Trucks World News: July 2009

Jul 31, 2009

DANGEROUS DRIVER * USA - Texting, talking NY trucker hits car, pool

Tow truck driver was texting on one cell phone while talking on another...

Lockport,NY,USA -AP -30 July 2009: -- Police say a western New York tow truck driver was texting on one cell phone while talking on another when he slammed into a car and crashed into a swimming pool... Niagara County sheriff's deputies say 25-year-old Nicholas Sparks of Burt admitted he was texting and talking when his flatbed truck hit the car Wednesday morning in Lockport, which is outside Buffalo... The truck then crashed through a fence and sideswiped a house before rolling into an in-ground pool... Police say the 68-year-old woman driving the car suffered head injuries and was in good condition. Her 8-year-old niece suffered minor injuries... Sparks was charged with reckless driving, talking on a cell phone and following too closely. It couldn't be determined Thursday whether he has a lawyer... (AP Photo/Lockport Union-Sun & Journal, Stephen Wallace - Sgt. Kevin Locicero, left, and Capt. Bruce Elliot, of the Niagra County Sheriff's Department, examine a flatbed towing truck that drove into a swimming pool in Lockport, N.Y. on Thursday, July 30, 2009. Police said that the Buffalo-area tow truck driver was juggling two cell phones, texting on one and talking on another, when he slammed into a car and crashed into the swimming pool)

Labels: dangerous drivers

TRUCKER'S STORY * USA - Henryville truck driver passes prestigious 2 million miles safety mark

Jack L. Walker, is a road warrior

Henryville,IND,USA -The News and Tribune, by Richard Gootee -July 30, 2009: ... A line-hauler for Con-way Freight for almost a quarter of a century, the 48-year-old eclipsed the 2 million mile mark with the company in June — all accident free. While more than 1,500 drivers have passed the million mark, only about 90 have gotten to the same plateau as Walker... He said he spends a lot of his daily trek listening to the radio, but doesn’t have a comfort snack on the road nor a favorite truck stop. And while he said he never has a desire to just park his rig and take a few minutes to check out the sights while working, Kentucky Lake, Lake Barkley and the Gen. George Patton Museum in Fort Knox, Ky., have all caught his eye as places he’d like to visit, if he finds himself on his route during a day off... (Photo: Jack L. Walter: He’s all miles)

* Canada - Truckers find freedom on the road

Calgary,BC,CAN -The Calgary Herald, by David Parker -July 30, 2009: -- With traffic slowed down to a crawl on a recent drive back from Lake Louise, I began to feel for the poor truck drivers who make a living on the road... Yet truckers seem to enjoy what they do and according to Gary Hercun, vice-president of operations at Kings Transfer Van Lines, they take most delays in their stride. He says it's a career that can be rewarding and one that allows a lot of freedom, and he's been in the industry for 40 plus years. Like many others, Hercun started as a swamper. At 14 years of age, he got a job helping pack and load furniture trucks and says he enjoyed it so much that despite being offered two football scholarships in his teens, he decided trucking was what he wanted to do. He went on to be a long-distance driver, a job he relished until an injury put him in the office... Unfortunately, today's economic climate has not been good to truckers and, despite the number of units one sees on the highway, too many rigs are idle... (Photograph by: Stuart Gradon, Calgary Herald - With traffic slowed down to a crawl on a recent drive back from Lake Louise, I began to feel for the poor truck drivers who make a living on the road. Yet truckers seem to enjoy what they do)

Labels: truckers' stories

Trucks Weight * USA - Pilot Project Moves Forward In Senate

Trucks weighing up to 100,000 pounds to operate the full length of the interstate highway system in the state

Maine,USA -MPBN -30 July 2009: -- A Senate Appropriations sub-committee has given approval to a pilot project proposed by Maine’s Congressional delegation allowing trucks weighing up to 100,000 pounds to operate the full length of the interstate highway system in the state... Under the proposal, truckers with the loads weighing above 80,000 pounds will be able to use all of the interstate instead of being required to leave the interstate north of Augusta for a year to allow a study to see if allowing the greater weight poses a safety issue... The measure is part of an appropriations bill and faces further votes in the full Senate and the House...

* Hundreds of angry truckers protest Bossier law

Shreveport,LOU,USA -Shreveport Times, by Drew Pierson -July 30, 2009: -- Hundreds of angry truckers descended on a somewhat impromptu Bossier Police Jury meeting Wednesday in Benton to express their displeasure with a recently enacted parish law against overweight trucks... Bossier Parish's commercial vehicle enforcement unit consists of only one enforcement officer who has authority to drive throughout the parish, pull over trucks he suspects of being overweight and weighing them. The parish spend months notifying local companies of the program, which began July 20... But the truckers at Wednesday's meeting said many of their trucks routinely weigh more than the state's and parish's maximum load limit, which is 88,000 pounds, because of the type of equipment they haul... The cost of a permit from the parish in addition to one from the state, plus the concern that other parishes soon might start enforcing programs of their own, is too much, said Glenn Beaty, head of Beaty Logging Co... The parish reports having lost more than $8 million, four bridges and countless hours trying to repair damage in only the past three or four years from overweight trucks, particularly saltwater trucks, which are needed for the "fracking" process used to extract natural gas from the shale. Parish staffers have heard reports of saltwater trucks weighing as much as 160,000 pounds driving on local roads... To date, no tickets have been issued by Bossier...

Labels: higher trucks weight

TRUCKING INDUSTRY * USA - YRC Worldwide suffers another big quarterly loss

Overland Park-based YRC Worldwide is struggling to survive amid the recession and a huge debt load

Kansas City,MO,USA -The Kansas City Star, by RANDOLPH HEASTER -30 July 2009: -- Another big quarterly loss Thursday for YRC Worldwide Inc. magnified the importance of next week’s vote by its union workers on whether to accept more cuts... The Overland Park-based trucker, struggling to survive amid the recession and a huge debt load, saw revenues plunge as the company continued downsizing to match the industry’s declining volumes... Including special charges, YRC lost $309 million, or $5.20 a share, for the three months that ended June 30. Excluding charges related to reducing and merging trucking operations, the loss was $3.53 a share... Revenues plummeted 45 percent for the quarter to $1.33 billion, compared with $2.40 billion in the same quarter last year. Quarterly revenues had fallen 33 percent in the first quarter...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

Jul 30, 2009

TRUCKMAKERS' STORY * Holland - 60 years of DAF truck production

"The first in series produced truck chassis from N.V. Van Doorne’s Automobile Factory in Eindhoven was unveiled yesterday to a fanfare of publicity", reported the Dutch Transport Courier on 29 July 1949

Eindhoven,Holland -HGV (UK) -29 July 2009: -- In the factory under construction, 2,000 trucks were planned to be manufactured in 1950, a sharp contrast with the total of more than 65,000 trucks that left the DAF production facilities in Eindhoven and Leyland (United Kingdom) in 2008... At the end of the 1940s, DAF seized on the large demand for transport material. Founded in 1928 by Hub van Doorne and having made a name for itself for the production of trailers since 1933 (Van Doorne’s Aanhangwagen Fabriek), the company delivered its first truck chassis on 28 July 1949. A further 500 trucks would be built that year... With the new factory beginning operations in January 1950, the production could be raised to 2,000 and later 4,000 trucks per year... The delivery programme initially comprised exclusively 3 and 5 ton models. The vehicles consisted of chassis, engine, axles and the renowned grille with seven chrome stripes; local, independent body builders took care of the cab and specific superstructures. From 1953 also the cabs were supplied ‘ex-factory’, whereby the luxury version was distinguished by its interior lighting and a second windscreen wiper. On May 3 of that year the 10,000th truck chassis was delivered...

(Picture: DAF's trucks factory today) At the end of the eighties around 18,000 trucks were produced in Eindhoven each year and at the end of the nineties this had become about 25,000. In the first few years of the new millennium the production in Eindhoven rose to almost 31,000 trucks in 2004. The company piled up record on record. In 2008, almost 40,000 medium and heavy duty trucks were produced in Eindhoven. In addition, over 12,000 trucks from the LF series and over 12,700 trucks from the CF and XF105 series were assembled at Leyland Trucks in the UK, leading to a total production of almost 65,000 units...

Labels: truckmakers' stories

TRUCKING INDUSTRY * Africa - KRA steps up the war on dumping of transit goods

Nairobi,Kenya -The Business Daily, by Zeddy Sambu -July 29 2009: -- The war against dumping of transit goods in the Kenyan market has intensified with the tax collector introducing an electronic cargo tracking solution to monitor movement of goods between Mombasa port and Busia and Malaba border points through which goods enter the landlocked Great Lakes Region... Kenya Revenue Authority’s (KRA) new solution, known as Hi-G-DataSeal, will be installed by a radio frequency identification (RFID) solution developer... The system will replace the conventional mechanical seal. It will also do away with the current cumbersome escort of cargo to Kenya’s borders, which has previously not been effective... Even with the escorts, the taxman has not been able to seal loopholes as importers ride on the inefficiency to dump goods destined for neighbouring countries in Kenya... According to Kenya Ports Authority (KPA), there is a shortage of trucks to transport goods meant for the local market because KRA does not allow transit trucks to carry Kenyan cargo... (Photo: Goods on transit to Uganda. KRA’s new system is meant to track cargo movement along Kenya’s main transportation route — the Mombasa/Malaba Highway)

Labels: trucking industry worldwide

NEW TRUCKERS* USA - White collar workers find new gigs in big rigs

For some, that means trying a career they'd never dreamed of - driving a truck

Seattle,WASH,USA -KING 5 News, by JANE MCCARTHY -July 28, 2009: -- A lot of unemployed workers are turning their job loss into an opportunity... Truck driving schools across the country are reporting an increase in enrollment... At Bates Technical College in Tacoma, they have just added an extra class and still have a waiting list that's longer than ever. Some of their current students include former bankers and Microsoft employees... Loran Sawyer is just about to graduate from Bates Technical College commercial truck driving program... Bates Technical College truck driving instructor, Dan French, says while the economy has also whittled away the number of truck driving jobs, his students are finding work. In the last few months, he's even seen an upswing... Several companies say most of the openings right now are for long-haul drivers... (Photo from KING - Loran Sawyer used to be a yacht broker, until the economy sunk his yacht-selling career) - SEE VIDEO

Labels: truckers' job

ELECTRIC TRUCKS * USA - AT&T Accepts Keys to Next Generation All-Electric Cargo Truck

Purchase Follows AT&T 10-Year Commitment to Spend up to $565 Million on Alternative-Fuel Vehicles

Washington,DC,USA -PRNewswire-FirstCall -July 28, 2009: -- AT&T today accepted the keys to its new all-electric cargo truck. AT&T, along with three other companies, received one of six trucks delivered by Smith Electric on Capitol Hill today - the first in a series of next-generation, all-electric commercial vehicles entering service across the United States. The vehicle, known as the Smith Newton, is the world's largest electric battery-powered truck and the first commercial all-electric truck to achieve new vehicle emissions certification in California. Acceptance of the vehicle comes on the heels of AT&T's announcement in March of a 10-year, $565 million commitment to deploy more than 15,000 alternative fuel vehicles in its fleet.. (Photo from greenmachines: Smith electric vehicles/Smith Newton)

Labels: electric trucks

TRUCK SALES * Greece - Athens chooses the ecofriendly Mercedes-Benz Econic NGT

Stuttgart,Germany /Athens,Greece -TreeHugger/WebRidersTV (Male,CAL,USA) -July 24, 2009: -- The city of Athens has placed a big fat Greek order of Mercedes-Benz’s Econic compressed natural gas trucks to use in the city’s waste management collection fleet. Compared to gasoline and diesel equivalents, the Econic produces 90 percent less particualte matter and 25 percent less carbon-dioxide emissions. Each of the 108 trucks ordered runs more quietly than the current diesel models and meets the Enhanced Environmentally-Friendly Vehicles emission standards... The Mercedes-Benz Econic NGT – the ecofriendly special-purpose vehicle for municipal services, collection operations and distribution – keeps city centres cleaner and more pleasant thanks to its low-emission drive system...

Labels: trucks sales

TRUCK BUYERS BEWARE * USA - It could haunt truckers purchasing used trucks

Florida,NY,USA -Land Line Magazine -27 July 2009: --While out on the road recently, OOIDA member Jim Cancel of Florida, NY, found a used truck in Tennessee he was interested in buying... Cancel said that on the surface the deal seemed too good to pass up. The truck was in good condition, the dealership was eager to negotiate, his bank seemed willing to work with him on the loan, but that something still wasn’t sitting right with him... Then Cancel said he remembered reading an article in the June issue of Land Line Magazine about some OOIDA members who have had their Highway Vehicle Use Tax – HVUT – applications rejected after purchasing a used truck because the previous owner owes back HVUT. If that truck has run in New York before and the previous owner owes back HVUT, the lien follows the truck’s Vehicle Identification Number, not the previous owner... One phone call to the New York State Taxation and Finance Department confirmed that the used truck was not “free and clear” at all...

Labels: used trucks

MEXICANS' TRUCKS * USA - New truck rules please U.S. business

U.S. businesses await end to ban, retaliatory tariffs

Washington,DC,USA -The Washington Times, by Steve Miller -July 27, 2009: -- A plan containing guidelines on getting Mexican trucks back on U.S. highways has gone through bureaucratic review, the first step toward ending Mexican tariffs on $2.4 billion worth of U.S. goods... Implementing the plan would quell growing dissent among U.S. businesses that are hurt by Mexico's tariffs and that continue to besiege Washington with claims that doing nothing will result in job losses... Earlier this year, representatives from several parties with interests in the fate of the trucking program, including officials from the American Trucking Associations (ATA), the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), the Teamsters union, and state trucking inspectors, were called to meet with Transportation Secretary, Ray LaHood... As the weeks ticked by with no action on a plan to relaunch the trucking program, growing seasons for some affected agricultural producers have come and gone... Some of the 2,200 unionized employees of Appleton Papers are getting closer to layoffs... (Photo by Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images - OTAY MESA, CA - MARCH 24: Trucks coming from Mexico prepare to enter the highway after crossing the border March 24, 2009 in Otay Mesa, California. Mexico last week slapped higher tariffs on an estimated $2.4 billion worth of goods entering the country from the U.S. in response to a move by Congress to end a pilot program allowing Mexican trucks to operate in the U.S.)

Labels: mexicans' trucks

Regulation Barriers * Canada - Block greening of trucking industry

Times may be tough, but that doesn't mean that truckers aren't seeing green of another shade

Toronto,ONT,Canada -Today's Trucking -27 July 2009: -- Ontario trucking companies, according to a recent survey of members by the Ontario Trucking Association, are ready to embrace aftermarket technology that improves fuel efficiency and reduce GHG emissions... The OTA survey revealed that close to three quarters of respondents have introduced in-cab heaters into their fleet to avoid having to run the engine to keep cabs warm in the winter... Plus, the current incentive programs do not include the full scope of proven fuel efficiency technologies, such as wide-base single tires (49% of OTA carriers say they are introducing them)... Also, new trailer skirts (9% of fleets said they had introduced them) and rear of trailer aerodynamic devices, commonly referred to as boat tails (only 2 percent) are other technologies that could be accelerated, but in the case of the latter, only smaller models are allowed, unlike the U.S.... (Photo: Envirotrucks are fuel efficient power units with single tires, boat tails, trailer skirts, and speed limiters)

Labels: rules and regulations

Shippers Fight * USA - Truck Regulation Rewrite

Letter to Congress opposes attempts to exempt harbor drayage from preemption

Washington,DC,USA -The Journal of Commerce, by Thomas L. Gallagher - -Jul 27, 2009: -- More than 30 shipper organizations sent a letter to Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minn., chairman of the House Committee on Transportation, urging him and his colleagues in Congress to reject efforts to re-write federal trucking rules in the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act... The groups oppose new legislation proposed by the Port of Los Angeles and others that would exempt harbor drayage from preemption under the FAAAA. The port and its allies want to persuade Congress to grant to local governments the ability to regulate the harbor drayage industry to address environmental and port security matters, and thereby eliminate the federal pre-emption of state and local regulation of foreign and interstate commerce... The shippers groups say that they support efforts to improve air quality and port security but that the change in federal preemption of interstate commerce is really an attempt to overturn losses in the federal courts restricting local regulation of truck drayage services... The ATA requested a preliminary injunction which was sustained in part by both the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit. Those courts determined that the ports' concession plans regulate interstate trucking "prices, routes, and services" and thus are unconstitutional and preempted by the FAAAA... (Photograph by Ric Francis/Associated Press - Emissions from the Port of Los Angeles at San Pedro Bay reach all the way up to downtown Los Angeles, more than 20 miles away)

* Harbor Commission to ask Congress to let ports set trucking standards

Oakland,CAL,USA -The Trucker —28 July 2009: -- According to the American Trucking Associations, the unions are asking the commission to vote to ask Congress to change federal transportation law “to effectively nullify the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision and the federal law that protects motor carriers, shippers and consumers from unnecessary and costly state and local regulations”... The Oakland, Calif., Harbor Commission last week gave its initial approval of a resolution urging Congress to update transportation policy “to clearly state that ports have the authority to set and enforce trucking industry standards,” according to an E&E Publishing report. The commission is expected on July 30 to approve a final resolution... So, ATA once again finds itself in the position of defending its efforts to get the owner-operator ban removed at the Port of L.A. and clarifying and re-stating its position of being in favor of port efforts to institute cleaner, less polluting trucks...

* Clean Trucks Handle Most LA/LB Moves

Los Angeles,CAL,USA -The Journal of Commerce, by Bill Mongelluzzo -Jul 27, 2009: -- Clean diesel and liquefied natural gas trucks now handle 52 percent of the containers moving through the Port of Long Beach, according to a study released by the port... The neighboring Port of Los Angeles recently reported similar numbers as most of the trucks serving the Southern California port complex work at both ports... In the week ending July 21, the report noted that there are 15,753 trucks serving the harbor. Of those, 4,888 meet or exceed federal Environmental Protection Agency standards for 2007-model clean-diesel trucks... Some 31 percent of the harbor trucking fleet now meets the strict emission requirements contained in the ports' clean-trucks program. That number is considered to be impressive as the program was launched 10 months ago on Oct. 1, 2008... Diesel trucks handled 96 percent of the container moves in the harbor. Both ports this year are encouraging truck owners to purchase vehicles powered by alternative fuels. There are 436 LNG-powered trucks in the harbor and 110 are powered by biodiesel... On Jan. 1, 2012, all trucks serving the harbor must meet or exceed 2007 emission standards... (Photo from Port of Los Angeles: Electric truck)

* So. Calif. Ports Expected to Approve Program to Speed Purchase of 500 More LNG Trucks

Sacramento CAL,USA -Transport Topics, by Eric Miller -27 July 200: -- Harbor commissioners at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., are expected to approve a plan next month to spend $46.5 million in new grant funding from the state to fast-track the purchase of up to 500 new liquefied natural gas trucks, officials with both ports said... The trucks would be an addition to the estimated 5,000 “clean” diesel and LNG trucks currently registered at the nation’s busiest port complex... (Photo from purchasing: LA logistics pierpass)

Labels: rules and regulations

DANGEROUS DRIVERS * USA & Canada - The Dangers of Texting While Driving

* USA - Study: Texting Lifts Crash Risk by Large Margin

Blacksburg,VA,USA -The New York Times, by MATT RICHTEL -July 27, 2009: -- The first study of drivers texting inside their vehicles shows that the risk sharply exceeds previous estimates based on laboratory research — and far surpasses the dangers of other driving distractions... The new study, which entailed outfitting the cabs of long-haul trucks with video cameras over 18 months, found that when the drivers texted, their collision risk was 23 times greater than when not texting... The Virginia Tech Transportation Institute, which compiled the research and plans to release its findings on Tuesday, also measured the time drivers took their eyes from the road to send or receive texts -see too: How the Driving Tests Were Conducted-... In the moments before a crash or near crash, drivers typically spent nearly five seconds looking at their devices — enough time at typical highway speeds to cover more than the length of a football field...Even though trucks take longer to stop and are less maneuverable than cars, the findings generally applied to all drivers, who tend to exhibit the same behaviors as the more than 100 truckers studied, the researchers said. Truckers, they said, do not appear to text more or less than typical car drivers, but they said the study did not compare use patterns that way... Preliminary results from that study show risk levels for texters roughly comparable to those of the truck drivers. By comparison, several field and laboratory studies show that drivers talking on cellphones are four times more likely to cause a crash than other drivers. And a previous Virginia institute study videotaping car drivers found that they were three times more likely to crash or come close to a crash when dialing a phone and 1.3 times more likely when talking on it... (Photo from Virgina Tech Transportation Institute: A truck driver texts while at the wheel, top left, with other angles see) (See video)

* USA - Texting while driving: national ban?

Washington,DC,USA -Land Line Magazine, by David Tanner -July 29, 2009: -- Sending text messages or e-mails while driving could someday be banned under a proposal by U.S. Senate Democrats... If passed, the bill would “ban any driver from sending text or e-mail messages while driving a car”... Early reports concerning the legislation did not specifically mention commercial vehicles... If passed, the legislation would require states to enact a text-message ban while driving or risk losing federal transportation funding...

* Canada - Truckers are less likely to be at fault in fatal collisions: study - Drivers of other vehicles are three times more often to blame for crashes

Ladner, B.C.,USA -The Delta Optimist, by Sandor Gyarmati -July 25, 2009: -- Speed, fatigue, inattention and impaired driving were some of the key contributors to crashes involving big rigs in this province, according to a new report examining safety in B.C.'s trucking industry... Released last month, Best Practices for Truck Safety was written by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation and commissioned by the B.C. Trucking Safety Council... The study examined the causes and characteristics of fatal and injury collisions from 2000 to 2006 involving heavy trucks and compared them with other regions in Canada... At just under 19 per cent, B.C. truckers were more often at fault in fatal collisions than their counterparts in the rest of the country, according to the report. However, the drivers of other vehicles involved in fatal trucking crashes were still more often at fault than the truckers, including 57 per cent of the time in B.C... Overexertion was identified as the top cause of accidents, while most fatal collisions involving trucks happened on undivided highways and in poor road conditions... Some of the recommendations in the report include an independent review of the commercial vehicle driver licencing standards and testing procedures, developing policies on pre-trip driver inspections and implementing a fatigue management program. The recommendations also include developing and implementing a valid driver recruitment, selection and training process... Paul Landry, president of the B.C. Trucking Association, noted much work also needs to be done in educating the public on sharing the road with trucks and understanding their ability to stop and maneuver...

* Canada - The battle for public perception in BC

Vancouver,BC,Canada -Today's Trucking -30 July 2009: -- BC Trucking Association boss Paul Landry, knows that no matter how impressive a safety record the trucking industry produces, it doesn't matter at all until the general public believes it... Things really heated up last month, though, when the BCTA launched a partnership with WorkSafeBC in an effort to improve truck safety in the province... One of the first tasks of this joint B.C. Trucking Safety Council was to determine the current safety level of trucks and their drivers in the province. A 166-page study was commissioned and conducted by the Traffic Injury Research Foundation (TIRF)... The study, titled “Best Practices for Truck Safety” was released and shortly after an article appeared in the Vancouver Sun with the front-page headline reading, “B.C. has Canada’s worst truck drivers."... The BCTA has since demanding an apology and retraction for the story but it, according to the association, did not receive a satisfactory reply. So, the BCTA has filed an official compliant with the self-governing BC Press Council... (Picture: The BC media seems to give truckers a bad rap. So, kudos to the BCTA, which always fights back)

Labels: dangerous drivers

TRUCKERS' PORT DELAYS * USA - Frustrating. Endure shrinked hours during recession

In McIntyre's line of work, time is money. He gets paid based on the number of loads he picks up or delivers each day, and his paycheck will shrink with every missed assignment

New Orleans,LA,USA -The Times-Picayune, by Jen DeGregorio -July 26, 2009: -- Edward McIntyre woke before dawn Tuesday, ready for a routine day of work behind the wheel... As McIntyre passed through the port gate toward the Mississippi River, he learned that work would have to wait. Ports America, one of two companies that run the port's container terminal, slashed its operating hours to deal with the recession. The company shaved five hours off of its 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. schedule on Tuesdays and Fridays, staying closed until noon on those days... In McIntyre's line of work, time is money. He gets paid based on the number of loads he picks up or delivers each day, and his paycheck will shrink with every missed assignment... The narrower hours at Napoleon Avenue have proved a drain on Wells' finances. He counts on moving about eight or nine containers during a typical day, driving back and forth between the port and various industrial yards in the New Orleans area. With the new hours, though, Wells is down to about four loads per day, cutting his paycheck in half... Truck drivers -- of which there are more than 5,000 in the New Orleans area -- are the latest victims of a national recession that has put unemployment at a staggering 9.5 percent. In Louisiana, unemployment stands at 6.8 percent... (Photo by ELIOT KAMENITZ/THE TIMES-PICAYUNE - Robert Wells Jr., a trucker, waits Tuesday at the Napoleon Avenue Container Terminal. Wells said that with the port's narrower hours, drivers line up to be the first served when the terminals open. Just a few months ago, Wells said he could get his truck in and out of Napoleon Avenue within 45 minutes, a task that now takes hours)

Labels: trucks delays

TRUCKMAKERS NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* USA - Navistar to tack on $8,000 for 2010 emission-compliant equipment

Warrenville,ILL,USA -Land Line Magazine -July 28, 2009: -- International trucks with a MaxxForce 11, 13 or 15 under the hood will cost $8,000 more in 2010 thanks to the new emission standards... Jim Hebe, senior vice president of North American sales operations for Navistar, said the additional cost would be offset by lower operating costs and fuel efficiency of the company’s EGR engines. He also said since the MaxxForce engines won’t use diesel exhaust fluid, that will cut back on operating costs as well... Both Volvo Trucks and Mack Trucks had previously announced that their diesel trucks equipped with engines that meet the EPA’s 2010 standards will come with a $9,600 surcharge...

* USA - Cummins’ Second-Quarter Profit Plunges

Columbus,IN,USA -Transport Topics -30 July 2009: -- Diesel engine maker Cummins Inc. said Thursday its second-quarter profit plunged 81% due to sharply lower sales volumes... The company’s net income fell to $56 million, or 28 cents a share, from $293 million, or $1.49, a year ago, while sales fell 37% to $2.43 billion... Engine segment sales fell 45% to $1.31 billion, while the unit lost $4 million before interest and taxes, compared with a profit of $221 million a year ago... The engine segment’s joint ventures earned $15 million, or 47%, less in the quarter compared to last year, Cummins said...

* Europe & Asia - Truck maker losses mount, outlooks steadier

Paris,France/Tokyo,Japan -Reuters, by Helen Massy-Beresford & Chang-Ran Kim -30 July 2009: ... German truck maker MAN SE said on Thursday it saw no sign of an upturn as it posted a plunge in second-quarter operating earnings in line with market expectations... Truck makers such as MAN and its Swedish rivals Volvo and Scania have equally been hit hard by plummeting demand over the past year as the economic downturn has run its course...

* USA - Oshkosh Narrows Loss in 3Q

Providence,RI,USA -Transport Topics -30 July 2009: -- Specialty truck maker Oshkosh Corp. said Thursday it lost $26.6 million, or 36 cents per share, in its fiscal third quarter, compared with a loss of $1.2 million, or $16.65, a year ago... Sales fell to $1.2 billion, from $1.9 billion last year, for the quarter ended June 30, the company said in a statement... (Reuters) But Oshkosh will rehire 500-600 workers to meet a deadline to produce 2,244 military vehicles by year's end...

* USA - Arvin says drum brakes meet stop distance reg changes

Troy,MICH,USA -Today's Trucking (CAN) -29 July 2009: -- Truck components and systems manufacturer ArvinMeritor is touting its Meritor Q Plus drum brakes to meet the stringent stop distance braking standard issued last week by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.. The new standard requires that a tractor-trailer traveling at 60 mph come to a complete stop in 250 feet. The old standard required a complete stop within 355 feet -- a difference of about 30 percent... The new rule applies only to new truck tractors, and does not include single-unit trucks, trailers and buses. It will be phased in over the next four years beginning with 2012 models...

Labels: truckmakers' news worldwide

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA

* June Truck Tonnage Falls 13.6%

Washington,DC,USA -Transport Topics -28 July 2009: -- Truck tonnage decreased 13.6% in June compared with a year ago, American Trucking Associations said late Monday... The decline in the for-hire seasonally adjusted truck tonnage index left tonnage at a reading of 99.8. The decrease surpassed May’ 11% year-over-year decline, ATA said... June's drop was the largest year-over-year decline in the current cycle, ATA said... The index fell 2.4% from May, but the decrease did not offset the 3.2% April to May gain... Without accounting for seasonal adjustment, the index gained 5.2% from May, but the improvement was not enough to offset the 6.7% cumulative reduction from March and April... ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said that tonnage will likely be “hoppy”in the coming months... (Photo from farm4.static.flickr)

* USA - NAFTA Surface Trade Declines In May

Washington,DC,USA -Transport Topics -30 July 2009: -- Surface transportation trade among the United States, Canada and Mexico fell 35.4% in Mayfrom a year earlier, the largest year-to-year drop on record, the Department of Transportation said Thursday... The downturn was the fifth consecutive year-over-year monthly decline of at least 27% between the North American Free Trade Agreement partners... (Photo from farm4.static.flickr, by forever nomad : ... a lonely road in Wyoming...)

* Pacer to sell heavy-haul trucking business

Concord,CAL,USA -Reuters -July 27, 2009: -- Transportation and logistics provider Pacer International Inc said it has entered into an agreement to sell its specialized, heavy-haul trucking business to Universal Truckload Services Inc for an undisclosed sum. Pacer said Universal Truckload will assume two real property leases and equipment leases for tractors and trailers used in the operation, along with customer, contractor and agent lists... Universal Truckload, an asset-light provider of transportation services, expects the deal to contribute about $30 million to $40 million in revenue...

* Covenant Transportation Group Announces Second Quarter Financial and Operating Results

Chattanooga,TENN,USA -PRNewswire/FirstCall -July 27. 2009: -- For the quarter, total revenue decreased 31.0%, to $144.1 million from $208.7 million in the same quarter of 2008. Freight revenue, which for these purposes excludes fuel surcharges, decreased 19.4%, to $129.2 million in the 2009 quarter from $160.5 million in the 2008 quarter. The Company measures freight revenue because management believes that fuel surcharges tend to be a volatile source of revenue and the removal of such surcharges affords a more consistent basis for comparing results of operations from period to period...