FUEL COST CRISIS * USA - Wausau trucking company to lay off 340 workers

WH Transportation Co. says it will lay off 340 workers in Wisconsin, Ohio and Georgia because of rising fuel costs

Wausau,WIS,USA -Associated Press/The Chicago Tribune (Chicago,ILL) -June 3, 2008: -- ... The Wausau-based company says it will end its van freight business after July... It will focus instead on delivering housing materials for sister companies Wausau Homes and Sterling Building Systems. It also will deliver general flatbed freight for other companies... Co-owner Tom Schuette says in a statement that the van freight industry can't raise its rates enough to cover rising fuel and other costs...



* Trucking company squeezing better gas mileage

Trucking companies are finding all kinds of ways to make their trucks more fuel efficient now that diesel costs $4.79 a gallon

Frazee,MIN,USA -WDAY/TV, by Sarah Klaphake -June 03, 2008: -- ... A family-run company in Frazee is even focusing one person's job on fuel efficiency. When Rich Huston started driving truck in 1982, he never imagined his future desk job. Rich's duty is to find out how Daggett Trucking can use less fuel... Company owners are trying new things and going back to old ways that are now cost effective. Trailers are set as close as possible to the trucks... Some trucks are getting four big tires, instead of eight heavier ones and expensive gas tank covers are making a comeback because they're aerodynamic... The company set a new top speed in the trucks, from 70 down to 60 miles per hour. Rich says it's paying off. The trucks got an average .21 more miles a gallon this April compared to April 2007. Drivers are also idling the trucks less, using auxiliary heaters to keep warm when they sleep. Drivers who don't follow the changes aren't tolerated... (Photo by hankstruckpictures: Daggett Truck Line, Inc. International cabover from Frazee, MN taken at the Vero Beach, FL T/A in early 2001)


* Soaring diesel hurts truckers - Many are parking their rigs, or going bankrupt - The status of independent owner-operators is harder to pin down

Cincinnati,OH,USA -The Cincinnati Enquirer, by MIKE BOYER -3 June 2008: -- Lance Weaver has been a trucker for more than a decade... "It's a pretty good way to make money," said Weaver, 30, an owner-operator for Ace Doran Hauling & Rigging Co. in Northside. "You have your independence, and you've always got a change of scenery."... Lately, that independence is a lot more expensive as diesel fuel prices, driven by rising crude oil prices and growing worldwide diesel demand, have soared nearly 70 percent in the last year, outpacing even the sharp run-up in gasoline prices... As painful as a fill-up is for motorists, it's even more bracing for truckers like Weaver... In the first quarter of this year 935 trucking companies, about 2 percent of the nation's total, filed for bankruptcy, the highest level since 2000-2001, according to Donald Broughton, trucking analyst with St. Louis-based Avondale Partners. Last month, Jevic Transportation Inc., a less-than-truckload carrier, which operated a terminal in West Chester, closed and filed for bankruptcy... With trucking industry deregulation about a decade ago, fuel surcharges - to cover increasing fuel costs on top of regular line haul rates - have become accepted industry practice. But there's no legal requirement for trucker brokers, who arrange hauls between truckers and shippers, to pass the full surcharge on to the trucker... (Photo by LEIGH TAYLOR/THE ENQUIRER)



* Trucking feels fuel burden - Companies try additives, less idling to handle prices


Knoxville,TN,USA -The Knoxville News Sentinel, by Ed Marcum -June 3, 2008: -- Some are putting fuel additives in their trucks, many more are just telling drivers not to let engines idle, but East Tennessee companies that have vehicle fleets of any size are trying to boost mileage in the face of rising fuel costs... It may make a difference of just one or two more miles per gallon, but when you operate a fleet of 100 vehicles or more, the difference can be in tens of thousands of dollars saved...Jeff Reed, executive vice president of Knoxville-based Skyline Transportation Inc., said the company has taken two main measures to reduce fuel consumption in its fleet of 75 trucks. One is to use governing devices on each truck to limit its speed... The company has not been using any fuel additives to improve mileage or emissions, but Reed said it would not rule that out... Jeff Woods of Forward Air said, most trucking outfits he deals with are telling drivers to stop idling their rigs, limit their speed, plan more direct routes and other basic measures to limit fuel consumption, rather than using additives... (Photos by Michael Patrick/News Sentinel - 1 · Skyline Transportation is fighting high fuel costs by installing governing devices on each truck to limit its speed and auxiliary power devices so drivers don’t have to idle the engine while sleeping. Mechanic Casey Maples walks back to the company pump after topping off fuel - 2· Instead of using fuel additives, Skyline Transportation installed governing devices on each of its 75 trucks to limit the speed)