User-agent: Mediapartners-Google* Disallow: Trucks World News: September 2015
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Sep 30, 2015

MORE AUTO & TRUCKS RECALLS * USA: Takata air bag inflator

* Michigan - The recall could expand to more auto, truck makers

-- Seven more companies including electric car maker Tesla Motors could be facing recalls because they use air bag inflators made by Takata Corp... The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration raised the possibility in letters sent to the manufacturers last week... So far about 23.4 million Takata driver and passenger air bag inflators have been recalled on 19.2 million U.S. vehicles sold by 11 different companies, including Honda and Fiat Chrysler. The inflators can explode with too much force, spewing metal shrapnel. At least eight people have died worldwide and hundreds have been injured because of the problem... The agency sent letters last week to Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar-Land Rover, Suzuki, Tesla, Volvo Trucks, Volkswagen and Spartan Motors seeking information on which models have Takata inflators... 
(Photo: Defective Takata's airbags, on Honda car)   --  Detroit, MICH, USA - The Associated Press/The Globe and Mail - Sep. 28, 2015

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TRUCKMAKERS NEWS USA: * Navistar's add 300 jobs -- ** Daimler trucks' safety systems

* Ohio - Navistar to add 300 jobs, invest $12.8M

-- Navistar will add 300 jobs and invest about $12.8 million in its Springfield truck facility, a dramatic turnaround from just five years ago when the plant had only a few hundred workers. The Ohio Tax Credit Authority approved Monday a 60 percent, six-year income tax credit for the manufacturer. “This is a huge psychological victory for our community,” said Horton Hobbs, vice president of economic development for the Chamber of Greater Springfield, during the tax board hearing. Navistar plays a significant role in the region’s economy and employs between 1,400 and 1,500 workers at its Springfield manufacturing site, including management and contractors. Thousands of company retirees also live in the area. The state tax credit application doesn’t specify what the new jobs are or describe the expansion project. But the project will give the truck maker the capacity to double the number of vehicles produced in Springfield, the application says, and most of the $12.8 million investment will go toward new machinery and equipment...
(Photo by Bill Lackey/Staff: Workers assemble truck cabs at the Navistar Springfield plant)  --   Springfield, OH, USA - Dayton Daily News, by Matt Sanctis - Sept. 28, 2015 


* Nevada - Safety Systems have reasonable ROI, DTNA executives say
-- Daimler Trucks North America executives said that advanced truck safety systems are an investment with a reasonable return. They said in a briefing here on Sept. 15 that they are eager to bring new technologies to the market... Diane Hames, a DTNA general manager said, "The company, parent of Freightliner and Western Star Trucks, has appealed to fleets that are 'early adopters' of safety options such as electronic stability control, adaptive cruise control and lane-departure warning... Asked about cost, when tractor prices are rising from environmental equipment, Hames said the original equipment manufacturer is “looking to add value, not just cost, and to provide a payback to customers. We have to demonstrate a payback on safety” ... The company also will continue offering trimmed-down trucks for those buyers who don’t desire such technologically advanced features...
(Photo: A Daimler truck with electronic stability control)  --  Henderson, NEV, USA - Transport Topics - 28 Sept 2015

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VOLKSWAGEN AFFAIR * Germany: Testing also took place on light trucks

* Berlin - German minister: VW fudged tests in light trucks

-- Manipulation of emissions testing also took place on Volkswagen AG's light trucks, besides cars, German transport minister Alexander Dobrindt said Friday... The German transport ministry this week launched a special investigation into Volkswagen's emissions scandal that has erased almost one-third of the company's market value. The affair, which prompted the resignation of Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn earlier this week, was triggered by last week's disclosure by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency that Europe's biggest auto maker employed software on some VW and Audi diesel-powered cars to manipulate the results of routine emissions tests... Mr. Dobrindt's ministry is working with Volkswagen to determine which vehicles were affected. On Thursday, he said spot tests were also being conducted on cars made by other brands, German and foreign... Volkswagen said earlier this week that the software was installed on as many as 11 million cars world-wide and Mr. Dobrindt said on Thursday that cars in Europe were also affected... 
(Photo: VW's headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany)  --  Berlin, Germany - MarketWatch (USA), by Ruth Bender and Friedrich Geiger - Sept 25, 2015

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REGULATIONS * USA: California's toughest-in-the-nation carbon emissions standards

* California - Regulators restore emissions-cutting fuel rule


-- California regulators on Friday restored ambitious rules to cut transportation fuel emissions 10 percent within 5 years... The rules further strengthen California's toughest-in-the-nation carbon emissions standards, but oil producers warn the changes could drive up costs for consumers at the gas pump... The board says the change would cost a typical commuter $20 to $24 extra in 2017, increasing to $52 to $56 annually in 2020... The rules require producers to cut the carbon content of fuels 10 percent by 2020 to help the state meet its emission-reductions goals... Environmentalists and some business groups say the plan will encourage greater use of cleaner biofuels and electric vehicles. Oil producers say it's unworkable and too costly... 
(Photo: Associated Press, by RICH PEDRONCELLI - California Air Resources Board member Daniel Sperling comments on a proposal. At right is CARB board member Judy Mitchell)   --   Sacramento, CAL, USA - The Associated Press/The Trucker, by JUDY LIN - 25 Sept 2015

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2015 ROADCHECK * USA: Lowest rates of out-of-service violations since 1991

* DC - Results: Inspectors found 3.6 percent of drivers and 21.6 percent of vehicles with out-of-service violations

-- The results are in, and the 2015 edition of International Roadcheck resulted in the lowest rates of out-of-service violations since the event started keeping records in 1991, according to the international association of commercial vehicle enforcement agencies... The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance, which sponsors the three-day commercial vehicle enforcement operation in the U.S. and Canada, announced the results via press release on Tuesday, Sept. 29... From June 2 to June 4, commercial motor vehicle inspectors across North America completed 69,472 truck and bus inspections. Of the 69,472 total inspections during this year’s Roadcheck, 44,989 were North American Standard Level I Inspections, which is the most thorough roadside inspection. A CVSA spokesman confirmed for Land Line that no Mexican authorities participated in this year’s enforcement campaign... Of Level I Inspections, inspectors found 1,623 or 3.6 percent of drivers and 9,732 or 21.6 percent of vehicles with out-of-service (OOS) violations, historically the lowest rates for which CVSA has data, back to 1991, according to the release. Of all inspections, 777 seat belt violations were issued... Brake adjustment and brake systems were the top OOS violations for vehicles in 2015, accounting for 43 percent of all vehicle violations. Hours-of-service violations were the top violation for drivers, accounting for 46 percent of all violations... Each year, International Roadcheck places special emphasis on a category of violations. The special emphasis for 2015 was cargo securement. During the event, inspectors issued 2,439 violations for load securement. The leading load securement violations, by number of violations issued, were: 1) failure to prevent shifting/loss of load; 2) failure to secure truck equipment (tarps, dunnage, doors, tailgates, spare tires); 3) damaged tie downs (typically unacceptable wear on chain or cuts and tears on web straps); 4) insufficient tie downs; and 5) loose tie downs. Load securement enforcement is a normal part of Level I Inspections, but securing cargo and equipment are vital to safe operations... 
(Photo)  --  Washington, DC, USA - Land Line, by Greg Grisolano - 29 Sept 2015

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DRIVERS' SHORTAGE * UK: Lorry driver shortage hits the industry

* England - The trucker is becoming an endangered species as


-- There is a shortage of 60,000 drivers and a quarter of truckers are set to retire in the next ten years.. The great British trucker is in danger of disappearing from the nation’s roads, transport bosses have warned... With 85% of all goods consumed in the UK being moved by road, a shortage of lorry drivers threatens to bring the industry to a grinding halt... The 600,000 HGV-licensed drivers currently registered in the UK have an average age of 57, with around a quarter set to retire in the coming decade... Numbers are already short by up to 60,000 drivers but tyre-makers Dunlop and the Road Haulage Association (RHA) say we are headed for crisis unless more new truckers take up the business... Only 17,000 new HGV drivers qualify each year, so over time, the shortage is set to increase... The trucking industry currently employs 2.2 million people - the UK’s fifth largest employer - and is worth £74bn to the UK economy...
(Photo - Road to nowhere: Not enough new drivers are coming into the industry) -- London, EN, UK - The Mirror, by Ben Rossington - 27 Sept 2015

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DANGEROUS TRUCKS * Australia: Failure to monitor heavy vehicles

* NSW - Victorian failure to monitor dangerous trucks putting NSW drivers at risk


-- The failure of Victorian and Queensland authorities to monitor dangerous heavy vehicles is creating huge risks across the country's roads, exasperated NSW officials say... The triple fatality at Menangle in 2012, when a Lennons truck killed Donald and Patricia Logan and their son Calvyn, and the grounding of the Cootes fleet in 2013, prompted a re-examination of the way in which heavy vehicles are monitored in NSW... In response the number of trucks speeding in NSW has dropped by about 90 per cent, and the defect rate in trucks in NSW has halved... But local authorities are increasingly frustrated by the refusal of interstate jurisdictions to adopt similar methods to those employed in NSW... For instance, the linked Safe-T-Cam system that operates in NSW and South Australia enables Roads and Maritime Services to check vehicle speed, registration, and whether they have been passing through heavy vehicle checking stations. The system also enables them to inspect trucking fleets on a "risk-based" basis, rather than having to rely on random inspections... But because there are no Safe-T-Cams in other eastern states, NSW authorities are unable to monitor the risks of truck drivers and fleets. This means they are unable to get a gauge on whether drivers are taking their mandated breaks... 
(Photo by Peter Rae - Heavy Vehicle Safety Stations at Marulan on the Hume Highway. Photo shows, A truck is checked for faults on the south bound station) -- Sydney, New South Wales, Australia - The Sydney Morning Herald, by Jacob Saulwick - September 28, 2015

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TRUCKING COSTS * Canada: How much did 9/11 affect cost of northern cross-border trucking? - ** INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECT: new bridge

* Ontario - Goods across the border U.S.A. / Canada increased from .3 to 0.6 percent of their value

(Photo: Trucks backed up for kilometres near the border in Windsor, Ontario) 
-- Statistics Canada released a report in July that shows that since Sept. 11, 2001, the cost of trucking goods across the border between the U.S. and Canada has increased from .3 percent of the value of goods shipped to .6 percent... The study pointed to the obvious, the implementation of new security measures designed to prevent illegal shipments at border crossing points... Statistics Canada said the study resulted from data collected by Statistic Canada’s Trucking Commodity origin and Destination Survey...

** Ontario - New bridge on the border USA/Canada

(Photo: New bridge to be named after Gordie Howe)
-- Canada’s plan to build the Gordie Howe International Bridge is aimed in part at adding faster, cheaper shipping alternatives for such exports... The billion-dollar project calls for a six-lane bridge between Windsor and Detroit complete with a $250 million U.S. Customs plaza that Canada has agreed to fund. The bridge is scheduled to open by 2020... According to the CBC, the U.S. and Canada have the largest bilateral trading relationship in the world – measuring at $870 billion in 2014. An estimated $2.4 billion in goods and services cross the U.S.-Canada border every day... 
 Ottawa, ONT, CAN - Land Line, by Charlie Morasch - 25 Sept 2015

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Sep 29, 2015

ALTERNATIVE FUELS * Canada - Natural gas: A promise starting to be realized

* Alberta - Here’s how Natural Gas will bring on the demise of diesel. NG has long been touted as a natural replacement for diesel

... The case for switching to LNG is a simple one: It costs less than diesel to use, and it emits fewer gases in the process. When oil prices were higher, the savings that LNG offered over diesel approached 50 per cent, and while that spread has narrowed lately it’s still wide enough to encourage switching... In the long-haul trucking business, where enormous volumes of fuel are consumed in order to produce generally thin operating margins, those savings could make a big difference to a company’s bottom line...
Edmonton, Alberta, CAN - Alberta Oil Magazine, by ANTHONY MANERO - September 25, 2015

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BORDER TROUBLES * India / Nepal: Hundreds of cargo trucks halted at border

* Nepal - Summons Indian envoy as hundreds of cargo trucks are halted at border

-- Nepal considers fuel rationing as protesters block trucks... Hundreds of freight-carrying trucks and fuel tankers remained halted on the Indian side of the international border following concerns about violent protests in Nepal in the wake of the promulgation of the new constitution. The Indian envoy also held separate meetings with top leaders of major political parties of Nepal... The agitating Madhesi parties from the Terai region maintain that the Terai-based people and ethnic groups fail to find adequate representation in the country’s new constitution that was promulgated on September 20... 
 (AP Photo/Ram Sarraf - Nepalese policemen face protestors belonging to ethnic and religious groups dissatisfied with Nepal’s new constitution adopted on Sunday, in Birgunj, a town bordering India in Nepal, Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015)   --  Katmandu, Nepal - The Wire (India) - 26 Sept 2015

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TRUCKING INDUSTRY Australia: * Truckers' Restart government program -- ** Truckers could be jailed -- *** Trucking innovativeness questioned

* ACT - Government gives older truckies a Restart


-- Minister for Employment Senator, Eric Abetz, has announced that the Australian Government’s Restart program has helped 173 older Australians find transport, postal and warehousing jobs... Restart offers employers up to $10,000 in wage subsidies to help with recruitment and related costs when they hire an eligible job seeker aged 50 or over... The 173 placements were reportedly made in the period 1 July 2014 to 15 September 2015... In the same period, there have been 42 Restart agreements recorded as truck drivers and 31 recorded as delivery drivers in the transport, postal and warehousing industries. Across all industries, there were 85 Restart agreements recorded as truck drivers and 79 recorded as delivery drivers... Abetz urged employers to consider taking on older workers and to find out how Restart and other jobactive programs can help... 
Canberra, Australian Capitol Territory - Prime Mover - 27 September 2015


** South Australia - Truck drivers could be jailed if low gear not used on South Eastern Freeway descent in Adelaide Hills
-- Truck drivers who fail to engage low gear when descending the South Eastern Freeway in the Adelaide Hills could be jailed under legislation the South Australian Government is drafting... Transport Minister Stephen Mullighan said the Government was responding to coronial recommendations over the deaths of two men in separate cases when trucks going down the freeway got out of control... 
(Photo from ABC News: A coronial recommendation the freeway get a third arrester bed was rejected by the Transport Department)  --  Adelaide, S.A., Australia - ABC net, by Leah MacLennan - 23 Sept 2015


* ACT - Transport industry questions Australia’s innovativeness

-- National Australia Bank (NAB) has uncovered a distinct mismatch in perception when it comes to Australian businesses rating their own ability to innovative and that of the domestic economy as a whole... In a new study, the Bank found that only 13 per cent of all firms rate Australia as a “highly innovative” environment, but more than one in four would identify themselves as a highly innovative business... The mismatch is especially strong in the transport and storage industries, where conditions are considered especially bad while businesses are still slightly confident or at least neutral about their own abilities... What's more, around 70 per cent of firms believe Australia to be at least “mildly” innovative, prompting NAB to suggest that there could be a misunderstanding about the nation’s true innovation potential... 
Canberra, ACT, Australia - Prime Mover - 29, September 2015

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Sep 28, 2015

TRUCKERS' SLEEP APNEA * USA: Some F-M truckers frustrated

* North Dakota - By growing push for sleep apnea testing

-- Truck driver Joey Romero, 26, wears his autopap mask in front of a semi tractor Thursday, Sept. 24, 2015, in Fargo. Though Romero has been sleeping with the sleep apnea treatment since May, he doesn't feel that it has been effective... In May, Joey Romero went in for his annual physical, as truck drivers are required to do once a year. He didn't realize this time would result in a $2,500 expense... Romero, an owner-operator with Fargo Cargo, was diagnosed with mild sleep apnea, a condition in which breathing stops and starts during sleep, causing sleepiness the next day... But even after purchasing an AutoPAP machine and a "highly uncomfortable" mask that is supposed to regulate his breathing, Romero doesn't feel any different... He's one of many frustrated local truck drivers who've had to undergo costly sleep studies due to a federal policy change last year... 
(Photo by Michael Vosburg / Forum)  --  Fargo, ND, USA - Inforum, by Grace Lyden - Sep 25, 2015

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TRUCKS PARKING SHORTAGE * Canada: Massive semi-truck park proposed for south east Surrey

* B.C. - Truckers say they're parking on the street, or in their driveways because there's no place

-- Semi truck drivers in Surrey, who have been complaining about a shortage of parking for a decade, may soon have a place to leave their big rigs... A company called GG Metro Holdings is applying to develop 75 acres near 16 Avenue and 192 Street into what it describes as a trucker's oasis... "We certainly have a lot of trucks that travel in and throughout the Fraser Valley and Metro Vancouver and there aren't as many truck parking opportunities as we would like," said BC Trucking Association President Louise Yako... If approved, the site will include washing facilities, office space and tire repair centres... Council estimates 1,300 semis routinely park illegally in the city...
(Image from City of Surrey: This is what a proposed semi truck park in south east Surrey could look like)   --  City Surrey, British Columbia, CAN - CBC News, by Jesse Johnston - Sep 24, 2015

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TRUCKMAKERS NEWS * USA: Caterpillar's

* Illinois - Caterpillar slashes revenue forecast, cutting up to 10,000 jobs 

-- Caterpillar Inc slashed its 2015 revenue forecast on Thursday and said it will cut as many as 10,000 jobs through 2018, joining a list of big U.S. industrial companies grappling with the mining and energy downturn... Shares of Caterpillar tumbled as much as 8 percent to a five-year low, pulling down the sector and knocking as much as 37 points off the Dow Jones industrial average, DJI... Over the past year, miners and energy companies have chopped budgets and put expansion projects on hold as prices of raw materials such as crude oil, copper, coal and iron ore have plunged to six-year lows amid lingering worries about oversupplies and China’s slowing economic growth. As a result, orders for equipment have dried up... 
Peoria, ILL, USA - Reuters, by LISA VON AHN - Sep 24, 2015

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Sep 27, 2015

PICKUP TRUCKMAKERS NEWS USA: * The new 2016 RAM -- ** 2017 Ford Super Duty Trucks Go Aluminum -- *** Chevy's 2016 Silverado pickups

* Michigan - Ram Truck brand reveals 2016 model lineup
 -- Ram officially announced its 2016 model lineup... For the Ram Truck brand, the 2016 model year is all about power and luxury... Upgrades for the Ram Truck brand includes a range of new optional features with more availability for the brand’s popular ParkSense package, including a new front park-assist system. Each 2016 model will have a new center console design, focusing on keeping drivers comfortable and focused on the road. Bluetooth® connectivity is available on entry-level radios, allowing all Ram 1500s to offer hands-free phone calls...  
(Photo: Heavy Duty Power: The 2016 Ram Heavy Duty will offer a big boost in power)  --  Auburn Hills, MICH, USA - The News Wheel - 24 Sept 2015


** Michigan - 2017 Ford Super Duty Trucks go aluminum but keep big V-8, V-10 engines

-- Last year, Ford rocked the conservative, evolutionary pace of change in the U.S. pickup-truck arena with the introduction of a radically new, aluminum-bodied F-150 family... And now it’s following suit in the heavy-duty segment, with fully redesigned 2017 Ford F-Series Super-Duty trucks that build on some of those same developments—but of course with added attention to the even higher layload and towing capacity (and durability) that commercial users demand... In what may be the biggest differentiator between the light-duty (F-150) pickups and the Super Duty models, which will again include F-250, F-350, F-450, and F-550 models, and ‘dually’ versions of some, the Super-Duty trucks stay with big-displacement V-8 and V-10 engines... 
Dearborn, MICH, USA - The Car Connection, by Bengt Halvorson - Sep 24, 2015

 *** Michigan - Chevy rolls out refreshed 2016 Silverado pickups 
-- The new 2016 Chevrolet Silverado 1500 brings muscular designs and new customer-focused technologies to the most dependable, longest-lasting family of full-size pickups on the road... Chevrolet will show the trucks during a media event at the State Fair of Texas in Dallas. A Chevrolet spokesman said the trucks have tested very well in clinics with potential customers... New safety features are available on the 2016 Silverado, including forward-collision alert and lane keep assist. The trucks support Apple CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto... New headlamps, grille, hood and taillights are among the changes; the truck’s headlights now integrated into the grille, and turn signals and brake lights wrap around the truck’s corners. A remote locking tailgate also will be offered... Each Silverado trim level gets a unique look. The LT and LTZ models get a chrome grille and bumper...
 (Photo: The new 2016 Chevrolet Silverado 1500) -- Detroit, MICH, USA - The Detroit News, by Melissa Burden - September 24, 2015

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TRUCKING INDUSTRY * Russia: Trucks with high-pressure hose water

* Moscow - Has a weird reason for soaking everything in water


(Video via GIPHY)
-- When I visited family in Moscow this summer, I learned to walk the streets in fear of giant orange trucks... I saw the vehicles blast the roadways with high-pressure hose water every day during my trip... They ran day or night, rain or shine, and as I later learned, they weren't just trying to clean the roads... The trucks tend to ride side-by-side in fleets, one per lane, and their drivers didn't seem to mind drenching anyone or anything... According to the Moscow News article, it's not unusual for the city to dump more than 70 million gallons of water on the road every day during the summer... That seems like a lot of liquid, effort, and energy to spend in part on a slippery hunch...
Moscow, RUSSIA - Tech Insider, by Dave Mosher - Sep. 23, 2015

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BORDER TROUBLES * Croatia / Serbia: Trucks banned

* Serbia bans Croatian goods as ties hit low over migrants


-- Serbia banned Croatian cargo traffic and goods on Wednesday in a bitter row over the flow of migrants across their joint border, plunging relations to their lowest ebb since the overthrow of late Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic in 2000... Serbia imposed the embargo in retaliation for border restrictions levied by European Union member Croatia, which has hit out at its eastern neighbour for directing the flow of migrants through the Balkan peninsula over their joint border... Zagreb had banned all trucks but those carrying perishable goods from entering from Serbia and shut seven of eight road border crossings, saying Serbia should direct the migrants to Hungary and Romania too... 
(Photo from REUTERS, by Marko Djurica - Migrants look out through the window of a train as they wait to depart from the railway station in Tovarnik, Croatia September 22, 2015)  --  Opatovac, Croatia - Reuters, by Aleksandar Vasovic and Ivana Sekularac - Sep 24, 2015

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Sep 26, 2015

DRIVER SHORTAGE * Canada: "There is no driver shortage"

* Ontario - Trucking’s crisis in leadership

-- The accepted wisdom within the driver pool regarding the driver shortage is that there is no driver shortage... The trucking lifestyle, the culture of trucking, is a delicate thing. It takes a special type of person to do this job day in and day out over the course of a lifetime. It requires a degree of passion. You don’t do long-haul trucking just for the money. That never works out. It’s very difficult to list the qualities that make up a trucker, but along with passion goes independence... That independence is key to the trucking lifestyle. That independence is being eroded by the methods our leaders are employing as they adopt new technologies. The preferred method seems to be one of control and restriction which is a method loathed by drivers. Adopting new methods and technologies is a must, but they have to complement and strengthen the characteristics of a professional driver – not create undue stress and limit the driver’s performance... Trucker health is an issue that is getting much more attention today than it has in the past... But a driver’s health goes far beyond simple physical well-being... A driver’s mental health and emotional health is key to a happy, safe and highly motivated driver... Adequate rest is the hot button issue for an aging demographic that makes up the majority of the driver pool... How drivers are compensated falls into the health category. Income is not keeping pace with the cost of living; in fact we are moving backwards. Drivers are “at work” for most of their lives... Driver training is not an entry-level issue; it is a cradle-to-grave issue. The driving culture and a driver’s health are dependent on the quality and consistency of driver education. Ongoing training for drivers does not exist within our industry. This is our leaders’ biggest fail... How can you possibly develop and maintain a culture of workplace safety across the industry without a system of universally accepted workplace training in place? Perform a few queries on the Internet and you will find truck driving is consistently among the top 10 most dangerous jobs. Thought that was firefighters and police? They don’t even make the top 10 list... 
(Photo: thanks Trucking Across Canada)  --  Toronto, ONT, CAN - Fleet Owner, by Al Goodhall: A professional long-haul driver since 1998 - September 23, 2015

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BORDER TRUCKING * Canada: Sensors for trafic predictability -- ** USA: ACE delay

* Ontario / Canada - Sensors could lead to better border traffic predictability


-- Truck tie-ups have become legion at the busiest commercial crossing between Canada and the US, the Ambassador Bridge. But, as in so many other areas of life, rapidly evolving technology might provide a solution to frustrated truckers, shippers and consignees... The University of Windsor’s Cross-Border Institute is developing a sensors-based system that could aid trucking firms by going beyond letting them know what current traffic patterns are at the bridge, to predicting what to expect in an hour or two... 
(Photo: Border shakeup ) --  Windsor, ONT, CAN - Fleet Owner, by Ron Stang - September 23, 2015 


** Michigan / USA - Trucking may miss out on cross-border benefit. The ACE Cargo Release implementation into early 2016

-- The decision by the Customs Border Patrol (CBP) agency back in August to delay implementation of certain portions of its Automated Commercial Environment or “ACE” cross-border freight protocols until Feb. 28 next year won’t cause any problems for truckers, namely, being able haul freight across the U.S.-Canadian border without being locked into a specific port of entry... The good news for motor carriers, though, is that CBP has not added any other electronic requirements regarding freight bills/cargo checks at this point. “As carriers are not directly impacted, there should be little affect from the ACE delay,” said Craig Seelig, product manager for customs and compliance for the Americas at transportation software firm WiseTech Global... 
 Detroit, MICH, USA - Fleet Owner, by Sean Kilcarr - Sep 23, 2015

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TRUCKING MARKET * USA: Small operators troubles

* New York - Trucking makes a comeback, but small operators miss out

-- A recovering U.S. economy is driving record demand for trucking. But many smaller operators, who make up the vast majority of the roughly 470,000 for-hire fleets on the road today, say they’re missing out on the boom... New regulations, including rules capping emissions and limiting drivers’ hours on the road, are adding to truckers’ expenses... Many business owners who started their companies in the 1980s, when the industry was deregulated, are planning to retire in light of the new challenges. Gary Hanke, 64, said he wasn’t able to expand his company, Pegasus Transportation Inc., quickly enough to meet strong demand for his trucks in recent years. Approaching retirement age, he sold Pegasus to CRST International Inc. in March. Since then, Pegasus’s fleet has expanded to 300 trucks, from 235 before, helped by CRST’s scale and ability to operate nationwide... 
(Photo by Kyle Grantham/The Wall Street Journal)  --   NY, USA - The W.S.J., by LORETTA CHAO - Sept. 23, 2015

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STRIKES * USA: Drivers & Workers at California Ports

* California - Truckers misclassified as independent contractors 
(Photo: Protester drivers block the traffic in Carson)
 -- As they await a ruling from the California Labor Commissioner on their wage and hour claims totaling in excess of $6 million, on Tuesday, Sept. 12, port drivers from Pacific 9 Transportation (Pac 9), who say they have been misclassified as independent contractors, have entered their 11th week on strike, according to the Teamsters Port Division. They plan to continue picketing at the company’s Carson-based yard and conduct “ambulatory picketing” at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and at customers’ warehouses and distribution center, threatening to further exacerbate persistent congestion at America’s largest port complex.- 


* California - Workers demanding dignity 

(Photo: Port Labor Truckers protest)
-- Workers at a major warehouse at the Port of Los Angeles that serves Amazon, Lowe’s and other major retailers will strike tomorrow, according to the Warehouse Worker Resource Center. The group declares that workers are on a campaign demanding dignity, good wages, health and safety, and “an end to wage theft at the warehouse, operated by California Cartage on Port of Los Angeles property.” The workers are employed by – or contracted to – California Cartage, a division of the California Cartage Company family of companies, which is also a major port trucking company serving the nation’s largest port complex. Beginning this morning, workers planned to walk off the job at California Cartage and begin picketing at the rear entrance of California Cartage, at intersection of W. Willow Street and Middle Road, Long Beach, California... 

Los Angeles, CAL, USA - Fleet Owner - 22 Sept 2015

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DISTRACTED DRIVERS USA: * Driving and mobile devices a dangerous combination -- ** TRUCK DRIVER FATALITIES 2014: Highest level since 2008

* Oklahoma - Distracted truckers, danger at highway speeds

(A California Highway Patrol shows KRCR first hand the dangers of distracted driving - Video by KRCR7)

-- Moving 40 tons at highway speeds, Truckers have special rules they need to follow to keep you safe, but Fox 25 found some people breaking the law and potentially putting you in danger... Driving and mobile devices can be a dangerous combination, and federal officials say truckers who are distracted are 23 times more likely to get into a dangerous situation. Fox 25 hit the road three different times over the course of a month to see if we could find truckers playing with your safety at highway speeds... Not all distractions involve mobile phones. Fox 25 witnessed one trucker driving with his eyes off the road as he looked for something in his backseat and two taking long drinks from cups with their eyes off the road too. Those things are not illegal, but are potentially distracting... In 2014, the Oklahoma Highway Patrol issued 192 citations to commercial drivers for inattentive driving resulting in a collision, and so far this year that number is 101. That means hundreds of big rig crashes in Oklahoma every year because of distracted truckers... Numbers show that when there is an accident involving a big rig, the people most likely to die are other motorists. Truckers are not allowed to hold their cellphones while driving, but can use hands free systems to make calls...
Oklahoma City, OK, USA - OKCFox, by Mireya Garcia - Sep 21, 2015
* DC - On-the-job trucker deaths rose last year to highest point since 2008
-- FMCSA would be barred from moving forward with its rulemaking to increase the minimum amount of liability insurance required to be held by carriers if the House's DOT funding bill clears Congress and is signed by the President... Work-related truck driver fatalities rose to their highest level since 2008 last year, according to a report issued by the Department of Labor this week. About 725 heavy vehicle or tractor-trailer drivers died on the job last year, according to the report... The Bureau of Labor Statistics released the preliminary results of fatal occupational injuries in 2014 last week. Occupations in transportation and material moving made up the largest share (28 percent) of fatal injuries of any occupation, the report notes... According to the BLS, fatal work injuries in the transportation/material movement group rose 3 percent to 1,289 fatalities in 2014, the highest total since 2008... Drivers/sales workers and truck drivers made up nearly two-thirds of the deaths in the group, 835 of the 1,289. Heavy vehicle and tractor-trailer drivers accounted for 725 of the 1,289 fatalities in the group. In the for-hire transportation business, 477 truck driver fatalities occurred, according to the report... The total of 4,679 fatal work injuries recorded for 2014 nationwide is an increase of 2 percent over the revised count of 4,585 fatal work injuries in 2013... 
Washington, DC, USA - CCJ on line, by Matt Cole - September 23, 2015

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posted by Unknown @ 12:28 AM  0 comments

Sep 25, 2015

TRUCKERS' APPRECIATION DAY ! * USA: We thank all the truck drivers who get it done... !

* Iowa - Truck drivers bring it on home
... There are 3.4 million men and women who are professional truck drivers, according to the American Trucking Associations. They deliver our goods safely, and keep the roads safe... Truck drivers have collaborated on their radios and partnered with law enforcement to fight human trafficking through an organization called Truckers Against Trafficking. As the eyes and ears of the highways, truck drivers have called in suspicious situations, which resulted in returning abducted and exploited children and adults to their families. In their spare time, many help young people earn their CDL certifications. Others teach highway safety, especially around trucks, to new drivers... Truck drivers have saved motorists from burning cars, and are cast as superheroes by the makers of Legos, who released a trucker superhero minifigure... In the flesh, truck drivers deliver the goods that make many things happen in our economy that would never be accomplished without them... 
(Photo by MELISSA GERRITS: Bret Frenzel of Chicago eats a free lunch Thursday at the Petro Station in North Little Rock. Frenzel and other truckers were treated to a free meal and some games and music by the Arkansas Trucking Association) -- Estherville, IO, USA - The Estherville News - September 20, 2015

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posted by Unknown @ 10:28 AM  0 comments

TRUCK-TECHNICIANS SHORTAGE * USA: Needing 75,000 new diesel engine specialists by 2022

* Virginia - ATA urges focus on shortage of truck technicians


-- Today, ATA President and CEO Bill Graves called upon the country’s policymakers, schools and trucking industry to do more to address the nation’s large and growing shortage of truck technicians...  “In our industry, we often talk about the impact of the shortage of truck drivers,” said ATA President and CEO Bill Graves, “but we mustn’t forget trucking’s need to have many skilled technicians and mechanics to keep their rigs in working order and their wheels moving” ... According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, trucking will need to recruit 67,000 new technicians by 2022 due to growth or to replace men and women currently working in the industry. This does not include the more than 75,000 new diesel engine specialists BLS anticipates the country needing by 2022... 
(Photo: Qualified Truck Technician Shortage) -- Arlington, VA, USA - The Trucker - 21 Sept 2015

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posted by Unknown @ 3:20 AM  0 comments

WOMEN IN TRUCKING * USA: On the road again:

* Indiana - Longtime friends bring woman-owned trucking company to Zionsville
-- Togo Express is one of the newest businesses to call Zionsville home... Together, Misty Boodt and Jo Ellen Roberts have successfully broken into a typically male-dominated industry, and their business is growing... The company is a certified Women’s Business Enterprise trucking organization founded by Boodt in June 2012. Not long after, she brought in best friend and former roommate Jo Ellen Roberts. The pair first met during their days at Indiana University and, in separate conversations, each described the other as being “like a sister” ... Mutual friends at supplier Star Leasing put Boodt and Roberts in touch with Daryll Guiducci, the owner of Jet Star, Inc., which is now sharing a building with Togo. Although Jet Star is also in the trucking and transportation business, Togo focuses on dry van freight and the two companies aren’t competitors... Togo tries to be a refreshing place for its drivers and employees to work, which was always a goal of Boodt’s as she was embarking on breaking into the traditionally male-dominated trucking industry... The company currently has six drivers and as many trucks, but leases and rents others and is looking to make more hires as it continues to grow... 
 (Photo by Lisa Price - Misty Boodt, left, and Jo Ellen Roberts recently moved Togo Express to Zionsville) -- Zionsville,IND, USA - Current in Zionsville, by Sam Elliott - Sept 22, 2015

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ELECTRIC PICKUP TRUCKMAKER * USA: To enter in the U.S. market by 2016

* North Carolina - The EV Fleet Inc's "Condor 2015"

  (EV Fleet Condor 2015 Electric Truck - Video by EV Fleet Inc. - Sep 17, 2014)

 -- EV Fleet Inc's "Condor 2015" is a pick-up size electric truck. "The Condor" is a safe and affordable option for fleet use on America’s highways. It will get a range of more than 100 miles between charges. Cost to operate: average of 1.5 per mile. No special charging station necessary... As with other hotly anticipated electric vehicles, administrative holdups are standing in the way of "the Condor’s" green light on the production front. EV Fleet told "the Condor" is about one third of the way through its airbag tests, which are the final hurdle to getting it on U.S. roads. Within six months, this green work truck should be ready to report for duty... 
Charlotte, NC, USA - CheatSheet, by Eric Schaal - 23 Sept 2015

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posted by Unknown @ 2:48 AM  0 comments

TRUCKMAKER TROUBLES * USA - VW's vehicle emission troubles

* Virginia - Did emissions violations just kill an OEM’s North American dreams?
-- Volkswagen shares tumbled Monday morning on the heels of news last week that the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s announcement that it was initiating a class-action lawsuit against the German automobile manufacturer. The suit alleges that Jetta sedans sold in in North America were equipped with emissions “defeat code” software: If the car’s Electronic Control Module detected a hook-up to an emissions testing device, it would adjust its emissions control system to conform to existing emissions regulations. Once the system was disconnected, the cars would revert to emissions performance not in compliance with EPA regulations — the car’s default operating mode... This is not welcome news at all for VW, should these allegations be proven. If that’s the case, the company is looking at a scandal that affected more than 10 million cars, according to the latest reports, and the in-house costs of repairing those vehicles will be tremendous. On top of that, the EPA could slap them with an $18 billion fine... The long-term repercussions of this story could send shockwaves across the global automotive pond that could eventually lap up on the shores of the heavy-duty truck market... VW is on record saying that its goal was to surpass Toyota and become the No. 1 automobile manufacturer in the world by 2020. Making a move into the North American truck market was widely seen as a vital step in that process... Who knows what will happen next? This scandal proves two things: One, that getting cute with emissions systems and stealth software is a bad idea. And second, that in the hyper-connected world of automotive and truck manufacturing, a bad decision in one business unit can have devastating consequences in markets and countries far, far away...
Herndon, VIR, USA - CCJ Digital, by Jack Roberts - September 22, 2015

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posted by Unknown @ 2:11 AM  0 comments

Sep 24, 2015

BORDER TROUBLES * Crimea / Ukraine: Trucks blockade

* Crimea blockade: About 200 trucks waiting on border with peninsula

 (Video from СТРИНГЕР - Start of commercial blockade Crimea locked column - Sep 20, 2015)

-- The Police began to deploy trucks traveling to the peninsula today, 20 September at 12:00 will share the Crimean Tatars to block Russia annexed the Crimea. As the head of the Majlis, MP Refat Chubarov, the movement will be blocked only for trucks that carry goods in Crimea, the movement of people and cars will remain unobstructed... The Interior Ministry's department in Kherson region earlier reported that the situation at all checkpoints was calm and under control... The number of trucks waiting in lines in front of checkpoints arranged by Crimean Tatar and Ukrainian activists on the administrative border between mainland Ukraine and Crimea is growing, according to State Border Guard Service press secretary Oleh Slobodian... 
Crimea - Charter 97 - 22 SEPTEMBER 2015

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posted by Unknown @ 4:47 AM  0 comments

TRUCKS POLLUTION * Europe: Limiting the C02 from trucks

* Belgium - Britain joins calls for limits on truck carbon dioxide emissions

-- Britain and three other countries have joined calls for mandatory European Union limits on the amount of CO2 pumped out by trucks, which account for 30 percent of road transport emissions but only a small fraction of vehicles on the road... The European Commission has introduced a limit of 95 grams of CO2 per kilometre (g/km) by 2021 for cars and vans, but emissions from heavy duty vehicles (HDVs) are unregulated. The United States by contrast in June proposed tighter standards on truck emissions... Britain, Belgium, Slovenia and the Netherlands are calling for the Commission to introduce CO2 limits for trucks, according to submissions to a Commission questionnaire, adding their weight to calls from Germany's Federal Environment Agency in August for CO2 targets for trucks... An EU source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Germany’s backing of standards for trucks was linked to efforts to protect its car industry: “There is an argument that if you bring in standards for trucks, you don’t have to do any more for cars” ... Earlier this month the European Parliament called for the development of a simulation tool measuring the fuel consumption and CO2 emissions of HDVs, and, if needed, the imposition of mandatory emissions limits... 
(Photo: EU ozone pollution exceeded target levels in summer 2012)  --  Brussels, Belgium - Reuters, by JULIA FIORETTI - Sep 21, 2015

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posted by Unknown @ 4:30 AM  0 comments