trucks world news: July 2008

31.7.08

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* Germany - Deutsche Post Earnings Hurt by Costs at U.S. Express Unit

Bonn,Germany -Bloomberg News/ Transport Topics -31 July 2008: -- Deutsche Post AG, parent of U.S. parcel carrier DHL Express, said its second-quarter profit fell 11% to about $396 million, or 33 cents a share, on costs to revamp its parcel delivery business in North America... Deutsche Post, Bonn, Germany, said it spent about $73.7 in the second quarter on restructuring at the DHL Express U.S. Consequently, earnings before interest and taxes at the parent company sank 52% to about $48.6 million, Bloomberg said...

* Global Mergers & Acquisitions

Strategic Buyers

* France - 21 July: Keolis SA, a portfolio company of AlpInvest Partners, Intermediate Capital Group PLC and AXA Private Equity, has acquired Sofitra SA. Sofitra is a bus company based in Plouedern, France. Terms were not disclosed.

* Sweden - 21 July: Peab Industri AB announced the acquisition of UMF Entreprenad AB. Based in Sweden, UMF provides transportation and machinery contract services for the construction and civil engineering market. Terms were not disclosed.

* China - 22 July: Sky One Holdings Limited has acquired Jet International Courier Group Holdings. Based in China, Jet International provides international courier services. Terms were not disclosed.

* UK - 22 July: Trafficmaster plc has announced the acquisition of TRI-MEX Group Limited for $9.5 million. Based in London, TRI-MEX provides international cargo tracking, monitoring and response services for cargo and transport assets.

* China - 22 July: New Legend Holdings Limited has announced the acquisition of CITC for $20.8 million. Based in China, CITC provides shipping agency services.

* Israel - 22 July: Merhav Ampal Energy Ltd. has announced the acquisition of 20.7% of Gadot Chemical Tankers & Terminals Ltd. for $23.5 million. Based in Netanya, Israel, Gadot is a holding company that offers chemical distribution and shipping services.

Financial Buyers

* España - 21 July: -- 21 Centrale Partners SA announced the acquisition of Fleurop-Interflora España, S.A. for $19.0 million. Based in Madrid, Spain, Fleurop-Interflora provides delivery of cut flowers and floral arrangements.

* USA - 21 July: The Jordan Company, L.P. announced the acquisition of 76.0% of Harvey Gulf International Marine, Inc. for $500.0 million. Based in Harvey, Louisiana, Harvey Gulf owns and operates ocean going towing vessels in the Gulf of Mexico.

(From: Transport Intelligence -London,UK -30 July 2008)

Labels: trucking industry news worldwide

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA - Five Arkansas Trucking Companies Make Top 100

ARK, USA -KARK 4 News -July 30, 2008: -- Five Arkansas trucking companies are among the largest 100 freight carriers in the United States according to the latest list compiled by Transport Topics, an industry trade newspaper... The list ranks companies by their 2007 gross revenue... UPS is the nation’s largest carrier, with consolidated revenues of $49.6 billion. FedEx Corporation, of which FedEx Freight in Harrison is one of the company’s nine operating units, is the nation’s second largest trucking firm on revenue of $37.9 billion. J. B. Hunt Transport Services in Lowell, Arkansas, is the 8th largest U.S. carrier, reporting $3.48 billion in revenues in 2007... Arkansas Best Corporation, holding company of ABF Freight System in Fort Smith, is the second largest trucking company in Arkansas, and the 15th largest in the United States... USA Truck, headquartered in Van Buren, is the third largest carrier in Arkansas and the 54th largest in the United States... P.A.M. Transportation Services, headquartered in Tontitown, is the 62nd largest U.S. trucking company... Maverick USA is headquartered in North Little Rock, and is the 73rd largest U.S. trucking company. The flatbed and specialized carrier is also the largest privately owned trucking company in Arkansas. Maverick reported $290 million in revenue in 2007, and employed 1,740 people...

* Con-way Freight Sends a Record 68 Drivers to National Truck Driving Championships - Company's Highest Number of State Winners Ever Will Compete for National Titles

Ann Arbor,MICH,USA -MarketWatch -July 31, 2008: -- Con-way Freight will send more drivers than ever before to American Trucking Associations (ATA)-sponsored National Truck Driving Championships in August... This year, 983 U.S. Con-way Freight drivers participated in state qualifying competitions. A total of 68 of the company's drivers representing 34 U.S. states came in first place and will compete at the event set for Aug. 19-23 in Houston. Drivers are invited to Nationals after winning their equipment classes during state competitions... The national competition tests drivers on their skills and knowledge of safe driving practices through interviews, written examinations, equipment safety inspection testing and formal driving tests. Since the championships began, 11 Con-way Freight drivers have been named National Champion in their equipment classes, including Dale Duncan of Chula Vista, Calif., who won the National Grand Champion overall title in 2006. In 2007, two company drivers earned National Champion honors -- Duncan and Dennis Day of Georgia...

* Not a UCR host state, Oregon will fine truckers anyway

OR,USA -Land Line Magazine -July 30, 2008: -- Motor carriers, brokers, freight forwarders and leasing companies that have failed to register with the Unified Carrier Registration Program became subject to fines effective July 1. And even though the state of Oregon doesn’t participate in the new program – which replaced the old Single State Registration System – it will soon begin imposing a fine for UCR non-compliance... “The UCR (system) basically is a federal law. Everybody who operates interstate is required to pay this fee ... Oregon is not participating as a host state in collecting these fees. It would require us an additional burden to collect the fees ... so we have chosen not to do it,” Jo Schiffner of the Oregon Department of Transportation told... Fines for UCR non-compliance differ from state to state. Oregon’s fine will be $427...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

Trucking Calls * USA - For Comprehensive Plan to Limit Fuel Costs Effect on the Economy

Arlington,VA,USA -MarketWatch -July 30, 2008: -- A top trucking official along with a professional truck driver today urged the Bush Administration and Congress to implement a comprehensive energy plan that will ensure an affordable supply of oil and limit the effect of rising fuel costs on the U.S. economy... Speaking at a press conference hosted by Senator Mitch McConnell and the Republican Leadership, Barbara Windsor, President and CEO of Hahn Transportation of New Market, Md., said the United States needs a comprehensive energy plan that decreases demand for fossil fuels, increases domestic energy production and ensures transparency in the petroleum markets... Tony Sifford, a professional truck driver with over 1.8 million accident-free miles, compared the year-over-year cost of fuel for his regular roundtrip route from Hillsville, Va., to Dallas, Texas. At this time last year, Sifford's fuel bill was $1,680. That same trip recently cost $2,826... Sifford said truck drivers are doing their part to reduce fuel consumption by slowing truck speeds, reducing idling and properly maintaining equipment. Such steps, however, do not begin to offset the rising cost of fuel, he said...

Labels: fuel costs troubles

FEMALE TRUCKERS * Canada - Women taking the wheel

"You really are your own boss. If you own your own truck, you are a business person. You decide where and when to go." Jayne Gunn

Brantford,Canada -The Expositor, by CHERYL BAUSLAUGH -31 July 2008: -- Sitting behind the wheel of a big rig isn't everyone's cup of tea. But it can be an interesting and well-paying job for men and women, says Jayne Gunn, who is president of the Brantford Traffic Club and the only Canadian board member of Women In Trucking -- an advocacy group for women in the transportation industry -- knows what she's talking about... A single parent with two teenagers, aged 13 and 15, she's spent most of her working life in the transportation industry. Gunn said it's been a challenging, fulfilling career that has more than paid the bills... She's worked at Sunbury, a mid-sized company based in Fredericton, N. B., since March... Gunn said trucking has traditionally been seen as a job for burly men. But those stereotypes are starting to break down, as more women get into the industry... Anyone over the age of 21 with a Grade 10 education can take an eight-week training course to get their truck driving licence, Gunn said she believes that people should learn about sharing the road with big rigs as part of basic driver training... Gunn said she's "passionate" about what she does and wants to raise the profile of an industry she sees as vital to today's economy..."We in North America would not survive without the trucking industry." ...

Labels: womens in trucking

Keep your eye on that tank * Canada - Pssst ... Wanna buy some diesel fuel?

Disappearance of more than 55,000 liters of diesel fuel from underground storage tanks in and around Hamilton this past weekend

Hamilton,ONT,CAN -CHCH television news/ Today's Trucking -30 July 2008: -- Following the disappearance, it's beginning to look like an organized theft ring is operating in the area... Several thefts in the area, at least two of which were caught on security cameras. In both cases, two trucks pulling 53-ft van trailers -- possibly reefers -- pulled up and parked over top of under ground fuel storage tanks. While not actually seen on camera, it's assumed that the vans were equipped with liquid pumps and storage tanks large enough to accommodate a significant amount of fuel... (Photo: Keep your eye on that tank !!)

Labels: fuel thefts

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * Australia - New laws for

Australia -ABC News -31 July 2008: -- The Minister for Planning and Infrastructure, Alannah MacTiernan, says owner-operator truck drivers will be protected under new laws governing the trucking industry... The legislation will establish a base rate of pay and force companies to pay drivers within 30 days after they lodge their invoice... The laws will also establish a tribunal to resolve disputes and allow drivers to claim lost wages... Ms MacTiernan says the changes will make the industry safer... The Opposition spokesman for Planning and Infrastructure, Simon O'Brien, says the laws have the potential to promote price fixing in the trucking industry... (ABC Rural: Kath Sullivan - New laws for trucking industry in Western Australia)

Labels: trucking industry news Australia

Truckers Say * USA - DOT's Proposal Would Sell America's Highways

Coming soon along a highway near you, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Transportation, signs that read “For Sale”

Grain Valley,Mo,USA -Land Line Magazine/Layover -30 July 2008: -- The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) responded to an announcement by Transportation Secretary Mary Peters where she asks for reform of funding highway and transit systems that would place a priority on public private partnerships and tolling. The Association contends the proposal has no real meaning this late in the game and does not address the real problems and challenges that need to be focused on... “The Administration is on its way out and is simply hanging a ‘For Sale’ sign on our highways as a last ditch effort to reward their friends on Wall Street,” said Todd Spencer, OOIDA Executive Vice President...

* AASHTO estimates bridges need $140 billion – minimum

North Philadelphia,USA -Land Line Magazine, by David Tanner -July 30, 2008: -- State transportation officials from around the country say it will take $140 billion to repair and modernize 590,000 bridges that are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete... Members of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials spoke to reporters Tuesday, July 29, in North Philadelphia to announce the release of their latest report on modernizing the nation’s bridges... The report cites FHWA data about bridge age, traffic congestion and construction costs to come up with the overall repair estimate... Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said no matter how much money a state, federal or local government pays for bridges and infrastructure, it never seems enough... Rendell is currently seeking a long-term funding mechanism in his home state to fund roads, bridges and mass transit. Two options he has supported include tolls on Interstate 80 and the long-term leasing of the Pennsylvania Turnpike to private investors... The lease proposal stalled in the state’s House Transportation Committee when the General Assembly recessed earlier this month...

Labels: truckers' complain

OIL NEWS * UK - Royal Dutch Shell's profits top $11 billion

London,UK -MarketWatch (CAL,USA), by Steve Goldstein -July 31, 2008: -- Royal Dutch Shell said second-quarter profit climbed 33% as surging oil prices helped offset diminished production as the group struggles to pump oil out of Nigeria... Joining Exxon Mobil as the only oil company to earn more than $10 billion in a single quarter, Royal Dutch Shell said its profit rose to $11.56 billion... The quarter included a net $73 million of one-time items, as divestments were offset by mark-to-market valuations on U.K. gas contracts and tax charges... Excluding price changes on unsold inventories and other one-time items, Shell would have earned $7.9 billion, up 5% from the same period last year...

Labels: oil news worldwide

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS WORLDWIDE * USA - Truck producer to open new plant

Poteau,OK.USA -NewsOK, by Debbie Blossom -July 31, 2008— A truck manufacturer that last year selected this southeast Oklahoma town of 8,000 for its new headquarters and assembly plant officially will open today... Privately owned Tiger Truck LLC, formerly based in Dallas, has 90 on payroll and plans to employ 300 within two years, founder and Chief Executive Mike Ward said. The company invested $25 million to renovate 150,000 square feet in several buildings in Poteau Industrial Park and has started construction on another 25,000-square-foot building to accommodate projected demand... (See Video) ... Tiger Truck produces several truck models designed by the ChangAn Automobile Group, which is China's third-largest vehicle manufacturer...

* India - Tata sees biggest profit decline in five years

New Delhi,India -The Detroit News (Detroit,Mich,USA) -30 July 2008: -- Tata Motors Ltd ., the Indian truck maker that bought Jaguar and Land Rover from Ford Motor Co., reported its biggest decline in quarterly profit in at least five years after raw material costs surged... Net income fell 30 percent to 3.26 billion rupees ($77 million), or 7.68 rupees a share, in the three months ended June 30, from 4.67 billion rupees, or 11.52 rupees, Tata Motors said Wednesday...

Labels: truckmakers' news worldwide

30.7.08

Would Ban Mexican Trucks ? * USA - House Measure After Pilot Program Ends

Mexican trucks would be barred from U.S. highways, and the Department of Transportation prohibited from enacting future cross-border programs for Mexican truckers

Washington,DC,USA -Transport Topics -30 July 2008: -- ... under a measure introduced in the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee... The bill, introduced late Tuesday by Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-Ore.), would prohibit DOT from granting “authority to a motor carrier domiciled in Mexico to operate beyond United States municipalities and commercial zones on the United States-Mexico border after September 6, 2008” unless the action is “expressly authorized by Congress"... The measure would also require DOT to halt its current pilot program for Mexican trucks by Sept. 6. That program, which began last September, allows a select number of Mexican trucking companies to operate outside of a narrow commercial border zone... The Transportation and Infrastructure Committee plans to vote on the measure tomorrow...

Labels: mexicans' trucks debate

OIL SPECULATORS * USA - House rejects bill aimed at energy speculators

Most Republicans objected to the bill, preferring to pass legislation to open the outer continental shelf and other off-limits areas to energy exploration

Washington,DC,USA -MarketWatch, by Rex Nutting -July 30, 2008: -- A bill that would put new limits on speculative trading in energy commodities failed to get the required two-third majority of votes to pass the House on Wednesday. The vote was 276 to 151. The Commodity Markets Transparency and Accountability Act would boost staffing at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission and require the agency to limit the positions of speculators in energy and agricultural commodities...

Labels: oil news

INTELLIGENCE in TRANSPORT * Switzerland - Collapse of WTO talks threatens global trade

Geneva,Switzerland -Transport Intelligence, by Rob Walter -30 July 2008: -- World Trade Organisation (WTO) director-general Pascal Lamy has announced that after days of negotiations, ministers have failed to agree on the liberalisation of trade in agriculture and industrial products. That has led to the collapse of the whole trade negotiation process which, if successful, would have resulted in a major boost for economies in the developing and developed world... Talks foundered on agreeing a 'special safeguard mechanism' in farm products for developing countries and ultimately came down to an impasse between the US and India. Lamy's summary of the situation was bleak. "It is no use beating around the bush. This meeting has collapsed. Members have not been able to bridge their differences," he told journalists later... Out of a 'to-do list' of 20 topics, 18 had seen positions converge but the gaps could not be narrowed on the 19th — the special safeguard mechanism for developing countries, which would have allowed those countries to raise tariffs temporarily in order to deal with import surges and price falls...

Labels: transport intelligence

Survey * UK - Shows companies are passing the buck on 'green' logistics costs

Despite many companies' avowed commitment to 'greening' their logistics operations, it seems that most expect their sub-contractors to pick up the bill

London,UK -Transport Intelligence -23 July 2008: -- ... The Logistics & Transport Industry Environmental Survey sponsored by Kewill, a leading provider of global trade and logistics software, found that three-quarters of respondents who awarded logistics contracts included sections on environmental compliance in their tender documents. However, most (54%) failed to make provision for the extra costs that could be involved. That will no doubt be a source of annoyance for many logistics companies which will see the environmental measures they are forced to adopt as another cost burden pushed on to them by their clients... Evan Puzey, Chief Marketing Officer at Kewill added: "The survey reinforces the fact that technology can play an important role in helping make logistics more environmentally friendly, particularly in the area of carbon footprints – where 79% of respondents cited technology as an important tool for reducing carbon footprints"...

Labels: survey

OPINION * USA - First signs of upturn in the US logistics market?

There is no doubt that the market environment in the US logistics sector is tough

USA -Road Freight/Transport Intelligence (UK), by John Manners-Bell -25 July 2008: -- ... Many small and medium truckers are suffering, with a substantial number either going out of business or approaching their bigger rivals to be bought-out. Many of the bigger players are also finding it challenging, with Arkansas Best Corporation reporting a 7% drop in profits. YRC Worldwide, reporting yesterday, also announced a fall in revenue and a loss over the first half of the year. However this is only part of the story... There are some pockets of good news in the market. Con-way, for example, has just reported strong figures for both its less than trailer load and full truck load business. Its operational income increased 7.2% to $77.4m for the second quarter compared to the same period 2007 and revenue climbed 10.6%. Yield is improving even after fuel surcharge, as is capacity utilisation which is running at over 90%. Its newly created full truck load business is also in profit. Intermodal and non-asset based operators such as Hub Group and CH Robinson have also announced positive results, with both companies seeing profits up 9% over the quarter (Ti Logistics Briefing, News, July 22)... There are now signs that the balance within the market is starting to change. Demand may have fallen, but so has capacity. There are not as many trucks on the road, yet key areas of the economy are still growing, such as the coal and the agri-bulk sector which continue to drive profits. US export traffic is also strong. This means that in a number of areas capacity has tightened. As Douglas Stotlar, the CEO of Con-Way commented "The trend of capacity leaving the market is improving the supply/demand balance which is benefiting Con-way Truckload"... There is no doubt that the industry seems to be consolidating around larger, stronger players...

Labels: freight markets

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * Germany - MAN Q2 tops all forecasts, truck orders hit shares

Munich,Germany -Reuters, by Christiaan Hetzner -July 30 2008: -- German industrial group MAN AG posted a 39 percent rise in second-quarter operating profit on strong growth in all its main units, beating the most bullish forecasts, but falling truck orders unnerved the market... MAN kept its 2008 forecast for an operating profit margin of just under 12 percent amid a good 10 percent gain in sales... New orders fell 23 percent to 20,838 trucks in the quarter, but an improved mix helped cushion that blow to just a 6 percent drop in value to 2.36 billion euros, mainly due to Russian customers ordering high-priced long haulers...

Labels: truckmakers' news worldwide

THANKING TRUCKERS * Canada - Remember to thank a trucker

Without their willingness to drive across this great nation of ours, our economy would fall apart...

Fergus,ON,Canada -The Fergus Elora News Express -Jul 29, 2008: -- This week, thousands of area residents flocked to the Centre Wellington Sportsplex to take in all things shiny at the Fergus Truck Show... It is, then, somewhat appropriate to reflect on the impact the trucking industry has on this province — and on this country — as a whole... Food, car parts, clothing — the list goes on and on... According to the Ontario Trucking Association, 90 per cent of all consumer products and food stuffs used and consumed in this province are distributed, at some point, by truck... Our entire economy hinges on our trucking industry, and its ability to get consumer goods to our stores on time... According to Statistics Canada, the trucking industry contributed approximately $14.2 billion to the economy in 2005... With all of this in mind, it’s probably a good idea for us to remind ourselves that truckers — good, hardworking folk with a love of the road — are behind a lot of the things in life we enjoy... The next time we see them on the road, let’s take the time to thank them... Without their willingness to drive across this great nation of ours, our economy would fall apart... It would be good for all of us to remember that...

Labels: thanking to truckers'

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA - New Safety Education Company

ATA Associates, Inc. & Codega LLC, Signs Ten-Year Contract With the American Trucking Associations

Houston,TX,USA -PRNewswire/Earth Times -29 Jul 2008: -- The catastrophic engineering firm ATA Associates recently formed Codega LLC, a company dedicated to providing creatively different and educationally significant training experiences... Focusing on motivation, reinforcement, retention and transference of information, Codega's training initiatives increase safety using alternative learning techniques... In recent years, ATA Associates has focused a lot of its effort on the heavy trucking industry, investigating thousands of accidents and supporting many prominent transportation companies. It comes as no surprise that ATA Associates' sister company, Codega, has signed a ten-year contract to develop training videos in conjunction with the American Trucking Associations...

* ATA Truck Tonnage Index Jumped 1.3 Percent in June

Arlington,VA,USA -MarketWatch -July 29, 2008: -- The American Trucking Associations' advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index increased 1.3 percent in June, marking the second consecutive month-to-month gain. The index rose 0.5 percent in May... The seasonally adjusted tonnage index equaled 116.5 (2000 = 100) in June, which was the highest reading since February 2008 (117.2). The not seasonally adjusted index increased 1.2 percent to 119.9 in June... The seasonally adjusted index was 5.4 percent higher compared with June 2007, marking its eighth consecutive year-over-year increase. This improvement was the largest year-over-year gain since January 2005, just surpassing the 5.3 percent jump in January 2008...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

ILLEGAL DRUGS * USA - Truck drivers taking illegal drugs get hired

Washington,DC,USA -AP, by HOPE YEN -29 July 2008: -- Tractor-trailer and bus drivers who tested positive for illegal drugs have flouted federal regulations by returning to work without the required treatment, in some cases transporting hazardous materials for many months, congressional investigators say... The study by the Government Accountability Office, obtained Tuesday by The Associated Press, is the latest to detail problems involving unfit commercial drivers who can operate vehicles weighing 40 tons or more. The GAO found that 19 out of 37 commercial drivers who had a positive drug test in the last two years were hired elsewhere less than a month later — keeping quiet about their previous test result... These tractor-trailer or bus drivers, who had tested positive for cocaine, amphetamines or marijuana, passed a new pre-employment drug test either by quickly going clean or using products such as synthetic urine to mask drug use. They subsequently operated commercial vehicles for periods ranging from one month to over a year, GAO said...

Labels: drugs and truckers

INFRASTRUCTURES' PLAN * USA - US DOT Proposes Overhaul of Federal Approach to Transportation

US Transportation Secretary Mary Peters unveiled a plan to “refocus, reform and renew” the national approach to highway and transit systems in America

Washington,DC,USA -Fast Lane, by Arthur Bochner -29 July 2008: -- The new plan outlines increased federal attention on maintaining and improving the Interstate highway system, rather than applying funds for programs clearly not federal priority areas... Addressing urban congestion and giving greater flexibility to state and local governments to invest in their most needed transit and highway priorities is another main element of the plan. As part of the focus on congestion, the plan would create a Metropolitan Innovation Fund that rewards cities willing to combine a mix of effective transit investments, dynamic pricing of highways and new traffic technologies, the Secretary said...

Labels: infrastructures

TRUCKERS' FATIGUE * Australia - Fatigue management transition for South Australia

S.Australia -ATN -30 July 2008: -- South Australia is following Queensland’s lead by implementing a transition period to new fatigue management regulations as well as relaxing its enforcement strategy... Although the laws will be introduced on September 29, operators will have a six-month exemption from changed driving hours. This means drivers using standard hours will still be allowed to drive for 12 hours and work for two hours... Under the new regulations, drivers are limited to a 12-hour workday... The Rann Government is also extending the Transitional Fatigue Management Scheme (TFMS) from six to 12 months. Those resigtered under the TFMS are allowed to drive for longer hours.The South Australian Road Transport Association (SARTA), which campaigned hard for the transition periods, says the Government’s decision will give operators more time to adjust to the new regulations...

Labels: drivers fatigue

DRIVERS' FATIGUE * USA - Fatigue major problem in trucking industry

Roanoke,VA,USA -WSLS -July 28, 2008: -- Daphne and Steve Izer lost their 17-year old son, Jeff, when a trucker fell asleep at the wheel and swerved into his car. Jeff and 3 of his friends lost their lives that day back in 1993. And since then—the Izer’s say the federal government has not done enough to take on the problem. The Izer’s tell that fatigue has been named the number one problem in the trucking industry. The Izer’s formed “Parents Against Tired Truckers” soon after their son was killed. It has become a national organization based out of Northern Virginia. It aims to bring the fatigue issue to the forefront. The Izer’s say the problem is fueled by the bottom line—trucking companies and their truckers don’t make money unless the wheels are turning. That means they will often sacrifice sleep to move the load they’re carrying... (See Video)

Labels: drivers fatigue

STRIKE * Australia - Trucking industry cancels shutdown

Organisers have been forced to cancel a planned two-week shutdown of the trucking industry across Australia after just two and a half days...

Melbourne,Victoria,Australia -Radio Australia, by Matt Watson -29 July 2008: -- ... Drivers launched the industrial action in protest against the state and federal government's road safety laws... The action was supposed to cause fuel and food shortages and force the government into changing its laws... However, the National Road Transport Forum has sent drivers back to work because the transport ministers in the states of New South Wales and Queensland have gone on holidays... Organiser Mick Pattell says it was a ridiculous situation... (Horsham,Victoria,Australia -The Wimmera Mail Times, by JO MORRIS)... Australian Trucking Association spokesman Bill McKinley said the ATA and its member organisation Truckers Workers Union was opposed to the shutdown... He said it had been badly organised and the fact that drivers had felt threatened to stop work was an indication of this... Mr McKinley said the stopwork was unlikely to affect many retail outlets...

* Shutdown begins but trucking operator says support not there

Disillusioned truck drivers have started a national shutdown but there are already claims it will fail to achieve any meaningful gains

Australia -ATN -29 July 2008: -- ... Operators and owner-drivers, fed up with soaring diesel prices and impending regulations, converged on a number of truck stops designed to pressure the government into acceding to a list of demands... But the Australian Long Distance and Owner Drivers Association (ALDODA) latest crusade has failed to draw overwhelming support despite claims 80 percent of the industry is backing it... In a statement from the organisation, shutdown organiser and president of ALDODA’s Queensland branch, Lyn Bennetts, says 470 truck drivers took part across regional areas in Queensland and NSW. But while she says more than 400 trucks joined a convoy in Brisbane, and operator who attended the shutdown claims it was closer to the media figure of 43... About 200 truck drivers turned up to the Brisbane meeting point at a service station... According to Bennetts, ALDODA will receive most of its support in Melbourne, claiming about 600 to 800 drivers will stop work... However, the Victorian strike organiser Fletcher Davis says between 200 to 300 drivers took part in the shutdown. But he says ALDODA expects more to come on board as the week goes on... Davis says he is happy with the progress after around 30 trucks took part in a convoy through Melbourne streets...

Labels: strikes and protests

TRUCKER'S STORY * USA - 'In a man's world'

Chattanooga,TN,USA -The Chattanooga Times Free Press, by Joan Garrett -July 29, 2008: -- Cast against the row of looming 18-wheelers, Sheila Stanford appeared a diminutive grandmother... At 64 years old, her hair was gray and white. She wore a pressed polo shirt and the type of tinted, rhinestone-studded glasses that snowbirds don in Florida retirement communities... As she walked into the Tennessee truck stop, men and families stared... “When a female steps out of the truck they say, ‘My God, I can’t believe she’s doing that,’” said Ms. Stanford, a driver for Chattanooga-based Covenant Transport... Like many in the small sorority of female truckers, Ms. Stanford looked to find a new and independent life on the road. A truck-school teacher who often ate at a restaurant Ms. Stanford owned in Jacksonville, Fla., introduced her to the idea eight years ago. The teacher told her she was the type of woman who could make the most of life on the road... (Photo by Gillian Bolsover - Sheila Stanford stands in front of her truck at Covenant Transport headquarters. Ms. Stanford has been driving trucks for eight years)

Labels: truckers' stories

TRUCKS' PURCHASE PROSPECTS * Malaysia - Yinson planning to buy more trucks

Firm will invest RM6mil to enhance its fleet and cut fuel costs

Johor Baru,Malaysia -The Malaysia Star, by ZAZALI MUSA -July 29, 2008: -- Yinson Holdings Bhd will invest RM6mil to add 20 to 30 new trucks to its existing 350-unit fleet in the financial year ending Jan 31, 2009... Managing director Lim Han Weng said, while Japanese-made cars were fuel-efficient and a favourite among car owners, the same could not be said of Japanese-made trucks... Lim said although the European models were higher priced, cost-wise they were a better choice, as they were more economical... He said since fuel made up between 30% and 40% of the company’s operating cost, it preferred trucks that were more fuel-efficient... He added that apart from owning trucks, Yinson also hired about 200 trucks from smaller transporters...

Labels: trucks purchase prospects

Green Coke * USA - Company hits road with hybrid trucks

The soda giant is leading the way with hybrid trucks -- at considerable expense. The estimated price of each vehicle is about $85,000

Miami,FL,USA -The Miami Herald, by JOHN DORSCHNER -Jul. 29, 2008: -- While other companies are shying away from the considerable costs involved, Coca-Cola announced Monday it is rolling out 10 heavy-duty hybrid trucks in South Florida, part of a national campaign to put 142 of these so-called green trucks on the road in North America in the next several weeks... Coke's new trucks are estimated to lower fuel consumption by 37 percent and emissions by 32 percent -- solid figures to impress the growing number of people who are demanding a reduction in greenhouse gases... But heavy-duty hybrid trucks aren't cheap. Coca-Cola estimates the special engines add about $35,000 to the cost, making the total about $85,000 per truck... (Photo by LILLY ECHEVERRIA/MIAMI HERALD - Coca Cola says it's the first in South Florida to introduce heavy duty hybrid trucks, like this one at the Coca-Cola facility at 3350 Pembroke Rd., in Hollywood)

Labels: green trucks

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * USA - Paccar's fuel-saving hybrid trucks

Kenworth Truck, a subsidiary of Paccar, plans to begin full production of its T270 and T370 hybrid trucks in early September

Kirkland,WASH,USA -The Seattle Times -29 July 2008: -- ... Like the increasingly popular hybrid cars, these vehicles come with an electric motor that assists the main engine during acceleration and can capture the energy produced from braking, storing it in a battery for later use... Kenworth chief engineer Mike Dozier said hybrids are ideally suited for such delivery fleets, because stop-and-go driving allows the electric motor to operate and recharge its batteries more frequently... A hybrid truck can cost $40,000 more than its more traditional peers, which can sell for around $60,000 for the chassis alone; final costs vary widely according to specifications... But Kenworth says the trucks pay for that premium in four to five years. When used for deliveries, a hybrid truck can reduce fuel consumption by 30 percent; in its utility version, by 50 percent, said Dozier... (Photo by KEN LAMBERT / THE SEATTLE TIMES - Andy Douglas, Western region sales manager for Kenworth, shows off two medium-duty hybrid trucks. The Paccar subsidiary plans to start full production of the trucks in September. The nation's distribution industry relies on medium-duty trucks)

* Cummins’ Profits Rise as Engine Demand Recovers

USA -Transport Topìcs -30 July 2008: -- Engine manufacturer Cummins Inc., said that its second-quarter profits rose to a record as overseas demand bolstered a recovering North American truck-engine market... Cummins said it earned $293 million, or $1.49 a share, in the quarter ended June 29, on sales of $3.89 billion, a 16% gain compared with the 2007 quarter... Total sales of heavy-duty truck engines in the second quarter rose to $672 million from $473 million a year ago, Cummins said in its latest earnings report. The company shipped 31,700 heavy-duty engines in the second quarter, up from 23,800 a year ago... Notwithstanding soaring fuel prices and a weak U.S. economy, Cummins said that demand for heavy-duty truck engines in North America improved from year-ago levels, when the 2007 federal emission regulations “led to sharply lower demand"...

Labels: truckmakers' news USA

"CLEAN TRUCKS" LAW SUIT * USA - This, You Call a Slam Dunk?

After months of chest-thumping, the trucking industry has finally filed its lawsuit against the Clean Trucks Programs of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach

Santa Monica,CA ,USA -Switchboard, from NRDC, by David Pettit -July 28, 2008: -- ... Industry’s legal arguments will fare no better. First, they rely heavily on the recent Rowe vs. New Hampshire Motor Transport Association case from the U.S. Supreme Court for the argument that the ports can’t admit some trucks (i.e. clean trucks) and deny admittance to others (dirty trucks)... The ATA says that Rowe means that the Ports can’t keep dirty trucks off their property. But ATA’s argument is wrong because even if a court finds the programs preempted, under the “market participant” doctrine, the ports, as landlords, can choose who they do or don’t want to do business with, and who can or can’t come onto their property... Second, industry argues that the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution bars the ports from telling dirty trucks in interstate commerce that they can’t work at the ports... This is wrong also because the Commerce Clause (actually, the “dormant Commerce Clause,” for constitutional nitpickers) does not draw a bright line between permitted and illegal in a case like this, but rather requires a balancing test that looks at the local interests and the degree of impairment of interstate commerce. Here, the local public health interest is huge...

Labels: Clean Truck Program discussion

29.7.08

STRIKE * AUSTRALIA

* Qld businesses feel pinch of truckie strike

Brisbane,Queensland,Australia -ABC News -Jul 28, 2008: -- Some Queensland businesses are starting to feel the effect of a national truck industry shutdown... The two-week trucking shutdown began at midnight last night over state and federal government transport changes, which include increased registration fees, new fatigue laws and changes to the fuel excise... Brisbane Markets chief executive Andrew Young says there was a drop in produce deliveries at Rocklea this morning... Mr Young says some suppliers have been stocking up with extra produce... (Picture by Alison McRae/ABC News: Trucks slowly make their way through the centre of Brisbane in a 'go-slow' protest on July 28, 2008. The truckies were protesting against the high price of petrol)

* Truckies protest in Melbourne

Melbourne,Australia -ABC News -Jul 28, 2008: -- Dozens of self-employed truck drivers are taking part in stop work meetings across Melbourne, as part of a national day of protest over working conditions... The drivers are angry about rising fuel costs, increases in registration fees and low rates of pay... About 50 drivers are moving in convoy through Melbourne's west as a show of force... (Picture by Karl Hoerr/ABC TV - Truckies are angry about risking costs)

* Supermarkets brace for truckie strike - Truckies preparing for two week strike

Sydney,Australia -NEWS.com.au -July 27, 2008: -- Supermarket chains are bracing for serious shortages of fresh fruit and vegetables this week amid fears truckies could strike as early as tonight... Thousands of truckies, outraged at low pay rates and soaring fuel and registration costs, have vowed to bring the country to its knees from midnight tonight, refusing to drive for two weeks... The Australian Long Distance Owners and Drivers Association and the National Road Transport Forum are calling it a nationwide strike, but a Transport Workers Union spokesman said they were a local "fringe group" and the action was limited to drivers in Queensland... One organiser said up to 80 per cent of owner drivers were facing bankruptcy and they were prepared to take the Queensland economy down with them...

* Truck drivers in Australia seek government help

Melbourne,Victoria,Australia -Radio Australia -Jul 28, 2008: -- Self employed truck drivers from the Australian state of Victoria say they will take industrial action unless the federal government responds to their request for help to improve their working conditions... Protest meetings have been held in capital cities around the country... They want a cut in diesel excise, more safety stops along freeways and registration fees to be standardised nationally... Ivan Waddingham, of the Australian Long Distance Owners and Drivers Association, says soaring petrol prices are sending many owner-drivers broke... "We get paid per kilometre. That hasn't changed much at all in the last 20 years," he said... "We've got huge fuel spike. Everyone's hurting and you know, you almost need a personal loan now to fill it, it's got that bad." ..

* Truck strike to hurt small operators

Fairfax,Australia -Stock and Land - 28 July 2008: -- The commencement today of disruption to road freight will cause economic harm to those who can least afford disruption to their cash flow, income and profitability, according to the Queensland Trucking Association... As a result, QTA chief executive Peter Garske is calling for on all owner-drivers to return to work and to focus their attentions on negotiating with Government...

* Australian Truckers Split Over Stoppage

Australia -Freightscene, by Findlay Osborn -28 July 2008: -- The trucking industry in Australia appears split over attempts by two of the industry’s representative organisations to organised a nationwide stoppage of truck transport... The stoppage, which commenced this morning in Australia has been organised by the Queensland based National Road Transport Forum and Australian Long Distance Owners and Drivers Association in response to increased fuel prices and proposed legislation by Australia’s Labor government which would see a raft of new charges imposed on the industry... The National Road Transport Forum’s Mick Pattell hoped the public would back the drivers concerns and that the government would react quickly to the stoppage... The stoppage is planned to last for two weeks with repercussions expected for both retailers and consumers, should truck drivers choose to join the nationwide action... Truck drivers in the state of Western Australia have decided against joining the two-week nationwide truck stoppage. The decision was made after a brief gathering of truck drivers in Kewdale and a subsequent protest drive to a point close to the Parliament of Western Australia...

* SA Transport Authority: We won't be bullied

Adelaide,SA,Australia -ABC Online -Jul 27, 2008: -- The South Australian Road Transport Authority says it could sue the organisers of tonight's planned national shutdown of the trucking industry if it goes ahead... The transport body says it has advice to take legal action against the organisations leading the planned action from midnight tonight... Some rogue trucking groups have threatened violence towards drivers who continue to work during the unofficial strike... The Transport Authority's director Steve Shearer says the industry will not be bullied... (Picture by Daniel Munoz/Reuters: Truck drivers are planning a national stoppage from midnight)

Labels: truckers' strikes

Disabled Truckers * USA - Lying To Keep Licenses

Medically unfit truck drivers are lying to keep their trucks on the road, which can put all drivers safety at risk on the road

Amarillo,TX,USA -KFDA -Jul 25, 2008: -- ... According to the Governmental Accountability Office, Texas has 819,000 drivers with active commercial drivers licenses, with 22,600 receiving full federal disability benefits... Those are drivers that are getting behind the wheel with medical disabilities such as diabetes, loss of limb or sleep apnea... The study concludes, that it's easy for truckers to fake a medical certificate and that there's almost no incentive to get a real one. Making it easy for those who have an unnoticeable disability to obtain a Commercial Drivers License... There is no database or central repository allowing state inspectors to verify the legitimacy of a medical certificate... Trooper Wayne Williams says there is no way to prevent people from lying to get a CDL...

Labels: CDL frauds

TECHNONEWS WORLDWIDE * USA - Trucking industry accelerating use of technology for fuel efficiencies

Chattanooga,TN,USA -The Chattanooga Times Free Press, by Joan Garrett -July 25, 2008: -- Several years ago, after driving a truck for 25 years, Barry Andersen decided to leave the industry and pursue research. He made a mud flap with holes... Sales were poor to begin with, but when diesel hit $4 a gallon Mr. Andersen found himself and his new mud flaps in the middle of an industry frenzy over aerodynamics. These porous mud flaps, coined eco-flaps, could improve a trucks fuel efficiency by 1.7 to 4 percent, he said... Along with tweaking trucks physical appearance for improved aerodynamics, companies are serious about reducing the time their drivers idle their trucks when they aren’t driving. Oftentimes, truckers idle to stay warm or cool at night, but one hours of sitting can eat up one gallon of diesel fuel...

* South Africa - Putting a spring into the trucking industry

Garden View,South Africa -Creamer Media's Engineering News -25 July 08: -- New technologies that enable the production of polyurethanes that are ten times as hard-wearing as rubber compounds are replacing rubber in many applications, says polyurethane product manufacturer Polyurethane Precision Mouldings (PPM) MD Fred Evans... The inherent strength, toughness and longevity of polyurethanes make the material applicable for special formulations in hydraulic machinery and equipment...

Labels: technonews

Driven out of an industry * USA - High fuel prices have led to a shakeout in the trucking business, paring excess capacity

St. Paul,MN,USA -The Pioneer Press, by Christopher Snowbeck -26 July 2008: -- Jibri Copeland's truck is fully loaded... The cab offers everything from a TV and surround-sound stereo to an on-board refrigerator and microwave. A couch in the cab folds out into a full-size bed, and the heated seats have full lumbar support... There's just one problem: Filling it up with diesel fuel right now costs about $1,200. That's a big part of the reason the St. Paul resident is trying to sell his rig... An unprecedented rise in diesel fuel costs has made for tough times in the trucking business, as operators struggle to negotiate rates that cover their costs... But diesel costs aren't the only factor. The economic slowdown means there's not as much freight to haul, and the industry is suffering from an oversupply of trucks... John Hausladen, president of the Minnesota Trucking Association in Roseville said, that while he knows of some companies and individual owner-operators in the state who've gotten out of the business, the association's overall membership numbers are holding pretty steady. But when he sees what's happening nationally, Hausladen said, he's bracing for what might happen when the economy picks up again... (See Video)

* Economy forces local truckers off the road

Sanford,NC,USA -WRAL -July 26, 2008 — Amid high diesel costs and other economical issues, some local truckers have been getting out of the business... Culberson Motor Lines Owners Ron and Sandy Tillotson thought they were in it for the long haul. But June 30 was the last day of business for the truck company that Sandy Tillotson’s father started 45 years ago... On Saturday, the Sanford-based company auctioned off everything that belonged to it... Sandy Tillotson said the auction was painful for her. She and her husband have applied for jobs at several local companies... (Photo: A truck from Culberson Motor Lines is auctioned off July 26, 2008.)
(See Video)

Labels: small trucking industry crisis

PROGNOSIS * USA - Trucks, trains now carrying more cargo

Haulers' resiliency amid pricey diesel may signal wider rebound

AR,USA -The Arizona Republic, by Betty Beard -Jul. 27, 2008: -- The trucking and rail industries, whose freight volumes can function as a barometer of how well the economy is doing, are hauling more tonnage this year... But industry officials stop short of saying that means an economic recovery is near or that the trucking and rail companies are doing well. They are both still struggling with high diesel prices and, in some cases, suffering the effects of the massive flooding last month in the Midwest... Still, there are signs of hope... Kevin Knight, chairman and chief executive of Phoenix-based Knight Transportation, said products moved by his company's 3,750 trucks have been below last year's levels but improved every month this year to the point where June volumes finally equaled volumes moved in June 2007... (Photo by Jack Kurtz/The Arizona Republic - Knight Transportation's CEO says high diesel prices have thinned competition, creating new opportunities)

Labels: prognosis

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS WORLDWIDE * Germany - Daimler in talks to buy stake in Kamaz

Stuttgart,Germany -Reuters, by Hendrik Sackmann -July 25, 2008: -- Daimler AG, the world's biggest maker of commercial vehicles, is in talks to buy a 42 percent stake in truckmaker Kamaz as a way to boost sales in the fast-growing Russian market... Russia is now Europe's largest truck market and Kamaz is the top player, with a market capitalization of nearly $4 billion. It builds nearly three quarters of the country's dump trucks and about half of its other large cargo vehicles... Reuters had earlier cited a source familiar with the situation as saying that Daimler planned to take a stake in Kamaz, seizing opportunities in the Russian truck market more quickly than it could by setting up its own production...

* China - Daimler, Foton to Sign Truck Venture Deal in 2 Weeks

Beijing,China-Bloomberg, by Tian Ying -July 28, 2008: -- Daimler AG, the world's biggest truckmaker, and Beiqi Foton Motor Co. will sign a preliminary agreement to form a commercial-vehicle venture in China within two weeks as the country's trade growth spurs truck demand... The venture, based in Beijing, will make Mercedes-Benz trucks, Foton vehicles and Mercedes-Benz engines, said a Foton official, who declined to be identified...

* India - Leyland to develop new truck platform

Mumbai,India -Reuters -28 July 2008: -- Ashok Leyland Ltd., India's No. 2 bus and truck maker, said on Monday it was developing a new range of trucks for global markets, as it takes on greater competition from local and foreign rivals... Leyland, which has ventures with Nissan Motor Co., for light trucks, engines and components, will begin the rollout of a new range of "Unitruck" 16-49 tonne trucks from 2010, it said... These trucks will meet the demand for various applications in local and global markets, it said, and also feature a new family of 6-cylinder engines...

Labels: truckmakers' news worldwide

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA - YRC Worldwide Spots Early Sign Of Economy 'Turning'

Chicago,ILL,USA -Dow Jones Newswires, by Doug Cameron -July 25, 2008: -- The head of YRC Worldwide Inc., the largest standalone U.S. trucking company by revenue, said on Friday that a change in shippers' behavior provided the first sign of a recovery in the domestic economy... Bill Zollars, Chairman and CEO of the Overland Park, Kan.-based company, said the average size of its less-than-truckload, or LTL, shipments was increasing... "That's usually an early indicator that the economy is turning," said Zollars in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires after YRC had reported a return to profitability in the second quarter... Zollars stressed that it was too early to tell whether the trend represented a sustained improvement in economic conditions, and rivals have remained cautious about their outlook...

* Con-way receives high environmental score

USA -Fleet Owner -Jul 28, 2008: -- Con-way Inc. has announced that its three primary operating companies-- Con-way Freight, Con-way Truckload and Menlo Worldwide Logistics—-have received the highest fuel efficiency and environmental performance score from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay Transport Partnership... According to Con-way, its Shipper Index Factor of 1.25 means the three companies are best utilizing commercially available fuel savings strategies while considering promising new savings methods and emerging technologies... Eight hundred SmartWay trucking and logistics companies have used EPA’s FLEET (fleet logistics energy and environmental tracking) performance model. Through these initiatives, Con-way Freight saved 3,594,377 gallons of total fuel in 2007, reducing 601,928 tons of carbon emissions, Con-way said...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

"CLEAN TRUCKS" LAW SUIT * USA - Truckers to sue L.A. ports over pollution plan

Los Angeles,CAL,USA -Reuters, by Jennifer Martinez & Peter Henderson & Carol Bishopric -July 26, 2008: -- The American Trucking Associations said it plans to file a federal law suit on Monday against the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to stop new rules for truckers designed to decrease diesel fuel pollution... The Port of Los Angeles' plan, coming into effect in October, would ban independent truckers from entering the port. The ATA argues it is an attempt to squeeze out independent motor carriers in favor of larger trucking companies... But both the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports aim to move ahead with their clean air initiatives despite the ATA's impending lawsuit... The association will argue that the measures amount to interfering with how trucking companies operate and violates a 1995 federal law on interstate commerce...

Labels: Clean Truck Program discussion

25.7.08

TRUCKING INDUSTRY MARKETS * Iraq - Private Companies Improve Iraqi Economy

Baghdad,Iraq -The American Forces Press Service, by Army Spc. Andrea Merritt -24 July 2008: -- In another sign of progress in Iraq, 62 tribes and 68 sheiks have organized four private trucking companies to form the Iraqi Transportation Network... The sheiks approached the U.S. military with a proposition for the ITN to haul their cargo throughout Iraq, guaranteeing safe shipment and taking financial responsibility for any loss. They chose people from their tribes to drive for the companies, and the U.S. military conducted background checks. More than 100 drivers were chosen, and 97 percent of them were approved. The formation of the Iraqi Transportation Network is one of the first efforts in more than 30 years to build a private logistics company in the country. ITN moves low-value cargo for U.S. forces to and from different forward operating bases in Iraq... (Army photo by Spc. Andrea Merritt - A driver for the Iraqi Transportation Network, an Iraqi-owned and operated logistics network, watches as containers are loaded onto his truck July 15, 2008, at Camp Liberty, Iraq. Us )

Labels: freight markets

Import from India * Pakistan - Via land route needs ECC approval

According to the experts the import of raw materials and other products from India through train and by sea cost more than the import made through land route

Islabamad,Pakistan -The Daily Times (Lahore,Pakistan), by Sajid Chaudhry -25 July 2008: -- The import of additional 136 items from India would only be allowed through train and by sea and import through land route or road will require approval from the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC) of the Cabinet, official sources told daily Times Thursday... According to the experts the import of raw materials and other products from India through train and by sea cost more than the import made through land route. In a time when the prices of fuel are rising day by day, allowing import through train and by sea would be much expensive as compared to road or land route by trucks...

Labels: freight markets

INVENTED: Fuel-efficiency device * USA - For over-the-road trucks

A Loveland, Colorado trucker has invented a device that should save long-haul truckers 8 to 10 percent in fuel consumption

Loveland,COL,USA -The Cave News -July 24, 2008: -- The product is called Aerowings. They resemble metal shutters and attach to the cab extenders on a truck... The secret is bridging the gap between a truck’s tractor and trailer making the rig more aerodynamic and fuel-efficient... Preventing air from being trapped between the tractor and trailer should save most truckers between $7,000 and $9,000 per year at current diesel prices... The Aerowing product is not in production yet but will presell for about $3,500 according to his web site...

Labels: ideas fuel saving

Truckers revoke blockade * Czech Republic - Demand fuel discounts

Truck drivers are trying to get around weekend bans, or at least to limit them. Czech truckers face the strictest restrictions in the EU

Prague,Czech Rep. -The Prague Post, by František Bouc -23, July 2008: -- Prime Minister Mirek Topolánek averted a mounting menace to local roads and highways July 15, preventing a blockade by truckers threatening to protest fuel taxes and a long-discussed year-round ban prohibiting heavy trucks from traveling on local highways on Friday afternoons... In an effort to avoid the same type of blockades that occurred on French and Spanish roads earlier this summer, Topolánek met with the leaders of Česmad Bohemia, an association representing the interests of the country’s transportation and logistics companies... In response to Topolánek’s decision, Česmad said no blockades will occur on Czech roads this summer... Only hours later, however, Environment Minister Martin Bursík, chairman of the coalition Green Party, voiced an even more radical threat: If the government does not introduce the Friday afternoon truck ban, the minority Green Party will leave the Cabinet...

Labels: truckers' strikes

BRIBES * USA - Cop got up to $800 a week in tow truck bribes

Chicago,ILL,USA -The Chicago Sun-Times, by FRANK MAIN-July 24, 2008: -- A Chicago Police officer who also serves as an assistant athletic director at a west suburban high school was charged Wednesday with extorting up to $800 a week from a tow truck company... Michael J. Ciancio, 56, is the second cop busted by the feds in a widening investigation of the towing industry... Those who know the 21-year police veteran said they could not believe the allegations that he's a crook... Ciancio was arrested at his home Wednesday. The officer, who worked in the Jefferson Park police district, has been stripped of his patrol duties... (Photo: Michael J. Ciancio was the second cop busted for extorting a tow truck company)

Labels: bribes

TRUCKERS' HEALTH * USA - House committee probes medically unfit truckers

It's so easy to fabricate the medical certificates required to operate commercial trucks on the nation's highways that there's almost no incentive for truckers to obtain a legitimate document

Washington,DC,USA -AP, by JOAN LOWY -24 July 2008: -- The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's study, found that there are so few controls over how drivers obtain medical certificates that it's "relatively easy for a motivated commercial driver to circumvent the physical examination requirement."... Nor is there any database or central repository which would allow state inspectors to verify the legitimacy of a medical certificate... Hundreds of thousands of drivers carry commercial licenses even though they also qualify for full federal disability payments, according to a new U.S. safety study disclosed by The Associated Press earlier this week... Truckers violating federal medical rules have been caught in every state, according to an AP review of 7.3 million commercial driver violations compiled by the Transportation Department in 2006, the latest data available. Texas, Maryland, Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Alabama, New Jersey, Minnesota and Ohio were states where drivers were sanctioned most frequently for breaking medical rules, such as failing to carry a valid medical certificate. Those 12 states accounted for half of all such violations in the United States...

Labels: Truckers' Health

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * Sweden - Volvo Orders Fall as Customers Wait to Buy New Trucks

Gothenburg,Sweden -Bloomberg, by Chad Thomas-July 23, 2008: -- Volvo AB, the world's second-largest truckmaker, said orders slumped 28 percent in the second .. Volvo, the maker of Mack trucks, got 53,791 vehicle orders in the quarter, down from 74,517 a year earlier, the Gothenburg, Sweden-based company said today. Orders tumbled 54 percent in Europe, its biggest market, and fell 6 percent in Asia... (Photographer: Jochen Eckel/Bloomberg News - A visitor looks at a Volvo truck at the DaimlerChrysler stand at the IAA Commercial Vehicles Show in Hanover in this file photo)

Labels: truckmakers' news worldwide

STRIKE * Australia - Albanese joins chorus criticising trucking shutdown

Sydney,Australia -The Supply Chain Review -July 25, 2008: -- Minister for Transport and Infrastructure Anthony Albanese has broken his silence on the impending truck shutdown, criticising the organisers and questioning their motives... He has questioned the demands of the Australian Long Distance Owner Drivers Association (ALDODA) and Mick Pattel, who are campaigning for changes to the fuel excise and an end to fatigue laws respectively... He says stopping work and threatening the supply of goods to supermarkets will not help the shutdown advocates, and demanding the "wind back of any fatigue laws" raises questions of their position on safety...

Labels: owner operators strikes

TRUCKER AWARD * Canada - Honoured for safe trucking over six million kilometres

Elmira,ONT,CAN -The Waterloo Record (Waterloo,ONT), by April Robinson -July 24, 2008: -- Laverne Martin has driven a transport truck full of hardware through fires, floods and snowstorms... He's seen the Atlantic and Pacific coasts at least 100 times each, and driven six million kilometres crash-free... He did it all over the course of 44 years driving for the same company -- Home Hardware in St. Jacobs... But the money was good, the company treated him well, and he loved to travel... So he stayed... Martin was honoured for his safety record and years of service recently by being inducted into the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada Hall of Fame for professional drivers... (Picture: Laverne Martin)

Labels: drivers' awards

24.7.08

CRITICS SAY * USA - FHWA report on road privatization is one-sided

Grain Valley,MO,USA -Land Line Magazine, by David Tanner -23 July 2008: -- Critics to long-term leasing or selling of infrastructure, including OOIDA, came out swinging at a new FHWA report that paints a rosy picture of public-private partnerships... The Federal Highway Administration released the report Tuesday, July 22, which was titled “Innovative Wave: An Update on the Burgeoning Private Sector Role in U.S. Highway and Transit Infrastructure.”... In a press release, U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters spoke highly of the report, which touts the benefits of private-sector leases of toll roads in Indiana, Illinois, Virginia and Colorado... Critics who oppose the long-term leasing of public infrastructure to private businesses say the report is one-sided... Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, said “This report comes from an administration that does not give any priority or consideration to fiscal responsibility,” Spencer said. “The same cheerleaders for this are the same ones who said FEMA was doing a heck of a job.”...

Labels: road privatizations discussions

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * USA - Peterbilt, Delphi successfully test new APU technology

Denton,TX,USA -Truck News (CAN) -24 July 2008: -- Delphi and Peterbilt recently demonstrated a solid oxide fuel cell APU, which was able to successfully power a Peterbilt 386's electrical system while providing air-conditioning without depleting the truck's batteries or requiring it to idle... The Delphi system converts chemical energy in conventional fuels into useful electrical power without combustion, the company explained in a release. It claims its system runs quietly and more efficiently than APUs with traditional combustion engines... Delphi says its solid oxide fuel cell APU will be able to run off natural gas, diesel, biodiesel, propane, gasoline, coal-derived fuel and military logistics fuel. It is also compact in size, the company says...

* USA - Aerodynamics are nothing new to us: Volvo

Greensboro,NC,USA -Truck News (CAN) -25 July 2008: -- Volvo Trucks North America has dug into the archives to revive a white paper the company (then Volvo White Truck Corp.) published on the importance of aerodynamics some 25 years ago... Volvo says its aerodynamic conventional truck was the first of its kind, integrating a number of fuel-saving features that are now commonplace... At the time, Volvo said its aerodynamic improvements would reduce fuel consumption by 2,200 gallons per 100,000 miles. Since those first aero trucks were introduced, Volvo estimates its highway tractors have saved customers about 5.6 billion gallons of diesel, reducing about 62 million tonnes of CO2...

Labels: truckmakers' news USA

CLEAN TRUCKS * USA - Port Starts Registering Cleaner Trucks

Threats of a lawsuit may still be a cloud hanging over it, but the Port of Long Beach continues to move ahead with its Clean Trucks program

Long Beach,CA,USA -The Gazette Newspapers, by Kurt Helin -24 July 2008: -- As part of that, the port now has available applications for the trucking firms and Licensed Motor Carriers (LMCs) that want to bring cargo in or out of the port... Under the Clean Truck program, those LMCs will be responsible for only dispatching independent truckers whose trucks meet the new standards... Those standards mean the LMCs (and firms) must register their trucks — both employee trucks and the owner-operated trucks they dispatch — with the port, ensure the drivers have federal Transportation Worker Identification Credentials, and certify that the trucks they dispatch meet the new Clean Truck programs codes... Those truckers, whoever dispatches them, must comply with the Long Beach Clean Truck plan, meaning that starting Oct. 1, their trucks need to be newer than 1988. By 2012, all trucks will need to be 2007 models or newer, as the newer trucks emit 90% less pollution than the two-decade-old trucks... Truckers with older models will not get dispatched, Art Wong, assistant director of communication for the Port of Long Beach said. To help those truckers pay for those new trucks, a grants and a leasing program will be set up by the port. It will be paid for by a $35 per container fee attached to all the containers coming through the ports (this is expected to raise about $2 billion)... There still are some clouds hanging over the Clean Trucks program. One is that the American Trucking Association has threatened a lawsuit against the ports of both Long Beach and Los Angeles over the plans... Then there is how the Clean Truck plans at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles will work together. While both ports have hired Tetra Tech to oversee the truck programs, there are some key differences...

Labels: "Clean Trucks" Program

GAS TAX DEBATE * USA - GT May need to increase to prevent Highway Trust Fund shortfall

Various industry experts have told that suspending the motor fuel federal tax would not make sense

Washington,DC,USA -Logistics Management, by Jeff Berman -21 July 2008: -- ... it appears that member of Congress may be considering raising the tax, according to media reports... The current motor fuel federal tax is 18.4 cents per gallon for gasoline and 24.4 cents for diesel, and it has not been raised since 1993... The main objective for Congress potentially raising the tax is due to a major shortfall in the Highway Trust Fund, which goes toward road construction, repairs, and maintenance... Various industry experts have told LM in the past that suspending the motor fuel federal tax would not make sense... “It is my understanding that highway taxes go to the [HTF], which is in dire financial shape,” said Michael A. Regan, CEO of transportation rate analysts TranzAct Technologies. “Now why would you advocate compounding the plight of the highway tax of the [HTF] when we already have more projects and things for those funds than you have funds to do them with? If this was not an election year you would be hearing nothing about highway gas tax.”... And at the National Shippers Strategic Transportation Council’s annual conference in April, U.S. Chamber of Commerce President and Chief Executive Officer Thomas J. Donohue blasted the fact that the motor fuel federal tax has remain at the same level for 15 years. He added that the U.S. needs to “quit fooling itself,” when it comes to the tax, which, if raised, he said, could help fund transportation infrastructure projects... “We have not passed a fuel tax on the federal level in this country for 15 years,” said Donohue. “Infrastructure is the deal, and unless our fellow citizens look at it and deal with it, we will continue to have a problem.”...

Labels: gas tax debate

DRIVERS HOS DISCUSSIONS * Australia - Truckers told to get their facts straight on chain of resposibility

Queensland,Australia -Blues Country Magazine -July 24, 2008: -- Peak horticulture body Growcom says the transport industry needs to stop "putting words in its mouth" regarding consultations with the Queensland Government over proposed chain of responsibility laws... The comment comes after ongoing comments from the trucking sector over the past fortnight criticising growers over alleged attempts at gaining exemptions from the legislation... Queensland Trucking Association Executive Director Pater Gaske says it is "most disappointing that some (QTA) customer groups e.g. certain divisions of Agforce and Growcom, believe that they should be exempted from the chain of responsibility provisions which attach to the driving hours/fatigue management laws... QTA Ltd can reassure members that there is no likelihood of the Queensland Minister exempting any element of our customer base from chain of responsibility provisions," said Gaske... He then went further to say that in some cases the industry representatives "have sought to advance their views through misguided support of those calling for disruption to the freight task"... This is on top of promises by Queensland Transport Workers Union boss Hughie Williams that the TWU will lobby the State Government to "make sure farmers are accountable for their produce getting to market", as "farmers/producers force their drivers to do illegal hours to make sure their produce arrives fresh"... The grower representative is confident the interpretation will be favourably amended after the Government was receptive to the request on the condition its members use a reputable transport contractor... A final decision on the make up of the laws is expected by September... (Picture from Food Magazine)

Labels: Hours Of Service

REPORT * USA - $200B investment required to make a transition from oil to hydrogen fuel

Hydrogen-powered vehicles have the potential to help cut down on the United States oil dependence and carbon dioxide emissions, but...

Washington,DC,USA -Logistics Management, by Jeff Berman -23 July 2008: -- ... the act of taking it from a concept to fruition is far from a reality, according to a recent report by the National Academies of Science... The report, entitled “Transitions to Alternative Transportation Technologies: A Focus on Hydrogen,” states that in order to eventually make a complete transition from oil to hydrogen fuel a $200 billion investment would be required for R&D, vehicle deployment, and needed infrastructure. And the cost to the government is pegged in the report at roughly $55 billion between 2008 and 2023, with private industry expected to invest $145 billion in the same timeframe... Even though strides in the development of fuel cell and hydrogen production technology have been made in recent years, the report explains that challenges—like high vehicle costs and the lack of infrastructure needed to produce and widely distribute hydrogen to consumers—remain. But these challenges could be overcome with support for R&D and backing from the automotive industry and federal government, according to the report... What’s more, hydrogen-powered vehicles have strong potential to make a positive change both inside the walls of warehouses and distribution centers for lift trucks, forklifts, and turret trucks, among other vehicles, and also on the open road for the trucking industry. But despite this potential, more work needs to be done, according to various industry experts...

Labels: reports

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA & CANADA - Second-Quarter Profit

* USA - Knight Reports Lower 2Q Earnings

USA -Transport Topics -23 July 2008: -- Truckload carrier Knight Transportation’s second-quarter profit fell to $12.7 million, or 15 cents a share, from $18.2 million, or 21 cents, a year ago... Revenue rose 14.4% to $206.1 million, the company said late Wednesday...

* USA - Con-way’s 2Q Income Gains

USA -Transport Topics -23 July 2008: -- Con-way Inc. said late Wednesday its second-quarter net income increased to $48.7 million, or $1.02 per share, from $46.4 million, or 96 cents, a year earlier... Revenue jumped 24.8% to $1.34 billion, the carrier said in a statement...

* USA - Arkansas Best’s 2Q Income Declines

ARK,USA -Transport Topics -23 July 2008: -- Arkansas Best Corp. said Wednesday its second-quarter profit fell 17% to $16.2 million, or 64 cents a share, from $19.6 million, or 78 cents, a year ago.. Revenue rose 7.5% to $498.5 million, ABF said in a statement...

* USA - Ryder Reports Mixed 2Q Earnings

USA -Transport Topics-23 July 2008: -- Ryder System Wednesday reported a second-quarter profit of $62.9 million, or $1.10 per share, compared with $65.1 million, or $1.07 per share, a year ago... Revenue was flat at $1.66 billion, the truck leasing and logistics firm said in a statement Ryder reduced the number of outstanding shares by buying some back from shareholders, which boosted the earnings per share versus last year... Fleet management segment revenue rose 16% to $1.2 billion, while fuel services revenue jumped 44%, due to higher fuel prices...

* USA - Heartland’s Income Dips; Carrier Plans Fleet Upgrade

USA -Transport Topics -22 July 2008: -- Heartland Express Tuesday reported a decline in its second-quarter profit but said it plans to begin a fleet upgrade in the third quarter in which it plans to buy 1,600 new trucks... Net income fell 13% to $17.2 million, or 18 cents a share, from $19.8 million, or 20 cents, a year ago. Revenue rose 10% to $164.6 million... Heartland also said it would begin a fleet upgrade this quarter, which will include the purchase of about 1,600 International ProStar tractors...

* Canada - Vitran Reports Lower 2Q Income

Toronto,ONT,CAN -Transport Topics -22 July 2008: -- Vitran Corp. said Wednesday its second-quarter profit fell 16% to $4.6 million, or 34 cents a share, from $5.5 million, or 41 cents, a year earlier... The Toronto-based trucking and transportation firm said the quarter’s revenue rose 15% to a record $196 million... Vitran has truckload, less-than-truckload and logistics operations in the United States and Canada...

* USA - Old Dominion’s 2Q Earnings Improve

USA -Transport Topics -24 July 2008: -- Old Dominion Freight Line said its second-quarter profit rose to $23.9 million, or 64 cents a share, from $22.5 million, or 60 cents, a year ago... Revenue rose 16.2% to $417.8 million, the less-than-truckload carrier said Thursday...

* USA - Marten’s Second-Quarter Income Dips

USA -Transport Topics -23 July 2008: -- Refrigerated truckload carrier Marten Transport’s second-quarter net income fell to $3.5 million, or 16 cents a share, from $4.3 million, or 20 cents, a year ago... Operating revenue from trucking and logistics operations rose 15.3% to $160 million, the company said in a statement late Tuesday...

* USA - Hub Group Reports Higher 2Q Earnings

USA -Transport Topics -24 July 2008: -- Third-party logistics company and freight broker Hub Group’s second-quarter net income rose to $15 million, or 40 cents a share, from $13.8 million, or 35 cents, a year ago... Revenue rose 22% to $490.9 million, the company said Thursday...

* USA - Indiana trucking company files bankruptcy, leaves bills behind

Arcadia,IN,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Charlie Morasch -July 23, 2008: -- ... According to court documents, Hoosier Tradewinds of Arcadia, IN, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 10 in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in the Southern District of Indiana... The company estimated it owes money to anywhere between 200 to 999 creditors, and listed its assets within a range of $1 million and $10 million... One online publication at www.thedeal.com reported Hoosier Tradewinds and Jim Palmer Trucking may be just the start of “a wave” of trucking companies beginning to file bankruptcy, succumbing to high diesel prices and a bad economy...

Labels: USA and Canada TI profits and revenues

TRANSPORT'S MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS * WORLDWIDE

US Domestic Deals - Strategic Buyers

14 July - Republic Services, Inc. has rejected Waste Management, Inc.'s offer to acquire the company for $7.9 billion. Based in Fort Lauderdale, FL, Republic provides nonhazardous solid waste collection and disposal services. Republic had TTM Revenue of $3.2 billion and TTM EBITDA of $880.8 million.

17 July - FirstEnergy Corp. announced the acquisition of a 45% interest in Bull Mountain's 35-mile rail spur running from the mine to the BNSF mainline at Broadview, MT. Terms were not disclosed.

17 July - UNEV Pipeline, LLC has acquired Musket Corporation's Terminal and Rail Facilities based in Cedar City, UT for $9.8 million.

International Deals

* China - 14 July - Liupanshui Hidili Industry Co., Ltd. announced the acquisition of 37% of Panxian Panying Logistic Distribution Company Limited for $8.3 million. Based in China, Panxian Panying manages coal warehouses and provides railway logistics services.

* Australia - 17 July - Axon Group plc has acquired Consulting Principles Pty. Ltd. for $6.3 million. Consulting Principles provides supply chain and logistics SAP consulting services in Australia.

* Indonesia - 17 July - PT Dayaindo Resources International, Tbk. has acquired PT Karya Citra Danau Kalimantan for $14.2 million. Based in Indonesia, PT Karya provides ocean freight Transportation.

Labels: TI Mergers and Acquisitions worldwide

23.7.08

TRUCKER'S STORY * Canada - The Worlds Largest Truckstop: Iowa 80 TA (USA)

Raymond,Alberta,Canada -Trucking Life, by Lyndon Lomanovskis -22 July 2008: -- ... Then the computer went beep and told me to go to Waterloo for a collection... Now here is the dilema, the pickup wasnt till tomorrow so should i go and stuff my face or should i press on to Waterloo, drop my trailer then go and feed in the J. I decided on the latter as that meant i could have a lie in tomorrow... On the way down i had to get the trailer washed out... I pulled into the Iowa 80 which is the largest truck stop in the world, its in one of those places where i have never had time or inclination to stop so this was an ideal excuse... Heres the blurb from the official website: Over recent years, the Iowa 80 TA Truckstop has underwent significant expansion projects to widen the gap as the largest truckstop in the world... The truckstop boasts the Iowa 80 Kitchen, a 300-seat restaurant... Truckers Warehouse, Barber, Dentist and a food court featuring Wendy's and Dairy Queen... Iowa 80's most recent venture is in the mail order business. In 1997, the Iowa 80 Catalog was born. Drivers can now order everything they want from the Iowa 80 Truckstop even if their schedule or route doesn't take them to Walcott... When trucking was just a gleam in some of today's drivers' eyes and Interstate 80 was not yet completed, the Iowa 80 Truckstop was founded. In 1964, Standard Oil built and opened the truck stop, and in September 1965, Bill Moon took over management of the truckstop for Amoco... Mr. Moon's focus on the customer is what sparked the beginning of the Walcott Truckers Jamboree in 1979. This huge driver appreciation event has evolved over the years... Today, the celebration includes a cook-out, Super Truck Beauty Contest, exhibits, Live Entertainment, and Truck Displays... (Thanks to Lyndon, whose photo together with their truck it's the first one)

Labels: truckers' stories

SURVEY * UK - Shows companies are passing the buck on ‘green’ logistics costs

New research by Transport Intelligence suggests that most companies seeking to make their logistics operations more environmentally friendly want someone else to cover the costs

London,UK -Transport Intelligence -23 July 2008: -- Despite many companies’ avowed commitment to ‘greening’ their logistics operations, it seems that most expect their sub-contractors to pick up the bill. That is one of the findings of the latest survey by Transport Intelligence which examined how companies were reacting to environmental concerns... The Logistics & Transport Industry Environmental Survey sponsored by Kewill, a leading provider of global trade and logistics software, found that three-quarters of respondents who awarded logistics contracts included sections on environmental compliance in their tender documents. However, most (54%) failed to make provision for the extra costs that could be involved. That will no doubt be a source of annoyance for many logistics companies which will see the environmental measures they are forced to adopt as another cost burden pushed on to them by their clients... In the survey, 70% of companies awarding contracts said that environmental compliance was either ‘reasonably important’ or ‘very important’...The number who said they would continue to pay more for an environmentally-friendly alternative (17%) was balanced by the proportion who said they would base their sourcing decisions on cost alone... When asked about which specific areas they were undertaking green initiatives in, the highest proportion (33%) identified transportation. That included driver training, hybrid engines and better management of empty running. Equally important, with about a quarter of responses each, were more efficient planning through IT tools and increased administrative efficiencies. Perhaps surprisingly, warehousing was identified by only 15% of respondents as an area on which they were focusing...

Labels: green comments

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * Australia - Patrick Port Botany breaks container record

Melbourne,VIC,Australia -truxtop, by tim giles -23 July 2008: -- A record of more than 1 million twenty foot equivalent units (TEU) moved through the Patrick Port Botany container terminal in the 2007/08 financial year... Patrick has invested over $120m to upgrade its Port Botany terminal over the past 3 years. Part of this significant investment includes the introduction of 5 Rail Mounted Gantries (RMGs)...

Labels: trucking industry news Australia

Carbon Pollution * Australia - CSIRO 20 more years of polluting

The world’s dependence on fossil fuels will persist for at least two more decades, a CSIRO researcher said

Sydney,Australia -Transport & Logistic News -22 July 2008: -- Peter McCabe, who has been researching the world’s use of fossil fuels for more than 30 years, said despite a number of clean energy technologies are being developed under the pressure of climate change and the impending introduction of a carbon economy, the fossil fuels would remain the main source of energy for the next 20 years... He said up to 86 per cent of the world’s energy is generated using oil, gas and coal, while wind, solar, and geo-thermal sources represent less than one per cent... Under these circumstances, Dr McCabe said it is unlikely that commercially viable alternative energy sources can be developed within the next two decades as global demand continues to rise...

* Australia - Reduction Scheme Green Paper

The Australian Trucking Association has welcomed the Government’s plan to include the transport sector in its forthcoming emissions trading scheme

Sydney,Australia -truxtop, by tim giles -22 July 2008: -- The Government released its preferred options for the Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme in a green paper this week... The Chairman of the ATA, Trevor Martyn, said including the transport sector in the scheme was much better for the trucking industry than the alternative, the imposition of complex regulations that would strangle small trucking companies in green tape... Martyn said the trucking industry would hold a major technical conference in November to examine how the industry can use less fuel through better technology, maintenance and operations... The green paper can be downloaded from the Climate Change Website. The Government has called for submissions on the green paper; the deadline is 10 September 2008. The ATA will be making a submission...

Labels: green news

TRUCKERS' PROTESTS * WORLDWIDE

* Australia - Slow truck convoy may occur again

Sydney,Australia -AAP/The Sydney Morning Herald -23 July 2008: -- Truck drivers involved in a "go slow" convoy into Sydney to protest against high fuel prices say they may hold similar actions in the future... Up to 150 heavy vehicles joined the convoy which started at 6am (AEST) in the Southern Highlands and set a steady pace of 60km/h along the Hume Highway to Casula, where the vehicles dispersed about 9am (AEST)... Transport Workers Union (TWU) spokesman Joshua McInto said, the convoy's main aim was to attract attention to the impact of rising fuel costs on truck drivers... The union says drivers are having to absorb the price spikes along with the cost of maintaining their vehicles... Retailers increasing the cost of their goods blame the rising price of fuel, but those increases are not being passed on to drivers, it says... Police accompanied the convoy, which used the highway's left lane and caused minimal traffic disruptions...

* Australia - TWU: Woolworths and Coles can help save truckies

Owner drivers and employees protested outside a Woolworths supermarket, claiming the retailers should pass down the revenues they gained from the lifted costs of goods

Sydney,Australia -Transport Logistics News -22 July 2008: -- Truck drivers are calling for a cost recovery system to help sustain the trucking industry amid soaring fuel prices, as their protest against major retailers continues... “The major retailers like Coles and Woolworths increase the costs of goods for every member of the public and use the rising fuel costs as an excuse, yet this money isn’t passed down the transport chain to the drivers,” said the Transport Workers Union (TWU) secretary Tony Sheldon... Mr Sheldon said the industry would continue to fight for national legislation that permits a system of safe enforceable rates and cost recovery from the major retailers to support the already crippled sector...

* USA - Labor rally at Port of Oakland

Oakland,CAL,USA -The Bay City News/ABC7 -July 22, 2008: -- Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa spoke briefly at a labor rally today aimed at pressuring the Port of Oakland to require that trucking companies hire drivers as employees instead of just using them as independent contractors... Speaking to about 300 cheering truck drivers, union members, public health advocates and environmentalists... Dellums said the current system in which truck drivers who work at the Port of Oakland work as contractors and only get small hourly wages and no benefits is "a false wage perpetuation of poverty and pollution"... Public health advocates say the diesel-spewing rigs used by truckers who can't afford to upgrade to cleaner trucks pollute the air in neighborhoods near ports, such as the West Oakland community... Dellums praised Los Angeles for being the first city in the state to have a "clean truck program" and said he hopes Oakland will be the second city to have such a program... The program in Los Angeles has three elements: incentives and fees for clean trucks, a requirement that trucks operating at its port be owned by companies, not by individual drivers, and creating community-friendly provisions for areas near the port... (Photo KGO: About 300 people gathered to protest trucking companies' hiring practices)

Labels: truckers' protest worldwide

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* USA - Navistar to buy MAN?

Warrenville,ILL,USA -Oliver Dixon in his World Truck’s Blog (UK)/truxstop, by Andreas Viklund -19 July 2008: -- The possibility of Navistar using Caterpillar’s money to buy Volkswagen’s share in MAN has been broached by industry commentator... The agreement by the European authorities to approve Volkswagen’s takeover of Scania has led to speculation about the future of MAN... Dixon reckons Navistar will have new confidence and funds after their recent deal with Caterpillar... Idle speculation or a real possibility? Who knows...

* Sweden - Volvo profits rose 28 percent; strong sales in emerging markets

Stockholm,Sweden -The Associated Press, by LOUISE NORDSTROM -23 July 2008: -- Volvo maintained its outlook for the year, expecting the European truck market to grow by 10 percent this year, and the North American truck market to stay on the same level as in 2007... Swedish truck- and bus-maker Volvo AB on Wednesday reported a 28 percent rise in second-quarter net profit, citing higher sales in Eastern Europe, South America and Asia, but dismayed investors by saying European orders were weakening in an uncertain economy... The Goteborg-based company also maintained its outlook for the year, expecting the European truck market to grow by 10 percent this year, and the North American truck market to stay on the same level as in 2007... Volvo said profit for the three-month period came to 5.1 billion kronor (US$855 million), up largely from 4 billion kronor in the second quarter a year ago...

* USA - Navistar offers new aftermarket APU retrofit

Truck owners and fleets can reduce fuel usage, lower emissions and comply with new anti-idling laws with the new Fleetrite Auxiliary Power Unit

Warrenville,ILL,USA -The Trucker News Services -23 July 2008: -- A retrofit product introduced from Navistar, the company said... The Fleetrite APU is an auxiliary power unit designed as an aftermarket retrofit for all makes and models of Class 8 trucks. Powered by a 14-horsepower, 2-cylinder Caterpillar diesel engine, the unit takes the place of the engine under the hood to efficiently provide driver necessities including heat, air conditioning and power for electronics while the truck is idle... Two CARB-compliant Fleetrite APU models are available depending on the truck’s manufacture date. For 2007 or newer trucks, an APU model is available that requires a diesel particulate filter (DPF) for CARB compliance...

* USA - Overseas demand boosts Paccar

Bellevue ,WASH,USA -Bloomberg News/The Seattle Times (Seattle,WASH), by Alex Lange -July 23, 2008: -- Paccar said said second-quarter profit rose 5.1 percent as the truck maker's sales in Europe helped overcome lower demand in the US... Net income increased to $313.5 million, or 86 cents a share, from $298.3 million, or 79 cents, a year earlier, the Bellevue company said Tuesday. Sales climbed 11 percent to $4.11 billion... Paccar's 31 percent increase in European sales more than made up for its 8.3 percent decline in the U.S., where customers have had to contend with tighter credit and surging diesel-fuel prices. Paccar, which makes Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks, got more than 65 percent of its revenue during the quarter from outside the US....

* Standard Register Recognized by Daimler Trucks North America as "Master of Quality"

Dayton,OH,USA -Business Wire/MarketWatch -Jul 22, 2008: -- Standard Register today announced it has been recognized by Daimler Trucks North America as a Master of Quality supplier for 2007. A six-time recipient of the award, Standard Register is a leading provider of document services and print management solutions... As part of its 21st annual Masters of Quality program, Daimler Trucks North America recognized only 43 of its over 3,000 North American manufacturers that provide components for its Freightliner, Sterling and Western Star truck brands. The Masters of Quality Award is the highest recognition that the company presents to suppliers...

Labels: truckmakers' news worldwide

STUDY * USA - Minnesota’s emissions goals achievable

The Minnesota emissions reduction study also proposes strategies to get more fuel efficiency out of heavy-duty vehicles, including reducing idling at truck stops, encouraging better tire design and proper inflation, and reducing speed limits

Minneapolis,MIN,USA - The Associated Press/The Truckers News Service -23 July 2008: -- A new study says Minnesota can meet its goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 30 percent by 2025 if certain steps are taken now... A study by the University of Minnesota’s Center for Transportation Studies shows that cutting back on miles driven, making vehicles more efficient and developing fuels that release fewer emissions will all determine whether Minnesota can reach its goal... State lawmakers set a goal of reducing total greenhouse gas emissions by 15 percent below 2005 levels by 2015, 30 percent by 2025 and 80 percent by 2050...

Labels: studies

Public-private Partnerships * USA - DOT: Reach record levels

A new DOT report found that the use of public-private partnerships is increasing at record pace due to their proven track record of relieving congestion and encouraging infrastructure development, Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters said

Washington,DC,USA -The Trucker News Services -23 July 2008: -- The number of public-private partnerships in the U.S. transportation sector has soared to record levels in recent years and continues to climb, according to a new Department study, announced Tuesday by U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters... The new report found that more transportation public-private partnerships were completed over the last three years than in any other compatible time period. According to the report, more than 20 major highway and transit projects are currently being conducted in partnership with the private sector at various stages of development in the U.S... The report also found that the use of public-private partnerships is increasing at record pace due to their proven track record of relieving congestion and encouraging infrastructure development, Peters said...

Labels: Public Private Partnership

High winds * USA - Blow semis off interstate

Four semi-trailers and several cars were blown off Interstate 135 Tuesday evening and several cars had windows blown out

Wichita,KS,USA -The Associated Press/The Trucker -23 July 2008: -- Winds strong enough to knock semi-trailers off the road blew through Sedgwick County, Kan... Four semi-trailers and several cars were blown off Interstate 135 Tuesday evening and several cars had windows blown out. Three people suffered minor injuries... Trucker Charles England, of Spokane, Wash., said the wind push his truck off the interstate east of Valley Center. He said so much pea-sized hail was falling that there were white-out conditions along the road... A chain-reaction pileup during a downpour on Interstate 40 in east Arkansas included six big rigs and sent several people to the hospital. It closed down the highway's westbound lanes for several hours, state police said... Except for that accident, in which two tractor-trailers caught on fire, little damage was reported other than downed power lines...

Labels: trucks off the roads

TRUCKERS' HEALTH * USA - ATA: "Trucking safest it’s ever been"

ATA response to unhealthy drivers story: “If the federal government enacted ATA’s proposal to require speed limiters and lower the speed limit, many more lives would be saved”

Washington,DC,USA -The Trucker News Services -22 July 2008: -- The American Trucking Associations said today that while it supports the recommendations to improve the medical qualification process for CDL holders, the public should recognize that medical problems cause less than 3 percent of truck accidents... In contrast, speeding and aggressive driving cause 42 percent, and failure to pay attention causes 35 percent, Tiffany Wlazlowski, the ATA’s director of public affairs and deputy press secretary, said... In October 2006, the ATA petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to limit maximum speed of large trucks at the time of manufacture to no more than 68 miles per hour and petitioned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to prohibit the tampering or adjustment of speed limiting devices to greater than 68 mph... Neither agency has taken action on the petitions... Wlazlowski said the ATA supports updating and improving medical qualification standards for CMV drivers that currently date to the 1970s... (“If the federal government enacted ATA’s proposal to require speed limiters and lower the speed limit, many more lives would be saved,” ATA maintains)

Labels: Truckers' Health

OffPeak Program * USA - PierPASS Diverts Nine Million Truck Trips from Daytime Traffic

Independent Evaluation Concludes OffPeak is Meeting Objectives in Moving Los Angeles and Long Beach Port Traffic to Nights and Saturdays, Over First Three Years of Operation

Long Beach,CAL,USA -MarketWatch -Jul 23, 2008: -- PierPASS Inc. today announced that its OffPeak program has diverted more than nine million truck trips from peak daytime traffic since the program's start three years ago today... The program, which created nighttime and Saturday shifts at the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach, has eliminated costly bottlenecks in the ports, reduced gridlock on area freeways and curtailed air pollution from idling traffic... The nine millionth truck trip occurred during the week of June 23... As OffPeak approached its third anniversary, terminals operators have reviewed it to determine whether it continues to meet its objectives... PierPASS retained an independent economic research and strategic planning firm, BST Associates, to conduct the review... "The OffPeak program has caused a significant shift of port truck traffic from day to evening hours," the BST report concluded. "Without the financial incentive of the OffPeak program it is likely that traffic would shift back to daytime peak hours. The OffPeak Program has met its objectives and should be continued."... As part of its evaluation, BST reviewed Caltrans traffic data collected on freeways near the ports... Another study, conducted by researchers at the University of Southern California and California State University, Long Beach, concluded that "the PierPASS program achieved its objective of shifting truck traffic out of peak periods. In doing so, it offset about two years of port growth."...

Labels: pier pass

22.7.08

SURVEY * USA - U.S. Firms to Raise Prices Amid High Costs

More U.S. companies plan to raise boost prices and limit hiring as a continuing surge in raw-material costs crimps profits

USA -Bloomberg/Transport Topics -21 July 2008: -- ... According to a new business survey, almost four times as many businesses plan to charge their customers more next quarter than expect to reduce prices, the survey by the National Association for Business Economics, Bloomberg reported... A net 9% of employers said they would increase payrolls over the next six months, the fewest in five years, the survey said... The report raises concern that rising expenses will contribute to a further pickup in inflation and a weakening in the labor market... A net 71% of firms said costs rose last quarter, up from 65% in the previous three months and the most since records began in 1994, the survey said...

Labels: survey

STUDY * USA - U.S. Needs to Invest $200 Billion in Hydrogen Vehicles

National Academies of Science says US should invest $200B in hydrogen fuel stations, research

Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News/Automotive Digest -22 July 2008: -- Amount includes $55B in government funding through 2023. Remaining amount would mostly come from automotive, energy sectors... Report came 3 years after Congress ordered feasibility study on greater hydrogen use. The Report says 2M hydrogen vehicles would be on roads by then, out of 300M total vehicles... But report also says 80% of all vehicles could be hydrogen by 2050... Hydrogen vehicles currently believed to cost about $1M to $2M each when made in low volumes... Hydrogen fuel stations today primarily available in only S CA, NY, DC... Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered statewide hydrogen fuel stations by 2010 in CA...

Labels: studies

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA

* UPS reports profit decline, lowers outlook

UPS Inc., the world’s largest shipping carrier, said Tuesday its profit fell nearly 21 percent in the second quarter despite a more than 6 percent increase in sales

Atlanta,GA,USA -The Associated Press/The Trucker, by HARRY R. WEBER -22 July 2008: -- ... The company also lowered its outlook for the year amid a slumping U.S. economy... Executives said they were taking several initiatives to control costs, including freezing hiring in non-sales jobs... UPS, hit by an average daily volume decline in the U.S. and soaring fuel costs, said its profit was $873 million, or 85 cents a share, in the second quarter, compared to a profit of $1.10 billion, or $1.04 a share, for the same period a year ago. Revenue grew to $13 billion from $12.2 billion... (Photo: UPS is able to pass higher fuel costs on to customers as a fuel surcharge on shipments. However, the surcharge increases have not kept pace with rapidly rising fuel prices)

* DHL updates EasyShip software

USA -fleetowner -Jul 21, 2008: -- DHL has introduced the latest version of its EasyShip shipping software. According to the company, EasyShip Connect 8.0 allows customers to access shipping functions--including printing waybills, tracking shipments and shipment management reporting--to both U.S. and international destinations... New features on EasyShip Connect include multi-piece air shipping on a single waybill, USB scales connectivity, enhanced Puerto Rico shipping services and additional documentation tools, DHL said. ... It also can now accept a pre-filled ITN for U.S. Dept. of Commerce Electronic Export Information (EEI) compliance...

* Forward Air’s 2Q Earnings Improve

Greeneville,TN,USA -Transport Topics -21 July 2008: -- Forward Air Corp. said its second-quarter profit rose to $12.1 million, or 42 cents a share, from $11.5 million, or 38 cents, a year ago... Revenue jumped 30.5% to $121.6 million, the company said late Monday...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

Big Oil Profits * USA - Steered to investors

The percentage of money the major oil companies spend to find new deposits of fossil fuels has remained flat for years, in the mid-single digits

Houston,TX,USA -The Associated Press/The Trucker, by JOHN PORRETTO -22 July 2008: -- As giant oil companies like Exxon Mobil and ConocoPhillips get set to report what will probably be another round of eye-popping quarterly profits, just where is all that money going?... The companies insist they’re trying to find new oil that might help bring down gas prices, but the money they spend on exploration is nothing compared with what they spend on stock buybacks and dividends... It’s good news for shareholders, including mutual funds and retirement plans for millions of Americans, but no help to drivers already making drastic cutbacks to offset the high cost of fuel... The five biggest international oil companies plowed about 55 percent of the cash they made from their businesses into stock buybacks and dividends last year, up from 30 percent in 2000 and just 1 percent in 1993, according to Rice University’s James A. Baker III Institute for Public Policy... In Washington, one Democratic proposal would impose a 25 percent tax on “unreasonable” profits of the top five oil companies, which together made more than $120 billion in 2007, and put the money toward a trust fund for investment in alternative energy sources. Republicans say it’s a gimmick that won’t help at the pump and will discourage domestic oil production... But Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., said the fervor for stock buybacks is a clear sign Big Oil isn’t interested in new production or alternative energy... “When you hear that,” he said, “it screams out for a windfall profits tax.” ... (Photo: The percentage of money the major oil companies spend to find new deposits of fossil fuels has remained flat for years, in the mid-single digits)

Labels: oil profits

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * USA

* Cummins, Fiat end joint diesel engine venture

Cummins Inc. and units of Italy’s Fiat Group SpA said Friday they will end their diesel engine joint venture, European Engine Alliance, giving Fiat full control of EEA

New York,NY,USA -The Associated Press/The Trucker -21 July 2008: -- ... The European Engine Alliance was established in 1996 as a joint venture between Columbus, Ind.-based Cummins and Fiat units Iveco NV — Fiat’s buses and commercial vehicles segment — and New Holland (now CNH Global) to develop new 4-, 5- and 6-liter diesel engines... The new arrangement gives Fiat’s Fiat Powertrain Technologies unit full ownership of EEA, including manufacturing assets in Turin, Italy... (Image: Cummins will receive CNH Global’s 50 percent stake in joint venture Consolidated Diesel Corp., with the Whitakers, N.C.-based company becoming a unit of Cummins)

* Paccar’s 2Q Income Gains on European Sales

USA -Transport Topics -22 July 2008: -- Heavy-duty truck maker Paccar Inc. said Tuesday its second-quarter profit rose 5%, led by higher European sales... The company’s net income rose to $313.5 million, or 86 cents a share, from $298.3 million, or 79 cents, last year. Sales rose 11% to $4.11 billion... Paccar is the parent company of U.S. truck makers Kenworth Truck Co. and Peterbilt Motors Co., and Europe-based DAF Trucks...

* Caterpillar’s profit jumps 34 percent with global sales

Peoria, Ill.,USA -The Associated Press/The Trucker, by DANIEL LOVERING -22 July 2008: -- Caterpillar Inc.’s second-quarter profit jumped 34 percent as stronger international sales outpaced higher raw material and freight costs for the maker of backhoes and other heavy equipment... The Peoria, Ill.-based company on Tuesday reported profit of $1.11 billion, or $1.74 per share, for the three months ended June 30, compared with $823 million, or $1.24 per share, a year earlier...

Labels: truckmakers' news USA

"GREEN" NEWS * USA - EPA to fund projects aimed at diesel retrofits

Washington,D.C.,USA -The Trucker News Services -22 July 2008: -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said Monday it plans to award approximately $3.4 million in grants to establish projects using emerging technologies to reduce emissions from the nation's existing fleet of diesel engines. The existing fleet is important because it pre-dates EPA's stringent new particulate and nitrogen oxide standards and diesels remain in use for decades, the agency noted... The program was authorized by the Energy Policy Act of 2005 and funded for the first time this fiscal year... State, local, regional and tribal governments may apply for the grants, as well as non-profits and institutions with transportation, educational service, and air quality responsibilities. Emerging technology manufacturers must partner with an eligible applicant to receive this funding. The grants are targeting school or transit buses, medium and heavy-duty trucks, marine engines, locomotives and non-road engines. Grant proposals must be submitted by Sept. 21, 2008. The final awards will be announced in December... (Image: The grants will be administered by EPA's National Clean Diesel Campaign under the Emerging Technology Program (ETP). ETP supports the development and commercialization of new, cutting-edge technologies)

Labels: 'green' engines

SAVE MONEY * USA - Trucks slow down to

With semitrucks making 5-8 miles per gallon, even a small savings adds up

Rapid City,S.D.,USA -The Associated Press/The Trucker -21 July 2008: -- Commercial truckers are slowing down to get the most miles out of every gallon of diesel fuel in their tanks, according to a South Dakota trucking industry official... Higher fuel costs — around $4.60 a gallon for diesel — have a deep and direct financial impact on truckers, said Myron Rau, president of the South Dakota Trucking Association... Anders has had his trucks programmed for a 70 mph limit for about a year. Now, he's moving down closer to 65 mph. But he also has a lighter foot in other vehicles as well... Efforts by commercial truckers to save fuel by slowing down can run head-on into the deadline realities truckers also face, Rau said. And with individual drivers limited to 11 road hours a day, slower speeds can further complicate delivery schedules, he said... The direct impact of the fuel cost hits hardest among those who buy the fuel. But it spreads quickly through society, because the trucking industry is the dominant carrier nationally, Rau said... (Photo: With semitrucks making 5-8 miles per gallon, even a small savings adds up)

Labels: fuel savings

RULES * USA - NHTSA Drops Rule to Require Rear View System for Midsized Trucks

Washington,DC,USA -Occupational Health & Safety -July 22, 2008: -- The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has terminated a 2005 proposed change in Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 111, "Rearview Mirrors," that would have required straight trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating between 10,000 and 26,000 pounds to be equipped with a system that gave the drivers a view of objects directly behind the vehicles... NHTSA, a DOT agency, said data generated since its 2005 notice of proposed rulemaking shows midsized trucks account for only four of the estimated 183 back-over fatalities per year. Also, the recently signed Cameron Gulbranson Kids Transportation Safety Act of 2007 requires NHTSA to revise the federal standard for rear visibility specifically to reduce backing crashes involving children and disabled people...

Labels: rules

TRUCKS' MANUFACTURER * USA - Hitachi to Add Big Dump Trucks to Tap Mining Booms

Hitachi Construction Machinery Co., the world's biggest maker of giant excavators, will introduce a large dump truck in September

Tokyo,Japan -Bloomberg, by Masumi Suga -July 22. 2008: -- ... to capitalize on mining booms in Australia, Asia and Africa... The company aims to sell 50 dump trucks in 2010, or a 20 percent share of the global market for mining trucks with a payload capacity of 140 tons to 200 tons... The EH3500 AC II model, to be released on Sept. 1, is developed with its parent Hitachi Ltd... Hitachi Construction Machinery has widened its range of dump trucks to lure customers as it challenges bigger competitors Caterpillar Inc. and Komatsu Ltd.... Mining-equipment makers seek to win more orders from mining companies exploring for new resources, such as coal, gold and iron ore... The EH3500 AC II model, a 185-ton capacity truck that uses the inverter technology used in the electric motors of bullet trains, will be the first self-developed mining dump truck for Tokyo-based Hitachi Construction Machinery...

Labels: truckmakers' news worldwide

EVENT * USA - Expediter Expo rolls out July 25-26

Only one show, however, focuses solely on a specific area of trucking

Grain Valley,MO,USA -Land Line Magazine -July 21, 2008: -- The transportation industry is noted for its trucking shows, which are found throughout North America at all times of the year... The 2008 Expedite Expo is scheduled for this weekend, July 25-26, at the climate-controlled Roberts Convention Center in Wilmington, OH... Everything is under one roof with more than 100 exhibitors occupying the 70,000 square feet of the convention center... The Expedite Expo is a focused event. You won’t find expedited trucking displays mixed in with exhibits featuring dump trucks, bulk hauling trailers and truckload transportation. The Expedite Expo is all about expediting and the opportunities within this fast-paced industry... Every major carrier, dealer, and major player in the expedited trucking industry is in attendance and wants to meet the current or prospective expediter. Free seminars cover truck maintenance, insurance, financing and other topics... It isn’t all business, though. Attendees will have the opportunity to meet the members of the Chrome Shop Mafia. The Mafia will sign autographs and display one of their most recent trucking art creations...

Labels: events

Clean Trucks Program * USA - Leaders urge Port of Oakland to reduce pollution

The Oakland Board of Port Commissioners set a goal this year of reducing the health risk from diesel particulates by 85 percent by 2020

Port of Oakland,Cal,USA -The Oakland Tribune, by Cecily Burt -22 July2008: -- ... The port has helped pay to replace 80 old trucks and it has set aside $5 million this fiscal year to help retrofit 1,000 rigs with new filters, said port spokesperson Marilyn Sandifur... But many independent truckers say they barely scrape by after paying for gas, insurance and expenses, and cannot afford a new truck or costly filter upgrades, even if the port and other agencies pay half the cost... The Coalition for Clean & Safe Ports, the Teamsters and California Labor Federation, is urging the Port of Oakland to follow the lead set by the Port of Los Angeles and adopt a Clean Trucks Program policy... Such a policy would dramatically reduce diesel emissions by requiring a concession agreement for all trucking firms serving the Port of Oakland to define environmental, community and labor standards. It also requires those trucking firms to hire drivers as employees, as was the case before the industry was deregulated in the early 1980s. Under the policy, the trucking firms would be responsible for owning and maintaining a clean fleet of trucks, not the drivers... Brian Beveridge, a West Oakland resident and co-director of the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, said he supports the proposed policy but wants to make sure it includes a requirement for local hiring. He prefers a collection of small, local trucking companies rather than one or two huge conglomerates... The trucking industry has vowed to fight the policy at the Port of Los Angeles and another at the Port of Long Beach, which allows truckers to operate as independent contractors if they adhere to much stricter emissions standards...

Labels: Clean Trucks Program

BORDER TROUBLES * Canada/USA - Move faster to fix border delays, van Dongen urges

Lineups for truckers and tourists a concern

Vancouver,BC,Canada -The Vancouver Sun, by Derrick Penner -July 22, 2008: -- The Canadian and U.S. federal governments need to move faster to fix the delays truckers face at border crossings, according to John van Dongen, B.C.'s minister of public safety and solicitor-general... Kelly Johnston, vice-president of government affairs for the food conglomerate Campbell's Soup Co., said the big problems, where trucks could face eight- hour delays at the border, are gone... The Canada Border Services Agency is in the midst of implementing a $396-million pre-arrival notification program aimed at streamlining truck and rail shipments coming into Canada. It's called eManifest... Under the program, shippers will be required to notify Canada Border Services electronically that they are sending trucks or rail cars to the border, tell them what freight is in the containers, who the driver or crew is and how they will be crossing at least an hour before the containers arrive at the crossing... Feniak said it will be an extension of the pre-arrival notification programs that shipborne and airborne cargo is subjected to now... The idea is to give border officials time to review documentation for shipments, conduct risk assessments and make decisions about clearing shipments or flagging them for secondary inspection before vehicles arrive... Feniak added that it should reduce the time it takes for a truck to get past the crossing to about 30 seconds from the one to three minutes it takes now, which should help reduce border lineups... He added that the program will be phased in over three years... Van Dongen said anything, like e-Manifest, that moves checking loads or decisions on which shipments need secondary inspection away from the border point are good strategies, but they just need to be put in place faster... (Photo by Ian Lindsay, The Vancouver Sun - A busy Friday morning lineup at the Pacific Highway crossing of the Canada-U.S. border)

Labels: border troubles

21.7.08

HOURS OF SERVICE * New Zealand - Behind the wheel for 25 hours without a break

A driver who drove a 45 tonne truck for 25 hours without a break has been disqualified for 15 months and fined $15,000

Auckland,New Zealand -The police magazine Ten One/Stuff.co.nz -22 July 2008: -- Driver Peter Leslie McRae, 45, from Wakefield, near Nelson, held a log book for each of the two companies he worked for to hide his punishing schedule, reported the police magazine Ten One... McRae was behind the wheel for up to 25 hours at a time without rest and posed a great danger to himself and other road users, said the magazine... McRae faced 36 log book charges in the Nelson District Court when Judge Tony Zohrab said the offending was "as bad as it gets"... Mr Johnston said McRae had a regular job driving logging trucks around Nelson, starting early and finishing at 4pm... On Friday he would start a second job driving long-haul trucks to Christchurch and back using a second log book... He said both companies McRae worked for had systems to manage driving hours but had no way of knowing a driver was working for two employers... He said people in the transport industry were shocked when they learnt of the hours involved...

Labels: HOS

STUDY * USA - Medically unfit truck drivers still on roads

Hundreds of thousands of tractor-trailer and bus drivers in the United States carry commercial driver's licenses despite also qualifying for full federal disability payments, and some of those drivers have suffered seizures, heart attacks or unconscious spells

Washington,DCD,USA -AP, by HOPE YEN & FRANK BASS -21 July 2008: -- ... according to a new U.S. safety study obtained by The Associated Press... The problems threatening highway travelers persist despite years of government warnings and hundreds of deaths and injuries blamed on commercial truck and bus drivers who blacked out, collapsed or suffered major health problems behind the wheels of vehicles that can weigh 40 tons or more... The U.S. agency responsible for cracking down on unfit truckers, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, acknowledges it hasn't completed any of eight recommendations that U.S. safety regulators have proposed since 2001. One would set minimum standards for officials who determine whether truckers are medically safe to drive. Another would prevent truckers from "doctor shopping" to find a physician who might overlook a risky health condition. It's unclear whether any of the eight recommendations will be done before President Bush leaves office... Truckers violating federal medical rules have been caught in every state, according to a review by the AP of 7.3 million commercial driver violations compiled by the Transportation Department in 2006, the latest data available. Texas, Maryland, Georgia, Florida, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, Michigan, Alabama, New Jersey, Minnesota and Ohio were states where drivers were sanctioned most frequently for breaking medical rules, such as failing to carry a valid medical certificate. Those 12 states accounted for half of all such violations in the United States... Consider these cases: ... ... ... Some truckers said the government should enforce existing rules, not make new ones... Gary Hull, 52, a trucker for a Louisiana company, said most drivers are hard workers who earn a modest salary and cope with rising diesel prices. New regulations could add to costs and force truckers to evade the rules, he said... The 30-page GAO study, obtained by the AP in advance of its release later this week, said 563,000 commercial drivers were determined by the Veterans Affairs Department, Labor Department or Social Security Administration to also be eligible for full disability benefits over health issues. It said disability doesn't necessarily mean a driver is unfit to operate a commercial vehicle, but its investigators found alarming examples that raised doubts about the safety of the nation's highways. They identified more than 1,000 drivers with vision, hearing or seizure disorders, which generally would prohibit a trucker from obtaining a valid commercial license...The chief safety officer for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Rose McMurray, acknowledged problems that could lead to unfit truck drivers on the roads. She blamed delays in reforms on a lack of federal money and difficulty coordinating with 50 states. McMurray said changes to strengthen the medical oversight program may not be done for months or even years... (AP Photos by Bill Haber - 1 · In this May 9, 1999 file photo, emergency workers remove the body of one of the victims of a bus wreck in New Orleans. A chartered bus carrying members of a casino club on a Mother's Day gambling excursion crashed killing 22 people. The National transportation Safety Board said the bus driver suffered life-threatening kidney and heart conditions but held a valid license and medical certificate. Moments before the crash, a passenger recounted seeing the driver slumped in his seat) (Photo below - 2 · In this May 11, 1999 file photo, National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator Larry Jackson holds a survey probe on the top of wrecked charter bus in New Orleans. Jackson and a team of NTSB personnel are investigating the bus wreck that killed 22 people. The NTSB later said the bus driver, Frank Bedell, 46, suffered life-threatening kidney and heart conditions but held a valid license and medical certificate. Moments before the crash, a passenger recounted seeing the driver slumped in his seat)

Labels: drivers' health risks

Ideas for trucks * Germany - 10 Innovative Uses of Semi Trucks

Germany's Rhino Rolling Advertising Awards are a display of creative marketing

Germany -Inventorspot(USA), by Samanta -PHOTOS' CRONIC -20 July 2008: -- Companies and agencies submit their best mockup showcasing innovative advertising ideas on the sides of trucks. The competition was held in 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08, and a 2009 competition is coming soon. Here are some highlights of the creative ads:
The winning ad for 2007...
The second-place advertisement for 2007...
This notable ad from the 2007 competition has the illusion of a train car inside...
The slightly creepy 2006 winning ad...
This creative advertisement came in second place in the 2006 competition...
The third place ad for 2006 showcases larger-than-life chocolate bars...
This ad for Pepsi Light was the 2005 winner...
The second place ad from 2005, which is a little unnerving, appears to show the truck's driver going backwards...
This ad, from the 2005 competition, shows a drink bottle that looks like it is sticking out of the side of the trailer...
In this ad for Pringles Hot & Spicy, the hotness of the chips appears to have burned the inside of the truck... Winners of the competition actually get to see their mockups turned into real truck ads... What do you think? Would these truck ads be fun to see, or distracting on the road?...

Labels: ideas for trucks

TRUCKS' PRODUCTS* USA - Tarping System Boosts Fuel Efficiency of Trucks by up to 9 Percent and Cuts Costs

Tests prove that the use of tarping can help dump truck owners conserve gas and lower their fuel costs. Using tarping can improve efficiency 3 to 9 percent for each truck

El Cajon,CA,USA -PR Web (Ferndale,WA) -July 21, 2008 -- Truckers may not be able to do anything about the rising price of gasoline, but they can cover their load with a tarp to help lower fuel costs... Research shows that using a tarping system can improve the fuel usage of dump trucks by 3 to 9 percent... The study was jointly conducted by UK-based tipping gear manufacturer HARSH Ltd. and MIRA, a leading international provider of product engineering, research and testing... In a series of tests, the companies proved that covering a truck's bed with sheeting helps to maintain optimum airflow over the rest of the vehicle. By maximizing the truck's operating performance can lower fuel usage--whether the truck is carrying a load or empty...

Labels: trucks' products USA

CONGESTIONS * India - Ore Trucks Continue to Batter Roads Despite Police Order

Panambur, a place which used to be one of the highlights of the city for its port, factories and the industrial area nearby, off late has been in limelight for all the wrong reasons

Mangalore,GA,India -Prajwal Ukkudafor Daijiworld Media Network/Daijiworld.com, by Abrar Khar (PICTURE/CRONICS') -Jul 21, 2008: --...It gained international fame with its snail pace highway road construction and pathetic potholes, not too long ago (the construction is still 'in the process')...The public had enough problems plying on this so called highway dealing with huge potholes and kilos of dust entering their lungs...And to rub salt on wounds, we now witness a long queue of mine laden trucks being parked alongside the road, causing hindrance to the already struggling vehicular movement on this road... The queue of these trucks is spread from Kulur to Suratkal, almost covering a distance of an awful ten kilometer stretch...Road blocks are a common sight here, making life difficult not just for the general public to ply smoothly, but also for the policemen who are deputed in the area precisely for maintaining even vehicular movement...The kind of job that these cops are assigned, no wonder they lose their cool, thereby providing many with their stick music...Mangalore SP N Satheesh Kumar recently issued an order to vacate the trucks from the area. However, the order doesn't seem to have been implemented. The trucks continue to occupy most part of the road...The truck drivers though grumble that if they are given a proper place for parking, they will not park their trucks on this road..."Yes, we have been told that we have to vacate this place, but we are not told where we have to go. If they give a proper place for parking, preferably some 30 kilometers away from the city, it would be good for us" says a truck driver from Chitradurga...It has been quite some time now that Mangaloreans try to avoid the Panambur-Suratkal road for all the troubles it has to offer and the new dimension of truck parking to the already existing road problems, are not doing the public any better either...Apart from wastage of time, the polluted atmosphere that the people have to encounter in this region is also a cause of concern... In spite of the order given by the District SP, the trucks continue to trouble traffic with their passive movement on the Kulur-Suratkal stretch...Why is that the order has not translated into immediate action? Why haven't the authorities acted upon? Well, the state politics has been seeing quite a humpty-dumpty ride off late... The Padmapriya incident not withstanding, is this another such case where the state government is playing hide and seek with the people? The earlier these questions are answered, the better it will be for the state...

Labels: streets' congestions

NEIGHBORHOOD COMPLAINS * USA - Tired of trucks

Vehicles hauling fill for a new sports park in Medford have residents of a Jacksonville-area neighborhood fuming

Medford,Jacksonville,ORE,USA -The Mail Tribune, by TONY BOOM -July 21, 2008: -- ... By 7 o'clock, a constant stream of big diesel trucks will be hauling fill material past her house, and the parade will continue for the next 11 hours... Knife River Materials has up to 35 rigs per day going past Cox's garden and through downtown Jacksonville... They're hauling 80,000 tons of fill from a quarry on Pair-A-Dice Ranch Road to the new sports park complex in south Medford. Other trucking companies are hauling from additional quarry sites up the road, swelling the traffic load... "Jacksonville is a seasonal economy," said Whitman Parker, publisher of The Jacksonville Review, which has an office on California Street. "A better time for the project might have been April or May or September or October, not July and August, at the most critical economical time for this town."... (Photo by Jim Craven - A heavy truck drives through Jacksonville with a load of gravel, one of many rigs traveling through downtown these days carrying fill to Medford?s new sports park)

Labels: neighboring complains

STRIKE * Australia - Food supplies to be halted by rogue truck drivers

Truck drivers are planning a nationwide two-week strike that could limit the supply of food and fuel

Sydney,Queensland,Australia -AFN, by Daniel Palmer -July 21, 2008: -- ... Requesting better pay and conditions, the organisers, led by the Australian Long Distance Owners’ and Drivers’ Association, are asking truck drivers to strike for two weeks from July 28... One of the transport company owners, Peter Schuback of Queensland’s Hervey Bay, said that the stoppage would highlight the impact the economy would be subjected to if the industry was to collapse. “On day three of the stoppage shops will run out of food, on day four service stations will run out of petrol, on day five we will run out of [drinkable] water … and on day 10 industry will shut down because there will be no power,” Mr Schuback told the Sydney Morning Herald... Organisers of the strike have been spreading the message to the nations truck drivers via text messages... The leading industry body for the trucking industry, the Australian Trucking Association (ATA), has also distanced themselves from the proposed stoppage in the belief that it will provide no benefit to the industry... While the organisers claim that 80 per cent will strike, the ATA disputes this and suggest that disruptions will not be significant...

Labels: owner operators strikes

BRIBES * Philippines - Traders slam LTO extortion in weigh bridge in Butuan

San Francisco,Agusan del Sur,Philippines -Inquirer Mindanao, by Chris V. Panganiban/ The Philippines Daily Inquirer -21 July 2008: -- The weigh bridge along the national highway in Butuan City, a government facility intended to check overloaded cargo trucks, has allegedly became the favorite place of Land Transportation Office (LTO) personnel involved in extortion activities... Irate log traders and tree farmers here recently told Agusan del Sur Gov. Ma. Valentina Plaza that because of the extortion activities allegedly by LTO personnel, they renamed the weigh bridge “witik (bribe) bridge"... Ricardo Peyrera, who spoke in behalf of the tree farmers’ group, said the LTO men ask P300 per truck before the cargoes are allowed to pass... A record from the weigh bridge in Tabon-tabon showed that at least 30 trucks loaded with falcatta pass through it every day..
Plaza said she has formed a task force to look into these complaints and that an investigation was underway... “There are no sacred cows in my administration,” Plaza said in a statement sent to the Inquirer on Thursday... She said illegal checkpoints would also be torn down to prevent corrupt personnel from preying on hapless farmers and traders...

Labels: bribes

SAFETY * USA - Heavy hitters - Why not make speeding fines for trucks proportional to their weight?

Fredericksburg,VA,USA -The Free Lance-Star -20 July 2008: -- ... The heavier the vehicle and/or the faster it's going, the more momentum it has, and, therefore, the more damage it does when an accident occurs. That's why big trucks ought to carry more weight when it comes to fines for speeding... Unsafe speed is a factor in a third of all highway crashes. To be fair, when a truck is the "core cause" of an accident, traveling too fast is found to be the "critical precrash event" just 18 percent of the time. However, when an 80,000-lb. semi collides with a 3,000-lb. Toyota Prius, it's clear which vehicle is going to take the hit... In fact, 5,000 people die and 130,000 are injured every year in truck accidents. When big rigs and cars clash, 98 percent of the fatalities are in the lighter vehicles...

Labels: road safety debate

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* Germany - VW says there are no plans to sell Brazil truck ops to MAN

Hanover,Germany -Euro am Sonntag/Thomson Financial/Forbes (NY,USA) -20 July 2008: -- A spokesman for Volkswagen AG. said the company has no plans to sell its Brazilian truck operations to MAN AG., denying an earlier report in Euro am Sonntag... The newspaper had cited sources familiar with the matter as saying MAN is considering purchasing Volkswagen's truck operations there and may decide on the matter before the end of this year... Volkswagen's chief executive Martin Winterkorn earlier this week said he sees no need for VW to bundle its Brazil-based operations with those of MAN and Scania AB, brushing off speculation by analysts... VW expects to close its deal to increase its voting rights in Scania to 68 percent by July 22. The German carmaker holds nearly 30 percent stake in MAN, which in turn owns some 17 pct voting rights in its Swedish truck rival...

* USA - Military contract will build stronger trucks

Detroit,MICH,USA -The Detroit Free Press -July 20, 2008: -- General Dynamics Corp., the largest maker of armored vehicles for the U.S. military, won an order valued at $552 million to build more blast-resistant trucks used to protect troops from roadside bombs in Iraq... General Dynamics will manufacture 773 of the Mine-Resistant, Ambush-Protected vehicles, or MRAPs, for the Marine Corps... The work, scheduled for completion by December 2009, will be done mostly in South Africa, with support from plants in Lansing and Anniston, Ala...

Labels: truckmakers' news worldwide

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA - YRC's in for the long haul

Roadway parent believes it has found solution to ever-increasing problems of trucking business

Akron,OH,USA -The Akron Beacon Journal, by Jim Mackinnon -Jul 20, 2008: -- ... The owner of Akron-based Roadway thinks it has come up with its own recipe for success to address industrywide transportation problems: the Velocity Network... The idea is to provide faster customer service with trucks that travel fewer miles, said Mike Smid, president and chief executive of YRC North American Transportation. The division, based in Overland Park, Kan., along with its corporate parent, is made up of trucking companies Roadway, Yellow Trans-portation, Reimer Express, USF Glen Moore and the smaller businesses that make up YRC Regional Transportation... The Velocity Network, which has been a couple of years in planning, began rolling out in the past several weeks at USF Holland, Yellow Transportation and Roadway. The concept basically redesigns a significant part in how the less-than-truckload, or LTL, trucking companies go about their business while increasing the ability to provide next-day and second-day pickup and delivery, the company said... The Velocity Network cuts transit time on 30,000 lanes of travel used by YRC trucks. The company expects to be able to improve service by one day for more than 15 percent of its 150,000 daily shipments in the United States... In addition, the changes will result in trucks traveling about 8 million fewer miles a year, which will cut fuel costs as well as time, Smid said... The changes needed the cooperation of the Teamsters, who make up 66,000 of YRC's employees, he said...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

20.7.08

BORDER TROUBLES * USA/Canada - Bottlenecks at the border are taking a toll on trade

400,000 people cross the border each day. As the sum grows -- and everyone thinks it will -- backups of an hour, two hours, sometimes much longer become more frequent

Cleveland,OH,USA -The Plain Dealer, by Frank Bentayou -July 20, 2008: -- When Henry King drove back to Cleveland from Canada recently, he spied the jumble of semis queued up at checkpoints at the border. With each trip he makes, the international law expert at Case Western Reserve University said, the backup seems longer... The shipping bottleneck is a problem that needs to be fixed, Henry King said, because it penalizes the United States, the Great Lakes region and Northeast Ohio, stealing money and stifling jobs. And within a year, new border security measures could slow commerce even more... King and many others yearn for a more streamlined process. That would mean modern crossings, less paperwork for truck drivers and travelers making business or tourism visits and, basically, a smoother, quicker and more hassle-free crossing. He knows the nations will have to cooperate to make that happen... On average, 400,000 people cross the border each day, according to the Canadian government. By various estimates, from $1.1 billion to $1.6 billion worth of goods make the trip every 24 hours, too. That adds up to about $460 billion a year, the U.S. government says... As the sum grows -- and everyone thinks it will -- backups of an hour, two hours, sometimes much longer become more frequent. Hassles multiply, ballooning the cost of shipping, interfering with just-in-time inventory needs and "thickening the border," as shippers say, referring to the decline in efficiency that more traffic brings... But Jayson Myers, senior vice president and chief economist of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters, issued an important reminder: "The Canadian gateway ports plan -- and everything else we've discussed about cross-border trade -- all depends on cooperation between the Canadian and U.S. governments." ... He and many others note that there's not much time for working out the details of the new U.S. border-crossing rules before June 2009, when every American going to Canada will need a passport... (Photo by Don McArthur/Associated Press file - Scarcely adequate bridges and worn roads already stressed growing cross-border truck traffic between Canada and the United States before the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. In the days afterward, when this scene unfolded, backups extended for miles. Now, delays are less severe, but manufacturers and shippers fear slowdowns in June 2009, when the next wave of Homeland Security rules are scheduled to go into effect, possibly stifling trade between the neighboring countries)

Labels: border troubles

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * USA - Hybrids part of the long haul at Volvo's Hagerstown

Trucking companies will be cautious, careful of seeing economic benefit and product quality

Hagerstown,NC,USA -The Herald Mail, by ARNOLD S. PLATOU -July 19, 2008 — ... For at least three years, a team of engineers there, together with others in three countries overseas, have been working intensively to develop hybrid engine systems for the garbage, long-haul and other markets buying Volvo and Mack trucks... The plant, which employs 1,278 people making engines and transmissions for Mack and Volvo trucks, has been a key economic driver in the local economy since Mack moved to Hagerstown in 1961... Now, hybrid — a combination of electric and diesel power — looms as the next all-important fuel-saving, pollution-reducing technology as truckers grapple with rapidly rising diesel prices and ever-tightening pollution standards the world over... Picture the usual garbage truck. Its quick, frequent stop/start movements — 1,200 stops per day is not unusual — are a good way to begin understanding hybrid and its potential... The movements, as the driver tries to cover his territory quickly, are a big energy waster. Diesel fuel is used to propel the truck forward, and then, much of that built-up energy is lost as he brakes to a halt... An electric motor, coupled to a diesel engine, can convert that lost energy to electricity and, in the process, help slow the vehicle. In addition, when the recaptured energy is stored, it can be used later — instead of diesel fuel — to help the truck speed up...An electric motor also is better — and quieter — than a diesel engine at propelling a fully loaded 66,000-pound refuse truck forward the first several feet, Emile Charest, manager of engine product development for Volvo Powertrain North America said. But the diesel is better at powering the vehicle through, so a hybrid uses the advantages of both, he said... Volvo’s focus to reduce overall U.S. dependence on diesel and gasoline use, fuel savings in long-haul trucks would help most because there are so many such trucks, according to a report... One discovery that really would benefit a long-haul truck more than a stop/start truck is the use of the electric motor in a hybrid system to power equipment that isn’t needed all the time, Anthony Greszler, vice president of advanced engineering said... This would include such equipment as power steering, fans, air conditioning and the air compressor... The compressor, for instance, is used to operate the brakes. Right now, on a diesel engine truck, the compressor is running, using more fuel, whenever the engine is running, Greszler said... In the same way, there are savings in using an electric motor to power the air conditioning and heating units in the truck cab, instead of idling the diesel engine for several hours while the driver sleeps, Greszler said...Thus far, Mack has built three hybrid test trucks that are dump trucks and two that are refuse trucks. Two of the dump trucks are at Air Force bases in Nevada and Hawaii, and one is being tested at Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland... In addition to the handful of employees doing such work here, there are Volvo teams in Sweden and France, and at Nissan Diesel, which is part of Volvo, in Japan. In Sweden, where Volvo is headquartered, the U.S. and Swedish governments are helping pay for research on hybrid technology for long-haul trucks... So when will Volvo begin mass production of the new hybrids? Its top official, President and CEO of Volvo Truck Corp., which is headquartered in Göteborg, Sweden, Staffan Jufors, is quoted this month by Green Car Congress, as saying, “We will start producing hybrid trucks in 2009.” ... “We’re not in a position to make any specific product announcement at this time,” spokesman James A. McNamara said. “We are in the development and test vehicle phase.”... (Photos by Colleen Helf - 1 · Emile Charest, manager of engine product development for Volvo Powertrain North America, talks about new technology being developed for diesel engines - Photo 2 · Anthony Greszler, vice president of advanced engineering, talks about new diesel engine technology at Volvo Powertrain in Hagerstown)

Labels: truckmakers' news worldwide

19.7.08

Non English Truckers Ticketed * USA - Feds look to tighten English law for truckers

Tuscaloosa,ALA,USA -AP, by JAY REEVES -18 July 2008: -- Manuel Castillo was driving a truck through Alabama hauling onions and left with a $500 ticket for something he didn't think he was doing: speaking English poorly... Castillo, who was stopped on his way back to California, said he knows federal law requires him to be able to converse in English with an offi

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31.7.08

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * WORLDWIDE

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA - Five Arkansas Trucking Companies Make Top 100

Trucking Calls * USA - For Comprehensive Plan to Limit Fuel Costs Effect on the Economy

FEMALE TRUCKERS * Canada - Women taking the wheel

Keep your eye on that tank * Canada - Pssst ... Wanna buy some diesel fuel?

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * Australia - New laws for

Truckers Say * USA - DOT's Proposal Would Sell America's Highways

OIL NEWS * UK - Royal Dutch Shell's profits top $11 billion

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS WORLDWIDE * USA - Truck producer to open new plant

30.7.08

Would Ban Mexican Trucks ? * USA - House Measure After Pilot Program Ends

OIL SPECULATORS * USA - House rejects bill aimed at energy speculators

INTELLIGENCE in TRANSPORT * Switzerland - Collapse of WTO talks threatens global trade

Survey * UK - Shows companies are passing the buck on 'green' logistics costs

OPINION * USA - First signs of upturn in the US logistics market?

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * Germany - MAN Q2 tops all forecasts, truck orders hit shares

THANKING TRUCKERS * Canada - Remember to thank a trucker

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA - New Safety Education Company

ILLEGAL DRUGS * USA - Truck drivers taking illegal drugs get hired

INFRASTRUCTURES' PLAN * USA - US DOT Proposes Overhaul of Federal Approach to Transportation

TRUCKERS' FATIGUE * Australia - Fatigue management transition for South Australia

DRIVERS' FATIGUE * USA - Fatigue major problem in trucking industry

STRIKE * Australia - Trucking industry cancels shutdown

TRUCKER'S STORY * USA - 'In a man's world'

TRUCKS' PURCHASE PROSPECTS * Malaysia - Yinson planning to buy more trucks

Green Coke * USA - Company hits road with hybrid trucks

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * USA - Paccar's fuel-saving hybrid trucks

"CLEAN TRUCKS" LAW SUIT * USA - This, You Call a Slam Dunk?

29.7.08

STRIKE * AUSTRALIA

Disabled Truckers * USA - Lying To Keep Licenses

TECHNONEWS WORLDWIDE * USA - Trucking industry accelerating use of technology for fuel efficiencies

Driven out of an industry * USA - High fuel prices have led to a shakeout in the trucking business, paring excess capacity

PROGNOSIS * USA - Trucks, trains now carrying more cargo

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS WORLDWIDE * Germany - Daimler in talks to buy stake in Kamaz

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA - YRC Worldwide Spots Early Sign Of Economy 'Turning'

"CLEAN TRUCKS" LAW SUIT * USA - Truckers to sue L.A. ports over pollution plan

25.7.08

TRUCKING INDUSTRY MARKETS * Iraq - Private Companies Improve Iraqi Economy

Import from India * Pakistan - Via land route needs ECC approval

INVENTED: Fuel-efficiency device * USA - For over-the-road trucks

Truckers revoke blockade * Czech Republic - Demand fuel discounts

BRIBES * USA - Cop got up to $800 a week in tow truck bribes

TRUCKERS' HEALTH * USA - House committee probes medically unfit truckers

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * Sweden - Volvo Orders Fall as Customers Wait to Buy New Trucks

STRIKE * Australia - Albanese joins chorus criticising trucking shutdown

TRUCKER AWARD * Canada - Honoured for safe trucking over six million kilometres

24.7.08

CRITICS SAY * USA - FHWA report on road privatization is one-sided

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * USA - Peterbilt, Delphi successfully test new APU technology

CLEAN TRUCKS * USA - Port Starts Registering Cleaner Trucks

GAS TAX DEBATE * USA - GT May need to increase to prevent Highway Trust Fund shortfall

DRIVERS HOS DISCUSSIONS * Australia - Truckers told to get their facts straight on chain of resposibility

REPORT * USA - $200B investment required to make a transition from oil to hydrogen fuel

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA & CANADA - Second-Quarter Profit

TRANSPORT'S MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS * WORLDWIDE

23.7.08

TRUCKER'S STORY * Canada - The Worlds Largest Truckstop: Iowa 80 TA (USA)

SURVEY * UK - Shows companies are passing the buck on ‘green’ logistics costs

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * Australia - Patrick Port Botany breaks container record

Carbon Pollution * Australia - CSIRO 20 more years of polluting

TRUCKERS' PROTESTS * WORLDWIDE

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

STUDY * USA - Minnesota’s emissions goals achievable

Public-private Partnerships * USA - DOT: Reach record levels

High winds * USA - Blow semis off interstate

TRUCKERS' HEALTH * USA - ATA: "Trucking safest it’s ever been"

OffPeak Program * USA - PierPASS Diverts Nine Million Truck Trips from Daytime Traffic

22.7.08

SURVEY * USA - U.S. Firms to Raise Prices Amid High Costs

STUDY * USA - U.S. Needs to Invest $200 Billion in Hydrogen Vehicles

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA

Big Oil Profits * USA - Steered to investors

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * USA