Archive for September, 2012

Anyone who’s seen van trailers with sides bulging outward or dented from inside knows that at least some of that is caused by shifting cargo.

There’s no B-Team in trucking. Nor do parallel roadways exist where inexperienced rookies can safely hone their skills before stepping onto the big road with the pros.

The boom in natural gas production in the U.S. has created an oversupply, leading to 10-year lows in natural gas prices. At the same time, some natural gas producers have cut back because of the low prices. If demand for natural gas increases, some wonder, won’t prices increase, too?

In 2003 and again in 2004, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance conducted continent-wide surveys of drivers’ brake system knowledge. The results were shocking.

After a three-year-long study, the state of Utah will be permanently setting the speed limit at 80 mph for two sections of Interstate 15.

HANOVER, Germany – During a press conference at IAA, the International CV-Show in Hanover, the commercial vehicle members of the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association cautioned that the benefits of the latest emission-reducing technologies will not be felt unless new vehicles actually are put on the roads.

Grant money has been made available in the state of New Jersey for snow and ice removal equipment for commercial vehicles.

HANOVER, Germany – The Iveco Stralis Hi-Way was elected Truck of the Year 2013 by a jury of 25 commercial vehicle journalists from 25 magazines and as many markets throughout Europe.

Atlanta’s I-285, a perimeter route legendary for its congestion, will soon be seeing a new technology meant to help move traffic along.

Just how clean is the latest clean diesel technology? Put it this way: A study by the University of California-Riverside found commercially cooked hamburgers emit more particulate matter than diesel trucks meeting EPA 2007 and EPA 2010 emissions standards. The UC-Riverside study was funded by the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District.

HANOVER, GERMANY – Twenty years of aerodynamic research is behind a streamlined semitrailer displayed this week at the huge Hanover truck show in Germany, says a Daimler Trucks executive who briefed a crowd of journalists on the efforts behind the vehicle.

“Dock walk,” the phenomenon of the trailer’s body moving slightly away from the loading dock when a heavy forklift rolls aboard, has been around since air-ride suspensions came into use on trailers.

It didn’t take long on the road before Siphiwe Baleka realized he was getting a truckers gut. Baleka had just left a 15-year career working for nonprofit organizations and was working as a lease owner-operator for Prime Inc. while he figured out his next move.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration ordered Kansas-based commercial truck company HP Distribution LLP and an affiliated company, HP Distribution LLC, to immediately cease all transportation services based on serious hours-of-service and other safety violations that posed an imminent hazard to public safety.

The American Transportation Research Institute recently launched a survey on truck parking information needs and system requirements.

Interstate 44 at West Bypass (Route 160) in Springfield, Mo., will be closed starting at 10 p.m. Friday, Sept. 21 and will remain closed until as late as 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 22 to allow contractor crews to remove half of the West Bypass bridge over I-44.

Utility Trailer Manufacturing announced the expansion of its refrigerated trailer manufacturing plant in Marion, Va.

The Environmental Protection Agency announced it will require 1.28 billion gallons of bio-based diesel production in 2013, finalizing a standard it proposed more than a year ago.

EGears, which offers online and video-based education for truck drivers, is also launching a website and resource: TheHealthyTrucker.net.

Alternative Hydrogen Solutions named Christopher L. Franklin chief financial officer. Franklin brings more than 20 years of finance and public accounting experience in both the public and private sector to AHS.

By: Allen Smith

Personal injury attorneys and safety groups work to heavily promote the dangers that the big 18-wheeler trucks create on our highways and interstates. Major news outlets do their part in this promotion as well.

Safety organizations calling for more federal regulations to be placed on truck drivers, state that fatigue is a contributing factor in as many as 30-40% of all heavy truck crashes. The problem with this statement is that it is false.

Commercial trucks are involved in 2.4% of all car accidents and more than 80% of those accidents are the fault of the non-commercial driver. Furthermore, only 16% of all truck driving accidents are due to the truck driver’s fault and of those death related accidents, only 4% of trucks are fatigue related.

The truth as it relates to car and truck crashes, is that the driver of the car is at fault over 80% of the time. This is all the more reason that driver education should include training in how to drive around big trucks and parents should help educate their coming-of-driving-age kids on the major driving habits that are the cause of car and truck crashes.

The most serious problem that non-commercial drivers face is the misunderstanding of the mechanics of truck driving. Other factors include basic safe driving skills such as obeying the speed limit, lane changing and respect for other drivers.

The most common causes of car crashes with semi-trucks are:

Driving in the truck’s “No-Zones”– All 18-wheelers have “blind spots” where the driver can not see the car due to the size of the commercial vehicle.

These “blind spots” include directly behind the truck, in front of the truck which includes the lane that the truck is in as well as one lane to the right and a “blind spot” beside the truck’s right door. In addition, there is a “no zone” on each side of the truck that can span for several lanes.

• Pulling out in front of a truck without proper acceleration — It takes an 18-wheeler a longer distance to stop. As a rule of thumb, it takes a semi tractor-trailer 40% longer to come to a stop than it does a car. Depending on road conditions, loaded weight and other such factors, it can even take longer. For example, the stopping distance for a tractor-trailer that is fully loaded on dry pavement going at 60 mph is approximately 335 feet, nearly the length of a football field.

•  Driving between or along-side big trucks — This is one of the most dangerous habits one can do as large trucks create an air flow which can pull the car into the rig. If necessary, increase your speed in order to get past the truck as soon as possible to avoid any possible air turbulence.

• Maneuvering to the right of a truck that is making a right turn — When you do this, the driver of the rig at some point, can not see you due to the “blind spot” that this maneuver creates.

• Changing lanes abruptly in front of a truck — Again, due to the size and weight of these large vehicles, their stopping or slowing down process is greater and simply through inertia and the laws of physics, will not be able to stop in time to prevent a crash.

• Misjudging an approaching truck’s speed at an intersection — Many crashes between cars and trucks occur at intersections while the truck is approaching for a turn. Due to the size of the commercial vehicle, its speed can appear to be much slower than it is actually moving; much like a large airliner flying through the sky; it appears to be moving very slowly, while we all know that this is not the case.

The list of causes for car and truck accidents could very well be endless, but these are the top serious driving habits non-commercial drivers perform which result in the 80% of auto drivers being the direct cause of car and truck related crashes.

Other factors include:

• Driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol
• Ignoring road conditions
• Talking on a cell phone and/or texting while driving
• Speeding
• Reckless driving/moving in and out of traffic
• Simply not paying attention
• Young driver inexperience

Driver education should include a course in teaching how to drive around semi trucks, not only for the young teen driver but for the general public as well.  If such a course is never instigated,  then parents must take on this task because the life they save could be their very own children.

© 2012, Allen Smith. All rights reserved.

Technorati Tags: blind spots, car, driver education, highway safety, how to drive around big trucks, no zone, truck crashes, trucking

A few three-martini lunches and a hunting trip won’t hurt your chances of keeping a good customer, but it will take more than a few perks to keep today’s fleets coming back.

Compared to, say, slopping out a hog barn, checking tire pressure is a hoot. No wonder drivers take so readily to the task.

HELP Inc. is gearing up a three-state pilot project to test a communications system that will add driver and credentialing information to its portfolio of wireless roadside services.

HELP, best known for its PrePass weigh station clearance system, will use a 5.9 GHz communications protocol to collect a wider range of data than just the PrePass truck weight and identification information.

American Trucking Associations is taking this week, National Truck Driver Appreciation Week, to honor the 3.1 million professional truck drivers that deliver America’s freight safely and securely every day.

The summer months saw a drop in cargo thefts compared to the second quarter, but there was a slight increase in the theft of electronics, auto/parts and pharmaceuticals, according to numbers compiled by FreightWatch International.

National Tank Truck Carriers Inc. announced that its Safety Committee will develop a new tank truck driver recognition program for board consideration at its next membership meeting.

Kevin Beaty is joining Calstart as a vice president and director of its high-efficiency truck program.

Old Dominion Freight Line, based in Thomasville, N.C., is debuting a 160,000-square-foot rooftop solar panel system its s headquarters. This is the third largest of its kind in North Carolina.

Con-way Multimodal, a freight brokerage division of Con-way Inc.’s operating unit Menlo Worldwide Logistics, named Dallas as the location for its business headquarters.

Extreme trucking conditions

Performance and Reliability in the Face of Adversity

By: Oliver Emms

Haulage and transportation are critical to any economy. The UK’s Department for Transport for example recorded 2.47 million goods vehicles traveled from the UK to mainland Europe in 2010. It was also reported that this figure was up approximately 74% from eight years previously.

With increasing HGV traffic on our road networks and journey routes becoming longer and more diverse, it’s vital to ensure the vehicles used are as best equipped as possible to stand up to a variety of extreme operating conditions.

There are numerous factors that are considered and monitored when carrying out development testing for on-highway trucks. Varying climates can impact on engine performance in a number of ways. Both hot and cold temperatures can pose significant challenges for our trucks when operating. Here is a summary of each condition and the resultant issues that can occur.

Hot Climates:

Grenada, Spain is one location visited in order to carry out tests in high temperatures. In summer months, these can be in excess of 40 degrees Celsius. A range of trucks both small and large are often ferried abroad from the UK and driven to their relevant locations. High heat levels can cause the water contained in engine compartments to evaporate leading to difficulties with diesel traveling through the fuel lines. Levels of oxygen in the air can be lower in high temperatures and this can lead to difficulties in fuel ignition too.

Tests carried out in these conditions include steep hill climbs, high altitude, and high load trucking. Engine and exhaust temperatures are monitored and fuel efficiency is also recorded throughout the various tests. Stop and start town driving is important to assess too as fuel economy can drop significantly.

Cold Climates:

One destination for testing trucks in colder climates is Sweden. Falling inside the Arctic Circle, and with temperatures falling to -22 degrees Celsius in the colder months; it is an optimum climate for assessing the performance of goods vehicles.

The main problems that occur with trucks in sub zero temperatures are the vehicles’ diesel and battery acid freezing. However there have been developments in design to address these issues such as fuel additives and the installation of specially adapted heaters into fuel tanks.

The two main drivers of engine development and advances in technology are fuel economy and emissions regulations compliance. It is down to the engineers to balance performance and reliability with sustainable and environment conscious trucking. Rising oil prices and stricter emissions regulations are certainly paving the way for innovative, forward thinking, and creative engineering.

Oliver Emms writes for Truck Locator.  You can browse a wide range of vehicles for sale at www.trucklocator.co.uk

© 2012, Allen Smith. All rights reserved.

Technorati Tags: emissions regulations, engine testing, extreme conditions, fuel economy, truck, truck locator, trucking, uk, united kingdom

At a time when the independent parts and service provider is faced with increasing competition from industry consolidation, cheap overseas parts and online ordering, how do you compete?

Everybody talks about being “green” in their business practices, and consumers often say they want to buy “green” products. But the disparity between talk and action is often wide.

There’s nothing like a smack up side the head with a two-by-four to get your attention. That’s what the Federal Motor Carrier Administration is doing to maintenance with its Compliance, Safety, Accountability program.

HANOVER, GERMANY — Global reach is the key to Daimler Trucks’ strategy for success in markets around the world, and the large company’s economies of scale in manufacturing and distribution will generate profits that can be poured into research and development that will save customers fuel and money.

During its recent annual meeting, the Governors Highway Safety Association strengthened its policy positions regarding distracted driving and drugged driving, including calling for a ban on handheld cell phones for all drivers.

Once again this week, the price of diesel per gallon has gone up only marginally over last week. Prices rose only 0.3 cents per gallon on average to $4.14, which is an increase of approximately 30 cents over prices last year.

The House passed a six-month continuing resolution Thursday evening to fund the government until early 2013 — without incorporating the transportation funding levels enacted in the new transportation bill, MAP-21.

ATA’s Safety Management Council announced its 2012 award winners at its Safety & Human Resources National Conference & Exhibition in Kansas City, Mo.

A new exit for Arsenal Road off of I-55 in Illinois is scheduled to open the week of Sept. 24.