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Sep 8, 2017

TRUCKS MAKERS * Worldwide: Electric ones or out of play ?

* California - Truck makers face extinction if they don’t go electric
--- As the plug-in light passenger vehicle market expands, electrification is now creeping into the trucking segment … and established commercial truck manufacturers are already feeling the pressure of upcoming disruption to their business... Venerable industry suppliers are among the most “susceptible” ... Range is still a major issue for trucks, so the electrification has begin with smaller trucks with regional depots (equipped with charging stations), but there are new players on the horizon: 

  * Tesla semi to debut this month and in the future it will be autonomous * Toyota is working on hydrogen fuel cell semi truck
 * Nikola Motors promissing long-range hydrogen fuel cell truck with a 320 kWh battery
 * Cummins outlines plans for electric powertrains by 2019 * Daimler began production of Fuso eCanter small truck
 * Sweden (T-pod): Even an autonomous electric truck project out of 

 ...  As we see it, electric trucks will probably follow in the foot steps of electric buses, which are already taking sales from traditional business manufacturers in California and other states... EVs are still of course more expensive to initially buy, and have some range and charging issues, but the regular maintenance costs, and energy costs to operate are much, much lower. Also the driving experience is unparalleled... As fleet managers and operators more and more see the operational benefits, the change (as with e-buses) will likely be swift when it arrives...
(Photo: Toyota Project portal hydrogen fuel cell semi truck)  --  CAL, USA - Inside EV's, by Mark Kane - 5 Sept 2017

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posted by Unknown @ 5:55 AM  0 comments

Aug 24, 2015

OPINION * USA: The trucks are killing us

* New York - More people will be killed in traffic accidents involving large trucks this year than have died in all of the domestic commercial airline crashes over the past 45 years


-- Accidents like the one that critically injured the comedian Tracy Morgan, killed his friend and fellow comedian James McNair, and hurt eight others on the New Jersey Turnpike last year are going to continue to happen unless Congress stops coddling the trucking industry. And still Congress continues to do the trucking industry’s bidding by frustrating the very regulators the government has empowered to oversee motor carriers... In recent months, Congress has pursued a number of steps to roll back safety improvements ordered by federal regulators... All of these concessions to the trucking industry have gained traction in Congress even though the industry has consistently resisted safety improvements. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates the annual cost to the economy of truck and bus crashes to be $99 billion... The crash involving Tracy Morgan shows why Congress needs to toughen its oversight of trucking, not loosen it. The driver who caused the crash was in a modern 18-wheeler that was well maintained and managed, owned and operated by Walmart. As detailed in the causation report on the crash released earlier this month, the National Transportation Safety Board found that the driver had been on duty for about 13 and a half hours; federal rules allow a 14-hour workday. About a mile before the crash, the driver ignored work-zone warning signs on the New Jersey Turnpike of likely delays ahead. About a half-mile later, the posted speed limit dropped to 45 m.p.h. from the usual 65, which the driver also ignored... Mr. Morgan’s Mercedes van was moving at less than 10 mu.p.h. because of the construction. The truck driver, fatigued and slow to react, according to the N.T.S.B., was unable to stop in time, and slammed into the van, turning it on its side and jamming the passenger door closed. According to the board, if the driver had slowed to 45 when warned to do so, he should have been able to stop before crashing. But before his official work day began, the driver, the board found, had spent 12 hours driving his own vehicle from his home in Georgia to pick up his truck at a Walmart facility in Delaware, and had been awake for 28 consecutive hours at the time of the crash... The trucking industry is vital to the nation’s economic well-being — it carried almost 69 percent of all domestic freight last year — and its executives have done an excellent job in keeping costs down. But Congress must make it clear to all parties that safety has to be a higher priority than penny-pinching... Congress must pass a comprehensive highway funding bill and ensure that safety regulators have sufficient resources and political support to do what must be done in order to reduce the continuing carnage on our highways... 
 (Photo Credit, by Harry Campbell) -- NY, USA - The NYT, by HOWARD ABRAMSON - Aug. 21, 2015


* REPLY: Note to disgruntled former trucking editors: Trucks are not killing us

-- Over the weekend, an op-ed piece titled The Trucks are Killing Us appeared in The New York Times. The piece was written by Howard Abramson, a past executive at the American Trucking Association (ATA) whose primary duty was to act as editor of Transport Topics magazine... The idea that trucking today is an under-regulated, out-of-control industry hell-bent on delivering goods — cost and civilians be damned — is so out of date as to be laughable. It was a fair bit of criticism back when you could buy a black Trans Am to run interference while your buddy ran a load of Coors beer from Texarkana to Atlanta. Not so much today... Trucking is, in fact, in the middle of the greatest wave of new regulations and mandated safety devices that this industry has ever seen. This very week, in fact, we’re expecting a new mandate on speed limiters. Likewise, new rules to mandate electronic logging devices is expected in the coming weeks. And numerous other proposals are also being looked at, including mandatory lane-departure warning systems, tire-pressure management systems and collision avoidance systems, to name a few... The bottom line here is this: Trucking is getting safer all the time. And that trend is accelerating rapidly. It’s getting harder every day to skirt the rules. Bad actors are leaving this industry because they know that soon, they’re going to have to follow the exact same rules as everyone else. They’ll have no choice in the matter... Everyone I know and talk to in this industry is passionately and whole-heartedly dedicated to making trucking safer and more efficient every single day they’re on the job. This industry has made huge gains in terms of safety. And even more giant leaps are coming. To suggest otherwise is irresponsible and hypocritical, especially coming from someone who drew a nice paycheck from the trucking industry for 16 years... 
NY, USA - CCJ Digital, by Jack Roberts - August 24, 2015

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posted by Unknown @ 7:12 AM  0 comments

Jan 25, 2012

OPINIONS * USA

* USA - Small cars will become trucks in the future, thanks to mpg regulations

(Photo: Tata's Nano EV)
USA -auto-types, by James Wilkins -January 24, 2012: -- Most likely, everyone knows about the new regulations in the USA that require cars to reach a fuel efficiency level of 54.5 mpg by 2025. And every car maker surely knows the current situation in which trucks have lower fuel efficiency requirements will continue well into that same future. The rule that governs this principle is a simple one: the larger the vehicle, the lower fuel economy it has... When SUVs and crossovers become mainstream that situation suddenly changed. Thus, car makers became increasingly interested in labeling their cars as trucks... Why was that possible? Because of regulations that consider height, all wheel drive, load bay, folding seats and if they are present or not, among others. Modify the numbers and shape a bit and, technically, you get a perfect truck... The Union of Concerned Scientists is concerned about the double standard. Don Anair, senior engineer in the clean vehicle program of the UCS, on a side note, it should be said that the association appreciates the new standards, except for the part that deal with trucks and other large vehicles... The talks concerning these new regulations are continuing until the 13th of February. Overall, these regulations are a blessing for those who want greener cars. Just the part that deals with trucks and other large vehicles should be checked for loose ends...


* Michigan - Should the speed limit for cars and semi trucks be the same?

MICH,USA -mlive/The Grand Rapids Press, by Troy Reimink -January 24, 2012: ... Part of the problem is the discrepancy between speed limits for cars and trucks. I believe this leads to more unsafe and aggressive driving on the part of cars trying to get around trucks and angry drivers after following behind a "rolling road block" while one truck passes another...  This comment gets to the heart of an issue that has divided policy-makers for decades. Federal law in 1987 permitted states to raise rural interstate highway speed limits from the then nationally mandated 55 mph to 65 mph.” Michigan was one of a relatively few states to set different highway speed limits for cars and trucks, and a version of this division remains in place today...  Here, it depends which study you read. In 2006, researchers at the University of Arkansas analyzed car-truck accidents in states with differential speed limits (DSL) versus those with universal speed limits (USL) and found “speed variation and vehicle interactions have a direct impact on highway safety”...   This appears to contradict a 2005 study by the National Highway Administration that found no significant difference in car-truck crash rates in DSL states versus USL states... 

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posted by Unknown @ 6:59 AM  0 comments

Oct 14, 2011

Report * UK - Conventional engines will shrug off electric challenge for a while yet

(Photo: A truck from Phoenix Motorcars)
London,EN,UK -The Detroit News (USA), by Neil Winton -October 08. 2011: -- Arguments have been raging for years about the utility of electric cars, and at last there is some concrete evidence from the marketplace about their popularity as vehicles move from the drawing board to dealer lots... Not surprisingly, at this point initial sales are tiny. According to Britain's JATO, which publishes data on the global automotive industry, European sales of electric cars totaled just 5,222 in the first half of 2011, up from just over 500 in the same period of 2010. At least electric car enthusiasts can say sales increased 10 times... A new report from British automotive consultancy Ricardo and stock broker Bernstein Research reckons that battery-only vehicles will be also-rans in this race, at least until 2020, while ICE technology will rise to the occasion by improving fuel consumption at affordable prices. Hybrids, plug-in hybrids and extended range electric vehicles will fall far short of ICE cars, but will still be more popular than battery-only electric ones...

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posted by Unknown @ 4:51 PM  0 comments

Feb 7, 2011

TRUCKMAKERS' COMMENTS WORLDWIDE

* UK - Demand for Euro-5 trucks will spike as hauliers avoid expensive Euro-6

London,UK -Road Transport (UK), by Will Shiers -31 January 2011: -- Truck makers are preparing themselves for a massive surge in demand for Euro-5 trucks in 2012 and 2013, as operators attempt to delay the purchase of costly and complicated Euro-6 vehicles for as long as possible...   Euro-6 represents a massive reduction in noxious gases compared with Euro-5 (66% less particulates and 80% lower NOX). To put this into perspective, the jump is almost as great as that from Euro-1 to Euro-5 (94% less particulates and 74% lower NOX). In order to tackle this huge jump, Euro-6 trucks will be considerably more complex than Euro-5, and will feature a combination of EGR, SCR and particulate traps...  As a consequence of this, payload will be reduced and space on the chassis will be severely restricted. Fuel economy will not be any better than Euro-5, although you can expect truck makers to introduce a package of fuel-saving initiatives (like anti-idling devices, improved oil, better rolling resistance and driver-training schemes) in an attempt to make it as comparable as possible. You can expect a considerable price increase too. Based on the North American experience with the EPA10 (which uses similar technology as Euro-6), a price increase in the region of £5,000 is likely...


* 2011 truck prices to remain stable

London,UK -Road Transport, by George Barrow -7 February 2011: -- Manufacturers are taking a cautious approach to truck price rises in 2011, choosing to absorb rising production costs and unfavourable exchange rates instead of passing them on.

* Ray Ashworth, DAF Trucks managing director, says: "One of the biggest factors affecting truck pricing is the £/Euro rate. This has been made worse by some significant increases in commodity prices for steel, rubber and oil-based materials. Despite this we do not envisage a further structural price increase in the immediate future."

* Ian Mitchell, commercial truck director at Volvo Trucks says: "We continue to see 2011 as a very challenging year. Once the effect of the increase in VAT has stabilised within consumer spending and the government's austerity measures have been fully understood, we are anticipating a stronger recovery in the second half of 2011."

* Tim Pugh, business development director for Scania GB, says: "Scania looks, wherever possible, to mitigate this [price rises] through sophisticated procurement processes and focus on manufacturing efficiency. Inevitably, economic conditions always have an impact on whether prices will, or won't, be changed. Scania's approach remains to review this on a case by case basis."

* Keith Child, marketing director for Isuzu Truck UK, says: "Japan has seen rises in production costs and they are trying to pass them on to us, which in turn means that we will unfortunately have to pass some of the increase on to our customers. N-Series prices increased in November 2010 by between 4% to 5% and we hope that these prices will hold now for the entirety of 2011".


* Europe - Truck makers down after Scania Q4

London,UK -Reuters, by Oskar von Bahr -Feb 2, 2011: -- Shares in European truck makers are down, underperforming a firmer broader market after Scania says it expects demand to remain flat at the start of the year and posting fourth-quarter earnings short of market expectations... Scania shares trade 3.4 percent lower at 138.6 crowns while domestic rival Volvo is down 4 percent and Germany's MAN SE, with which Scania is discussing a possible merger, eases 2.4 percent... Scania is the first of Europe's leading heavy-duty truck makers to publish its fourth-quarter results with Volvo due on Friday, market leader Daimler on Feb. 16 and MAN on March 1... Daimler shares are down 1 percent...


* Sweden - Scania’s Profit Triples on Stronger European Demand


Gothenborg,Sweden -Transport Topics -7 Feb 2011: -- Swedish truck maker Scania AB’s fourth-quarter profit tripled as the European truck market rebounded, Bloomberg reported...  Net income jumped to $470 million from $125 million a year ago, Scania said in a statement...  Sales at the company, which is controlled by Volkswagen AG, rose 23% to $3.5 billion...  Scania said in November it was considering a merger with German competitor MAN SE to create Europe’s largest manufacturer of commercial vehicles, Bloomberg reported...


* India - Slowdown? That’s a banned word for truck makers

New Delhi,India -DNA, by Sindhu Bhattacharya -Jan 19, 2011: -- A big debate is raging across the commercial vehicle (CV) industry — has growth begun to slow down, especially in the medium and heavy CV space, or is it a quarterly blip and would things be back on track in the March quarter?... Signs of worry beads are beginning to emerge. The president of Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), Pawan Goenka, says medium and heavy vehicles grew 15% in the December quarter against an industry growth of close to 30% and this in itself is a sign of the segment’s growth moderating...  “But is this a one quarter blip or not, we still don’t know. We are not making any projections for the future,” Goenka said...  The segment grew by 13% in October, 13% in November and 18% in December...  But analysts said Ashok Leyland’s overall sales in Q3 were down 25% over Q2 because of supply chain and logistics issues and supplies from even Tata Motors were inadequate in some pockets because of similar supply chain glitches. M&HCV sales of Tata Motors grew by 21% in Q3 over Q2, though...  Apart from supply shortfalls, industry watchers also point towards the return of financing for the First Time User (FTU) — a disturbing trend which was stopped during 2008-09 after the Indian economy slowed down and financiers realised that catering to FTUs meant a huge jump in bad debts...  A senior official at one of the largest CV financing firms pointed out that 2011 could well be a year of moderation for the industry but it is difficult to say just yet whether the moderation has already begun...

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posted by Unknown @ 7:02 PM  0 comments

Jan 18, 2011

OPINION * USA - Traffic planners still putting speed above safety

The priority of transportation planners and engineers has been to move as much motorized traffic as rapidly as possible

Miami,FL,USA -The Miami Herald Mobile, by Daniel Shoer Roth -4 Jan 2011: ... The Miami-Fort Lauderdale area is the third most dangerous metropolitan area for pedestrians in the United States, according to a study by the nonprofit Transportation for America in Washington D.C., which linked design of highways, streets and avenues to pedestrian fatality rates. From 2007 to 2008, the period covered by the study, there were 329 pedestrian fatalities in our region. That number represented almost a fourth of all traffic-related deaths... The root of the problem is the unbridled sprawl of urban and suburban development that entailed the creation of an overly abundant space designed exclusively for speeding cars, while sidewalks, bicycle lanes and points of access to public transit were neglected... In recent years, the priority of transportation planners and engineers who design South Florida's roads and freeways has been to move as much motorized traffic as rapidly as possible, be it on a major highway or on a street running through a city's downtown area, even on residential neighborhoods. That explains why in every corner of Miami Dade County, roads are under repair or expansion -- and crushing everyone's patience. It's yet another way of keeping us hostages to our cars... (Photo from truckaccidentlaw.org: Hialeah,FL truck accident)


* California - More CA Local Governments Adopting 'Crash Tax'

Los Angeles,CAL,USA -The Los Angeles Times - December 30, 2010: ...  Will charge motorists involved in traffic accidents for emergency response... Sacramento could be largest city in CA to implement crash tax. Smaller cities like Costa Mesa, Fullerton, Santa Ana, Hemet have done so... Costa Mesa fees based on equipment, personnel sent to accident scene... Bill collectors may be used if insurance companies don't pay. Many communities have required insurance to pay for ambulance. Insurers say response is part of public safety funded through taxation... Officials say additional services like road cleanup are logical extension of policy. Officials say budget woes are forcing them to find new revenue. But cities say ban on crash tax could "devastate" city services... Some states have banned collection of accident-response fees... (Photo by Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times - Public officials say budget woes compel them to bill drivers for the cost of sending police and firefighters to accidents. But critics are incensed that cities are charging extra for what once were considered core services)

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posted by Unknown @ 8:15 PM  0 comments

Mar 27, 2009

OPINION * Australia - Business should 'have a go' in recession: Fox

Brisbane,Australia -ATN, by Jason Whittaker -26 March 2009: -- Lindsay Fox isn’t sure whether the tide is in or out on the economy, but he says the credit crunch shouldn’t scare business from “having a go”... The patriarch of the giant Linfox transport and logistics group says Australia can work through what he says is “definitely no question” a recession... Fox, speaking to ATN in Brisbane at the opening of a new Linfox distribution facility, says the current economic environment is the most uncertain he has seen...

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posted by Unknown @ 4:47 AM  0 comments

Apr 19, 2007

OPINION * USA - Can drivers cede control for safety?

NHTSA head says it'll be a tough sell

Detroit,Mich,USA -Automotive News, by Richard Truett -April 19, 2007: -- The next generation of safety equipment will require the driver to give up some control of the car. But innovations such as lane departure warning systems and adaptive cruise control won't be accepted by consumers unless the government and automakers convince drivers to trust the electronics to prevent a crash, Nicole Nason, director of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said Wednesday during a speech at the 2007 SAE World Congress... "Crash-worthiness was the low-hanging fruit. It was easy to convince people to make crash-worthiness part of their purchasing decision. People responded to the message that they needed to be protected from someone else," Nason said. "But the next generation of safety technology could provoke a different response," she added...

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posted by Unknown @ 12:12 PM  0 comments

Apr 14, 2007

OPINION * USA - New technology keeps on trucking

What is needed, says Chris Patterson, are direct incentives to help buyers...

Toronto,Ontario,Canada -Daily Commercial News, by Korky Koroluk -April 13, 2007: -- Canadian and American governments have been told they must do more to help truck and heavy equipment operators convert to the new, environmentally friendly technologies that are being developed... What is needed, says Chris Patterson, are direct incentives to help buyers... Patterson has a vested interest: He’s president and CEO of Freightliner LLC, whose brand names include Freightliner, Sterling, Western Star and Select trucks, as well as Thomas school buses and Detroit Diesel engines. His commercial interest doesn’t stop him from being right, however... The environmentally superior diesel engines mandated by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are on the market, but are much more expensive than the older, dirtier engines. So without some financial help, Patterson says, buyers are forced to put off new purchases, keeping old engines in service longer, and thus helping to defeat the purpose of the new EPA standards...

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Mar 20, 2007

* USA - Truckers Can't Stop the Pollution Their Trucks Cause

Oakland, CA,USA -New California Media (San Francisco,CA), by Viji Sundaram -Mar 19, 2007: -- California's trucks pump out a sizeable chunk of heavy air pollution. But with little incentive to upgrade their trucks and low pay, California's truckers, many of them immigrants, can't afford to retrofit their trucks or healthcare and are among those who suffer most from their vehicles' emissions... When Erick Gaines leaves home for work in the morning, he makes sure he leaves with his inhaler. Gaines is a trucker and he likes it. He loves being able to set his own hours, and he enjoys the independence his job gives him. But he wishes driving a truck wouldn’t take such a heavy toll on his lungs...

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posted by Unknown @ 11:35 AM  0 comments

Feb 24, 2007

Opinion * Canada - 10 reasons why the transportation world is becoming increasingly flat

Ont,CAN -Truck News, by Dan Goodwill (*) -23 Feb 2007: -- In Thomas Friedman’s award winning book “The World is Flat,” he describes how the world’s competitive playing field has been leveled by a series of historic events. In this article I would like to outline the top ten developments that are flattening the transportation world for shippers and carriers:
1. Increased Customer Demands for Speed to Market and Supply Chain Reliability...
2. Increasing Requirements for Security
3. Ongoing Capacity Shortages
4. Fuel Cost Increases
5. Increase in Global Trade, specifically trade with China
6. Outsourcing
7. Expansion of Carrier and Logistics Company Service Portfolios
8. Logistics Industry Consolidation
9. Technological Innovation
10. U.S. Currency Devaluation
(*) Dan Goodwill is president of Dan Goodwill & Associates Inc. He has over 20 years of experience in the logistics and transportation industries in both Canada and the United States. Dan has held executive level positions in the industry including president of Yellow Transportation’s Canada division, president of Clarke Logistics (Canada’s largest Intermodal Marketing Company), general manager of the Railfast division of TNT and vice president, sales & marketing, TNT Overland Express.

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posted by Unknown @ 12:20 PM  0 comments

Feb 20, 2007

Commercial Truck Business * UK - The Samuelsson effect

London,UK -Automotive World (subscription), by Michael Hinks-Edwards -19 Feb, 2007: -- If you scan the business data for the last twelve months, almost everywhere you look in the commercial truck industries you will see record new truck total market... In the American context, consider the case of Navistar, massively exposed to the 2007 downturn in medium and heavy-duty truck demand in NAFTA. ...

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posted by Unknown @ 12:23 PM  0 comments

Feb 12, 2007

OPINION * USA - Avoiding the 'competency trap'

A company's greatest peril is often its own success - Here are three strategies to stay on top

Atlanta,USA -CNN, by Jeffrey Pfeffer -Feb 12, 2007: -- ... Chrysler, for instance, virtually invented the minivan during the 1980s and made a fortune from it. Then came SUVs and hybrids and more recently the spike in gasoline prices... America's car-buying tastes changed, but Chrysler's factories had been configured to produce a particular style of car, and innovation had, of necessity, been narrowly focused on improvements in minivans. In the meantime, other car companies got into minivans, increasing the competition... Under pressure, Chrysler merged with Daimler-Benz... How not to be a victim of success... The first is to avoid excessive specialization. Toyota has never put all its eggs in one basket - it makes high-quality trucks, minivans, even hybrids. By building a broad range of competencies and knowledge, Toyota can react quickly to changes in market conditions... The second is to develop peripheral vision... Finally, understanding that a company's greatest strength can become its greatest weakness when circumstances change can help build a mind-set of continuous learning and vigilance... No company, team, or political party can be equally good at everything. But understanding how success breeds its own problems, and acting on that knowledge, can help mitigate the problem...

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posted by Unknown @ 1:42 PM  0 comments

Feb 8, 2007

Opinions * Canada - Insights on rates from our Shipper-Carrier Issues Roundtable

Are trucking rates likely to drop after three years of significant gains? And how will that affect the shipper-carrier relationship?

Canada -Truck News (CAN) -7 Feb 2007: -- The shipper and motor carrier executives participating in our first annual Issues Roundtable, sponsored by Shaw Tracking, had much to say about rates and a variety of other issues critical to effective transportation practices. Over the next few weeks we will share their insights with you... Participating in the Issues Roundtable were Serge Gagnon; President, XTL Group of Companies; Rob Penner, Vice President, Operations, Bison Transport; Dan Einwechter, President, Challenger Motor Freight; Julie Tanguay; President, L.E. Walker Transport; Neil McKenna Director, Transportation Operations, Canadian Tire Retail; and Bob Ballantyne, President, Canadian Industrial Transportation Association. Lou Smyrlis, Editorial Director of BIG Transportation Media, moderated the roundtable... This week we look at our panelists’ views on rates.

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posted by Unknown @ 4:15 PM  0 comments

Feb 3, 2007

Opinion * USA - The mysterious trouble in the trucking industry

The economy's message is: Keep on truckin'!

USA -Slate, by Daniel Gross -Feb. 2, 2007: -- Even though GDP growth in the 2006 fourth quarter was much better than expected, the stocks of trucking companies, usually an important leading indicator for the economy overall, are mysteriously struggling... Transport stocks are canaries in the coal mine for the Dow... Here's a very long-term chart of the Dow Jones Transportation Average against the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Since they move the goods, a slowdown in transport companies' business usually previews an overall slide. But here's where it gets weird. In theory, the fortunes of all the components of the Transport Index, which include shippers, truckers, railroads, and airlines, should move somewhat in tandem. Most goods that are sent by ship, rail, and air have to go on a truck at some point. It would be strange for one link in the freight chain to be doing well while others are dragging... And yet that's precisely what seems to be happening...

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posted by Unknown @ 1:34 PM  0 comments