Life on the Road - Trucking News Blog

right now in trucking things are based on 6mpg although 5.5 would be closer from what people tell me.I think Idle air or something close is what they are talking about. I want to know how long the hoses will be.Lets see i need to deliver at 3am 50 miles from the nearest truck stop an I wont get paid if I drive back to the truck stop. an I need a 10 hour break either just before I deliver or just after.My next load has to pick up so I can meet my break.Something wont work right here.

Its amazing how the U.S. car industry - and now the imports are blinded by short term profits and ego.
It became apparent in the early 70’s ( gas crunch) that we , in North America , had better smarten up. Yet the answer of the U.S. car industry was to say ” We do not want to build econoboxes / more fuel efficient vehicles “. Either no money ( i.e profit) or not enough status.
It was left to the Japanese auto industry to provide these products. There were no entry level vehicles for new or younger drivers. Did G.M. forget its lesson of success - move consumers up the product line chev> pontiac >>> buick > Cadillac ?
Regardless once a car customer is lost to another line - its a long haul back. People and their families are rather conservative / loyal to their reliable , trusted transportation.
The major way to get them back, is with either much more innovative products or discount price greatly - just as good , why buy a toyota Camry when you can get x for thousands of dollars less ( read thousands of dollars less profit as well)
Next came S.U.V’s. How can we make good profit and evade the fuel economy and safety regulations. Take big old trucks whose costs were paid for long ago , load them up with options and sell those at great profit.
The hallmark of pride of the U.S. car producers became “tank trucks” whereas the Japanese companies were working on hybrid technology . ( Not practical yet but a good step in the right direction).
Now the Japanese trucks and S.U.V.s are even bigger and larger than the American models.
I do not who should be hung first - the U.S. auto executives , the unions or the workers
And yet cry for loyalty
What a bunch of stupid people

so as we work on other fuel supplies to take the place of gas we take the money away to look for them.an no I dont like the e-box an the hybrid batteries do more damage than the gas engine.an after the same people that just gave use a lose of fuel millage with ulsd you say go to go.by the way gm has a new battery that only does as much damage as a gas engine.Is that better? Your call

I agree with you on the fact they should be starting the process well before 2020. That’s a longs way away and I think more could be done about it right now then what there is.

-Scott

Although this whole fuel pricing business is the biggest example of speculation and profiteering we have ever seen - we have no one to blame but ourselves
Speculators are now bidding up the price , government loves is for more greed in taking in additional taxes based on percentages of the price of the product . The higher the price , the higher the taxes taken in.
Government is rewarded and so goes along. Its not unlike a heroin addict taking a fix
Then the oil companies point to the higher prices - which are the result of the speculators and government silent complicity. The ball rolls on.
Its not as if China and India came on board in one minute
It was coming - although its been whipped up for profit purposes
We had a taste in 1973
We allowed our leaders to go blindly on - with their emphasis on foolish thing of little importance - Monica Lewinsky and the like
To make matters even more arcane - we fell for big old trucks loaded with options - suvs as “cool”
What foolishness. If Brazil can solve their problem - we should of been able to do it in a second
If a storekeeper rips you off and on top of that hates you - and even attacks you - do you go back for more
We have to OPEC