Life on the Road - Trucking News Blog

A lot of information packed into 20 minutes.

• A few trucking headlines including Life on the Road articles
• Tips to help you, your truck and your business
• A couple of tech tips.
• Commentary about how truckers are portrayed in movies vs reality of truck stops.
• How to become a writer for Life on the Road

Links used in the show:

• Dan Goodwill’s post about the peak shipping season.
• Google Reader
• Bloglines.com
• The example to only get the categories you want in your reader http://lifeontheroad.com/category/nascar/feed
• Trucker Tech

Email editor@lifeontheroad.com or call our comment line at (312) 205-1457 if you want to write for Life on the Road or participate in the podcast.

Popularity: 47% [?]

With the economy the way it is and the ATA saying the economy is sluggish and it’s not going to get much better anytime soon. Why would the ATA Chairman say this -

Time to consider permitting cabotage: US trucking exec
By: James Menzies
TORONTO, Ont. — Canadian carriers should be able to deliver from point-to-point within the US and vice-versa, Ray Kuntz, chairman of the American Trucking Associations (ATA) said this morning in kicking off the Ontario Trucking Association’s annual convention.

Kuntz emphasized he was not speaking on behalf of the ATA when he made the remark. However, he said permitting cabotage is the next logical step in improving efficiencies for carriers on both sides of the border.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 40% [?]

On November 14, the house approved the Transportation spending bill with Amendment 624 intact.

For those not familiar, Amendment 624 is the attempt to stop funding for the Mexican truck program.

For now, the bill is not expected to go to the Senate for vote until they return from the Thanksgiving recess. If passed, it would go to the President for his promised veto, which I support fully. Action on this bill probably would not occur until after Congress resumes in 2008. At this point, the Mexican truck program, consisting of 7 Mexican carriers with a total of 44 trucks, and 4 US companies operating a total of 41 trucks in Mexico will have been in existence for almost 6 months, operating safely and without complaint.
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Popularity: 53% [?]

The Democratically lead Congress, who’s approval rating ranks third behind President Bush and the Ebola virus, has continued on its spirit of “Bridges to Nowhere” and excessive Pork barrel spending. Included in this years $106 billion bill are funds for the Houston, TX Zoo, an Art Museum in Huntsville, AL and a hunting and fishing museum in PA. (See the list of amendments here) Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 46% [?]

This Sunday’s Ford 400 at the Homestead Miami Speedway will be the final race in the the Dale Earnhardt Jr. chapter at Dale Earnhardt Incorporated. It in my opinion will also be the final race for the number eight Budweiser Chevy. No matter who drives the number eight car from here on out, it will never be the same as when Dale Jr. drove it.

I feel sorry for the driver who is the first to drive the number eight car after Jr. gets out of it this Sunday. Unless a lot of time passes between those two events, The “Junior Nation” will Hate the guy! You think that the beer can throwing was bad at Jeff Gordon? Wait till you see what happens to the poor soul who gets into the eight car next. I’m not saying that there will be stuff like that happening, just that the potential for it will be there like never before.    Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 38% [?]

From Trucker Tech. Within the podcast I mention a few articles and resources that you might want to follow up on. In order to make it easier for you to do so I’ve included the following list of “Quick Connect Links” that are, hopefully, listed in the same order in which they’re mentioned within the podcast.
Quick Connect Links

• Western Digital Ships 320 GB Laptop Hard Drive
• Google gPhone
• Verizon Article One
• Verizon Article Two
• Change Those Passwords
• Disallowing Automatic Connections
• Configuring Your Laptop for Infrastructure-Only Connections

I need to know what you thought of it, what you’d like to see me improve upon and, if you’re going to continue to listen, what you’d like me to cover in the future.

Popularity: 60% [?]

At least these guys are “striking” for the right reason and not for fuel to go lower like some have tried in the past.

Truck Drivers Ask For Raise
Some Eastern Kentucky independent truck drivers say they’re parking their trucks and not driving because they can’t afford it anymore.
About 50 independent truck owners in the Big Sandy Region parked their big rigs on Route 7 in Magoffin County. Truckers say they’re only making about 76 dollars a load, and by the time they pay for their gas and insurance, they can’t afford the drive. Many say they can’t support their families.

If your house is in order you can do this and survive. But you have to know you’re not going to get the rates we got last year or even the year before. Tough times are coming if you haven’t already noticed. Fuel is only a piece of the puzzle.

Trucking is cyclical, this downturn will force some out of business, but trucking companies have gone out of business during good times and when fuel was less than $2.00. Trucking companies going out of business isn’t news. What will be news is how the others will survive and come out of this on the other end.

We always hear, “say no to cheap freight”. I know what cheap freight is for me, I’ve taken an expensive LTL instead of a cheap truckload to prove a point. But what if your truck and trailer are paid for, they’re older so insurance is less, your version of cheap freight isn’t going to be the same as the guy next to you and you’ve got a family to feed? Is it cheap freight or is it - Doing the best you can with what you have? Then what?

Popularity: 48% [?]

We talk to Alex and David of Largo software, the developers of Nautilus InCab. Reviewed on Life on the Road here.

• They discuss how Nautilus InCab started
• Some of the technical nuts and bolts of the program
• Long range plans and future versions, including Canadian features for InCab
• The upcoming office version called Nautilus Office for small fleets that will integrate with drivers using InCab.
• The Driver Referral Program that gives cash back to drivers.
• Their customer oriented support philosophy

Download the free 10 trip trial of Nautilus InCab here.

As a side-note we are no longer using talkshoe.com because of the problems we had during this episode. But anyone is welcome to participate just let us know in advance by clicking on the contact page.

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Popularity: 52% [?]

Take that picture and replace the car with the Nextel Cup! Four wins in a row! My goodness! You talk about turning up the wick at the end of the season? Jimmy Johnson and the Lowes Chevy team didn’t turn up the wick, they broke open the lamp and dumped the oil right into the flame. Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 70% [?]

With oil about to hit $100 a barrel and our rising trade imbalance, especially with certain countries (that don’t like us) a few Mexican trucks and even the housing market are the least of our worries.

Fleetowner.com summarizes the problem in this post The real free trade fear about how our trade imbalance is a bigger problem than anything we have right now.

Read the rest of this entry »

Popularity: 56% [?]