trucks world news: October 2007

31.10.07

AUTOMAKERS' NEWS * USA - Chrysler to cut deeper: 1,000 managers targeted

Factory shifts, contract workers to be reduced

Detroit,Mich,USA -The Detroit News, by Bill Vlasic -31 Oct 2007: -- Chrysler LLC is expected to slash at least 1,000 salaried workers, cut contract employees and trim manufacturing jobs in an effort to downsize payroll and production to match its shrinking U.S. market share... People close to the company said Chrysler's board Tuesday approved the job cuts and possible factory shift reductions in addition to dropping four vehicles from its product lineup... The cuts are expected to be announced as soon as today as the newly independent automaker revamps its operations under the ownership of the private-equity firm Cerberus Capital Management...

* Criminal probe into Delphi ends
Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News (Detroit,Mich), by David Shepardson -October 31, 2007: -- The Justice Department is expected to drop a 2 1/2 -year criminal probe of several former executives of bankrupt auto supplier Delphi Corp., including former president and CEO JT Battenberg III... At least seven former Delphi managers were investigated as part of a criminal probe after Delphi admitted to accounting irregularities from 2000 to 2004 that made the failing parts supplier appear profitable. The Troy-based operation was spun off by General Motors Corp. in 1999, and slid into bankruptcy in 2005...

Labels: automakers' news

"Clean Trucks" Program * USA - Feds oppose new truck plan

Federal authorities are warning port executives to scrap a driver employee provision in their Clean Trucks program or face serious legal challenges

Long Beach,CA,USA -The Long Beach Press-Telegram, by Kristopher Hanson -29 Oct 2007: -- ... In a letter dated Oct. 23, a top official at the Department of Transportation makes it clear that feds do not back a port solution to clean up harbor trucking by requiring that motor carriers purchase and maintain new, low-emission vehicles to service waterfront terminals... Signed by U.S. Maritime Administrator Sean Connaughton, the letter claims any attempts to regulate who drives trucks will almost surely end up disrupting the flow of cargo through the nation's busiest seaport... "Any governmental effort at the local level to `restructure' this important industry is fraught with legal and economic risk," Connaughton writes. "I urge you to seek an effective compromise between proponents and critics of the truck plan, to ensure that port-related truck emissions are reduced and freight flows through the ports and region remain unimpeded"... Sent to port executive directors Richard Steinke in Long Beach and Geraldine Knatz in Los Angeles, the letter urges authorities to reconsider their approach...

* Port Delays Vote on Truck Ban
Los Angeles,CAL,USA -The Los Angeles Business Journal, by RICHARD CLOUGH -29 Oct 2007: -- The Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners postponed a vote Monday on setting a timeline to implement a controversial plan to replace the ports’ oldest and most-polluting trucks... The board delayed the vote with little comment at its weekly meeting, but later the port issued a press release saying that it wanted to reconcile its proposed timeline with one that Los Angeles port officials are set to consider on Thursday...

Labels: "Clean Trucks" Program

TRUCKERS' HEALTH * USA

* Long haul drivers get overdue checkups

Knoxville,TN,USA -WBIR-TV, by Emily Stroud -30 Oct 2007: -- Trucks roll through Knoxville all day and all night on Interstates 40 and 75. That 24-hour schedule makes health care hard to fit into truck drivers' schedules... Tuesday, health officials reached out to drivers at one of the busiest truck stops in the country, on Watts Road in West Knoxville... The very nature of truck driving makes it easy to be unhealthy: long hours, eating on the run, sitting all day. Truckers struggle to find time for health care... Anita Ellis says her health has declined during 11 years on the road. She made a point to stop at a health fair at Petro's Stopping Center for screenings, education, and practical advice... She was able to attend the health fair at a truck stop, because she had somewhere to park her big rig. Access can be a barrier to health care... Dr. McElligott said obesisty, sleep apnea, and high blood pressure are common in truckers seeking treatment at his truck stop medical clinics and at the health fair... The one-day health clinic brought in more than 150 truck drivers, including Anita Ellis... Knox County's Health Department and Professional Drivers Medical Depot co-sponsored the health fair... (Photographer: Kevin Umberger)

* Survey - NIOSH Seeks Opinions on

Old Saybrook,CT,USA -Safety.BLR.Com -30 Oct 2007: -- The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) is requesting public comment on proposed content for a survey of truck drivers' safety and health... The goal is to collect information on sleep disorders, fatigue, working conditions, and nonfatal injuries...

Labels: Truckers' Health

Traffic Stop * USA - Yields Embalmed Heads

Royse City,Texas,USA -AP/The Dallas Morning News -30 Oct 2007: -- A traffic stop in Texas yielded about two dozen embalmed heads. But it's no Halloween joke. Investigators said the human heads had been used for medical training in the Fort Worth area and were being returned to Little Rock, Arkansas... Hunt County Justice of the Peace Aaron Williams was summoned during a traffic stop Sunday in Royse City after a trucker was suspected of speeding... "This is in the top five of the strangest things maybe the strangest that I've ever encountered," Williams told on Monday... The wrapped-in-plastic heads were found in the trailer. The driver couldn't immediately locate the documentation. The trucker and his cargo were later allowed to proceed after the paperwork was faxed to him...

Labels: strangest cargoes

TRUCKING INDUSTRY * USA

* Arizona trucking companies honored
AZ,USA -AZ Central.com/The Arizona Republic, by Betty Beard -Oct. 30, 2007: -- Both Swift Transportation Co. Inc and Knight Transportation Co. Inc were among 34 companies that recently received SmartWay Excellence Awards from the Environmental Protection Agency for saving fuel and reducing vehicle emissions... The SmartWay program was started by EPA and businesses in 2004 to reduce fuel use, greenhouse gas emissions and air pollutants from freight businesses... More than 600 businesses and organizations have joined the partnership and are eligible for the annual award...

* Key Principal invests in trucking company
Cleveland,OH,USA -Crain's Cleveland Business - October 30, 2007: -- Private equity firm Key Principal Partners has invested $40 million in the subordinated debt of Western Express Inc. to facilitate the trucking company’s acquisition of Smithway Motor Xpress... Key Principal Partners said Western Express is a truckload carrier founded in 1991 by Wayne Wise. The company has grown to become a top-15 truckload carrier in the United States through a combination of internal growth and acquisitions. Smithway Motor Xpress, based in Fort Dodge, Iowa, is a flatbed and van truckload carrier that serves customers primarily in the building materials, steel and heavy equipment industries...

* NMFTA rolls out new classification procedures and organizational structure
ALEXANDRIA,Va,USA -Logistic Management, by Jeff Berman -30 Oct 2007: -- The National Motor Freight Traffic Association Inc. (NMFTA) said last week that its membership has voted to adopt a new organizational structure and set of operating procedures... The organization said this vote is in response to a ruling made last May by the Surface Transportation Board which officially terminated approval of the agreement of the National Classification Committee, which is also considered a motor carrier bureau, and stripped it of its Section 5a antitrust immunity and also ceased the practice of collective ratemaking... Along with the new classification procedures, the NMFTA said it has established two new organizations to implement the procedures: the Classification Resource Committee (CRC) and the Commodity Classification Standards Board (CCSB)... Joel Ringer, CCSB chairman, also pointed out that the criteria and principles behind the classification to determine the relative transportability to of everything that moves in commerce and put into one of 18 classes—density, stowability, handling, and liability—will not change...

* Bill Davis Trucking seeks bankruptcy protection
Batesville,Ark,USA - Sporting News NASCAR Wire Service, by Reid Spencer -October 30, 2007: -- Bill Davis Trucking Inc., owned by NASCAR team owner Bill Davis, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the Arkansas Democrat reported Tuesday... A meeting with creditors of Bill Davis Trucking is scheduled for Dec. 18, according to an Oct. 22 filing in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District Arkansas in Batesville, the paper reported...

* Norris Trucking Scales Down After 52 Years In Business
Barton,VT,USA -The Caledonian Record, by TENA STARR -October 30, 2007: -- More than half a century ago, Ulric "Chink" Norris of Sutton started a tiny trucking business hauling gravel with a single 1951 dump truck... Last week, six dump trucks hit the auction block, as well as excavators, graders, bulldozers, trailers, forklifts and plows - literally tons of equipment... Vehicles from Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire and all over Vermont lined the South Barton Road for Saturday's sale at Norris Paving and Trucking... At 75 years old, and with serious health problems, Norris decided it was time to sell and "retire"... It's a decision that was necessary but one he still has mixed feelings about...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

FUEL * UK - OPEC Says Oil Will Not Reach $100 Soon

OPEC said current record crude oil prices do not reflect the group’s objectives

London,UK -Bloomberg/Transport Topic (USA) -30 Oct 2007: -- OPEC has a “duty” to supply the world with oil at stable prices, OPEC President Mohamed al-Hamli at an oil conference in London. Al-Hamli is also the oil minister of the United Arab Emirates... If the market needs more oil, OPEC will supply it using its spare capacity of 3.5 million barrels a day, he said... OPEC “recognizes it has a responsibility” to ensure “stable” prices for producers and consumers, said in a speech... Crude oil set a record Monday, closing on the New York Mercantile Exchange at $93.53 a barrel, more than $1 over the $91.86 record set Friday. Thursday was the first time oil had closed at more than $90 a barrel...

* USA - Diesel Matches Record $3.157
USA -Bloomberg/Transport Topic -30 Oct 2007: -- The national average price of diesel fuel rose 6.3 cents to $3.157 a gallon, matching the all-time record set two years ago, the Energy Department said Monday... Gasoline, meanwhile, rose 4.9 cents to $2.872 a gallon and crude oil futures closed at a new record high of $93.53 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday... Each week, DOE surveys about 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price... (Photo by Larry Smith/Trans Pixs: Gasoline Tanker Station)

Labels: fuel troubles

30.10.07

* China - Rationing diesel amid shortages

Beijing,China -Associated Press, by JOE McDONALD -Oct. 30, 2007: -- Gas stations in China's fast-growing southeast were rationing diesel fuel Tuesday because of severe shortages amid soaring demand. The move disrupted trucking and prompted accusations that oil companies were hoarding supplies... In the export-driven coastal provinces of Guangdong, Zhejiang and Fujian, truck drivers lined up to buy as little as a quarter-tank at a time, and some stations closed for lack of supplies, news reports and trucking companies said... They said supplies began running short about a week ago... China's major oil companies — China National Petroleum Corp. and China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., also known as Sinopec — blame the shortage on bad weather that disrupted supplies... But they also say government controls that have frozen retail diesel and gasoline prices have inflicted huge losses on refiners that must pay soaring world prices for crude oil, discouraging them from expanding supplies...

Labels: fuel troubles

Environmental themes * Europe - Strong at Amsterdam Show

Amsterdam,Holland -Road Transport (UK), by Will Shiers -30 October 2007: -- The European Road Transport Show 2007 had a clear environmental theme, with alternative fuel/driveline trucks being exhibited by almost all of the major OEMs... Taking pride of place on DAF’s stand was its range of Enhanced Environmental Vehicles (EEV) – or ‘Euro 5 and a half’ as it refers to them... (Picture from BigLorryBlog at the RAI Show: Volvo FH Globetrotter cab in half and climbing in is as easy as ABC. And with a wooden ramp designed specialy for Dutch drivers who can cycle up into the cab too...)

Labels: events

TECHNO NEWS * Canada - Truckers get in-cab scanners

Time is money -- especially in a competitive trucking industry.

Penticton,Okanagan Valley,Canada -The Penticton Herald -October 30, 2007: -- Michelle Mulligan of Berry and Smith Trucking of Penticton checks out a document scanner-printer inside the cab of a company truck Monday... The newly-developed device from Microdea Inc. could eliminate delays over paperwork for truckers on the road... Officials at Penticton-based Berry and Smith Trucking Ltd. hope a newly innovated in-cab document scanner will save their drivers hours otherwise spent waiting for paperwork... Dorothy Van Koughnett, comptroller for Berry and Smith, said Monday the system allows the company office to transmit cargo manifests, billing orders and other documents directly to drivers on the road... (Picture: Michelle Mulligan of Berry and Smith Trucking of Penticton checks out a document scanner-printer inside the cab of a company truck Monday. The newly-developed device from Microdea Inc. could eliminate delays over paperwork for truckers on the road. )

Labels: technonews

LOOKING A MIRROR * Botswana - Trucking an HIV factor, said a Coordinator

Gaborone,Botswana -mmegi.bw, by THATO CHWAANE -29 Oct 2007: -- Unemployment, the road network for trucks, and a high rate of movement of people from different areas of the country and the world are factors fuelling the high prevalence rate of HIV in the Chobe District, an AIDS Coordinator has observed... Bokole said due to the convergence of trucking routes on an area where five countries meet and truckers 'camp' for days, people are bound to engage in risky sexual behaviour...

Labels: drivers' health risks

ROAD PRICING & TAXES * UK - Gordon Brown is a non-driver: is that why he taxes us so much?

London,UK -Road Transport -30 October 2007: -- One reason why Gordon Brown (UK's 1st. Minister) is so keen to put up fuel prices might be that he is a “non-driver who has “never brought a litre of fuel in his life”... This statement comes in a book called Gordon Brown, by Tom Bower, a highly experienced investigative journalist who is very critical of Brown... There is an interesting section on the fuel dispute. The book says: “Despite his self-declared passion for enterprise, he did not understand the arithmetic that high fuel prices had deprived road hauliers of any profits”... The book says that a person appeal by Tony Blair to reconsider a tax reduction was rejected... It is worth remembering this as Brown again puts up fuel prices and again receives a windfall income from the higher price of fuel...

* Bedrock of support for

Many members of the public are in favour of road pricing, an Ipsos Mori poll released last week suggests.
London,UK -Road Tranport -30 October 2007: -- Some 61% of respondents said they would support road pricing if the money raised was reinvested in public transport. However, although the survey did not specifically question respondents about their attitudes to trucks, 81% of the 2,000 people surveyed chose either emissions levels or engine size as the charging criterion. Support for the scheme fell slightly if the revenue was passed back to the motorist as lower fuel duty (49% in favour) or road tax (53%)...

* DfT refutes idea that road pricing will be abandoned
London,UK -Road Tranport -29 October 2007: -- The DfT rejects reports in the national press suggesting that the government is about to abandon a national road pricing scheme following a petition to Downing Street by 1.8 million drivers. It says: "As we have said many times, no decision has been made about a national road pricing scheme"...

* UK - The Chancellor gets £3billion fuel windfall while hauliers suffer
London,UK -Road Tranport -29 October 2007: -- ... The soaring price of fuel is good news – but only if you are the Prime Minister or Chancellor... According to an analysis by accountants Grant Thornton (reported in the Daily Telegraph), the increase in fuel prices will generate an extra £3 billion this year... This windfall would be enough to fund a 6p cut in fuel duty. But our Prime Minister plans to increase duty by another 2p in April and another in 2009...

Labels: road pricing schemes

PROGNOSIS * UK - DfT plans joined up transport investment after 2014

London,UK -Road Transport -30 October 2007: -- The Department for Transport (DfT) is considering an integrated approach to transport planning on the back of the Stern and Eddington reports. In its 'Towards Sustainable Transport Systems: supporting economic growth in a low-carbon world' report, the government outlines its agenda for transport investment and tackling congestion and green issues after 2014... One of the key factors is the consideration of all modes of transport together rather than separate investment in road and rail. Roger King, chief executive of the Road Haulage Association, says a major consequence of the proposal is that the DfT will be more likely to consider intermodal solutions to transport problems. "From our point of view it represents an opportunity to set out the road transport stall and show the politicians the road haulage sector's green credentials.... King adds that the majority of freight is moved by road he hopes that discussions with government based on this document will help tackle the obstacles to an efficient road freight system, such as congestion...

Labels: transport system plans

TRUCKS' MAKERS * WORLD WIDE

* Holland - MAN TG wins International Truck of the Year 2008

Amsterdam,Holland -Road Transport (UK) -29 October 2007: -- The MAN TG Series has been voted International Truck of the Year 2008 (IToY) at The European Road Transport Show in Amsterdam... The international jury, made up of CV journalists from 20 European countries, awarded the new TG Series a total of 111 votes to giving MAN's new heavy duty truck range a clear lead... There were a number of strong challengers this year - the MAN beat off the Iveco Stralis and Renault Premium Lander to scoop top honours. This is MAN's seventh ITOY award, which is an unprecedented achievement Mercedes and Volvo each have five victories under their belts... (Picture from BigLorryBlog-UK)

*Germany - Ford launches 4.6 tonne Transit

Munich,Germany -Road Transport (UK) -30 October 2007: -- Ford is targeting its new 4.6-tonne Transit at operators looking to drop in weight from 7.5 tonnes... The marque, which unveiled the model at a press event in Munich last week, says it also wants to attract those who run smaller vans and who require an increase in payload. Ford believes the emergency services, municipal services, as well as the construction and motorhome industries, should all benefit from the increase in gross vehicle weight... The 4.6-tonne Transit is available with both the six-speed 140hp and the all-new 200hp rear-wheel drive powertrains...

* Holland - Sevel mid-range scoops Van of the Year
Amsterdam,Holland -Road Transport (UK) -30 October 2007: -- ... This year's election has seen the new Sevel mid-range scoop gold by a massive margin of 50 points... Marketed as the Citroen Dispatch, Peugeot Expert and Fiat Scudo, the stylish new van won the award with 108 points out of 140. Renault's new Kangoo was second with 58 points and the Nissan Cabstar/Renault Maxity took bronze with 29...

Labels: truckmakers news worldwide

AWARD * Canada - Sunbury shines green one

Fredericton,New Brunswick,Canada -Truckstop Canada News/Today's Trucking -29 Oct 2007: -- Sunbury Transport was one of eight environmental leaders honored for their outstanding contribution to the protection of the environment in New Brunswick... Environment Minister Roland Haché presented the innovative Atlantic carrier with the award in the Business category at a ceremony in Fredericton... Sunbury was recognized for, among other initiatives, an idle time reduction program for truck owner-operators, which saved about 200,000 liters of fuel. It has also partnered with Smartway to develop a fuel efficiency e-learning program for other carriers to follow. This company says it is constantly looking for better ways to manage and improve its fuel efficiency while reducing greenhouse-gas emissions... Sunbury is also known for being proactive in testing single, wide-base tires in some of its subsidiary fleets, and running long combination vehicles in an Atlantic pilot program...

Labels: awards

AWARDS * UK - DAF Apprentices Take Top Honours

Apprentice truck technicians winners in the DAF Apprentice of the Year competition

Bristol,UK -TNN -30 Oct 2007: -- All three are enrolled on the prestigious three-year National Dealer Apprentice Programme which is run at the DAF Trucks Centre of Learning at City of Bristol College.

* Ciaran Gilloway, 18, was the Year 1 winner.

* The Year 2 winner was Thomas Yelland, 23

* The Graduate Year Apprentice of the Year was 19-year-old Stuart Gordon.

The apprentice technicians come from DAF dealerships throughout the UK and their three-year course combine hands-on workshop training with periods of residential study and practical training at the college... It is managed for DAF Trucks by Skillnet Automotive Academy, a major provider of government-funded vocational training... (Picture: Ciaran Gilloway, Stuart Gordaon and Thomas Yelland)

Labels: awards

WARNING * USA - Life in the waiting lane

Warning motorists of the rollover hazard for large vehicles

Glens Falls,NY,USA -The Glens Falls Post-Star, by DON LEHMAN -October 29, 2007: -- Traffic was nearly at a standstill, with some motorists complaining they barely moved for more than an hour and needed three hours to travel the four or so miles between exits 18 and 17 of the Northway... The scene played out the afternoon and evening of Oct. 8, after a tractor-trailer carrying junk cars flipped over near Exit 17. It was one of the worst traffic jams in the area in years... Many who were stuck in the backup questioned why they were forced to sit in the southbound lanes on one of the biggest travel days of the year, the end of Columbus Day weekend... With several highway U-turns between the exits, some drivers said they should have been allowed to turn around and head north to find an alternate route. State Police cars blocked the U-turns during the backup, and also closed southbound entrances at a number of interchanges to the north...(Photo by Nathan Pallace/The Post-Star - Traffic signs posted on the sharp turn along the southbound Northway on ramp at Exit 17 warn motorist of the rollover hazard for large vehicles)

Labels: drivers' risks

MEXICANS' TRUCKS DEBATE * Mexico - Mexicans' point of view

Mexico City,DF,MEX -AP/ABC Money -29 Oct 2007: -- The American truckers, environmentalists and politicians who are sounding the alarm about the potential dangers of allowing Mexican tractor-trailers onto U.S. interstate highways rarely mention an important fact: hundreds of Mexican-plated trucks already deliver cargo all over the United States, and have done so for years... Teamsters union members have waged angry protests at the border and on Capitol Hill, waving signs saying 'NAFTA Kills' and 'Unsafe Mexican Trucks'... But more than 1,000 south-of-the-border companies are already allowed to drive cargo beyond the border zone under a long-standing exemption to the U.S. moratorium on Mexican long-haul trucking... And these Mexican drivers and trucks have had better driver and vehicle safety records than their U.S. counterparts in recent years, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation -- although opponents say many violations never get recorded because of sloppy government record-keeping... But both houses of Congress have proposed eliminating the pilot program's funding from a still-unreconciled transportation bill. And many truckers on both sides seem hesitant to drive far across the border... Mexican truckers say they are at a competitive disadvantage, and want help from the governments to reduce traffic at border crossings. And many U.S. truckers aren't willing to risk a drive deep into foreign territory... (Photo from: CBS News.com)

Labels: mexican's trucks

"GREEN" NEWS * USA - Nike, Converse to Use LNG Trucks at Los Angeles and Long Beach Ports

Change to clean trucks will result in decreased CO2, NOx and Particulate Emissions

Sacramento, CA,USA -CSR News/Nike, Inc. PR -October 29, 2007: -- Nike, Inc. and its affiliate company Converse announced today that they would be switching a significant portion of their Los Angeles area harbor drayage fleet from diesel to new Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) fueled vehicles. The "green fleet" announcement was made in conjunction with news that Nike has joined the Coalition for Responsible Transportation (CRT), a group advocating for policies and public/private partnerships that encourage the use of cleaner truck technologies in port communities...

Labels: green trucks

INFRASTRUCTURES * USA

* Road, energy projects top $41B construction roll call

New Orleans,LA,USA -The New Orleans CityBusiness, by Jaime Guillet -30 Oct 2007: -- The proposed Louisiana Transportation Center, a cargo transportation and distribution facility in Donaldsonville will cost an estimated $4 billion to build... Louisiana has about $41 billion in construction projects under development as it girds to shove its infrastructure recovery into overdrive... The center has been in development since 1992 and construction is not assured, said LAA Executive Director Glenda Jeansonne... (Illustration courtesy Louisiana Airport Authority)

* Trucks will soon see some new restrictions on Brown's Bridge

Roseburg,OR,USA -KPIC, by Dan Bain -Oct 29, 2007: -- The bridge is located west of Roseburg, near the Country Club... County officials say the 35 MPH speed limit is not working, and the bridge is continuing to deteriorate... The 42-year-old bridge has been under restrictions since cracks were discovered, but Douglas County Public Works Director Robb Paul says they've gotten worse. Restrictions already in place haven't been working, so they decided they were going to have to do something different while they get ready to replace the bridge... With restrictions on the bridge right now, loaded log trucks can not use it... (Photo from: kpic.com/news)

Labels: infrastructures

BILLS & LAWS * USA - Pennsylvania bill would allow local radar

Local police in Pennsylvania would be allowed to use radar to nab speeders if a bill in the state’s House becomes law

PEN.USA -Land Line Magazine, by Keith Goble -October 29, 2007: -- ... Pennsylvania is the only state in the country that prohibits municipal police from using radar to enforce speed limits. Only state troopers are allowed to use radar in the state... If signed into law, local governments would have the option to adopt ordinances approving local radar use. Notices would be posted in areas where radar is implemented...

Labels: laws and bills USA

TRUCKING INDUSTRY * USA - Maine, Minnesota now requiring ACE

USA -U.S. Customs press release/Land Line Magazine -October 29, 2007: -- Maine and Minnesota have joined the growing list of states that require truckers to submit electronic manifests before pulling up to a border crossing... According to a U.S. Customs press release, there will be soft enforcement of the Automated Commercial Environment program in the two states until Dec. 16... After that, officials will block trucks from proceeding if they haven’t pre-filed an electronic manifest through the ACE program... Then, beginning sometime next year, customs officials will also have the option of fining non-compliant truckers as much as $10,000...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

Driver’s License * USA - For undocumented immigrants in NY

New York license plan will include undocumented immigrants

NY,USA -The Associated Press/Land Line Magazine -29 Oct 2007: -- New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer says his state will have “the most secure licensing system in the nation,” now that the department of U.S. Homeland Security has signed off on the plan... The state will actually have three different driver’s licenses:
* One is a so-called “enhanced” license that will be as secure as a passport and will satisfy customs requirements at the United States’ international borders.
* Another will be a version that complies with federal Real ID standards, which make it harder to get a fake version.
* And the last will be a driver’s license for undocumented immigrants, which will allow them to drive but will not serve as a valid federal ID.

Labels: drivers' license

29.10.07

AWARD * USA - Trucker wins national safety honor

Saginaw,Mich,USA -mlive.com/Saginaw News, by TAMAR RANKINS -October 27, 2007: -- Leonard Cross says he feels more at home steering a 36,000-pound 18-wheeler than driving a car... His truck-driving skills helped the 48-year-old Standish resident place in the top 20 at the 2007 National Truck Driving Championships in Minneapolis... Cross, a truck driver for Automotive Component Carriers, a division of Penske Logistics operating in Buena Vista Township, finished 18th in the four-axle tractor with trailer division at the August competition... The American Trucking Association sponsored the 70th annual event, known as the "Super Bowl of Safety." ... Cross' 2007 Michigan State Driving Championship title earned him a spot at nationals, where he competed against 48 drivers in his division...

Labels: drivers' awards

FUEL TROUBLES * China - Soo... thats why gas prices are going up ???

The black treasure has transformed this once-isolated crossroads, into a bleak boomtown of nearly 300,000 people

JUNGAR QI,China -TeamSugar.com, by justingirl1989 -28 Oct 2007: -- Almost nonstop, gargantuan 145-ton trucks rumble through China's biggest open-pit coal mine, sending up clouds of soot as they dump their loads into mechanized sorters... The black treasure has transformed this once-isolated crossroads nestled in the sand-sculpted ravines of Inner Mongolia into a bleak boomtown of nearly 300,000 people. Day and night, long and dusty trains haul out coal to electric power plants and factories in the east, fueling China's explosive growth... Coal is big, and getting bigger... The U.S. and Chinese governments are subsidizing the development of technology that converts coal to a clean-burning gas before it is burned. But such plants still emit ample amounts of carbon dioxide, notes Qian Jingjing, an expert with the Natural Resources Defense Council in New York and co-author of the report "Coal in a Changing Climate"... She and many other experts believe coal can only be made environmentally sustainable through the more experimental technology of capturing carbon dioxide emissions and storing them underground... A joint government-private project in the United States aims to build such a "zero emissions" plant by 2012. Separately, Xcel Corp. of Minneapolis, a major electric and natural gas utility, is studying building a carbon capture and storage power plant in Colorado...

Labels: fuel troubles

TROUBLES with FUEL * China - Gas Shortage in Shanghai

The drivers told me these days, even if they go to the other gas station, there may not be any gas there either

Shanghai,China -Wangjianshuo's blog -29 Oct 2007: -- Yesterday, when we got back from Donghai Bridge, I found I didn't have enough gas to get back to the city, I decided to find the nearest gas station. I remember there is one from SINOPEC at the toll station. So I went there... The bad news for me is, before the station, many big trucks lined up there. It seems it may take some time for me to get to the gas station... It turned out that there are no gas there, and 93# gas is still available. Then I managed to drive among all the big trucks and get to the head of the line... I chatted with the service people in the gas station. They told me there was no gas from the last night till 4:00 PM. The trunk at the head of the line has been waited there for 4 hours. The drivers told me these days, even if they go to the other gas station, there may not be any gas there either...

Labels: fuel troubles

Speeding Trucks * India - Under High Court's scanner

New Delhi,India -The Press Trust Of India -October 28, 2007: ... It is now the turn of speeding trucks to come under the Delhi High Court's scanner for endangering lives of road users in the capital... Admitting a public interest litigation against NCT government's alleged failure to tame overloaded and polluting commercial vehicles - including those coming from other states, a division bench comprising Justice TS Thakur and Justice Vimla Birbal has referred it to Justice Mukul Mudgal... Claiming that overloaded and polluting trucks had killed 800 people in the city so far this year, the petition filed by an NGO Paryavaran Avam Van Vikas Morcha seeks action against truck owners and drivers for making Delhi roads unsafe...

Labels: speed limits

TRUCKS' MAKERS NEWS * WORLD WIDE

* South Korea - Volvo Trucks ‘Struggling’ to Meet Demands
Seoul,South Korea -The Korea Times, by Ryu Jin -28 Oct 2007: -- So you have decided to buy a Volvo heavy duty truck, which would mean that you have done your homework in terms of safety, fuel efficiency and eco-friendliness, that's good... Now get in line... That is the one problem Volvo Truck Korea is facing... There is a lead time for delivery of at least two months and this is keeping customers edgy. After all, a heavy duty truck is a business on wheels...

* India - Nissan, Ashok Leyland to Spend $500 Million in
Chennai,India -Bloomberg, by Jay Shankar -Oct. 29 2007: -- Nissan Motor Co., Japan's third- largest automaker, and an Indian partner will spend $500 million to set up venture to make trucks as economic growth in India spurs commercial vehicle sales... Nissan and Ashok Leyland Ltd., India's second-largest truckmaker, will begin producing vehicles lighter than 8 tons by 2010, the two companies said in a joint release in the southern Indian city of Chennai today. Ashok Leyland will own 51 percent of the venture that can make 100,000 trucks annually, with Nissan owning the remainder... The Japanese company follows Navistar International Corp., MAN AG and other truckmakers in forming Indian ventures as a construction boom spurs sales in the world's second-fastest growing major economy. Nissan is focusing on light commercial vehicles after selling the heavy truck division to Volvo AB in February...

Labels: truckmakers news worldwide

TRUCKING INDUSTRY * USA - Coshocton Trucking purchased nine new Peterbilt semi tractor trucks

Coshocton,OH,USA -The Coshocton Tribune -October 28, 2007: -- Coshocton Trucking, owned by Jim and Deanna Woodie and their son Dusty Woodie, operations officer, purchased nine new Peterbilt semi tractor trucks... With the arrival of the new trucks Oct. 19 comes the ability to add five to six new employees to their work force which already employs more than 100 men and women... Coshocton Trucking has two divisions, flatbed and dump, which serve customers as diverse as Clow Water Systems and Oxford Mining. The Company has been in existence for almost 20 years as a family owned and operated organization...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

28.10.07

Car Tax * Finland - Should be Environmentally Friendly

Minister of Transport and Communications Anu Vehviläinen says that car taxation should be reformed to reflect environmental concerns

Helsinki,Uusimaa,Finland -YLE News -27 Oct 2007: -- Emissions should govern the tax rate, and not state revenue needs, she says... Car tax falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance, but Vehviläinen says that when it comes to the environment, the whole government should be involved... Vehviläinen says that her Ministry intends to make a contribution by moving greater volumes of cargo transport to trains, instead of trucks... (Image: YLE)

Labels: "green" taxes

27.10.07

* UK - Women and flexible working

Londson,UK -Road Transport -26 October 2007: -- Offering flexible working hours and the ability to work from home is not going to work in all aspects of transport. After all, drivers may struggle to change their hours because of delivery schedules and they can't really work from home. But for employers in clerical and administrative roles, working flexibly is a possibility. Speaking at the Skills for Logistics (SfL) and Freight Transport Association Women in Transport 2007 event, Ann Beynon, BT director of Wales, says flexibility can make a business better... And she should know: 75% of staff at BT work flexibly and as many men as women do so. However she admits it has meant a massive culture shift, because it only works when people are managed properly... As a result of flexible working practices BT has saved £70m in office costs £10m in fuel and transport costs and £5m as a result of more staff returning from maternity or parental leave (99% now do so)...

Labels: womans in trucking

Shippers Complains * USA - They say, railroad industry has taken advantage of 'monopoly'

Norfolk,VA,USA -The Virginian-Pilot, by GREGORY RICHARDS -October 26, 2007: -- Alliant Techsystems Inc., which runs the Radford Army Ammunition Plant west of Roanoke, has a beef over service and rates with Norfolk Southern Corp. and has taken it public... Deliveries by the Norfolk-based railroad to Alliant's plant, which produces propellants for ammunition for the military, law enforcement and civilians, "frequently" slip, Ken Vander Schaaf, an Alliant supply chain director, told a Senate Judiciary Committee panel this month... The company copes by stockpiling extra materials, but that adds cost and overhead, he said in written testimony. It may start bringing in raw materials via truck but moving hazardous materials via roadways increases the potential for accidents, he said... The complaint by Alliant mirrors those by some other railroad customers across the country that contend there is no rail competition for their business. Those shippers say they are tired of paying exorbitant rates for poor service with the nation's biggest railroads, and are pressing Congress for change... Similar disputes are being played out, to varying degrees, across the country. About 30 percent of railroad customers, many in rural areas, are "captive" to a single railroad, said the Consumers United for Rail Equity, a shippers' advocacy group... The railroad industry's consolidation has left four large U.S. railroads - two in the east and two in the west, each wielding great power. Railroads carry more than 40 percent of the nation's cargo... The big railroads have created a "monopoly" over their customers, said Robert G. Szabo, the executive director of the shippers' group... Various forms of legislation aimed at reining in railroads' powers have been proposed in Congress since deregulation in 1980, but none were enacted. This time, however, may be different... (Photo, The Virginian-Pilot file: Railroad industry consolidation has left just four large U.S. railroads, two in the East, two in the West. Shipping customers say they pay ex orbitant rates in areas where there is no competing railroad and that the service is terrible)

Labels: shippers complains

Pollution Reduction * USA

* Gateway Cities Fleet Modernization Program Celebrates 5 Years

Los Angeles County,CAL,USA -The Diesel Technology Forum -27 Oct 2007: -- This month, the Gateway Cities Council of Governments (GCCOG) celebrated the five-year anniversary of its landmark Fleet Modernization program for heavy-duty trucks... The success of the Gateway Cities' Fleet Modernization program has resulted in the program serving as a model for similar efforts in other parts of California and across America. For example, the Clean Truck Program of the San Pedro Bay Ports -- a proposal to replace or retrofit nearly 17,000 port trucks that regularly visit the marine terminals of the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles -- may potentially be patterned after the Gateway Cities initiative. The Port of Oakland has implemented a similar program, after turning to the Gateway Cities for advice on how to establish and set up its truck replacement effort. Major cities and ports across America are considering similar programs... Fleet Modernization is one of two elements of the Gateway Cities' Clean Air Program directed towards cleaning up in-use heavy-duty diesel trucks. The second element is the Port Truck Retrofit program, in which the GCCOG is helping the San Pedro Bay Ports with a pilot effort to demonstrate the feasibility of retrofitting port trucks with muffler-like devices that can reduce PM and NOx emissions from existing trucks by 85% and 25%, respectively. The pilot program is being funded primarily through a $1.5 million allocation from the Port of Long Beach... (Photograph by Ric Francis/Associated Press: Emissions from the Port of Los Angeles at San Pedro Bay reach all the way up to downtown Los Angeles, more than 20 miles away)

* Massachusetts bill would mandate pollution controls on state diesel vehicles
Mass,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Keith Goble -October 26, 2007: -- A bill on the move in the Massachusetts statehouse would require the state to equip its diesel vehicles with updated pollution controls. It also would set up a multi-million dollar fund to help private fleets update their engines... The Senate Environment, Natural Resources and Agriculture Committee voted to advance a bill that would mandate the state retrofit its fleet by 2011. Municipal garbage and recycling trucks must be updated by 2012...

Labels: green news

Global Warming * USA - California State boosts its war on

California started the regulatory wheels, including a plan to make big rigs more aerodynamic and fuel-efficient

Sacramento,CA, USA -The Sacramento Bee, by Jim Downing -October 26, 2007: -- ... By a unanimous vote, the California Air Resources Board adopted strict standards for measuring the "carbon offsets" generated by well-managed forests. Separately, it started the regulatory wheels turning on a suite of new emissions-cutting schemes, including a plan to make big rigs more aerodynamic and fuel-efficient. The proposal requires all of the more than 1 million tractor-trailers that travel California roads each year to be fitted with aerodynamic skirts and tails. In addition, the dual wheels and tires on 18-wheelers would be replaced with extra-wide "super-singles," which have lower rolling resistance... Representatives from the trucking industry voiced strong reservations about the proposed big-rig rule, which would mandate a package of modifications recommended under a voluntary truck-efficiency program operated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency... Matthew Schrap, environmental affairs manager for the California Trucking Association, said the requirements would impose unacceptable costs on some trucking businesses and would raise compatibility problems. Trailers fitted with the fairings, for instance, can't fit into sunken loading docks, he said... (Photo: green wombat - PG&E has put California's first hybrid diesel-electric service truck on the streets )

Labels: green regulations

DANGEROUS CARGOES * USA - Numbers on trucks …

USA -The.Inevitable.Org/anism, by Scott C. Lemon -October 25, 2007: -- For quite a while now while driving, I’ve seen the square “hazard” signs on various tanker trucks and semis. These signs almost always have some number within them, and of course I realize that the numbers have to align with the load/freight that they are carrying... After finding what I was looking for, I was amazed at the numbering system, and the details explained in their guidebook … it’s interesting to see the amount of detail that can be extracted by just looking at the patterns of the numbers... Well … my driving boredom got me to spend an hour or so to learn something new … and maybe this is a new travel game in the car for vacation trips! “Ok kids … lets see who can find the most variety of hazardous materials between here and St. Louis!” or “Alright, on this part of our trip we want to find the truck carrying the most highly flammable liquid that reacts dangerously with water, emitting flammable gas!”... Uh, that last one would be labeled “X323″, not to be confused with “339″ which would be a “highly flammable liquid which can spontaneously lead to violent reaction” …

Labels: dangerous cargoes

OPINION * USA - Are Bigger Trucks a Good Idea?

Bigger isn't necessarily Better

Atlanta,GA,USA -Freight Dawg.com, by Eric J. Joiner, Jr. -October 25, 2007: -- With highway congestion at an all time high, the economy tottering on a recession, pollution up and the dollar down, shippers are clamoring for any angle to increase efficiency. One of the ways to do that is to consider increasing the amount of freight that can move in a single truck... Congress is now looking at whether bigger, heavier trucks, capable of heavier loads would be good for the country. Presently 6 axle trucks have a weight limit of 80,000 lbs. In Canada however that limit is 97,000 lbs. Canada has more rural area though... Simply for safety reasons, I'm against bigger trucks. I'm for fuel efficiency, newer, greener equipment rules and increased intermodalism. The present van sizes fit well onto railroad equipment and our highway network... If a larger truck comes into the market, I would like to see it restricted to western states, long haul routes and possibly specific commodities... Congress will consider this in a 2009 Transportation Bill. In the meantime, Labor, shippers, safety groups and the government will all wrangle...

Labels: opinions

TRUCKS' ACCESORIES * Belgium - GPS navigation for trucks

PTV Loxane of France is preparing a new version of GPS navigation system for trucks

Antwerp,Belgium -About-Electronics.eu, by luk -October 25, 2007: -- ... The current version of Truck Navigator software is available for PC’s as well as for Windows Mobile PDAs... The Map&Guide Truck Navigator is a navigation solution intended for professionals working in ground transportation industry. The device uses maps of France coming from Navteq that is specific to the trucks including weight and height limitations for bridges and tunnels, as well as roads that are not open to truck traffic such as city centers... TNP4 will be available for 549 € and and TNP7 for 649 €. Navigation software for PCs or PDAs is sold separately for 249 € and the DVD with maps of Europe sells for 99 €...

* Chinese trailers coming to the UK
London,UK -Road Transport -25 October 2007: -- After nearly two years of planning, Chinese giant China International Marine Containers (CIMC) is about to begin selling its products directly to UK hauliers... To do so, it has established a UK business partnership on Humberside... CIMC's main aims then were to set up a new joint company, imaginatively called Newco, and become the world's largest trailer manufacturer...

Labels: trucks' products and accesories

TRUCKS' MAKERS * WORLDWIDE

* Russia - Renault Trucks wins order for 500 tractor units

Moscow,Russia -Automotive World (UK) -26 October, 2007: -- Renault Trucks has won an order from Russian vehicle transportation company, TR AXIS, for 500 Premium 380.19 tractor units... Renault Trucks notes that this is the biggest deal signed by the OEM's subsidiary in Russia since the company opened for business in that country...

* Germany - MAN to premiere TGX and TGS heavy trucks at Amsterdam show

Germany -Automotive World (UK) -26 October, 2007: -- MAN is presenting its new TGX and TGS heavy trucks at the European Road Transport Show in Amsterdam... The OEM notes that over €100m (US$143m) has been invested in the development and testing of the two new ranges...

* Germany - Daimler CFO sees pickup in US orders for trucks in Q1 at the earliest
Frankfurt,Germany -AFX News Limited/Thomson Financial/Forbes -25 Oct 2007: -- Daimler AG chief financial officer Bodo Uebber said that he expects the US order level for its trucks business to pick up in the first quarter next year at the earliest... He said Daimler is in talks with other carmakers, such as Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, on cooperation on specific projects as part of 'normal business' and to achieve economies of scale in investments... He said he does not expect these joint ventures would result in the company swapping equity stakes with other carmakers...

Labels: truckmakers news worldwide

EVENT * Japan - Exhibitors Preview Eco-Friendly, Low-Emission Trucks, Buses

Tokyo,Japan -AsiaPulse via COMTEX/Trading Markets -Oct 26, 2007: -- Isuzu Motors Ltd., Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp. and other commercial vehicle manufacturers took the wraps off environmentally friendly, low-emission offerings for the press Thursday ahead of the start of Tokyo Motor Show 2007... Mitsubishi Fuso unveiled its Canter Eco-D hybrid light-duty dump truck. Not only can the electric motor power the truck, but it can also be used to raise and lower the dump body. The automaker designed the truck to conserve energy by not engaging the engine for as long as possible... Isuzu, Hino Motors Ltd. and others also debuted trucks and buses featuring hybrid technology... Nissan Diesel Motor Co.'s centerpieces included a system that uses urea to eliminate nitrogen oxide em (Photo MITSUBISHI FUSO )issions...

Labels: events

DANGEROUS BORDER * Turkey / Iraq - Rumblings of war, trucks

As troops enter area, Kurds say their lifeline hangs in the balance

Cizre,Turkey -The Chicago Tribune (Chicago Ill,ISA), by Christine Spolar -October 25, 2007: -- Whole families in this poor Turkish borderland depend on how fast and freely their men can roll trucks in and out of Iraq. Now truckers are looking to the hills and highways to gauge the possibility of a devastating blow to their cross-country lives: Turkey invading Iraq in search of Kurdish rebels and shutting down the nearest border crossing...

"In Cizre, when we're born all we see is the border and the truck," said Hamza Naz, who trundles metal skewers from southeast Turkey to kebab sellers in Iraq. "Trucking is all we do. If there is an operation, they will shut this down. And if they shut this, they will shut down a lot of lives"... Hectic diplomatic efforts continued Wednesday as Turkey appeared to be making preparations for a possible move into Iraq to quell cross-border attacks by the PKK rebel group... (Photos by JAMIE FRANCIS/St. Petersburg Times published January 19, 2003: 1. A few hundred feet inside southeastern Turkey, roadside tea shops are set up at Habur gate, where trucks wait to cross the border. The mountains of Iraq are visible in the background - 2. A prayer platform with the words "Please keep clean" scratched into the concrete provides respite at Habur gate. )

Labels: truckers stories

FUEL TAXES * UK - Truckers Plan Demonstrations Over Government Fuel Taxes

A group of U.K. farmers and truckers said they're planning a series of demonstrations over the coming months aimed at pressuring the government into reducing fuel taxes

London,UK -Bloomberg, by Nicholas Larkin -Oct. 25. 2007: -- ... As U.K. Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown in March announced a 2-pence-a-liter increase in fuel tax starting Oct. 1 in an effort to reduce emissions and keep abreast with inflation. The charge increases another 2 pence next April and 1.8 pence in 2009... Increasing duties "has a massive impact on the haulage industry,'' hurting British businesses and encouraging European transporters, who pay less for their fuel, to increase operating in the U.K., David Handley, chairman of Farmers for Action, said today in an interview by phone... Handley said the group has "every intention'' of making a number of peaceful protests before Christmas. Demonstrations may include a convoy of trucks driving slowly on the M25 motorway or taking an unspecified number of people to London for a rally, he said. Handley said his group won't block any fuel depots as happened in 2000, because new U.K. laws mean they could be arrested for terrorism offences...

Labels: fuel taxes

TRUCKERS' STORY * USA - More women take the wheel in U.S. trucking industry

Faced with a looming crisis, truck companies want to hire more women to plug the gaps in this male-dominated industry

Des Plaines,Ill,USA -Reuters, by Nick Carey-26 Oct 2007: -- For Carrie Walters and Linda Reynolds, becoming a truck driver was the fulfillment of a childhood dream... The two women spend three weeks on the road at a time in their truck, then three weeks off. Unlike single drivers, teams can drive 24/7 and earn more money. Many long haul drivers can spend months on the road at a time... Today Walters and Reynolds are part of a small but growing minority. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in 2006 182,000 or 5.2 percent of the country's 3.5 million truck drivers and similar workers were women, up from 84,000 or 3.5 percent of 2.4 million in 1983... One reason for this is the U.S. trucking industry is suffering from a shortage of qualified drivers from their traditional core demographic of middle-aged white men... According to 2006 Bureau of Labor Statistics, truckers earn $36,000 a year on average. But experienced truckers or team drivers like Walters and Reynolds can make up to $60,000 each... (Photo by Nick Carey/Reuters - Linda Reynolds (L) and Carrie Walters give a tour of their truck "Betsy", which they drive on long-haul routes as a team for Con-way Inc, in Des Plaines, Illinois in this picture taken June 28, 2007)

* Celadon boasts 13 percent of its drivers are female
USA -Land Line Magazine -October 26, 2007: -- You may have heard that the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that just more than 5 percent of the nation’s truck drivers are women – and that’s all types of trucks... But you might be surprised to learn that Celadon – which operates 4,000 tractor-trailers – has a driving work force that is 13 percent female... That’s more than twice the national average...

Labels: truckers' stories

26.10.07

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA

* ATA Truck Tonnage Index Increased 1.5 Percent in September
Arlington,Va,USA -BUSINESS WIRE -26 Oct 2007: -- The American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 1.5 percent in September, after falling 0.8 percent in August. The not seasonally adjusted index fell 10.6 percent from August to 107.4... On a seasonally adjusted basis, the tonnage index rose to 111.6 (2000 = 100) in September. Despite September’s sequential increase, tonnage was down 2.3 percent from a year earlier. Year-to-date, the tonnage index was 2.2 percent lower than during the same period in 2006...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

STRIKE * USA - Navistar keeps on trucking

Navistar temporarily moved truck production from its Springfield, Ohio, plant to non-union plants in Texas and Mexico

Chicago,Ill,USA -The Chicago Sun-Times, by FRANCINE KNOWLES -October 25, 2007: -- As several thousand workers picketed Navistar International Corp. work sites Wednesday, the world's fourth-largest truck maker said the strike called by the United Auto Workers a day earlier hasn't wreaked havoc on operations... The UAW launched the strike covering 4,000 UAW members Tuesday at Navistar facilities in six states, including its Melrose Park plant, which has roughly 500 hourly workers. The union, whose contract with the company expired Oct. 1, accused the company of unfair labor practices... Navistar temporarily moved truck production from its Springfield, Ohio, plant to non-union plants in Texas and Mexico because of concerns about a possible strike. That work will remain at those sites until the ratification of a new contract with the UAW, Wiley said...

Labels: ikes, strikes

Tailpipe Rules * USA - White House vows to set they

Bush official says that administration doubts Congress can act soon, so it's pushing ahead

Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -October 26, 2007: -- The White Housed promised Thursday to press ahead with plans to implement tough new vehicle tailpipe emissions, given its skepticism that Congress will pass an energy bill this year that increases fuel efficiency requirements... In the wake of a U.S. Supreme Court decision in April that ruled the federal government has the express authority to regulate vehicle tailpipe emissions as a pollutant, President Bush ordered the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to craft a new regulation limiting emissions. The easiest way to reduce emissions is to increase the fuel economy of passenger vehicles... A proposed regulation is expected before the end of the year...

Labels: tailpipe rules debate

25.10.07

Big tippers at * The RAI Amsterdam Truck Show *

... and Y've it !!! ... thanks to "Biglorryblog" Courtesy !!! ... "puts on his moon boots...and gets in early"

Amsterdam,Netherlands -BigLorryBlog (UK) -25 Oct 2007: -- ... And who wouldn't be home on the range with one of these little critters. (I'm talking about the Mercedes Actros MegaSpace V8 complete with 'Wild West' bling rather than the cowgirls in front of it). The mighty Actros was finished with these rather splendid air-brush scenes of Mustangs (that's the horse not the car) and Buffalo.

... Here's another Volvo FM-based top tipper from some other local convertor, this time with five-axles. I suspect it's a 10x6 although the Dutch do make them as either 10x8s or even 10x10s too! and if I recall correctly you can five-axle babies up to 50-tonnes gross weight in Holland... They're mainly used for carting around all the sand that pretty much makes up most of the Netherlands!...

... Biglorryblog has seen some pretty good fork-truck drivers in his time but this guy was brilliant. He put this Daf XF 105 up on the container outside of the RAI Truck Show without even spilling a drop of AdBlue either! He's now gone of for his tea break but I'll try and get an exclusive interview with him when he comes back...

Labels: events

TRUCKS ENGINES * USA - North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Technology Innovation

USA -CNN Money -October 24, 2007: -- Based on its recent analysis of heavy-duty truck engines and technologies, the 2007 Frost & Sullivan North American Technology Innovation Award in the field of automotive turbines goes to Turbine Truck Engines, Inc.... This award recognizes Turbine Truck Engines for its innovation and development of a turbine engine for use in heavy-duty trucks. The turbine engine is meant as a replacement for the conventional heavy-duty piston engine in trucks and may prove to be a better alternative... The company calls its engine the "Detonation Cycle Gas Turbine engine" and it features a number of interesting and innovative characteristics... (Photo from The Stock Alarm: Conceptual renderings of Prototype # 5, which is currently under construction)

Labels: trucks engines

TRUCKS' MAKERS NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* Volvo trucks third quarter profit up after Nissan Diesel takeover

Stockholm,Sweden -AFP/Turkish Press (Plymouth,MI,USA) -24 Oct 2007: -- Volvo, the world's number two heavy duty truck manufacturer, said Wednesday its third quarter profits had been boosted by a strong performance in Asia following its acquisition of Nissan Diesel... The Swedish lorry-maker said that from June to September net profit rose by 20 percent compared to the same period a year before to 3.149 billion kroner (342.75 million euros, 486.980 million dollars)... (Photo from AFP/File - An Indian Volvo employee works on the assembly line at the factory in Hoskote, 2006. Volvo, the world's number two heavy duty truck manufacturer, said its third quarter profits had been boosted by a strong performance in Asia following its acquisition of Nissan Diesel)

Labels: truckmakers news worldwide

DRIVERS' HEALTH * USA - Depression and the Long Haul Trucker

A long-haul flights truck driver is not a stranger to sleep deprivation

USA -Depression Off.blogspot -October 24, 2007: -- Even local drivers deal with the problem of small rest, many are working 70 hours a week... Sleep deprivation is the main cause for heavy truck accidents, to as high as 40% of all crashes... The constant attitude of many motor carriers of the "you've got to the freight there," is a tremendous burden for the long haul truck drivers... Although Federal regulations require a driver, with 10 hour break after 14 hours, 10 hours often work out to be only 5-6 hours of sleep per actual day... Several years, I decided to keep a log of actual sleep time I received every day. Over a period of six weeks, it was apparent that I actually only "sleeping" an average of 4 hours per day. Twenty eight hours of sleep in a whole week... And to the problem, a large long-haul flights Trucking is at night...

Labels: drivers' health

MARKET * USA - Lanes changing for south coast trucking

It's been about a month since the Central Oregon and Pacific Railroad pulled the plug on the Coos Bay short line, and other transportation companies, most prominently trucking companies, are now feeling a small push

Coos Bay,North Bend,OR,USA -KCBY, by Britt Carlson -Oct 23, 2007: -- ... Now the uncertainty of the rail line's future is effecting numerous south coast businesses... The Coos Bay trucking company Thomas and Sons started to notice a slow down in freight nine months ago, but is seeing business improve since the short line closure... Thomas says they're working to meet their customers current transportation needs, but it's difficult to develop a solution without knowing what will become of the railroad... And with an increasing demand for ground transportation, the cost is also on the rise... Long-term, Thomas wants to see the rail line open back up to help facilitate growth on the south coast...

Labels: trucking markets

Opinion * USA - Economists forecast weak trucking market

Hours-of-service regulations and the driver shortage are the two biggest concerns of fleet managers

Newton,MA,USA -Purchasing.com, by Tom Stundza -24 Oct 2007: -- ... Acording to a study conducted by the American Transportation Research Institute for the American Trucking Associations’ annual management convention this week... At the same meeting in Orlando, Fla., a panel of economists says a rebound in trucking will take longer than previous forecasts. ATA’s chief economist, Bob Costello, says freight tonnage, currently down 2.2% from last year, is in a “recession environment”. He adds that overall truckloads are flat—and will remain so well into the second half of next year... Costello believes driver shortage has eased, but fleet managers don’t. The survey of more than 5,000 trucking executives puts driver shortages and regulatory issues atop their list of concerns, followed by fuel issues, congestion, government regulations, tolls and highway funding, tort reform and legal issues, driver training, environmental issues and onboard truck technology...

Labels: trucking industry comments

MEXICANS' TRUCKS DEBATE * USA

* Respondents say Mexican trucks top issue for truckers

Little Rock,ARK,USA -The Trucker -24 Oct 2007: -- According to a recent poll of truckers who responded to a question on TheTrucker.com, the Mexico border crossing program is the most critical issue facing the trucking industry today.

Given four options of issues facing the industry, here is the complete response:

* Mexican trucks — 42.3 percent
* Highway congestion — 27.7 percent
* Hours of Service — 25.6 percent
* EOBRs — 4.4 percent

(Photo: The Trucker readers say Mexican trucks crossing into U.S. most critical issue facing the industry)

Labels: mexican's trucks

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA & Canada

* UPS 3Q Profit Rises
USA -The Associated Press -25 Oct 2007: -- “Clearly, we're headed in the right direction”... UPS, the world's largest shipping carrier, reported Tuesday a 3.7 percent increase in third-quarter profit on a modest rise in sales. But it said fourth-quarter growth will be its slowest in four years due largely to weak U.S. retail sales... While it said its earnings projection for the year will be in line with previous projections, the company said it expects slowing retail sales will restrain U.S. domestic volume growth...

* Not happy with fee hikes in budget
New Richmond,WI,USA -New Richmond News/Wheeler News Service -October 24, 2007: -- Wisconsin’s trucking industry is not happy about a 30 percent increase in truck registration fees in the new state budget... Thomas Howells, head of the Wisconsin Motor Carriers Association, calls it a bit of a shock... Howells says the increase will raise the state’s truck fee by almost $600, to around $2,600, the 10th highest in the nation... That, coupled with the state’s high fuel taxes are said to be a source of frustration for truckers.
But Howells says not everything about the new budget is gloom and doom... He says the decision to scrap the new tax on oil profits will save his company nine to 10 cents a gallon...

* Celadon profit plunges due to weak demand
Indianapolis,IN,USA -The Indianapolis Business Journal -October 24, 2007: -- Soft demand for long-haul trucking services caused profit to dive in the first fiscal quarter for Celadon Group Inc.... The Indianapolis company reported this afternoon that it earned $2.5 million, or 11 cents per share, in the period ended Sept. 30—well below the 27 cents expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial... The company said the quarter was undermined by conditions it described as among the most difficult for the industry in several years...

* Ryder profit edges up as economic slump takes toll
San Francisco,CAL,USA -MarketWatch, by Shawn Langlois-Oct 24, 2007: -- Trucking giant Ryder System Inc. on Wednesday said third-quarter profit rose slightly as a strong performance in its supply chain segment made up for weakness on the commercial rental side... The Miami-based transportation company handed in a profit of $65.5 million, or $1.11 a share, up from $65.3 million, or $1.06 a share, a year earlier... Excluding an after-tax restructuring charge of $1.7 million, earnings were $1.14 a share... Revenue increased 1.7% to $1.65 billion from $1.62 billion...

* Marten Transport posts lower earnings
Milwaukee,Wis,USA -The Business Journal of Milwaukee -23 Oct 2007: -- Marten Transport Ltd., a freight carrier specializing in temperature-controlled truckloads, said Tuesday that its third-quarter profit fell because of reduced freight demand... Marten reported net income for the three months ended Sept. 30 of $3.1 million, or 14 cents per share, less than half the $6.7 million, or 31 cents per share, posted in the same period a year earlier... Operating revenue increased to $145 million from $135.8 million...

* PGT Trucking launches new team opportunity in Texas
TX,USA -eTrucker -25 Oct 2007: -- PGT Trucking has announced a long-term exclusive contract for teams to deliver Sterling Bullet truck chassis from Laredo to dealerships throughout the country... PGT pays 45 cents per mile, per team, driving up to 6,000 miles per week... The freight is pre-loaded, only requiring off-loading at the point of destination. Major destination lanes out of Laredo include Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, Detroit, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, New York and Washington, D.C...

* AWARD - California Trucking Association honors Con-way Freight for safety
CAL,USA -eTrucker -25 Oct 2007: -- Con-way Freight recently won several California Trucking Association's Fleet Safety Awards... The company took the evening's top honor — the Fleet Safety Award/Board of Directors Grand Trophy — in addition to first place in LTL/General Commodities – Line Haul, second place in LTL/General Commodities – Local/Short Haul and a Certificate of Recognition from the California State Assembly...

* Schneider National Wins Second Consecutive Environmental Excellence Award From The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency
Erie,PA,USA -Logistics On Line -25 Oct 2007: -- Schneider National, Inc., a premier provider of transportation, logistics and intermodal services, announced recently the receipt of its second consecutive Environmental Excellence Award... The award, earned by Schneider for demonstrating leadership in conserving energy and lowering greenhouse gas emissions from its transportation and freight activities, is given by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency SmartWay Transport Partnership...

* Canada - Vitran shares shift into reverse on disappointing third quarter
Toronto,ONT,Canada -Communities.canada.com/FP Trading Desk -25 Oct 2007: -- Vitran Corporation Inc. shares were down almost 20% Tuesday after the North American transportation and logistics firm announced disappointing third quarter results... Vitran achieved net income of $3.1-million, or 23¢ per diluted share, on revenue of $171.9-million for the quarter compared with net income of $4.9-million, or 38¢ per diluted share, on revenue of $121.5-million this time last year...

* Old Dominion Freight Line 3Q Profit Falls Less Than 1 Pct
Thomasville,NCV,USA -AP/biz.yahoo.com -October 25, 2007: -- Trucking company Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. said Thursday lower pricing and higher costs trimmed its third-quarter earnings less than 1 percent as it missed Wall Street's expectations... The company, which also lowered its full-year outlook, earned $20 million, or 54 cents per share, compared with 20.1 million, or 54 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter... Revenue increased 8 percent to $363.3 million, from $337.6 million in the prior-year period...

Labels: trucking industry news USA and CAN

SUCESSFULL TRUCKING Company * USA - SAV's keeps delivering profits as its industry slows

Transportation, logistics and fun: A company keeps employees motivated and the freight moving

Minneapolis,MN,USA -The Minneapolis Star Tribune (subscription), by Dick Youngblood -October 23, 2007: -- There's no doubt that the unusually broad offerings of SAV Transportation Group explain why it has nearly quadrupled its revenues in the past five years and kept its 2007 gross growing by nearly 10 percent despite the trucking industry's minimal growth this year... But I would argue that the sight of the company's three owners sitting around a conference table the other day wearing Hawaiian shirts garish enough to trigger a migraine hinted at another reason for the company's rapid growth. It was Friday, Hawaiian shirt day at the company's Coon Rapids headquarters, an observance sanctioned by founder Mike Abbott to remind everyone of his pledge to take SAV employees to Hawaii when revenues hit $100 million. In 2006, SAV grossed $37.5 million and it's on track to reach about $41 million this year... The Hawaiian vacation pledge is part of a combination of generous benefits and intermittent silliness that has kept SAV's employee turnover close to zero for years... That's one example of the importance of the company's low turnover rate... So what's keeping the employee base on board? For one thing, SAV pays all health and dental insurance premiums, plus long-term disability insurance and $50,000 of life insurance. It also matches 50 percent of employee contributions to a 401(k) plan and pays a company-wide bonus that in recent years has amounted to between 10 and 20 percent of salary... Then there's the fun: Beyond Hawaiian shirt day, there's the Wednesday bingo game, with its $10 prize, that goes on for several hours as numbers are drawn every 20 minutes and announced over a loudspeaker. Not to mention the whiffle ball games, bean-bag tosses and chili-cooking contests that erupt intermittently... (Photo by Dick Youngblood: SAV Transportation Group owners (from left) Don Divine, Joe Speltz and Mike Abbott, wearing their weekly reminder of their Hawaii trip promise.)

Labels: trucking industry news USA

ANALYSIS * USA - Logistics now a vital industry

Philadelphia,PEN,USA -The Cherry Hill Courier Post (Cherry Hill,NJ), by EILEEN STILWELL -October 23, 2007: -- ... About 3,000 logistics experts gathered in Philadelphia this week at the annual conference of the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals to discuss the challenges and opportunities of moving goods around a shrinking world... The good news is the volume of freight was up 8 percent in 2006 over the prior year and 30 percent over three years... The bad news is transportation costs rose 9.4 percent over 2005 due to higher interest rates, fuel costs and the need to cover greater distances... Truck tonnage was down 1 percent for the first time in many years, due to the downward spiral in housing and automobile sectors... Distribution expenses are higher to fit the new, just-in-time retail mantra. And Gov. Jon S. Corzine's plan to fund highway improvements by increasing the number of toll roads is "universally unpopular within the trucking industry", Rosalyn A. Wilson, a transportation analysis, said...

Labels: trucking industry analysis USA

TRUCKS' MAKERS NEWS * USA

* Is Freightliner Moving From Oregon to the Charlotte Region?

Charlotte,NC,USA -WBTV News -25 Oct 2007: -- There is strong speculation that truck maker Freightliner may be moving its headquarters from Portland, Oregon, to the Charlotte region... Right now, there is a big Freightliner plant in Rowan County but they aren't in the running. It appears as though Lancaster County, South Carolina, is the front runner... In fact, Frieghtliner is putting an option on 300 acres of land in Lancaster County. WBTV News has also learned the company may be considering sites in York, Mecklenburg and Iredell Counties...

* Navistar talking to GM about truck business

Indianapolis,IN,USA -The IndyStar, by Ted Evanoff -25 Oct 2007: -- Navistar International said it is talking to General Motors about buying the medium-truck business... Navistar disclosed the talks this morning during a conference with Wall Street analysts. It was not immediately clear how the purchase would impact Indianapolis operations. Navistar's operating arm, International Truck and Engine, makes diesels for Ford pickups at a 1,600-employee complex on the Eastside... (Photo: GMC Medium Duty trucks)

* PACCAR Achieves Solid Thrd Quarter Sales and Profits - Robust European, Aftermarket Parts and Finance Business
Bellevue,Wash,USA -Business Wire -October 24, 2007: -- “PACCAR achieved very good revenues and net income for the third quarter and first nine months of 2007,” said Mark C. Pigott, chairman and chief executive officer... "PACCAR’s balanced global diversification, with over 60 percent of revenues originating outside of the U.S. and a double-digit revenue increase in the company’s finance and aftermarket parts businesses contributed to solid operating performance. Strong demand for PACCAR products in Europe, Australia, Mexico and export markets continues to generate excellent earnings and provide opportunities for growth, tempered by truck industry declines in the U.S. and Canada”... PACCAR’s total return to shareholders over the last four quarters was 56 percent compared to 16.5 percent by the S&P 500 during the same period... (Photo from Business Wire: The Peterbilt Hybrid 335 is estimated to achieve a 30 percent improvement in fuel economy)

* UAW strikes against International

Chicago,Ill,USA -Land Line Magazine -October 24, 2007: -- About 4,000 United Auto Workers in six states went on strike against International Truck and Engine Corp. Tuesday afternoon, Oct. 23, claiming the company has unfair labor practices... ITE is a unit of Navistar International... The Dow Jones Newswire quotes a company official as saying the unfair labor practice charge is “totally unfounded”... The strike comes after the UAW contract expired on Oct. 1, and negotiations failed to produce a new agreement...

Labels: truckmakers' news USA

CALIF WILDFIRES * USA - Will delay lawsuit filing against EPA until next week

CAL,USA - The Associated Press/Land Line Magazine, by Charlie Morasch -October 24, 2007: -- California Attorney General Jerry Brown says the state’s raging wildfires will delay him from filing a lawsuit against the Environmental Protection Agency as planned this week... Instead, Brown told, California will likely file the suit next week in federal court in Washington, DC. The lawsuit seeks to force the EPA to consider California’s request for an exemption that would let the state enact the first tailpipe emissions standard for cars and light trucks... Because California had air quality laws before the enactment of the current federal Clear Air Act, California has special permission to enact tougher environmental standards than permitted by the federal government. A formality in the process is obtaining a waiver from EPA. That’s been requested but for two years, the EPA has not acted on the request... California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has threatened to sue if EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson didn’t grant the state a waiver to enforce a 2005 law that would prompt greenhouse gas emissions cuts for 2009 and newer cars and light trucks... U.S. Sen. Barbara Boxer noted the recent investigation by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-CA, that revealed U.S. Department of Transportation Secretary Mary Peters participated in a lobbying effort to persuade the EPA to deny California’s waiver... Other states can adopt California’s environmental laws, and a reported 15 states have adopted California’s greenhouse gas emissions law... (Picture from strangedangers.com: CAL wildfire - Neighborhood in fear)

Labels: global warming

CALIF. WILDFIRES * USA - CARB says wildfires contribute to global warming

Threat of fire closes I-5... California’s state assembly acknowledged two years ago that emissions from vehicles and factories hurt nature

CAL,USA -The San Francisco Chronicle/ Land Line Magazine -October 24, 2007: -- Now, the state’s air quality agency says an act of God or nature is contributing to the globe’s declining health... According to the California Air Resources Board, Southern California’s raging wildfires are creating an estimated 2 million metric tons of carbon dioxide and 200,000 tons of methane and nitrous oxide... The emissions created by the wildfires equal what 440,000 cars would emit in a single year, quoting CARB Emissions Inventory Chief Richard Bode... The Associated Press has reported that 824,000 people have evacuated their homes since the fires broke out and destroyed at least 1,300 buildings. Preliminary reports indicate that the cost of the fires is about $1 billion so far... (Photo from earthobservatory.nasa.gov: California Wildfire Sat View)

Labels: global warming

24.10.07

TRUCK'S STOPS * USA - A prostitute story

Cleaning Up the Truck Stops, One Abused Woman At a Time

Dallas,TX,USA -The Dallas Observer Blog, by Jesse Hyde -Oct 23, 2007: -- ... During the time I spent at the truck stops riding around with Officer Peters, there was nothing more heartbreaking than meeting a fresh-faced girl named Twinkie, who looked like she should be in college. Unlike the other girls I met there, her body had not yet been ravaged by the trade. Unlike the other girls I talked to, she had not been brutally beaten and left for dead by truckers, she had not witnessed other girls getting murdered in horrific fashion -- in fact, she had been at the job just a few weeks, and it still embarrassed her to talk about what she did for money... But she did have one thing in common with Baby Doll and Strawberry and Cookie Monster, other hookers I met with Peters: She was addicted to drugs, and that addiction was driving her to do things she never thought she would do... We talked about the things she had heard truckers talking about on their radios and how it had scared her. “They were talking about killing us for 20 cents,” she said. “They were talking about us like we’re just meat”... Later that night, Peters and I drove down a back road behind one of the truck stops lined with dilapidated houses. We stopped in front of one abandoned house. Peters shined a light inside... “That’s where Twinkie hopes to stay tonight,” he told me. “But she’s not sure if she can. It’s up to the pimp who runs it. She’s still going through the breaking-in process, so to speak. You know, the guys have to quote-unquote use her”... I didn’t have a chance this morning to ask Peters how Twinkie’s doing, or even if he saw her again after that night. He was on his way in to court to take care of Country’s case... And no matter how many Twinkie’s they put in jail or in rehab, other girls from other places will keep filling the void... But that doesn’t mean Peters and other cops like them should give up their work. Because for every dozen or so girls that ignore Peters’ help, there are one or two who accept it. And for him, that makes all the late nights worth it... (Photo: Office Terry Peters, better known as the Dallas Police Department's "whore cop," has gotten to know, and tried to help, prostitutes populating local truck stops such as this one.)

Labels: truckers stories

TRUCKERS' ADVENTURES * Canada - Follow in the tracks of the ice road truckers

10,000 truck loads of suppliers to the diamond mines are hauled over the 2 month ice road season

Yellowknife,Northwest Territories,Canada -Easier (Chester,UK) -23 October 2007: -- ... From February, when the ice is thick enough to support the heavy loads until the end of March when the portages begin to melt, there is a truck averaging every 15 minutes... The speed of these heavy loads is carefully monitored as the weight on the ice causes a wave that moves with the speed of the vehicle. If it travels too fast the ice shatters and breaks and could cause a break through... True North Safaris vehicles are outfitted with satelite phones and two way radios so we can monitor and talk to the "Ice Road Truckers"... (Picture from www.easier.com - The Toyota Hilux Invincible )

Labels: truckers' adventures

TRUCKS PURCHASE * USA - DeKalb animal shelter gets money for trucks with AC

Stray dogs and cats will get cooler rides to the DeKalb County animal shelter the next time a heat wave cooks Georgia

Atlanta,GA,USA -The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, by TY TAGAMI -23 Oct 2007: -- ... DeKalb commissioners Tuesday approved spending $160,000 to buy four air-conditioned animal transport trucks. The "emergency" purchase order was requested by county Chief Executive Officer Vernon Jones, who vowed to improve animal operations last month after animal advocates complained about conditions at the county's animal shelter and the firing of shelter director Beth Vesco...

Labels: trucks purchases

WILD WEATHER * New Zealand - Wind shoves trucks off highway

Gale-force winds gusting up to 140kmh blew two trucks off the road...

Wellington,New Zealand -The Manawatu Standard, by CHRISTIAN BONNEVIE -24 October 2007: -- ... And flipped an ambulance on its way to treat a woman trapped in her car by a fallen tree north of Dannevirke yesterday... Police temporarily closed State Highway 2 to all traffic between Dannevirke and Waipukurau to limit further damage at about 11am, an hour after two truck-and-trailer units were knocked over by the wind within minutes of each other... (Picture by MURRAY WILSON/Manawatu Standard - Ian Barsdell holds on to his hat at the site of the first truck accident on State Highway 2 yesterday)

Labels: weather troubles

"GREEN" NEWS * Japan - Trucking firms eye 3-fold CO2 cut for FY10

The Japan Trucking Association has decided to triple its target for carbon dioxide emission cuts in fiscal 2010

Tokyo,Japan -The Yomiuri Shimbun -24 Oct 2007: -- ... To contribute to national efforts to reach greenhouse-gas reduction targets stipulated by the Kyoto Protocol to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change... The Tokyo-based industrial association of truck transport companies will increase its 2010 reduction target for CO2 emissions per designated transportation volume to 30 percent from the fiscal 1996 level, as opposed to its previous goal of 10 percent.
As measures to realize the new goal, the association plans to:
-- Instruct drivers to turn off engines while at rest to avoid unnecessary idling.
-- Introduce more low-emission vehicles.
-- Boost transportation efficiency by using larger vehicles and working jointly with other transportation companies.

About 60,000 trucking service companies belong to the association. Member firms own about 1.4 million trucks and other vehicles. In fiscal 2005, the vehicles were estimated to have emitted 43.73 million tons of CO2... This accounts for about one-third of a total of about 137 million tons discharged by vehicles belonging to 17 companies and industrial associations in the transportation sector, which have drafted voluntary plans to cut CO2 emissions...

* USA - BASF diesel emissions control catalysts featured on DAF Trucks
Seattle,WA,USA -Jobwerx -23 Oct 2007: -- Environmental performance of BASF catalysts are important components for DAF diesel truck models featured at the European Road Transport Show... At this year’s European Road Transport Show, environmental performance is a major theme for DAF Trucks, and BASF catalysts will be featured as important components of DAF’s emissions control systems... DAF will display a range of truck models that meet stringent Euro 4 and 5 emissions standards at the Show, which will be held from Oct. 26 to Nov. 3, 2007 at the RAI in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Labels: green trucks

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA & Canada

* Canada - Vitran stock sinks after profit forecast cut, Q3 earnings fall to US$3.1M
Toronto,ONT,CAN -The Canadian Press -23 Oct 2007: -- Shares of Vitran Corp. fell nearly 20 per cent Tuesday after the trucking company cut its full-year profit forecast after third-quarter earnings fell to US$3.1 million from a year-earlier US$4.9 million as rising costs offset higher revenue... Vitran shares dropped $3.32 to trade at $13.53 on the Toronto Stock Exchange...

* USA - Con-way quarterly profit falls
Chicago,Ill,USA -Reuters -Oct 23, 2007: -- Trucking and logistics company Con-Way Inc. said on Tuesday its quarterly net profit fell, citing pricing pressure and lower yields in a highly competitive less-than-truckload market... The San Mateo, California-based company reported third-quarter net income of $37.3 million, or 78 cents a share, compared with $63.0 million, or $1.24 a share, a year earlier...

* USA - Marten Transport, Ltd. Announces Third Quarter Financial and Operating Results
Mondovi,Wis,USA -PRNewswire-FirstCall -October 22, 2007 -- Marten Transport, Ltd. announced today its financial and operating results for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2007... For the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2007, net income decreased to $3.1 million, or 14 cents per diluted share, from $6.7 million, or 31 cents per diluted share, for the same quarter of 2006... For the nine-month period of 2007, net income decreased to $12.0 million, or 55 cents per diluted share, from $19.3 million, or 88 cents per diluted share, for the 2006 period...

Labels: trucking industry news USA and CAN

TRUCKS' MAKERS NEWS WORLD WIDE

* China - Daimler Starts Building $284 Million Van Plant. And buy a 24 percent stake in Beiqi Foton Motor Co.
Beijing,China -Bloomberg, by Tian Ying -Oct. 23, 2007: -- Daimler AG, the world's biggest commercial-vehicle maker, started building a plant in China costing more than 200 million euros ($284 million) as the country's growth boosts van sales... The plant, in the southern city of Fuzhou, will make as many as 40,000 vehicles a year, including Mercedes-Benz Viano and Vito multipurpose vehicles and Sprinter vans. Annual sales of multipurpose vehicles in China may more than double to 500,000 from 200,000 in the next 10 years, according to Daimler... Daimler also plans to buy a 24 percent stake in Beiqi Foton Motor Co., China's largest commercial-vehicle maker. The 816.8 million yuan ($109 million) deal is awaiting government approval...

* China - Hino's, Toyota Motor Corp.'s commercial-vehicle unit, invest of 3.1 billion yuan
Beijing,China -Bloomberg, by Tian Ying -Oct. 23, 2007: -- Hino, Toyota Motor Corp.'s commercial-vehicle unit, and Guangzhou Automobile Group Co. won approval from the Chinese government for a truck and bus venture with a total investment of 3.1 billion yuan in August...

Labels: truckmakers' news

DANGEROUS DRIVERS * UK - European truckers beg for enforcement in England

Ever been so exhausted that you wanted to be pulled over, arrested or thrown in jail, just so you could get some sleep?
London,UK -London Daily Mail/Land Line Magazine (USA) -October 23, 2007: -- ... A number of truckers from eastern European countries such as Romania are deliberately turning themselves in and going to jail once they get to Britain... The truckers dial emergency assistance and ask police to come and pick them up after driving for 30 hours or more at the insistence of their employers... A police chief told the Daily Mail his officers responded to one call and found a trucker sleeping so soundly that they couldn’t wake him up...

Labels: dangerous companys

SPEED LIMIT * Canada - Ontario continues to impound speeding vehicles; no trucks mentioned

It appears that in Ontario, Canada, rather than putting speed limiters on trucks, it might be a good idea to put them on passenger vehicles

ONT,CAN -Land Line Magazine(USA) -October 23, 2007: -- ... Today’s Trucking reports that the provincial police have impounded the vehicles of 704 drivers since a new law took effect... That law provides that anyone doing more than 50 kilometers – or 31 miles – over the posted speed limit is subject to the temporary loss of his or her vehicle and license and fines up to $10,000... The report makes no mention of any heavy trucks being impounded, or any truckers losing their licenses...

Labels: speed limits

SAFETY TECHNO-NEWS * USA - Ohio snowplows to go high-tech

GPS technology is now making its way into city snowplows

OH,USA -Land Line Magazine -October 22, 2007: -- Using a $4 million federal grant, Columbus, OH, and surrounding Franklin County are equipping 30 plows with GPS that will help public works employees keep track of what’s been plowed and what hasn’t... The plows are also getting sensors to measure street temperatures to help determine the best mix of salt and liquid de-icer...

Labels: technonews

TRUCKS' ENGINES * USA - Cummins, Caterpillar engines receive high ratings

USA -Land Line Magazine -October 22, 2007: -- Cummins’ and Caterpillar’s heavy-duty truck engines rank highest in customer satisfaction, according to a J.D. Power & Associates study... The study is based on responses from nearly 2,700 owners who’ve had their trucks for two years. It measured how satisfied the owners are with their engines’ performance, warranty and cost...

Labels: trucks engines

CONTROLS * USA

* CHP truck checks along 118 find many in non-compliance

Camarillo,CA,USA -The Ventura County Star, by Anna Bakalis -October 23, 2007: -- The California Highway Patrol conducted a concentrated truck enforcement effort along Highway 118, from Moorpark's city limits to Somis, on Saturday and found many vehicles were not following all CHP regulations... Of the 34 inspections, only six trucks were in full compliance, said Sgt. Alex Carillo with the CHP's Coastal Division unit, which is based in San Luis Obispo... Carillo said eight vehicles were taken out of service for being in an unsafe mechanical condition, while 61 violations were noted and 15 citations were given. One driver was taken off the road... (Photos by Joseph A. Garcia / Star staff - Mike Olejnik conducts an inspection of a truck for the CHP on Highway 118 on Saturday. Of the 34 inspections, only six trucks were found to be in full compliance, said CHP Sgt. Alex Carillo)

* Port Security Measures Raise Ire of Local Truck Drivers

Oakland,CAL,USA -KCBS, by Chris Filippi -23 Oct 2007: -- The latest effort to protect America's ports from a terrorist attack is causing a stir among local truck drivers... Starting next month all employees who enter secure areas of the Port of Oakland will need a Transportation Worker Identification Credential, or TWIC... While some drivers said they welcome the program, other are worried it could lead to discrimination by the government. Bishara Costandi, who recruits former inmates for trucking jobs, had quite a different view. "What is this? What is democracy here? Then they use terms like security. It is so elastic," he said...

* New California hazmat hauler law requires inspections every two years

CAL,USA -Land Line Magazine -October 22, 2007: -- Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger signed a bill into law in California intended to improve the safety of trucks hauling hazardous materials and fuel... The new law, previously AB1612, requires hazmat haulers whose trucks are base plated in California to submit to physical inspections every two years. It takes effect Jan. 1, 2008... The California Highway Patrol will be responsible for carrying out the inspections...

Labels: trucks inspections

HOURS OF SERVICE * USA - ATRI study supports OOIDA position on

Grain Valley,MO,USA -Land Line Magazine -October 22, 2007: -- A new study by the American Transportation Research Institute shows that executives of big trucking companies share some of the same concerns that have been voiced by OOIDA... In a survey, trucking executives expressed a desire for increased flexibility of the split sleeper-berth provision of federal regulations, and for continuing the 11-hour driving rule and 34-hour restart provision... OOIDA has argued in the courts and elsewhere that split sleeper-berth rules need to be relaxed, and that the 11-hour drive time and 34-hour restart should be maintained...

Labels: HOS debate

23.10.07

TRUCKS' MAKERS NEWS WORLD WIDE

* USA - Daimler Trucks premieres heavy-duty engine platform

USA -Automotive World (UK) -22 October, 2007: -- ... The new engine platform will replace the current eight heavy-duty engines with just three for all brands worldwide... Daimler Trucks has presented the new heavy-duty engine platform (HDEP) for the North American market...

* Germany - MAN Nutzfahrzeuge rolls out the big hitters

Germany -Automotive World (UK), by Oliver Dixon -22 October, 2007: -- MAN's all-new TGS and TGX trucks reflect a decision to divide the heavy weight sector into two very distinct markets... In launching a V8-powered, 680hp tractor unit, MAN can now lay claim to offering the most powerful production truck in Europe...

Labels: truckmakers news worldwide

DANGEROUS MOTORISTS * USA - High country driving puts trucks in risky position

On the side of a snow-packed I-70, trucker Mike Martinez's nerves are shacking like the fiberglass fender of his 18 wheeler

Summit County,CO,USA -9NEWS (Denver,CO), by Colleen Locke -21 Oct 2007: -- ... The reason he's nervous? He's attempting to put chains on his rig while only feet away, a trail of traffic is trembling by at a decent rate of speed... It's a risky place truckers often find themselves on snowy days, when chain laws go into effect, because Martinez says there aren't enough places for chaining trucks up or down... A few days earlier, a trucker died after being run over while taking his chains off on the side of I-70 in Vail. So during the next winter storm to hit the high country, troopers with the Colorado State Patrol, like Sgt. Sean Wheeler, say they had a number of goals. One was to make sure truckers where chaining up by enforcing the state's new chain laws...

* Car drivers should give truckers more respect
Bloomington,IL,USA -The Bloomington Pantagraph, by Kathy Ellis -22 Oct 2007: -- I am disgusted about how little respect four-wheelers - cars - have for others on the road... I drive a semi and have for 24 years. Every day I have to deal with ignorant drivers... I-55 in the construction zone is the worst. So many four-wheelers think they have to be first into the lane closure. When they hit the barricades, they flip us off, among other things... Ninety-five percent of the time, we are in the right lane ahead of time. We can read and follow directions. Obviously, they can't... Yes, a truck will kill. Do the math: 2-ton car vs 40-ton truck. Now, who do you think will come out ahead?... This is our job. Don't mess with us when we are working... But, next time I come into a construction zone and I am following the rules and you think you must be first and pull one of your stupid tricks, don't expect to get in. You can just eat the barricades and deal with it...

Labels: dangerous motorists

22.10.07

TRUCKS' MAKERS NEWS WORLD WIDE * Europe - MAN & SCANIA Affair

* European shares slide
London,UK -The Financial Times, by Rachel Morarjee -Oct. 19, 2007: -- German truckmaker MAN rose 2.3 per cent to €121.96 on rumours that Swedish rival Scania was poised to make a bid... Swedish press reports suggested that Volkswagen, the German carmaker, and Investor AB , the Swedish investment group, had agreed, as Scania's two biggest shareholders, that the truckmaker should bid for its rival... The move would reverse the roles played by the two truck groups last year, when MAN launched a hostile €10bn bid for Scania that was blocked by Investor AB... Scania fell 2.1 per cent to SKr184, while Investor slipped 2.9 per cent to SKr91.36. Shares in Volkswagen climbed 0.9 per cent to €175.57...

* Now Scania Wants To Be MAN's Best Friend
London,UK -Forbes (New York,NY,USA), by Parmy Olson/Thomson Financial News -18 Oct 2007: -- Europe's biggest truckmakers appear to have grown tired of playing happy families, and someone may be about to try and take control... Shares in Germany's MAN shot up on Thursday after a report in a Swedish newspaper said the biggest shareholders of Swedish truck maker Scania -- Volkswagen and the powerful Wallenberg family -- had agreed that it should try and buy its German rival... According to the report in the newspaper Dagens Industri, which cites "many" unnamed sources, the deal is structured so that Scania would bid for MAN, after which Investor and Wallenberg-controlled foundations would sell their stakes in Scania... Volkswagen owns nearly 30% of MAN and 20% of Scania (along with 36.4% of the voting rights), while MAN in turn owns 13.2% of Scania... Some analysts still don't see the potential synergies. "I don't know what exactly Scania would do with the industrial parts of MAN, since MAN is only 60% trucks," said Oscar Stjerngren, an analyst at Carnegie. "For sure there are synergies in a MAN-Scania tie-up, but when will it happen?"... A tie-up between Scania, MAN and Volkswagen is, "not a must, but a possibility," Boerje Ekholm, chief executive of Investor, was quoted as saying last week...

Labels: truckmakers news worldwide

Court Case * USA - Might change the laws of second-hand buying

Craigslist, eBay, others in jeopardy

USA -Crunch Gear, byMatt Hickey -October 21, 2007: -- I’m always scared of lawyers. We live in litigious times, and lawyers are the “new priesthood, baby!” They’re involved in everything... What’s really frightening, however, is when crackpots bring suits that bear fruits. Take, for example, the case of Baily v. Lewis Farm, wherein a dude buys a truck on Craigslist, the truck causes an accident, and everyone who ever previously owned the truck is sued and might be liable for damages... In a nutshell, a company called May Trucking was in possession of a truck that had scored 500,000 miles. Later, it sold it to someone who owned it briefly and then sold it to Lewis Farms. While under the ownership of Lewis Farms, the axle broke. Wheels flew, and one of them hit the car of one Mr. Jerome Bailey. Bailey crashed that car, and then sued everyone who ever owned the truck for negligence. It was their truck, they should have cared for it properly, or so the argument goes... It sounds like a trash lawsuit, but the judge in the case sided with Bailey. May Trucking argued that since it didn’t have ownership of the truck at the time of the accident, there’s no way it’s liable for what happened. Normally, that would be the end of it, but the court decided that negligence and ownership are not the same thing... The case is still being argued, but the consequences, in theory, could echo to everyone who’s ever bought or sold on Craigslist or eBay or any other marketplace, online or off. Can I be held liable for a Zune I sold to someone who sold it to someone else? It could be. And that prospect frightens me, and it should frighten you...

Labels: Court cases

Chronic Speeders * Canada - Not slowing down

In a period of less than a month, Ontario Provincial Police and other police forces around the province have nabbed more than 700 speeders doing at least 50 km/h over the posted limit

Toronto,ONT,CAN -Today's Trucking -22 Oct 2007: -- ... Most were caught in and around southern Ontario, with a fair percentage caught on two-lane provincial highways elsewhere... As of Friday, Oct. 19, 704 speeders have lost their cars and their licenses for the mandatory seven-day period, and most face fines ranging from a minimum of $2,000 to a maximum of $10,000... OPP sergeant Cam Woolley told that various police forces have been averaging about 40 stops a day under tough new legislation aimed at stopping recklessly speeding drivers... The average age of the chronic speeder is 30. Most are male, and among males, the average age is 27. The age most represented was 22...

Labels: dangerous motorists

"Independent Worker" * Canada - BC owner-ops likely separate from new definitions of

Surrey,BC,Canada - Today's Trucking -21 Oct 2007: -- Changes that WorkSafeBC has made to the definitions and policies for "workers, employers and independent operators," likely won't affect owner-operators in the trucking industry, reports the B.C. Trucking Association... Under the new policy, truck owner-operators will still likely be considered independent operators because one of its defining characteristics will be whether the operator legally or beneficially owns a piece of major equipment and contracts to supply personal labor and the piece of major equipment, notes BCTA... The changes, which take affect Jan. 1, 2009, affects whether an employee is automatically covered by workers’ compensation or whether it is voluntary, as in the case of owner-ops...

Labels: owner operators

MEXICANS' TRUCKS * USA - Feds outsource Mexican truck safety

Trilateral trade association becomes chief inspector

Grants Pass,OR,USA -WorldNetDaily, by Jerome R. Corsi -October 22, 2007: -- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has delegated key inspection requirements for Mexican trucks to a non-governmental trilateral trade association, whose goal is to impose North American standards on all commercial motor vehicles operating in Mexico, Canada, and the United States... Since the early 1980s, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, or CVSA, operating as a non-governmental organization, has quietly knit together the motor-vehicle agencies in the three countries, building a common regulatory continental structure below the radar of public opinion, available now to function as the backbone of the FMCSA effort to allow approved Mexican trucking companies to run their long-haul rigs throughout the United States... According to a Colorado law enforcement document obtained by WND, the FMCSA has made arrangements for the CVSA to provide inspection decals to all Mexican trucks who pass inspection in the Department of Transportation's Mexican truck NAFTA demonstration project...

Labels: mexican's trucks

TRUCK OWNERS STRIKE * India - Goods vehicles will be confiscated, says Collector

In view of the indefinite strike...
Thiruvananthapuram,Kerala,India -The Hindu (Chennai,India) -21 Oct 2007: -- The District Administration today said it will confiscate cargo vehicles, if need be, to prevent any disruption of supply of essential commodities in view of the ongoing indefinite strike by truck owners... District Collector N. Ayyppan said the government will invoke the provisions of the Requisition and Acquisition of Property Act, 1981, for such emergency measures... He said the district administration had taken steps to ensure the supply of vegetables, fuel, cooking gas and other essential commodities in view of the indefinite strike...

Labels: owner operators strikes

WORLD MARKETS * China’s Road into Kyrgyzstan

The Kyrgyz truck drivers and market traders who have benefited from trade routes to their eastern neighbour. Are less enthusiastic about the growing Chinese role in the local economy

Irkeshtam,Kyrgyzstan -Institute for War and Peace Reporting (London,England,UK), by Ulugbek Babakulov -19 Oct 2007: -- As China's commercial presence extends into Central Asia, the caravan routes which once formed the Silk Road are again bustling with traffic. Only the methods for delivering goods have changed on the dilapidated 300-kilometre road leading from Osh in southern Kyrgyzstan to the Irkeshtam border crossing, and on into western China. Caravans of camels carrying silk, spices and precious stones have been replaced by convoys of trucks loaded up with Chinese fridges, televisions and clothes – all destined for south Kyrgyzstan’s bustling markets. Some of the goods will find their way into nearby Uzbekistan, where the authorities have clamped down on Chinese exports to try to protect local industry. Here the demand for cheap consumer goods has created a thriving smuggling trade to circumvent official restrictions... With the imports have come economic and social change, as China – sealed off from Central Asia in the Soviet period – has become a regional player, and its merchants a common sight at Kyrgyz markets... I traced the journey made by people and goods all the way from Irkeshtam, past snow-capped mountains and desolate steppes, to the giant wholesale market at Karasuu, where I also took a look at trade across the closely-guarded Kyrgyz-Uzbek border... (Pictures by Ulugbek Babakulov -Above: Trucks carrying Chinese goods head for Osh - Below: The Kyrgyz-Uzbek border at Karasuu.)

Labels: markets

Privatization a Religion? * USA - Rendell's turnpike plan would sell out the public

One of the great appeals of capitalism is that you can do well by doing good. Everyone benefits, everyone profits. Sometimes the world works that way, but not always. Sometimes doing good demands sacrifice, and often the welfare of the group is at odds with the interests of particular citizens. The interests of a robust private sphere must be balanced against larger social concerns. That's why we have a government, and why we shouldn't always be so eager to throw it away

Philadelphia,PA,USA -The Philadelphia Inquirer, by Mark Bowden -22 Oct 2007: -- In the course of making a smart move last week to turn operation of Interstate 80 over to the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission, Gov. Rendell again raised the bad idea of leasing the other major state east-west roadway, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, to a private operator... The good idea will not be painless. It will impose a hardship on the trucking industry and could adversely affect some sectors of the state's economy, but it will provide substantial, predictable funding to repair and upgrade roads, bridges and transit systems throughout Pennsylvania. It is a smart tax, one that targets a relatively small, appropriate portion of the citizenry to raise money that will benefit all. Most important, the turnpike commission is a public agency, meaning that every penny of the money raised by higher tolls will be spent in the public's interest... (Photo by CAROLYN KASTER / Associated Press - Gov. Rendell's bad idea to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike is part of the continuing debasement of the public sphere and the elevation of privatization to a religion)

Labels: privatization toll roads

In drive for profits * USA - Trucking company routinely puts overweight rigs on the road

Ocala,FL,USA -Ocala.com, by FRED HIERS -21 Oct 2007: -- Vivian Bernard wasn't surprised when one of the tires under his tractor-trailer finally blew... Working for Benton Express Inc.'s Ocala terminal, his company-owned truck was often over its legal weight coming back to Ocala, barreling down Interstate 75... He said he complained to his bosses about the weight problem, about the truck being harder to handle because of the extra freight, about the danger to himself and other motorists. But in the end, he said, they didn't care... Besides, he needed the job, so he kept quiet and kept driving... Lannen of the Truck Safety Coalition said Benton is typical of many trucking companies. He says that while some companies obey the law, the industry overall is arrogant, flaunts the law and thinks it knows better... "Every industry has its culture and that's just the trucking industry, and there's no sense of urgency to change, because they don't feel the pain when they break the law"... Florida, like most other states, doesn't put enough trucking inspectors on the road and its fines are inadequate, he said...

Labels: dangerous companys

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA - Hours-of-Service ranked top concern amongst US trucking execs

Orlando FL,USA -Truck News (CAN), by James Menzies -21 Oct 2007: -- Hours-of-Service regulations and an ongoing shortage of professional drivers are two of the top 10 concerns for fleet managers in the US... That was the finding of a detailed study conducted by the American Transport Research Institute (ATRI) and released here today as part of the American Trucking Associations annual management convention... The survey was based on responses from more than 5,000 American trucking executives...

* ProStar vs Cascadia, Round 2

Orlando FL,USA -Truck News (CAN), by James Menzies -21 Oct 2007: -- International presented aerodynamic test results this morning which the company says disproves Freightliner’s recent claim that its Cascadia is more aerodynamic than the International ProStar... Freightliner raised some eyebrows at International headquarters when it issued a release stating independent wind tunnel testing showed the Cascadia tractor demonstrated 7.8% less drag than the ProStar when tested by Auto Research Center at Freightliner’s Portland wind tunnel. International immediately called into question those results, pointing out the testing did not involve a full-sized trailer... This morning at the American Trucking Associations annual management conference, International revealed the results of a recent road test to SAE Type III standards... (Photo: International says real-world testing validates its claims that the ProStar is more aerodynamic than Freightliner's Cascadia.)

Labels: trucking industry news USA

TRUCK MARKET * USA - Caterpillar says "worried" about

Chicago,Ill,USA -Reuters -Oct 19, 2007: -- Caterpillar Inc., which makes diesel engines that power the biggest trucks on the highway, said on Friday the North American trucking market is going through a downturn that may be the worst in more than 50 years... Speaking on a conference call to discuss its third-quarter results, Doug Oberhelman, Caterpillar group president with responsibility for engines, said the market for those engines in North America was the softest he has seen in his career... Oberhelman said softness in the general economy was hitting shippers, and would continue to hurt engine and truck makers...

Labels: trucks markets

Relics of Yesteryear * New Zealand - Elderly trucks head south

They’re old, cold, slow moving, but well loved... And that’s not the drivers, it’s the four-wheeled members of a convoy of elderly trucks...

Ashburton,New Zealand -The Ashburton Guardian, by Sue Newman -October 19, 2007: -- ... elderly trucks that headed south this morning, bound for Invercargill and the opening of a new wing of a truck museum... Old trucks might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but to those who love them, there’s nothing finer than to see the relics of yesteryear spruced up and looking every bit as good as the day they rolled off the production line... Fords, Dodges, Internationals, they were all represented yesterday when the convoy began forming at the Ashburton Saleyards... Progess south will be slow – a stately 45 miles per hour, and it will be cold – no heaters on board... By the time the convoy reaches Invercargill it is anticipated to be at least 100 vehicles long, Hundreds of kilometres traveled, winter chill braved, all in the name of recognising trucking industry legend the late Bill Richardson and his museum... (Photo by Carmen Rooney: -- Smiling in spite of the rain Ashburton vintage truck enthusiasts Ron Galletly, Jim Lawton, Trevor Love and Greg Donaldson, packed up and heading to Invercargill)

Labels: yesterday trucks

21.10.07

An Interesting Correlation * USA - Do Well Paid Truck Drivers Cause Fewer Truck Accidents?

Study from Cornell University: by Daniel A. Rodríguez, University of North Carolina/Felipe Targa, University of Maryland & Michael H. Belzer, Wayne State University

Ithaca,NY,USA -Cornell University's Industrial & Labor Relations Review -Oct 2006: -- This paper explores the safety consequences of increasing truck driver pay. The test case the authors examine involves a large over-the-road truckload firm that on February 25, 1997, raised wages an average of 39.1%... An analysis that controls for demographic and operational factors, including prior driving experience and experience acquired on the job, suggests that for drivers employed during the lower pay regime and retained in the higher pay regime, crash incidence fell... A higher pay rate also led to lower separation probability, but this indirect effect only translated into fewer crashes by increasing the retention of older, more experienced drivers... These findings suggest that human capital characteristics are important predictors of driver safety, but that motivational and incentive factors also are influential.(Photo from http://www.first-step-usa.de/08-006bb.png)

Labels: trucks' drivers payment

20.10.07

The Law didn’t Win * USA - California trucker challenges scale

California truck driver Sammy Fernandez fought the law. Only this time, the law didn’t win

Tucson,AZ,USA -Arizona Daily Star/Land Line Magazine -October 19, 2007: -- According to the Arizona Daily Star, Fernandez was stopped for an inspection in , and was given a ticket because his truck was overweight. He was also over on hours and had to stay at the inspection facility for some time... Suspecting that something wasn’t right, Fernandez weighed his truck again when he had the chance. It came up 10,000 pounds lighter than when officials had weighed it before... The next day, the vehicle was inspected again, with the same load, and wasn’t overweight. This time, Fernandez protested... Amazingly, the Tucson Police Department backed down and had the ticket dismissed. The scale was put out of service until it could be recalibrated... There were more than 400 other trucks inspected and weighed during the time Fernandez spent at the inspection facility, but police told the Daily Star he was the only one who challenged the weight... (Photo: A Weight Station)

Labels: tickets dismisseds

Medical Certificates * USA - Two-thirds of state DOT drivers lack

State officials acknowledge that about two-thirds of the Department of Transportation's truck drivers lack medical certificates required for licensing

Newington,Con,USA -News Day/WTNH-TV -October 19, 2007: -- ... Only about 300 of the agency's approximately 900 truck drivers, who operate dump trucks, snow plows and other vehicles, have the certificates. A spokesman for the Transportation Department says officials previously believed the state workers were exempt from the requirement, which also applies to commercial truckers... The Department of Motor Vehicles told the Transportation Department in May to make sure all of their truckers get the certificates... Governor Rell says a law that took effect this month makes the medical certificates mandatory for those drivers, so there should be no ambiguity and no more delays in compliance...

Labels: drivers' health

MEXICANS' TRUCKS DEBATE * USA

* Safety Being Swept Away in the Flood of Trucks Crossing the Border
Washington,DC,USA -Public Citizen -19 Oct 2007: -- Five Mexico-based motor carriers have currently been allowed to send 15 trucks throughout our nation’s highways, according to a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration alert today... The Bush administration is rushing ahead with this rapidly expanding NAFTA trucks pilot program without sufficient safety guarantees. Some of these egregious oversights include the following:
• Full access has not been granted to the Mexican license record database. Border facilities have this access, but more than 15% of the time the records are missing entirely.
• The Department of Transportation (DOT) just assumes all trucks used by Mexico-based companies built after 1996 are up to U.S. standards, even though data reveal that 1/5 of such vehicles do not meet minimum safety standards
• The DOT says it will just rely on statements from Mexico-based carriers that their vehicles comply with U.S. safety standards, even though federal law clearly states that such certification can be made only by the vehicle manufacturer... (Photo: Jose Cortez, US DOT inspector, put and Out of Service Order in a Mexican truck at border inspection)

Labels: mexican's trucks

TRUCKS MAKERS WORLD WIDE

* Daimler 'very close' to truck deal for India

Detroit,Mich,USA -Reuters, by Kevin Krolicki -Oct 19, 2007: -- Daimler AG is very close to announcing a joint venture with an Indian partner to produce commercial trucks for the Indian market, a senior Daimler executive said on Friday... "In India, we are very close to an announcement," Andreas Renschler said, speaking to reporters at an event in Detroit to mark the launch a new heavy-duty diesel engine. "We have found a partner"... Daimler will also decide late this year or early next year where to build a truck assembly facility in Russia, said Renschler, who heads the German automaker's Daimler Trucks unit and is a member of the board of management... Daimler, which ranks as the world's largest maker of medium- and heavy-duty trucks, is targeting growth in emerging markets including India, Russia and China, but has found it must take a different approach in each, he said... For the Russian truck market, fleet operators are looking for vehicles that can be used in Europe, with some signs of demand for the long-haul Freightliner-branded trucks Daimler builds in the United States, he said... (Photo: A Freightliner truck)

Labels: truckmakers news worldwide

19.10.07

Driver’s Licenses * USA - Plan to issue they to illegal immigrants, under fire in New York

A controversial plan by the New York governor to offer driver’s licenses to illegal immigrants drew debate this week

New York,NY,USA -The New York Times/Land Line Magazine, by Keith Goble -October 17, 2007: -- ... In Senate committee hearings Monday, Oct. 15, testimony was offered on the new Department of Motor Vehicles policy that would allow people without Social Security numbers to provide a passport to receive a driver’s license. The plan is scheduled to be fully implemented by next spring... Republicans and others have berated the $1.4 million plan because of concern that it could hurt the state’s security and remove a barrier for a terrorist attack. They also said the policy would, in effect, condone breaking immigration laws... Gov. Eliot Spitzer, a Democrat, said the new system would make the state more secure. It also would help account for illegal immigrants who obtain licenses and insurance as well as improve traffic safety and lower insurance costs, he told...

* West Virginia, California drivers could see changes to license renewals
USA -Land Line Magazine, by Keith Goble -October 18, 2007: -- An interim legislative panel in West Virginia has its eyes on drivers in the state and is considering requiring them to take a vision test before getting their licenses renewed... The committee voted in favor of drafting a bill that would ensure that drivers’ eyesight is adequate for them to safely be on the road... People who fail to pass a vision screening would be required to get glasses or contacts or update their corrective lens prescriptions before getting their licenses renewed... In California, the state is looking into whether more extensive tests should be used to evaluate a driver’s memory, reflexes and vision and to identify people who shouldn’t be behind the wheel... It still could be years before the tests carried out by the California Department of Motor Vehicles take effect. The agency expects to reach preliminary conclusions by 2010 from a pilot program now under way and report to state lawmakers the following year, the Los Angeles Times reported... As a result, the earliest that drivers in California could face any of the new tests would be 2012...

Labels: drivers' licences

TRUCK MAKERS NEWS WORLD WIDE

* Germany - Scania/MAN's Business Affairs
Germany -The Financial Times (London,UK) -October 18 2007: -- Germany’s Volkswagen owns 30 per cent of compatriot truckmaker MAN as well as 36 per cent of the voting shares of Sweden’s Scania. In return, Scania owns 14 per cent of MAN... The first spat occurred last year when MAN launched a hostile takeover of Scania. The Wallenberg family, which also controls a large stake in Scania, rejected the offer, and the deal finally collapsed because MAN refused some of VW’s demands... Since then, the share prices of MAN and Scania have soared on a combination of strong earnings and bid speculation of every permutation. On Thursday, reports emerged that Scania was considering a takeover of MAN. There are two reasons the stocks react to any sniff of corporate activity. First, there is compelling industrial logic for a tie-up that would create the world’s third-biggest truck maker behind Daimler and Volvo. Second, investors are betting that VW, through its holdings in both MAN and Scania, is in the driving seat, and will ultimately make something happen...

* USA - Mack Performance Tour at Truck Show Latino this Weekend
Cal,USA -TruckingInfo -19 Oct 2007: -- Mack Trucks has three special opportunities for truckers in Southern California to experience the latest Mack Granite and Pinnacle trucks and US'07-certified Mack MP engines this Saturday and Sunday... Mack will have trucks on display at both the Truck Show Latino and the Construction Truck & Equipment Expo, which will be held concurrently at the Fairplex in Pomona, Calif... Visitors to the Mack displays will also have the chance to win the use of a Mack vehicle for a free one-week demo in their fleet. Additional details are available at the shows...

Labels: truckmakers news worldwide

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA

* 3Q Revenue Dips for Covenant Transportation
Chattanooga,Tenn.,USA -TruckingInfo -19 Oct 2007: -- Covenant Transportation Group, said total revenue decreased 0.5 percent, to $175.8 million from $176.7 million in the same quarter of 2006. Freight revenue, which excludes fuel surcharges, increased 3 percent, to $148.5 million in the 2007 quarter from $144.1 million in the 2006 quarter... The company measures freight revenue because management believes that fuel surcharges tend to be a volatile source of revenue and the removal of such surcharges affords a more consistent basis for comparing results of operations from period to period...

* Knight Transportation Revenue Up 3.2%
USA -TruckingInfo -19 Oct 2007: -- Knight Transportation Inc. said total revenue for the third quarter increased 3.2 percent, to $180.3 million from $174.7 million for the same quarter of 2006. Revenue before fuel surcharge, increased 3.5 percent, to $151.7 million from $146.6 million for the same quarter of 2006... Net income decreased to $14.5 million from $18.9 million for the same period of 2006. Net income per diluted share for the quarter was $0.17, compared to $0.22 for the same period of 2006...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

MEXICANS' TRUCKS DEBATE * USA - DOT inspection fails to impress

The staged inspection of the first Mexico-based truck to deliver a load in the U.S. as part of the Bush administration’s cross-border program proved nothing, according to numerous opponents of the program

Washington,DC,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Jami Jones -Oct. 18, 2007: -- ... Secretary of Transportation Mary Peters and Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez staged a press conference in Washington, DC, Oct. 17, along with Luis Tellez, Mexican Secretary of Communications and Transportation... Two trucks were inspected during the press conference, one from Mexico and one from the U.S.The Mexican truck came from Transportes Olympic, one of the first companies admitted to the DOT’s controversial cross-border trucking pilot program... The DOT claims the point of the press conference was to demonstrate the safety of the Mexican trucks and to urge Congress to stop its efforts to halt the pilot program... Opponents came out strong, calling the staged inspections everything from a “diversion” to being outright “insulting”... Of the 12 appropriations bills that will fund the federal government for the next year, President Bush has threatened to veto 11 of them – one of which may be the transportation appropriations bill... (Associated Press - Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, right, followed by Mexican Secretary of Communications and Transportation Luis Tellez, second from right, walk around the front of a tractor-trailer, during a safety inspection demonstration, Wednesday, Oct. 17, in front of the Transportation Department in Washington)

Labels: mexican's trucks

Idling Reduction * USA - Regulation approved for public comment in Pennsylvania

Harrisburg,PA,USA -The Trucker News Services -19 Oct 2007: -- A new regulation approved for public comment Oct. 16 by the Environmental Quality Board will help clean Pennsylvania's air and save trucking companies millions of dollars in diesel fuel... The regulation, developed by the Department of Environmental Protection after it was petitioned by the Clean Air Board of Central Pennsylvania, would limit the amount of time a diesel-powered commercial motor vehicle can idle its engine to no more than five minutes in a 60-minute period... (Photo from: http://www.ornl.gov/ - Emissions and fuel use during truck idling are being studied)

Labels: idling reduction

TRUCKS' ENGINE * USA - Detroit Diesel DD15 platform

Performance and fuel economy touted

Redford,Mich,USA -The Trucker News Services -19 Oct 2007: -- After nearly five years and $1.5 billion in development, the new heavy-duty Detroit Diesel DD15 engine was unveiled Friday at the Detroit Diesel plant... The DD15 displaces 14.8 liters, and is a 6-cylinder, in-line design. It is intended to offer superlative performance in all heavy-duty, North American truck and coach applications, and to feature best-in-class fuel consumption as well as industry-leading power and performance... (Photo: The DD15 engine is the first in a series of new heavy-duty engines from Detroit Diesel which eventually will cover three displacement categories: 12.8 liters, 14.8 liters and 15.6 liters)

Labels: trucks engines

STRIKE * Greece - Truckers go back to work after two-day stop

Greek truck drivers ended a two-day strike Friday, after protesters had parked their vehicles along a section of Greece's busiest highway, disrupting traffic

Athens,Greece -The Associated Press -19 Oct 2007: -- ... Fuel truck drivers launched the strike Thursday to protest government plans to loosen job restrictions in the sector, opening the jobs to more competition. Other truckers have joined the protest in solidarity... Their union said it had suspended its action after opening talks with Greece's Development Ministry... The protest has not led to any fuel shortages or affected overseas-based trucks traveling through Greece...

Labels: owner operators strikes

TUNNEL ACCIDENT * USA - Caltrans reconsiders speed limit near I-5 crash

Caltrans calls for a review of the 55-mph limit in the tunnel near Santa Clarita where Friday's 31-vehicle wreck occurred

Los Angeles,CAL,USA -Los Angeles Times, by Matt Lait -October 18, 2007: -- In the aftermath of last week's deadly collision on Interstate 5 near Santa Clarita, a top Caltrans official on Wednesday confirmed that the speed limit in the area where the fiery pileup occurred was raised several years ago, and transportation authorities are now trying to determine whether that decision was appropriate... Douglas Failing, Caltrans district director for Los Angeles and Ventura counties, said he has asked his staff to fully investigate the reasons behind the speed limit changes in that area. He also said speeds that were appropriate when the freeway was built may not be right for modern-day trucks, which are much longer and heavier than they were 30 years ago... The cause of the pileup remains under investigation... (Photo by Stephen Osman / Los Angeles Times .October 13, 2007 - STILL BURNING: An L.A. County firefighter approaches burning wreckage Saturday. By midmorning most of the flames had been extinguished)

Labels: tunnel accidents

18.10.07

TRUCKING MARKET COMMENT * USA - Present Tense, Future Imperfect.

Things do look very nasty indeed.

USA -Road Transport (UK) -12 Oct 2007: -- US Class 8 trucks sales have fallen for the fifth month in a row, and, in September, the units sold – 9677 – represent a 58.8 per cent decline over a year ago – when 23499 units changed hands... During the first nine months of 2007, 116,853 Class 8 trucks have been sold, down 44.3 per cent from the 209,938 units sold during the first three quarters of 2006... There seems to be a larger picture playing out here. On the one hand, it is very difficult to postpone the replacement cycle indefinitely. Sooner or later, US truck operators will have to begin to buy EPA 07 compliant vehicles. Indeed, when the issues surrounding SCR are clarified, it would seem – should everything else remain equal - entirely probable that there will be a rush towards pre-empting the EPA 10 deadline with EGR-equipped vehicles... But the market is still dead... Granted, legislation has created a cyclical market within the Triad – pre-buying ahead of new legislation is mirrored by a downturn after it has been imposed. But legislation itself does not drive the US truck industry. What underpins it is demand for the services of those trucks, and that can only come from the economy at large. If the US economy shrinks next year, then so, logically, will demand for trucks. There will be some positive movement courtesy of the replacement cycle, but, on balance, we believe that any recovery will be muted at best... How long can the truck industry sustain this downturn? Can it afford to retain capacity prior to a pre EPA 10 upturn? We don’t know, but we do know that any attempt so to do is going to cost. That’s another hit on OEM and supplier margins, and so a vicious circle develops. And, the more exposed the OEM to the US market, the more it's going to hurt. Whither Navistar and Paccar, we ask... ("Virtual Trucks" from: www.digitalmasters.com.au)

Labels: trucking industry markets comments

Hydrogen Production Systems * Canada - Beta Tests On 100 big rigs: 1.8 L of water, for 4500 miles

Hydrive embarks on

Toronto,ONT,CAN -CNW -Oct. 17, 2007: -- The Company has launched its Integrated Product Team (IPT) PartnershipProgram under which it plans to install 100 Hydrogen Generation System (HGS) units of its Clean Burn Technology on selected partner trucks by year-end... Hydrive Technologies is developing an on-board hydrogen production system to make the internal combustion engines on big trucks more efficient and cleaner. According to its website, the system creates hydrogen on-demand - no gases are stored on board. Apparently it stores only 1.8 L of water, but lasts for 4500 miles... When the HGS is connected, small amounts of injected hydrogen gas mix with the diesel charge. As hydrogen burns 10 times faster than diesel it has the effect of speeding up the combustion process. This allows the fuel to be burnt more efficiently at the top of the stroke, resulting in increased combustion efficiency, lower emissions and improved economy... (Photo from green.myninjaplease.com: On-Board Hydrogen Generation System)

Labels: hydrogen fuel system

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA - Housing Crisis Hits Trucking Industry

USA -Trucker to Trucker -18 Oct 2007: -- J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc. made the national news last week when it posted a third quarter loss... J.B. Hunt is the latest of a number of industry players, including larger YRC Worldwide Inc., to report financial losses... The 18% rise in fuel prices isn't helping the trucking industry's bottom line, but the real problem is falling freight volumes, one more fallout of the disastrous subprime lending fiasco that has decimated the housing industry... The burst of the housing bubble has been sending ever-expanding shock waves through the economy since last year... Repercussions have finally hit the trucking industry...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

* USA - Downtown truck traffic 'hostile'

Peoria,ILL,USA -The Peoria Journal Star, by John Sharp -October 17, 2007: -- Slowing traffic through Downtown is necessary if people are to eventually move into the Warehouse District, a city councilman told the traffic commission Tuesday... Efforts to slow traffic through Downtown is part of the city's efforts at New Urbanism, a concept endorsed by the council which strives to build traditional, walkable communities... Earlier this year, the Illinois Department of Transportation denied the city's request to change Washington from MacArthur Highway to near Harrison Street from six lanes with no parking to a three-lane roadway, allowing traffic each way, a center turn lane, on-street parking and wider sidewalks... (Photo by Joe Couri: Peoria by night)

Labels: truck traffic

Truck Fire Incidents * USA - ATA seeks information on

Arlington,VA,USA -Truck News, by Steven Macleod -18 Oct 2007: -- American Trucking Associations (ATA) seeks help from Technology and Maintenance Council members, trucking operators and fleet managers to participate in a survey to better understand the apparent increase in truck fires... During the last few meetings of ATA’s Technology and Engineering Policy Committee and its Technical Advisory Group, members have expressed concern that the incidence of truck fires is growing... Some attribute this phenomenon to the increased emissions requirements that are raising operating temperatures and others speculate that a contributing cause is the increased use of accessories especially those with sleeper cabs, such as TVs, computers, microwave ovens, heating and cooling devices, APUs and battery packs... (Photo by Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times - October 14, 2007 - PILEUP: The charred remains of commercial vehicles rest south of the I-5 tunnel under the transition roads for the I-5 and Highway 14 in Santa Clarita on Sunday morning. Twenty-eight commercial vehicles and one passenger car were involved in a chain reaction crash and fire Friday night in the I-5 southbound tunnel, used primarily by truckers. Three people died, including an infant)

Labels: trucks fire incidents

Driver's Comfort * Canada - Extended day cab inches its way into driver’s hearts

Kitchener,Ont,CAN -Truck News, by Steven Macleod -18 Oct 2007: -- When inches of more space count for improved driver comfort, drivers of BLM Transportation Group's city fleet are praising the benefits of more space - where every inch of belly room and storage space add up to miles of comfort... Introduced earlier this year for the aerodynamic Kenworth T660, the Extended Day Cab option provides an extra six inches of length to the standard T660 day cab's 122 inches from front bumper to back of cab... (Photo: The drivers of Ontario-based BLM Transportation have taken to the extra inches in the new Extended Day Cab offering)

Labels: drivers' comfort

Winter & Tires * USA - Tips for Safety Management

Tire pressure drops when ambient air temperature does

USA -Light & Medium Truck -18 October 2007: -- Cold weather state drivers, fleet managers should watch tire air pressure in winter. You should replace worn tires for winter to get increased bite in snow, slush. And tires w/ remaining wear can be stored, reinstalled in summer...
IMPORTANT:
* Tires shouldn't be checked in extreme cold in snow in case valves freeze, leak
* Valves frozen open should be worked w/ pressure gauge to dislodge ice
* Quality steel caps w/ rubber seals should be used to protect valve stem, core ... (Photo from: www.istockphoto.com/)

Labels: tires management

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31.10.07

AUTOMAKERS' NEWS * USA - Chrysler to cut deeper: 1,000 managers targeted

"Clean Trucks" Program * USA - Feds oppose new truck plan

TRUCKERS' HEALTH * USA

Traffic Stop * USA - Yields Embalmed Heads

TRUCKING INDUSTRY * USA

FUEL * UK - OPEC Says Oil Will Not Reach $100 Soon

30.10.07

* China - Rationing diesel amid shortages

Environmental themes * Europe - Strong at Amsterdam Show

TECHNO NEWS * Canada - Truckers get in-cab scanners

LOOKING A MIRROR * Botswana - Trucking an HIV factor, said a Coordinator

ROAD PRICING & TAXES * UK - Gordon Brown is a non-driver: is that why he taxes us so much?

PROGNOSIS * UK - DfT plans joined up transport investment after 2014

TRUCKS' MAKERS * WORLD WIDE

AWARD * Canada - Sunbury shines green one

AWARDS * UK - DAF Apprentices Take Top Honours

WARNING * USA - Life in the waiting lane

MEXICANS' TRUCKS DEBATE * Mexico - Mexicans' point of view

"GREEN" NEWS * USA - Nike, Converse to Use LNG Trucks at Los Angeles and Long Beach Ports

INFRASTRUCTURES * USA

BILLS & LAWS * USA - Pennsylvania bill would allow local radar

TRUCKING INDUSTRY * USA - Maine, Minnesota now requiring ACE

Driver’s License * USA - For undocumented immigrants in NY

29.10.07

AWARD * USA - Trucker wins national safety honor

FUEL TROUBLES * China - Soo... thats why gas prices are going up ???

TROUBLES with FUEL * China - Gas Shortage in Shanghai

Speeding Trucks * India - Under High Court's scanner

TRUCKS' MAKERS NEWS * WORLD WIDE

TRUCKING INDUSTRY * USA - Coshocton Trucking purchased nine new Peterbilt semi tractor trucks

28.10.07

Car Tax * Finland - Should be Environmentally Friendly

27.10.07

* UK - Women and flexible working

Shippers Complains * USA - They say, railroad industry has taken advantage of 'monopoly'

Pollution Reduction * USA

Global Warming * USA - California State boosts its war on

DANGEROUS CARGOES * USA - Numbers on trucks …

OPINION * USA - Are Bigger Trucks a Good Idea?

TRUCKS' ACCESORIES * Belgium - GPS navigation for trucks

TRUCKS' MAKERS * WORLDWIDE

EVENT * Japan - Exhibitors Preview Eco-Friendly, Low-Emission Trucks, Buses

DANGEROUS BORDER * Turkey / Iraq - Rumblings of war, trucks

FUEL TAXES * UK - Truckers Plan Demonstrations Over Government Fuel Taxes

TRUCKERS' STORY * USA - More women take the wheel in U.S. trucking industry

26.10.07

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA

STRIKE * USA - Navistar keeps on trucking

Tailpipe Rules * USA - White House vows to set they

25.10.07

Big tippers at * The RAI Amsterdam Truck Show *

TRUCKS ENGINES * USA - North American Frost & Sullivan Award for Technology Innovation

TRUCKS' MAKERS NEWS * WORLDWIDE

DRIVERS' HEALTH * USA - Depression and the Long Haul Trucker

MARKET * USA - Lanes changing for south coast trucking

Opinion * USA - Economists forecast weak trucking market

MEXICANS' TRUCKS DEBATE * USA

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA & Canada

SUCESSFULL TRUCKING Company * USA - SAV's keeps delivering profits as its industry slows

ANALYSIS * USA - Logistics now a vital industry

TRUCKS' MAKERS NEWS * USA

CALIF WILDFIRES * USA - Will delay lawsuit filing against EPA until next week

CALIF. WILDFIRES * USA - CARB says wildfires contribute to global warming

24.10.07

TRUCK'S STOPS * USA - A prostitute story

TRUCKERS' ADVENTURES * Canada - Follow in the tracks of the ice road truckers

TRUCKS PURCHASE * USA - DeKalb animal shelter gets money for trucks with AC

WILD WEATHER * New Zealand - Wind shoves trucks off highway

"GREEN" NEWS * Japan - Trucking firms eye 3-fold CO2 cut for FY10

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA & Canada

TRUCKS' MAKERS NEWS WORLD WIDE

DANGEROUS DRIVERS * UK - European truckers beg for enforcement in England

SPEED LIMIT * Canada - Ontario continues to impound speeding vehicles; no trucks mentioned

SAFETY TECHNO-NEWS * USA - Ohio snowplows to go high-tech