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Jul 18, 2013

* USA - TRUCKING INDUSTRY: New HOS REGULATIONS' DEBATE

* Tennessee - Truck driver new regulations divides industry

(Photo credit PHILIPPE HUGUEN/AFP/Getty Images) 
Nashville,TENN,USA -The Tennessean, by Emily West and Chas Sisk -Jul 9, 2013: -- After only two years of truck driving, Andrew Harris understands the need for regulation in his industry. Because he is based out of Texas, stopping outside of Nashville is part of his regular routine to reach the Northeast. He doesn't think the new hours-of-service mandate for truck drivers that started July 1 will negatively affect him or his work... The trucking industry is divided over new federal requirements that place a firmer cap on the number of hours drivers can be on duty. Meant to curb the number of fatalities on highways and improve the health of fatigued drivers, the rules could limit how much money they can make and open truckers to stiff new penalties for driving too long... Some truck drivers are contesting the changes, and the American Trucking Associations has sued the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to halt the changes... The new measures are complicated, but they have the net effect of prohibiting drivers from being on duty more than 70 hours in a calendar week, down from 82. The regulations also set new rules for the "restart period" during which drivers are supposed to rest up from long hauls, forcing them to be away from their trucks two consecutive nights from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m... The provisions are expected to have the most impact on long-range drivers who frequently travel at night. The federal government estimates the rules will save 19 lives a year and prevent 1,400 accidents, while reducing the incidence of health problems such as obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and sleep apnea among drivers... The regulations are backed up by hefty penalties for violations: up to $2,750 in civil fines for each time a driver breaks the rules and $11,000 for carriers that allow drivers to do so... 


* Tennessee - ATRI opposes new HOS trucking law

Knoxville, TN,USA -Spireon -15 July 2013: -- A company’s supply chain relies heavily on a delicate balance of proper timing to ensure that everything goes according to plan. If one small aspect of production is thrown off, the entire supply system of production can be negatively affected. It is for this reason that truckers must adhere to a strict schedule on the road. It should come as no surprise, then, that the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI) is against a new law established on July 1 that requires truck drivers to rest before embarking on 34 hour restart trips. The changes now mandate that all truckers adhere to only one restart per week, at 168 hours. Additionally, the restart must include two overnight times between 1 a.m. and 5 p.m. And while the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) claims that the new law will improve driver safety, the American Transportation Research Institute claims that the new HOS law will negatively impact productivity and will thus slow down production in the trucking industry. Additionally, it believes that the FMCSA findings are flawed. According to the ATRI, findings from the FMCSA’s regulatory impact analysis, which provided evidence necessary for the new law to be passed, were flawed. The ATRI claims that data was extracted and based on the logs of drivers under compliance reviews and safety audits. The data, it claims, throws off the results of those operating during available hours...




* Virginia - "... we're not your fathers Peterbilt" ...  Trucking remains a force for change 

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Arlington,VA,USA -Transport Topics, by Greg Fulton -President Colorado Motor Carriers Association- 15 July 2013: -- It frustrates me when I hear people make statements about trucking and professional truck drivers as being somewhat behind the times or unwilling to change... The fact is, the trucking industry is one of the most innovative and dynamic sectors in our country, and its companies and professionals have been leaders for change in many areas. Give its people a challenge, and not only will they meet it, they’ll go well beyond the goal... The reality is that our companies, drivers, mechanics and others are not afraid of challenges and don’t make excuses or look for assistance to solve their problems... Our industry was one of the first to conduct extensive employment and background checks on drivers. Regarding fatigue, trucking has backed research on rest and science-supported rules on driving hours. No other industry, with the possible exception of the airlines, has conducted as much research or placed as much emphasis on this area... In regard to safety technologies and equipment, new truck braking systems have reduced the stopping distance of a tractor-trailer by 30%, and many trucks are equipped with anti-rollover technology. The result has been continued improvement in safety, with the accident rate dropping dramatically over the past 20 years... Finally, there are our people. They are our greatest resource, and they are the major reason our industry has been able to adapt and meet the needs of our rapidly changing country... Our safe, professional drivers, managers, dispatchers, mechanics and others consistently have met the challenges associated with the ever-changing regulatory environment and the testing and adoption of new technologies... These people are intelligent, hard-working and constantly seeking ways to improve trucking. Not only have they been the ones to implement change, but in many cases, they have been the innovators for change...


* California - CARB is again crippling the trucking industry

(Photo by Rachel Raskin-Zrihen - The presence of several trucks, parked along Highway 29 near American Canyon Road in American Canyon, is bothering some city residents and City Council members) Oakland,CAL,USA -The Oakland Tribune, by Bob Ramorino -8 July 2013: -- Just when it seems California's economy is turning around, the California Air Resources Board has found another way to cripple our fragile recovery. This unelected agency is determined to proceed with enforcing a regulation -- the Low Carbon Fuel Standard -- that could make fuel costs skyrocket and cause severe supply shortages. As a three-generation, family-owned trucking business, we've struggled in recent years to keep our head above water not only due to the bad economy but because of state environmental regulations, many of which are seriously flawed, unfeasible or not remotely cost-effective. Things are picking up, but we've not yet fully recovered from the recession's effects, including a double-digit percentage drop in sales that forced us to lay off employees, cut wages for those we kept and suspend our retirement plan match. Now we face a new challenge: the LCFS, which could add up to $1.06 to the cost of a gallon of gas, according to a Boston Consulting Group study, and more if other states adopt similar rules. And because the LCFS mandates significantly higher use of alternative fuels and dramatically less of conventional fuels, truckers will be in a no-win situation. That's because the technology doesn't yet exist for trucks that can run on the alternative fuels that CARB demands, much less at a manageable cost. So we'll have to compete for increasingly lower supplies of diesel fuel at increasingly higher prices...


* New York - Trucking concerned over rates of return

NY,USA -Fleet Owner, by Sean Kilcarr and Brian Straight -Jul. 16, 2013: -- Despite increasingly tighter truck capacity of late, many carriers believe they are still not earning a decent enough rate of return in the freight business to expand their fleets... Indeed, many experts project that capacity should continue to get tighter as still-sluggish cargo volumes combined with higher operating and equipment costs will convince carriers to keep expansion efforts on the back burner for the foreseeable future... However, in order for the current environment to improve to the point where carriers can secure more significant rate increases in the mid-single digits and upward, he believes the industry needs one or more of the following factors: 

* Increased demand due to pent up demand created by the elongated winter season this year, with continued recovery in the auto and housing sectors, or strength in manufacturing related to an increase in personal consumption; 

 * Reduced supply related to fleet shrinkage or the implementation of federal rules and regulations that either reduce the size of the driver pool or reduce the upper limit on driver productivity...

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