User-agent: Mediapartners-Google* Disallow: Trucks World News
Google
 
Loading

Sep 25, 2008

FUEL TROUBLES * USA - Major steps are needed to remedy oil and gas situation

“It is clear that our energy crisis is a complex problem that requires a comprehensive solution,” said Barbara Windsor, President and CEO of Hahn Transportation

Arlington,VA & Washington,DC,USA -Logistics Management, by Jeff Berman -24 Sept 2008: -- A trucking industry official called on the White House and Congress this week to implement a comprehensive energy plan that will ensure an affordable supply of oil and limit the effect of rising fuel costs on the US economy, according to the American Trucking Associations (ATA)... Hahn added that the US needs a comprehensive energy plan that decreases demand for fossil fuels, increases domestic energy production and ensures transparency in the petroleum markets. A plan is vital, according to Hahn, as the trucking industry is currently on pace to spend $159.9 billion on fuel this year. This tally tops 2007 by $47 billion and doubles 2004’s trucking fuel bill... Even though oil prices are down from record levels that approached nearly $150 per barrel earlier this summer and diesel prices are below the $4 per gallon mark for the first time in ten weeks, the ongoing issues shippers and carriers have experienced from rapid price shocks have not subsided. Various industry experts have told LM much more work is needed to ensure that things get on more solid footing forward... Another option for reducing fuel costs and conservation is increasing productivity within truck fleets by trucks with multiple trailers up to 330,000 pounds 525 feet long, according to Tim Radbourne, President of Radbourne Consulting in Adrian, Mich...

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 9:31 AM  0 comments

Jul 8, 2008

FUEL COST CRISIS *- Australia - Trucking industry on verge of collapse

Diesel prices force between four and five of the state's 5000 trucking operators out of business every week

Adelaide,SA,Australia -The Adelaide Now -9 July 2008: -- The trucking industry will hold an emergency meeting with the State Government today to warn it is on the verge of collapse.. The SA Road Transport Association has called for urgent help as diesel prices force between four and five of the state's 5000 trucking operators out of business every week... The association wants State Government and business help to share the burden of a 100 per cent increase in diesel costs since 2005 by accepting a price rise to move products... Executive director Steve Shearer said the transport industry's appeal was directed to South Australian business customers because there were limits to what state and federal governments could do, even with cuts to fuel tax... (Picture from Kuchel Contractors: Barossa Valley in South Australia)

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 11:38 AM  0 comments

Jul 7, 2008

GAS PAINS * USA - Truckers losing battle against rising costs

New Haven,CT,USA -The New Haven Register, by Luther Turmelle -7 July 2008: -- The steady march of fuel prices toward $5 per gallon has forced the nation's independent truck drivers to make changes... But like other drivers, many truckers who passed through the TravelCenters of America in Branford one day last week just gritted their teeth and paid up, simply because they felt they have no other choice... (Photo by Melanie Stengel/Register - Joseph Provost does some maintenance on his truck while stopping for gas in Branford last week)

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 5:16 AM  0 comments

Jun 13, 2008

FUEL COST CRISIS * USA & Canada - High fuel prices, sluggish economy ease trucker shortage

As the cost of diesel fuel soars and the economy slows, hundreds of small to mid-sized trucking outfits are folding — leaving legions of trained drivers looking for work

Albany,NY,USA -AP, by RICHARD RICHTMYER -12 June 2008: -- Bob Lingyak's job is a lot easier these days... As head of recruiting at trucking company Gypsum Express, for years Lingyak had to take what he could get when it came to long-haul drivers amid a shortage of workers qualified to handle the big rigs and willing to spend weeks on the road... But as the cost of diesel fuel soars and the economy slows, hundreds of small to mid-sized trucking outfits are folding — leaving legions of trained drivers looking for work... Trucking companies have long lamented what they say has been a chronic shortage of long-haul — or over-the-road — drivers. A 2005 analysis by Global Insight estimated that by 2014 the industry will fall about 111,000 drivers short of the 1.7 million expected to be needed to keep the nation's long-haul freight moving... Analysts blame an aging driver work force and difficulty attracting people to take on a job that requires them to be away from home for long stretches. The core demographic group that provides more than half of big-rig drivers — middle-aged white men — also is shrinking, compounding the problem over the long term... But in the short term, the labor crunch appears to have eased... Soaring diesel prices — which nationally are averaging $4.69 a gallon compared with $2.79 last year — and increased price competition among trucking companies are running thousands of the nation's 18-wheelers off the road... Despite the recent rise in the number of available drivers, the trucking industry is still facing a long-term challenge when it comes to keeping qualified drivers behind the wheels of big rigs, said Bob Costello, chief economist for the American Trucking Associations... There are always going to be ebbs and flows, but the underlying trends that have caused the labor crunch in recent years are unchanged, he said... "The demographics are still working against us, and when freight volumes pick up (the problem) is going to come back with a vengeance," he said... (AP Photos, by Mike Groll: 1· Trucks are parked at Scotty's Restaurant in Gansevoort, N.Y., Thursday, June 5, 2008. As the cost of diesel fuel soars and the economy slows, hundreds of small to mid-sized trucking outfits are folding, leaving legions of trained drivers looking for work. - 2· Trucks are parked at Scotty's Restaurant in Gansevoort, N.Y., Thursday, June 5, 2008. As the cost of diesel fuel soars and the economy slows, hundreds of small to mid-sized trucking outfits are folding, leaving legions of trained drivers looking for work)


* Canada - Trucking companies risk closing if government doesn't take action, teamsters say

Montreal,QBC,CAN -The Gazette -June 12, 2008: -- Dozens of Canadian trucking companies risk closing, if the federal government doesn't create a national rebate program to mitigate the soaring price of fuel, Teamsters Canada warned today... The union, which represents thousands of Canadian truckers, today called on the government to use budget surpluses to assist the transport industry. The practice already exists provincially; the Quebec government gives independent drivers protection against rising gas and fuel costs, the Teamsters said... According to transportation experts across the country, the prices of gas and fuel-which has surpassed the $1.50 per litre mark in several regions of the country, imposes a perilous cost on trucking companies, brokers and owner-operators, the Teamsters said...


* Double whammy KOs local trucking firm - First mill layoffs and then fuel prices prompt Jerry Sheets to park his rigs

John Day,Blue Mountain Eagle,Grant County,OR,USA -My Eagle News, by Angel Carpenter -12 June 2008: -- Only two of 11 big rigs remain at Jerry Sheets' truck shop. He's selling them off after closing down his trucking business April 30... Sheets who started a trucking business 28 years ago, had been hauling wood chips for Prairie Wood Products since 1995. After a three-month-long layoff last year, he said he made up his mind to shut down if he was laid off for another long period of time... When the news came of an April-through- June layoff, the decision was made... While the dwindling logging industry has been a major concern for Sheets and others like him, this year's soaring cost of fuel has brought yet another setback for truckers nationwide... The American Trucking Associations called on congress last month to address the difficulties facing the trucking industry caused by escalating fuel prices, citing data compiled by longtime trucking analyst Donald Braughton. Broughton's report revealed that 935 trucking companies with at least five trucks (and an average of 45 trucks) failed in the first quarter of 2008... This is nearly 50 percent more than in the fourth quarter of 2007, representing the highest level since the third quarter of 2001, according to Braughton... Sheets said the price of fuel definitely affected his decision to shut down... (Photo by Angel Carpenter/The Eagle: Layoffs and rising fuel prices were the last straw for Jerry Sheets, who decided this spring to close up his Canyon City trucking business and retire)


* USA - Trucking firms reeling under gas pressures

Chillicothe,OH,USA -The Lancaster Eagle Gazette (Lancaster,OH), by ASHLEY PHILLIPS -June 12, 2008: -- ... While recreational and business drivers reel under gas prices hovering around $4 per gallon with the promise of higher costs later this summer, local and national truck companies are trying to find ways to deal with diesel prices that have soared even higher and raised the cost of shipping goods... Lance Weaver of Coshocton has been a trucker for more than a decade. "It's a pretty good way to make money," said Weaver, 30, an owner-operator for Ace Doran Hauling & Rigging Co. in Northside. "You have your independence, and you've always got a change of scenery."... Lately, that independence is a lot more expensive as diesel fuel prices, driven by rising crude oil prices and growing worldwide diesel demand, have soared nearly more than 70 percent in the last year, outpacing even the sharp run-up in gasoline prices... Freight volumes are down with the slowing economy, but that's more than offset by rising fuel prices that are forcing some trucking companies out of business and some independent truckers to park their rigs. The only upshot is "nobody's winning," said Kerry Byrne, executive vice president of Total Quality Logistics... In the first quarter of this year about 935 trucking companies filed for bankruptcy, the highest level since 2000-2001, according to Donald Broughton, trucking analyst with St. Louis-based Avondale Partners...


* Canada - Thieves hit truck tanks as diesel fuel prices rise

Victoria,Vancouver,CAN -The Globe and Mail, by SHANNON MONEO -June 12, 2008: -- Big tanks on big trucks are being targeted by thieves as the price of diesel fuel soars to almost $1.50 a litre in the Vancouver area... "Diesel is becoming more valuable than copper," said Don McGill, secretary-treasurer for Teamsters Local 213, referring to the market for stolen copper. "We're starting to hear more and more of tanks being siphoned."... About 6,000 of the local's 10,000 members are truck drivers. Some have reported that thieves watch for them to leave their vehicles and then strike, Mr. McGill said from the local's Vancouver head office... "It's becoming a major concern."... Recently, two of Lloyd Davies's dozen gravel trucks in Mission were hit by diesel dippers...

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 7:52 AM  0 comments

Jun 9, 2008

FUEL COST CRISIS * Canada - High prices down the road

Participants at truck driving contest say high fuel costs are going to hit us all

Owen Sound,Ontario,Canada -The Owen Sound Sun Times, by Bill Henry -8 June 2008: -- Gas prices got you fuming? Hang on to your wallets folks, it will only get worse, truckers warned... Soon the price of pretty much everything you need or want — to eat, wear or whatever — will go up and up and up, just like the price of gas... If you’re still stinging from what you paid for your last fill-up, consider what Mark St. Pierre spends to keep his Volvo 670 tractor on the road with diesel hitting $1.42 per litre heading into the weekend, about 50 cents more per litre than he paid in October... St. Pierre, an owner-operator based in Owen Sound, has one truck. He paid $121,000 for it in 2005. Now that the Canadian and U.S. dollar are around par, the same truck now sells for $15,000 less. He owes more on his truck than it’s worth... St. Pierre drives a triangle between Ontario, Canada’s west coast and California, a trip of two weeks or more, transporting refrigerated produce and fresh meat. He takes two days off between runs then heads out again... He said he used to be home more, but with higher fuel costs, now he can’t afford it... Even though St. Pierre’s Volvo is likely the most fuel-efficient unit available — he gets 7.6 miles to the U.S. gallon with a full, 44,000-pound load — fuel costs are killing any profits. That’s made worse for small operators when carrier companies truckers like St. Pierre work for won’t pass on the full fuel surcharge they charge customers... So next month St. Pierre will begin hauling for an American firm, which will pay him more, including 100 per cent of all fuel surcharges. Otherwise there just isn’t enough money to cover truck payments, a wage, repairs, border costs, bridge and highway tolls and all the other related expenses... (Photo by Bill Henry - Trucker Mark St. Pierre has seen rising fuel costs eat into his bottom line since he bought his own rig three years ago)

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 5:19 AM  0 comments

Jun 4, 2008

FUEL COST CRISIS * USA - Wausau trucking company to lay off 340 workers

WH Transportation Co. says it will lay off 340 workers in Wisconsin, Ohio and Georgia because of rising fuel costs

Wausau,WIS,USA -Associated Press/The Chicago Tribune (Chicago,ILL) -June 3, 2008: -- ... The Wausau-based company says it will end its van freight business after July... It will focus instead on delivering housing materials for sister companies Wausau Homes and Sterling Building Systems. It also will deliver general flatbed freight for other companies... Co-owner Tom Schuette says in a statement that the van freight industry can't raise its rates enough to cover rising fuel and other costs...



* Trucking company squeezing better gas mileage

Trucking companies are finding all kinds of ways to make their trucks more fuel efficient now that diesel costs $4.79 a gallon

Frazee,MIN,USA -WDAY/TV, by Sarah Klaphake -June 03, 2008: -- ... A family-run company in Frazee is even focusing one person's job on fuel efficiency. When Rich Huston started driving truck in 1982, he never imagined his future desk job. Rich's duty is to find out how Daggett Trucking can use less fuel... Company owners are trying new things and going back to old ways that are now cost effective. Trailers are set as close as possible to the trucks... Some trucks are getting four big tires, instead of eight heavier ones and expensive gas tank covers are making a comeback because they're aerodynamic... The company set a new top speed in the trucks, from 70 down to 60 miles per hour. Rich says it's paying off. The trucks got an average .21 more miles a gallon this April compared to April 2007. Drivers are also idling the trucks less, using auxiliary heaters to keep warm when they sleep. Drivers who don't follow the changes aren't tolerated... (Photo by hankstruckpictures: Daggett Truck Line, Inc. International cabover from Frazee, MN taken at the Vero Beach, FL T/A in early 2001)


* Soaring diesel hurts truckers - Many are parking their rigs, or going bankrupt - The status of independent owner-operators is harder to pin down

Cincinnati,OH,USA -The Cincinnati Enquirer, by MIKE BOYER -3 June 2008: -- Lance Weaver has been a trucker for more than a decade... "It's a pretty good way to make money," said Weaver, 30, an owner-operator for Ace Doran Hauling & Rigging Co. in Northside. "You have your independence, and you've always got a change of scenery."... Lately, that independence is a lot more expensive as diesel fuel prices, driven by rising crude oil prices and growing worldwide diesel demand, have soared nearly 70 percent in the last year, outpacing even the sharp run-up in gasoline prices... As painful as a fill-up is for motorists, it's even more bracing for truckers like Weaver... In the first quarter of this year 935 trucking companies, about 2 percent of the nation's total, filed for bankruptcy, the highest level since 2000-2001, according to Donald Broughton, trucking analyst with St. Louis-based Avondale Partners. Last month, Jevic Transportation Inc., a less-than-truckload carrier, which operated a terminal in West Chester, closed and filed for bankruptcy... With trucking industry deregulation about a decade ago, fuel surcharges - to cover increasing fuel costs on top of regular line haul rates - have become accepted industry practice. But there's no legal requirement for trucker brokers, who arrange hauls between truckers and shippers, to pass the full surcharge on to the trucker... (Photo by LEIGH TAYLOR/THE ENQUIRER)



* Trucking feels fuel burden - Companies try additives, less idling to handle prices


Knoxville,TN,USA -The Knoxville News Sentinel, by Ed Marcum -June 3, 2008: -- Some are putting fuel additives in their trucks, many more are just telling drivers not to let engines idle, but East Tennessee companies that have vehicle fleets of any size are trying to boost mileage in the face of rising fuel costs... It may make a difference of just one or two more miles per gallon, but when you operate a fleet of 100 vehicles or more, the difference can be in tens of thousands of dollars saved...Jeff Reed, executive vice president of Knoxville-based Skyline Transportation Inc., said the company has taken two main measures to reduce fuel consumption in its fleet of 75 trucks. One is to use governing devices on each truck to limit its speed... The company has not been using any fuel additives to improve mileage or emissions, but Reed said it would not rule that out... Jeff Woods of Forward Air said, most trucking outfits he deals with are telling drivers to stop idling their rigs, limit their speed, plan more direct routes and other basic measures to limit fuel consumption, rather than using additives... (Photos by Michael Patrick/News Sentinel - 1 · Skyline Transportation is fighting high fuel costs by installing governing devices on each truck to limit its speed and auxiliary power devices so drivers don’t have to idle the engine while sleeping. Mechanic Casey Maples walks back to the company pump after topping off fuel - 2· Instead of using fuel additives, Skyline Transportation installed governing devices on each of its 75 trucks to limit the speed)

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 4:47 PM  0 comments

Jun 3, 2008

Globalization death watch, Part I * USA - Not only trucking industry pain by higher fuel costs

Airlines, cargo ships increasingly desperate due to rising fuel costs

WA,USA -Gristmill, by Jon Rynn -2 Jun 2008: -- Globalization was built on cheap oil. As that era draws to a close, so will the current phase of global integration, whether Thomas Friedman, Wal-Mart, and all those involved in intercontinental trade like it or not... The current transportation infrastructure is based on cars, trucks, airplanes, and cargo ships, which together consume about 70 percent of the gasoline used in the United States. While the greatest focus has been on cars, trucking and airline companies are facing collapse... The International Air Transport Association just published a new report in which they call the situation of many airlines "desperate."... According to The N.Y. Times: "If price of oil, which is now just below $130 a barrel, averages $107 over 2008, the aviation industry would lose $2.3 billion for the year, the chief executive of the group, Giovanni Bisignani, said. Should it hold at $135 a barrel for the rest of the year, the industry will lose $6.1 billion" ... As if airline decline were not bad enough for the sirens of globalization, word comes that cross-oceanic cargo shipping is escalating rapidly in price... According to TreeHugger (h/t Erik Hoffner): "The cost of shipping a 40 foot container from Shanghai to the east coast of North America has gone from $3,000 in 2000 to $8,000 because of the cost of fuel, and for many products, the Asian cost advantage has virtually disappeared"... The consequences for Wal-Mart, Dell, and all of the other businesses that are dependent on Chinese manufacturing may be quite large, although according to the Globe and Mail, this trend may push low-wage manufacturing back to Mexico. In fact, quoting economists, "in tariff-equivalent terms, the explosion in global transport costs has effectively offset all the trade liberalization efforts of the last three decades."... The British will no longer be able to ship apples to South Africa and back to have them polished, and we will no longer be able to bring in goods via jet and cargo ship from all around the world. It is time to reconstruct the manufacturing base of the United States -- and for all of the other regions of the world to do so as well... (P.N.: Spanish proverb: when you see your neighbor drowning, put your beards soaked)

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 6:49 AM  0 comments

May 17, 2008

FUEL COST CRISIS * USA - Wall Street's crude ways

How traders and hedge funds fuel runaway energy costs

New York,NY,USA -MarketWatch, by David Weidner -May 15, 2008: -- Two years ago, our president, a former Texas oil man, proclaimed that "America is addicted to oil."... These days, the problem is that even though the appetite of the addict hasn't changed, the price of a fix has doubled... A boom in speculation and trading by investment banks and hedge funds has put our energy markets on steroids. Contract volume in the futures markets has risen by a third in just the last year. Oil closed at a record high of $125.96 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on Friday. That's double the price two years ago, a difference clearly caused by market manipulation... This isn't complicated finance. The way traders push up prices is surprisingly simple. They buy in European futures markets, which don't have the limits that U.S. markets do. That drives up U.S. prices where they may already have positions. It's a move to think about next time one of these exchange chiefs talks about all of the benefits of "market globalization". None of it would matter except that these markets are supposed to be driven by supply and demand. China and other rapidly growing countries may be using more, or will use more resources, but the reality is that demand and supply haven't changed enough to warrant the price of oil doubling in less than three years... Here's what has changed: the proliferation of energy trading desks on Wall Street and at hedge funds. There are more than 9,000 hedge funds with $1.5 trillion under management, according to the Federal Reserve. Hedge funds, which almost exclusively use short-term strategies, do nearly 55% of derivatives trading, the kind used in energy futures, according to a study last year by Greenwich Associates... During a three-year span ending in 2006, between $100 billion and $120 billion in new speculative money entered the energy markets, according to a congressional report. Investment in commodity index funds surged more than 500% to $80 billion during the same period... The hubris and insensitivity of energy trading is best personified by Goldman Sachs. A Goldman commodities analyst famously predicted in March 2005 that oil would reach $100 a barrel. At the time, a barrel was trading about $55. The prediction led to a lot of ridicule, but it also drove up prices in the short term, and ultimately came true... Now, Arjun Murti, the same analyst who made the earlier prediction, is back, promising $200 oil this year. Murti is again talking about demand, but again, world consumption doesn't suggest the price should double... Even if Goldman isn't profiting off its ability to influence the market, it is defending the role of speculation in the market. In a May 5 note on energy trading, Goldman analysts said speculation was actually solving the energy crisis... Unswayed by Goldman's treatise, Congress, the Federal Trade Commission and the Commodity Futures Trading Commission are all looking to rein in the trading. A House panel is investigating speculation and will hold hearings in May and June. A Senate bill sponsored by Michigan Sen. Carl Levin seeks to put limits on U.S. trades in overseas markets... Levin, who as a member of House subcommittee on investigations, is a veteran of the Enron Corp. fallout, recognizes that Enron-era laws don't take into account foreign markets and how they can be manipulated. He's proposing what amounts to trading limits... Tinkering with the free market, however, always is dangerous ground to tread. No one wants the government looking over his or her shoulder when making a trade... Times, though, have changed. The Federal Reserve is backing brokers and honoring the industry's commitments. Traders themselves have distorted the market's integrity... Restraint, either self-inflicted or imposed by the government is coming. Americans are jonesing for relief at the pump... Everyone knows how far an addict will go to get a fix...


* Gas prices may spur revision of mpg plan

Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -May 17, 2008: -- U.S. Transportation Secretary Mary Peters said Friday the final regulation increasing fuel efficiency standards could be tougher than the department's initial proposal... Last month, Peters unveiled the department's proposal to increase fuel efficiency of the nation's cars and trucks to 31.6 miles per gallon by 2015 -- a 4.5 percent annual increase, and faster than what Congress ordered in December when it called for the first rewrite of passenger car fuel efficiency standards since 1975. Peters noted the proposal assumed the price of gasoline at about $2.26 a gallon in 2015 rising to $2.51 by 2030. But the price of gasoline was already above that when the measure was passed in April... Prices have jumped 22 cents a gallon since the announcement to a national average of $3.72, according to the U.S. Department of Energy... The energy bill required the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to set the standards starting with the 2010 model year at the "maximum feasible" level. Higher gas prices make tougher standards more feasible...

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 11:41 AM  0 comments

May 15, 2008

FUEL COST CRISIS * USA - Florida truckers brainstorm with media, lawmakers on high fuel prices

New Port Richey,FL,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Clarissa Kell-Holland -May 14, 2008: -- Desperate to save his own business from going under because of high fuel prices, one trucker, Robert Solfio, said he decided to take action before losing it all... Solfio told that between 125 and 150 truckers attended in New Port Richey, FL, a town hall meeting with lawmakers and truckers on Saturday, May 10, to discuss how rising fuel prices are affecting truckers’ livelihoods... Solfio “These fuel prices are hurting us,” he said. “There’s no profit to be made anymore.”... Florida state Sen. Mike Fasano, R-New Port Richey, attended the meeting. Solfio indicated that Fasano said many of the issues truckers raised at the meeting are issues that need to be solved at the federal level, but that he promised to do what he could at the state-level to give truckers some relief... Solfio said he personally knows one guy that has gone from owning eight trucks last January to only two trucks today. Another guy he drives with every day had seven trucks this time last year, and now he’s down to one truck... Time is running out for some truckers who can’t afford fuel for their trucks, Solfio said...

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 12:06 PM  0 comments

May 10, 2008

FUEL COST CRISIS * USA - Oil Closes Week Near $126 a Barrel

New York,NY,USA -The Associated Press/Transport Topics -9 May 2008: -- Oil futures jumped for a fifth straight day Friday, shooting past $126 a barrel for the first time and closing the week near that level on the New York Mercantile Exchange... Demand for diesel fuel is growing worldwide, but supplies of distillates, which include diesel and heating oil, fell last week, the Department of Energy said Wednesday... That is in turn pushing U.S. diesel prices to record highs and inflating heating oil prices in the futures market...


* Diesel Fuel Prices Forcing Truckers to Slow Down

Truckers Slow Down To Save Money

Omaha,NE,USA -Action3News -9 May 2008: -- Rising gas prices have some truck drivers are slowing down on the roads. Some drivers, like Dave Smith passing through Omaha, are going five to ten miles an hour slower than the speed limit... "Yes, instead of going 70, I'm going 65," says Smith. Rising fuel costs also have some trucking companies buying new trucks with battery packs... The batteries will be used to provide power, heating and air for the trucks... Truckers are doing everything they can to save money, but if the price of gas keeps going up, some drivers will be flat out of business... "If I can find a $500- or $600-a-week job, I might crawl out of it," says Smith... The American Trucking Association predicts by the end of 2008, truckers will have spent more than $140 billion on fuel...(See Video)


* Solutions: American Ingenuity Cuts the Drag

Atlanta,GA,USA -11 Alive, by Marc Pickard -9 May 2008: -- These days diesel fuel costs over $4 a gallon. That means, to fill up one semi truck could run more than $1,200... It is not unusual for a trucker to fill his truck twice in a day... And now ... It's time to call on American ingenuity... For the past six years, the Georgia Tech Research Institute has been doing research on the simplest, cheapest way to save fuel, aerodynamics... "The aerodynamic drag produces loss in fuel efficiency because the drag has to be overcome by the engine which requires additional fuel," explained Georgia Tech Research Institute engineer Bob Englar... The trailer of a big rig is designed to carry as much freight as possible, which produces a lot of drag... Engineer Bob Englar and his team have designed a relatively simple way to retrofit trucks and improve fuel efficiency by twelve percent... "If all the trucks in the United States trucking fleet used the same scheme and reduced fuel economy by one percent, each one percent represents 200 million gallons of gasoline," Englar said... The technology to make trucks and SUVs more fuel efficient is available right now... Georgia Tech Research Institute's Bob Englar says the next step is up to the trucking industry... Kenny Lee and his fellow truckers are counting on American ingenuity because their fuel costs are a real drag... (See Video)


* Record-high diesel prices have cut into truckers' profits. Members of the House Transportation Committee are searching for solutions

New York,NY,USA -CNNMoney, by David Goldman -May 6, 2008: -- Rising diesel prices have slammed the trucking industry and hurt independent truck drivers, and Congress is looking for solutions... Members of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on Tuesday took up the rising diesel prices issue that has hampered the trucking industry... Rising diesel costs have dug into the profits of the trucking industry, whose trucks run on the fuel... In a protest of record high fuel costs, hundreds of truckers circled the U.S. Capitol on April 28... Over the past 12 months, the dollar has plummeted more than 10% against global currencies, and oil has climbed about 80%. As the dollar continues to depreciate in value, investors have bought oil futures as a hedge against inflation... Also, oil is priced in dollars worldwide, so a falling dollar provides less incentive for oil-exporting countries to increase output, or for foreign consumers to cut, said Deutsche Bank oil analyst Ryan Todd. And as oil prices hit a record $122 a barrel Tuesday, there were no immediate signs of diesel prices retreating... Many energy industry analysts blame oil speculators for cashing in on the fuel cost crisis and, in the process, boosting the price of oil... After a Goldman Sachs analyst predicted oil could rise to $200 a barrel in 2008... Tyson Slocum, director of the energy program at public interest group Public Citizen, said the prediction itself sends speculators to the market, because "the high bar has been set for traders." ... "There are many practices by hedge funds that fall below the radar screens of federal regulators," Slocum testified at the hearing... Also contributing to rising diesel prices is that global demand for the fuel has outpaced that of gasoline over the past 12 months. Industrial expansion in China and a rising number of cleaner-burning diesel cars in Europe have boosted demand. Additionally, the new ultra-low sulfur formula for diesel that was introduced in 2006 costs more to produce and has affected production levels... But the solutions may be as complex as the problem... DeFazio suggested government regulation on speculative trading would help keep oil prices down, but he was met with stiff opposition by American Petroleum Institute chief economist John Felmey. In testimony, Felmey said that market fundamentals of supply and demand are driving prices - not speculative trading... But when pressed by DeFazio about regulation, he conceded, "It wouldn't cause undue harm."... Oil companies are another popular target for consumers' critique. With historic profits for corporations such as ExxonMobil, and Chevron, coupled with rising gas prices, big oil has become public enemy No. 1 for the public and Congress... But Felmey rejected it, saying a more viable solution to rising fuel prices lies in expanding more of nation's petroleum reserves and investing in non-finite alternate fuels... "We need alternative fuels ... but we don't need to be price-gouged on our way there," DeFazio retorted... (See Videos: 1 · Truckers face gas pain - 2 · Goldman: $200 oil possible)


* USA - GAYLORD TRUCKERS HURTING TOO !! - 25 Big Rigs from Gaylord now off the road

USA -Don Campbell Models -9 May 2008: -- The last few weeks on our nightly walks I have noticed a lot of tractor-trailer rigs parked at the area Feed and Grain . They had about 15 nice , new tractor trailer rigs and they were always coming and going from the parking lot about a half a mile from our house. They had a great business for 40 years or more... Yesterday I was talking to my neighbor about five houses down from me and he has 7 tractor trailer rigs. Six of his we re sitting in his parking lot at his house. He told me he parked six of the seven of his trucks because it was no longer profitable to run them. I asked him about the Feed and Grain Trucks and he said all those trucks are for sale and they were no longer in the trucking business after 40 years... I’m sure this is happening all over the country with the high Fuel prices... (Photo: GAYLORD TRUCKERS HURTING TOO !!)

Labels:

posted by Unknown @ 11:02 AM  0 comments