28.2.09

Regulators * Australia - All-in-one truck tracker possible

Governments may this year approve an all-in-one monitoring system capable of simultaneously recording route and fatigue management compliance

Melbourne,Australia -Supply Chain Review -February 12, 2009: -- ... Transport Certification Australia (TCA) is currently looking at whether to incorporate electronic work diaries and the Intelligent Access Program (IAP) into one device... The government body has been tasked by the Australian Transport Council (ATC) to develop rules for an electronic reporting scheme in line with IAP specifications and has flagged a comprehensive compliance system as an option... The ATC will decide at the end of the year whether to adopt the scheme...

Labels: rules and regulations

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* Germany - Mercedes-Benz delivers record number waste trucks

Stuttgart,Germany -ATN (Australia) -1 March 2009: -- As if to prove a good design will sell regardless of the economy, Mercedes-Benz sold over 1,500 of its Econic waste services trucks in Germany last year... Purpose-built for municipal service work the Econic features a number of design innovations making it first choice in its segment...

Labels: truckmakers news worldwide

Clean Trucks Program * USA - Could New Jersey port adopt California one?

NJ,USA -Fleet Owner,by Justin Carretta -Feb 27, 2009: -- The average vehicle age for trucks servicing the Port of New York/New Jersey is more than a decade old and the port is unable to maintain a strong labor force due to low pay and operational inefficiencies, according to a new study completed by professors David Bensman and Yael Bromberg of Rutgers University’s School of Management and Labor Relations... According to the report, the average port trucker drives a vehicle that is 11 years old because they cannot afford to buy or lease low-emission, high-efficiency diesel trucks... The older vehicles pollute at least ten times more than modern trucks while consuming more fuel, costing more to maintain and requiring more frequent repairs... With the California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach implementing its Clean Trucks Program (CTP), requiring that trucks servicing the ports release fewer emissions, calls have come to implement similar plans at other U.S. ports...

Labels: clean trucks plans

TRUCKERS' FIGHT * USA & Canada

* USA - For Taxpayer Dollars

When it comes to taking it on the chin from the railroads over the fight for government funding, the trucking industry is apparently mad as hell and they're not going to take it anymore

Washington,DC,USA -Traffic World, by John Gallagher -24 Feb 2009: -- ... That's the message gleaned from a new ad campaign from the American Trucking Associations countering a long-running railroad campaign boasting that a ton of freight moving over the rails gets 436 miles to the gallon - four times farther than it can move by truck... But trucking seeks to one-up the railroads by creating a message that resonates directly with consumers... "The railroad industry talks a lot about fuel efficiency per ton," the ATA ad states. "Unfortunately, being fuel efficient in a straight line doesn't get food to grocery stores, supplies to business, or life's essentials to the home."... The ATA's ad points out that 80 percent of American communities rely solely on trucks to deliver goods to hospitals, schools, homes, and grocery stores... (Photo: Truck traffic)

* Canada - All systems go for speed-limiter protest Monday in Ontario

ONT,CAN -Land Line Magazine -28 Feb 2009: -- Truckers are gathering Monday, March 2, to call attention to a law they say will hurt small-business truckers and highway safety in the province of Ontario... The provincial government began enforcing regulations Jan. 1 that require speed limiters to be set at a maximum of 105 kilometers per hour, or 65 mph, on all heavy trucks manufactured since 1995, regardless of where they are base plated... The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and Owner-Operators Business Association of Canada filed comments and testified against the law on grounds that it will limit competition and violate rules of fair trade inside and outside the province... OOIDA member Scott Mooney, an owner-operator from Cambridge, Ontario, organized the grassroots protest, saying the Liberal Party government has ignored repeated testimony that mandatory speed limiters will hurt trucking... He is hoping truckers can gain the attention of lawmakers to repeal or at least amend the law...

Labels: truckers' fight

Troopers and Truckers * USA - Team Up for Traffic Blitz Along Interstate 85

Montgomery,AL,USA -WSFA 12 News -Feb 27, 2009: -- If you traveled along Interstate 85 along, there is a good chance you saw a swarm of state troopers... They were participating in what's known as "TACT". That stands for targeting aggressive cars and trucks. Troopers teamed up with the Alabama Trucking Association to put a trooper in a big rig with a radar. That trooper would then notify other troopers to set up down the road when someone was breaking a traffic law... WSFA 12 News has learned at least 62 people were pulled over. More of these trooper-trucker team ups are expected later this year...

Labels: safety blitz

New PNP * Canada - Truckers not included

Toronto,ONT,CAN -Today's Trucking -27 Feb 2009: -- ... Still considered a pilot program, the Provincial Nominee Program (PNP) is now named Opportunities Ontario. Like similar programs across the country, its goal is to help companies recruit and sponsor foreign workers to come to Canada in order to work in industries that face serious shortages... It has been expanded to welcome 1,000 applicants -- twice as many as before. But while the government boasts that there's now a broader range of qualifying categories (up from only 20 occupations previously), truck driving still isn't recognized as a "skilled" profession under the program... Ontario only accepts skill types 0, A or B from the National Occupation Classification (NOC), which includes supervisors for construction and transportation -- as well as butchers, bakers, and arts performers -- but not truck drivers...

Labels: foreign drivers

HME * USA - One Check, Not Two, for Truckers

The federal government should eliminate a rule that forces some truck drivers to undergo duplicate, costly security checks

Washington,DC,USA -The Journal of Commerce, by William B. Cassidy -27 Feb 2009: -- The Small Business Administration targeted a Transportation Security Administration rule that requires truckers who already hold a Transportation Worker Identification Credential to undergo a second background check when they apply for a Hazardous Materials Endorsement for their commercial driver's licenses. Those checks cost nearly $100 per applicant, and cost the trucking industry up to $30 million a year, the federal agency said... As many as 300,000 truck drivers apply for an HME each year, according to the American Trucking Associations. Without one, they cannot haul hazardous materials... (IMAGE)

Labels: HME Hazardous Materials Endorsement

Shutting off the engines * USA - New law limits how long buses, trucks can idle

Clearing the air

Reading,PA,USA -The Reading Eagle, by Darrin Youker -27 Feb 2009: -- A new state law limits how long large diesel-fueled vehicles can sit without drivers shutting off the engines... And that includes school buses... Environmentalists say it will reduce greenhouse gases... Truckers say they need to run their engines to power electrical equipment in their cabs... (Reading Eagle: Ben Hasty
Tractor-trailers, like these at the Frystown All American Plaza truck stop in Bethel Township, can sometimes pay for a service while parked that provides electricity, cable TV and the Internet)

Labels: idling reduction

27.2.09

INFRASTRUCTURES * USA - The Bridge to Smart Technology

Smart technology that makes infrastructure safer and more efficient is ready just in time for a flood of government spending

Minneapolis.MN,USA -Bussines Weeks -19 Feb 2009: -- The new replacement for the highway bridge that collapsed in Minneapolis in 2007 is replete with sensors and other electronics that continually monitor the structure and automatically operate a winter anti-icing system. "The technology is about speed, it's about quality, and it's about efficiency," says civil engineer Jon Chiglo, who managed the $234 million project for the Minnesota Transportation Department... With the United States set to spend more than $500 billion on infrastructure in the coming five years, this sort of bridge is likely to become much more common, though there are disagreements over how much technology should be packed into the infrastructure... Meanwhile, some people are skeptical of whether tech-heavy infrastructure is the best use of stimulus money or whether the emphasis should be on producing as many jobs as possible as quickly as possible...(InfoImage by David Foster - The new St. Anthony Falls Bridge crossing the Mississippi River in Minneapolis has a half dozen types of sensors embedded in it. Here's what they measure)

* USA & France - NIST And French Lab to Study Weathering of Advanced Composites for Bridges And Piers

USA /France - NIST Tech Beat -24 Feb 2009: -- The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) is working with France's Laboratoire Central des Ponts et Chaussées (National Scientific and Technological Institute, abbreviated LCPC) to look at implementing fiber-reinforced polymer composites in civil infrastructure applications such as wind turbines, piers, and bridges.. The first planned project is to use NIST's SPHERE (Simulated Photodegradation via High Energy Radiant Emission), which produces high-intensity ultraviolet rays that accelerate outdoor weathering of polymeric materials and composites, to test long-term weathering effects on different materials... (Photo: Weather SPHERE: Researchers from France's National Scientific and Technological Institute and NIST will work together to learn more about the effect of weathering on fiber-reinforced polymer composites that may be used in bridges and piers. NIST's SPHERE (Simulated Photodegradation via High Energy Radiant Emission) accelerates outdoor weathering of test materials)

* USA - As Suspension Bridges Age, a Search for Failures

New York,NY,USa -The National Public Radio, by Joe Palca -23 Feb 2009: -- Engineers at Columbia University are attempting to develop a technology that will enable transportation officials to more effectively gauge the condition of suspension-bridge cables. Typically, inspectors visually examine cables a couple of times annually... Engineers in charge of the project feel that there is a more precise way of determining the status of bridges, so they have created an experiment involving the placement of sensors within the cables. The sensors will continuously track a cable's condition and also determine how long the cables will last...To ensure that the sensors provide accurate information, the researchers are placing a 20-foot piece of bridge cable inside of a chamber for six months and testing different weather conditions, such as heat and water, on it. "We are trying to create conditions that are more aggressive than the ones out there because otherwise the system will not be tested," says Raimondo Betti, an engineer involved with the project... (Photo 1: In July 1922, the Brooklyn Bridge was closed to automobile traffic after inspectors identified a slipped cable. Bettmann/Corbis - Photo 2, by Joe Palca/NPR: Engineers created this weather simulation chamber, which has heat lamps, artificial rain and salt, to test the accuracy of their sensors embedded in the cable)

Labels: infrastructures

Haulage Industry in Trouble * Latvia - Hauliers claim

Latvian hauliers are calling on the Government to provide the aid for the industry

Riga,Latvia -HGV Ireland -25 Feb 2009: -- In a letter to Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis last week, hauliers drew attention to the fact that international freight haulage sector, represented by over 3,000 companies, which operate nearly 12,000 trucks and employ around 20,000 workers, is facing difficult times... The global economic crisis has had an impact also on foreign markets, the demand for the trucking companies' services are decreasing and so are these companies' incomes, the hauliers claim. Road hauliers are struggling to settle their payments with banks, leasing companies, fuel and services providers and many are close to going bankrupt... According to the truckers, the freight turnover volume in January decreased at least by 50%. Freight carriers are forced to limit their activities, to make drivers redundant or to ask them to take unpaid vacations for indeterminate period of time, the hauliers claim...

Labels: trucking industry troubles worldwide

TRUCKER HERO * USA - Driver avoids major disaster as truck burns

Ripon,CAL,USA -The Manteca Bulletin, by Glenn Kahl -Feb. 27, 2009: -- With flames leaping some 75 feet into the early morning sky, a long haul truck driver prevented a possible catastrophe at the Flying J Truck Stop in Ripon Thursday... He told officers he had pulled into the Stop at about 5 p.m. Wednesday night to have dinner, planning to spend the night before driving into Stockton Thursday morning, officers said... It was about 4 a.m. when other truckers saw his truck was on fire and banged on the side of his sleeper unit telling him to get out. A box truck carrying a load of wine was parked next to his, and also caught on fire, but was quickly extinguished by firemen... Police said the back door of the trailer of his 18-wheeler was reportedly open, and fire was coming out the rear of the vehicle when the other truckers were trying to wake the driver. It was at that location that the bolt cutters were later discovered, firemen said... As others called 911, the trucker started up his vehicle, and steered it successfully out of the truck stop driving it west bound away from the facility to a point about a city block from Highway 99 where flames could be seen by early morning motorists... Firemen and police alike applauded the efforts of the driver from preventing a fire that could have spread to the many other trucks parked for the night at the facility as well as the danger in the nearby gas pumping operations... (Photo by GLENN KAHL/The Bulletin - Ripon firemen Justin Morris and Captain Neil Green position “hot dog” runoff tubing to contain caustic liquids still draining from a burned out truck trailer to prevent contamination in the storm drains following a spectacular early morning fire. The rear door of the trailer was open when other truckers discovered the blaze, police said. Flames leaped to an estimated 75 feet high as the driver steered his truck away from the trucking facility and its gas pumps)

Labels: truckers hero

Magnesium Parts * USA - TxDot suspicious of dangerous metal

Waco,TX,USA -KXXV/TV 2, by Brian Collins -Feb 27, 2009: -- Several recent big rig fires have Texas Department of Transportation officials suspicious of trucks being built with more magnesium parts as truckers drive the 18-wheelers across Central Texas... Many big rig under-carriages have magnesium parts because magnesium is lighter and stronger than other metals. Magnesium will ignite if heated and touched by fire... Because magnesium takes longer to extinguish, cargo and fuel are more likely to catch fire. Roads can also be damaged by the extremely hot metal...

Labels: dangerous trucks

ALTERNATIVE FUELS * UK - Sainsbury supermarkets add biogas-fueled trucks

"Running on Rubbish"

London,UK -Refrigerated Transporter (Overland Park,USA) -Feb 25, 2009: -- Sainsbury’s supermarkets in the United Kingdom are adding five more trucks with hybrid systems that use a combination biomethane fuel and diesel fuel. It is the latest step in the company’s ongoing commitment to reduce its emissions from road transportation... The trucks will use Genesis Dual Fuel combustion technology from Clean Air Power... The Genesis system, which is retrofitted, allows up to 50% of a vehicle’s diesel to be replaced by natural gas or biogas. This cuts emissions by about 30% and "significantly" reduces fuel costs, yet maintains diesel engine performance and efficiency, said Clean Air Power officials... A renewable fuel, biomethane is most commonly produced from organic wastes using biogas. Biogas, a mixture of methane and other gases produced from decomposition of organic materials, is captured, processed, and compressed into a vehicle fuel...

Labels: clean alternative fuels

Govn't Administration * USA - DOT chief commends trucking for strides in safety, technology

Washington,DC,USA -The Trucker -26 Feb 2009: -- Noting that trucking is “critical to the health of our national economy,” Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood commended the industry for its efforts in safety and technology and called for the government and private businesses to examine “all options and develop a workable plan” to fund improvements in the country’s infrastructure... Safety is one of the four emphasis areas LaHood said he shared with Congress during his confirmation hearings... The others were economic recovery, livability and sustainability... Livability includes improving the quality of life for truck drivers... As for highway funding, LaHood said the country must be “innovative" ... “Tolling and privatization me be part of the solution, but I support this mainly for new construction,” he said. “Fuel taxes may also be part of the mix, but we need to examine all options and develop a comprehensive, workable plan.” ... LaHood updated the ATA board on regulatory issues. He said:
• The Medical Certification Rule that combines the medical certificate and the Commercial Driver’s license went into effect Jan. 30 as scheduled
• The New Entrant Rule after review was allowed to proceed as scheduled and went into effect Feb. 17.
• The Intermodal Chassis Rule is moving forward and will be effective June 17, and
• The Electronic On-Board Recorder Rule, which was at the Office of Budget and Management and at the direction of the White House was recalled, is still under review.

LaHood said the rule establishing a national drug and alcohol testing database was moving forward and that he anticipated a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking later this year...

Labels: Obama's Administration

CLEAN TRUCKS PROGRAM * USA - SC port begins truck emissions reduction program

A new program at the Port of Charleston should mean cleaner air and save trucking companies at the pump

Charleston,S.C.,USA -AP/Live 5 News -February 25, 2009: -- The South Carolina State Ports Authority on Wednesday announced the program through which truckers serving the port can recover some of the costs of installing smaller generators that reduce idling... The program, funded in part by an Environmental Protection Agency grant, also allows truckers to recover some costs of using fuel-saving single-wide. They are also eligible to have trucks fitted with aerodynamic kits which can result in an estimated 5% fuel savings... Truckers may apply until the end of next month. Selected owners will be notified in May with the upgrades to be completed by the end of November... (Photo: Charleston Region by Air - This is Denton Shipyard, which utilizes former Navy Base space)

Labels: Clean Trucks Program

Clean Alternative Fuels * USA - Gains at Container Shipping Ports

Washington,DC,USA -TruckingInfo -26 Feb 2009: -- U.S. and international container shipping ports are among the biggest sources of air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions, because of their reliance on diesel fuel. But progress toward reducing harmful emissions by switching to clean alternative fuels is gaining momentum worldwide, according to a new study... "Container Ports and Air Pollution," published by Energy Futures Inc., found that natural gas is currently the leading alternative fuel for goods movement at U.S. container ports, while hybrid electric vehicles are gaining popularity in Asia... The new Energy Futures study updates and expands on a report titled "U.S. Container Ports and Air Pollution: A Perfect Storm," which was published in February 2008. That study identified environmental protection alternative fuel programs at each of the top 10 U.S. container ports, including their use of natural gas, biodiesel or hybrid electric vehicles...

Labels: clean alternative fuels

TAX & FEES * USA - Congressional Commission Recommends Mileage-Based User Fee

Washington,DC,USA -TruckingInfo -27 Feb 2009: -- Calling the current federal motor fuels tax unsustainable over the long term, a bipartisan, Congressionally created commission is recommending that the U.S. shift to a mileage-based usage fee by 2020... Culminating nearly two years of study and deliberation, the National Surface Transportation Infrastructure Financing Commission offered its consensus view and roadmap for sweeping reform of the nation's transportation infrastructure funding approach with the release ofits final report, "Paying Our Way: A New Framework for Transportation Finance," Thursday... Charging vehicle drivers a mileage fee embodies the "user pays" principle and more accurately aligns the costs and benefits of the surface transportation system to those who are using it... More transparent charges for using infrastructure may also spur drivers to use the system more efficiently, reducing the overall investment need...

* Commission recommends tolls and taxes, but no reform

Grain Valley,MO,USA -Land Line Magazine -February 26, 2009: -- As if truckers and highway users aren’t paying enough in taxes, fees and tolls to run on America’s highways, a federal commission is recommending that Congress adopt a sweeping array of new and higher user fees... Critics, including OOIDA, say the report does not address the way transportation money is spent nor does it call for reform... OOIDA and other highway user groups remain strongly opposed to the tolling of existing highway capacity... Trucks make up only 7 percent of traffic on the nation’s highways, but highway-use taxes that truckers pay amount to more than 36 percent of the total money contributed to the federal Highway Trust Fund according to OOIDA... “Truckers are already paying more than their fair share,” Spencer said... OOIDA acknowledges that a vehicle-miles tax may someday replace the fuel tax, but for now, the fuel tax remains viable as the fairest and easiest way to fund transportation...

* Colorado House OKs road funding bill; tolls, truck fee increases included

CO,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Keith Goble -February 26, 2009: -- The Colorado House has narrowly approved a bill that includes the option of charging tolls to access existing free routes... By a margin of 34-31, House lawmakers voted to advance the bill, which is intended to raise at least $250 million a year to fix the state’s crumbling roads and bridges... Officials with the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association point out that truckers and others already pay federal taxes and user fees that contribute to the upkeep of interstate highways. The Association, therefore, opposes the tolling of roadways because it amounts to double taxation for truckers... OOIDA also opposes the long-term leasing of existing roadways to private business. Association officials oppose the idea of these private companies being guaranteed profitable toll increases on the backs of highway users...

Labels: fees and taxes

Diesel Exhaust Fluid * USA - Truckstop chain to begin DEF rollout

Knoxville,TENN,USA –Today's Trucking (CAN) -26 Feb 2009: -- Pilot Travel Centers has announced the details and scheduled rollout for Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF) availability at its North American truckstops... DEF is the required urea-based fluid for 2010 selective catalytic reduction (SCR) systems that reduce Nox through a catalytic process in the exhaust stream... Pilot will rollout 25 bulk dispensing units per quarter, starting in the third quarter of 2009 through the second quarter of 2010... Ultimately, approximately 100 of Pilot’s locations will have bulk dispensing capabilities at the fuel island where it will be most convenient. All 328 truck stops will have the packaged quantities available...

Labels: DEF

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA & Canada

* USA - Schneider National Grows in 2008

Green Bay,Wis,USA -Layover -26 Feb 2009: -- Schneider National, Inc., a premier provider of transportation, logistics and intermodal services, today announced its 2008 financial results. The company posted revenues of $3.7 billion in 2008, up from $3.4 billion in 2007. In addition to growing revenue, Schneider achieved its earnings plan in 2008, continuing the company's 74-year track record of positive financial results... That said, the freight transportation market environment has been, and will continue to be, in a deep recession...

* Canada - Contrans and Mullen increase revenue despite troubled economy

Woodstock,Ont,Canada -Today's Trucking -27 Feb 2009: -- Two of Canada’s largest trucking operations managed to increase revenue during 2008, despite the troubled economy... The Alberta-based Mullen Group Income Fund generated record consolidated revenues of approximately $1.3 billion, which the company attributes partly to the success of its acquisitions... Contrans Income Fund meanwhile, wasn’t hurt by keeping its income fund status in tact and increased revenue in 2008 to $488.8 million, up from $485.9 million in 2007... Other contributing factors included the strong performance by the Trucking/Logistics Segment; the strong demand for services related to the transportation of fluids and servicing of oil wells; and the strong demand for specialized services related to the build out and servicing of projects related to the extraction of oilsands deposits...

Labels: trucking industry news USA and CAN

"GREEN" TRUCKS * USA - All-electric port trucks ready to roll

Balqon locally builds rigs that haul containers 30 to 70 miles on a charge

Harbor City,CAL,USA -The Press Telegram, by Kristopher Hanson -24 Feb 2009: -- Nestled within earshot of America's busiest seaport, the world's first assembly line dedicated to the production of all-electric heavy- duty trucks rolled out its first rig Tuesday... The zero-emission rig, which will haul cargo containers from local marine terminals to area railyards, is the first of 25 such trucks being built by a team of about 50 line workers, engineers and craftsmen at the Balqon Corporation factory here... Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa test-drives a new zero-emission truck built by Balqon in Harbor City on Tuesday, in one of Southern California's few remaining automotive production plants... (Photo by Steven Georges - The all-electric trucks are suited for hauling of cargo from marine terminals, and, depending on load weight, can travel up to 70 miles on a single charge)

Labels: green trucks

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* USA - Navistar still interested in acquiring GM medium-duty trucks?

USA -Reuters (UK)/Autoblog, by Michael Harley -Feb 24, 2009: -- Even though a deal with Navistar International Corp dissolved over the summer, the commercial truck maker remains interested in possibly acquiring General Motors' medium-duty truck unit. Dan Ustian, Navistar's chairman, chief executive and president, told the Reuters Manufacturing Summit in Chicago that, "...we're always looking to grow and that compliments us pretty well."... In fact, he added, if the current downturn continues, the company may be forced to slow or stop production in their own existing heavy-duty truck plants in Mexico and Canada... While Navistar waits "to see how the economy materializes," maybe Isuzu will step up to the plate

* Mexico - Daimler opens new Cascadia plant in Saltillo

Stuttgart,Germany/ Saltillo,Mexico -The Trucker News Services -27 Feb 2009: -- Daimler Trucks North America LLC has opened its new manufacturing plant in Saltillo, Coahuila, in northern Mexico, the company said Friday... The facility, which was built with an investment of $300 million, is expected to create 1,400 direct jobs and 200 indirect ones. In addition, it will generate 1,100 jobs within the local supplier industry... (Photo: The new Daimler plant in Saltillo, Mexico, will produce Freightliner’s new flagship, the Cascadia heavy-duty Class 8 truck. The plant can produce up to 30,000 Cascadia trucks annually for sale in the US, Canadian, and Mexican markets)

* USA - Mack Trucks to sell Pa. headquarters building

Allentown,Pa,USA -AP/The Evening Sun -24 Feb 2009: -- Mack Trucks has agreed to sell its 38-year-old office complex in Pennsylvania as it relocates its headquarters to North Carolina... Terms were not disclosed but Mack says it has reached an agreement with New Jersey-based J.G. Petrucci Co. to buy the Mack World Headquarters complex in Allentown. J.G... Mack is undergoing a restructuring that includes moving 580 jobs from the Allentown area to Greensboro, N.C. Mack's parent company, Volvo AB, has its Volvo Trucks North America facility in Greensboro... (Photo by trucktype.com: Mack truck grill)

* Sweden - Volvo to make big investment in new trucks-paper

Stockholm,Sweden -Reuters -Feb 26, 2009: -- World No. 2 truckmaker Volvo's is to make its largest single investment in a project to develop new truck models, Swedish daily Dagens Industri said on Wednesday... The paper quoted Volvo Chairman Finn Johnsson saying the investment was "the biggest single investment that has ever been decided on by Volvo's board." ... Johnsson would not give further details... The paper said the five-year project would see the development of new models for Volvo's truck brands, such as Renault, Mack, Nissan Diesel and Eicher... (Photo: Volvo Concept truck)

* USA - Oshkosh receives $477 million Army vehicle order

Oshkosh,Wis,USA -Associated Press/FORBES -25 Feb 2009: -- Oshkosh Corp. said Wednesday it has received a $477 million order from the Army for more than 1,350 new and rebuilt trucks and more than 1,000 armor-ready trailers... With the latest order for Oshkosh's defense division, the value for the Oshkosh, Wis.-based company's heavy tactical vehicles III contract has increased to more than $2.1 billion, the company said... Rebuilding used Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks saves money, Oshkosh said. The vehicles are returned to Oshkosh, stripped to the frame and rebuilt to like-new condition, the company said...

Labels: truckmakers news worldwide

TRUCKS SALES * Turkmenistan - To buy 1,000 trucks from Kamaz

Ashgabat,Turkmenistan -Reuters (India), by Marat Gurt & Simon Shuster & Erica Billingham-Feb 24, 2009: -- Russian truck maker Kamaz, which is struggling to clear its stockpiles, will sell more than 1,000 vehicles to Turkmenistan for $100 million, an official of the Central Asian state told Reuters on Tuesday... Kamaz, in which Germany's Daimler took a 10 percent stake in December, has been forced to idle its assembly lines three times since November as it tries to sell its stockpiles before producing more trucks... Russia's construction firms and heavy industries, where Kamaz finds most of its customers, have been forced to scale back production and cancel projects amid the global financial crisis... Turkmen President Kurbanguly Berdymukhamedov signed an order last week to buy the trucks for government use, the government official said on condition of anonymity... Kamaz has supplied around 10,000 trucks to Turkmenistan in the past few years and has opened the region's largest servicing centre in its capital Ashgabat...

Labels: truck sales

26.2.09

TRUCKMAKERS NEWS * USA - Mack Truck suffers big drop in January orders

Allentown company blames global recession for lowest monthly totals in 9 years

Allentown,PA,USA -The Morning Call, by Tyrone Richardson -February 25, 2009: -- Mack Trucks saw January deliveries plummet to 624 trucks, its lowest monthly level in at least nine years, the Allentown company announced Tuesday... The last time Mack had such a large monthly drop was in April 2007 when it delivered 844 rigs, according to a company chart showing deliveries since 2000... The reason for the drop that time was the change in federal emission standards that raised price tags by as much as $7,500 per $100,000 truck... In January 2002, the truckmaker delivered 911 rigs, a decline linked to a recession that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks...

Labels: truckmakers' news USA

TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS, Mergers & Acquisitions * WORLDWIDE

Strategic Buyers - International Deals

* Turkey - 13 Feb: VANET Ticari Yatirimlar Gida Sanayi Tur. Iç ve Dis Tic. A.S. announced the pending acquisition of 99.4% of Metro Turizm Seyahat Organizasyon Ve Ticaret AS for $69.9 million. Based in Istanbul, Metro Turizm provides bus transportation in Turkey and internationally.

* Russia - 13 Feb: Depozitarno-Kliringovaya Kompaniya ZAO announced the acquisition of an additional 13.6% stake of Aeroflot - Russian Airlines. Based in Moscow, Aeroflot provides passenger and cargo air transportation services in Russia and internationally. Terms were not disclosed.

* Japan - 17 Feb: Senko Co., Ltd. announced the acquisition of an additional 46.0% of Tokyo Nohin Daiko Co., Ltd. ("TND"). TND provides trucking and warehousing services from its base in Tokyo, Japan. Terms were not disclosed.

* UK - 18 Feb: Addison Lee PLC announced the acquisition of The Premier Transport Group. Premier provides courier and passenger transport services from its base in London. Terms were not disclosed.

* Kazakhstan - 19 Feb: Kazakhstan Kagazy Plc announced the acquisition of the remaining 10.0% of Astana Contract JSC for $6.4 million. Astana operates warehouses and container terminals from its base in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

Financial Buyers

* Abu Dhabi - 14 Feb: Mubadala Development Company and Abu Dhabi Investment Company announced the pending acquisition of 34.2% of Emirates Ship Investment Company LLC. Based in Abu Dhabi, UAE, Emirates operates tankers, dry bulk carriers and LNG/LPG vessels. Terms were not disclosed.

* Canada - 19 Feb: Bluehill ID AG announced the acquisition of Syscan International Inc. Based in Dorval, Canada, Syscan provides RFID supply chain technology services for the food, pharmaceutical and health care sectors. Terms were not disclosed.

Labels: T and L Mergers and Acquisitions worldwide

Manufacturers Ask * USA - How far will we fall?

Manufacturers are feeling a bit like bungee jumpers these days, with both likely asking themselves, "How much farther do I have to fall?"...

Chicago,ILL,USA -Reuters, by Scott Malone -Feb 23, 2009: -- Chief executives of several top U.S. companies told the Reuters Manufacturing and Transportation Summit on Monday that while they are cutting costs and focusing on generating cash, the challenge is to know how deep to cut as they face the sharpest economic downturn in decades... "This is something that the industry hasn't seen before," said Dan Ustian, CEO of Navistar International Corp., a maker of heavy trucks and diesel engines. "The length of this being down has not been seen in my career, and I've been around over 30 years". CEOs' worries also extend beyond this downturn to what the economy will look like when it eventually recovers... Even the trucking industry -- which was braced for a downturn since 2007 -- has been caught off guard by the severity and duration of this recession... "A recovery in the second half of the year is possible, but it's more likely in 2010," said Bill Zollars, CEO of No. 1 U.S. trucking company YRC Worldwide Inc. "Until then we're going to have a rocky road"...

* Trucking firm imposes pay freeze

Milwaukee,WIS,USA -The Journal Sentinel, by Rick Romell -Feb. 23, 2009: -- Schneider National Inc. saw revenue rise in 2008 but, now facing a nationwide recession and a soft freight market, the firm said Monday it will freeze pay across the board this year and defer funding of retirement plans and 401(k) matches until the end of 2009... Based in Green Bay, Schneider is one of the country's largest trucking firms, and also operates a logistics unit and a growing intermodal business. The company employs 21,400 people... The fortunes of the trucking industry as a whole rise and fall with the U.S. economy. But as tough times weed out the least competitive carriers - trucking company failures idled a record number of trucks in the first three quarters of 2008 - shippers may turn to larger, well-established firms such as Schneider...

Labels: truckmakers USA and Canada

Improve Inefficiencies * USA - To kickstart ‘road to recovery’

Helping truckers avoid waiting hours at a time to load and unload, however, can save the economy billions right now without costing a dime, OOIDA told a Congressional panel

Washington,DC,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Charlie Morasch -23 Feb 2009: -- This past week, Joe Rajkovacz, OOIDA regulatory affairs specialist, told a subcommittee of the U.S. House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure about the Association’s concerns with freight transportation in Southern California... Specifically, Rajkovacz pointed members of Congress to the untold numbers of hours drivers are forced to waste because of waiting to load and unload at ports and warehouse docks... Rajkovacz cited recent research submitted by the FMCSA titled ”Motor Carrier Efficiency Study Update”, which showed inefficiencies listed as “time loading/unloading” and “empty miles” as the two greatest factors contributing to inefficiencies in trucking today...

Labels: inefficiencies and delays

TRANSPORT & LOGISTIC NEWS * WORLDWIDE

Briefing Weekly News

from Freight Forwarding

* New Ti Confidence Index reveals strongest and weakest logistics markets
Ti’s new monthly Global Logistics Business Confidence Index has revealed that business confidence for February 2009 is highest in the ‘Pharmaceutical/healthcare’ and ‘Intermodal’ logistics sectors. This contrasts with sentiment in the ‘Road freight/trucking’ and ‘Express’ sectors. Of the key geographies China has the strongest confidence, whilst at the other end of the spectrum North America respondents were the most downbeat. Read Full Brief Here

* Panalpina inaugurates new Singapore logistics centre
Swiss global forwarder Panalpina last week formally inaugurated a major new 11,277 sq m distribution and logistics centre in Singapore. Read Full News Here

* Aramex reports 21% profit rise in 2008
Major Middle East-based global express, forwarding and logistics service provider Aramex has published its financial results for 2008. Read Full News Here

from Contract Logistics

* M&A activity holds up in transport and logistics sector PricewaterhouseCoopers has just published the findings of a survey covering transport/logistics sector merger and acquisition activity in 2008. Read Full Brief Here

* DHL targets South Asia fashion logistics market
DHL yesterday (February 17) announced a development designed to significantly strengthen its position in the estimated $3.9bn South Asia fashion logistics industry. Read Full News Here

* CEVA starts new operation for Renault in Brazil
CEVA Logistics this month announced it had started a new operation for automotive manufacturer Renault in Brazil which included handling imported parts from all over the world. Read Full News Here

* WWL establishes subsidiary in India
Wallenius Wilhelmsen Logistics (WWL), an international logistics provider owned by Wallenius Lines of Sweden and Wilh. Wilhelmsen of Norway, has set up a new subsidiary in India. Read Full News Here

from Express & Mail

* Integrators strengthen their presence in China's domestic express sector
In a positive sign that the global integrators are continuing to make investments despite the present challenging worldwide economic environment, both DHL and TNT are further expanding their express activities in China. Read Full Brief Here

* TNT acquires domestic express company in Chile
TNT this week announced it had acquired 100% of Chilean company LIT Cargo as part of its stated strategy to become the intra-regional express leader in South America. Read Full News Here

* DHL Express extends guaranteed inbound delivery service
DHL Express this week announced an extension of its Import Express shipping and billing capability, initially from major centres in Europe and Asia to the Middle East. Read Full News Here

* DPD and Forward Group launch cooperation in China
German international express/parcel delivery operator DPD has reported the conclusion of a co-operation agreement in China between DPD China and Hong Kong-based Forward Group. Read Full News Here

from Road Freight

* TNT survives year of two halves
Netherlands-based global express and mail group TNT today (February 16) announced its 2008 fourth quarter and full year figures. Read Full Brief Here

from Air Cargo

* Lufthansa Cargo confirms short-time working from March 1
Lufthansa Cargo, one of the world’s leading air cargo carriers, has now confirmed previously-indicated plans to put some 2,600 staff in Germany on short-time working, effective March 1. Read Full News Here

from Shipping/Ports

* TSA withdraws proposed agreement amendment
The US Federal Maritime Commission last week reported that shipping group the Transpacific Stabilization Agreement had decided to withdraw a proposed agreement amendment. Read Full News Here

* APL agrees $26m payment to settle US military shipment fraud allegations
APL has agreed to pay the US government $26.3m to resolve allegations that it submitted false and inflated cost claims for containerised cargo shipments to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Read Full News Here

from Intermodal

* US freight transport services index fell 3% in 2008
The US Freight Transportation Services Index declined 2.3% in December from its November level, the national Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported last week. Read Full News Here

Labels: transport and logistics news

* Australia - More truckies to hit the road soon

Melbourne,Australia -ABC Rural -23 Feb 2009: -- The pool of truck drivers will soon increase, with 4000 people enrolled in road transport training courses... The Australian Trucking Association estimates 10,000 new drivers are needed by 2012... Spokesperson Bill McKinley says that's despite a downturn in the mining industry, "The amount of freight on Australia's roads is forecast to double over the next 20 years," he says. "So even though the mining industry is coming off its boom, there is going to be a continuing high demand for truck drivers, and we know that we simply don't have enough at the moment"... (Picture: Truck train in Australia)

Labels: new drivers

Good news for truckers * USA - Diesel to dip below gas as Valero output rises

"The really fast drop in fuel prices gave many of them a last breath"

New York,NY,USA -The Republican American/Bloomberg News, by Robert Tuttle -22 Feb 2009: -- Diesel is falling below gasoline after two almost uninterrupted years of selling at a premium as the global recession saps demand for the world's most-consumed transport fuel and inventories rise... Falling costs already helped the trucking industry, where bankruptcies declined 61 percent in the second half of 2008, according to the American Trucking Associations... Knight Transportation Inc., a Phoenix trucker, earned $16.1 million in the fourth quarter, the year's best, when revenue was the lowest at $174.8 million. "Profitability in the quarter was helped by falling diesel prices," said Kevin Knight, the chief executive officer... Lower fuel bills are helping truckers stay in business as falling consumer demand reduces the amount of goods shipped across country... Fuel costs account for about 20 percent of expenses, down from 40 percent last summer, said Bob Costello, the ATA chief economist... (Photo: Heavy duty trucks USA -Conventional Truck)

* NTEA offers survival strategies to trucking industry

North Olmsted,OH,USA -Search Auto Parts -23 Feb 2009: -- Over the last two years, The National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA) has commissioned two unprecedented marketplace studies to analyze the changing work truck industry in order to provide members with a comprehensive overview and plan of attack for surviving and thriving in the years ahead... The Industry Overview and Strategic Bundle consists of two detailed reports designed to assist NTEA members and industry professionals in understanding the factors shaping and changing the industry and their implications on truck equipment firms. This Bundle highlights the challenges in today's marketplace, along with clear opportunities for growth... Key findings indicate compressed distribution and sales channels are imminent, with more sales occurring through fewer outlets and with a reduced number of suppliers and upfitters. Strategic use of technology, market positioning, finding and promoting core competencies and identifying global opportunities are examples of ways to prepare for a consolidated industry...

Labels: diesel fuel prices

REGULATIONS * USA - CBP could require manifests for liquid tanker residue

A proposed change to the U.S. Tariff Act could drastically change the way carriers report cross-border movements of tanker containers to U.S. Customs and Border Protection

Washington,DC,USA -Today's Trucking (CAN) -26 Feb 2009: -- ... Now, the border agency says that allowance is inconsistent with its treatment of other commodities (such as 'petroleum slops' from vessels) and that in order to ensure the "safety and security" of CBP officers who examine them, re-imported containers with chemical residues should no longer be manifested as 'empty'... Re-imported' tankers could soon no longer be reported as 'empty' when crossing back into the US... Petroleum slops, for example, would be manifested as ‘‘crude oil residue" and such substances of foreign origin must also be entered as imported merchandise... Since the gross weight of most residues cannot be determined until generated, carriers would then have to estimate the quantity of residue left in the tank and have their broker prepare a formal Customs entry under the Harmonized Tariff Schedule for it... That could be tricky, considering electronic manifests have to be submitted between half an hour and an hour in advance of the unit reaching the port of entry... (Re-imported' tankers could soon no longer be reported as 'empty' when crossing back into the US)

Labels: trucks' regulations

25.2.09

SHUTTING DOWN * Canada - Truck brake plant to close in June, throwing more than 200 out of work

Tilbury,ONT,CAN -The Canadian Press -24 Feb 2009: -- The ArvinMeritor plant in Tilbury, Ont., which makes brakes for the trucking industry, is shutting down... The plant, which manufactures brakes for truck companies including Navistar and Sterling, currently employs around 100 people, with another 140 workers already on layoff... Last fall, ArvinMeritor announced the shutdown of a 500-employee factory in Toronto, shifting the work to Mexico...

Labels: shutdown

Study * USA - Deregulation still haunts harbor truckers

New York,NY,USA -The Journal of Commerce, by Peter T. Leach -February 24, 2009: -- The deregulation of the U.S. trucking industry by the Motor Carrier Act of 1980 continues to impact how the 7,000 truckers who deliver and pick up containers daily at the ports of New York and New Jersey earn their livelihood... It has resulted in lower trucker earnings, driver shortages, higher truck emissions and mounting inefficiencies, says a new study by David Bensman, professor of labor studies and employment relations at the Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations, and Yael Bromberg, a student at Rutgers School of Law-Newark... The study based its conclusions on a survey of 299 truck drivers selected at random at the ports of Newark, Elizabeth and Bayonne... Since the 1980 law, most of the trucking firms conducting business to and from the nation’s ports have ceased operations. They have been replaced by small companies that assign most of their shipping orders to independent contractors who are paid by the load, Bensman observed... The researchers found that the truckers’ earnings are low. Independent contractors -- nearly 75 percent of the drivers who own and maintain their own equipment and make moves assigned by a single trucking company -– net $28,000 annually, and are without health insurance and pension benefits... Most of the rest are employees of trucking companies, which generally employ 10 or fewer drivers plus 10 to 20 independent contractors, and net $35,000. Some receive health benefits but few receive pension contributions...

Labels: trucking business deregulation

MEXICAN TRUCKS ... Adios? * USA - Budget bill could end cross-border program

Now under an Obama administration, it's more likely the two-year pilot project will come to an end

Washington,DC,USA -Today's Trucking (CAN) -24 Feb 2009: -- America's controversial, but ongoing Mexican cross-border truck program may once again come to a halt if an omnibus budget bill in the U.S. House introduced Monday is passed... The program, active since 2007, allows select Mexican carriers to haul freight beyond the longstanding 25-mile commercial restriction zone at the border.

Though Congress tried to down the Bush administration's pilot program to open the border in the 2008 appropriations, the Bush administration found a loophole in language that prohibited the "establishment" of a program, saying since the program was already established, there was no ban on continuing it... Then, in September of last year, a Democratic-controlled Congress voted to end the program, but then-President Bush vetoed that bill and DOT officials said they would extend the program for another two years... (Bush ignored unions and special interest groups that tried to halt the Mexican truck pilot. It's unlikely Obama will do the same)

Labels: mexicans' trucks debate

WORK STOPPAGES * Canada - Feds study impacts on businesses

The federal government has released a report that attempts to explain the causes and impacts of strikes and lockouts to the nation's federally regulated private sector

Ottawa,ONT,CAN -Today's Trucking -24 Feb 2009: -- Rona Ambrose, Minister of Labour, made public the report this week, Work Stoppages in the Federal Private Sector: Innovative Solutions... The federally regulated jurisdiction represents 8.5 percent of the Canadian labor force, covering approximately 46,000 workplaces and 1.1 million workers in the federal private sector and Crown corporations... This includes Canadians working in large segments of the trucking industry, as well as railways, ports and shipping companies, airlines, broadcasting and telecommunications companies and postal services... The Canadian transport sector, particularly the railways and ports, is constantly under the threat of strike action... The whole report is available on the Labour Program's Web site at www.labour.gc.ca.... (Ottawa wants to measure the impacts to the economy from labor disruptions)

Labels: strikes

MILEAGE TAX DEBATE * USA - Continues Over

Washington,DC,USA -Today's Trucking (CAN) -25 Feb 2009: -- Despite the plan being slapped down by the White House last week, U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee leaders hinted that Big Brother may still be looked upon to bridge the funding gap in transportation... Taxing drivers on how many miles they drive rather than how much fuel they burn is an idea being floated in some U.S. states as they face transportation budge shortfalls... Proponents of a mileage tax believe that dwindling fuel tax revenue -- mostly a result of more fuel efficient vehicles and hybrids penetrating the market -- cannot be counted on long-term to maintain the nation's aging transportation system... Critics instead preach the lessons of George Orwell, suggesting that giving the government the ability to track all vehicles at all times is an invasion of privacy... Under the proposal, all cars are trucks would be required to be equipped with GPS technology or transponder to record the amount of miles a vehicle was driven, whether on highways or secondary roads, or even whether it it's during peak traffic periods or not... (Photo: USA truck on highway)

Labels: mileage tax

TRUCKING ANALYSIS * USA - Freight outlook at 25-year low

Trucking is experiencing the "worst market in a generation," says FTR president Eric Starks

Cleanup at the Ports * USA - Los Angeles and Long Beach begins to pay off

Older polluting trucks are being barred and electric ones rolled out in the harbors' effort to cut emissions

Los Angeles,CAL,USA -The Los Angeles Times, by Ronald D. White -February 23, 2009: -- An ambitious plan to clean up once-filthy air around the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has shifted into high gear... Hundreds of 1988-and-older trucks have been banned since October. Others that don't meet 2007 air pollution standards began paying a $70 fee last week each time they haul cargo to and from the ports. This week, the first of a fleet of electric trucks will debut... On Wednesday, amid confusion and traffic jams, officials launched a much-delayed effort to assess a $70 fee on all trucks that do not meet 2007 air pollution standards each time they haul cargo containers to and from the ports... The fees will be used to help subsidize truckers so that they can lease from the port new low-emissions diesel or natural gas trucks. Under the plan that is expected to start in the coming weeks, truckers would pay 50% to 60% of the truck leases and the fees would cover the rest, plus maintenance... The timing is crucial because Dec. 31 is the next deadline for eliminating or retrofitting 2003 and older trucks... (Photo by Bob Chamberlin / Los Angeles Times - Trucks wait to be checked at the Port of Los Angeles Clean Truck Center)

Labels: Clean Trucks Program

AIR QUALITY * USA - Trucks retrofitted to help air quality

Tucson, Arizona -The Arizona Daily Star -21 Feb 2009: -- In an effort to improve air quality along the Arizona-Sonora border, retrofit devices that reduce emissions have been installed on 55 cargo trucks owned by U.S. companies, Gov. Jan Brewer announced Friday... The Arizona Department of Environmental Quality initiative received a $145,000 grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to equip the trucks, which cross the border several times a day. The devices reduce particulate-matter air pollution from diesel emissions by nearly 30 percent... The devices were installed free of charge to the truck owners by Phoenix-based Auto Safety House... EPA officials said the retrofit project is part of the Border 2012 program, a collaboration between the United States and Mexico to improve the environmental health of the estimated 12 million people living along the border. The binational program focuses on clean air, safe drinking water, reducing the risk of exposure to hazardous waste, and ensuring emergency preparedness in the region... (Photo by Aaron J. Latham / The Arizona Daily Star 2004 -Hundreds of trucks cross the U.S.-Mexico border each day. As a result of an Arizona Department of Environmental Quality initiative to help cut air pollution, emission-control devices were installed in 55 U.S.-owned trucks that make frequent daily border crossings)

Labels: retrofitting trucks

Truck only lanes * USA - Pick up speed

St. Louis,MO, United States -The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, by Elisa Crouch -22 Feb 2009: -- The decades-old battle between cars and rigs on Interstate 70 could come to an end if the Missouri Department of Transportation has its way... After a yearlong study, the agency is recommending that $3.9 billion be spent to rebuild 200 miles of I-70 between Lake Saint Louis and Independence. Under the plan, two lanes each direction would be for semis, and two lanes each way would be for the rest of traffic...

I-70 has some of the heaviest truck traffic in the country, leaving drivers of smaller vehicles feeling intimidated. Separating cars and semis would improve safety for both, according to the study... Texas and Nevada are examining truck lanes for interstates with high truck traffic. Georgia considered truck-only lanes along 27 miles of Interstate 75 outside of Atlanta, and 20 miles of Interstate 285... The Federal Highway Administration has given the plan preliminary approval. MoDOT officials will seek final approval later this year... (Photo by Richard McFall/FILE, July 2007: Westbound Interstate 70 in Montgomery County, Mo)

Labels: trucks only lanes

TECHNO-TRUCKS * USA - OPD adds hybrid basket truck to fleet for line crews

Omaha,Neb,USA -AP/KTIV NEWSCHANNEL 4 -21 Feb 2009: -- The Omaha Public Power District is adding another first-in-the-state vehicle to its fleet, one that is designed for higher energy efficiency...The addition is a newly designed hybrid basket truck for use by OPPD line crews... The basket truck features a rechargeable lithium-ion battery. The battery is recharged by the engine when it is running and by a regenerative braking system that kicks in when the vehicle's brakes are applied or the truck is coasting...

Labels: technonews

24.2.09

REST AREAS * USA - Money trumps safety as VDOT proposes closing 25 ones

VA,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Clarissa Kell-Holland -February 23, 2009: -- Less than a week after one Virginia Department of Transportation official admitted the state was “deficient” in providing adequate truck parking, the agency announced plans to close 25 of its 41 rest areas in the state... VDOT Chief of Communications Jeff Caldwell cited a $2.6 billion shortfall in transportation revenue as the reason for the proposed rest area closures.. VDOT’s proposal would be a major blow to tired truckers already struggling to find a parking spot after dark when passing through Virginia. In recent months, OOIDA members have reported being rousted from their sleeper berths and told to move on or ticketed for exceeding the state’s two-hour maximum at rest areas. Most said they looked for a spot at major truck stops, which were overflowing, before pulling off to take a break at rest areas...

Labels: rest stops

STRIKE * Latvia - The truckers is going to organize a protest at the end of March

If trucking companies do not receive a state support by the end of March, they will possibly organize a protest

Riga,Latvia -The Baltic Course, by Irina Alenina -20 Feb 2009: -- The Latvian truckers have sent a letter to the Prime Minister Ivars Godmanis and the Transport Minister Ainars Slesers, where they expressed the concern about the critical situation in the road haulage sector and asked the Government to provide the aid for the industry... Road carriers in their letter draw attention to the fact that the international freights haulage sector, represented by over 3,000 companies, which operate nearly 12,000 trucks and employ around 20,000 workers, is facing difficult times; the crisis has had an impact also on foreign markets, the demand for the trucking companies' services is decreasing and so are these companies' incomes; contractors delay payments, there is a catastrophic lack of current assets... Road carriers struggle to timely settle their payments with banks, leasing companies, fuel and services providers, many are close to going bankrupt... According to the truckers, the freight turnover volume in January decreased at least by 50%... Freight carriers are forced to limit their activities, to make drivers redundant or to ask them to take unpaid vacations for indeterminate period of time...

Labels: truckers' strikes

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* EUROPE - Jobs Eliminated, Plants Idled

Brussels,Belgium -Bloomberg -23 Feb 2009: -- European truckmakers are eliminating thousands of jobs and idling factories as sales and orders plunge. Heavy-truck sales in Germany, Europe’s largest economy, fell 17 percent in December while new registrations of all sizes of trucks and buses in Europe tumbled 24 percent, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association... The association cited “the sharpest decline in demand” since 1993. Regional sales data for January will be released Feb. 25...

* Germany - MAN Gets EU2 Billion Loan to Fund Purchase of VW Unit

Munich, Germany -Bloomberg, by Andreas Cremer & Nina De Roy -Feb. 19, 2009: -- MAN AG, Europe’s third-largest truckmaker, said it obtained a 2 billion-euro ($2.6 billion) loan to finance the acquisition of Volkswagen AG’s truck and bus operations in Brazil... “We just closed a credit facility with 10 banks,” Chief Financial Officer Karlheinz Hornung said today in a interview from Munich, Germany... The truckmaker said Dec. 15 it had agreed to buy the Brazilian business from VW, its largest shareholder... Ownership of the unit was due to be transferred on Jan. 1, MAN said at the time. (Photo: Bus World Org)

* Germany - MAN sees strong earnings in diesel engines

Frankfurt,Germany -Reuters (UK) -Feb 19, 2009: -- German industrial conglomerate MAN AG expects group sales to decline in 2009 but its diesel engine business (not its flagship commercial vehicles division) to post strong earnings despite a global economic downturn, it said on Thursday... It gave the outlook after disclosing full-year 2008 operating profit rose 11 percent to 1.73 billion euros ($2.18 billion), the best in its 250-year history and in line with market expectations...

* Germany - MAN AG to Make More Cost Cuts After Profit Plunges

Munich,Germany -Bloomberg, by Andreas Cremer -Feb. 19, 2009: -- MAN AG, Europe’s third-largest truckmaker, said it will cut costs further and extend reductions in employees’ work hours after the recession and declining sales caused fourth-quarter profit to plunge by almost half... Net income declined to 177 million euros ($224.3 million) from 331 million euros a year earlier, the Munich-based company said today in a statement. MAN will trim costs in production and management by 500 million euros, Chief Executive Officer Hakan Samuelsson said at a Munich news conference, adding that first- quarter business hasn’t improved on fourth-quarter figures...

* Germany - Stocks Fall, Send DAX to New Four-Year Low

Berlin,Germany -Bloomberg, by Mike Gavin -Feb. 23, 2009: -- German stocks declined for a second straight day as a sell-off in financial companies and carmakers sent the benchmark DAX Index to a new four-year low... BMW, the world’s largest maker of luxury cars, dropped 5.4 percent to 20.15 euros. Daimler, the biggest truckmaker, slid 5.7 percent to 19.29 euros, while Volkswagen lost 3.8 percent to 216.35 euros and Porsche SE retreated 10 percent to 30.23 euros...

* Sweden - Volvo January Truck Sales Fall 51 Percent as U.S. Demand Slides

Gothenburg,Sweden -Bloomberg, by Toby Alder -Feb. 24, 2009: -- Volvo AB, the world’s second-largest maker of heavy trucks, said total unit sales fell 51 percent in January, the biggest drop in at least a year, as demand plummeted in North America and Eastern Europe... Sales of the different brands combined declined to 10,232 units from 20,856 units a year earlier, the Gothenburg, Sweden- based company said in a statement today. Sales slumped 67 percent in North America and 78 percent in Eastern Europe, Volvo said... Sales of Renault branded trucks fell 52 percent to 3,152 units, while Mack branded sales slid 55 percent to 624 units. The truckmaker said it will focus on the aftermarket business in an attempt to increase profit...

* China - Commercial vehicle output, sales continue to drop in January

Beijing,China -AsiaPulse/Trading Markets -Feb 24, 2009: -- China's commercial vehicle makers still faced a stern situation in January, with the downward turn of output and sales in the fourth quarter 2008 continuing, as the general economy remained sluggish... Commercial vehicle output totaled 132,000 units in January, down 4.41 per cent month on month and 39.1 per cent year on year. Sales reached 125,300 units in January, down 20.21 per cent month on month and 36.35 per cent year on year, according to data released by the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers...

Labels: truckmakers' news worldwide

BORDER TROUBLES * Greece / Bulgary - Greeks drivers block Bulgarian border

Sofia,Bulgary -The Sofia Echo -Feb 20 2009: -- Bulgaria's embassy in Athens has been asked to convey its dissatisfaction that Greece's internal problems have damaged Bulgaria for the second time in less than a month... Bulgaria's reaction comes after hundreds of long-haul truck Greek drivers staged blockades all around Greece preventing freight traffic entering and leaving the country on February 19 2009. This happened a few weeks after Greek farmers had staged a week-long blockade at the Greek-Bulgarian border to demand more subsidies and higher pensions...

Labels: border troubles

TECHNO-TRUCKS * USA - Heavy-duty computing

How does midsized truckmaker Kenworth get access to one of the world's most sophisticated supercomputers? The Internet, of course

Seattle,WASH,USA -CNNMoney/Fortune Magazine, by Jon Fortt -FEB 19, 2009: -- Most people don't spend much time thinking about mudflaps - those strips of rubber behind a big rig's wheels that repel grime and maybe show a gun-toting Yosemite Sam, warning "Back off!" But by using sophisticated design technology, engineers at truckmaker Kenworth discovered that the little flaps were also a major source of drag. Simply trimming and tapering the flaps will cut about $400 from a typical truck's annual gas bill... How exactly did Kenworth solve its mudflap quandary? The company, a unit of $15-billion-a-year truck conglomerate Paccar, took advantage of cloud computing. In Kenworth's case, engineers rented time on a supercomputer thousands of miles away; that system helped employees root out assorted gas-guzzling design flaws they might have missed had they relied just on computers at Kenworth's facilities outside Seattle... Indeed, the engineers used rented computing gear to produce the T660, an aerodynamic truck released in 2007 that ditched the typical bulldog look for a more dolphin-like snout and can get roughly seven miles per gallon. (Don't laugh. That's actually impressive for a semi)...Customers have noticed. Larry Anderson, president of food-delivery company A&A Express, recently ordered several of the trucks. "Every new truck we get is more efficient than the last," says Anderson, who estimates that the new rigs and careful driving could save him a half-million dollars a year on gas...The resulting design changes aren't visually drastic, but they make a real difference. The slightest shift in the curve of the headlights, the shape of the fender, or the angle of the mirrors can dramatically alter a truck's business value. Take that mudflap, for example: A little haircut added an extra half-percent of fuel efficiency to the T660. Preston Feight, Kenworth's chief engineer, says it is one of several tweaks that could save a 1,000-truck fleet $1 million a year... (Photo: 1. Preston Feight, chief engineer, uses cloud computing to redesign Kenworth trucks without making huge investments in technology - Photo 2: See Video- Image 3. A sketch of the truck of tomorrow)

Labels: technonews

23.2.09

TRUCKING JOBS * USA - 100 lose jobs when trucking company shuts down

El Paso,TX,USA -El Paso Times by Vic Kolenc -21 Feb 2009: -- The trucking and warehousing sector, for years one of the area's strongest, received a blow this week when a Nashville-based company shut down, leaving 100 El Paso drivers, dispatchers and office personnel jobless... Shipper's Transport, in business for 18 years, according to its Web site, shut down without notice this week, closing terminals in El Paso and Tennessee... Manufacturers on both sides of the border have slowed production because of the recession and that will affect the transportation sector, said David Coronado, a labor market analyst at Workforce Solutions Upper Rio Grande...

Labels: trucking jobs

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* Japan - Truck makers may skip motor show

Tokyo,Japan -The Japan Times/Kyodo News -Feb. 21, 2009: -- Japan's four biggest truck makers are considering skipping the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show this fall, industry sources said Thursday... Isuzu Motors Ltd., Hino Motors Ltd., Nissan Diesel Motor Co. and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp. are trying to reduce expenses and distance themselves from the show as sales continue to plunge amid the global economic slump, the sources said... The U.S. Big Three — General Motors Corp., Ford Motor Co. and Chrysler LLC — have already decided not to go to the show, along with Sweden's Volvo, a Ford subsidiary... In contrast, Porsche AG and Renault SA plan to attend, the sources said... Japan Automobile Manufacturers Association Chairman Satoshi Aoki, who doubles as chairman of Honda Motor Co., suggested at a news conference that the chief organizer may have to scale the show down...

* Germany - European Stocks Have Worst Week Since December

Munich,Germany -Bloomberg, by Daniela Silberstein -Feb. 21, 2009: -- European stocks posted the biggest weekly drop in two months, sending the Dow Jones Stoxx 600 Index to the lowest level since March 2003, as concern grew the economy will deteriorate further and companies from Daimler AG to Cie. de Saint-Gobain SA reported disappointing earnings... Daimler dropped 15 percent. The automaker reported its first quarterly loss since 2007 on declining sales and costs from Chrysler LLC and said shrinking car markets will impose “substantial burdens” on earnings this year...

* Japan - Isuzu Shares Fall to Lowest Level in Almost Six Years

Tokyo,Japan -Bloomberg, by Makiko Kitamura -Feb. 23, 2009: -- Isuzu Motors Ltd., Japan’s largest maker of light-duty trucks, fell to the lowest level in almost six years as demand in Eastern Europe plummets... Isuzu’s net loss will probably total 15 billion yen ($161 million) for the year ending in March, compared with an earlier forecast for a 40 billion yen profit, Isuzu said on Feb. 6. The Tokyo-based truckmaker expects operating profit of 9 billion yen, down from an earlier forecast of 60 billion yen...

Labels: truckmakers' news worldwide

WARNING * USA - Carriers report new wave of fraudulent DOT letters

Toronto,ONT,CAN -Today's Trucking -20 Feb 2009: -- Trucking groups in Canada and the U.S. are warning carriers of a new round of fraudulent letters from scammers purporting to be from the U.S. Department of Transportation... The so-called "phishing" letters, are usually sent via fax to trucking companies requesting payment or personal data and banking account information... The Ontario Trucking Association and the U.S. owner-op group OOIDA are two groups warning that a new wave of letters has been circulating... The DOT letterhead on the faxes appears authentic, authorities say (click here for an example)... According to OOIDA, the letters are signed by a fake name, such as “Joshua Greenberg, Senior Procurement Officer”... The return address is also '400 Seventh St. SW, Washington, DC,' which is the former address of the U.S. DOT headquarters...

Labels: frauds

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA - YRC signs $122M sale-leaseback deal

Kansas,MO,USA -The Kansas City Business Journal -February 20, 2009: -- YRC Worldwide Inc. has finalized about $122 million in sale-leaseback agreements... The Overland Park-based trucking company’s subidiaries signed agreements with Estes Express Lines Inc. to sell and lease back certain facilities, with sales expected to close from March through June... Leases are for 10 years, with options to renew for another 20 years. If Estes decided to sell a facility in the next three years, YRC would get to make the first offer... Credit agency Standard & Poor’s this week changed the implications of its review on YRC Worldwide Inc. from developing to positive in the wake of YRC finalizing a bank amendment on Feb. 12, and said it could raise YRC’s ratings after more evaluation, the release said...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

INFRASTRUCTURES * China - Information Superhighway's Trash Yields a Super Highway Asphalt

Charlottesville,VA,USA -Newswise -11 Feb 2009: -- Researchers in China report that hardware from discarded electronics can be recycled into an additive that is used to strengthen asphalt paving material... The researchers say the new recycling process can convert obsolete circuitboards into an asphalt "modifier" that creates stronger, cheaper, longer lasting, and more environmentally friendly asphalt... The new recycling method separates the glass fibers and plastic resins found in circuitboards to create a fine, metal-free powder that, when mixed into asphalt during laboratory tests, produced a stronger paving material that is less likely to soften at high temperatures...

Labels: infrastructures

INSURANCE * USA - Pay-as-you-drive Bill Is a Win-Win

Seattle,WASH,USA -The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, by Jason Bordoff & Pascal Noel -12 Feb 2009: -- According to Brookings Institution Policy Director Jason Bordoff and Research Analyst Pascal Noel, the proposed legislation in the Washington State Senate that would encourage insurers to offer pay-as-you-drive insurance policies, which gauge premiums on miles driven per year, is beneficial to the market... Consumers are eager to find savings by driving less to save on gasoline costs, but driving less could translate into greater savings if insurers begin offering pay-as-you-drive policies. Bordoff and Noel say that drivers under the current system are lumped together based upon their characteristics and safety records, which provides them with premiums at the same level regardless of how many miles they drive per year... The Brookings Institute's Hamilton Project reveals that pay-as-you-drive policies could save about 67 percent of households $270 on average per car in insurance premiums. However, some critics are concerned that these policies, which will require insurers to monitor drivers' mileage, will lead to privacy breaches...

Labels: insurance

State Monitoring * USA - Snow & Road Conditions With Cameras

Lincoln,NEB,USA -10/11 News KOLNKGIN -13 Feb 2009: -- The Nebraska Department of Roads can now monitor road conditions remotely through its new Traffic Management Center, giving state roads officials the ability to get a close look at road conditions across the state without having to brave storm conditions... Various sections of I-80 are monitored through cameras lining the interstate... Officials can update message boards to alert drivers of hazardous conditions and delays and can relay important data to emergency workers and to 511 Nebraska...

Labels: monitoring

22.2.09

Federal Administration * USA - Obama Delays NAFTA Talks

Washington,DC,USA -The Journal of Commerce, by Alan Field -20 Feb 2009: -- President Barack Obama said that his campaign promise to renegotiate the North American Free Trade Agreement on behalf of unions and environmentalists will have to wait... Obama
on his first trip abroad as president in Ottawa Thursday warned against a "strong impulse" toward protectionism at a time when the world suffers a global economic recession... In a joint news conference with Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper, Obama said he wants to find a way he can fulfill his campaign pledge to strengthen enforcement of NAFTA labor and environmental standards, but stressed that nothing should disrupt the free flow of trade between the neighboring countries...

Labels: Obama's Administration

TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS, Mergers & Acquisitions * WORLDWIDE

Strategic Buyers - International Deals

* Canada - 9 Feb: GENIVAR Income Fund has acquired ENTRA Consultants Inc. ENTRA provides transportation planning services from its base in Markham, Canada. Terms were not disclosed.

* The Netherlands - 16 Feb: TNT NV has acquired LIT Cargo. Based in Chile, LIT operates a nationwide, highly automated express parcel network utilizing 55 depots and 496 vehicles. Terms were not disclosed.

Labels: T and L Mergers and Acquisitions worldwide

RULES * Australia - Trailer Reversing Lamps Confusion

Reversing Lamps on Trailers Are Optional

Adelaide,SA,Australia -Wheel News, by Wayne Cheker -19 Feb 2009: -- There has been considerable confusion within the industry recently as to whether current Australian Design Rule 13/00 mandates the installation of reversing lamps on trailers or not... Following my investigation yesterday and asking that the industry be given a clear directive on what is required, the following comments where released by a spokes-person from the Department of Transport and Regional Services... "It came in via a later amendment to the UNECE regulation and since we retained the earlier versions of the regulation as alternative standards, the net effect is that reversing lamps continue to be optional for trailers..."... So there it is, it's official, reversing lamps on trailers are optional. But be aware if you do install them they will need to be conforming with the ADR specifications for that function...

Labels: rules and regulations

RETREADING TYRES * USA - Oliver Rubber introduces envelope spreader for retreads

Greenville,S.C.,USA -Truck News (CAN) -17 Feb 2009: -- Oliver Rubber recently introduced a new envelope spreader for use in the retreading process, which is intended to help mechanically facilitate enveloping prior to curing, according to a statement from the company... With a push of the foot pedal, Oliver Rubber states that its 1137 Envelope Expander uses pre-set adjustments to mechanically stretch the envelope to the optimum diameter, thus “reliably” minimizing envelope stretch, and in turn increasing envelope life. The new Oliver spreader was developed and manufactured by the company’s Salisbury Machinery Division in Salisbury, N.C....

Labels: tyres

TRUCKING JOBS * USA - Trucking Sheds 24,900 Jobs

Washington,DC,USA -Transport Topics (subscription) -16 Feb 2009: -- The trucking industry lost nearly 25,000 jobs in January, the highest monthly total ever except during a national strike in 1994, according to data from the Department of Labor...

Labels: trucking jobs

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS *USA

* Mack, Volvo Offer DPF to Meet Calif. Rules

Greensboro.NC,USA -Transport Topics -16 Feb 2009: -- Mack Trucks and Volvo Trucks North America said they are offering diesel particulate filters that can be retrofitted on older-model trucks so that they can be operated in compliance with new California emission requirements... The companies said the filters are designed to work with engines sold from 1996 through early 2002. A retrofit device is being developed for model year 2002-2006 trucks built to meet the emission standards that were in place at that time... Both companies said that dealers will have to install the DPFs...

* Test Drive Helps Kenworth Refine Its New Truck, Trailer Designs

Renton,Wash,USA -Transport Topics, by Bruce Harmon -Feb. 16, 2009: -- In the struggle to squeeze a few more miles out of each tank of fuel, truck makers are designing tractors with the aid of computer models and wind tunnels more generally used to tweak race cars or airplanes... The result is a generation of highly aerodynamic trucks that don’t seem to leave designers much more room to make further improvements, at least on the tractors. But manufacturers continue investigating ways to make trailers less of a drag...

* Kenworth Adds Anti-Siphon Device as Standard Feature on Class 8 Trucks

KIRKLAND,Wash,USA -Kenworth's P.R. -February 19, 2009: -- Kenworth Truck Company now offers a tamper-resistant, durable, metal anti-siphoning device as standard on all Kenworth Class 8 vehicles specified with round diesel fuel tanks... The anti-siphon device, which is located on the tank filler neck, features a robust tamper-resistant heavy metal barrier that is a quarter-inch thick. The design, however, does not slow down the refueling process...

* Navistar Urges Trucking to Back Gradual Phase-in of 2010 Regs

Warrenville,ILL,USA -Transport Topics, by Howard S. Abramson -Feb. 16, 2009: -- A top Navistar Inc. official said the company is pursuing its own solution to meet the 2010 U.S. emission standards, because it doesn’t believe the fuel savings claimed by competitors will justify the higher costs and more complicated systems associated with the new engines... Navistar — which will use exhaust gas recirculation in its new models — has proposed that the Environmental Protection Agency allow fleets to buy either 2007-compliant engines or 2010 models, to both provide costs savings during the recession and give fleets more time to test the new technologies... All other U.S. engine makers will be using selective catalytic reduction to meet the 2010 standards... (Photo: Navistar is First Responder to Meet New Fire Truck Standards)

* Eaton to Provide Transmissions to Indian Truck Maker

Cleveland,OH,USA -Transport Topics -16 Feb 2009: -- Truck parts manufacturer Eaton Corp. said it has signed an agreement with India’s Tata Motors, that country’s largest automotive manufacturer, to provide heavy-duty truck transmissions through 2014... Eaton will supply the transmissions to Tata for use on its World Truck program in India and for the company’s global markets... Initial transmission production will take place at Eaton plants in Tczew, Poland, and Wuxi, China, with production moving to Pune, India, as volumes increase, Eaton said...

Labels: truckmakers' news USA

19.2.09

GREEN FLEETS * USA - UPS adds CNG trucks to fleet

Louisville,KY,USA -The Louisville Biz Journals -February 19, 2009: -- United Parcel Service Inc. has put into service 300 delivery trucks powered by compressed natural gas (CNG)... The CNG-powered trucks are being used in seven cities in Colorado, Georgia, Oklahoma and California, UPS said in a news release... The CNG trucks look just like the signature-brown UPS trucks, but they are expected to cut emissions by 20 percent over the cleanest diesel engines available in the market today, UPS said in the release... Atlanta-based UPS already operates the largest private fleet of alternative fuel vehicles in its industry at 1,819. UPS uses 800 CNG vehicles around the world...

Labels: green trucks

RECALLS * Japan - Mitsubishi Fuso Recalls 62,423 Trucks for Suspension Problems

Tokyo,Japan -Bloomberg, by Taku Kato -Feb. 19, 2009: -- Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp., a Japanese unit of Daimler AG, is recalling 62,423 trucks that may have defective suspension systems, according to a filing today with Japan’s transportation ministry...

Labels: trucks' recalls

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* Germany - MAN AG to Make More Cost Cuts After Profit Plunges

Munich,Germany -Bloomberg, by Andreas Cremer -Feb. 19, 2009: -- MAN AG, Europe’s third-largest truckmaker, said it will cut costs further and extend reductions in employees’ work hours after the recession and declining sales caused fourth-quarter profit to plunge by almost half... Net income declined to 177 million euros ($224.3 million) from 331 million euros a year earlier, the Munich-based company said today in a statement.... MAN will trim costs in production and management by 500 million euros, Chief Executive Officer Hakan Samuelsson said at a Munich news conference, adding that first- quarter business hasn’t improved on fourth-quarter figures...

* UK - BAE Says Obama’s Afghan Troop Buildup May Buoy Profit

London,UK -Bloomberg, by Sabine Pirone -Feb. 19, 2009: -- BAE Systems Plc, Europe’s biggest defense company, said Barack Obama’s plan to send 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan will extend a surge in demand for its armored trucks that helped boost profit 94 percent last year... The U.S. president’s plan to shift focus to the Taliban in the battle against terrorists may prompt a wave of orders for vehicles lighter than those used in Iraq as troops fight in more mountainous terrain, Chief Executive Office Ian King said today... BAE’s net income jumped to 1.75 billion pounds ($2.5 billion) from 901 million pounds a year earlier as the London- based company rode out the recession with sales of Bradley Fighting Vehicles, reinforced Humvees and bullet-proof vests. Earnings will increase again in 2009 as demand tied to the conflicts in the Middle East supplements longer-term projects in defense and aerospace electronics, King said...

* Japan - Daimler compensates truckers for increase in truck tolls

Stuttgart,Germany -Benz Insider -18 Feb 2009: -- Beginning March 1, 2009, Daimler AG will assume for all existing freight forwarding contracts the additional costs accrued by hauliers as a result of the truck toll increase that went into effect at the beginning of the year in Germany... The compensation will apply to companies that handle either procurement logistics or the distribution of completed vehicles and service parts... Daimler will continue to compensate for the additional costs generated by the increased toll until contracts will be adapted following negotiations or new tender offers...

* USA - Kenworth Workstation Option Added For Class 8 Models with Day Cab, Extended Day Cab

Kirkland,WASH,USA -Truck Net –February 19, 2009: -- There is an old saying that the job isn’t finished until the paperwork is done. Kenworth is making that job a bit easier thanks to an optional workstation now available for its T660, T800, W900 and C500 models in day cab and extended day cab configurations... Located between the driver and passenger seats, the workstation offers nearly 2 cubic feet of space for storage of files, books, small printers and laptops. When opened, paperwork can be completed on a 140-square inch writing surface. When closed, the 100-square-inch top hosts a cup holder, and a pencil tray. Two 12-volt accessory power outlets are built-in to provide power for computers and other devices...

* Sweden - Braking that makes cents

Stockholm,Sweden -Scania Social Media News Room -19 February 2009: -- Braking a heavy truck at any speed generates a huge amount of heat. Over time this can damage brake discs, pads and linings and compromise safety. The solution: Scania Retarder...

The way to slow down a moving standard truck in addition to applying the wheel brakes is to shift down and use the engine brake. All trucks have an engine brake, but they are often noisy and therefore less suitable in urban areas. But Scania trucks also have the Scania Retarder, which together with downchanging can be considered a third auxiliary braking system. “Scania Retarder is capable of dealing with 90 percent of all braking on long-haul work, so it substantially increases the service life of the wheel brakes,” says Tomas Selling, a control system development engineer at Scania. Moreover, the cost of downtime, materials and work for changing the linings and brake pads on a tractor and semitrailer means that investing in a Scania Retarder pays for itself within a couple of years... (Photo: Scania GR875R 8-speed gearbox with Scania retarder and Opticruise.)

Labels: truckmakers news worldwide

ALTERNATIVE FUEL * USA - Roush Unveils Propane-Powered Trucks

New vehicles will be available in third quarter

Cleveland,OH,USA -Industry Week, Jonathan Katz -Feb. 18, 2009: -- Propane-powered Ford trucks developed by Roush Performance Products Inc. will soon be available at dealers throughout the United States and Canada, Roush said Feb. 18... The powertrain engineering company has made its alternative-power technology available in the 2010 F-250, F-150 and E-250 trucks with deliveries anticipated tostart in the third quarter... The additional cost for the propane-powered F-250 is $8,995 and qualifies for a federal tax credit of up to $4,500... (Photo: Ford E250 Lift view)

Labels: alternative fuels

Clean Truck Container Fee * USA - Hundreds Turned Away On First Day Of

Hundreds of trucks attempting to enter marine terminals at the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach were turned away today - the first day for collecting the ports' clean truck container fee - for not having the required workable radio frequency ID tags

Long Beach,CA,USA -The Cunningham Report -18 Feb 2009: -- ... The trucks that were turned away for not having tags were redirected to the ports' Truck Tag Replacement Center on Terminal Island, which resulted in hundreds of trucks jamming up on New Dock Avenue and a call to the CHP to help untangle the snarl. Due to the unexpectedly high volume, many truckers were urged to come back another day... Despite the glitches, Bruce Wargo, who oversees the PortCheck system, said he thought the first day came off "fairly successfully." Although about 20 percent of the trucks arriving at terminals were turned away, most were not. About 80 percent of the ones rejected were due to truck tag problems, not problems with the fee collection... He predicted that by Friday, the containers would be flowing again with few problems. He attributed much of today's problems to truckers putting off updating their tags until the last minute...

Labels: Clean Trucks Program

STIMULUS PACKAGE * USA - Obama signs law

Washington,DC, and Denver,COL,USA -Logistics Management,by Jeff Berman -17 Feb 2009: -- President Barack Obama officially signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 into law today/last month, paving the way for the United States economy to get back on track. And the role of transportation infrastructure development figures significantly into the bill as a way to stimulate economic growth and job creation... The final version of the bill came in at $789 billion. The amount dedicated to transportation infrastructure investment is $64.1 billion, according to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure... In terms of specific funding allocations dedicated to transportation infrastructure initiatives, highlights of the bill include:

- $27.5 billion for highway and bridge construction projects;
- $8.4 billion for mass transit, public transportation projects;
- $8 billion for high-speed rail project
- $1.3 billion for aviation projects;
- $4.6 billion for water infrastructure projects undertaken by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and $100 million for the Maritime Administration; and
- $1.5 billion for a discretionary program for large multi-modal and intermodal projects in the form of competitive grants to state and local governments for transportation investments—including highway, rail, transit, or port infrastructure.

Regardless of the final amount parsed out for transportation infrastructure, along with the outlay for highway and bridge construction projects, other monies will go towards modernizing existing transit systems, and improving intermodal facilities and public transportation equipment, among other areas...

Labels: Obama's Administration

Analysis * USA - Consolidation expected as truckload rates continue down

Freight buyers need to balance price with supply to keep carriers in business

Newton,MA,USA -Logistics Management,David Hannon -18 Feb 2009: -- With demand and rates heading down, truckload carriers are struggling with their bottom lines and freight buyers and shippers need to continue to maintain their communication with carriers to ensure timely shipments. In fact, according to a recent survey, 21% of truckload carriers suggested that they were likely to consider liquidating in the coming six months... In its most recent financial filing, truckload carrier Knight Transportation, for example, said "a substantial number of small and mid-sized carriers have been forced into bankruptcy due to tight credit, high and volatile fuel prices and challenging industry pricing. We believe that this dynamic could eventually set the stage for tighter industry capacity"... In addition to lower rates, numerous truckload shippers are extending payment terms from 30 days to as many as 60 days, making it more difficult for carriers to fund their operations in a down market.... And for carriers, an increasing percentage of lines of credit are being dedicated to letters of credit for to insurance and other costs. Several carriers said that letters of credit have jumped by 50-100% the past couple of quarters vs. a year ago...

Labels: trucking industry analysis USA

18.2.09

WEATHER TROUBLES * USA - Driver dies during wintry blast

A winter storm may have contributed to a fatal traffic crash while blanketing northern Utah in snow

Salt Lake,UT,USA -The Salt Lake Tribune, by Jason Bergreen and Erin Alberty -17 Feb 2009: -- Three tractor trailers collided about 1 p.m. on Interstate 84 near Snowville, said Utah Highway Patrol spokesman Cameron Roden. One overturned, killing the driver, Roden said... Snow blanketed northern Utah on Tuesday as weather forecasters issued a winter storm warning along the Wasatch Front until 5 a.m. today... By Tuesday evening, deep snow had been recorded in much of northern Utah... A backcountry avalanche warning also was issued for the Wasatch Mountains north of Salt Lake City and the Bear River range... (Picture: "Red Grill", by Scott Smith)

Labels: weather troubles

REGULATIONS * Australia - Long haul pays off for NSW transporters

NSW,Australia -Farmonline Stock & Land, by SHEENA COFFEY -18 Feb 2009: -- After a long haul and lagging behind the states for many years, the end of February will see NSW begin trialling the volume-based livestock loading scheme already in place in Victoria, South Australia and Queensland... The scheme allows transporters to load their truck to a volume or animal welfare density level rather than a specific weight... This trial will be the first step in aligning loading volume across the states... (Picture: Dominic Shanahan, Shanahan's Transport, Wodonga)

Labels: trucks' regulations

MEXICANS' TRUCKS * USA - Expanding Cross-Border Trucking with Mexico Benefits American Consumers

Washington,DC,USA -The Heritage Foundation, by James M. Roberts -February 17, 2009: -- One of President Obama's campaign promises was to "upgrade" and "retool" the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). An excellent way to start would be for him to make the Bush Administration's pilot truck program with Mexico permanent... As The Wall Street Journal's Mary Anastasia O'Grady reported, "Mexican trucking companies [had] a long history of operating in the U.S. and with no notably inferior safety record" until 1995, "when Bill Clinton issued an executive order--in violation of NAFTA, which he had signed into law--to stop Mexican long-haul trucks from crossing the border. Mr. Clinton was responding to pressure from Teamsters, who didn't want any new competition. He cited safety concerns--things like substandard drivers and vehicles--which to this day have never been supported by evidence"... Since then, trucks from Mexico have largely been confined to U.S. border areas... Notwithstanding fierce opposition by the Teamsters and other U.S. organized labor groups, in 2007 the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) approved a NAFTA-consistent "Cross Border Demonstration Project"... "27 Mexican carriers with 107 trucks" full access to the U.S. road network. Until then, USDOT regulations had required all Mexican trucks to unload their cargoes at warehouses close to the border where they were re-loaded into U.S. trucks for onward shipment throughout the country...

Labels: mexicans' trucks

FUEL THIEVES * Kenya - Cargo transporters lose billions

Nairobi,Kenya -Business Daily Africa, by Ishaq Jumbe -February 18, 2009: -- As any truck owner will tell you, their worst nightmare comes in the form of a jerrycan and a rubber tube... These are the gadgets used by dishonest drivers and their assistants to siphon fuel that has been allocated to them for a particular length of journey... Trucking companies report that of all problems affecting their delivery of quality service, fuel siphoning is the most difficult one to stamp out... This may be due to the fact that as a truck owner, you must entrust your vehicle and cargo to someone at some point, and it is the element of trust that is manipulated by the dishonest personnel who man the transport vehicles...

Labels: fuel thieves

SUPER-WASHER * South Africa - 'World’s largest' truck wash open in

Ypsilanti,MI,USA -Carwash Online (Latham,NY,USA) -16 Feb 2009: -- InterClean Equipment, Inc., a manufacturer of bus and truck wash equipment and member of Tammermatic InterClean Group, recently completed the installation and start-up of a super-sized vehicle wash system in one of the most remote locations for any size carwash — the Kalahari Desert in South Africa near the Botswana border, according to a company press release... The Feb. 13 release said the world’s largest truck wash was installed at the new Khumani Mine that is owned by Assmang Ltd...

Previously, the 200 and 400-ton haul trucks carrying ore from open pit mine to the processing facility were washed by manual labor, requiring hours and sometimes even days to complete a single wash, and risking injury to the workers who could fall from scaffolds and ladders used to reach the tops of the 30-foot high trucks... According to the company, the new InterClean wash system breaks many of the records in the vehicle wash industry...

Labels: truck washers

CLEAN TRUCKS on the EAST * USA - Heading Off Regulation

Norfolk,VA,USA -Traffic World, by John Gallagher -16 Feb 2009: -- As Southern California gets ready to charge $70 per container for trucks entering its ports to defray the cost of a controversial clean truck program, a Pennsylvania drayage company is working to keep similar programs from infiltrating the East Coast... Evans Network, a trucking company with two intermodal drayage affiliates, is one of the first companies to invest in a public-private venture to provide low-cost financing for owner-operators that want to reduce pollution from their trucks... The investment will apply to trucks in his company's Century Express and Evans Delivery affiliates that serve the Port of Virginia at Norfolk... The partnership is part of the Virginia Port Authority's "Green Operators" pilot program, the first voluntary retrofit program at a U.S. port... VPA will contribute $3,000 toward the cost of retrofitting each truck and carriers are responsible for the balance. Each truck retrofit typically costs $6,000... Evans Network, which will spend roughly $90,000 to retrofit 30 to 35 of its independent contractors' trucks, is on a crusade to get similar programs started up and down the East Coast..

Labels: Clean Trucks Program

OPTIMISM * Canada - Economic winds to blow west? Execs think so

Next Stop Recovery? Westerners say they'll be ready when freight economy bounces back

Fort McMurray,ALB,Canada -Today's Trucking -16 Feb 2009: -- While many transportation leaders are less than enthusiastic about the current economic climate, westerners, being westerns, are already eying the future and are planning how to hit the ground running when things do turnaround. But is its infrastructure ready for it?... The ability to respond to economic stimulus will largely rely on the quality of the infrastructure system enhancements being put in place. Just ask anyone using the roads in Fort McMurray, Alta., what can happen if infrastructure lags behind economic growth... At a recent conference hosted by Westac, there was general agreement that when the economy does rebound, it will likely be different growth than in the past; but a turnaround nonetheless... So, back to the question: Does Canada's transportation system -- and the West's particularly -- have any game? Even though there's still work to be done, there seems to be a "bring it on" sense of optimism around all modes of transportation...

Labels: trucking's optimism

ICE ROAD TRUCKERS * Canada - Feeling the economic freeze

Yellowknife,NT,Canada -Today's Trucking -17 Feb 2009: -- The winter road in Canada’s north -hit show Ice Road Truckers- is seeing a little less action these days... According to the Northern News Service, one closed mine and a general slowdown in production have led to a drop in shipments for trucking companies working the famous route... The winter road opened Feb. 2 and is operating on schedule, completing 10 percent of this season’s shipments. The number of those on-time shipments, however, has gone down... While the drop in tonnage will mean the trucks that are hired will do between eight to 10 loads, rather than 20 to 25 loads, Blair Weatherby, president of the NWT Motor Transport Association says, the news isn’t all bad... "If you go back five or 10 years, we're still (shipping) more than we were then," he notes...(Picture by getmemedia: Ice road truckers)

Labels: ice road truckers

CLEAN TRUCKS * USA - LA container fees set to go this week

Los Angeles,CAL,USA -Today's Trucking (CAN) -17 Feb 2009: -- The planned container collection fee at the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach will start being collected this Wednesday, Feb. 18... The Federal Maritime Commission cleared the plan to proceed -- for now -- but warned that it will keep a close eye on the process... The money from the fees ($35 for a twenty-foot container) -- to be collected by PortCheck -- will go towards helping truckers retrofit older trucks under the ports' Clean Trucks programs... Critics also insist that the fees and the Clean Port program will deter shippers away from the ports...

* NRS Deploys Clean Truck Fleet

Washington,DC,USA -Traffic World, by John Gallagher -17 Feb 2009: -- Trucking and logistics company National Retail Systems will be plying the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach with 115 new trucks that fully comply with the ports' Clean Truck Program... The new trucks, with engines that meet 2007 Environmental Protection Agency pollution mitigation standards, will allow NRS customers to avoid a $70 per 40-foot container fee required by the ports beginning Feb. 18... NRS, along with other large carriers participating in the CTP such as Swift Transportation and Knight Transportation, was able to offset the cost of its investment by $30,000 per truck provided by the ports as an incentive to bring fully compliant trucks into the program...

Labels: clean trucks fleet

AWARD *USA - Paccar receives J.D. Power and Associates Founder's One

Orlando,FL.USA -Trucknews (CAN) -17 Feb 2009: -- Paccar has been presented with the J.D. Power and Associates Founder’s Award in recognition of the company’s “long-standing commitment to customer satisfaction in the commercial vehicle industry”... The award was presented during the Heavy-Duty Manufacturers Association’s Heavy-Duty Dialogue Conference... Gary Dilts, senior vice-president of global automotive operations at J.D. Power and Associates, presented the award to Tom Plimpton, Paccar vice chairman, at Heavy Duty Dialogue ’09...

Labels: awards

TRANSPORT STATISTICS * USA - Intermodal loses US market share in fourth quarter

Nashville,TENN,USA -Trucknews (Canada) -17 Feb 2009: -- Intermodal shipments lost ground in the US during the fourth quarter of 2008, according to a report by transportation analysts FTR Associates... Intermodal’s share of US long-haul (550 miles or more) movements of containerized freight dropped 0.2% to a level of 12.1% from Q3 to Q4, the company reports... Intermodal’s market share of domestic cargo decreased by 0.1% to a level of 5.6%, reversing a trend that had seen domestic intermodal share increasing for the past year, according to FTR Associates, which delves into the issue in its February Intermodal Monthly Update...

Labels: transport statistics

17.2.09

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * China - A truckload of economic indicators

What's clear, is that the logistics industry is on the front line...

London,UK -Procurement-blog, by David Rae -16 Feb 2009: -- A story in the China Daily provides more evidence of the fallout from the global downturn and the impact this is having on China's companies. The article talks about the problems faced by the Shanghai Pudong Trucking Corporation which during December 2008 had a third of its 1,500-strong fleet lying idle... It's not the only indicator. Chinese exports were down in January 2009 by a huge 17.5% compared to the same period in 2008 (read and comment on that particular article... And, as the latest issue of Procurement Leaders magazine reports, the planned opening of the 10,000km China to Germany direct cargo-train rail link has been delayed due to a lack of business. The service which cuts 10 days off the time taken by sea, has been involved in trials since autumn last year and was due to open last month. "We are not giving up on the project," a spokesperson for DB Schenker, the transportation arm of Deuutsche Bahn, which is running the service. "We will offer the service this year"...

Labels: trucking industry news worldwide

JOB CUTS * USA - Over Here, Over There ... Everywhere

Carmakers lead the way, with General Motors, Nissan, and Toyota paring tens of thousands of positions

New York,NY,USA -CFO Magazine, by Stephen Taub -February 13, 2009: -- There was the usual round of sizable layoffs this week, but this time, most of the headline-grabbing cuts were made by overseas companies, led by automakers... The biggest U.S. workforce reduction was also announced by a car company: General Motors said it will shed 10,000 white-collar jobs... The Wall Street Journal also reported that GM is offering retirement incentives to 22,000 of its 62,000 United Auto Workers union members as part of a turnaround plan it must present to the U.S. government by Tuesday. The paper said the company would be happy if half of these workers took the offer, citing a person familiar with GM's thinking... Caterpillar Inc., meanwhile, said it is offering a voluntary early retirement incentive package to about 2,000 production employees. That plan is in addition to the company's workforce reduction of 22,000 announced last month... FedEx Freight, a unit of FedEx Corp., said it will cut about 900 jobs at 130 facilities, according to the Memphis Business Journal... Nissan Motor Co. said it would cut 20,000 jobs, though none in the United States beyond those previously announced, the Associated Press reported... Toyota Motor, however, said it is offering buyouts to about 18,000 workers in United States. It also plans to freeze wages and cut pay for factory executives and eliminate bonuses for all salaried employees, according to Bloomberg, citing an e-mailed statement late Thursday...

Labels: jobs' cut

The best real estate market * USA - Terminal Buy Time

Carriers with strong balance sheets and plenty of cash are finding the best real estate market in years for expanding and upgrading their LTL terminal networks

Washington,DC,USA -Trafffic World, by John Gallagher -16 Feb 2009: -- ... Not since Consolidated Freightways unloaded 280 terminals after its Sept. 2, 2002, shutdown have as many quality properties come up for sale... But terminal network realignments and operation downsizing is affecting the real estate market in the LTL sector more than bankruptcies. In November Con-way Freight stripped 40 facilities out of its 303-terminal network in a move estimated to save the carrier $30 million to $40 million and eliminate 124,000 miles per day from its system. The company plans to sublease 30 terminals it was leasing and sell outright the other 10... As part of the final phase of its Yellow Transportation-Roadway merger, parent company YRC Worldwide is reducing its terminal network from 704 to 450. A group of those terminals was sold to North American Terminals Management for $150 million and then leased back to YRC. But roughly 150 properties are on the open market - and depending on where they're located, there are deals to be had, as commercial property values have dropped 20 percent or more from just a year ago... For LTL carriers, predictions of more pressure on the rates they can get for their service in 2009 and beyond will make "building for the future" a tough policy to justify even for carriers with cash. But Steve O'Kane, president of A. Duie Pyle, a West Chester, Pa.-based LTL. believes the key is maintaining a growth strategy during times when filling trucks is most challenging...

Labels: trucking industry news USA

Eco Trucks * Hungary - SunTruck: The next-gen highway cruiser

Eco Factor: Truck powered by a diesel-electric hybrid engine. Electricity in this case is harnessed by solar cells mounted on a semitrailer

Budapest,Hungary -ecofriend.org -17 Feb 2009: -- ... Trucks have always been the kings of the road, so any futuristic design of a truck needs to maintain that distinct image and class. Gabor Magyari, a design student at the University of Technology and Economics in Budapest, Hungary, has created what many would have wanted a couple of decades earlier...

With massive fuel-eating engines, trucks were always in need of some green refinement for a better environment. The SunTruck, as Gabor calls it, is his vision of a futuristic, ecofriendly truck...

The SunTruck is powered by a hybrid diesel-electric engine. While running on diesel, the emphasis has been made on fuel efficiency and power at the same time. And while running on diesel, the truck generates electricity that is used to power onboard electronics and a lithium-ion battery pack. After dropping the load, the electric engine can be selected for a zero-emission ride. Electricity in this case is harnessed by solar cells mounted on a semitrailer... Apart from high cost risks, we have no doubt in our minds that trucks such as the SunTruck will definitely rule the roads of the future...

Labels: concept trucks

FINES * USA - $1 Fines for Truckers

Some Vermont lawmakers are working on a plan to allow big rigs on the Interstate

Montpelier,Vermont,USA -WCAX -February 16, 2009: -- ... Federal law prohibits trucks weighing 90,000 pounds from using Interstates 89 and 91... That forces many big rigs to use state roads in Vermont, because the weight limit on them is higher. Many towns say local roads are taking a beating and having those big trucks moving through town is a safety hazard... Lawmakers are proposing only fining truck drivers $1 if their rig is overweight on the federal level, but under the state regulation... Lawmakers hope more truckers would opt for the Interstate to save time and money...

Labels: trucks fines

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* EUROPE - Renault Trucks to boost share of shrinking market

London,UK -Road Transport, by Julian Milnes -16 February 2009: -- Renault Trucks is aiming to increase its market share by 1% despite predicting a tough year overall for heavy commercials, with the market declining by a third in 2009. Commercial director Nigel Butler is determined for Renault to grow its market share by 1% to 6.2% in the six-tonne-plus sector in the face of challenging market conditions... The issue is compounded by a pool of excess vehicles left over from 2008... Butler feels Renault Trucks is in a better position than most regarding excess vehicles as it went to significant lengths to control the order book from its dealer network as far back as 2007 in an effort to manage wayward lead times... The credit crunch has replaced lead times as the main concern for manufacturers, and, as last year drew to a close, sales dropped as customers lost confidence in spending. Shifting last year's stock means providing strong marketing initiatives...

* Germany - Daimler Has EU1.53 Billion Loss on Recession

Stuttgart,Germany -Bloomberg, by Chris Reiter -Feb. 17, 2009: -- Daimler AG, the world’s second- biggest maker of luxury cars, reported its first quarterly loss since 2007 on declining sales and costs from Chrysler LLC and said the recession will burden earnings further this year... The fourth-quarter loss was 1.53 billion euros ($1.93 billion) compared with year-earlier net income of 1.7 billion euros, Stuttgart, Germany-based Daimler said in a statement today. Analysts had predicted a 227 million-euro deficit... Daimler suffered as the European economy contracted the most in 13 years in the quarter, helping to push revenue down 12 percent to 23.2 billion euros...

* Germany - Daimler, Face Losses in German Auto Slump

Stuttgart,Germany -Bloomberg, by Chris Reiter -Feb. 16, 2009: -- Daimler AG, the maker of Mercedes- Benz trucks and cars, may report its first quarterly loss since selling Chrysler LLC... Daimler, the world’s biggest truckmaker and No. 2 to BMW in luxury cars, likely lost 227 million euros ($290 million) in the fourth quarter compared with net income of 1.76 billion euros a year earlier, according to analysts surveyed by Bloomberg News... German automakers may deepen job cuts and plant closures after European car sales plunged 27 percent in January to the lowest since at least 1990, the sharpest drop in a nine-month decline, said Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Stephen Pope... A loss for Stuttgart-based Daimler would be the first since the third quarter of 2007, when earnings were wiped out by 2.6 billion euros in costs from the sale of Chrysler. The company is scheduled to report numbers tomorrow...

* Belgium - DAF to cut 800 jobs

Brussels,Belggium -AFP/The Straits Times -Feb 17, 2009: -- Dutch truckmaker DAF will slash its work force in half at its Westerlo factory in northern Belgium, cutting 873 jobs, trade union leader Luc Hendrickx said on Monday... The company will probably announce the move on Tuesday, added Hendrickx of the Christian CSC union... A DAF spokesman told the Belga news agency that he could not confirm the number of lay-offs but admitted that job cuts would be made...

Labels: truckmakers news worldwide

TRUCKER'S AWARD * USA - Tucson trucker honored for amazing safety record

Tucson,AR,USA -The Arizona The Arizona Daily Star, by Dan Sullivan -16 Feb 2009: -- Accidents are prevalent on the highway — but one Tucson-based trucker has driven the equivalent of from the earth to the moon about four times without a collision... After spending 30 years in the Marine Corps, 63-year-old Larry Gerhart went into the trucking business and has his own one-man trucking company, B&K Trucking Inc.... Gerhart said he thrived from the dedication to duty he saw in the Marines and his driving record reflects his dedication... In 2007, 4,584 people were killed in accidents involving large trucks, a report from Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration shows. But Gerhart has gone 14 years without having an accident, which is why he was recently recognized by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association's Safe Driving Award Program... (Larry Gerhart's Photo: AZ Daily Star)

Labels: truckers' awards

TRUCKING'S STORY * USA - Careful handling drives 'nationwide' success

Trucking firm delivers across America on time and in original condition

Two Rivers,WIS,USA -The Herald Times Reporter, by Charlie Mathews -February 16, 2009: -- The three owners of Wisconsin Nationwide Companies have a paramount commitment fueling their continuing success... As head of warehouse operations, his brother Brian's ability to have workers load the company's 115 trailers in the most space-efficient manner possible is crucial to Wisconsin Nationwide's success in its niche... While its 50 tractors often are hauling trailers with full loads from just one shipper to a customer in the continental United States, Wisconsin Nationwide has achieved a sterling reputation in how it handles LTL — less-than-truckload shipments... Wisconsin Nationwide picks up freight from customers within a 75-mile radius of Two Rivers, and consolidates the freight to other regions of the country... (Photo by David De Sue Pischke/HTR - Rosier, center, poses with sons Brian, left, and Scott in front of a new 2009 Freightliner Cascadia rig outside the loading docks at Wisconsin Nationwide Companies in Two Rivers. They are the owners of the enterprise that recently captured a "Business of the Year" award from The Chamber of Manitowoc County)

Labels: trucking's stories

FATALITY RATE * USA - Truck-Involveds Declines 5.8 Percent in 2007

Arlington,VA,USA -PRNewswire/USNewswire -Feb. 16, 2009: -- Figures recently released by the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) indicate that the truck-involved fatality rate in 2007 declined 5.8 percent to 2.12 per 100 million miles from 2.25 per 100 million miles in 2006... Since new hours-of-service regulations took effect in 2005, the truck-involved fatality rate has come down more than 10 percent and is at its lowest since records began to be kept in 1975... The truck-involved fatal crash rate and the truck-occupant fatality rate also declined from 2006 to 2007. The truck-involved fatal crash rate declined 4.5 percent to 1.85 per 100 million miles and the truck-occupant fatality rate declined 1.98 percent to 0.35 per 100 million miles... These crash rates are based on the FHWA's figures that report vehicle miles traveled by truck increased in 2007 to 226.96 billion miles from 222.5 billion in 2006. During that same time, the actual number of truck-involved fatal crashes fell to 4,190 from 4,321...

Labels: trucks' fatalities

"GREEN" TRUCKS * USA - Sterling LNG trucks go into service

Los Angeles,CAL,USA -Fleet Equipment -15 February 2009: -- The air surrounding the seaports at Long Beach and Los Angeles, Calif., is probably a bit clearer now, two months after Daimler Trucks North America began delivering 232 natural gas fueled daycab tractors to customers working in and around the two busy international cargo hubs... The first wave of these new trucks –– all of which are intended to replace aging, pre-1998 diesel power units –– are Sterling L-113 flat-roof conventionals, powered by 8.9-L Cummins Westport ISL G engines rated at 320 HP and 1,000 lbs.-ft. of torque... Slightly more than half of the total sold, 132 to be exact, were intended for contractors leased to California Cartage Co., a 60-year-old family owned drayage and warehousing firm based in Wilmington, Calif.... The other 100 will eventually be distributed to small fleets and owner-operators through the ports’ Clean Trucks program, a governmental effort to reduce the area’s air pollution... The deal to acquire this green technology was lubricated with lots of greenbacks, in the form of municipal subsidies and tax credits. Each of the trucks carried a retail price of roughly $160,000, but the combined assistance offered to Cal Cartage truckers took care of all but $40,000 –– and that, with the help of a local bank, was being financed through seven-year lease-to-own packages. The terms available to other buyers through the Clean Trucks program were not completely clear; although they’re apparently somewhat less lucrative...

Labels: green trucks

STRIKE * Egypt - Police arrest 25 striking truckers

Cairo,Egypt -AFP -16 Feb 2009: -- Egyptian police arrested 25 truckers on Sunday as a strike by truck owners entered its third day, a police official said... Owners of articulated lorries, which the transport ministry says account for almost a third of commercial transport in Egypt, went on strike on Friday to protest against a law that would ban the vehicles by 2011... The truck owners say the new law will put them out of a livelihood. "We will continue the strike until our demands our met," said Mohammed Abdel Moneim, a spokesman for one of the truckers' unions... The ministry says there are 40,000 articulated vehicles in use in the Arab world's most populous country and they account for a disproportionate number of accidents... Egypt's roads are among the most chaotic and dangerous in the world, with traffic laws widely flouted... Road accidents kill about 6,000 people and cause 30,000 injuries each year, according to transport ministry figures... A new highway code came into force in August with the aim of improving road safety...

Labels: strikes and protests

16.2.09

ANALYSIS * Europe - Europe truck makers face worse 2009

Stockholm,Sweden -Reuters/Portfolio, by Victoria Klesty -Feb 2 2009: -- Europe's heavy truck makers are expected to post sharply lower profits after a collapse in demand in the fourth quarter, and they should brace for even worse conditions in the coming year, analysts believe... With emptying order books, an ailing construction equipment unit and overcapacity looming, Sweden's Volvo is likely to be hit the hardest among Europe's top players, according to Reuters polls... Swedish crowns ($28 million) in the quarter, including restructuring costs that analysts expect will come in at 269 million crowns. Truck sales are seen down 15 percent and the company is also expected to cut its dividend in half... The firm, the world number-two by truck sales, reported close to zero order intake in the third quarter and shut production for much of December... Germany's MAN and Swedish rival Scania are expected to fare less badly as they have more flexible labor forces and can adapt more easily... Analysts expect Germany's MAN to report a 27 percent drop in year-on-year pretax profit, while Scania's profit is seen down 35 percent. Median estimates indicate there will be no cuts in MAN's dividend, while Scania's dividend is seen falling 20 percent...

Labels: truckmakers' news Europe

Port congestion * Nigeria - Any solution in sight?

For over four months now, the Lagos ports of Apapa and Tin Can Island are experiencing what has become an intractable congestion

Lagos,Nigeria -The Daily Sun, by ALBAN OPARA -February 16, 2009: -- The two ports are, at present, filled up to the brim with both ladened and empty containers. As a result, new containers cannot be discharged, while a number of ships are still awaiting berthing at the ports on the high sea... Many importers have, in an effort to seek for solutions to the problem, diverted their consignments to the neighbouring ports of Cotonou, in Benin Republic and Accra, Ghana... The situation is serious and the solution seems not to be available as all the stakeholders- the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) and the concessionaire companies -are all confused and do not appear to have an immediate answer to the problem... As at last weekend, more than 50 deep ocean-going vessels were recorded to be awaiting berthing space... When the Federal Government set out to concession the country’s eight sea ports about five years ago, the argument then was that a privatised port system would ensure greater efficiency in cargo delivery, lower port costs, improved facilities and generate more money for the government... A concessionaire, it was then canvassed, was a better manager of the ports than the Nigerian ports Authority (NPA), which hitherto managed the ports. Many believed this line of argument and rooted for the ports to be privatized... (Photo: Sun News Publishing)

Labels: ports' congestions

TRUCKING MARKET * China - Demand slump stumps transporters

Beijing,China -China Daily, by Lu Haoting -16 Feb 2009: -- The winter of 2008 may have been the coldest for Song Zhengbing, deputy-marketing director of the Shanghai Pudong Trucking Corporation. In December, nearly 35 percent of the company's 1,500 trucks remained idle, waiting to move goods... Song may not have much to cheer about in the year of the Ox either. With the global economic crisis worsening, Song anticipates his company's sales to fall nearly 25 percent this year... China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing (CFLP)'s said China's logistics industry already showed signs of a slowdown in 2008. The country's freight volume dropped 8.5 percent year-on-year in the first three quarters of 2008, according to CFLP statistics... Transportation companies in central and northeast China have seen cargo shipments for the Yangtze and Pearl river delta regions falling nearly 40 percent since July 2008, he said. The two delta regions are China's major manufacturing and export bases... Transportation prices are also falling. "Usually road transportation prices would see a 20-30 percent increase in September, but last year prices fell slightly," He said. China's road transport price index declined 4.6 percentage points in November compared with October... "We are preparing to freeze 25 percent of our truck fleet," Song said. His company is also slashing costs through various means, such as laying off drivers and cutting travel expenditure... (Photo CFP: Heavy duty trucks loaded with containers in Xinshengwei Freight Port in Nanjing, capital of Jiangsu province in East China)

Labels: freight markets

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28.2.09

Regulators * Australia - All-in-one truck tracker possible

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

Clean Trucks Program * USA - Could New Jersey port adopt California one?

TRUCKERS' FIGHT * USA & Canada

Troopers and Truckers * USA - Team Up for Traffic Blitz Along Interstate 85

New PNP * Canada - Truckers not included

HME * USA - One Check, Not Two, for Truckers

Shutting off the engines * USA - New law limits how long buses, trucks can idle

27.2.09

INFRASTRUCTURES * USA - The Bridge to Smart Technology

Haulage Industry in Trouble * Latvia - Hauliers claim

TRUCKER HERO * USA - Driver avoids major disaster as truck burns

Magnesium Parts * USA - TxDot suspicious of dangerous metal

ALTERNATIVE FUELS * UK - Sainsbury supermarkets add biogas-fueled trucks

Govn't Administration * USA - DOT chief commends trucking for strides in safety, technology

CLEAN TRUCKS PROGRAM * USA - SC port begins truck emissions reduction program

Clean Alternative Fuels * USA - Gains at Container Shipping Ports

TAX & FEES * USA - Congressional Commission Recommends Mileage-Based User Fee

Diesel Exhaust Fluid * USA - Truckstop chain to begin DEF rollout

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA & Canada

"GREEN" TRUCKS * USA - All-electric port trucks ready to roll

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

TRUCKS SALES * Turkmenistan - To buy 1,000 trucks from Kamaz

26.2.09

TRUCKMAKERS NEWS * USA - Mack Truck suffers big drop in January orders

TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS, Mergers & Acquisitions * WORLDWIDE

Manufacturers Ask * USA - How far will we fall?

Improve Inefficiencies * USA - To kickstart ‘road to recovery’

TRANSPORT & LOGISTIC NEWS * WORLDWIDE

* Australia - More truckies to hit the road soon

Good news for truckers * USA - Diesel to dip below gas as Valero output rises

REGULATIONS * USA - CBP could require manifests for liquid tanker residue

25.2.09

SHUTTING DOWN * Canada - Truck brake plant to close in June, throwing more than 200 out of work

Study * USA - Deregulation still haunts harbor truckers

MEXICAN TRUCKS ... Adios? * USA - Budget bill could end cross-border program

WORK STOPPAGES * Canada - Feds study impacts on businesses

MILEAGE TAX DEBATE * USA - Continues Over

TRUCKING ANALYSIS * USA - Freight outlook at 25-year low

Cleanup at the Ports * USA - Los Angeles and Long Beach begins to pay off

AIR QUALITY * USA - Trucks retrofitted to help air quality

Truck only lanes * USA - Pick up speed

TECHNO-TRUCKS * USA - OPD adds hybrid basket truck to fleet for line crews

24.2.09

REST AREAS * USA - Money trumps safety as VDOT proposes closing 25 ones

STRIKE * Latvia - The truckers is going to organize a protest at the end of March

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

BORDER TROUBLES * Greece / Bulgary - Greeks drivers block Bulgarian border

TECHNO-TRUCKS * USA - Heavy-duty computing

23.2.09

TRUCKING JOBS * USA - 100 lose jobs when trucking company shuts down

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

WARNING * USA - Carriers report new wave of fraudulent DOT letters

TRUCKING INDUSTRY NEWS * USA - YRC signs $122M sale-leaseback deal

INFRASTRUCTURES * China - Information Superhighway's Trash Yields a Super Highway Asphalt

INSURANCE * USA - Pay-as-you-drive Bill Is a Win-Win

State Monitoring * USA - Snow & Road Conditions With Cameras

22.2.09

Federal Administration * USA - Obama Delays NAFTA Talks

TRANSPORT & LOGISTICS, Mergers & Acquisitions * WORLDWIDE

RULES * Australia - Trailer Reversing Lamps Confusion

RETREADING TYRES * USA - Oliver Rubber introduces envelope spreader for retreads

TRUCKING JOBS * USA - Trucking Sheds 24,900 Jobs

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS *USA

19.2.09

GREEN FLEETS * USA - UPS adds CNG trucks to fleet

RECALLS * Japan - Mitsubishi Fuso Recalls 62,423 Trucks for Suspension Problems

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * WORLDWIDE

ALTERNATIVE FUEL * USA - Roush Unveils Propane-Powered Trucks

Clean Truck Container Fee * USA - Hundreds Turned Away On First Day Of

STIMULUS PACKAGE * USA - Obama signs law

Analysis * USA - Consolidation expected as truckload rates continue down

18.2.09

WEATHER TROUBLES * USA - Driver dies during wintry blast