Life on the Road - Trucking News Blog

Get ready for major fuel mileage increases!

Senate OKs fuel-economy mandate for trucks
By Avery Vise
Late on June 21, on a 65-27 vote, the U.S. Senate passed an energy bill (H.R. 6) that for the first time would mandate fuel economy improvements in medium- and heavy-duty trucks.
The bill includes other measures of interest to the trucking industry, including a loan program to encourage truck stop electrification.

Could that mean IdleAire?

H.R. 6 includes automotive fuel economy provisions that were adopted May 8 by the Senate Commerce Committee. In addition to raising the automobile fuel economy standard to a 35 mpg average by 2020, the bill would mandate fuel economy improvements on medium- and heavy-duty trucks of 4 percent per year between 2020 and 2030.

Why wait until 2020 to get this started? If the industry standard is 5.5 mpg, a four percent increase would be 5.72 mpg. I’m hoping my math is wrong. If it’s not, this is too little, way too late.

As a reminder from my previous post about the subject.

Splash and Dash - The process of parking a foreign tanker of biodiesel at a US port, splashing a little diesel so it’s 80/20, receiving a US tax credit for the biodiesel, then dashing off to Europe or somewhere else to sell the biodiesel.

Senate committee aims to close loopholes in biodiesel blending
Members of the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance hope to close a loophole to stop foreign traders of fuel from taking advantage of subsidies earmarked for the biodiesel industry.

Committee members marked up tax policy legislation this week to add to a growing energy act to include protections for the biodiesel industry.

It goes on to say they are trying to get into the upcoming US Energy Act.

There are a ton of drivers sitting around waiting for freight. I know when I’m sitting around, I’m looking for a company that has the freight. The problem is, recruiters lie and will tell you they have the freight and will keep you moving. You jump to another carrier and find out they have the same problem as everyone else.

ATA says driver turnover on the rise
ALEXANDRIA, Va. – The driver turnover rate for large truckload and less-than-truckload carriers increased during the first quarter of 2007, marking their highest turnover rates since the end of 2005.Large TL driver turnover posted a 116 percent annualized rate for the 2006 first quarter. Turnover peaked at 136 percent for large TL carriers during the 2005 fourth quarter.
“The softer freight demand contributed to the increase in large TL driver turnover,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “Nearly 80 percent of the large carriers in our sample saw their number of employee drivers fall during the period. In some cases, the drivers that left were not replaced, due to soft and choppy freight levels.”

Even LTL carriers that brag about their low turnover rates are cutting back.

The LTL market, by comparison, reduced overall employment during the 2007 first quarter by 1.6 percent.

Not as bad, but the cutbacks are still there.

A couple of years ago I got into a rather heated discussion with another driver regarding the question of whether or not truckers were “professional drivers”. He insisted that, until people started treating him as a professional, he couldn’t consider himself to be a professional. I, on the other hand, argued that unless I acted as a professional I couldn’t really expect others to treat me as a professional.

My argument, then, begs the question: Just what the heck does it mean to act as a professional? Well, I think Alistair Cooke may have said it best: “A professional is someone who can do his best work when he doesn’t feel like it.” In other words; it’s all about action and attitude.

The people we work with and the people we come in contact with - shippers, receivers, and the public in general - take note of our behavior and form opinions regarding our competence, character, and commitment. Unfortunately, those opinions are likely to be colored by a negative stereotype. The only way I know of to overcome a negative stereotype is by repeatedly refuting it - projecting a positive attitude and performing in a highly competent manner; no matter the circumstance.

To the subject of professionalism, at least on this blog, I’m a Johnny-come-lately. Kathy wrote about the Trucker Profile, Mark wrote about Pride in Your Ride and Wayne has written about Trucking Business Software and Old Salts. Take a look at those posts, they’re all well worth the time, and then give us your insight. What it is that you believe makes you a Professional Driver? Let us know!

Groundbreaking for $80 M biodiesel plant in St. Rose

ST. ROSE, La. — An $80 million biodiesel plant in St. Rose will produce 60 million gallons a year of the vegetable-based fuel, partners say.
“This is the beginning of a great, great industry for Louisiana,” Thomas Coleman, chief executive officer of International-Matex Tank Terminals, where the plant is being built, said at Thursday’s groundbreaking.
Vehicles can run entirely on biodiesel, which is often used as an additive to petroleum-based diesel.
The plant will be Renewable Energy Group’s only plant outside the Midwest. It has three plants open and is building or planning eight more.

Eight more! Maybe we found something the environmentalists will allow us to build!

Here are some random results from the recent Roadcheck 2007 72 hour inspection program.

Rhode Island:

Commercial Inspections: 408 Total Driver & Vehicle Violations: 1,305 Drivers placed Out of Service: 41 Vehicles placed Out of Service: 85 Summons Issued: 107

Maine:

673 safety inspections, 914 total safety violations discovered, 79 vehicles out of service, 102 drivers out of service, 126 log violations, 61 false records of duty status, 14 Drivers found with suspended licenses (OAS), 13 drivers found to be disqualified to drive a commercial vehicle, 5 drug or alcohol violations

Also arrested 15 drivers for immigration violations by ICE.

Texas:

inspected 6,051 commercial vehicles, placing 27 percent of them out of service for equipment violations. 186 drivers out of service for hours-of-service violations. 1,123 trucks that needed a brake adjustment, 922 that had brake system problems, 188 that had tire or wheel problems and 273 that had light malfunctions.

Tennessee:

413 Commercial vehicles at Tennessee’s nine weigh stations and at random points along the interstates. During the Level 1 inspections, 59 commercial vehicles and 35 commercial drivers were placed out-of-service. 5 Seat belt violations, 33 hours of service violations and 1 false log violation.

Oregon:

A total of 93 Oregon safety inspectors, working at 58 sites around the state, inspected 746 trucks and drivers. They found 39% of trucks and 19% of drivers had critical safety violations that placed them out-of-service.

Starting to sound like a broken record, eh! It amazes me that drivers will actually pull onto a scale without doing something as simple as fastening a seatbelt! One thing that I saw that should concern all of us were the arrest for immigration violations. Beyond the well publicized driver in Nebraska that couldn’t speak English, we apparently have a significant of truck drivers working here illegally, as shown by arrest in Maine. How are these people getting and keeping CDL’s?

Don’t you feel truck driving is like this video? This is from a friend of mine that drives to support his movie making habit. The music is from Lord of the Rings and the video has some cool effect with some great scenery from Utah. I think Aaron puts them together really well. Enjoy your weekend.

‘Security’ at the cost of free trade

To the federal government, nothing is more important than Canada’s economic relationship with the United States. Our foreign policy – including our decision to fight in Afghanistan – is designed to keep the borders open at Windsor and Fort Erie. So is our security policy.

Ottawa is instituting its controversial no-fly list this week less to protect Canada than to convince Washington that we are onside with the war against terror. The fact that no-fly lists are almost certainly pointless (real terrorists use aliases) is irrelevant. The aim is to put on a show that keeps the Americans happy and the borders open. Read the rest of this entry »

May retail sales: best in 16 months. A Commerce Department report delivered another sign of a healthier economy: retail sales were up 1.4% in May compared to April, double the gain that economists had expected.

Federal deficit shrinking. More good news: at midweek, the Treasury Department reported that the federal deficit stood at $148.5 billion through May, 34.6% less than a year earlier. The Congressional Budget Office forecasts the deficit at $177 billion by the end of the federal budget year on September 30. That would mean a 28.7% reduction of last year’s deficit of $248.2 billion.

NASDAQ at 6-year high. The tech-heavy index closed Friday at 2626.71. The Dow wrapped up the week with its best 3-day stretch since 2004, and the S&P 500 also made up last week’s losses.

The National Average for Diesel rose a little from $2.792 to $2.805.

When the clock struck midnight on the Nevada regular session, a bill to establish four ports of entry in the state officially died.

Sponsored by Assembly Majority Leader John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, the bill sought to allow the state Department of Transportation or private companies to build and operate ports of entry along Interstate 15 in southern Nevada and Interstate 80 in northern Nevada.

The bill – AB374 – remained in the Assembly Ways and Means Committee at the close of the session that ended June 5.

Supporters said the facilities are needed on the state’s eastern and western borders to reduce vulnerability to drug smuggling, people smuggling, explosives and terrorists. They also said high-tech equipment would be used at the locations for scanning up to 20,000 trucks a day.

Other advocates said the facilities would make it easier to spot truckers with unsafe trucks or with criminal records.

Opponents said ports of entry would cause significant delays to the trucking industry. They also questioned the legality of the bill because in-state truckers wouldn’t have to pay fees for inspection.

Other critics said the entry points would give only “an illusion of security” because there are 37 highways that enter the state. A spokesman for NDOT said the new entry ports would be “just diverting the problem” to other highw