Trucks World News

Dec 3, 2014

TRUCKERS' SHORTAGE * USA - * Jamaica: Drivers' Courses

* Massachusetts - Will the trucker shortage glitch Cyber Monday?

Boston,MASS,USA -The Christian Sciente Monitor, by Lisa Suhay -NOV 28, 2014: -- A trucking industry trade group warns that, once again, the USA faces a shortage of truckers for the holiday season... It may be virtually impossible for sellers to keep all the delivery promises made to cyber shoppers given the shipping industry’s ongoing lack of truck drivers... “FedEx has invested billions of dollars into our network to accommodate growth. In the past five years, FedEx Ground has invested close to $2.5 billion on projects related to growing our capacity—things like expansions and new facilities,” Bonny Harrison, FedEx Global Media Relations, wrote in an email, and adds, “We are also hiring 50,000 seasonal workers to prepare for the volume, which is propelled by online shopping, and we will run a seven-day operation during the holiday season. We have also been in close collaboration with our retail customers to ensure we have an accurate reading of what they’re volumes will look like” ... The lack of qualified truck drivers is not new, and is in fact easing somewhat... Improved economic growth and healthier freight volumes will only put more pressure on the driver market and the driver shortage...

* Jamaica - Trucking for overseas jobs - Pro Driver offers one, three month courses

Kingston Wharf,Jamaica -The Jamaica Gleaner, by Chad Bryan -November 30, 2014: -- With overseas companies looking to recruit Jamaicans for employment in the trucking industry, a local driving company, Pro Driver Jamaica Tractor Trailer Driving School, has established a programme for quick mastery of the massive vehicles... The programme, which normally takes three months, will equip the student with stopping and turning techniques, sharing the road, basic manoeuvrability, controlled braking, reversing, smooth up and down shifting and how to inspect the vehicle... It is done every Sunday in an area close to the Kingston Wharf at a cost of $9,000 per hour. There is also an express course that lasts for a month... Powis also stated that a lot of persons are showing interest in the programme. Most of them are interested in employment in the overseas trucking industry...

Labels: truckers shortage, truckers training

Oct 13, 2014

SAFETY TRUCKS * Canada: Truckers don't take extensive safety training

* Ontario - Cambridge driver calls for mandatory safety training

(Photo by Marta Iwanek/Record: Tractor-trailers are a big part of the traffic on Highway 401 just before Cambridge)
Kitchener,ONT,CAN -Our Windsor, by Gordon Paul -Oct 10, 2014: -- The 60,000-kilogram tractor-trailer on your tail on Highway 401 is probably being driven by a professional who did an extensive safety check of the truck before getting behind the wheel... Or maybe not!!! ... To get a truck licence in Ontario, drivers are not required to take extensive safety training. And Cambridge truck driver Karl Evers says it's a recipe for disaster... He says trucking is becoming a penny-pinching, corner-cutting industry that puts safety on the back burner... Despite growing truck traffic, the number of deadly crashes involving large trucks in Ontario has been dropping. From 2002 to 2011, the number of trucks increased by 23 per cent. During that period, the number of deaths due to crashes with large trucks fell 41 per cent, from 171 in 2002 to 101 in 2011... A safety blitz in August in Kitchener inspected 185 trucks and commercial vans. Most of them were transport trucks. Half of them were ordered out of service... A common infraction found in the blitz was poorly secured loads. Other problems include bad tires, worn and twisted safety chains and leaking brake fluid... But poor maintenance isn't the only issue. Driver fatigue is a big problem, Evers said. Commercial drivers are required by law to take a period of eight consecutive hours off after driving for 14 hours, and not everyone follows the rule...

Labels: safety trucks, truckers training

Jun 9, 2010

Trained Drivers * Europe - Save lives and money

"Generally speaking the proficiency level is low,” says Vladimir Myslik at Volvo Trucks in the Czech Republic. “We have a major shortage of drivers and many of them are young and lack experience. The older drivers can also be suspicious as they think they know it all already, but quickly change when they have done a course"

Gothenburg,Sweden -Fleet Directory (UK), by Lee Sibbald - June 7, 2010: -- A poorly secured load can cause major financial losses and every year people die on Europe’s roads due to inadequate driver training... To improve the skills of truck drivers, including in areas such as the securing of loads, Volvo Trucks is the first vehicle manufacturer to roll out an extensive programme of driver training throughout Europe... The requirement for further training is only one of a series of measures adopted in recent years to make the requirements on professional drivers more stringent, and this is something that is changing the role of the professional. The digital tachograph, on-board computers, telematics and the development of the sector as such are some examples... An Paepen, Manager of Volvo Trucks Driver Development programme, explains that load securing training normally takes just over a morning and the afternoon is spent on transport security; that is to say how the driver can protect himself and his load against crime. In addition to load securing and transport security Volvo’s courses for profession... (Photo: The incline gradually approaches 60 degrees. On the cargo bed is a two-tonne heat exchanger, strapped down with tensioning straps and restrained with a wooden beam secured by four nails. The heavy heat exchanger does not move an inch. We are at the Volvo Truck Corporation’s facility in Gothenburg, Sweden where load safety training is in progress. Another practical exercise is to see if the weight of the load has any effect on how easily it starts to slide)

Labels: driving safety, road safety campaign, truckers training

Apr 10, 2010

TRUCKERS' JOBS * USA - UPS Thinks Out of the Box on Driver Training

Driver training is crucial for Atlanta-based UPS, which employs 99,000 U.S. drivers and says it will need to hire 25,000 over the next five years

Landover,MD,USA -The New York Times, by Jennifer Levitz -7 April 2010: -- Vexed that some 30% of driver candidates flunk its traditional training, United Parcel Service Inc. is moving beyond the classroom to ready its rookies for the road. In the place of books and lectures are videogames, a contraption that simulates walking on ice and an obstacle course around an artificial village. Based on results so far, the world's largest package-delivery company is convinced that 20-somethings—the bulk of UPS driver recruits—respond best to high-tech instruction and a chance to hone skills... Driver training is crucial for Atlanta-based UPS, which employs 99,000 U.S. drivers and says it will need to hire 25,000 over the next five years to replace retiring Baby Boomers... Candidates vying for a driver's job, which pays an average of $74,000 annually, now spend one week at Integrad, an 11,500-square-foot, low-slung brick UPS training center 10 miles outside of Washington, D.C. There they move from one station to another practicing the company's "340 Methods," prescribed by UPS industrial engineers to save seconds and improve safety in every task from lifting and loading boxes to selecting a package from a shelf in the truck... So far, the new methods, designed by UPS and researchers from Virginia Tech, are proving successful, UPS says... (Photo from AP/Fox News - UPS driver Brent Boyd poses with his truck, in which he has driven a million miles.)

Labels: drivers training, truckers jobs, truckers training

Sep 18, 2009

HGV Drivers Training * Ireland - IRHA gets RSA approval

The Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) has been approved by the Road Safety Authority to provide mandatory driver CPC training for HGV drivers

Bracetown,Clonee,Ireland -HGV Ireland -16 Sept 2009: ... Training will take place at the IRHA's head-office, Bracetown, Clonee. The Association has been approved to provide all modules to interested parties on an on-going basis... Meanwhile the IRHA will continue its schedule of ADR refresher courses for drivers on Saturday & Sunday the 7th/8th of Novembe,r with a two day refresher course on ADR tanks... (Photo from truckingindustryforum: Irish continental truckers scania)

Labels: truckers training

May 14, 2007

Training * UK - Lorry drivers could fail to comply with an important new EU Directive on

The Road Haulage Association warns: Embrace Training or Lose Drivers

London,UK -TNN -14 May 2007: -- In the biggest change to lorry driving in 40 years, ALL drivers will have to be able to show they have received further training from an approved instructor – a total of 35 hours over a five-year period... Some companies are getting their systems in place now - but many others may be tempted to do nothing until it is too late - which would be disastrous, RHA chief executive Roger King said... The new Directive for truck drivers comes into force in September 2009 but leaves open when the training can be taken. That means there is no legal obligation on drivers or employers to do anything until autumn 2014...