Life on the Road - Trucking News Blog

Regarding who to blame about the high cost of fuel.

And what to do about it come November.

There is a LOT of comment regarding the high cost of fuel on the internet. Some of you might have missed it so here are a few links of interest…

As reported on Power Line

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Popularity: 27% [?]

Apparently the rumor is true. The EPA has killed Cat.

According to a Forbes Article Caterpillar has had enough of the hassle and ” Its Mossville, Illinois truck engine plant will stop producing the power plants on December 31, 2009 — just before even tougher clean-air rules take effect.”

This is sad.

Other articles covering this same news here, here, here, and here.

I guess I’ll keep my 3406E for a while longer yet.

Popularity: 35% [?]

It’s been a long time since I first mentioned the idea of a hybrid truck. Since then things have been happening.

A brief search on Google provides this.

Additionally we have Peterbilt

August 22, 2007, Bellevue, Washington – PACCAR and Eaton Corporation announced today that they have entered into an agreement to jointly develop proprietary hybrid technology for heavy-duty commercial vehicles in North America. The innovative new products will be introduced exclusively in Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks in the North American market, targeted for initial production by the end of 2009.

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Popularity: 52% [?]

Ice Berg Ho!

Possibly you’ve heard the term “Re-arranging the deck chairs on the Titanic” as a derogatory term used to berate people who are busily doing something which is not the least bit useful in terms of the current situation.

Congress is often like that. Often Congress spends lots of time and ungodly amounts of money mandating things which are useless.

Often congress does active damage.

Congress is proposing to do active damage to the American Economy next week.

Congress is proposing a bill which will spell doom for many more in the trucking business. At a time when the cost of fuel is at an all time high the Warner-Lieberman Energy Bill
will increase the cost of fuel even more.

This goes beyond merely re-arranging the deckchairs as the Titanic sinks. This is akin to actively directing the Titanic toward the iceberg.

Like I’ve said all too many time in the last few decades.

What are they thinking?

Popularity: 34% [?]

Park n View…..latter to call them selves PNV.net was a forerunner of today’s IdleAire

in that it provided communications to trucks in the parking lot. They, like Bear Stearns recently, and Enron a few years ago suffered a liquidity crisis and went bankrupt. Their bubble burst along with the dot-com bubble in the late nineties.

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Popularity: 34% [?]

Certain folks want to strike. Well they are about to get their wish.

There are two ways to interpret the word “STRIKE”. One, the way that our little buddies who could NOT understand supply and demand were advocating has to do with work stoppage. Our little buddies figured that if we stopped work then all our “demands” would miraculously be met.

What they failed to understand, what they apparently REFUSE to understand, is that we live in a global economy. Oil is traded on the global marketplace. (they shouldn’t feel TOO bad because apparently the US Congress doesn’t understand that either, sue OPEC indeed!!) Oil is a fungible commodity. If the US doesn’t buy the oil, why, Russia, China, India, Europe, or any of a whole lot of OTHER countries are in line to buy that same oil. If we don’t buy it then, on the Global Market, the demand falls. If the demand falls , and the supply is constant, THEN the price also falls.

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Popularity: 46% [?]

Do any of you have children? Do you recall the scenes where the little darling breaks something, or spills something, or otherwise causes a minor calamity, and then runs to mommy and blames it on another toddler. Or better yet “Sally MADE me do it!”

I was reading some posts regarding the recent Hijinks by the Senate Judiciary committee and that little scenario repeatedly came to mind. Children. We have children in office.

Vindictive and spiteful children. ”

Leahy and his comrades showed up ready to blame American oil companies for the high price of gasoline,

Not very bright children.

Not surprisingly, the petroleum executives stole the show, as they were far smarter, infinitely better informed, and much more public-spirited than the Senate Democrats.

And very, very, greedy children…

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Popularity: 30% [?]

I’m sitting in an IdleAire site in Oklahoma City.

I’m “surfing” the Internet as I usually do when stopped and find this.  It turns out that IdleAire has gone Bankrupt.  Doesn’t surprise me.  I’ve been hearing rumors for some time.  In fact there was a post on Life on the Road some time ago relating to IdleAire’s probable demise.

IdleAire hasn’t been all that popular. Some folks don’t like it , at all, at all.

I used to number in that group.  I thought that it was a waste of space.  That was before summer set in with ninety degree temps and high humidity (Oklahoma City right now, worse to come, this is only May), my air conditioner is on the blink right now and I’m a little shy of the thousand bux it’s goning to cost to fix it.  Also fuel just broke the five dollar a gallon mark in some places.  Since my kitty Cat gulps fuel at a gallon and a half an hour that equates to seven fifty an hour to idle.

IdleAire at a buck eighty an hour sounds pretty good.

So, like I said, I’m sitting in an IdleAire space in Okie City.  Nice an cool in the truck by the way.  It’s a sauna outside.  And IdleAire is bankrupt.  What gives?

They got a loan.

IdleAire will be open for a while yet.  I’m glad because I’m cool, for now.

Popularity: 35% [?]

If it wasn’t so serious it would be funny.

I subscribe to a Blog written by a fellow by the name of Warren Meyers. His Coyote Blog is a hoot. It’s also very educational. I highly recommend it to all who would like an insight as to how the world works from a small business point of view.

On May 21 of this year he posted Congress, Sue Thyself.

It seems that our leaders in congress are upset about the high cost of fuel. Nevermind that THEY are the ones primarily responsible for that same high cost.

The fact that Congress has placed many of the places in the US that are known to contain oil OFFLIMITS to drilling and production,

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Popularity: 33% [?]

The oil companies….right?

Well, actually no.  The oil Companies, those eeevil oil companies that have invested untold billions of dollars in exploration, production, development, research ,transportation and retail of fuel, nope…not them.  They’re the LAST people that should be blamed.

They’re running as fast as they can while governments of all flavors heap extra taxes and fee’s upon them. Citizens groups and the Main Sewer Media heap scorn upon them and normal everyday folks complain.  What are they to do?

The government, aided and abetted by the greens won’t let the oil companies drill in several places where we KNOW there is oil.  ANWAR (what a misname.  A bleaker area you’d have to go to the moon to find and what wildlife?), the west coast,and  the east coast.  There’s oil and gas there but ;it’s off limits.

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Popularity: 37% [?]