Trucks World News: May 2009

May 31, 2009

AUTOMAKERS' CRISIS * USA - General Motors stock dive: Shares fall under $1s

Opel sold, deal agreed with Magna

Detroit,MICH,USA -The Detroit News, by Robert Snell & Christine Tierney -May 30, 2009: -- Shares in General Motors Corp. sank below $1 Friday on what many investors anticipated would be their last trading day before an all-but-certain bankruptcy filing by the biggest U.S. automaker... GM officials scrambled to conclude deals with creditors and with the United Auto Workers and arrange asset sales in an apparent effort to speed up an anticipated bankruptcy... The UAW said Friday that GM members ratified cost-saving concessions. GM also reached an agreement Friday to sell most of its German carmaker Adam Opel to a group led by Canadian auto supplier Magna International Inc.... The German government will provide $2.1 billion in financing to support the sale... Expectations that a bankruptcy was imminent mounted Friday after GM said CEO, Fritz Henderson, would host a news conference Monday in New York City, where the company is expected to file under Chapter 11 of the U.S. bankruptcy code...

* New Chrysler days from emerging - Quick regrouping from bankruptcy sets example for industry

New York,NY,USA -The Detroit News, by Alisa Priddle-May 30, 2009: -- The fate of the newest incarnation of Chrysler, poised to emerge in Metro Detroit, won't be known until Monday or Tuesday... It marks an unexpected delay in a bankruptcy process that has surprised many for its quickness... Closing arguments on the sale of assets of the bankrupt Chrysler LLC to a group headed by Italy's Fiat Spa continued late Friday with the expectation Judge, Arthur Gonzalez, would rule immediately and not hold the case over into the weekend. But three days of testimony ended with his announcement he would render his decision Monday at the earliest... Once the sale is approved -- as is expected -- the Chrysler Group LLC formation will be official...

* Interesting views in a rapidly developing story. European analysts say: GM may still require bankruptcy, despite rescue

Berlin,Germany -Road Transport (UK), by Lindsay Clark -29 May 2009: -- Dr. Rainer Nitsche, Managing Director of ESMT Competition Analysis, the Competition arm of the Berlin-based international business school, says: ... "The handling of negotiations only confirms the need for a pan-European bankruptcy procedure to match that of the US, to take the politics out of the negotiating room. The web of bankruptcy frameworks currently in place on national lines is no longer fit for purpose. While these are intended to enable the workable rehabilitation of a distressed company, overall these do not give the level of support of Chapter 11, nor do they take account of the emergence of global businesses which require more cohesive support... Until this is changed, the stigma of bankruptcy and fear of insolvency will lead to politicised, protectionist action on the part of European governments, making it difficult to judge the effective and rightful deployment of state aid. The extent of the positive assurances we have seen from Europe's nations in fighting for their national champions, has left them little room to manoeuvre even before discussion talks had begun. European governments needed to keep their cards close to their chest. Instead, the Ace of Spades was handed to Washington long before they even reached the bargaining table."

Labels: automakers' crisis

RULES * Canada - MTO to again use GPS-Satellite records for audit enforcement

MTO will once again use satellite records to enforce HOS in advance of a Canadian EOBR rule

Toronto,ONT,CAN -Today's Trucking -29 May 200: -- Beginning the first of July, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) will begin phasing in the use of satellite records for enforcement purposes, the Ontario Trucking Association reports... The new policy applies only to the use of GPS records in the Facility Audit for scoring purposes only and not for investigations or compliance verifications that may result in enforcement action... In August 2008, MTO implemented a moratorium regarding the use GPS/Satellite records as supporting documents in the Facility Audit scoring evaluation for the Hours of Service Profile... At the same time, MTO was in the process of developing a new, modernized facility audit protocol (in place as of April 1, 2009) and evaluating the potential impacts of using satellite tracking records as a “time marker” on the scoring of the hours of service portion of the driver profile of the “new” facility audit...

Labels: rules and regulations

BORDER CONTROLS * USA - Truckers say new regs won't jam borders

Truckers here say they're prepared for the new regulations

Burlington,VT,USA -USA TODAY -30 May 2009: -- Americans returning from Canada, Mexico, Bermuda and parts of the Caribbean will need more than a driver's license to get back into the USA beginning Monday — and efforts are underway to prevent that from turning into a truck backlog at the borders... Commercial truckers in this border state, home of one of the nation's busiest border crossings, are among those who will be affected by the more stringent documentation requirements, the latest in a series of anti-terrorism efforts put in place after the Sept. 11, 2001 terror attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C... In implementing the new requirements, the Department of Homeland Security faces a tricky balancing act: trying to secure the nation's 5,000 miles of border with Canada and 1,900 miles of border with Mexico while not disrupting trade. On an average day last year, Customs officers processed more than 70,000 truck, rail and sea containers... The trucking industry is "well prepared" for the change, said Clayton Boyce, vice president of public affairs for the American Trucking Associations... (Photo by Morris Lamont/AP - As new travel documentation requirements are put in place at U.S. border crossings Monday, officials are hoping to avoid scenes like this one: trucks backed up in Canada, 17 miles north of USA border on Sept. 12, 2001, the day after the 9/11 terror attacks on New York City and Washington, D.C.)

* Canada - TA boss 'nervous' as border ID rule looms

Ver mapa más grande

Ottawa,ONT,CAN -Today's Trucking -29 May 2009: -- Canada's leading trucker rep is waiting anxiously for the new Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative ID rules to kick-in on Monday, June 1... Even though the Canadian Trucking Alliance helped avert potential border chaos this week by convincing US Customs to make some last minute changes to its policy, CTA boss, David Bradley, worries that the message from head office in Washington may not have filtered down to all of the front line officers at land border points... Acceptable forms of ID include a passport, FAST card or a security enhanced drivers' licence... (Map Google)

Labels: border controls

May 30, 2009

CONTROLS * USA - Passport Requirement takes effect Monday, June 1

Washington,DC,USA -Land Line Magazine, by David Tanner -May 29, 2009: -- Starting Monday, June 1, anyone who crosses the border into the U.S. from Canada or Mexico for any reason will be required to show a passport or another approved document regardless of citizenship... In other words, a verbal declaration of citizenship at the border will no longer be accepted as it has been in the past... U.S. citizens returning to the states by land will be required to produce a valid U.S. passport, passport card, a valid FAST, NEXUS or SENTRI credential, enhanced driver’s license, military identification with travel orders, or a Merchant Mariner document... Canadian citizens have been required since 2008 to show a valid passport, FAST, NEXUS or SENTRI card, or an enhanced driver’s license... (Photo from USA Embassy: Passport required)

* Here’s what CVSA will be checking for June 2-4

Washington,DC,USA -Land Line Magazine -May 29, 2009: -- The annual inspection blitz conducted by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance is set for June 2-4 in the U.S., Canada and Mexico... More than 8,500 inspectors in 1,850 locations will be on the lookout for driver and mechanical violations during the 72-hour event... This year, roadside inspectors will be focusing on the following: driver's license, medical examiner’s certificate and waiver, alcohol and drugs (if applicable), driver's record of duty status (as required), hours of service, seat belt, vehicle inspection report, as well as the brake system, coupling devices, exhaust system, frame, fuel system, turn signals, brake lamps, tail lamps, head lamps, lamps on projecting loads, safe loading, steering mechanism, suspension, tires, van and open-top trailer bodies, wheels and rims, windshield wipers, emergency exits on buses and HM requirements, as applicable; safety belt enforcement; motorcoach and bus safety compliance... Inspectors will also focus on Unified Carrier Registration compliance. In 2005, SAFETEA-LU codified UCR into federal law. It replaced the Single State Registration System (SSRS). All motor carriers (for-hire, private and exempt) – as well as brokers, freight forwarders, and leasing companies operating in interstate or international commerce – are subject to the new UCR... (Photo from blog.fleetowner)

Labels: passports

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* Germany - Truckmaker MAN offers amnesty to employees for information on alleged corruption

Munich,Germnay -Associated Press/The Washington Examiner (USA) -27 May 2009: -- German truckmaker MAN AG on Monday offered amnesty for employees willing to come forward with information regarding alleged illegal commissions paid at the company between 2002 and 2009 and which are being investigated by Munich prosecutors... More than 100 people are being investigated and two have been arrested... Prosecutors said salespeople allegedly paid about euro1 million ($1.35 million) in "bribes characterized as commission payments" to employees of MAN customers, sometimes via the accounts of relatives and friends, sometimes via letterbox firms in Malta, the Bahamas, London and New York... Investigators are now trying to determine who received money and why... (Picture from us-cdn.creamermedia.co.za: Resized MAN trucks)

* Sweden - Volvo to pay $525 million to create health care trust for Mack Trucks retirees

Stockholm,Sweden -Associated Press/The Washington Examiner (USA) -27 May 2009: -- Allentown, Pennsylvania-based truck maker Mack Trucks Inc. has signed an agreement with the United Auto Workers union to create an independent trust responsible for the health care of retirees, Swedish parent company AB Volvo said Monday... Volvo said it will fund the trust with $525 million (euro389 million) in cash, which will be paid in equal installments over a five-year period... If approved, the first payment of $110 million (euro82 million) will be made in the second quarter 2009... (Picture from wallpapersmania: Volvo truck)

* USA - Capacity terminal tractors to use MaxxForce engines

Melrose Park,ILL,USA -Truck News (CAN) -28 May 2009: -- Navistar has inked a deal to supply MaxxForce 7 engines for Capacity shunt trucks... The V8 diesels will be used on Capacity terminal tractors as part of multi-year agreement... The first Capacity trucks to come with MaxxForce 7 engines will be rolled out beginning this fall... (Photo from glasvangreatdane.com: Capacity's, of Texas, truck)

* USA - Mack delivers its first production intent Class 8 hybrid to NYC

New York,NY,USA -Truck News (CAN) -29 May 2009: -- Mack has delivered its first production intent Class 8 heavy-duty hybrid to the city of New York for use in refuse applications... The company handed over the keys during a special ceremony and said the sale marks an “important milestone” in the company’s hybrid commercialization process. The truck is a Mack TerraPro low-entry model refuse truck and is also EPA2010-compliant thanks to the use of selective catalytic reduction (SCR)... New York’s Department of Sanitation will be using the truck and evaluating its performance... (Macks' photo)

* Belgium - WABCO Adds to Intelligent Trailer Program

Brussels, Belgium -WABCO Press Release -May 19, 2009: -- WABCO Holdings Inc. introduced new functions to its Intelligent Trailer Program. OptiLoad, OptiTurn, Tilt Alert and Bounce Control are featured on the E1 version of the company's Trailer EBS E generation, marking the latest innovation in WABCO's Trailer EBS series that was launched in 1998.. . As of 2008, WABCO has sold more than 843,000 trailer electronic braking systems worldwide... New OptiLoad automatically redistributes cargo weight over the truck-trailer combination. As a trailer's cargo is partially delivered along its route, the remaining cargo can exceed the legal maximum weight limit on the truck's rear axle. With new OptiLoad and existing air bellows, the trailer's suspension system redistributes load weight without physically moving any cargo. It helps truck drivers and fleet operators remain in compliance with regulations for maximum weight per axle while preventing axle damage due to excessive weight...

* UK - Schmitz Opens Multi-Product Trailer Assembly Line

Harelaw,Durham,UK -Trailer Body Builders -May 28, 2009: -- Schmitz Cargobull (UK) Ltd’s new multi-product trailer assembly line is now fully operational. The new integrated line, introduced at the company’s UK manufacturing plant at Harelaw, County Durham, allows both curtainsider and refrigerated trailers to be built simultaneously... It has been designed to enable Schmitz Cargobull to manufacture an extensive range of other trailer types at the Harelaw facility and, as a result, the number of products built by the company in the UK will be enlarged significantly... The development of the new production system means that the overall output capacity of the plant has effectively been doubled...

* USA - Schweitzer visits Miralogix in Bozeman

Bozeman,Montana,USA - The Montana's News Station -May 29, 2009: -- Governor Brian Schweitzer, on Friday visited a Bozeman company that may revolutionize the trucking industry... Miralogix is a company that has come up with a more energy efficient way of cooling large delivery trucks... The manager of Miralogix's parent company, Reflect Scientific, showed the Governor the new CB 40 refrigeration system... John Hammerman says the device uses nitrogen to cool refrigerated trucks, replacing the need for noisy, polluting diesel systems...

* Europe - Truckmakers seek help to overcome economic crisis

Brussels,Belgium -European Voice, by Jennifer Rankin -28 May 2009: -- European truck and coach manufacturers are to ask the European Union and national governments for more help to weather the recession... The industry is studying whether schemes that give consumers cash incentives for trading in old cars can be replicated for trucks and buses... ACEA, the European carmakers' association, is working on proposals for “a system that will be semi-equivalent to a scrapping scheme for commercial vehicles,” said Ivan Hodac, ACEA's secretary-general... Truck and coach-makers have been hit hard by the economic downturn. Sales of commercial vehicles dropped by 24% in the last quarter of 2008, worse than the 19.3% fall for passenger cars. Hodac said that he expected sales of commercial vehicles to be 50% down for 2009 as a whole... (Photo: TRICKY TURNS Truckmakers are struggling to cope with the global economic crisis)

Labels: truckmakers' news USA

Lack of Jobs *- UK - Lorry drivers 'hit worst' by slowdown

London,UK -BBC Radio 4's, by Michael Buchanan -26 May 2009: -- An analysis of job vacancies has revealed that lorry drivers have been worst hit by the recession... The conclusions, which looked at the rise and fall in vacancies over the past year, showed there were more than 8,000 fewer vacancies for HGV drivers in April than there were in April 2008... Figures released by the Department of Transport earlier this month showed a sharp reduction in the number of lorries on Britain's roads, down 12% in the first quarter compared to the same period in 2008, and 7% lower on the previous quarter... The figures back up claims from the Road Haulage Association that the industry has been hit hard by the recession... People aren't training anymore, agency work has gone through the floor, which means that many people who would take that route into the industry haven't been able to find work... (Picture from telegraph; Lorries Park lane)

Labels: jobs' cut

TRUCKS NEWS * Europe - REGISTRATIONS: New HGV ones slump

New heavy truck registrations in April amounted to 15,117 units, or 47.0 per cent less than in the same month a year ago

Brusells,Belgium -HGV (Ireland) -29 May 2009: -- With the exception ofthe Dutch and Swiss markets, which expanded by 33 and 22.1 per cent respectively, all others contracted... Cumulative results from January to April show a 42.8 per cent slump... (Picture: media.monstersandcritics: european's trucks)

* UK - Number of trucks travelling to continent falls

London,UK -Logistics Manager -28 May 2009: -- The total number of goods vehicles travelling from Great Britain to the continent fell nine per cent for the year to March 2009, according to the latest figures from the Department for Transport... Some 2.64 million goods vehicles travelled from Great Britain to mainland Europe during the year. Despite the year on year fall, the figure was still 95 per cent higher than in 1992... Some 1.97 million were powered vehicles, down eight per cent, and 676,000 were unaccompanied trailers, down 11 per cent... Much of the drop can be attributed to the first quarter of 2009 when the total number of goods vehicles travelling from Great Britain to the continent fell 19 per cent to 576,000... (Picture from jkvehicles.co.uk: UK and Mainland Europe Vehicle )

Labels: trucks news

TRUCKING NEWS * Ireland - Hauliers vs. VOSA (UK)

* Irish haulier questions accuracy of VOSA statistics

Dublin,Ireland -HGV -24 May 2009: -- A leading Irish haulage company has questioned the accuracy of statistics gathered by the Vehicle and Operator Services Agency (VOSA) in the UK with regard to Irish operators... Last week HGV Ireland.com reported that more than three out of 10 Irish HGVs inspected in the UK, failed roadworthiness checks, in the year to the end of April, according to preliminary statistics produced by VOSA... On foot of this article, a leading haulier, who did not want to be named, contacted HGV Ireland.com and called into question the accuracy of the VOSA statistics and pointed to two instances in which two of his vehicles fell fowl of the law in the UK... He concluded: "How many other hauliers have been in the same position and how does our industry look if this is how statistics are gathered and used against hauliers in general?"...(Picture: lorryspotteruk: An irish haulier vehicle)

* AWARD: Reynolds Logistics lands European silver

Dublin,Ireland -HGV -29 May 2009: -- One of Ireland's leading haulage companies and Fleet Transport Haulier of the Year 2008, has received a Silver medal in the inaugural European Transport Company of the Year 2009 awards... Reynolds Logistics, petro-chemical distribution specialists were up against the "best of the best"' from 14 countries across Europe... Reynolds Logistics came a close second to eventual winners Van Maanen from The Netherlands at the finals in Amsterdam on May 7...

Labels: trucking industry news UK and Ireland

Weight Enforcement * USA -. Oregon DOT weighs more than 26,000 trucks in three-day campaign

Portland,OR,USA -The Trucker News Services -29 May 2009: -- The Oregon Department of Transportation Motor Carrier Division recently conducted a three-day intensive size and weight enforcement effort along the Interstate 84 corridor recently, weighing in excess of 26,000 trucks... Officials said 16,914 trucks, or about one truck every 12 seconds, were weighed by ODOT staff at static scales, and 9,428 trucks were weighed in-motion at highway speed by the Green Light weigh station pre-clearance system... About 1.8 percent of the trucks received enforcement warnings or citations.. (Photo: An Oregon Department of Transportation officers checks the weight of a truck during a recent three-day size and weight enforcement campaign)

Labels: trucks' controls

May 29, 2009

AND NOW !!! Lisa Kelly !!! ... on ... * Canada - ICE ROAD TRUCKERS

Lisa Kelly cuts pretty figure on 'Ice Road Truckers'

Prudhoe Bay,Canada -New York Daily News (NY,USA), by Richard Huff -May 29 2009: ... Lisa Kelly admits she gets a kick out of seeing people do a double take when she slides out of her massive Kenworth W900 tractor-trailer... "I don't have to play it down," says the pretty blond, one of the drivers followed on the new season of History's "Ice Road Truckers."... "I think I've earned where I'm at. They don't just judge me by the cover, and I can get the job done," she says. "I don't need to fit the stereotype. I don't have to be a potty mouth, chew tobacco and be 300 pounds to drive a truck."... The show follows truckers who maneuver icy, snow-covered, narrow roads to deliver goods in Alaska 250 miles north of the Arctic Circle... Kelly, who calls Wasilla home (yes, Sarah Palin's place), is new to the cast...

** Ice Road Truckers Season 3 Preview

Video from YouTube, by historychannel -21 May 2009: -- Season 3 premieres May 31, 2009 at 9pm/8c... In Prudhoe Bay, a network of ice roads in the tundra crisscross river systems & open ocean to connect Americas booming North Slope oil fields to dry land... Every winter truckers have less than three months to shuttle critical supplies over the ice. There's only one way to get to this remote location: 400 miles of ice-covered, mountainous terrain known as The Dalton Highway... !!!

Labels: ice road truckers

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA

* Success stories in trucking are hard to come by these days

Richmond,VA,USA -GLGroup/Intelligently Connected, by John Schulz -29 May 2009: -- The industry is awash with bad news--truckload carrier Swift and LTL giant YRC Worldwide are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, even solidly profitable carriers such as FedEx Freight and Con-way have endured layoffs during the recession and the mere thought of geographic expansion at this time can be met with howls of laughter from executives just trying to hang onto until the recovery comes... Capital expenditures are being cut to the bone. After buying about 260,000 Class 8 trucks in 2006, the industry is expected to buy only about 90,000 this year as fewer carriers are replacing trucks and hardly anybody is expanding... Enter Estes Express. The privately held Richmond, Va.-based LTL carrier does not disclose profits. But judging from its expansion plans, the $1.5 billion carrier is enduring the recession about as well as any LTL carrier in the nation... There must be something in the James River in Richmond that produces good truckers. Home to legendary J. Harwood Cochrane, the founder of Overnite Transportation Co. (now UPS Freight), Richmond is strategically located to capitalize on both Northeast and Southeast freight with gateways to the Midwest and South Central states just a half day's drive away as well... Estes had a 4.4 percent drop in freight tonnage last year, about half the industry average. Some carriers, such as the YRC units, have endured drops in the 20 percent range. It isn't pretty out there right now as shippers batten down and are content to burn through inventory rather than start the inevitable restocking process.. That is what Estes is waiting for. It recently opened a Mexican logistics subsidiary to capitalize on north-south trade when the recovery comes. It also took advantage of YRC's financial woes to work an innovate cash-lease back arrangement in a number of terminals it is taking over from YRC... (Photo: The Great Depression in the United States was a very unlikely time in our nation's history to start a business. But, in 1931, an entrepreneur named W.W. Estes bought one used Chevrolet truck and established a small, local trucking business hauling farm produce and supplies in Southwest Virginia)

* Leading California Hay Exporter Reduces Fuel Costs and Emissions with LNG-Powered Kenworth T800s

Brawley,CAL,USA -Commercial Truck Trader -May 28, 2009: -- For Border Valley Trading, finding a way to lower emissions and fuel costs wasn’t like looking for a needle in a haystack... The Brawley, Calif.-based alfalfa, sudan and klein grass hay producer and exporter recently replaced its fleet of trucks with 15 liquefied natural gas-powered Kenworth T800s... The trucks are equipped with the Westport Innovations LNG fuel system and Westport GX engine, which is based on the industry-leading Cummins ISX 15-liter engine.

The Kenworth trucks use 5 percent diesel and 95 percent liquefied natural gas to power the drivetrain. A typical Class 8 truck using the cleaner burning LNG fuel may reduce nitrogen oxide (NOx) and greenhouse gas emissions by up to an estimated 33 percent and 20 percent, respectively, compared to a diesel-fueled truck...

* Volumes shrink for YRC Worldwide, and other trucking companies

Kansas City,MO,USA -The Kansas City Business Journal -May 28, 2009: -- Trucking companies such as YRC Worldwide Inc. faced shrinking shipment volumes last month, on the tail of a plunge in March, the American Trucking Associations said this week... Compared with the prior-year period, April truck tonnages fell 13.2 percent, the largest drop in 13 years, the ATA said...

* For Sale: One Trucking Company's Headquarters. Not Its Business. YRC Worldwide Sells HQ to Load Up More Cash

New York,NY,USA -GLGroup/Intelligently Connected, by John Schulz -May 29, 2009: -- What do you do when almost nothing else has worked? Sell the building. That's exactly what YRC Worldwide, the financially troubled $8.9 billion trucking conglomerate, has done with its Overland Park, Kan., headquarters... In a sale-leaseback arrangement disclosed by the Kansas City Business Journal, YRC could gain as much as $22.5 million from the sale of its 30-year-old building on the outskirts of Kansas City... YRC won't be vacating the premises. Instead, it will lease back at least part of the building for an undisclosed fee...

* USA - Truck shipments decline during stagnant economy

Omaha, Neb.USA -AP/The Tampa Tribune (FL,USA), by TED JACKOVICS -28 May 2009: -- Werner Enterprises Inc., said it trimmed an additional 4 percent of its Omaha, Neb.-based fleet in the first quarter, as slow consumer spending and stalled manufacturing activity took its toll on truckers... Nearly all major trucking companies reported lower first-quarter revenue and falling profits as the recession continued and shipping demand slid... ATA does not reveal actual tonnage figures on a monthly basis to non-members of the Arlington,Va.-based industry group. The ATA said trucks hauled 10.2 billion tons of freight in 2008... The association's reports have shown seven successive percentage declines in truck tonnage since October... And while the dollar value of inventories has fallen, sales have decreased as much or more, resulting in inventories that are still too high for current sales levels, ATA's Costello said... That means it could be a few months for truck freight to hit bottom...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

Will electric trucks succeed ? KC market ... * USA - ... To get a first look

A British company, Smith Electric Vehicles, hopes to transform the U.S. delivery market with electric trucks

Kansas,MO,USA -The Kansas City Star, by STEVE EVERLY -27 May 2009: ... Today, a British company that got its start making milk floats is in the middle of a business drama playing out in the United States — and Kansas City — that is likely to determine whether electric trucks become part of the American landscape... Smith Electric Vehicles is on track to begin building electric trucks in July at a plant near Kansas City International Airport. The company is betting that it will find sufficient demand because the delivery market is ideal for electric trucks... Daily routes are typically less than 100 miles, within range of a big electric battery’s charge and the trucks return to depots where they can recharge overnight... But within the promise lies a worry. If this ideal market can’t be cracked, that will cast doubt about the entire future of electric trucks in the United States... (Photo: A British company, Smith Electric Vehicles, hopes to transform the U.S. delivery market with electric trucks. The company says interest in its trucks is “huge.”)

Labels: electric trucks

Audit Enforcement * USA - MTO to again use GPS-Satellite records for

Toronto,ONT,CAN -Today's Trucking -29 May 2009: -- Beginning the first of July, the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) will begin phasing in the use of satellite records for enforcement purposes, the Ontario Trucking Association reports... The new policy applies only to the use of GPS records in the Facility Audit for scoring purposes only and not for investigations or compliance verifications that may result in enforcement action...

Labels: GPS devices

STATISTICS * USA - NA truck registrations lowest on record

Southfield,MICH,USA -Today's Trucking (CAN) -28 May 2009: -- New commercial truck registrations (Class 3-8) were down 40 percent for the first quarter of 2009 compared to the same period in 2008, according to the Polk Commercial Vehicle Market Intelligence Report... This is the lowest registration quarter since 1991, and for Class 8 models, March has been the worst month since Polk started keeping these records in 1985. These declines come on the heels of an overwhelming drop in demand... Last year, total registration of commercial vehicles was at 486,800. Registration was down in all fleet sizes and categories... The Canadian market dropped by 37.3 percent from the first quarter of 2008. The index indicates 2009 will see 48,000 units registered in Canada, which is about 42 percent lower than 2006 levels...

* NAFTA - Can-Am truck trade drops over 25%

Washington,DC,USA -Today's Trucking -29 May 2009: -- Surface transportation trade among the three NAFTA nations plummeted again -- this time by 27.9 percent in March from a year earlier... That's the third consecutive month of decline greater than 27 percent, the Department of Transportation reports... U.S.-Canada trade, specifically, fell 34.2 percent to $31 billion. The value of truck imports fell 26.8 percent and truck exports dropped 25.1 percent... Overall, truck imports from both Canada and Mexico to the U.S. dropped 21.5 percent to $18.7 billion, while exports fell 18.9 percent to $18.9 billion... About 90 percent of U.S. trade among NAFTA partners moves by land...

Labels: statistics

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