trucks world news: November 2008

29.11.08

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA - Port workers will need new ID cards Monday

Raleigh,NC,USA -The Detroit News. Briefs -29 Nov 2008: -- Workers at ports on the Great Lakes and from North Carolina to northern Florida and Long Island Sound will need new identification cards by Monday to meet security requirements that will affect all U.S. ports by the spring. The card is called a TWIC, or Transportation Worker Identification Credential, which already is being used at ports along the New England coast, including Boston. The Coast Guard is in charge of enforcing the regulation by April 15. Port employees, truckers, longshoremen and others who regularly enter a port by land must have the cards, said Jonathan Allen, a spokesman for the Transportation Security Administration in Atlanta...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * USA - Navistar, the sole independent manufacturer of trucks and buses in the United States

New York,NY,USA -The New York Times, by JOE NOCERA -November 28, 2008: -- ... I had gone to Chicago to learn about the effects of the credit crisis on a large, industrial, somewhat under-the-radar company called Navistar, the sole independent manufacturer of trucks and buses in the United States... Founded at the turn of the last century as a maker of agricultural equipment, it was known as International Harvester until the mid-1980s (truckers still call it “International”). The company has survived two World Wars, the Great Depression, a near-death experience in the early 1990s, and, most recently, an accounting problem severe enough to cause it to be delisted for almost a year and a half from the New York Stock Exchange... Because it is conservatively managed — no fancy financial engineering, no excessive debt, no risky loans to customers — Navistar is going to survive this crisis as well. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t feeling any pain, or that it doesn’t see the effects of the crisis all around it. On the contrary, companies like Navistar see the effects of the financial crisis far more clearly than most policy makers do. Because trucks haul 70 to 80 percent of everything we buy, truck drivers and trucking companies feel even the slightest economic downturn. They’re on the front lines of the crisis... Something else happened to Navistar in September. Its stock price went into free fall. After working through its accounting issues, the company was relisted on the New York Stock Exchange in July, with its stock in the 60s. (It had traded over the counter during the delisting.) But in a two-month span between mid-September and mid-November, it dropped from $62 a share to $15... Though no one at Navistar can prove it, they strongly suspect that the stock has been hammered because hedge funds, badly hurt during this phase of the financial crisis, have been forced to sell some of their more liquid positions to return money to exiting shareholders. I suspect this theory is correct, and it would be yet another way that fallout from the financial crisis has spread from New York to the rest of the country... (Photo by Sally Ryan for The New York Times - Dan C. Ustian, chief of the truck and bus maker Navistar)

Labels: truckmakers' news USA

Out of the Spotlight * USA - An Industry Copes With Crisis

New York,NY,USA -The New York Times, by JOE NOCERA -November 28, 2008: -- ... The credit crisis is rippling up and down the economy in ways that may not create obvious headlines but that affect the way people do their business and live their lives. People, for instance, who sell and drive trucks... Like most companies in America right now, a crucial issue for G. David Gerrard, who runs a Chicago-area business that is the largest truck dealership in the United States, is credit — in his case, credit for his customers... Navistar has a captive finance company, Navistar Financial, which is the trucking equivalent of GMAC. But its cost of capital has risen sharply, thanks to the crisis. That means Mr. Gerrard’s costs have risen as well, since Navistar Financial supplies much of his financing needs... Perhaps more important, it means that it costs his customers more when they need loans to buy a truck. What’s more, other lenders, like GE Capital, have ceased making truck loans in the Chicago area. When I suggested to Mr. Gerrard that this must be good for Navistar’s business, he shook his head vigorously. It is impossible for Navistar Financial to make 100 percent of the truck loans, so the withdrawal of other lenders means that trucking companies will not be able to get loans to buy vehicles... (Photo by Sally Ryan for The New York Times - At David Gerrard’s truck dealership in Chicago, would-be buyers “can’t get financing,” he said)

Labels: truckers' opinion

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA - CARTER EXPRESS: Safety breeds success

Anderson,IN,USA -The Herald Bulletin, by Justin Schneider -November 29, 2008: -- Truck drivers make 160 decisions every mile... And while he can’t have his hands on every wheel or his foot on every clutch, Jim Stetnish puts drivers in the best position to make the safest decision... As vice president of fleet operations, Stetnish oversees safety programs for Carter Express... It’s a point of pride that the Anderson company has received the National Fleet Safety Award for Excellence in Service two years running... In Carter Express can be found a rare ray of sunshine in oppressively cloudy economic times. Between its three divisions — Carter Express, Carter Logistics and Duke’s Truck Center — the company employs more than 800 people and operates 550 trucks, and both numbers are growing...

* Trucking company YRC makes deal with Teamsters

New York,NY,USA -CNN Money/Associated Press -November 28, 2008: -- YRC Worldwide Inc. and the Teamsters on Friday announced a deal that the union said would provide "economic relief" to YRC, one of the world's largest trucking companies, which has been struggling with a dropoff in demand as the economy slows... The tentative agreement would cover some 40,000 employees, including dock workers, drivers, and clerical workers... Neither YRC nor the Teamsters disclosed terms of the tentative agreement. But the company had said previously that it was seeking pay cuts, and Teamsters spokesman Bret Caldwell said the deal focused on pay, pensions and benefits...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

AUTOMAKERS' CRISIS * Canada - Magna to close plants, cut 850 jobs

Toronto,Ontario,CAN -The Kingston Whig Standard, by JOHN VALORZI -28 Nov 2008: -- Canada's largest auto parts company is shutting down two Toronto-area plants, with the loss of 850 jobs, in the latest blow to the beleaguered Ontario manufacturing economy... Magna Inter national Inc. said yesterday it will close two plants from its Decoma body parts division... About 850 workers in Aurora and Newmarket, two bedroom communities north of Toronto, will be affected by the shutdown of Decoma's Exterion unit by next June... Magna is one of many parts makers and auto assemblers to shut down plants and pare jobs as the so-called Detroit Three carmakers - GM, Ford and Chrysler - restructure their North American operations...

Labels: automakers' crisis

TRUCKERS' PROTESTS * USA - Hundreds of trucks protest in central NY village

Skaneateles,NY,USA -WSTM-TV -November 28, 2008: -- All's quiet again in Skaneateles following a noisy demonstration by a large group of truckers upset about plans to restrict truck travel on some Finger Lakes region roads... About 300 trucks cruised through the main street of the lakeside village about 20 miles southwest of Syracuse early Friday afternoon. The convoy was greeted by hundreds of supporters who lined Route 20 through the village... Many cheered as the truckers blared their horns and waved at the crowd. State Police, Onondaga County Sheriff's deputies and Skaneateles Police monitored the protest and directed traffic. State transportation officials are considering new rules that would ban most trucks from Skaneateles and other area roads, mostly along U.S. Route 20... SEE VIDEO -(Photo: The auburnspub: Trucks roll through Skaneateles to loud cheers)

Labels: truckers' protests

28.11.08

AUTOMAKERS' CRISIS * USA - Points of View: Auto industry is much more than ' Big Three'

Note to Congress: While you debate whether to save the auto industry, remember there is far more than just the "big three" to consider

Tucson, AZ,USA -Letters from the Tucson Citizen , by Rodger Malcolm Mitchell (Wilmette, Ill) -26 Nov 2008: --

* From the Automotive Aftermarket Suppliers Association: "The automotive aftermarket, employs approximately 3.7 million Americans. Sales in this industry exceed $250 billion."

* From the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association: "The trucking industry hauls 70 percent of total U.S. freight. About 70 percent of U.S. communities depend solely on trucking for the delivery of goods. The trucking industry employs more than 9 million Americans nationwide."

* From the Original Equipment Suppliers Association: "The new vehicle parts market is worth approximately $300 billion a year."

Now tell me again why you and your party are willing to accept blame for allowing the American auto industry and our entire economy to fail... Congress, you have unlimited money available to you. Spend it and stop dithering us into a depression...

* Big 3 bailout is really a union bailout

Tucson, AZ,USA -Letter from the Tucson Citizen , by Mark Kalinowski (New York,NY) -26 Nov 2008: -- Barack Obama, Nancy Pelosi, and several other leading Democratic politicians continue to agitate for "spreading the wealth" by giving tens of billions of dollars to GM, Ford, and Chrysler... Why? Case Western Reserve University professor Susan Helper gives the game away: "Even if GM is not providing a return on investment, it is still providing a lot of good jobs"... In other words, any bailout of these poorly managed auto companies is at core a bailout for economically unproductive union jobs. Principled politicians will be against such corporate and union welfare... GM, Ford, and Chrysler should not be prevented from declaring bankruptcy. Bankruptcy would allow their burdensome union contracts to be renegotiated and also permit better-managed companies to bid on their assets so that they can be put to use much more efficiently... This would lead to better returns on investment and the creation of economically productive jobs...

Labels: automakers' crisis

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA - California reefers get an environmental extension

Sacramento,Cal,USA -Today's Trucking (CAN) -27 Nov 2008: -- The California Air Resources Board has indicated it will delay enforcement of its Transport Refrigeration Unit (TRU) regulation... Citing the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's delay in granting authorization for the regulation, CARB now believes a six-month delay from either the original compliance date of Dec. 31, or the date EPA grants authorization, if later, is appropriate... (Photo: Reefer container truck USA)

Labels: trucking industry news USA

TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS * Canada - What’s good for the port is good for everyone

Ver mapa más grandeVancouver,BC,Canada -Today's Trucking -25 Nov 2008: -- Trade through Port Metro Vancouver generates 132,700 total jobs across Canada, according to a recent study prepared for the port by InterVISTAS Consulting... It’s the first study to assess the economic impact of the amalgamated port and concludes that port-related activities generate $10.5 billion in gross domestic product (GDP), $22 billion in economic output and $6.1 billion in wages... The amalgamated Port Metro Vancouver jurisdiction borders on 16 municipalities and covers 600 km of shoreline. The port hosts the operation of 28 major marine terminals and several domestic intermodal terminals...

Labels: transport and logistics news

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * USA - Cat jumps ship earlier than expected

Caterpillar is getting out of the heavy-duty diesel engine business earlier than planned

Peoria,ILL,USA -Today's Trucking (CAN) -26 Nov 2008: -- ... According to a letter from Cat to its dealers, the North American economy and “significant reductions in OEM order rates” have forced the company to “drastically” change the 2009 outlook... OEMs will be given the responsibility for pushing engines in their trucks, but Cat will continue to deliver field support to dealers and customers.
This change affects all heavy-duty and medium-duty on-highway engines for domestic and export use... In a press conference earlier this year, Cat group president Douglas R. Oberhelman promised that even though the company won’t be building engines after 2009, they will continue to service the existing engines... The deadlines for ordering 2009 cat engines will fall in December 2008 and January 2009, depending on which Cat powerplant you want...

* Meritor WABCO demonstrates collision avoidance systems

Atlanta,GA,USA -Truck News (CAN) -24 Nov 2008: -- Meritor WABCO Vehicle Control Systems has provided fleet managers and government officials with a demonstration of the “latest collision-safety technology” for commercial trucks and trailers at a recent ride-and-drive event... Meritor WABCO develops a range of commercial vehicle controls, including stability controls systems for trucks and trailers, and OnGuard - which is designed to detect objects in the vehicle’s path and manage the distance between them. The company states that both systems can automatically intervene to slow the vehicle to reduce the likelihood of a rear-end collision or loss of stability, which allows the driver time to maintain control and apply additional braking force as needed...

Labels: truckmakers news USA

BORDER TROUBLES * Findland / Russia - Finns Fume as Exhaust-Spewing Trucks Jam Border Roads to Russia

Lappeenranta,Finland -Bloomberg, by Kati Pohjanpalo -Nov. 27, 2008: -- Marjatta Oksanen recalls how fresh the leaves used to smell when she strolled through her forest in southeastern Finland, along the Russian border... Now, the aroma around Oksanen’s cottage and surrounding woodland is more like that of a loading dock as thousands of Russia-bound trucks line up on a nearby road with their motors idling... In the forests her father loved, Oksanen’s wild blueberry patches are now covered with stacks of tires left by Russian truckers. Food wrappers and cigarette butts litter the roadsides. As truck traffic on the icy and narrow highways increases, so does the chance of accidents... “The roads of southern Finland are a giant storage area,” said Tommi Kivilaakso, who heads the customs office in the city of Lappeenranta, near the second-busiest crossing. “Few countries plan their road networks to be used as parking lots for neighboring countries”... The Finnish government is considering building a parking lot at the Vaalimaa-Torfyanovka crossing that would hold 1,000 trucks. Currently, the lots there hold only 160 trucks. The project, spanning 65 hectares and estimated to cost 24 million euros, is on hold pending planning approvals...

Labels: border troubles

TRUCKS' CONTROLS * USA - More DOT law enforcement in area, inspecting semi trucks

High Springs,FL,USA -The High Springs Herald, by Lia Ganosellis -28 Nov 2008: -- While High Springs and Alachua residents may have seen more Florida Department of Transportation officers pulling over commercial vehicles recently, the department says it has nothing to do with a sudden need for them... Captain David Fachko of the Department of Transportation Motor Carrier Compliance Office said Motor Carrier Compliance officers generally pull over commercial vehicles to inspect their weight or ensure their safety... Officers don’t have to see a commercial vehicle make a traffic violation, either... (Photo By Ronald Dupont Jr. - A Florida Department of Transportation law enforcement officer pulls over a semi truck in Alachua on U.S.441. The DOT can pull over trucks for inspections, not just for traffic infractions)

Labels: trucks' controls

27.11.08

Onboard Diagnostics * USA - California Gets Okay to Require they

CAL,USA -Bus & Motorcoach NEWS (subscription) -1 Oct 2008: -- A decision by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to give the state of California a waiver allows state environmental regulators to impose new onboard diagnostic rules for diesel engines in 2010 and beyond... Other states are likely to follow California's lead and mandate that engine manufacturers install more sophisticated onboard diagnostic devices with more rigorous failure thresholds. The primary components of onboard diagnostic systems include software designed into a vehicle's computer to spot emission control system malfunctions as they take place. Such systems must monitor for engine misfires and emissions associated with various systems, including fuel, catalyst, turbo-charger, particulate matter filter, exhaust gas recirculation, variable timing and control, and cooling, according to California Air Resources Board regulations. In early 2007, EPA announced that it would propose its own onboard diagnostic system requirements for heavy diesel, but the agency has yet to finalize the rule...

Labels: On Board Diagnostics

STATISTICS * NAFTA - Cargo Broke Record in 2007

Washington,DC,USA -The Journal of Commerce/Traffic World, by Courtney Tower -24 Nov 2008: -- Despite the economic slowdown affecting trade in North America, U.S. freight shipments with Canada and Mexico increased 4.9 percent from $866 million to a record $909 billion in 2007 and, as the problems deepened, have risen further this year, according to the Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics... Two-way trade volumes between the U.S. and Canada and the U.S. and Mexico reached nearly 606 million tons in 2007... Total trade with Canada totaled $562 billion in 2007, up from $534 billion in 2006. Trade with Mexico, at $347 billion, increased from $332 billion...

Labels: transport statistics

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA -

* Saia Makes Warning System Standard on New Trucks

Johns Creek,GA,USA -Transport Topics -21 Nov 2008: -- Less-than-truckload carrier Saia Inc. said it will make lane departure warning systems standard for all new tractors... The system, manufactured by Iteris Inc., uses a camera mounted on the windshield to track lane markings on roadways... The system generates audio and visual alarms when a driver makes an unintentional lane change.To date, Saia has taken delivery of about 140 Iteris systems. The carrier runs about 3,400 tractors...

* ABF to Buy SCR Trucks for 2010, Exec Says

Fort Lauderdale,FL,USA -Transport Topics -21 Nov 2008: -- ABF Freight System will use diesel engines with selective catalytic reduction technology starting in 2010, but the less-than-truckload carrier has not decided upon the truck maker it will use... Chief Operating Officer Wes Kemp said in a Nov. 16 press conference here that the carrier has been a Sterling Trucks buyer. However, Sterling parent Daimler Trucks said it will discontinue the brand in 2009... Kemp said he does not feel bound to move to Freightliner, Daimler’s flagship brand in North America... Given those two guidelines, ABF could then shop among four other original equipment manufacturers: Mack and Volvo Trucks within Volvo AB or Kenworth and Peterbilt within Paccar Inc...

* Pacer To Deploy 300 Clean Trucks

USA -Transport Topics -24 Nov 2008: -- Pacer International announced last week that its subsidiaries will deploy 230 new clean trucks this month to comply with Southern California port regulations... Pacer will lease the trucks to its network of owner-operators, it said... The trucks will help the carrier's customers to avoid fees imposed by the port of Los Angeles and Long Beach under the Clean Truck Program, the company said. Pacer trucks are already compliant with all other regulations from those ports, including the RFID rule...

* Penske Truck Leasing Offers New Warranty and Financing Packages for Used Commercial Truck Purchases

Reading,PA,USA -MarketWatch -25 Nov 2008: -- Penske Truck Leasing today announced it now offers new warranty and financing options for used light-, medium-, and heavy-duty commercial vehicles in collaboration with National Truck Protection (NTP) and netLoan Funding... Penske now offers extensive one year, 100,000 mile and two year, 200,000 mile warranty protection options on used equipment through its relationship with NTP, the industry's leading independent provider of extended warranties. Both plans include NTP's platinum coverage, which is considered the most comprehensive in the industry...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* China - Sinotruk Jumps on Possible Partnership, Stake Sale

Hong Kong,China -Bloomberg, by Irene Shen & Mark Lee -Nov. 21, 2008: -- Sinotruk (Hong Kong) Ltd., China's largest heavy-truck maker, jumped the most in four days after saying it may sell a stake to a strategic partner... The company gained as much as 14 percent and was up 11 percent to HK$4.34 at the 12:30 p.m. trading break, while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 4.5 percent. Sinotruk has plunged 64 percent this year, compared with the benchmark's 54 percent decline... The unidentified potential investor may buy new and existing shares in Sinotruk and also allow the company to use its technology, the Hong Kong-based truckmaker said in a stock exchange statement last night. Sinotruk is seeking investment and planning to boost sales overseas as Chinese truck demand wanes alongside the country's cooling economy... Paccar Inc., Navistar International Corp. or Scania AB could be among the possible investors, as these truckmakers haven't got local joint ventures in China yet, she added...

* Sweden - Volvo truckmaker's profit rises 24 per cent in fourth quarter

Goterborg,Sweden -AutoNews24h -24 Nov 2008: -- Volvo AB posted a 24 per cent increase in fourth-quarter profit Friday as sales growth stalled for the world's second-biggest truckmaker, missing analysts' forecasts... Goteborg-based Volvo said it earned 3.7 billion kronor (US$533 million) in the last quarter of 2006, up from three billion kronor a year earlier. Sales dipped to 65.1 billion kronor ($9.37 billion) from 65.3 billion kronor in 2005... But Volvo said order bookings grew eight per cent...

* USA - Navistar Set to Use Credits to Meet 2010 EPA Standards

USA -Transport Topics, by Frederick Kiel -Nov. 24, 2008: -- Navistar International Corp. will use federal emission credits to enable its new Class 8 engine to meet 2010 federal emission standards, although the engine could be set up to comply with the regulation without the credits, a Navistar executive said... Navistar’s proprietary big-bore engine will use exhaust gas recirculation to meet the drastically reduced nitrogen oxides emissions level mandated by 2010, rather than the selective catalytic reduction system employed by all other engine makers... Timothy Shick, director of marketing for Navistar’s Engine Group, told Transport Topics that using emission credits will enable it to run higher NOx levels for about two years and use the time to “fine-tune” its EGR system...

* Japan - Isuzu, Mazda Cut 2,700 Jobs as Vehicle Demand Falls

Tokyo,Japan -Bloomberg, by Makiko Kitamura & Tetsuya Komatsu -Nov. 20, 2008: -- Isuzu Motors Ltd. and Mazda Motor Corp. will slash at least 2,700 temporary jobs in Japan as the companies reduce vehicle output because of falling demand... Isuzu will terminate 1,400 temporary and part-time workers' contracts by the end of the year and cut one shift at a truck plant in Fujisawa, Japan from next month, said spokesman Naoki Ariizumi. Mazda will cut 500 workers at its factory in Yamaguchi prefecture, and 800 workers at its plant in Hiroshima prefecture, said spokesman Toyota Tanaka...

* Japan - Honda to closes factory for two months

Tokyo,Japan -Investment Markets (Scotland,UK), by Kay Murchie -November 23, 2008: -- Honda, the Japanese carmaker, has announced it is to temporarily close its plant in Swindon for 50 days next year... During the closure, which will take place in February and March 2009, the factory’s 4,800 employees will receive basic pay, confirmed the company... Honda, which is Japan’s second-largest carmaker, recently announced a 41% fall in three-month profits, due to falling sales and the strengthening yen. The closure is as a result of slowing global demand and falling sales...

* USA - Eaton Corp. is building for the long haul

Kalamazoo,MICH,USA -Business Review Western Michigan, by Lynn Stevens -November 26, 2008: -- Eaton Corp. is adding a third floor to its 201,000-square-foot truck business division headquarters in Galesburg, near Kalamazoo... The uptick that the commercial-truck industry was expecting in the second half of 2008 in North America did not materialize, Eaton Truck Group spokesman Don Alles said... One idea driving growth is hybrid power for commercial trucks. Eaton's hybrid systems enable running specialized truck components -- such as booms or extensions -- off hydraulic or battery power with the truck engine off, saving money and reducing pollution...

* India - Tata Motors to lay off 3,000 temps at Pune unit

New Delhi,Pune,India -The Economic Times, by Mohit Bhalla & Gouri Agtey Athale -27 Nov 2008: -- Tata Motors, India’s largest commercial vehicle maker, is shedding up to 3,000 temporary jobs at its Pune factory, weeks after its decision to cut production and dismiss a similar number of temporary workers at its Jamshedpur plant. The latest cuts could take the overall layoffs to around 6,000 workers... Officials at Tata Motors’ Pune factory, who did not wish to be named, said the number of temporary staff set to lose jobs range from 1,000 to 3,000 workers. Another senior company executive said the layoff of temporary staff was routine for all automobile companies...

Labels: truckmakers news worldwide

AUTOMAKERS' CRISIS * USA - Caravan to Capitol to back Big 3 goes online

Organizers said driving hundreds of cars to D.C. was not feasible, will turn effort into Web site

Detroit,Mich,USA -The Detroit News, by Scott Burgess -November 27, 2008: -- The caravan bound from Detroit to Washington, D.C., to support federal bridge loans for Detroit's Big Three automakers will take the information superhighway instead of the interstate, organizers said Wednesday... Grand plans of an automotive cavalcade to the nation's Capitol grew to the point of impossible once the idea was floated last week by a number of influential people in Detroit... The ad hoc organizers quickly realized the logistical nightmare involved with hundreds of cars driving to Washington to support proposed federal assistance -- $25 billion in low-interest loans -- to U.S. automakers... The coalition of organizers, which includes suppliers, dealers and union workers, said they will send 51 people to Washington on Dec. 5. Each person will come from a different state and the District of Columbus. They will wear a shirt announcing their state and how many jobs GM, Ford and Chrysler has helped create there. All told, there are 6 million jobs around the country that could be impacted if the Big Three go bankrupt, the group says... "This is not just a Detroit story," Leuliette said. "This is about building jobs; it's about America"...

Labels: automakers' crisis

Truckers Vulnerability * USA - To State Governments Seeking Owner/Operator Revenue

Change May Force Truckers to Seek Federal Protection

Sun City,AZ,USA -News Release Wire -November 26 2008: -- California has won its court claim that FedEx owner/operators are indeed employees -- and not independent contractors... Other state governments are reviewing their employing status of trucking companies which hire owner/operators. States that also determine their owner/operators to be employees can subject the 1.2 million estimated owner/operator settlements and their estimated $240 billions in revenue to be subject to employment security and workers’ compensation premiums, industry experts argue... That new status could yield an estimated tax windfall in the billions of dollars for the governments...

Labels: truckers' troubles

TRUCKERS CLAIM * USA - Brown's frivolous lawsuit designed to curry political favor

Since February, California Attorney General Jerry Brown has been taking dead aim at trucking companies working out of California ports for their abusive treatment of employees

Los Angeles,CAL,USA -Legal Newsline, by SCOTT SABATINI -26 Nov 2008: -- The investigation has resulted in five lawsuits over abusive practices filed so far, and Brown has made no secret of his intent to push the investigation further... But now, those under siege have started fighting back. On Monday, an international trucker based out of Long Beach, Calif., claimed the lawsuit Brown filed against it is nothing more than an attempt by a politician seeking higher office to curry favor with the Teamsters... Pac Anchor, one of five companies sued by Brown, said its workers are independent contractors, "free to determine whether they work or not work, to accept a job or reject it for any reason," according to a statement released by the company... When asked about the accusations, Brown told Legal Newsline in September, "They can say that about anything I do"... Brown, 70, served as California's governor from 1975 to 1983. He ran for president three times, including in 1992 when he came in second to Democratic Nominee Bill Clinton. In the late 1990s he jumpstarted his political career anew by being elected the mayor of Oakland, a crime-ridden city across the bay from San Francisco. As mayor he started many energy efficiency and downtown revitalization programs before being elected as attorney general in 2006... Since June Brown has been aggressively raising money and securing endorsements for a likely run to return the governor's mansion... (Photo: Jerry Brown)

Labels: truckers' complain

TRUCKING FUTURE * USA - Obama team hears truckers’ perspective from OOIDA

OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer accepted an invitation from Obama’s transportation transition team to meet with the group on Monday, Nov. 24...

Chicago,ILL,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Jami Jones -November 26, 2008: -- ... The team heard from a variety of groups representing different aspects of the trucking industry. Groups that met with the team include the American Trucking Association, the Truckload Carriers Association, Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, National Private Truck Council and the truck manufacturers... In the meeting, Spencer was also able to address issues such as electronic on-board recorders, parking shortages, idling regulations, highway financing and driver training... He encouraged the Obama administration to look at the issues facing truck drivers from a national perspective and not leave issues such as parking and idling restrictions in sole control of the states... Spencer said the Association will now be working toward one-on-one face time with members of the incoming Obama administration to further educate the key players on these issues facing truckers...

Labels: future cargo freights

TRUCKERS' PROTEST * USA - ... Will be a rally through Skaneateles Friday by truckers protesting regulations proposed by the state

Skaneateles truck rally details depend on whom you ask

Auburn,NY,USA -The Auburn Citizen, by Christopher Caskey -November 26, 2008: -- ... Charlie Claburn is the Northeast regional director of Truckers and Citizens United, the national organization staging the protest. He said residents of Skaneateles and other rural communities have legitimate concerns about the large trucks that drive through their towns from downstate to shorten trips and decrease tolls. The proposed regulations do not affect trucks making deliveries to locations along the restricted roads... But Claburn said the truckers have become the “middle man” in the argument, and stricter regulations will only hurt them... This is “a direct assault against my way of life and against our industry,” he said... The truckers will come from the Thruway on Route 414, to Route 318, and then onto Route 20 through Skaneateles “nice and easy” before heading back to Waterloo... He said he hopes politicians can recognize that without a healthy trucking industry, upstate citizens will not be able to receive food, oil, or most other materials... “Politicians bring words and talk and chaos,” Claburn said. “Human beings deliver hope”...

Labels: truckers protests

AUTO-MAKERS' CRISIS: OPINION * USA - Jeremy Siegel's Advice to Big Three: "I think bankruptcy's the best option"

PENN,USA -Knowledge Finance and Investment Research Article -November 26, 2008: -- Before the stock market and the broader economy can return to something that looks like normal, banks must start to lend the billions they are getting from the U.S. Treasury's Troubled Asset Recovery Program... Siegel also discusses the government's rescue of Citigroup and the proposed bailout of the U.S. auto industry...

- Knowledge@Wharton: There's much more disagreement about whether or not the government should act to bail out the automobile industry. That's of great interest to the financial sector, including Citigroup, because they have a lot of exposure there. What's your thinking on the bailout proposal? Is bankruptcy an option?

* Jeremy Siegel (Wharton's Finance Professor): Yeah. I think bankruptcy's the best option. I think there is such mammoth misunderstanding of what bankruptcy at GM and Ford and Chrysler would be. You know, the way the companies talk, the way the unions talk is, they're going to just cease operations, and millions of people are going to be laid off. And then that just trickles through the whole economy. Well, again -- and I have mentioned this before -- look at the airlines. They kept on operating. They renegotiated their labor contracts. They -- you know, re-set all sorts of things. They're flying again. And in fact, some of the analysts say that if gasoline prices and oil prices stay down, they could be quite profitable, moving beyond the recession going forward. Some have even called it promising.... And of course, people say, "Well, you can't do that with GM. Because who would buy the car if they didn't have a warrantee?" Well, GM still has $15 billion, $20 billion dollars. They could put away two or $3 billion in trust with the federal government. This is for all our warrantees. And in fact, if you want some government involvement in it, let the government insure the warrantees. The lemons, if need be. The parts, if need be. That still would be a small fraction of a bailout, without the flexibility that you have with bankruptcy. Because without bankruptcy, they have very limited ability to renegotiate with their unions. And now you have a Democratic Congress, a Democratic President. But the union's sitting there and said, "Hey, they promised us all these health benefits." And that's what's really killing Ford and GM. You know? And which side do you think is going to win on that struggle, over there?...

- Knowledge@Wharton: The auto industry uncertainty is just one of many uncertainties that seem to be tormenting the market these days. Is that the thing that's really missing here, some stability?

* Siegel: The big down-movement the last couple of weeks has been this commercial bank panic. Now it's been shored up a little bit, because basically the government says, "Hey, we're going to stand behind Citigroup, and that probably means we're going to stand behind most of these commercial bank mortgages." The big problem -- really, the big problem is to get the banks to lend. And I don't mean new borrowers. I mean, they must continue the lines of credit to their credit-worthy customers. I've been saying this all along. If I were in the government right today, I would say anybody that took TARP money -- and most of those banks did -- must keep their lines of credit open to their credit-worthy customers. They can't yank them prematurely. They must keep them going for a period of six months. And if they don't like that, then pay the money back to us and you can do whatever you want. But the whole purpose of this was to do lending. And the lending is not taking place...

Labels: automakers' crisis

26.11.08

ALTERNATIVE FUELS * USA - Federal government's fleet sees mixed results

Washington,DC,USA -The Washington Post/API SmartBrief -24 Nov 2008: -- Federal agencies have spent billions for vehicles that burn alternative fuel, but more than 92% of the fuel the government uses is standard gasoline because the fleet has been dispatched to areas where those alternative fuels are not available, according to a Washington Post analysis...

Labels: alternative fuels

TRUCKING INDUSTRY'S ANALYSIS * USA - Analyst says trucking demand wilting

JPMorgan analyst Thomas R. Wadewitz lowered estimates for less-than-truckload carriers by an average of 7.3 percent for next year, and cut his truckload forecasts by an about 12.9 percent

New York,NY,USA -The Associated Press/The Trucker -26 Nov 2008: -- A JPMorgan analyst lowered his 2009 estimates across the trucking sector Wednesday, noting growing weakness among companies already battered by a sour economy... “Both transport and macroeconomic data have weakened significantly in the fourth quarter, indicating a fall in demand which is even sharper than we had previously anticipated,” Thomas R. Wadewitz wrote in a note to clients... The industry’s main trade group, the American Trucking Associations, last week said goods shipped by trucks in the U.S. in October fell at a faster-than-expected rate. Other key economic indicators, including the Institute for Supply Management’s closely watched service sector index and industrial production trends, “also clearly point to a sharp falloff in economic activity,” the analyst said...

Labels: trucking industry analysis USA

POLLUTION * USA - NY moves to reduce diesel truck emissions with retrofits

New York is taking steps to reduce diesel emissions in its construction truck fleet...

Albany,N.Y.,USA -AP/The Trucker, by Dorothy Cox -26 Nov 2008: -- The Department of Environmental Conservation is floating proposed regulations requiring trucks made before 2007 to be fitted with emissions-reducing equipment and to use ultra-low-sulfur fuel by 2011... The new regulations would apply only to state-owned trucks or trucks used for state contract work. The DEC estimates it will cost $195 million to retrofit about 30,000 state trucks... The New York State Motor Truck Association said Tuesday the additional costs are prohibitive and poorly timed during an economic slowdown... Meanwhile, Gov. David Paterson was in the Bronx, which has the state’s highest asthma rate, announcing a crackdown on all trucks whose emissions violate state air regulations... (The Department of Environmental Conservation proposed regulations would apply only to state-owned trucks or trucks used for state contract work. The DEC estimates it will cost $195 million to retrofit about 30,000 state trucks. The New York State Motor Truck Association said Tuesday the additional costs are prohibitive and poorly timed during an economic slowdown)

Labels: trucks' pollution

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* USA - Navistar delivers first International LoneStar

Warrenville,ILL,USA -The Trucker -21 Nov 2008: -- Navistar representatives presented the keys to Danny Boudreau, driver and owner of Jeramand Enterprises, during ceremonies at East Coast International Trucks in Moncton, New Brunswick... The LoneStar made its debut to the public to much fanfare earlier this year in February at the Chicago Auto Show. In March, truck enthusiasts got their first look at the bold, stylish truck at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Kentucky. Now, just two years after the truck’s earliest designs, the LoneStar is a reality... The truck progressed directly from math and clay models to hard tooling for production — without any development prototypes... (The LoneStar is designed to create a new category of Class 8 trucks called “advanced classic,” in which technology and innovative styling converge with next-generation aerodynamic design to deliver superior fuel efficiency)

* Germany - Daimler trucks won't cut German production hours

Stuttgart,Germany -AP, by OLIVER SCHMALE -24 Nov 2008: -- The head of Daimler AG's truck business said it does not plan to cut working hours at its German plants in the immediate future, despite the economic downturn, but would not rule out further savings in the United States... The company is planning to cut back most of its part-time help by the end of this year, but has given no figures... Renschler acknowledged that the company — whose truck brands include Mercedes-Benz, Freightliner, Western Star and Fuso — faces weak demand in the coming months...

* European Truck Slump Accelerates, Spreads to Germany

Brussels,Belgium -Bloomberg, by Laurence Frost -Nov. 25, 2008: -- European heavy-truck sales plunged 14 percent last month as the fallout from the economic slowdown and tighter credit spread to Germany and the U.K... Manufacturers sold 26,479 trucks weighing 16 metric tons or more in October, compared with 30,925 a year earlier, the Brussels-based European Automobile Manufacturers Association said in a statement today. Deliveries for the first 10 months rose 1.5 percent to 277,202 vehicles... Daimler AG, Volvo AB and MAN AG, Europe’s top three truckmakers, are cutting thousands of jobs and trimming production as the economic slowdown gathers pace. Spain and Italy led the heavy truck-sales slide among the larger western European markets, with respective declines of 53 percent and 21 percent last month. Germany, the largest market, turned negative with an 8.5 percent drop, after a sales gain of 21 percent in September...

Labels: truckmakers' news USA

WARNING TRUCKERS * UK - British police turn to citizens to set speed traps

Many homeowners in quiet neighborhoods probably have the same dream. A car comes whizzing by going way over the posted limit and, for a moment, they wish they were cops so they could pull the offender over

London,UK -Land Line Magazine (USA) -November 24, 2008: -- ... Police in Britain are making that dream come true in towns and villages across the country. The Daily Mail reported that a new program will assemble bands of citizen volunteers in local communities and supply them with speed detection equipment, signs and high-visibility jackets... The volunteers will record the license plate numbers of speeders and turn them over to police, who will then check the plates on the national computer database and send a warning to the motorist. Anyone who gets three such warnings can be targeted by police for prosecution... Critics of the program say it risks turning neighbors against neighbors and encourages vigilantism. One of the first communities in Britain to try the program was forced to disband it after outcries from angry townspeople when children were found to be working the speed cameras...

Labels: truckers' warning

INFRASTRUCTURES * USA - Obama economic plan aims for 2.5M new jobs by 2011

Washington,DC,USA -AP, by WILL LESTER -23 Nov 2008: -- President-elect Barack Obama promoted an economic plan Saturday he said would provide 2.5 million jobs by rebuilding roads and bridges and modernizing schools while developing alternative energy sources and more efficient cars... "These aren't just steps to pull ourselves out of this immediate crisis. These are the long-term investments in our economic future that have been ignored for far too long," Obama said in the weekly Democratic radio address... Obama pointed to the past as a reason for optimism, saying that Americans in this country's darkest hours have risen above their divisions to solve their problems, as a hope for the future...

* ATA support investments in infrastructure

Austin,TX,USA -The Austin American-Statesman -23 Nov 2008: -- ... A spokesman for the trucking industry's main trade group said Saturday that the American Trucking Associations support investments in infrastructure as a method of reducing the nation's carbon emissions and cutting delays and congestion. "But nothing is going to help the trucking industry except for an increase in trade and repairs to the economy," Clayton Boyce said... (Photo by Charles Dharapak /ASSOCIATED PRESS -
President-elect Barack Obama, in profile during a ride to a Chicago gym, says he told his economic team to craft 'a plan big enough to meet the challenges we face.')

Labels: infrastructures

TRUCKERS HEROES * USA & Canada - A story about Chris Howard

He would never ask for recognition - he was just doing what he could to help another person

USA -Reader's Digest/ by Wendy -November 21, 2008: -- ... As he approached the St. Helens, Oregon, city limits, Chris Howard took his foot off the gas, signaled for a turn and eased into the right lane. He had just gotten off his shift as a foreman for a local industrial contractor, and his mind wandered a bit while he drove. But then he saw something that made him snap to attention. A hundred yards ahead, a loaded lumber truck was coming his way, on the wrong side of the four-lane highway. The truck was on the shoulder and going only about 10 mph, but it was weaving badly, forcing panicked drivers to slam on their brakes... Howard stopped, and when the truck rumbled past him, he saw that the driver, who was frantically glancing over his shoulder as he swerved toward the lanes of traffic, was young... As the 50-ton truck kept going, he got a better look. The driver was a little kid.... As the truck continued to bump along the highway, Howard flattened himself against the cab, the door banging against him. He searched the dashboard for a power switch but found nothing. He looked for the ignition key but couldn't see it... Out of desperation, Howard stepped into the cab as far as he could and stomped on the brake pedal with his right foot. His body shook as the truck jerked to a stop... He turned to Matty and said, "What were you doing?""My dad!" Matty cried. "I don't know what happened." Until then, Howard hadn't noticed the man slumped on the floor. He was breathing and his eyes were open, but they had a glazed look. Howard tried to rouse him."What's his name?" he asked."Matt," said the boy."Matt!" Howard yelled. "Can you hear me?"... (Photo: Chris and Howard)

* Canada - Ontario trucker wins Truck Hero Award for saving driver in blazing car

Ontario,CAN -Land Line Magazine (CAN) -November 25, 2008: -- An Ontario trucker was awarded the Canadian Truck Hero Award and $3,000 in Toronto earlier this month. Bridgestone Firestone Canada will also donate $3,000 to the charity of his choice... The trucker, Conrad Henry, was on his way home from a Florida run in October 2007 when he noticed smoke coming from a car on the side of the road near Munro, OH... According to a press release, Henry pulled over, called 911 and retrieved his fire extinguisher from the cab. While he talked to 911 operators on his cell phone and tried to douse the flames, he noticed someone slumped in the front seat... Henry fought through the heavy smoke, opened the car door and dragged the disoriented driver away from the car engulfed in flames... Thanks to Henry’s decisive actions, emergency personnel promptly arrived at the scene and were able to provide further medical assistance. The state police told Conrad that his quick thinking had helped save the man’s life...

Labels: truckers heros

TECHNO-NEWS * USA - Mileage-Increasing Transportation Technology Boosts MPG in hybrids and range in electric vehicles by 20 to 70 percent

Tufts University Grants Exclusive Commercial Rights to Electric Truck, LLC, for

Greenwich,Conn. & BOSTON,USA -MarketWatch -Nov 21, 2008: -- Electric Truck, LLC (ET) and Tufts University's Office for Technology Licensing and Industry Collaboration (OTL&IC) today announced that ET has exclusively optioned commercial rights to a technology that can recharge the batteries of any hybrid electric and electric-powered vehicle while it is driven... The Tufts-developed technology could increase by 20 to 70 percent the miles per gallon or total driving range performance of vehicles like the Honda Civic, Ford Escape, and Toyota Prius hybrids and the Tesla Motors and Phoenix Motorcars electric vehicles... This cost-effective invention harnesses the movement of the vehicle to generate electricity that is used to recharge the battery continually while the vehicle is in motion... Since the technology actively uses the weight of a vehicle for energy recovery, it could help speed the expansion of the hybrid and battery electric vehicle market from cars to vehicles of greater size, weight and payloads, such as SUVs, pickup and delivery trucks, mail trucks, school and city buses and other light and medium duty trucks. Trucks are a large market segment based on commercial need and also represent some of the biggest sources of emissions...

Labels: technonews

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA - Majority leader in Washington state goes to bat for truckers

WASH,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Clarissa Kell-Holland -November 21, 2008: -- Already cash-strapped trucking companies in Washington state were dealt a blow in late September when they received a letter from the state’s Department of Labor and Industries announcing that workers’ compensation rates would likely go up in 2009... However, several state lawmakers – including Rep. Lynn Kessler, D-24th Dist., have vowed to fight against the workers’ compensation rate increases, which she said could put some struggling businesses under if they are approved... Kessler, who is majority leader in the House, said she spoke with Gov. Chris Gregoire about the rate hikes on Thursday, Nov. 20, and said she told her “this is a really bad time to be raising rates”...

* Sioux Falls company’s trucks ordered off the road

A federal judge has ordered a Sioux Falls trucking company to pull its rigs from the road because it’s not carrying liability insurance, according to a court order

Sioux Falls,S.D..USA -Associated Press/Argus Leader, by Carson Walker -November 21, 2008 – ... Action Carrier Inc. already was on probation because of earlier violations.U.S. District Judge Lawrence Piersol on Thursday granted U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters’ motion for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the motor carrier.The order prevents the company from operating without a liability insurance policy that covers bodily injury and property damage and without operating authority from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration...

* Ohio Invests In Job Stimulus Program For Logistics Firms

OH,USA -WCPO, by Tom McKee -21 Nov 2008: -- There was mixed news for Ohio's economy Friday... On one hand, the unemployment rate was 7.3% for October, up slightly from 7.2% in September... That was tempered by the announcement from Governor Ted Strickland of a $100 million investment for the state's logistics and distribution industries... It's part of the $1.57 billion Ohio Bipartisan Jobs Stimulus Plan approved earlier this year by the Ohio General Assembly... The investment is designed to create jobs by upgrading the transportation infrastructure so Ohio companies can expand their customer bases... (Photographed By: Dave Marlo)

* Truckers warn of shakeout over CARB rule - Tougher diesel emissions rule planned

Sacramento,CAL,USA -The Central Valley Business Times -November 21, 2008: -- A California truckers’ group warns there will be widespread business failures in their industry if the California Air Resources Board approves a tougher rule for emissions from diesel engines... CARB is set to vote in three weeks on the rule that could see virtually every diesel truck and bus operating in California having their engines replaced or retrofitted with air pollution control devices starting in 2010... The trucking industry says the upgrading and replacement will cost $5.5 billion “at a time when there is little to no access to capital to finance engine retrofits or replacements”... Bob Ramorino, president of the California Trucking Association and president of Roadstar Trucking in Hayward, says this will prompt a widespread shakeout in the industry...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

21.11.08

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* France - Renault Trucks to partially shut French sites

Lyon,France -AP -20 June 2008: -- Auto manufacturer Renault Trucks, a subsidiary of Sweden's Volvo, said Wednesday it would temporarily close three sites in France for up to 90 days in 2009 due to falling demand amid an economic slowdown... The partial shutdowns will affect production sites in Lyon, Bourg-en-Bresse and Blainville-sur-Orne, which will operate only three days a week in January and February... Renault Trucks also plans to cut back production. The company offers various types of vehicles from light trucks for delivery to heavy trucks for long haulage.... Forecast production would be cut by 66 percent between July 2008 and July 2009 to keep pace with falling orders...

* USA - Daimler Trucks chief looking at longer downturn

New York,NY,USA -MarketWatch, by Steve Gelsi -Nov. 19, 2008: -- Daimler AG Trucks began preparing for a downturn in 2007, but now thanks to the credit crisis the slowdown in the sector could go on longer than expected, its top executive said Wednesday... While Andreas Renschler counts falling diesel-fuel prices along with growing interest in alternative fuels and hybrid technologies as positives for big truck makers, Daimler Trucks -- which employs some 30,000 in the United States under the Freightliner brand, among others -- is keeping a close eye on the latest developments in the ailing global economy... Daimler made moves to curb production back in 2007, when the industry, which includes Paccar Inc., Navistar International Corp., and Volvo, saw a drop of more than 40% in heavy trucks... Despite the credit crunch, Renschler commented that the company's big fleet customers such as UPS Inc., still have been able to get financing to buy new trucks...

* USA - Volvo Trucks Launches Diesel Particulate Filter Remanufacturing Program

USA -Traffic World -19 Nov 2008: -- Volvo Trucks North America has launched a large-scale program to remanufacture diesel particulate filters (DPF). The program will operate out of the Middletown Remanufacturing Center (MRC) in Middletown, Pa.... The program enables Volvo Trucks customers to simply exchange the used ceramic filter element from their DPF for a clean one when service is required, reducing service time and simplifying emissions control systems maintenance. Customers are also assured of receiving a clean filter warranted by Volvo, while at the same time avoiding the need to invest in expensive filter cleaning systems... The DPFs are remanufactured to more than 90% of original capacity...

* Sweden - Swedish truck firm set to open Iraqi plant

Stockholm,Sweden -CNN -November 19, 2008 -- Swedish truck and bus maker Scania is to reopen a former plant in Iraq... The Swedish truck and bus maker that assembled trucks in Iraq during the Saddam Hussein era has signed "an agreement in principle" with the government to open an assembly plant next year... The company, Scania, issued a statement on its Web site confirming the deal to produce 500 trucks ordered by Iraq, with work starting during the third quarter of 2009... The work will be performed in the same Iskandariya factory south of Baghdad where the company's previous operation was housed. The operation comes under the auspices of Iraq's State Company for Automotive Industry...

Labels: truckmakers' news worldwide

19.11.08

New Engine Standards * USA - Will Leave Trucking Industry on the Side of the Road: OOIDA

Grain Valley, MO,USA -MarketWatch -Nov 19, 2008: -- The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) is asking U.S. policymakers to step up and take action in response to new research predicting a dramatic drop in new truck and engine purchases which will ultimately lead to a break down in the trucking industry... NERA Economic Consulting released a study detailing implications for the 2010 emission requirements for diesel engines indicating truckers and fleet managers will ultimately decide to not buy updated equipment because of financial reasons and user uncertainties. This will mean huge job losses for truck manufacturers and their suppliers, and a lack of choices for trucking equipment consumers of all sizes... The Association would like the Administration and Congress to push for a restructured timeline, phasing in the new emission standards to allow ample breathing room and build confidence within the trucking industry. This would provide time to prove the worthiness of new engines, give the economy an opportunity to recover and explore new fuel alternatives.... The NERA report is an update to a previous study in January of 2005 in anticipation of similar emission requirements in 2007. In 2010, truck engines will be required to comply with more stringent emission standards for nitrogen oxide (NOx). Various technologies are being developed and tested by engine and truck manufacturers to meet these standards.

Labels: trucks' engines

AUTOMAKERS' INDUSTRY CRISIS * USA - Auto collapse would ripple across country

Twenty-seven states would lose more than 10,000 jobs each if the domestic U.S. auto industry collapses, with triple that number of jobs likely lost when including parts suppliers...

Detroit,Mich,USA -The Detroit News, by Ron French, Rob Snell and Alisa Priddle -November 19, 2008: -- ... internal documents from the carmakers show... While the traditional Midwest manufacturing states would be by far the hardest hit, an analysis by The Detroit News of data obtained from General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC paint a grim portrait of the economic tidal wave that could spread across the country if Detroit's Big Three don't survive their current financial woes... There are roughly two auto parts workers for every Big Three employee, according to David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor... Ford has 34 auto parts suppliers in Connecticut, for example; Chrysler has 37, and GM has 211... While the automakers are often portrayed as a Michigan industry, more than half the states, ranging from the Atlantic to the Pacific and from the borders of Mexico and Canada, would lose more than 10,000 direct auto company and dealer jobs if the Big Three go under; with suppliers added, the number is likely to be more than 30,000 jobs in each of those states... Job losses at the automakers and auto suppliers would lead to others, according to a study conducted by Cole's organization, which conducts research for the car industry... A report released earlier this month estimated that nearly 3 million jobs would be lost in the United States in the first year after GM, Ford and Chrysler ceased to exist, with $60 billion lost in tax revenue... "If you let this thing get away from you, the consequences are enormous," Cole said...

Labels: automakers' crisis

HEALTH * USA - Truckers' Concerns

An increasing amount of reports are being released documenting the link between road safety and the health of truck drivers

USA -How To, by Joseph Devine -November 18, 2008: -- ... With the long hauls, unhealthy food available at trucks, and general sedentary nature of the job it is no wonder that truckers face health issues like high blood pressure, insomnia, high blood pressure, and poor vision... A Solution ... In Ontario a program has been started to try to catch truckers' developing poor health conditions before it becomes a serious health issue to themselves and safety concern to other drivers on the road... The program sets up a free clinic at a highly frequented truck stop once a month... At the clinic, truckers can get health checks to spot for high blood pressure or diabetes... If caught early enough, the two can be treated with better diets and exercise, avoiding the need to costly medication... This particular truck stop has furthered its commitment to its patron by installing a workout room and serving more fruits and cold plates...

Labels: Truckers' Health

AWARD * USA - Police Officer Credits Actions of Goodyear Highway Hero For Sparing Him From Serious Harm or Death

Akron,OH,USA -Truck Net, by Craig Zwiener- November 18, 2008: -- Officer Lou Gregoire of the Gwinnett County Police Department believes the actions of truck drivers, like David Zorn, make them more of a hero... Back in 2000, Zorn was driving an 18-wheeler, he stopped his truck when he witnessed Gregoire being attacked on the shoulder of U.S. Interstate 85 in Norcross, Ga., on the outskirts of Atlanta. Gregoire’s attacker had him pinned on the ground, but when he saw the 6-foot, 2-inch, 250-pound truck driver coming at him brandishing a large flashlight, he fled. Seeing the attacker had no weapon, Zorn pursued, caught and held him on the ground until other police officers arrived... Zorn, who is now working as a regional driver for Yellow Transportation, still has a hard time seeing himself as a hero. Rather he looks at himself as someone who was angry that no one else would stop to help a police officer in trouble...

Labels: truckers' awards

HOS REGULATIONS * USA - It’s final: Current rules to stay

FMCSA elects to maintain current HOS regulations allowing drivers to drive 11 hours in 15-hour work day

Washington,DC,USA -Logistics Management, by John D. Schulz -18 Nov 2008: -- There is going to be no change in the current hours-of-service (HOS) regulations governing approximately 3 million long-haul truck drivers... The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), said it was adopting as final its interim final rule adopted 11 months ago. That allows drivers to drive 11 hours within a 15-hour work day with a 34-hour restart provision... The final rule was scheduled to be published in Wednesday’s Federal Register and will become effective Jan. 19... The biggest change was a push by carriers to urge shippers to become more efficient at their loading docks since drivers’ waiting time was no longer counted as off-duty time, but rather part of the drivers’ work day... Drivers are limited to 60 hours driving in seven days, or 70 in eight days, while allowing those clocks to be reset by taking 34 straight off-duty hours... (Photo by Larry Smith/Trans Pixs)

* Rules of the Road: DOT Puts Truck Drivers and Motorists at Risk

Washington,DC,USA -OMB Watch, by Matt Madia -November 18, 2008: -- Yet another of the Bush administration's last-minute regulations has been announced.... This time, the Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has set rules on the length of time truck drivers can work... The timing of this rule's release was critical. Currently, truck drivers and the trucking industry are living with these dangerous rules, but they are only temporary. Had the rules remained in their interim form, it would have been relatively easy for the forthcoming Obama administration to finalize new rules more protective of the safety of both truck drivers and other motorists... Now, the rules are pretty well cemented. (Of course, since the Bush administration hasn't learned its lesson in past court cases on this rule, justice may yet prevail). The final rules go into effect Jan. 19 — the day before President Bush leaves office...

* FMCSA to Leave Hours-of-Service Rule Unchanged

Arlington,VA,USA -Transport Topics -18 Nov 2008: -- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, in a notice to be published in Wednesday’s Federal Register, said it was making no changes to its controversial hours-of-service rule... Since first revising the rule in 2003, courts have either invalidated the entire rule or rejected parts of if twice, but FMCSA has continued to maintain the basic framework of the regulation, which includes 11 hours of driving within a window of 14 consecutive hours of work, followed by 10 hours off-duty... Previously, the rule had allowed for 10 hours of driving in a 15-hour period, but allowed drivers to log on and off duty at will, while requiring just eight hours of rest between shifts... The 14-hour clock and the 10 hours of mandated rest reduced fatigue, but also created new constraints, and “to offset these constraints, while ensuring fatigue benefits are realized, the agency determined it could allow additional operation flexibility by permitting increased driving hours,” FMCSA said...

Labels: HOS regulations

ANTI-POLLUTION REGULATIONS * USA - Time trucking industry comes clean

Every year each person in the South Coast Air Basin pays $1,250, and $1,600 in the San Joaquin Valley to breathe bad air, according to researchers from Cal State Fullerton

San Bernardino,CAL,USA -The Sun, by Nidia Bautista (*) -18 Nov 2008: -- ... Staggering numbers quantifying the economic toll of air pollution were released last week reminding us that Californians pay a hefty price tag for breathing dirty air. Every year each person in the South Coast Air Basin pays $1,250, and $1,600 in the San Joaquin Valley to breathe bad air, according to researchers from Cal State Fullerton. A $28 billion combined price tag for poor air quality confirms that we not only pay for poor air with our lungs and lives, but we're pulling out our pocket books too... California has made tremendous progress toward improving air quality, but studies such as these sound the alarm bell warning us that we can no longer afford to hit the snooze button; we must wake up and take action to ensure future generations breathe cleaner air... Unfortunately, actions often stall when the polluters claim that regulations are too costly. Well, now we've got 28 billion more reasons to not procrastinate. The health and economic costs - in medical costs, lost work and premature death - of air pollution are a drain on our economy, and if left unaddressed will continue to plague us for decades... The ARB developed a proposed regulation that balances our needs to meet federal clean air commitments, protect public health and provide truckers with an adequate level of flexibility for compliance. The regulation ensures trucks operating in California are equipped with life-saving particulate filters by 2014 and have the cleanest available engines by 2023... Additionally, recognizing that a large percentage of trucks are owned by independent owner-operators, the state also provides small fleets (three or less trucks) with an extended compliance timeline... The proposed regulation is expected to yield life-saving results with a 43 percent reduction in diesel particulates and a 23 percent reduction in nitrogen oxides, a key component of smog. It would prevent about 9,400 premature deaths, and would result in 150,000 fewer asthma-related cases and 950,000 fewer lost work days over a 10-year period... (* )Nidia Bautista is the community engagement director at the Coalition for Clean Air based in Los Angeles.

Labels: anti-pollution

18.11.08

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA - Border Valley Converts Fleet to Clean Fuel with ALT LNG

Dallas,TX,USA -Market Watch -Nov 18, 2008: -- Applied LNG Technologies USA, LLC ("ALT") announced an agreement to supply liquefied natural gas (LNG) to Border Valley Trading for use in their new fleet of LNG fueled trucks used in the distribution of their feed products... Border Valley, founded with a primary goal of becoming the best export forage company in the industry, is now one of the largest exporters of compressed hay products in the state of California. Long a leader in feed safety, Border Valley has expanded their commitment to growers, customers, vendors, and the general population by replacing its fleet of diesel trucks with units that utilize clean-burning LNG fuel, making an investment to improve the environment. With fifteen LNG powered trucks currently in operation, they plan an additional five to ten by second quarter of 2009...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

GOVERNMENT HELP * Brazil - Auto credit at pre-crisis levels

Sao Paulo,Brazil -The Detroit News/Bloomberg News (USA) -18 Nov 2008: -- Brazil's central bank President Henrique Meirelles said consumer credit for automobile purchases has almost returned to pre-crisis levels. "In the last couple of days credit has almost returned to normal in the automobile industry," said Meirelles during an event at the Sao Paulo State Federation of Industries, or Fiesp. The government had state banks Banco do Brasil SA and Banco Nossa Caixa SA make available as much as 8 billion reais ($3.44 billion) for the financial arms of carmakers to help spur lending and sales. Brazil vehicle registrations in October fell for the first time in two years as credit dried up and interest rates rose...

Labels: autos' industry crisis

AUTOMAKERS' INDUSTRY CRISIS * WORLDWIDE

* USA - White House won't give autos aid from Wall Street rescue package

Washington,DC, USA -The Detroit News, by Deb Price -November 18, 2008: -- White House press secretary Dana Perino said Tuesday that the Bush administration would "compromise" by allowing domestic automakers access to a $25 billion program for retooling plants but not on extending them a separate $25 billion that congressional Democrats favor... "We are in a situation where we need to move very quickly," Perino said, after predicting that Senate Democrats don't have the votes to pass the additional $25 billion automakers are hoping to get through access to the $700 billion Wall Street rescue package... Perino's comments signaled the White House's reluctance to budge on its differences with Detroit's Big Three and other auto allies. The remarks came as the CEOs of General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC, as well as United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger prepared to testify to a Senate Banking Committee why they urgently need the additional $25 billion...

* USA - Big 3 unlikely to get aid from $700B bailout package

Washington,DC,.USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson & Gordon Trowbridge -November 18, 2008: -- The Democrats' plan to carve out $25 billion from the $700 billion Wall Street rescue package was all but dead Tuesday, while the Senate's top Republican endorsed the White House call to rewrite the rules speeding up the Energy Department's retooling program... Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said he backed a White House proposal to drop the fuel efficiency requirements on the $25 billion retooling program to allow automakers to get immediate aid to help them continue to operate... "To basically change the qualifications of the money that we have already appropriated is a sound way to go forward," McConnell said... But House Democrats and many environmentalists oppose that idea, because the funds are supposed to be tied to projects for significant fuel efficiency improvements...

* USA - There are 'one too many' automakers, Bank of America CEO says

Detroit,Mich,USA -The Detroit News, by Nathan Hurst -November 18, 2008: -- The CEO of Bank of America Corp. said Tuesday that he wasn't in favor of a bailout for the Big Three unless it meant major consolidation of the industry... "The Big Three is one too many," Bank of America's Kenneth Lewis told a lunchtime audience at a meeting of the Detroit Economic Club Tuesday afternoon... "I think the American people are suspect of just giving more money and buying more time. They want to see that the companies have in fact changed and the strategies have changed."... Lewis, however, said any federal funding for the Big Three would have to come with stipulations.... "The American people aren't interested in just giving more money and not helping them change," Lewis said. It's best to "make sure the industry survives," rather than providing a quick fix, he said...

Briefling news

* USA - Chrysler dealers to lobby in D.C.
About 30 Chrysler LLC dealers are scheduled to be in Washington today on a 72-hour mission to talk to legislators about support of government assistance for the Detroit Big Three automakers. Chrysler spokesman Stuart Schorr said meetings have been set up with state representatives and senators with the 30 dealers descending on the Hill from about 20 different states. While in Washington, "we'll meet with anyone who will listen," said Jim Arrigo, co-chairman of the Chrysler dealer council and owner of two dealerships in Florida. "I think we can change the minds of those who say, 'Let them go bankrupt.' " The grassroots lobby effort came out of a conference call in which dealers talked about the dire situation of the industry and the need to have their voice heard. Chrysler President Jim Press and head of sales Steve Landry were on the call and offered to help them orchestrate a walk up Capitol Hill...

* USA - Ford to slash Mazda stake to raise cash
Dearborn,Mich,USA -The Detroit News, by Bryce G. Hoffman -November 18, 2008: Ford Motor Co. will sell most of its stake in Japan's Mazda Motor Corp. in an effort to strengthen its balance sheet in the face of a deepening global financial crisis. The Dearborn automaker today announced that it will reduce its stake in Mazda from 33.4 percent to just over 13 percent through the sale of Mazda stock to a group of Mazda's strategic partners, as well as to the Japanese automaker itself. The deal is expected to net Ford about $540 million...

* USA/Japan - GM sells stake in Suzuki for $230M
Tokyo,Japan - Cash-strapped General Motors Corp. will sell its entire stake in Suzuki Motor Corp. for $230 million, the automaker's latest move to stay afloat while awaiting a decision on government aid for the industry. Suzuki said Monday it would buy back the 3.02 percent stake from the American auto giant, which is seeking a $25 billion government lifeline, together with Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC , to weather the deepening economic crisis. Suzuki said GM's stake sale was necessary for the ailing American automaker to raise capital, but the Japanese company insisted it would continue a business partnership with GM. "We fully understand the necessity for GM to raise cash," Suzuki chairman and chief executive Osamu Suzuki said in a statement.

* USA - Getrag facility files for bankruptcy
Getrag Transmission Manufacturing LLC said Monday it filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for its Tipton, Ind., facility after Chrysler LLC pulled out of a financing options agreement and left the plant without a primary customer. The $530 million facility was being built for the sole purpose of making dual clutch transmissions for Chrysler, so when the automaker terminated the deal last month, the German manufacturer said it was forced to stop its operations in Tipton and cancel the project. Getrag said the filing only involves the Tipton facility and doesn't affect the other Getrag operations in the United States.

* USA - SKD Jonesville factory cuts 300 jobs
Jonesville,Mich,USA -- SKD Automotive Group LP is trimming more than 300 jobs by Jan. 10 at its plant in the Hillsdale County village of Jonesville. The company informed the village in a letter that was received last week. Village officials say SKD is Jonesville's largest employer. But it's unclear how many people work at the plant and whether SKD is closing the entire operation, which produces metal stampings and welding components. A telephone message seeking comment was left Monday at the company's headquarters in Troy.

* Ky. brake firm asks workers to retire
Elizabethtown,Ky,USA -- A Kentucky-based maker of brakes for automobiles has asked employees to take voluntary retirements and is not filling vacancies in an effort to reduce costs. Akebono Brake Corp ., an employer of 1,900 people nationally and about 950 workers at its Elizabethtown plant, produces brake calipers and friction materials, such as disc brake pads. Akebono's Elizabethtown general manager Carl Lay says Akebono is managing the turbulent economic waters better than many competitors because it supplies brake components for seven of the top 10 cars sold in North America. Akebono also has a development unit in Farmington Hills.

EUROPE

* U.K. - Automakers to request loan aid

London,UK -- Automakers in the U.K. will ask the government for "a package of measures to stimulate demand," including assistance for their loan divisions, the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders said. The group, representing global carmakers including General Motors Corp. and Toyota Motor Corp., will send a letter asking for "access to special liquidity vehicles" as have been provided to banks, SMMT Chief Executive Officer Paul Everitt said today in an interview. U.K. car sales fell 23 percent in October, the sixth consecutive monthly decline, as consumers refrained from making large purchases while Britain's economy headed for recession.

* Italy & Germany: Say no auto aid for now

Trieste,Italy -Associated Press/The Detroit Bews (USA), by Colleen Barry -18 Nov 2008: -- Italian Premier Silvio Berlusconi and German Chancellor Angela Merkel are taking a wait-and-see posture on aid to the auto industries that power both economies, while closely watching moves in the United States, the leaders said following a summit in the northern port of Trieste on Tuesday... Automakers have been calling for aid to help them weather the slide in demand with the global financial crisis -- while the United States considers a bailout for Detroit's General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC.... But Berlusconi said that he did not think that aid to the Italian auto industry was necessary at the moment... Merkel also is putting off a decision on aid, after having met with Adam Opel GmbH officials Monday night... The German leader said that the Opel situation was unique, because it is a wholly-owned subsidary of the troubled U.S. automaker General Motors, which is seeking U.S. government help to avoid bankruptcy... "We will wait to see how America supports its auto industry. We don't want our industry to be damaged," Merkel said...

Data from: The Detroit News/Bloomberg News -18 Nov 2008

Labels: automakers' crisis

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* Sweden - Volvo shipments fall, order weakness lingers

Stockholm,Sweden -Reuters, by Niklas Pollard & Victoria Klesty -18 Nov 2008: -- World number two truck maker Volvo on Tuesday posted a 12 percent year-on-year fall in October deliveries of its trucks and said the order trend in its key European market was still weak... Volvo, which sells trucks under brands such as Renault, Nissan Diesel and Mack as well as its own name, said in a statement deliveries fell 28 percent in its biggest market, Europe, where it is scaling back production and selectively idling plants. Deliveries fell 26 percent in North America... Truck makers across Europe have seen demand evaporate in recent months as the worsening global financial crisis has pushed export markets into recession and starved customers of access to the credit necessary to finance purchases...

* Sweden - Getting to know

Greensboro,N.C.,USA -Truck News, by James Menzies -18 Nov 2008: -- ... It certainly wasn’t possible to visibly discern the difference between the two vehicles, one of which was rigged with an EPA07 emissions system and the other with SCR, which Volvo and most other OEMs will use to comply with the more stringent 2010 emissions standards... The same could be said for the way the truck operated on the highway – the truck with SCR looked, felt and sounded the same as any other Volvo VN. Outside having to keep an eye on diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) levels, the transition to SCR-equipped vehicles in 2010 should be seamless for the driver... The DEF tank features a narrow filler neck, to prevent a driver from mistakenly filling it with diesel. The other two SCR components are an injector and an SCR catalyst, which are both located on the passenger side of the vehicle. The diesel particulate filter (DPF) will not change in 2010, except at the outlet where the DEF injector is located... (The SCR system is hidden from view by the side fairings, which were removed for this picture

* Sweden - Volvo Trucks: Favorite Of All

Sweden -Truckys Blog, by Mehul Brahmbhatt -18 Nov 2008: -- Volvo commercial trucks are among the most popularly chosen brand for truck drivers around the world. Volvo is currently the second largest heavy duty truck manufacturer in the world and currently sells more than 100,000 trucks each year. Sister companies to this manufacturer are Renault, Mack and UD or Nissan trucks... Truckers around the world have come to depend on their manufacturer of choice. The reason that most truck drivers have a preferred model of truck is simply because they have had good experiences with these manufacturers. Volvo commercial trucks are without a doubt one of the manufacturers brands that thousands of truck drivers prefer. You only have to drive down an interstate or freeway to see the number of these vehicles that are currently gracing our roadways...

* USA - Information About Freightliner Trucks

USA - Revolution -November 17, 2008: -- When you see a Freightliner on the road or drive it yourself you truly understand the tagline, ‘Run Smart’, that goes with these spectacular trucks and accessories. Freightliner is the leading producer of medium and heavy duty trucks, commercial vehicles from classes 5 through 8, customized chassis and semi truck accessories... Today the company is owned by Daimler-Chrylser and its logo also appears on the Sprinter or the Class 2 Mercedes-Benz van that is sold through its dealer network. The company is also a leader in the school bus, diesel Class A recreational vehicle chassis, and walk-in van markets...

Labels: truckmakers' news worldwide

MEXICANS TRUCKS * USA - Truckers pass safety test

Too few carriers join DOT’s cross-border project for ‘statistically significant analysis’

Newark,New Jersey,USA -The Pacific Shipper, by ARI NATTER -November 17, 2008: -- The Mexican truckers enrolled in the cross-border trucking program have a good safety record, sometimes better than their U.S.... The report — written by Mortimer L. Downey III, a former Clinton administration deputy transportation secretary; Kenneth M. Mead, former DOT inspector general; and former Republican member of Congress from Arizona James T. Kolbe — maybe too little, too late to save the program when the Obama administration and a new Congress take office next year... Members of Congress and the Teamsters union have strongly opposed the one-year program, which Transportation Secretary Mary E. Peters wants to extend for up to three more years. But with Democratic Sen. Barack Obama about to enter the White House and Democrats extending their majority in both the House and Senate, the DOT experiment is likely to end next year... The report found no accidents or crashes involving the Mexican carriers in the demonstration project... There were 7,000 driver inspections and 1,400 truck inspections, in addition to safety checks made every time a Mexican truck enters the United States... (Photo: Trucks wait to cross into the U.S. from Tijuana, Mexico)

Labels: mexicans' trucks debate

CONTAINERS' CONTROLS * USA - The sound of smuggling

But what has proved a boon to the global economy has also provided a great opportunity for smugglers, drug traffickers and terrorists

Chichester,England,UK - Detectors/Separations Now -17 Nov 2008: -- ... Around 18 million cargo containers are transported around the world each year and only a small fraction of those (around 4% in the US) tend to be checked when they arrive at a port. So contraband such as drugs, firearms and explosives hidden in cargo containers currently have a good chance of remaining undiscovered by the authorities... Now, however, a new portable option is available, which should allow a greater proportion of containers to be tested. Developed by Edward Staples from the US measurement technology company Q&A Solutions and Shekar Viswanathan from the National University in San Diego, this new option takes advantage of a phenomenon known as surface acoustic waves (SAWs)... As their name suggests, SAWs are sound waves that travel along the surface of a material. First discovered back in 1885, SAWs have subsequently been employed in electronic circuits, where the propagation of these waves forms the basis for filters, oscillators and transformers... Testing this GC-SAW system on samples of cocaine hidden in a cargo container, Staples and Viswanathan found that their system could detect characteristic chemical markers for this drug in around 20 seconds at concentrations as low as parts per trillion. According to Viswanathan, this system is now being employed by government agencies in several countries around the world, including the US...

Labels: controls

17.11.08

OIL NEWS * USA - Crude futures close at a 22-month low under $55 a barrel

San Francisco,CAL,USA -MarketWatch, by Myra P. Saefong -Nov 17, 2008: -- December crude fell $2.09, or 3.7%, to close at $54.95 per barrel Monday on the New York Mercantile Exchange, with prices reflecting weakness in the U.S stock market and ongoing concerns about global energy demand... "The bottom line is if we see a commanding recovery in the stocks, we should move higher" in oil, said Mark Waggoner, president of Excel Futures. "The flip side is we are entrenched in a bear market that shows no sign of bottoming as of yet"... (Photo by Bruce Harmon/Trans Pixs)

Labels: oil news worldwide

TRANSPORT & LOGISTIC * WORLDWIDE

Briefing Weekly News

from Freight Forwarding

* Kuwait - Agility outlines continuing ambitions despite lower profit
Kuwait-based international forwarder Agility saw its profit fall 9% in Q3 but is continuing to acquire more businesses and target developing markets. Read Full Brief Here

* Australia - DSV takes 100% ownership of ABX Logistics in
DSV Air & Sea Pty Ltd has reported its acquisition of the remaining 60% of the shares in ABX Logistics (Australia) Pty Ltd to give it full ownership. Read Full News Here

* USA - AMB leases space at Houston and Amsterdam airports
AMB Property this week announced it had leased logistics/distribution space at George W Bush International Airport, Houston, US, and Amsterdam Airport Schiphol in the Netherlands. Read Full News Here

from Contract Logistics

* Germany - DPWN reveals a dramatic quarter
Following the announcement this week of its withdrawal from the US domestic express market, Deutsche Post World Net also released its figures for the third quarter of 2008. Read Full Brief Here

* Germany - DHL Europe launches new transport solution for the tyre industry
DHL announced on Friday (November 7) that it had introduced DHL Tyrebox for Europe, “a new and patented solution for transporting tyres to the market”. Read Full News Here

* USA - Atlas Air parent company reports mixed performance in third quarter
US-based Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings has announced its operating and financial results for the third quarter of 2008. Read Full News Here

* USA - UPS to expand healthcare options with new Puerto Rico facility
UPS yesterday (November 11) announced an expansion of its options for healthcare customers with the planned addition early next year of a new 150,000 sq ft facility in Puerto Rico. Read Full News Here

* USA - Horizon Lines to cut non-union workforce by 10%
US domestic ocean shipping and logistics operator Horizon Lines has announced a non-union workforce restructuring initiative targeted at saving an estimated $7m-$10m in labour costs. Read Full News Here

* USA - CEVA set to expand Jebel Ali facility sevenfold in 12 months
CEVA Logistics FZE plans to expand its Jebel Ali Free Zone facility in Dubai from 20,000 sq m to 135,000 sq m by October 2009, it was announced yesterday (November 12). Read Full News Here

from Express & Mail

* Germany - DHL to pull out of US domestic express operations
Deutsche Post World Net has announced that its DHL Express division will exit US domestic air and ground express service by the end of January. Read Full Brief Here

* UK - Parcelforce targets retail customers with two new services
Parcelforce Worldwide, the express parcel delivery business of UK postal organisation Royal Mail Group, has launched two new domestic services targeted at business sector customers. Read Full News Here

* USA - ATSG outlines impact of DHL exit from US domestic express activities
Air Transport Services Group reported this week that wholly-owned subsidiary ABX Air had signed amendments to its principal commercial agreements with DHL Express in the US. Read Full News Here

* USA - FedEx publishes emission reduction and fuel saving targets
FedEx Corporation this week announced that by 2020 it planned to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from the FedEx Express aircraft fleet by 20% and improve road vehicle fleet fuel efficiency by 20%. Read Full News Here

* Holland - TNT Post claims Dutch postal sector employment agreement is "still too soft"
TNT Post says it cannot accept an agreement reached yesterday (November 13) by Sandd, Deutsche Post and several trade unions on conditions of employment in the Dutch postal sector. Read Full News Here

from Road Freight

* USA - Economic slowdown impacting on M&A activity in transport and logistics sectors
The current bad economic/credit environment has impacted on the number and values of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the transport and logistics industry during 2008. A reduction in M&A activity in the US over the last year has been followed by a similar trend in other regions of the world which have also been hit by the economic slowdown. Read Full Brief Here

from Air Cargo

* China - Taking stock of the China trade
The present global financial and economic crisis looks certain to have major repercussions for China’s trade and related logistics activities. But just what will that impact be? Read Full Brief Here

* USA - Lufthansa Cargo to join Unisys-operated portal CPS
Unisys Corporation announced last week that Lufthansa Cargo would join the Cargo Portal Services electronic booking and shipment management service on November 18. Read Full News Here

* Russia - Cargo airline group reports strong business increase
Volga-Dnepr has announced a 75% increase in sales for the first nine months of 2008, with revenue from its charter and scheduled cargo transportation services totalling $1.265bn. Read Full News Here

* UK - Improved product mix boosts BA World Cargo yield
British Airways World Cargo has reported a 25% increase in commercial revenue for the first half (April-September) of its current financial year. Read Full News Here

* Indonesia - ASEAN ministers conclude air freight liberalisation agreement
ASEAN transport ministers have concluded various agreements relating to aviation sector liberalisation, including air freight services, and cross-border multimodal cargo transport. Read Full News Here

* Hong Kong/China - Hactl figures confirm sharp drop in Asia Pacific air cargo traffic
Hong Kong Air Cargo Terminals Limited this week announced a near 10% decrease in tonnage throughput during October. Read Full News Here

* USA - ATSG outlines impact of DHL exit from US domestic express activities
Air Transport Services Group reported this week that wholly-owned subsidiary ABX Air had signed amendments to its principal commercial agreements with DHL Express in the US. Read Full News Here

from Warehousing

* USA - Equity International reports first investment in Chinese warehousing sector
US-based Equity International this week announced the closing of a US$46m investment in a privately-owned industrial property company based in Shanghai, China. Read Full News Here

from Shipping/Ports

* Denmark - Maersk sets a better course as market conditions deteriorate
Global container shipping giant Maersk Line shrank its financial losses and increased volumes faster than expected over the nine months to end-September. Read Full Brief Here

* USA - Retail container traffic through US ports set to be lowest since 2004
Cargo volume handled by major retail container ports in the US this year is now expected to be the lowest since 2004, according to the country’s National Retail Federation. Read Full News Here

* USA - US companies combine technologies to scan containers for hidden nuclear material
Cargo security companies Erudite and VeriTainer have teamed up to deploy a system designed to detect nuclear materials hidden in containers as they are being handled at ports. Read Full News Here

* Dubai - DP World and Algeria establish long-term joint ventures
DP World yesterday (November 10) announced that it had signed joint venture agreements with the Algerian government to take over the operation of two ports in that North African country. Read Full News Here

* India - Port announces more investment and another container service
Gujarat Pipavav Port Limited is to invest €40m to further improve accessibility to the APM Terminals-backed Indian port. It will also this month get a new container service to Europe. Read Full News Here

* UK - English port of Dover set to be hit by strike next week
The English Channel port of Dover, a major gateway for freight moving between the UK and Continental Europe, could be hit by a strike next week in a row over the outsourcing of jobs. Read Full News Here

* Japan - CKYH shipping alliance announces further major capacity cutbacks
Asian global container shipping line alliance CKYH yesterday (November 13) announced plans for further extensive “rationalisation” of its services in a number of trades. Read Full News Here
from IT Solutions

* India - Honda Motor India selects Servigistics solution for parts management
Honda Motor India, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Honda Motor Co, has selected the Servigistics Service Parts Management solution across India. Read Full News Here

Labels: transport and logistics news

RULES * USA - Plan keeps Ithaca on trucks' crossroad

Proposed regulations will keep large trucks on routes 79, 89, 96 in county

Ithaca,NY,USA -The Ithaca Journal, by Tim Ashmore -November 15, 2008: -- Large trucks may continue to roll through Tompkins County under new state rules being developed on the use of small local roads by long-distance truckers... The state Department of Transportation had tried to reduce large truck traffic in the Finger Lakes region. A public hearing early this fall on the proposed rules faced opposition from the state's trucking industry... Also, the proposed state regulation that focused on large, long-distance trucks conflicted with federal rules that prevent states from singling out certain types of trucks for regulation. Defying those federal rules could jeopardize New York's federal highway dollars...

Labels: trucking rules

OPINION * India - Commercial vehicles on the kerb

To get an insight into current problems in the commercial vehicles industry, one need not look at interest rates and the global financial crisis, but rather seek answers in the very nature of how road transport industry is organised in the country...

New Delhi,India -The Hindu Business Line, by D. Sampathkumar -16 Nov 2008: -- With 40 per cent production cutbacks and four-day work weeks, the commercial vehicles industry is making news in ways that go beyond traditional assessments such as ‘global slowdown’ and ‘financial turmoil’. Equally, the traditional explanation, that the industry is ‘cyclical’ and that it just now happens to be on the downward slope of a boom-bust cycle, isn’t very satisfactory either... Incidentally, no broking house research report on a company in the commercial vehicle industry is complete without a reference to this notion of ‘cyclicality’. However this begs the question: What is it that makes this industry a cyclical one unlike, say, the market for toothpastes?... Indeed, so fragmented is the trucking industry structure that it is the economists’ ultimate dream of ‘perfect competition’. Such a structure affects the fortunes of the commercial vehicle industry in other ways as well. Every truck operator is basing his investment decisions not on what others are deciding about augmenting capacities under their control, but rather on the basis of where he himself would like to be in the future... A compact ownership structure involving relatively fewer but large fleet operators in the trucking industry is conducive for more rational exercise in capacity planning. Importantly, it allows for decisions by individual enterprises to factor in what others are planning in their own capacity creation calculations... But the disparate market structure of the trucking industry does not allow for orderly conditions to prevail. The market forces eventually sort out these investment excesses through business failures and subsequent economic growth soaking up excess capacities, and so on... In the short run it ends up sending distorted signals of potential demand to commercial vehicles... (Photo by Nissar Ahmad - The structure of the industry is geared to low margins, to the detriment of the fortunes of the commercial vehicles manufacturers)

Labels: opinions

Confessions of a truck driver * AUSTRALIA - Veteran truck driver Dennis Luke explains why he had to leave the world he once loved

The reason I finally quit the job I loved - driving big trucks - was that I didn't want to kill someone. I realised that times have changed and the dangers were too great.

Melbourne,Aistralia - The Sunday Herald Sun, by Dennis Luke -November 16, 2008: -- ... I wanted to drive trucks since I was a kid. I guess it was in my blood... Every weekend, the family would take a trip around Melbourne on public transport and I became fascinated by all the small and large vehicles we travelled on... That's when I decided to be a driver... They were heady days. I loved the weekends and I couldn't wait to one day be driving a big truck. It was my big dream... My father was a bus driver for 35 years and he showed me some of the tricks of the road to keep me safe... Now I've been driving for 35 years myself and I've learned quite a lot more about the dangers on our roads... You have to have all your wits about you when you have 45 tonnes of big truck in your control... The reason I finally quit the job I loved - driving big trucks - was that I didn't want to kill someone. I realised that times have changed and the dangers were too great... I know that it's all about speed and momentum. The uphill sections create their own problems... The safety issues really hit home the other day when I was travelling on the Tullamarine Freeway... I had passed Bulla Rd and was travelling at 80km/h because of the volume of traffic, even though the speed limit was 100km/h... I had 80m in front of me clear, so if there was a tricky situation I had plenty of room to stop safely... But instead of one or two cars pulling in front of me, which still would have given me enough room to stop if needed, six vehicles pulled in front of me at the same time, within about two seconds... That didn't leave me much time or room to react... The last two cars came within 10m of me and one missed me by centimetres. The driver realised at the last moment that I was there. I had to swerve to the right into the other lane to avoid a crash... Not that I received any thanks. During the next couple of minutes the last two drivers continued to harass and blame me for just being there... Some people have funny notions about trucks. They reckon life would be better for them if we were taken off the roads by 5am every day... So take it easy on the roads next time you venture out. And remember that truckies are only doing their jobs... We all have a duty of care for each other - and that means we have to concentrate on the roads...

Labels: truckers' stories

FUEL COST * USA - No let up for demand in diesel fuel consumption

Loaded up and truckin’: Truckers don’t have as much to celebrate

St. Joseph,MO,USA -The News-Press & Sant Joe Now, by Susan Mires -November 16, 2008: -- “Prices are still high,” said Tavio Headley, an economist with the American Trucking Association... Diesel has consistently been 60 to 70 cents per gallon more than gasoline this year. Gasoline prices have been sliced in half since the national peak $4.11 in July. In St. Joseph, gas was selling for $1.77 or less last week... The national diesel price reached $4.76 in July. Diesel was selling for about $2.66... “The gap has widened,” Mr. Headley said... Historically, diesel fuel was cheaper than gasoline, but the situation has been flip-flopped for the last four years, according to the U.S. Department of Energy... The cause, like most economic issues these days, is global. More diesel engines are being put on the road in many countries. Mr. Headley said since 1990, diesel consumption went up 36 percent in Europe, while gasoline demand dropped by 18 percent... Limited refining capacity and new requirements for ultra-low sulfur diesel have also contributed to recent price hikes, the Department of Energy reports... (Photo by Eric Keith / St. Joseph News-Press - Diesel fuel prices have fallen in recent weeks, but the fuel remains significantly higher than gasoline because of worldwide demand. The prices affect truckers, who haul virtually all consumer goods in the country at some point)

* Break on expenses can't offset decline in revenue

Waukesha,WIS,USA -The Journal Sentinel By Joe Taschler -Nov. 15, 2008: -- Truckers and trucking companies in metro Milwaukee are paying substantially less for diesel fuel this month compared with the summer, but it's hard to convert the savings into growth as the amount of freight they haul dwindles in a shrinking economy... The types of freight these companies handle - everything from gravel for parking lots and roads to rolled steel for soup cans - touches nearly everyone. It provides a taste of the financial anxiety hanging in the air these days... "We're a real bellwether for the entire economy," said DuWayne Marshall, an independent trucker from Watertown. "We usually see the start of the recession and we come out of it first"... Right now, he sees no signs of improvement... So far this year, he has spent just shy of $102,000 for fuel, a number he called "absolutely staggering"... His cost per mile has dropped 21 cents during the past 30 days compared with July. So, too, has the volume of freight he is hauling. Finding loads is becoming more difficult... (Photo by Michael Sears - Jack Moss (left), owner of Jack C Moss Trucking Inc. in Lannon, and his son Steve Moss, are glad to see fuel costs drop, especially since the slow economy has been a drag on their business. The Mosses own and operate 12 trucks and contract with six other owner-operators)

Labels: fuel cost

STUDY * USA - Pollution & Deads by

Pollution quietly kills many in valley

Modesto,CAL,USA -The Modesto Bee -November 16, 2008: -- We're reminded often of the dangers on the road... But when someone dies prematurely as a result of air pollution, who hears? Worse, who seems to care?... Specifically, the researchers compared vehicle deaths with the harmful effects of PM2.5, the tiny particulate matter emitted by gasoline-powered vehicles, diesel engines, wood burning, power plants and so forth... High levels of PM2.5 and ozone make people sick, causing adults to miss work and children to miss school. They send people to hospital emergency rooms, provoke bronchitis and asthma attacks and, in the worst cases, contribute to early deaths... In addition to the human toll, the cost of dirty air to families, hospitals and businesses in these regions totals $28 million annually... These sobering findings are part of an air pollution study released last week by Jane Hall and Victor Brajer, economics professors at California State University, Fullerton, and Frederick Lurmann of Sonoma Technology Inc... A new study on the costs of air pollution puts forth some startling numbers: In most counties in the San Joaquin Valley and the Los Angeles basin -- two of the most polluted regions in the country -- the number of people who die prematurely because of fine-particulate pollution exceeds the number dying in vehicle accidents each year... This study was funded by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, not by an industry group or environmental advocacy organization. It comes just as the California Air Resources Board is poised to vote on landmark regulations designed to reduce emissions from heavy-duty diesel trucks... If adopted by the board next month, the rules would require truck owners to install exhaust filters on their rigs starting in 2010. The rules also would require long-haul truckers to equip their vehicles with fuel-efficient tires and aerodynamic devices that lower greenhouse gas emissions and improve fuel economy... A coalition of truck owners, farmers, building contractors and others want the rules relaxed and postponed, in large part because of the bad economic climate. There's no doubt the economy is bad, and the rules would have a big cost. But, according to this study, the cost of staying with the status quo is even higher...

Labels: pollution

AUTOS' INDUSTRY CRISIS * USA - An America without manufacturing becomes a starkly divided society

But things now have gone sadly amiss; and we're all to blame because of our incessant push for more without sacrifice...

Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News/The Washington Post, by Warren Brown -November 15, 2008: -- I'm often chided for my passionate support of the domestic automobile industry. But I don't mind the ribbing... My passion is a product of my faith in America, my belief in its ability to compete and excel, to innovate, to lead... There is something else -- gratitude ... and the desire to save an industry that put so many of my people on the road to prosperity... But things now have gone sadly amiss; and we're all to blame because of our incessant push for more without sacrifice... The unions demanded more pay and benefits but seldom petitioned for better product quality. Auto executives and their shareholders asked for more profits and productivity but often shied away from expensive innovations to avoid upsetting the moneychangers on Wall Street... Consumers demanded safer, bigger, faster, higher-quality vehicles at lower prices. They evidenced concern for fuel economy only when they were forced to pay more for gasoline. Politicians kept a finger in the air, trying to determine which way the electoral winds were blowing, asking for more fuel economy when that seemed the popular thing to do but always promising their constituents continued access to the cheapest motor fuel in the developed world... Foreign car companies globally went on the hunt for low-cost employees, often finding them in the Southern United States with the assistance of politicians and economic development officials offering tax breaks and union-free environments. One form of irrational exuberance led to another... Things were bound to come crashing down. And now that the collapse has occurred in the form of economic recession, there is little sympathy for the domestic car companies, which are losing sales, market share, money and jobs. Federal rescue triage, it seems, dictates saving banks and mortgage firms first... In a credit-driven economy, it is difficult to question the wisdom of the banks-first approach. But without a concomitant policy to assist and strengthen our nation's core manufacturing enterprises, it runs the risk of being short-sighted... An America that manufactures nothing, or an America that owns nothing it manufactures, is an America with a frightfully vulnerable middle class -- an America that threatens to become a society starkly divided between haves and have-nots, a throwback to the Deep South of my segregated youth...

* Obama: Auto industry collapse would be 'disaster'

Washington,DC,USA -Associated Press/The Detroit News -15 Nov 2008: -- President-elect Barack Obama wants to see shifts in how some of the nation's biggest economic problems are being handled, from helping the troubled auto industry to aiding homeowners fighting foreclosure, he said in an interview... While he's said there's only one administration in power right now, he said in an interview with CBS "60 Minutes" airing Sunday there are some changes he would like to see... "For the auto industry to completely collapse would be a disaster in this kind of environment," Obama said. "So it's my belief that we need to provide assistance to the auto industry. But I think that it can't be a blank check"... Obama said he hopes that the White House and Congress will develop an assistance plan with input from all players in the industry -- from management to labor and lenders -- to develop "a sustainable U.S. auto industry." That hasn't happened yet, he said...

* Pelosi: Aid bill will require Big 3 to restructure, meet fuel-efficiency goals

Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -November 15, 2008: -- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Saturday that Democrats would move to add new conditions to an aid package of up to $25 billion for struggling domestic automakers, requiring them to further restructure in order to receive government assistance... Pelosi's statement said automakers must further restructure. Some in Congress have called on automakers to renegotiate union contracts and the $60 billion United Auto Workers-run trust fund that the companies must fund beginning in 2010 to pay for retiree health care... The auto industry's survival plan must meet several conditions, Pelosi said:

• Restructure the automobile companies to ensure their long-term economic viability;

• Meet standards for fuel efficiency that ensure the competitiveness of U.S. autos, including new fuel-efficiency standards; and,

• Deploy advanced vehicle technologies required to compete in the domestic and global market."

The Senate is to take up the auto bailout bill on Monday, with test votes set for Wednesday...
Auto sales are on pace to fall to their lowest levels in more than 15 years in 2008 and many predict 2009 could be nearly as bad... GM could need anywhere from $15 billion to $25 billion in government aid to survive, various Wall Street analysts have suggested. Automakers want to be able to tap the retooling funds next year, rather than being required to return to Congress for more money... The CEOs of GM, Ford and Chrysler, along with UAW President Ron Gettelfinger, are expected to testify before both houses of Congress next week in an urgent appeal for immediate aid...

Labels: autos' industry crisis

16.11.08

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA

Bankruptcy judge balks at $600,000 salaries for Gainey Corp. officials

MI,USA -MLive.com -15 Nov 2008: -- That's the harsh message a judge sent to local philanthropist Harvey Gainey on Friday when he delivered an 87 percent pay cut to the founder of bankrupt trucking giant Gainey Corp... For now, Gainey will have to make do with $169,300 a year. It's a far cry from the $1.3 million annual salary he drew before his company and its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last month...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

Hybrid Trucks * USA - Joining Fort Worth trash collection fleet

Fort Worth,TX,USA -The Dallas Morning News, by ELIZABETH SOUDER -November 15, 2008: -- Waste Management Inc. is adding four hydraulic hybrid garbage trucks, the first such vehicles in the world, to its Fort Worth fleet... The move is part of the Houston company's plan to test technologies to cut fuel consumption 15 percent. And cutting fuel consumption can improve Fort Worth's air quality as North Texas tries to meet federal clean air standards...

Labels: hybrids trucks

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * USA - Kenworth layoffs to top 400

Renton truck production cut

Seattle,Wash,USA -The Seattle Post Intelligencer, by BILL VIRGIN -November 14, 2008: -- Kenworth Truck Co. plans to lay off more than 400 workers and end most truck production at its Renton plant as a two-year slump in truck sales moves into a third... Kenworth officials said that 329 union and 92 management employees will be laid off. In a filing with the state Employment Security Department on Friday, Kenworth put the number of layoffs at 430... The plant will continue to produce daily two of the large off-road trucks used in such industries as mining and oil-field development, Hursey said... But production of conventional Class 8 heavy-duty highway trucks will be shifted to Kenworth's plant in Chillicothe, Ohio...

Labels: truckmakers news USA

14.11.08

IPA 's COMPLAINS * Australia - NSW has let freight industry down

Sydney,Australia -Suply Chain -November 12, 2008: -- The New South Wales Government is condemning the freight industry to increased congestion and productivity losses unless it commits to critical infrastructure projects, according to Infrastructure Partnerships Australia (IPA)... The peak industry body has criticised the State’s mini-budget that was handed down yesterday after Treasurer Eric Roozendaal announced massive cuts to infrastructure investment... IPA Executive Director Brendan Lyon has labelled the budget "a profound disappointment for business", saying it ignores the importance of high quality freeways linking Sydney with Brisbane and Melbourne... He claims the short-term savings will have long-term consequences because the Budget does nothing to address congestion, which already costs NSW $11 million a day...

Labels: trucking's complain

TI ANALYSIS * USA - Trucking companies hit the brakes

Weak economy reduces U.S. capacity by 6.5 percent; trucks sold to Eastern Europe, Russia

Salem,OR,USA -The Capital Press, by Mateusz Perkowski -13 Nov 2008: -- Thousands of U.S. trucking companies are "driving into the ditch" and their financial troubles are taking a record number of trucks off the road... That's according to a transportation industry expert who's found that about 2,700 trucking companies have shut down so far in 2008... Those bankruptcies and closures have put more than 127,000 trucks out of commission, cutting U.S. trucking capacity by 6.5 percent, according to Donald Broughton, an analyst with the Avondale Partners research firm...

Labels: trucking industry analysis USA

Clean Truck Fee * USA - Collection Delayed, Pending Resolution of Regulatory Issues

Cargo Owners Urged to Complete Fee Payment Preparations

Long Beach,CAL,USA -MarketWatch -Nov 13, 2008: -- Collection of the Clean Truck Fee (CTF) assessed by the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach, which was to have begun on Nov. 17, will be delayed pending resolution of outstanding regulatory issues... An agreement filing relating to the ports' arrangement with PortCheck is still pending with the Federal Maritime Commission (FMC), and the fee collection will be delayed while issues relating to that filing are resolved...

Labels: clean truck fee

CARRIER'S IDENTIFICATION * USA - New ID requirements for trucks

Nichigan,USA -NBC25 -November 13, 2008: -- Beginning Jan. 1, 2009, commercial motor vehicles traveling in Michigan will be required to display a United States Department of Transportation (USDOT) number as part of the Interstate Motor Carrier Identification Program. Requiring USDOT numbers will help the Michigan State Police (MSP) Traffic Safety Division to monitor safety trends and will ensure all intrastate commercial motor vehicles comply with national safety requirements... Obtaining and displaying a USDOT number is required for commercial vehicles with a gross vehicle weight or gross combination weight over 10,000 pounds; vehicles used to transport hazardous materials in amounts requiring a placard; vehicles designed to transport 15 or more passengers; and vehicles used to transport eight or more passengers for hire... The MSP began implementing Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) standards that allow all commercial motor vehicles to obtain a number in March 2007, as part of a continued effort to reduce traffic crashes involving commercial motor vehicles. This new requirement was phased in over a two-year period to allow operators time to comply...

Labels: trucking rules

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS WORLDWIDE * UK - Leyland says it will cut 250 jobs

London,UK -AP -13 Nov 2008: -- British company Leyland Trucks said Thursday it would cut about 250 jobs, or a fifth of its work force, blaming a dramatic drop in demand... The PACCAR Inc. subsidiary said the move was prompted by a crash in the market for heavy trucks across Europe... It also said its factory in Leyland, in northern England — which has been producing trucks for 116 years — would double the length of its Christmas break to two weeks... Leyland Trucks Ltd., founded in 1896, makes about 17,000 trucks annually...

Labels: truckmakers news worldwide

CARTEL * Europe - EU fines auto glass firms record $1.77B

Brussels,Belgium -The Detroit News/Bloomberg -13 Nov 2008: -- The European Commission fined companies controlling the Continent's auto glass market a record $1.77 billion on Wednesday for price-fixing over five years. Two of the companies have been caught engaging in cartel practices before. Earlier, investigators raided several big cement makers, including other repeat offenders. Antitrust specialists said such signs of chronic price fixing raised questions about whether European enforcement efforts could be effective without the threat of jail, as are routinely handed down in the U.S. A European Union commissioner insisted that stiff fines should be enough to dissuade executives from fixing prices...

Labels: oligopoly

POLLUTION * USA - Study puts $6B price tag on bad air

Northern Valley escapes most of bad health effects

Modesto,CA,USA -The Modesto Bee, by Ken Carlson -November 13, 2008: -- A study puts a dollar amount on the adverse health effects of air pollution in the San Joaquin Valley... It's $6 billion or $1,600 per person each year, according to university researchers who released the study Wednesday... The lead authors at California State University, Fullerton, considered the human toll from air pollution in the San Joaquin Valley and Southern California, where 20 million people live and the air is usually considered the dirtiest in the nation... By meeting federal standards for smog and minute particles known as PM2.5, the study said, the regions could avoid $28 billion in costs associated with premature deaths, asthma attacks, chronic bronchitis, hospital admissions, emergency room visits and lost work time...

Labels: air pollution

INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDS * USA - NRF Backs Transportation Spending

Washington,DC,USA -Traffic World, by Thomas L. Gallagher -13 Nov 2008: -- The country needs to invest in transportation infrastructure in any additional economic stimulus package, said the National Retail Federation in a Nov. 10 letter to Congressional leaders... Pointing out the economic benefits of building and maintaining infrastructure including increased employment, NRF stressed the need for a viable and well-considered plan...

Labels: infrastructures' funds

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA

* Velocity Reports $11.3 Million 1Q Loss

Wesport,CT,USA -Transport Topics -13 Nov 2008: -- Velocity Express Corp. reported it lost $11.3 million, or $3.45 a share, in its fiscal first quarter, compared with a loss of $11.1 million, or $4.22, a year earlier... The package-delivery and supply chain management company’s revenue for the quarter ended Sept. 27 fell to $72.6 million, from $93.3 million a year earlier...

* Postal Service Loses $2.8 Billion

Washington,DC,USA -Traffic World, by Thomas L. Gallagher -13 Nov 2008: -- The U.S. Postal Service finished its fiscal year with a net loss of $2.8 billion... The national economic slowdown lowered mail volume and held revenue in check, postal officials said. Further losses came as additional costs mandated by the Postal Act of 2006 kicked in... “We expect the new fiscal year to be another difficult one for the Postal Service and the entire mailing industry, as economic factors will continue to reduce mail volume and increase expenses,” said Postmaster General John Potter...

* USPS to Increase Shipping Prices in Jan.

Washington,DC,USA -Traffic World, by Thomas L. Gallagher -13 Nov 2008: -- The U.S. Postal Service will increase shipping prices Jan. 18, an average of 5 percent, said the agency... Overall, shipping services prices will increase an average of 5 percent for Express Mail, Priority Mail, Parcel Select, Parcel Return Service and some international shipping products. The Postal Service does not impose fuel surcharges...

* US1 Reports Higher 3Q Income

Valparaiso,IN,USA -Transport Topics -13 Nov 2008: -- Logistics firm US1 Industries’ third-quarter profit rose to $972,000, or 7 cents a share, from $789,000, or 6 cents, a year ago... Revenue slipped 0.7% to $46 million, the company said late Thursday. Operating income held at about $1.5 million... US1 provides financial resources, insurance and information technology to the trucking and logistics industries...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

TRANSPORT STATISTICS * USA

DOT Freight Index Unchanged - September Gauge Falls 2.5% from August

Washington,DC,USA -Transport Topics -13 Nov 2008: -- The Department of Transportation’s freight transportation services index for September was unchanged from a year ago but fell 2.5% from its August level, DOT said Thursday... The freight TSI held at a reading of 108 and was 4.5% below its historic peak of 113.1, set in November 2005, DOT said... The TSI is a seasonally adjusted monthly index measuring the output of services provided by the for-hire transportation industries, including railroad, air, truck, inland waterways, pipeline and local transit...

* Shipping Index Dives 16.9 Percent

Washington,DC,USA -Traffic World -13 Nov 2008: -- The United States’ freight downturn got even worse in October as a key indicator of shipping activity turned sharply lower... The closely watched Cass Freight Index of shipments fell 16.9 percent in October compared to the same month last year, deeper than even the 16.6 percent decline the index measured in September... The October index also was down 2.8 percent from September, suggesting retailers and manufacturers are reining in their logistics activity just when distribution usually scales up for the fall peak season. Instead, the index released by freight payment company Cass Information Systems dipped to 1.050, its lowest point of the year and the lowest level the index has measured since January 2004... It was also the worst October the Cass Freight Index has measured since 2002. The shipment index has declined year-over-year every month this year and at a double-digit pace since June...

Labels: transport statistics

CLEAN TRUCKS PROGRAM * USA - Port of Seattle considers L.A.-style plan for trucks

Seattle,Wash,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Charlie Morasch -November 13, 2008: -- The Port of Seattle is considering a clean truck plan that could end up looking a lot like the ones at the ports in California – but the Port Commission is doing its planning behind closed doors... The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that was the complaint at a recent Commission meeting at which some of the big trucking companies were represented, but owner-operators were not... The port of Seattle is currently planning to require that by 2015, 80 percent of the trucks doing business at the port would have to meet 2007 emissions standards. And two years later, 100 percent of the trucks would have to meet those standards...

* LA-LB Testing CNG Trucks

Los Angeles,CAL,USA -Journal of Commerce/Traffic World -13 Nov 2008: -- As part of the ongoing effort to reduce pollution from port activities, the South Coast Air Quality Management District will co-sponsor a demonstration of four compressed natural gas drayage trucks at the Port of Los Angeles-Long Beach... The air quality agency’s Governing Board approved the contract today for the almost $2-million project, with the cost shared between the District and project partners SoCalGas, AutoCar and California Cartage Co...

Labels: Clean Trucks Program

Energy Companies * USA - Report record increases despite sluggish economy

Washington,DC,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Clarissa Kell-Holland -November 13, 2008: -- While the financial news has been pretty bleak lately for truckers struggling to stay afloat amid slumping profits and low freight rates, the 19 major energy companies are reporting record net income increases – up 82 percent from a year ago – in the third quarter of 2008... According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s Energy Finance Report released on Thursday, Nov. 13, the major energy companies’ income netted $48 billion based on consolidated revenues of $428.8 billion in the third quarter... The EIA attributes the reason for the record net income increases as follows: “The effects of higher refining margins, oil and natural gas prices and worldwide natural gas production overwhelmed lower worldwide oil production and refining throughput,” according to the report...

Labels: energy comments

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * USA

* Kenworth adds new interior appointments for Class 8, medium-duty conventional models

Kirkland,Wash,USA -Truck News (CAN) -12 Nov 2008: -- Kenworth will incorporate new cab and sleeper interior appointments for its Class 8 and medium duty conventional models starting next month... Kenworth is adding Trust Walnut-coloured wood finish accents to the dash, doors and sleeper panel trim for the Kenworth T660, T800, W900 and C500 models with the Diamond interior... The new Marathon seat insert material becomes standard for Kenworth’s Air-Cushion Plus, Air-Cushion Premium Plus and Steel Tool Box Plus proprietary seats, and for sofa beds in Kenworth’s 86-inch AeroCab and 72-inch AeroCab AERODYNE sleepers. The new seat material provides a fresh look for the driver and rider seats and Kenworth sofa bed, and retains the same stain-resistant treatment of the previous seat material... (Photo: Kenworth is adding wood finish accents to the interior of many of its Class 8 and medium-duty models)

* Daimler Financial Services Americas launches new operations centre in North Texas

Forth Worth,TX,USA -Truck News (CAN) -12 Nov 2008: -- Daimler Financial Services Americas has officially launched its new, cutting-edge, 164,000-sq.-ft. operations centre, which will initially employ 550 people but has the capacity for 800...

* Paccar’s credit losses increase in third quarter

Bellevue,WA,USA -Land Line Magazine -November 12, 2008: -- Officials with Paccar, the company that manufactures the Peterbilt, Kenworth and DAF nameplates, reported $34.2 million in credit losses in the third quarter of 2008, nearly $12 million more than the $24.4 million in credit losses in the second quarter... “Profit was reduced due to an increase in the provision for credit losses due to higher truck repossessions in the U.S. and Canada,” Paccar officials stated in late October...

Labels: truckmakers news USA

WARNING TRUCKERS * USA - Dispatcher warns truckers in Pennsylvania to reroute or face fines

“I just want to get the word out so that hopefully this will help the next trucker headed this way,” the dispatcher said

Parkesburg,PA,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Clarissa Kell-Holland -November 12, 2008: -- A truck dispatcher for a company near Parkesburg, PA, said she’s tired of watching truckers being targeted by local police for mistakenly turning onto a “no truck” route... She said she’s seen as many as four trucks in one day pulled over and cited by police for turning onto Route 372 into Parkesburg on their way to the industrial park in Atglen, PA. She said the problem is that there are no signs posted that it’s a no truck route until after they’ve “committed to the turn”...

Labels: sign warns drivers

US Parts Makers * USA - ASK for HELP

Parts makers have collectively appealed to Washington for financial help in the form of a loan guarantee program through the Troubled Asset Relief Program or a comparable initiative

Washington,D.C.,USA -Truck News (CAN) -12 Nov 2008: -- Represented by the Motor and Equipment Manufactures Association (MEMA, which also includes the Heavy-Duty Manufacturers Association), parts and component manufacturers told President George Bush that "motor vehicle parts suppliers need continued support of supplier participation in the Advanced Technology Vehicle Manufacturing Incentive loan program and establishment of a loan guarantee program through the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) or other mechanism specifically for the supplier industry"... The group said the industry employed 722,600 US workers, but by June 2008 that number had fallen to 590,000...

Labels: trucks' part makers

AWARDS * USA - Schneider Logistics honours two Canadian carriers at annual conference

Green Bay,Wis,USA -Truck News (CAN) -12 Nov 2008: -- Schneider Logistics hosted its sixth annual Carrier Recognition Conference in Green Bay, Wis. Sept. 17-18, playing host to representatives from more than 140 carriers. The conference’s highlight came Sept. 18, when 16 transportation companies, including two Ontario-based ones, were honoured with Schneider Logistics’ Carrier of the Year award... “Because these carriers are an extension of Schneider, we count on them to deliver each and every load safely, on-time and with great professionalism”... Included in the group of 16 were two Canadian carriers: Kingsway Transport of Mississauga, Ont. and Ottaway Motor Express of Woodstock, Ont...

Labels: awards

13.11.08

Toll Tax Thieves * USA - Blagojevich “Screw the Truckers”

ILL,USA -Illinois Review, by Cal Skinner -November 12, 2008: -- It wasn't enough that huge fees were imposed on Illinois trucking companies in the Democratic Fee Fest during Governor Rod Blagojevich's first year in office... It wasn't enough that Governor Rod Blagojevich's Toll Tax Thieves decided to finance the rebuilding of the Tollway, including the drive-through lanes... Now, the governor's Toll Tax Thieves have set their sights on extracting more money from the trucking industry... The increases proposed for small trucks from $1.50 to $2.40 by 2015. That's a 60% Toll Tax Hike... From $2.25 to $3.60 for medium sized trucks. Again, a 60% increase... And from $4 to $6.40 for large trucks with five or more axles. That's "only" a 35% hike... Of course, the car driving public won't connect the increase in the price of everything delivered by truck to the fee hikes of Blagojevich's Toll Tax Thieves...

Labels: toll taxes

MARKET PROGNOSIS * USA - Freight outlook darkens

New York,NY,USA -Fleet Owner, by Sean Kilcarr -Nov 12, 2008: -- A variety of reports indicate freight recovery may be farther off than anticipated, with severe third quarter losses by General Motors and Ford Motor Co. adding to the gloom... According to a new survey of Russell 2000 index companies by Ernst & Young LLP, some 52% of polled CEOs expect no real economic upswing until 2010. Through September and mid-October, respondents cited the credit crunch (61%) and market volatility (54%) as having the largest effect on corporate growth, noted Maria Pinelli, Americas director-strategic growth markets for Ernst & Young... “For the fourth quarter, we expect freight demand to continue to decline,” said Randolph Marten, chairman & CEO of refrigerated carrier Marten Transport. “Due to economic conditions, we do not expect our customers in the consumer retail business to build or refresh their inventories. With those expectations in mind, our strategy is to continue to protect our truckload rate structure … to appropriately size our fleet to existing demand, to expand our logistics, intermodal, and regional operations and to aggressively control our costs and explore new business opportunities”...

Labels: market prognosis

OVERSIZED CARGO * USA - Turbine transport vexes some drivers

St. Cloud,MN,USA -The St. Cloud Times, by Kirsti Marohn -November 12, 2008: -- It’s an increasingly common sight in Central Minnesota: an oversized semitrailer-load of wind turbine parts rumbling down the highway, drawing the attention and sometimes the frustration of other drivers... St. Cloud is on a main route for wind turbine components traveling from the port of Duluth to destinations across the Midwest, where the demand for wind energy is soaring... (Photo courtesy of the Duluth Seaway Port Authority - Parts of a wind turbine are transported through Duluth. Some say the turbines pose a safety risk when carried on busy roads)

Labels: cargo transport

RATES * India - Select destinations freight rate up

New Delhi,India -The Hindu Business Line -11 Nov 2008: -- Freight charges for select southern region rose by Rs 1,000 in the local truck transport market today on increased cargo movements in view of ongoing marriage season against less availability of trucks... Transporters said increased cargo movements amid less availability of lorries pushed up select southern region freight rates. Delhi to Coimbatore, Chennai and Kochi freight rates were higher by Rs 1,000 each at Rs 37,000, Rs 34,000 and Rs 38,000 for a l oad of ten metric tonnes respectively... Following were today's freight rates for a load of ten metric tonnes: ...

Labels: freight rates

INFRASTRUCTURES * Australia - Monster trucks to use tunnels

Melbourne,Australia -The Melbourne Herald Sun, by Ashley Gardiner -November 13, 2008: -- A map released by the State Government has detailed plans to run monster trucks through Melbourne's road tunnels... The road freight network would form a key plank of the major transport blueprint, to be released within weeks... At the Victorian Transport Infrastructure Summit yesterday, Roads Minister Tim Pallas released a map that highlighted the roads that would be used... Mr Pallas said the roads would be used by trucks capable of carrying two 12m containers, known as super B-doubles... (Photo: Craig Sillitoe/The Age - Safety first: Swedish traffic behaviour expert Ruggero Ceci takes on Melbourne's tunnels)

* Colombia - On the verge of a monumental traffic jam

Bogota,Colombia -SEMANA -12 Nov 2008: -- A recent study conducted by recognized experts shows that with the current road infrastructure, traffic in Colombia could collapse in less than ten years. Moto-taxis could do away with public transportation in several cities, in Bogotá it could take just as long to get somewhere on foot as it will by car, and the lack of good highways leading to the port cities will be the greatest bottleneck for the country´s development... If Colombians today feel stuck in traffic in Bogotá, Medellín and Barranquilla, they won’t be able to imagine the chaos that awaits them in the next ten years. For businesspeople trying to get their cargo to Colombian ports it will be an even greater disaster. With the increase in the number of cars, motorcycles and trucks, and the lack of roads, the country is moving towards complete immobility... The most paradoxical of all is that economic growth, which is what has generated the accelerated increase of the number of vehicles in the country, will come to a standstill just when the big cities collapse because of poor mobility... About 46% of the road network in Bogotá is in a bad state, 18% are in a poor state and only 36% are in good condition. That is, more than half of the roads are a disaster. “To improve these roads Bogotá will have to invest 2.5 trillion pesos (over a billion USD) each year and then, to assure their maintenance, will need to invest 1.9 trillion ($800,000,000) each year on a permanent basis. Facing the magnitude of the resources needed just to adequately maintain the road network, the system of roads will deteriorate more and more each year. The situation in Bogotá isn’t much different from other Colombian cities,” the report concludes...

Labels: infrastructures

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA - Pacer Deploying Clean Truck Equipment in Southern California

Conconrd,CAL,USA -MarketWatch -Nov 12, 2008: -- Pacer International, Inc., a leading North American freight transportation and logistics provider, announced that its subsidiaries, Pacer Cartage, Inc., Harbor Rail Transport, and PDS Trucking, Inc., a subsidiary of Pacer Distribution Services, Inc., will deploy 230 new clean trucks for use in their Southern California operations beginning in late November... The new truck program will allow Pacer customers to minimize their exposure to the clean air fees that have recently been instituted by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach under their Clean Truck Program. The Pacer trucking companies are already compliant with all other Los Angeles and Long Beach port requirements, including the new Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) requirements made effective November 10, 2008... The 230 new trucks will be leased to Pacer's owner operators. Pacer has the option to add 150 more trucks as market conditions warrant. The company will start accepting delivery of the new trucks in late November and plans to have all 230 deployed by the end of this year...

* Crete trucking facility to create 388 jobs at speedway site

Knoxville,TN,USA -The Knoxville News Sentinel, by Bob Fowler -November 12, 2008: -- A former speedway is on track to become the site of a maintenance center for a trucking firm that has agreed to hire 388 Tennesseans within three years after the facility is built... Details of Crete Carrier Corp.'s plan to build off Interstate 40 on the former Atomic Speedway site were hammered out Tuesday in a meeting with Roane County and state officials...

* Trucking company coming to Marion; 100 drivers to be hired

Marion,IL,USA -The Southern (Carbondale,IL), by John D. Homan -November 11, 2008: -- A well-established trucking firm has announced plans to expand its operation to Marion... The East St. Louis-based Beelman Truck Co. will make a capital investment in the city, said Mayor Bob Butler. The company is in the process of purchasing 29 acres of land on Halfway Road. About 100 over-the-road drivers will be hired initially...

* Penske Truck Leasing Debuts New Stanton, Pa. Facility

Reading,PA,USA -MarketWatch -Nov 12, 2008: -- Penske Truck Leasing today hosted the grand opening of a new location in New Stanton, Pa., at 209 East View Drive. Penske offers commercial and consumer truck rental services, full-service truck leasing and contract maintenance at the 7,000-square-foot facility... Sitting on nearly 12 acres, the facility serves nearly 60 customers and maintains over 335 vehicles, while employing 13 associates...

* Moody's Downgrades YRCW

New York,NY,USA -Traffic World, by Thomas L. Gallagher -12 Nov 2008: -- Moody's Investors Service on Wednesday lowered its ratings for trucking company YRC Worldwide... The rating agency cited structural weakness in the Overland Park, Kan.-based trucking giant... Moody's set YRC Worldwide's corporate family rating at B1, from Ba2. The probability of default rating also fell from Ba2 to B1. Moody’s said the company’s outlook was negative...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * USA - Paccar's Hybrids: Anatomy of a Product

U.S. truck maker leverages close supply chain relationships to bring innovative products to the market on time

Bellevue, Wash,USA -Industryweek, by Jonathan Katz -Dec. 1, 2008: -- One U.S. manufacturer that's been at the forefront of hybrid long-haul truck production is Bellevue, Wash.-based Paccar Inc... The company began commercial production of hybrid medium-duty trucks through its Kenworth and Peterbilt divisions in September. Paccar also has produced hybrid trucks in Europe through its Dutch subsidiary Daf Trucks NV... Over the years, Paccar's efforts to develop fuel-efficient vehicles has earned the company praise. In 2006, President Bush presented the National Medal of Technology to Mark Pigott, chairman and CEO, for Paccar's development of lightweight, aerodynamic commercial vehicles. In 2007, Paccar received the Environmental Protection Agency's SmartWay designation for designing reduced-emissions trucks... The company's history of ingenuity and forward thinking has paid dividends. In 2007, Paccar recorded its 69th consecutive year of profitability, though net earnings dropped 18% to $1.2 billion from the previous year. Revenue reached $15.2 billion in 2007, compared with $16.4 billion in 2006. In an October 2008 earnings call, Pigott attributed a slight drop in third-quarter profit to the cyclical trucking industry, which he says typically endures downswings every five years... But whether the company expands production of its hybrids in the future will depend on several factors. "We don't know where oil is going to go. We don't know how the technology in the batteries is going to develop," Preston Feight, chief engineer for the Kenworth Truck Co. says. "If oil goes up, lithium ion batteries become more prevalent and their cost goes down and economies of scale start to work, maybe this is a wide-ranging application"...

* BAE wins $1.6B military contractDayton Business Journal

Sealy,TX,USA -The Dayton Bizjournals (Charlotte,NC) -November 12, 2008: -- The U.S. Army has awarded BAE Systems a $1.6 billion contract to build another 10,000 of various trucks, vans and other vehicles... Production will take place at BAE facilities in West Chester and in Sealy, Texas, near Houston for delivery during 2009 and 2010... The latest Army contract follows two previous 2008 contracts totaling $2.1 billion for 10,000 vehicles and program support. The vehicles are part of BAE Systems’ so-called family of medium tactical vehicles, which is known in the industry as “FMTV”. More than 48,000 FMTV trucks and trailers are already in service with the Army, BAE said in a news release Wednesday...

Labels: truckmakers news USA

12.11.08

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * UK - Wincanton buys CEL Group

London,UK -Road Transport, by Dominic Perry -6 November 2008: -- Wincanton has tightened its grip on the container transport sector with acquisition of Woodbridge, Suffolk firm CEL Group... Wincanton gained a sizeable toe-hold in the sector earlier this year when it bought Hanbury Davies, but the latest acquisition gives the logistics giant a 15% share of the market... CEL was the second largest privately owned container transport firm, and employs 470 people and operates a fleet of 370 vehicles... Wincanton says the £19.5m deal will offer synergies with its existing business...

Labels: trucking industry news UK

EVENTS * Europe - Truck-makers announce CV Show decisions

London,UK -Road Transport -12 November 2008: -- MAN, Mercedes-Benz, Volvo, Iveco and Renault say they all remain committed to next year's CV Show, following the decision by Daf and Scania to pull out... The news comes as the latest Society of Motor Manufacturers and Tradersfigures reveal truck and van sales tumbled 9.4% and 35.2% respectively last month. Scania took a noticeable dip, moving down to sixth place from fourth compared with the previous year-to-date figure. Daf, Mercedes-Benz and Iveco retained their first to third positions respectively...

Labels: events

SUBSIDY * Australia - Truckies angry at petrol subsidy loss

Queensland,NSW,AUST -The Age -November 12, 2008: -- A plan to abolish the northern NSW fuel subsidy will make it harder for truck companies to compete with those in Queensland, a trucking body says... The NSW government announced the subsidy would end on July 1 in its mini-budget delivered on Tuesday... The subsidy, which was introduced to enable petrol stations this side of the border to compete with the subsidised fuel price in Queensland, ranges from 8.35 cents per litre in Tenterfield to 1.67 at Urunga...

Labels: governmental subsidies

HOS Final Rule * USA - Submitted to White House for approval

The final rule was submitted for approval in late October. FMCSA officials have repeatedly said the rule would be released by the end of the year

Washington,DC,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Jami Jones -11 Nov 2008: -- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s latest attempt to finalize the hours-of-service regulations is under review at the White House Office of Management and Budget... In July 2007, the U.S. District Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit tossed the provision that increased driving time to 11 hours from 10 hours and the 34-hour restart provision... The two provisions were tossed by the court on procedural grounds – not based on safety concerns... FMCSA officials wrote in the interim final rule. “This (interim final rule) will ensure that a familiar, uniform set of national rules govern motor carrier transportation, while FMCSA gathers additional public comments on all aspects of this interim final rule... By re-adopting the 11-hour limit and the 34-hour restart, the agency’s intent is to allow motor carriers and drivers to combine work-rest schedules that follow the optimal 24-hour circadian cycle (10 hours off duty and 14 hours on duty) while maintaining highway safety with operational flexibility.”...

Labels: truckers' HOS

ECONOMY CRISIS * WORLDWIDE - Companies making do with less as weak economy continues

This week in the trucking industry, the news includes job cuts, a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, plant closings, and a company shutting its doors

Grain Valley,MO,USA -Land Line Magazine -November 11, 2008: -- ...

* Great Dane Trailers to close Savannah, GA, plantIt was announced Tuesday, Nov. 11, that Great Dane Trailers would close its original manufacturing facility in Savannah, GA, effective Jan. 9, 2009. About 270 employees will be affected... The company cited the extended economic downturn’s effect on the transportation industry and the need for more efficient production as the reasons for closing the refrigerated trailer plant.

* Dana Holding Corp. of Toledo, OH, says it will close as many as 10 of its plants in the next two years and will cut 5,000 jobs this year. Dana makes axles, drive shafts and other components.
Its third quarter earnings this year fell by $111 million compared with the same period last year.

* The Swedish company Haldex, which produces brake and hydraulic systems, says it will eliminate 700 jobs this year.

Labels: financial crisis

INFRASTRUCTURES * China - Opens the cheque book

Sydney,VIC,Australia -The World Today,ABC TV, by ELEANOR HALL -10 November 2008: -- The Chinese Government is getting ready to spend its way out of the world economic crisis... It's just approved a $826-billion stimulus package that will be directed to rural and transport infrastructure, low-income housing, as well as helping the steel industry... The Government of President Hu Jintao is making it clear it is prepared

trucks world news

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29.11.08

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA - Port workers will need new ID cards Monday

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * USA - Navistar, the sole independent manufacturer of trucks and buses in the United States

Out of the Spotlight * USA - An Industry Copes With Crisis

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA - CARTER EXPRESS: Safety breeds success

AUTOMAKERS' CRISIS * Canada - Magna to close plants, cut 850 jobs

TRUCKERS' PROTESTS * USA - Hundreds of trucks protest in central NY village

28.11.08

AUTOMAKERS' CRISIS * USA - Points of View: Auto industry is much more than ' Big Three'

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA - California reefers get an environmental extension

TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS * Canada - What’s good for the port is good for everyone

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * USA - Cat jumps ship earlier than expected

BORDER TROUBLES * Findland / Russia - Finns Fume as Exhaust-Spewing Trucks Jam Border Roads to Russia

TRUCKS' CONTROLS * USA - More DOT law enforcement in area, inspecting semi trucks

27.11.08

Onboard Diagnostics * USA - California Gets Okay to Require they

STATISTICS * NAFTA - Cargo Broke Record in 2007

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA -

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

AUTOMAKERS' CRISIS * USA - Caravan to Capitol to back Big 3 goes online

Truckers Vulnerability * USA - To State Governments Seeking Owner/Operator Revenue

TRUCKERS CLAIM * USA - Brown's frivolous lawsuit designed to curry political favor

TRUCKING FUTURE * USA - Obama team hears truckers’ perspective from OOIDA

TRUCKERS' PROTEST * USA - ... Will be a rally through Skaneateles Friday by truckers protesting regulations proposed by the state

AUTO-MAKERS' CRISIS: OPINION * USA - Jeremy Siegel's Advice to Big Three: "I think bankruptcy's the best option"

26.11.08

ALTERNATIVE FUELS * USA - Federal government's fleet sees mixed results

TRUCKING INDUSTRY'S ANALYSIS * USA - Analyst says trucking demand wilting

POLLUTION * USA - NY moves to reduce diesel truck emissions with retrofits

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

WARNING TRUCKERS * UK - British police turn to citizens to set speed traps

INFRASTRUCTURES * USA - Obama economic plan aims for 2.5M new jobs by 2011

TRUCKERS HEROES * USA & Canada - A story about Chris Howard

TECHNO-NEWS * USA - Mileage-Increasing Transportation Technology Boosts MPG in hybrids and range in electric vehicles by 20 to 70 percent

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA - Majority leader in Washington state goes to bat for truckers

21.11.08

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

19.11.08

New Engine Standards * USA - Will Leave Trucking Industry on the Side of the Road: OOIDA

AUTOMAKERS' INDUSTRY CRISIS * USA - Auto collapse would ripple across country

HEALTH * USA - Truckers' Concerns

AWARD * USA - Police Officer Credits Actions of Goodyear Highway Hero For Sparing Him From Serious Harm or Death

HOS REGULATIONS * USA - It’s final: Current rules to stay

ANTI-POLLUTION REGULATIONS * USA - Time trucking industry comes clean

18.11.08

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA - Border Valley Converts Fleet to Clean Fuel with ALT LNG

GOVERNMENT HELP * Brazil - Auto credit at pre-crisis levels

AUTOMAKERS' INDUSTRY CRISIS * WORLDWIDE

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

MEXICANS TRUCKS * USA - Truckers pass safety test

CONTAINERS' CONTROLS * USA - The sound of smuggling

17.11.08

OIL NEWS * USA - Crude futures close at a 22-month low under $55 a barrel

TRANSPORT & LOGISTIC * WORLDWIDE

RULES * USA - Plan keeps Ithaca on trucks' crossroad

OPINION * India - Commercial vehicles on the kerb

Confessions of a truck driver * AUSTRALIA - Veteran truck driver Dennis Luke explains why he had to leave the world he once loved

FUEL COST * USA - No let up for demand in diesel fuel consumption

STUDY * USA - Pollution & Deads by

AUTOS' INDUSTRY CRISIS * USA - An America without manufacturing becomes a starkly divided society

16.11.08

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA

Hybrid Trucks * USA - Joining Fort Worth trash collection fleet

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * USA - Kenworth layoffs to top 400

14.11.08

IPA 's COMPLAINS * Australia - NSW has let freight industry down

TI ANALYSIS * USA - Trucking companies hit the brakes

Clean Truck Fee * USA - Collection Delayed, Pending Resolution of Regulatory Issues

CARRIER'S IDENTIFICATION * USA - New ID requirements for trucks

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS WORLDWIDE * UK - Leyland says it will cut 250 jobs

CARTEL * Europe - EU fines auto glass firms record $1.77B

POLLUTION * USA - Study puts $6B price tag on bad air

INFRASTRUCTURE FUNDS * USA - NRF Backs Transportation Spending

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA

TRANSPORT STATISTICS * USA