Archive for June, 2012

Traction is a funny thing: We know when we don’t have enough of it, but can we quantify how much is enough? It’s a question that arises when discussing fuel-efficient tires.

In the abstract, reducing fuel cost represents a pretty straightforward undertaking: Get as many miles as possible out of every gallon of fuel, pay as little as possible for those gallons, and reduce the number of miles each truck travels to get the job done.

Truckstop electrification continues to expand, with four more sites in the Mid-South and central U.S. now added to the growing national network of places at which drivers can plug in to reduce idling and save money.

It turns out that Congress can compromise after all.

At the last moment, House and Senate negotiators wheeled and dealed their way to a highway agreement in which no one gets everything and everyone gets something.

The bill still is not certain. Senators and Congressmen are reviewing the negotiators’ agreement and have until Saturday midnight to sign off on it. But there is considerable pressure to get the thing done so members can tell their constituents they have signed off on a jobs bill.

Looking at the period of 2010 through 2035, the U.S. Department of Energy believes the rate of growth in U.S. energy use will slow, domestic crude oil production will increase, reliance on imported energy will drop, the country will become a net exporter or natural gas rather than a net importer, and carbon dioxide emissions will remain below their 2005 level.

RWI Transportation, an asset-based logistics company providing regional and national truckload, LTL, expedited, and refrigerated warehousing services, is expanding with the lease of a second facility for its logistics unit located in Wilder, Ky.

The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality is offering $5.7 million in grants to eligible individuals, businesses, governmental entities and school districts to replace older diesel vehicles with new alternative fuel and hybrid vehicles.

From June 28 through July 8, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is conducting a nationwide roadside inspection sweep targeting commercial trucks transporting fireworks categorized as Class 1 Explosives.

ACS Advertising, A Xerox company, announced the promotion of eight team members as the agency develops its client service team.

There are still legions of drivers who are not practicing even the most basic fuel-saving techniques. Just hang around an intersection with a lot of truck traffic and listen

Did you know that Mack Truck at one time built trailers? I didn’t until last week when, along with other truck writers, I toured the Mack Museum in its recently established Customer Center in Allentown, Pa.

Congress appears close to agreement on reauthorization of the federal highway program.

Reports from various sources last evening indicated congressional leaders had a tentative agreement on a two-year bill. It appears that the bill will not include a controversial provision requiring approval of the Keystone XL pipeline, nor one to mandate electronic onboard recorders to keep track of driver hours of service.

A new study says the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s safety data under its new Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program does not accurately predict crashes.

Carriers are still reluctant to add capacity, according to results from Transport Capital Partners’ Second Quarter 2012 Business Expectations Survey. Seventy-one percent of carriers expect to add little or no capacity, a slight increase from last quarter’s 65%.

EPA-2010 engines are once again taking a toll on heavy-duty truck quality and customer satisfaction, as customers are reporting more problems with their truck engines, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 U.S. Heavy-Duty Truck Customer Satisfaction Study.

The Texas Department of Public Safety inspected more than 8,000 commercial motor vehicles during a three-day inspection effort earlier this month as part of Roadcheck 2012.

Drivers in the San Francisco Bay Area will be paying more for tolls starting Sunday, July 1. Tolls are increasing on all seven state-owned oll bridges in the area for big trucks, recreational vehicles and cars towing trailers, reports the Mercury News.

Tom Moore has been promoted to senior vice president of the National Private Truck Council.

3PL Evans Distribution Systems has expanded with a new operation in Itasca, Ill., to support automotive suppliers.

Diesel exhaust fluid provider Yara North America will open a new storage terminal in Bayonne, N.J., to give fleets and retail outlets throughout the East Coast with increased access to Air1 DEF

A new law in Iowa makes it easier for former military personnel to make the switch to a commercial driving career.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s annual drug and alcohol strike force sweep, held April 30 to May 11, resulted in 287 commercial bus and truck drivers being removed from the roads. More than 128 companies face enforcement actions as a result of the two-week sweep.

The Oregon Department of Transportation is launching a $4 million new electric truck buyer incentive program.

U.S. diesel and gasoline prices fell for the 11th straight week, falling to 21 cents and 13.7 cents, respectively, below fuel prices from one year ago, according to the Energy Information Administration’s weekly fuel update.

Trailer industry orders softened in May, reports ACT Research Co. Given that orders in May have fallen below April volumes in 10 of the past 12 years, the decline was anticipated.

Opposition is already ramping up to the second border-crossing bridge planned to link Detroit, Mich., with Windsor, Ontario, Canada.

YRC Freight will raise base rates an average of 6.9%, adding to a trend of similar LTL rate hikes.

Pilot Flying J is teaming up with Truckers to Triathletes to help professional drivers maintain healthy lifestyles.

Bosselman Boss Truck Shops opened a new location in Waynesville, N.C., at I-40 and NC 209 at 3710 Crabtree Road.

With a potential calamity hanging in the balance, why didn’t law enforcement in this small Canadian tourist town take any action to prevent it, or at least investigate what I had called to tell them?

Heavy Vehicle Electronic License Plate, best known for its PrePass weigh-in-motion service, is developing a program inspectors can use to screen all trucks as they pull into weigh stations.

The Department of Transportation announced that 47 transportation projects in 34 states and the District of Columbia will receive a total of almost $500 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s TIGER (Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery) 2012 program.

West Virginia Gov. Earl Ray Tomblin signed an executive order establishing a Natural Gas Vehicle Task Force to investigate transitioning the state’s vehicle fleet to natural gas fuel and developing an infrastructure to support compressed-natural-gas vehicles.

Technology allowed more than 1.1 million commercial vehicles to bypass weigh stations in Washington State last year, according to the Gray Notebook, the Washington State Department of Transportation’s quarterly performance report.

Four cargo tank test and inspections workshops offered by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the National Tank Truck Carriers association are open for registration.

Hino Motors will invest nearly $6 million in its Williamstown, W.Va., plant, $2.9 million of which is for machinery, equipment and plant improvements.

The Automotive Parts Remanufacturing Association is hosting its Heavy-Duty Brake Clinic July 26-28 in Chicago.

A Titan by Mack now greets visitors to the Levitt Pavilion at SteelStacks, an arts and cultural center and the former site of Bethlehem Steel in Bethlehem, Pa.

Seattle University recently recognized Kenworth and Paccar for their support of the Project Center in the university’s College of Science and Engineering.

In an environment that should support healthy demand, ACT Research says a lack of confidence by the credit-buyer side of the market is at the root of the three-month downturn experienced in the Class 8 market.