Life on the Road - Trucking News Blog

Trucking is a great industry. Short of being an economist not a lot of jobs are on the front of the economy. Lets face it, if the stuff at Walmart isn’t selling we know it before the guru’s on Wall street do. When freight prices start to dip we know that somebody isn’t buying something. As a trailer salesman, I get to see the many different kinds of freight and what is moving (paying) and what is not. Since most who would read this are involved in trucking I’ll skip most of the elementary trailer stuff and jump right in to the trends that we are seeing. In full disclosure I will, upfront say that I sell trailers for a living. I present the following based on the market conditions that I see here in North Texas.

I’ll start with the dry vans. Seeing as how this is really the most basic commodity, it has never been the big money maker in the industry, especially for the owner operator. Unless you can find a niche market that pays well it is very tough to make it. Since this is where most drivers enter their career, it has entry level wages and high turn over. Currently new van sales are in the toilet, with no thought of them coming out any time before next summer. This tells me that the freight in this sector is only going to get cheaper over the winter. If you run vans start pinching pennies now. To the other side if you have good hauls and are one of the few making good money in this sector now is the time to buy equipment. Most of the factories have a huge stock inventory and many are beginning to consider ways to get rid of it.

Read the rest of this entry »

A little positive press for truck-drivers. CNBC is going to tell the story of a Florida womens struggle to drive and deal with her diabetes. CNBC will air the story during its dLife TV segment at 7:00 pm Eastern Sunday. Be sure to watch Sunday night if you can, and even if you can’t be sure to check out the dLife website, it is full of info on dealing with diabetes. This is an important issue in trucking, very few things can end your career as fast and suddenly as being diagnosed with diabetes. Read the rest of this entry »

You’re driving along when you see this, THING in the right hand lane going slow. Sometimes it has a little car,minivan or pickup following it or leading it or both all decked out with cute little amber lites and red or orange flags.

Sometimes it takes up more than one lane sometimes it takes up the WHOLE ROAD. It’s a Heavy Hauler. It might be me. I’m a Heavy Hauler. I’m doing the best I can, it’s not easy being heavy and wide and long and tall.

I have a big motor eighteen speeds and good gear ratios still, them hills is tough. And you wanna talk about fuel economy? It is to laugh. When I’m loaded, maybe 3 mpg, lots of times less, LOTS less.

For example I just come off a project I was on for three months (see here ). On those loads my gross weight was 140,000 lbs, height was about 17ft, width was about 14ft and I was 106 foot long. I had a pilot car the whole way, two part way and I was by no means quick, or agile or fast, sometimes it would take several minutes just to turn a corner.

Read the rest of this entry »

This week I actually put a theme to the weekly trivia post; but I didn’t come up with my usual ten. Sorry. I’ve been unusually busy over the last ten days and it’s only going to get worse over the next two weeks. As a matter of fact, I probably won’t be able to write anything at all for the next couple of weeks; I’m going to be far above the Arctic Circle putting in some long days in Barrow, Alaska. I guess that’s fitting ’cause Barrow’s one of those places where the sun comes up on May 10th and doesn’t set again until August 2nd. Anyway, enough of my whining. Let’s get on with the trivia… Read the rest of this entry »

In its biggest acquisition in its 24-year history, Con-way is buying privately held Joplin, Mo.-based Contract Freighters Inc. (CFI), the nation’s 22nd-largest truckload carrier, for $750 million. Analysts and company officials hailed the purchase as a strong move by Con-way to enhance its TL presence.

The addition of CFI to Con-way’s existing $90 million TL division creates a business unit with more than $500 million in annual truckload freight revenue in a combination of two non-union companies. Con-way was CFI’s largest customer, at about $26 million a year, before the purchase, which is expected to close in the third quarter.

Read the rest of this entry »

Routing is probably the most popular reason for a trucker to get a laptop. There are a zillion of them out there, I’ve tried a bunch of them. None of them do exactly what I want, the way I want to do it, so I have and use three at the moment.

Microsoft Streets and Trips. It’s not truck specific, but it’s an easy interface, it’s fast, the entire program and all maps can be loaded on the hard drive, (really important feature when you’re looking for a program.) I can block roads (or states, like Ohio!) I know are truck restricted, it’s easy to check alternate routes. It’s easy to find hotels close by. As far as I can tell it’s pretty accurate. I’ve been able to find all addresses that have been given to me. I post notes on toll roads and bridges so I know what the tolls are. I can draw in alternate detour routes. Construction information is updated via the internet and it’s cheap to buy a new version every year.

Read the rest of this entry »

Are truck-drivers literally a dieing breed? Are we working ourselves into an early grave? In a poll by Knoxville-based Professional Drivers Medical Depots finds that 65 percent of truckers surveyed rated their health fair or poor. The poll also sights that 70 percent of those responding to the survey knew a truck driver who died between age 40 and 60. It seems that the already stressful driving lifestyle has gotten worse instead of better. With high stress levels, poor food, and just living in an idling tin-can for weeks at a time, are creating a crisis in the industry. Read the rest of this entry »

The Mexican government has posted its requirements and procedures for U.S. trucking companies seeking access to its highways as part of a controversial cross-border pilot project.

Under the terms posted on the Mexican transportation agency’s Web site, U.S. firms have to submit information about the trucks that would be used for cross-border freight movements, fleet safety records, and results of driver physicals and drug and alcohol tests, and submit to on-site inspections by Mexican officials inside the United States.

“Reciprocity is an integral part of the cross-border trucking demonstration program,” said Melissa Mazzella DeLaney, spokeswoman for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. “We’re glad to see that the application for U.S. carriers to operate in Mexico is available and encourage those who are interested in participating to apply.”

“We’re reviewing the text, but we’re encouraged that the Mexican government is moving on reciprocal access for U.S. carriers,” said Tim Lynch, senior vice president of strategic planning and federation relations for American Trucking Associations.

So what we are seeing is “quid pro quo”! We’re singling out Mexican trucks for extra scrutiny and Mexico, as is their right, is reciprocating.

At least it’s a start. At the moment, I am looking on the SGT site and am seeing .pdf files available for download as well as the ability to register online.

We’ve been hearing about the unsolved murders of women whose bodies have been dumped in locations in and near truck stops across the south for the past few years, well, it seems a Tennessee detective’s keen eye may have nabbed a serial killer.

A long-distance truck driver gave statements implicating himself in six murders in four states after Detective Sgt. Pat Postiglione discovered apparent blood inside the cab of his rig, police said Thursday.

Bruce Mendenhall, 56, a truck driver from Albion, Illinois, is facing homicide charges in the shooting death of Sara Nicole Hulbert, 25. Her body was found June 26 in the parking lot of a Nashville, Tennessee, truck stop, authorities said in a statement.

Read the rest of this entry »

Mortgage rates move lower. Freddie Mac’s latest data shows 30-year FRMs averaging 6.63%, down from 6.67% the week prior. It’s not quite the 6.53% of early June, but markedly below the 6.74% high of mid-June. Rates on 15-year FRMs dropped .04% to 6.30%, while rates on 5-year ARMs edged down .01% to 6.29%. Average rates for 1-year ARMs actually rose .06% to 5.71%.

Gas prices rise. All it took was the sudden closure of a Kansas refinery, and gas prices jumped $.03 to a national average of $2.952 for a gallon of regular unleaded. Oil and gas futures rose Friday on the New York Mercantile Exchange over political unrest in Nigeria and refinery production concerns in America. Oil prices rose 2.5% last week, hitting an intraday high of $72.94 Friday and closing at a 10-month peak of $72.81 on the NYMEX.

Another winning week. The major indexes started strong last Monday, lost ground and then made it back as investors were buoyed by Friday’s jobs report, corporate takeovers, and renewed interest in energy companies. The S&P 500 had its best week since April, and all three major indexes gained ground.

Diesel fuel national average. $2.835, up from $2.829 from last week.