedly traded votes for money and jobs from a major energy-producing company... According to a Department of Justice news release, the three men corruptly solicited and accepted cash payments and loans in exchange for support of certain legislation and a natural gas pipeline... The news release said Alaska Rep. Victor Kohring and former state House members Bruce Weyrauch and Peter Kott were arrested May 4 in Juneau, AK... Reported on May 7 that Bill Allen, former CEO of VECO Corp., and Rich Smith, vice president and chief lobbyist, both pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy and one count of bribery. Each faces up to five years in prison for each conspiracy charge and 10 years for bribery, and $250,000 fines...

Labels: bribes

Gouge Consumers * Canada - Policy watchdog group says oil companies do it

A Canadian watchdog group is blasting oil companies and gasoline retailers for allegedly gouging consumers to the tune of millions of dollars.

Canada -Land Line Magazine (Grain Valley,MO,USA) -May 14 , 2007: -- Researcher and economist Hugh Mackenzie with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives said gasoline prices in Canada are between 16 cents and 21 cents per liter higher than they should be... Using prices recorded on May 8, 2007, MacKenzie used the policy center’s formula to show that “normal” gas prices in Canada should range from 84 cents to about $1 per liter, not the $1.10 to $1.23 currently displayed at the pumps...

Labels: gas prices

Campaigns * USA - NHTSA for night-time seat belt use

Washington,DC,USA -Land Line Magazine -May 17, 2007: -- A national safety agency says seat belt use goes down at night – even though the odds of being killed in a crash are three times higher at night than during the day... So, officials with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration have asked state officials to participate in a special edition of the national “Click it or Ticket” clampdown on nighttime seatbelt use between May 21 and June 3... A $30 million advertising campaign is part of the initiative...

Labels: seat belts

DEBATE * Mexico - Government Official vows to continue fight to open U.S. border

México City,DF,MEX -Land Line Magazine (Grain Valley,MO,USA)/ Dow Jones -May 17, 2007: -- Top officials in the Mexican government plan to lobby the U.S. Senate to kill a bill already approved by the House that would delay the Bush administration’s cross-border pilot program... Mexico’s economy minister contends the bill – HR1773 – violates provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement. That agreement called for opening the borders to trucks in 1995... OOIDA has urged truckers to support the bill, which passed overwhelmingly in the House and would require that the U.S. Department of Transportation meet a long list of preconditions before a pilot program could begin...

Labels: mexican's trucks

Truckers appeal -* USA - In case against DAC Services

Truckers want a new trial, which could ultimately have a ripple effect and impact hundreds of thousands drivers

Denver,CO,USA -Land Line Magazine -May 17, 2007: -- Attorneys filed an appeal Wednesday in a federal case involving truckers’ complaints about so-called DAC reports. Filed with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit in Denver, OOIDA’s appeal brief raised two major issues:
* Can DAC procure reports from a driver’s former carrier without notice to and permission from the driver?
* Can inaccuracies in reports sold by DAC be overlooked because hiring and terminating motor carriers may talk to each other after publication of defective DAC reports?

OOIDA argues in its appeal brief that the trial judge, U.S. District Court Judge Robert E. Blackburn, made significant errors of law when he ruled that DAC did not have to get the drivers’ permission to procure their employment histories under the Fair Credit Reporting Act. The appeal also argues that DAC cannot escape the consequences of its inaccurate reports because of what its customers may or may not do after receiving such reports...

Labels: lawsuits

PRIVATIZATION * USA - Shot fired across bow of public-private partnerships

Washington,DC,USA-Land Line Magazine -May 17, 2007: -- The push toward public-private partnerships by the Bush administration received a warning shot from the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee recently... A letter sent to governors, state legislators and state transportation officials point-blank told those state leaders that if the public interest is not protected, privatization arrangements will be taken to task in future appropriations legislation... Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman James Oberstar, D-MN, and Highway and Transit Subcommittee Chairman Peter DeFazio, D-OR, sent the letter on Friday, May 10... “We write to strongly discourage you from entering into public-private partnership agreements that are not in the long-term public interest in a safe, integrated national transportation system that can meet the needs of the 21st century,” the letter stated...

Labels: privatization roads

Vehicle Inspection * Canada - Day marks change in standards

New regulations do not mean major changes for drivers, but they will also must to monitor the vehicle they operate...

Toronto,Ont,CAN -Truck News, by Steven Macleod -16 May 2007: -- Beginning July 1 carriers operating in Ontario will have to begin the transition to the new National Safety Code requirements for daily vehicle inspections... The Ontario Ministry of Transport (MTO) is expected to provide educational enforcement for several months to allow carriers to make the switch... The new regulations are more practical and clear in terms of what a driver can and should expect during an inspection, according to David Bradley, president of the OTA. Drivers will also refer to a schedule that has a list of both minor and major defects on it... (W J Andy Public Photo Gallery: Parley Pass, I-80 Utah)

Labels: trucks inspections

Insurance Costs * USA - Fleets Eye Safety Gains to Cut they

"Companies with low crash rates tended to follow several 'best practices' and had high management involvement in driver training"...

Boston,Mass,USA -Transport Topics, by Tarun Reddy -May 14, 2007: -- Risk management has taken on a new urgency for many carriers as trucking companies attempt to reduce operating costs and minimize insurance premiums, often by including safety improvements... Despite that urgency, many carriers are having a tough time recruiting drivers with clean motor-vehicle records free from accidents or an excessive number of moving violations. At the same time, insurance providers face the challenge of wanting to write more policies for the trucking industry but being wary of trucking companies that do not have a well-rounded risk management program in place... This combination has led to a greater awareness by trucking and insurance executives that their industries must do a better job of working with each other to promote safety and an economical approach to risk management... A study about the trucking industry released last year by Liberty Mutual Group, Boston, found that companies with low crash rates tended to follow several “best practices” and had high management involvement in driver training... The study also found that in the case of successful companies, at least 60% of their drivers had clean motor-vehicle records. These trucking firms also had drivers with at least six months of driving experience... (W J Andy's Public Photo Galery: Everyone needs to drive through Chicago at least once in their lifetime)

Labels: trucking insurances

Pension Funds * USA - Firms Seek to Replace they

ABF, UPS Seek Teamsters OK to Replace Funds

New York,NY,USA -Transport Topics, by Daniel P. Bearth -May 14, 2007: -- The top executive at Arkansas Best Corp. said he expects to offer his fleet’s unionized employees a less-costly company-funded pension benefit plan and withdraw from the current Teamsters multi-employer funds as part of a new labor agreement with the union... Separately, the Teamsters last week confirmed that UPS Inc., the nation’s largest trucking company and largest single employer of Teamsters, has offered the union a similar proposal... These developments set the stage for potentially significant changes in the way the Teamsters and motor carriers handle the distribution of health benefits and retirement payments to employees covered under collective-bargaining agreements...

Labels: drivers benefits

Drivers' Payment * USA - Con-way Sets Pay Package

Plan for Drivers Includes Better Pay Incentives, Equipment

USA -Transport Topics -15 May 2007: -- Con-way Truckload said Tuesday it has instituted new driver pay structures and programs aimed at attracting qualified team drivers... The improvements include both compensation- and non-compensation-related benefits, including:
• A $3,000 sign-on bonus for new, qualified team drivers;
• Payment based on “practical miles” — closer to actual miles driven rather than industry-standard “shortest-route” compensation, enabling drivers to earn more;
• An annual incentive compensation plan of up to 7% of annual pay for eligible drivers if the company meets its financial goals
• Referral pay for successful recommendations of new and qualified driver teams;
• Increased vacation pay; and
• Voluntary “per-diem” pay.

The company also said the benefits include “more comfortable” equipment provided by Volvo, more home time, wellness coaches to assist with things like smoking cessation, and ergonomically correct seating... Con-way Inc. is ranked No. 6 on the Transport Topics 100 listing of U.S. and Canadian for-hire carriers...

Labels: drivers payment USA

Analysis * USA - Fleets Grow as Freight Falls

Analysts Say Pre-buy Is Causing Excess Capacity

New York,NY,USA -Transport Topics, by Howard S. Abramson -May 14, 2007: -- The decline in freight volume this year and the number of heavy-duty trucks purchased last year during the “pre-buy” were both markedly bigger than analysts thought, leading to too many trucks chasing too little business, according to a host of speakers at a transport forum here last week... “Right now, we are in a freight recession,” which has been exacerbated by the fact that “fleets overbought” as many as 110,000 tractors last year, said Eric Starks, president of FTR Associates, a freight forecasting company... But most speakers at the Bear, Stearns & Co. Global Transportation Conference predicted freight levels would rise as 2007 wore on... “There are 120,000 trucks too many right now” on the road, said James Meil, Eaton Corp.’s chief economist. He said about 7% of the U.S. and Canadian fleet is currently underutilized... Most fleet executives said that, despite the drop in freight volume and the excess capacity, rates are not falling. But they acknowledged that rate increases are slowing and that there is push-back from some customers on fuel surcharges... (W J Andy's Public Photo Galery: I-84 round Salt Lake City)

Labels: freight analysis

* USA - STB Ends Antitrust Immunity for Trucking Rate Bureaus

The Surface Transportation Board has revoked the authority of motor carriers to engage in collective ratemaking and freight classification

Washington,DC,USA -Transport Topics, by Dan Leone -May 14, 2007: -- This decision could dramatically alter the way many motor carriers set freight rates, said transportation industry officials... The board ruled that collective ratemaking results in an “inevitable . . . reduction in competition” and said the removal of antitrust immunity would “encourage fair competition and reasonable rates by motor carriers”... In its decision, STB said it decided to terminate antitrust immunity for freight classification, in part, because it was concerned that carriers could turn to the classification system as a way to pad revenue... (Photo Public Galery by W J Andy: Westbound I-90 Entering Idaho from Montana)

Labels: trucking rules

Inspection * USA - 75 Percent of Commercial Trucks failing ODOT one

Twelve drivers were placed out of service for violations such as logbook deficiencies or driving too many hours without rest breaks...

Cascada Locks,OR,USA -The Salem-News.com -May 17, 2007: -- More than 75 percent of commercial vehicles inspected by Oregon Department of Transportation Motor Carrier enforcement officers during a six-hour inspection blitz Wednesday morning were placed out of service with safety violations... Officers completed 55 inspections during the half-day event at the Cascade Locks and Wyeth weigh stations along Interstate 84 in the Columbia Gorge; 42 vehicles (76 percent) were placed out of service for mechanical violations such as improper tire inflation, tire tread problems and other safety hazards... Twelve drivers were placed out of service for violations such as logbook deficiencies or driving too many hours without rest breaks...

(Photo ODOT: Out of service trucks line the parking lot of the Cascade Locks Port of Entry.)

Labels: controls

"GREEN" NEWS * USA - Wal-Mart Drives Eco-Logistics Development

NY,USA -psfk.com, by Piers Fawkes -May 17, 2007: -- Treehugger points to a collaboration between US retailer Wal-Mart and The Pete Store, Inc. to build a hybrid prototype long-haul truck that can save on the gas. This prototype Peterbilt Model 386 Hybrid is currently under testing and if trials go well, hybrids are expected to be introduced by 2010... "The system captures energy generated by the diesel engine and recovers energy normally lost during braking and stores the energy in batteries. That electric torque is then sent through the motor/generator and blended with engine torque to improve vehicle performance, operate the engine in a more fuel-efficient range for a given speed and/or operate only with electric power in certain situations"... Interesting to see that a retailer is having to make headway here as, it appears, that the automotive industry has not come up with a solution themselves...

Labels: 'green' trucks

* India - Volvo Logistics ???

Volvo is getting into the same business as its customers. But it won’t be fighting for the same piece of the pie.

NewDelhi,India -The Economic Times, by G Ganapathy Subramaniam & Nandini Sen Gupta -May 17, 2007: -- The high-end truck and bus maker is entering the logistics business. It has recently applied to the government to include “logistics, freight forwarding and transport” — as well as allied areas like cargo handling and clearing, packing, warehousing and store keeping — in its roster of activities in India... The Swedish multinational, which has an assembly unit in Bangalore, already has a logistics business unit. When contacted, a company spokesman explained that the new business will not pit Volvo against its own customers. “This business unit intends to support only internal Volvo Group customers and some external customers connected to global sourcing of our components,” he said...

Labels: logistics

Wal-Mart’s “corporate culture” * USA - It's going to cost the company a fortune.

USA - The Writing on the Wal, by Jonathan Rees -17 May 2007: -- The big Wally World news today is that a judge in Arkansas has certified a class action suit by African American truck drivers... Being a trucker is a hard, but high-skilled and relatively good paying job (at least compared to entry-level associate). No matter how diverse its workforce is, Wal-Mart can still be liable if the job ladder for people who aren’t white and male only has a couple of rungs...

Labels: suits

Tanker Terrorism ? * USA - Connect the dots...

Tanker truck explosions have occured within days of each other at major highway intersections in San Francisco/Oakland, Houston, New Jersey, and Tampa-St. Petersburg.

USA -nukegingrich.wordpress.com, by nuke -May 16, 2007: -- I was aware of the Bay Bridge crash, mostly because of the reality check (or comic relief) that it provided for the 911 Truthers (”fire cannot burn hot enough to melt steel, yada yada yada”). The other events have been relegated to local news coverage... One occurrence: an unfortunate event. Two similar events: another unfortunate occurrence, a coincidence. Numbers three and four might start your spidey senses tingling... Especially when one of the events involve a tire that had 10 of the lug bolts removed... In Thursday night’s [Bay Bridge] incident, the trucker was heading south on Park Presidio Drive, on his way to deliver gas to a Shell station at 19th Avenue and Lincoln Way, when the left front pair of wheels on the tanker he was towing suddenly came off... “He didn’t even know anything was wrong until he saw the wheel pass him on the road,” said Michael Cheney, who happened to be driving the other way with his wife, Dianne, when one of the errant wheels clipped the backside of their Mitsubishi Eclipse... According to 21-year-old student David Wong, who was just behind Cheney in his brand new BMW, sparks began flying from beneath the tanker as its undercarriage scraped along the pavement. The airborne tire that struck Cheney’s car then ricocheted off the hood and side of Wong’s car — causing $3,500 in damage — before coming to a rest in the middle of the street. The second tire disappeared into the park’s underbrush... While waiting for the cops to arrive, — Cheney — who happens to be a mechanic for the Municipal Railway — examined the truck and found that 10 lug nuts had come off... Scary enough that a gasoline truck loses control in the middle of the park — but even scarier is that the double size tanker crossed the Golden Gate Bridge just minutes earlier...

Labels: care trucks

Stories * USA - My Trip To Cleveland- In an 18-Wheeler!

Boston,MAS,USA -krolls.vox, by Krolls -16 May 2007: -- I got home today from a 2 day trip, in an 18 Wheeler! Regardless it was an interesting experience to say the least. From CB Radio, looking out for ol' smoky, and eating at truck stops and diners run by some New York Mobsters... totally not kidding...

Here short comments about:

Shit bags and Professionals: There are certainly two different types of truck drivers... they are basically split into two camps. Shit Bag Cowboys and Professional Drivers. The shit bags are these dirty, greasy truckers who wear cowboy boots and have a huge echo in their CB radio. The Professionals dress well, are clean and don't fuck around.

The CB Radio: Interestingly enough the CB Radio DOES in fact play a huge part into trucking. Most of the time its just truckers swearing their mouths off at each other and letting you know that they are going to fuck your mother. However the CB is used to warn about upcoming traffic problems, "smokies" up ahead, and just general chatting.

The Truck Stop: Holy shit... holy shit... holy shit the truck stops are fucking ridiculous. They are basically all the shit bags eating and drinking together swearing their mouths off.

Labels: stories

The Political Protection * USA - Why was the best hazmat enforcer the CHP had taken off…

... after Assemblyman Rick Keene intervened on behalf of the trucking industry

Chico,CA,USA -The Chico News Review, by Robert Speer -18 May 2007: -- As the fiery Bay Area freeway crash of a gasoline tanker truck vividly reminded us recently, the highways are full of potential catastrophes on 18 wheels. Here the story of George Barber and the role Chico Assemblyman Rick Keene played in the derailing of his career... Three years ago, Barber was a California Highway Patrol officer serving in Butte County. His specialty was hazardous-materials compliance, and he'd been doing it since the mid-1980s. He knew the regulations governing fuel transportation as well or better than anyone. Although he no longer works for the CHP, current CHP officers still describe him as "the guru" and "probably the foremost hazmat expert in the state"... Then, in 2004, he ran afoul of the trucking industry. Trucking companies thought his level of enforcement was too intense--that he not only cited truckers for violations they considered picayune, but was also out of whack with enforcement practices elsewhere in the state... "When he'd find infractions that normally were considered correctable, he'd throw the book at us," David Ray, the safety director for Stockton-based Williams Tank Lines, said in a phone interview. Too often, that meant Barber would call out a full hazmat team, which the company was required to pay for, and then order the truck to be off-loaded and locked down until repaired. These expenses, on top of court fines, could add up to thousands of dollars for what other CHP inspectors considered minor infractions... Barber says he was just doing his job--too well, apparently. "I had a very high conviction rate," he acknowledged recently... Williams' owner was "infuriated," Barber related, and contacted Keene, who eventually convened a meeting that included a large group from the trucking industry as well as the CHP commissioner at the time, Dwight "Spike" Helmick, and other CHP brass... These days Barber works part-time for the Butte County District Attorney's Office as an environmental hazmat analyst... (PHOTO by ROBERT SPEER - THE ENFORCER: George Barber says the reason he was removed from his job as a CHP hazmat-compliance officer was because he did it too well and trucking companies were unhappy. He's shown here at the Butte County government building, where he now works part-time for the District Attorney's Office as an environmental hazmat analyst)

Labels: political protection

CPR strike * Canada - Truckers first to feel impact of

A strike by 3,200 Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. track staff began yesterday, slowing big trucks picking up container loads of imported consumer goods stored at rail terminals

Toronto,Ontario,Canada -The Globe and Mail, by BRENT JANG -May 17, 2007: -- CPR spokesman Mark Seland played down the picketing at key intermodal terminals in the Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal regions. "It's a mild irritation to the truckers, but it's not affecting our actual train service," he said... Despite CPR's assurances of smooth deliveries, rail customers such as manufacturers and the Canadian Wheat Board are nervous about any potential disruptions... Calgary-based CPR and its larger rival, Canadian National Railway Co., share tracks in the Vancouver area, where shipping lanes are already congested because of booming trade with Asia...

Labels: strikes

PICTURES * USA - A rather large and very smart petrol tanker

Wash,USA -Biglorryblog (UK) -17 May 2007: -- I have this picture of --which you probably wouldn't want to run into the back of. My first reaction was: 'What's Ollie doing in Australia?' But in fact it's an American rig in Washington State... The bonneted Kenworth is a rather strange 8x4 with normal wheels and double-drive bogie until you get to the small second steer which no doubt is to meet some arcane local weight loading for front (or rear) axles... (Picture: Ollie Dixon/Road Transport)

Labels: heavy trucks pictures

PICTURES * UK - Another 'heavy' moment with Volvo

And am I going power crazy?

UK -Biglorryblog -17 May 2007: -- ... Hey: this it's an FH '13' with a 'mere' 480hp. Still, I am assured that GCE is delighted with its new big Swede... Oh alright then I suppose it's also got a Globetrotter cab on it so it still counts in BLB's gallery of 'heavy' hitters...

Labels: heavy trucks pictures

GLOBALIZATION * New Zealand - Is it a Renault..? Is it a Mack?

Renault, Mack? -Well it certainly isn't a Volvo ---and that's the problem from the get go...

New Zealand -Biglorryblog (UK) -17 May 2007: -- Here's a good example of how global truck manufacturing can leave some casualties along the way, especially when it comes to partnerships like Volvo and Renault... Look at the truck above and you're probably saying: " Hey! A Renault Magnum." Well yes and no. Yes it's a Magnum cab alright but underneath there beats a 600hp 15-litre Cummins Signature and for a while (mainly before Volvo joined forces with Renault) it was sold down under as the Mack Magnum... (Picture by Rod Simmonds-NZ)

Labels: trucks future

"GREEN" NEWS * Canada - Ports of Seattle, Tacoma and Vancouver team up for cleaner air

The ports of Seattle, Tacoma and Vancouver have proposed performance goals to reduce diesel emissions and greenhouse gases from port-related sources

Canada -Eye for Transport (London,UK) -17 May 2007: -- According to the Pacific Northwest Ports Clean Air Strategy announced yesterday, the goal is to reduce particulate matter by 70% from ships at berth and 30% from cargo handling equipment by 2010... Performance goals still are to be developed for trucks, trains and harbour craft. The Ports have committed to working with the trucking industry and the railroads to develop the goals... In Vancouver, a recently established program requires all container trucks to have a Truck Licensing System (TLS) licence in order to gain access to port terminals...

Labels: green news

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS

* USA - Jerry Moyes Completes Acquisition of Swift Transportation

USA -TruckingInfo -11 May 2007: -- Jerry Moyes announced Thursday that Saint Corp., a corporation formed by Moyes and certain related parties, has successfully completed the acquisition of Swift Transportation Co. Inc... Moyes is the founder and former chairman of the board and CEO of Swift. Saint entered into a definitive agreement with Swift in January to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Swift common stock for $31.55 per share in cash, including the assumption of approximately $332 million of net debt, valuing the all-cash transaction at approximately $2.6 billion, or about $3.6 billion counting the Moyes family's rollover of their Swift investment and their contribution of Interstate Equipment Leasing...

* USA - YRC Worldwide to focus more on China, Asia, Zollars says
Kansas City,MO,USA -The Kansas City Star -May 17, 2007: -- After building up its domestic operations for several years, YRC Worldwide Inc. will look to the east for future expansion-- the Far East... That was the message of YRC Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Bill Zollars at the trucking giant's annual shareholders meeting today at its Overland Park headquarters... 'We're in the process of establishing a ground network in China to connect Asia to the U.S.,' Zollars said, noting that the company hoped to complete two acquisitions in China in the next six months...

Labels: trucking industry

Report * USA - Lags way behind in transport infrastructure

..."America is more of a follower and no longer a world leader when it comes to infrastructure," the report states...

New York,NY,USA -Today's Trucking (CAN) -17 May 2007: -- The United States' relatively low investment in virtually all aspects of mobility-related infrastructure -- roads and bridges, airports, public transit, and railway systems -- is an "emerging crisis" that will compromise the ability of the nation's cities to compete globally, according to a new report co-published by the Urban Land Institute and Ernst Young... Infrastructure 2007: A Global Perspective offers a comprehensive look at the status of current and planned infrastructure investment and development in a variety of categories in countries worldwide, with a particular focus on the U.S., China, Japan, India, and Europe. The first of its kind, the report discusses the evolving infrastructure market, including private and combination public-private systems for funding, construction, operations and management... Inevitably, the private sector will play an increasingly important role in the development of infrastructure... According to Dale Ann Reiss, global director of real estate at Ernst Young, the private sector is going to play a significant role in what she predicts will be a global movement to build and modernize the world's infrastructure... (Photo: Inevitably, the private sector will play an increasingly important role in the development of infrastructure)

Labels: infrastructures

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS

* USA - Navistar silent on interest in GM trucks
Chicago,IL,USA -The Chicago Tribune, by James P. Miller / The Flint (Mich.) Journal -May 16, 2007: -- Navistar International Corp. is declining comment on a published report that suggests the Warrenville-based maker of trucks and diesel engines is interested in acquiring General Motors Corp.'s medium-duty-truck operation... Reported Sunday that GM is mulling a sale to Navistar... And, it quoted unnamed plant workers who said Navistar employees "have been in the Flint facility" where GM makes its medium-duty trucks... GM spokesman Tom Wickham declined to comment... Navistar spokesman Roy Wiley, asked about the published report, sounded a similarly opaque theme...

* UK - Housing Association to Replace Entire Fleet With Renault
Dorset,UK -TNN -17 May 2007: -- In a significant conquest deal for Renault Trucks South, East Dorset Housing Association (EDHA) is replacing its entire fleet with Renault trucks and vans... The Association’s existing fleet of Ford, Mercedes and Isuzu will be completely replaced by a total of 47 Renault vehicles, including 21 Renault Masters, made up of caged tippers and panel vans; 19 long wheel based Renault Traffics, fitted with certified Sortimo racking systems and seven Renault Kangoos, two of which are also racked... (See Picture)

* USA - They should have trucked’em
Cerritos,CAL,USA -Today's Trucking -17 May 2007: -- Medium-duty truck builder Isuzu Commercial Truck of North America would rather toss potentially problematic trucks than foist them on unsuspecting fleets... That's why ICTA announced this week that it is taking the radical step of scrapping 110 brand new medium-duty N-series trucks that were stuck on a freighter ship that was listing off the coast of Alaska in 60 degree weather last summer... He said Isuzu's commitment to customers and a concern for future unforeseeable service implications led to the decision to scrap the more than 100 trucks and not sell them as "used or damaged" vehicles...

* UK - Vauxhall chief says GM Europe and Renault-Nissan to collaborate in 3.5-tonne-plus van segment
UK-Automotive World -16 May, 2007: -- According to a report carried by UK-based weekly industry magazine Commercial Motor, Opel and Vauxhall are likely to enter the rear-wheel drive 3.5-tonne-plus van segment, with a vehicle which has a Gross Vehicle Weight rating of up to 5.6 tonnes... Such a model is likely to be the outcome of a joint venture with Renault, the report says...

Labels: truckmakers news

Truckers Thank Congress * USA - For Safe American Roads Act of 2007

USA -Layover -16 May 2007: -- The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) has announced another step up the ladder of victory in the battle for the safety and security of U.S. highways... A bill designed to expose faulty, reckless gaps in an impending cross-border program was passed in the U.S. House of Representatives today 411 to 3... The "Safe American Roads Act of 2007" will implement measures to ensure the U.S. Department of Transportation does not risk national safety and security by allowing Mexico-domiciled trucking companies full access to U.S. highways... The Association's stand is that U.S. borders should not open wider to trucks from Mexico until their safety systems are truly compatible and our enforcement officials have the means to enforce U.S. laws...

Labels: mexican's trucks

TRUCKER'S HUMOR

Taken in: Delphos, California,USA -flickr.com -15 May 2007

... saw this on the back of a truck heading down I-5 near Williams on Mother's Day. I just HAD to slow down to get a picture...

Labels: truckers humor

TRANSPORTS' NEWS * Croatia - Trucks To Travel By Train Soon

Will the trains for conveying trucks between the Turkish terminal in Halkali and the Austrian terminal in Wels start commuting?

Hina,Croatia -Javno.hr (Zagreb,Croatia), by Joseph Stedul -15 May 2007: -- Today, in the Croatian Railways (HZ), a meeting was held by the head people of HZ Holding, Turkish Raiways, Railways of Serbia, Austrian companies Railcargo and Okombi, and Bulgarian and Slovenian Railways, at which the option of transporting trucks by rail (RoLa trains) between the Turkish terminal in Halkali and the Austrian terminal in Wels was discussed... The meetings, according to the Croatian Railways report, was held on the initiative of the Turkish railways who initiated the solution to the obstacles for the realization of the project started last autumn...

Labels: transportation news

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS

* Sweden - Another Major Order for Volvo Trucks in Romania

Stockholm,Sweden -Business Wire (USA) -15 May, 2007: -- Volvo Trucks’ Romanian subsidiary, has received another major order from transport and logistics company Alin Trans Impex... The order covers 350 trucks, which is 50 more than last year. Delivery of the new trucks will be completed in 2007... Alin Trans Impex’s truck fleet will include 1150 modern Volvo trucks by the end of this year...

Labels: truckmakers news

Trucking Rules * Canada - B.C.'s new deliver headache

Changes require second driver on trucks using ferries

Vancouver,BC,CAN -The Vancouver Sun, by Brian Morton -May 15, 2007: -- New rules designed to give long-haul truckers a decent rest are giving some short-haul drivers a major headache... That's the word from Paul Landry, president and CEO of the B.C. Trucking Association, who said that new commercial driving regulations are a positive step for some drivers, but they're creating an entirely different set of problems for others -- particularly those who travel on BC Ferries between the Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island... "Because there's two-and-a-half or three hours lost each way [during the ferry crossing], the productive time for that driver has diminished significantly," said Landry of the new rules, which went into effect May 1. "Those drivers are running out of hours. The company must decide to put another driver on, which doesn't make any sense [economically]"...

Labels: trucking rules

DEBATE * USA - House to Vote on Mexican Trucks’ Limited and Controlled Access to U.S. Roadways

Washington,DC,USA-Public CQ, by Kathleen Hunter -15 May 2007: -- The House will vote Tuesday on a bill that would set additional conditions on a Bush administration plan to allow long-haul Mexican trucks access to U.S. highways... The bill (HR 1773) would limit the length of the program and block its implementation until U.S. truckers have comparable access to Mexico... When the Transportation and Infrastructure panel approved the bill May 2, Chairman James L. Oberstar, D-Minn., said the 66-0 vote sent a “very strong message” to the Bush administration that lawmakers have serious concerns about plans to open the border...

* USA - Pilot program allows trucks from Mexico free travel through U.S.

Charleston,WV,USA -The Charleston Daily Mail, by Jake Stump -May 14, 2007: -- Some of West Virginia's representatives in Congress don't want Mexican trucking companies hauling freight deep into the Mountain State, or other parts of the country for that matter... Starting in July, a one-year pilot program backed by the Bush administration would allow trucks from 100 Mexican firms to drive anywhere in the United States... Congressman Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va., said he hopes the plan comes to a dead end... Mollohan, along with Congressman Nick Rahall, D-W.Va., has cosponsored a House bill that puts limits on the program... "This bill will put the brakes on an influx of poorly maintained and dangerous Mexican trucks onto U.S. highways," Mollohan said...

* COMMENTS: by ClipMarks

USA -5 May 2007: -- ... He said the highways would meld the economies of the United States, Canada and Mexico into one based on the labor rate in China, which would be able to ship goods to western Mexico ports and haul them by trucks throughout North America... The losers will be West Coast shipyard workers, American truckers and trucking companies and others who handle consumer goods in the U.S., as well as even Mexican manufacturers who would not be able to compete with Chinese labor rates, critics said... (See image: One superhighway concept)

Labels: mexican's trucks

AUTOMAKERS' NEWS * USA - After Pact to Shed Chrysler, DaimlerTurns Focus to Other Challenges

After nearly a decade of trying to be both German and American, DaimlerChrysler AG is going back to its roots, starting with its new name: Daimler AG

New York,NY,USA -The New York Times, by STEPHEN POWER -May 15, 2007: -- With its decision to reduce its stake in Chrysler to just under 20%, the Stuttgart, Germany, company is giving up its ambitions of being a car maker present in every segment of the market. DaimlerChrysler sells 4.7 million vehicles a year, making it the world's fifth-biggest car maker in sales volume. Without Chrysler, Daimler's sales will fall to around 2.1 million, less than those of France's Renault SA -- the world's No. 10 auto maker in terms of vehicle sales... A leaner Daimler will aim to emulate the success of its smaller, longtime rival BMW AG -- a feat many industry analysts think is achievable given the strength of Daimler's premium Mercedes brand. BMW has posted strong results since selling its mass-market Rover car unit in 2000 and concentrating on its premium-car business, including the Mini and Rolls-Royce brands... "With Chrysler leaving the group, the risk profile of this entire company is going to be much more favorable," says Michael Raab, an analyst with Sal. Oppenheim in Frankfurt... Not all industry analysts are equally enthusiastic about Daimler's prospects without Chrysler. Mark Warnsman of Prudential Equity Group LLC in New York says the company should follow Toyota's model for success with its premium Lexus brand. Lexus's design and manufacturing operations are tightly integrated with those of Toyota's mass-market car business, allowing both sides to save money and develop products more quickly... "As painful as it may be for the Mercedes purists to accept, Mercedes is going to need Chrysler," Mr. Warnsman said in a research note earlier this year...

Labels: automakers news

Gas boycott * USA - Largely ignored by local motorists

Boycott, schmoycott...!!!

Tucson, Arizona -The Arizona Daily Star, by Shelley Shelton -16 May 2007: -- That seemed to be the attitude of people filling their gas tanks at local stations Tuesday — a day that had been designated through e-mail and word-of-mouth as a time to boycott gas stations in protest of record-high gas prices... Tucson's average gas price held steady at $2.99, just a penny below what is largely a symbolic price benchmark as locals feel the pinch anyway... "We need it. We have to buy it. There's nothing we can do," said Ted Sanchez, 70, when he finished gassing up at the Arco AM/PM Market at South Park Avenue and East Benson Highway... (Photo: Mamta popat/Arizona Daily Star - "I'll take the cheap stuff," says motorist Charlie Morriss. "Gotta have it, whatever the price, I'll pay")

Labels: boycott

DEBATE * USA - Trucks’ Toll

New York,NY,USA -The Gotham Gazette -May 14, 2007: -- U.S. Representative and likely mayoral candidate Anthony Weiner, who was quick to slam Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s plan to charge some motorists a fee to drive in Manhattan, has an alternative idea. He wants to make it more expensive for truckers to drive in Manhattan because, he says, trucks are a bigger problem than cars... A spokesperson for Bloomberg told that Weiner’s alternative would “drastically increase truck traffic in neighborhoods that already have high child asthma rates,” and hurt small businesses...

Labels: truck tolls

DEBATE * USA - Trucks from Mexico should be as safe as trucks from the U.S.

Rep. Boyda concerned about foreign trucks on U.S. roads

Topeka,KS,USA -49abcnews, by Ben Bauman- May 14, 2007: -- That's the word from Kansas Congressman Nancy Boyda's office... Federal transportation officials have unveiled a pilot program that would allow trucks from Mexico wider access to U.S. roads... Boyda says that would threaten highway safety... Boyda has introduced legislation to impose safety standards on the pilot program...

Labels: mexican's trucks

Driver Named to FMCSA * USA - Con-way Freight CDL Advisory Committee

Washington,DC,USA -eTrucker -14 May 2007: -- Con-way Freight recently announced that one of its drivers has been selected to participate on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Commercial Driver's License Advisory Committee... David May, a professional driver for Con-way Freight-Central, was the lead speaker for the April Advisory Committee meeting in Arlington, Va... May, who was one of four professional truck drivers on the panel, spoke out on the need for strengthening and improving driver training, and incorporating more actual driving scenarios into the CDL road test for truck drivers...

Labels: drivers promotion

TRUCKS' PURCHASES Survey * USA - 32% plan to do it, during 2Q

Columbus,OH,USA -eTrucker -14 May 2007: -- According to the Q2 2007 CK Commercial Vehicle Research Fleet Sentiment inquiry, 32 percent of respondents plan to place orders for power units in the next three months... In all, 31 for-hire and private fleets participated in the current survey, which was conducted during the third week of April, the research firm said... CK Commercial Vehicle Research distributes a questionnaire quarterly to fleet managers responsible for the purchase, spec’ing and maintenance of commercial vehicles. Regular contributors answer questions regarding their purchase plans for tractors and trailers. Best practice and opinions on industry issues also are covered...

Labels: trucks purchases

Overnight Parking * USA - Avondale bans semitrucks, RVs in commercial lots

Next month, truckers and recreation vehicle drivers aren't going to be able to spend the night in parking lots in Avondale anymore

Avondale,AZ,USA -The Arizona Republic, by David Madrid -May 14, 2007: -- ... That's because the City Council took legal steps to prevent those overnight stays... Commercial and industrial parking lots will be off-limits to semitrucks, RVs, trailers, commercial vehicles and combinations of vehicles that are longer than 21 feet that aren't owned or operated by a business on the property...

Labels: trucks ban

POINT OF VIEW * Mexico - DEBATE Mexican / USA's Trucks'

Insolvent plan - Soon it will arrive first July and there will be no opening

Mexico City,DF,MEX -InfoTransportes On Line -7 May 2007: -- Every day more complicated the famous “Pilot Plan” for the crossborder transport: Mexico-EE.UU... Official's pretexts will not lack. In addition to the crease of the SCT. That because the Senate requested it! … An intense lobbying from the "Cámara del Autotransporte" -Trucking Associations- doit by their President Tirso Martínez in the Congress and press, anticipates to restrain the only beneficiaries: the American fleets… Real it's that the richest Mexican's fleets they cannot to compete with those of EE.UU. Here a comparative one: The main Mexican trucking: Transports TUM of Miguel Quintanilla has 650 vehicles. The largest USA's freighter: Swift Transportation, own 20 thousand units and will add a recent order of four thousand vehicles more to Volvo Trucks... And so all !!!... Those that yes are happy, are the americans' carriers, who already operate here: CFI Transportation, Rodway Transportation, Ryder Transportation, DHL, UPS and Fedex, among whom. They will be the beneficiaries because no longer they will work with Mexican trucks to transport his products…

Labels: mexican's trucks

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30.5.07

"GREEN" NEWS * USA - U-Haul Partners With The Conservation Fund's Go Zero Program

EVENTS * USA - 'Tricked trucks' highlight weekend fest on 18 wheels

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS WORLDWIDE

SAVING FUEL COST

29.5.07

RECALL * Japan - Mitsubishi to doit with Super Great trucks

Report * Canada - Too soon to judge 07 engines

* Canada - Truckers blast Councillor's second attempt at T.O.

HOV * Canada - Ontario paves way for more lanes, on 400 series hwys

Teamster vs. FedEx * USA - Scuffle could pinch local trucking cos.

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS WORLDWIDE

28.5.07

Border crossing charges * USA - Set to increase in June

TRUCKS´ SALES WORLDWIDE

DEBATE: RECORDING DEVICES * USA

DEBATE: TRUCK LANES * USA - Big-rig lobby wants to slam brakes on mandatory toll use

DANGEROUS DRIVERS * South Africa - Roadworks truck and lorry collide

26.5.07

LHVs a modern thing?... You obviously haven't heard about this older longer heavier vehicle...

... or this... a three-trailer Daimler roadtrain!

FMCSA study * USA - Tractor-trailer crashes prove costly

Dangerous Enterprises * USA - Trucking company in maze crash sees license suspended

* USA - FMCSA Moves to Protect Fleets From ID Theft

MEXICANS`S TRUCKS DEBATE * USA

TRUCKMAKERS` NEWS

Statistics * USA - ATA Truck Tonnage Index Falls 2.2 Percent in April

Electric Trucks * UK - European manufacturer to double output of electric vehicles

TOLL ROADS DEBATE * USA

25.5.07

TRUCKERS' STORIES * India - "The truck took 8 days averaging speed of 11 kms per hour to cover 2150 kms"

* Malaysia - Port Klang: Potential tourist port city?

The Future of Trucking? * USA - Chassis Chief Thinks it Will be Plug In and Go

TECHNO NEWS

TRUCKS' MARKETS

Two Million Mile Haul * USA - B20 vs. Diesel in

DEBATE: "Congestion Pricing" * USA - New York Voters Oppose Manhattan Car Fees, Poll Says

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS

DRIVERS' JOBS * Canada - First Nations recruited for trucking industry

23.5.07

STUDY * Canada - Asian carmakers on cusp of overtaking Big Three in NA

TECHNO NEWS * USA - "Ultra High-Efficiency Engine Concepts"

* USA - A Look at the Culture That Moves Us

SAFETY * USA - Officials want truckers to be safe for long haul

TRUCKERS' STORIES

"GREEN" NEWS

Truck inspection * USA - Detect many dangerous vehicles

TRUCKMAKERS NEWS WORLDWIDE

TOLL ROADS DEBATE * USA - Bills advance in Tennessee

BILL * USA - Pennsylvania's one, would split speed limits, ban trucks from left lanes

Fuel Economy * USA - Lawmakers demand more for big trucks

Surging Oil Prices * USA - House moves on

22.5.07

ADVENTURERS TRUCKS ... "what are these two Aussies doing with an FH16 roadtrain?"

... YESTERDAY TRUCKS` * MALTA - Old Bedfords never die

Survey * Ireland - Shows shortage of women truckers

* UK - Planning White Paper Good News for Transport

HIGHWAY HERO * USA - Illinois driver chosen for award

* USA - Bill would allow suing OPEC

TRUCKMAKERS` NEWS * USA - Trucking investors 'pre-buying' the pre-buy

Research * USA - ATRI identifies billions in highway revenues

Organized criminals * Canada - Target cargo trucks

"GREEN" NEWS * USA - California urges EPA to approve its greenhouse gas rule, allowing states to adopt its standard

MEXICANS´ TRUCKS DEBATE * USA = Problems of Assimilation

FIGURES * USA/North American freight - Trucks remain dominant transporting $534 billion or 62 percent of the total value

21.5.07

Businesses * USA - Hot prospects for buyers

New fuel * USA - For 21st century: Aluminum pellets?

MEX' TRUCKS DEBATE * USA - Letter from: John H. Hill, administrator - Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration - U.S. Dept. of Transportation

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS WORLDWIDE

SAFETY * USA - Big trucks need hour counters

TECHNO-NEWS * Canada - Thermal imaging targets dangerous trucks

"GREEN" NEWS * TRUCKING INDUSTRY

"GREEN" NEWS * AUTOMAKERS WORLDWIDE - Jumping on the green vehicle bandwagon

IDEAS * USA - Drastic ways to save gasoline