August 1, 2006
Editor's Page
Thieves among us
As long as people have been moving goods, other people have been stealing them. So it's no surprise that cargo theft is major problem for trucking. If...
Management: Feature
Shining A Light On Cargo Theft
How many dollars can be swept under a rug in a year? How about 10 billion? How about 25 billion? How about no one knows for sure because no one knows...
Management: In Box
Mineta moves on
The longest serving Department of Transportation Secretary, Norman Mineta, left his position in early July at a time when the agency still is grappling...
TAX FILE: Diesel tax breaks proliferate
Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm signed a bill on July 7 that immediately lowered the state tax rate on biodiesel by three cents per gallon, from 15 to...
Hybrids coast to coast
Shown speaking at the launch of a test of four diesel-electric hybrid buses at the Bee Line Bus terminal in Valhalla, NY, last month is Sen. Hilary Clinton...
Outlook stays bullish for refrigerated carriers
A representative from investment banking firm Stephens Inc. delivered a cautiously optimistic outlook for the trucking industry at the 23rd annual meeting...
Fleet Owner parent buys TTS
Prism Business Media, parent company of Fleet Owner magazine, recently acquired Transportation Technical Services (TTS), which produces trucking databases...
Keeping drivers healthy
Occupational Athletics (www.occupationalathletics.com) recently introduced an interactive health and safety program developed especially for professional...
NPTC slates safety conference
The National Private Truck Council (NPTC) is holding its National Safety Conference September 14-15 at the Hyatt Hotel at Dulles International Airport,...
Roadcheck results mixed
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) announced that although the number of commercial trucks, buses and hazmat vehicles placed out of service...
Calling all technicians
ATA's Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) will hold its 2006 Fall Meeting and National Technician Skills Competition September 18-21 at the Renaissance...
UPS tests hydraulic hybrid
EPA announced the road test of a United Parcel Service hybrid delivery vehicle, which was developed in partnership with International Truck & Engine Corp.,...
Greener fleets
PHH Arval is launching a initiative in conjunction with Environmental Defense to help fleets reduce pollution and save money through use of environmental...
Cargo rule gets technical
The Federal Motor Carrier Administration (FMCSA) published a number of technical amendments to its Final Rule on cargo securement (49 CFR Part 393) in...
Management: Bottom Line
Mixed message
Some economists and market analysts think the economy has hit the brakes. If they are right, presumably trucking companies should do the same stop hiring....
Management: Economics
A closer look
Is it that foolish for fleets to plan for $85 per-barrel crude oil, driver wages of 55 cents per mile, a 15% per year increase in fringe benefits? Not in today's environment....
Management: Safety Matters
Danger Zone
A recent U.S. District Court decision brings to our attention the dangers of improperly parking a tractor-trailer on or near the shoulder of a well-traveled highway...
Managemet: Manager's Tool Box
Inside scoop
Mentoring usually brings to mind a long-term professional relationship in which a more senior worker helps a younger employee or colleague learn the ropes...
Management: Private Fleets
Second to none
The corporate slogan for Shaw Industries Where Great Floors Begin appears on all 3,720 of the company's trailers. Getting these great floors to customers is the responsibility of Shaw's transportation division, which maintains one of the largest private trucking fleets in the country. ...
Equipment: Feature
VOCATIONAL SUSPENSIONS: Spec'ing for the job
Bain Disposal is a perfect example of a vocational fleet that needs to spec more than one type of suspension to get the job done right. Leonard Dietrich,...
Equipment: Nuts & Bolts
Roadranger roars
At a joint Dana-Eaton press conference in Kalamazoo, MI, both partners in the Roadranger marketing organization announced an array of new product and service developments...
bulletins
Paccar announced that Cummins 6L and 8L engines will be standard on Peterbilt and Kenworth medium-duty trucks beginning Jan. 1, 2007. The engines will...
Shell takes two-oil path for '07
Offering test results that show significant wear and deposit-control advances for the new CJ-4 Rotella T oil developed for 2007-spec diesel engines...
Kohler enters APU market
Kohler Power Systems is entering the auxiliary power unit (APU) market, offering an air-cooled, 5-kW APU in a side-rail mounted size. ...
Road trip celebrates Interstate
The Celebrate the Interstate convoy that took off under the auspices of the American Association of State Highway & Transportation Officials (AASHTO)...
Fontaine Trailer forms aftermarket unit
Fontaine Trailer Co. has formed an aftermarket parts unit called Fontaine PartSource, which will initially provide dealer and fleet customers with OE parts...
Mobil Delvac meets new oil specs
ExxonMobil has announced two changes to its premium line of Mobil Delvac heavy-duty engine oils this October. A new formulation of the company's Million Mile Oil, Mobil Delvac 1300 Super 15W-40 was developed to meet the API CJ-4 spec, required for '07 engines....
Thrifty lifts
Rotary Lift has introduced a new line of heavy-duty four-post lifts. The HDL lifts feature safety latches in each leg and non-skid runways for easier drive-on and protection for technicians standing on the lift....
Bigger engines for GM light-duties in '07
General Motors' Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon pickups, as well as the Hummer H3 SUV, will get new, larger-displacement inline 4- and 5-cyl. engines in 2007...
FasTrack back
Workhorse Custom Chassis relaunched its FasTrack program with the production of a new FasTrack truck for 2007 in July. ...
Chevron ready for '07
Chevron Products Co. announced that its diesel engine oils, including Delo, Ursa and RPM, now meet the new API CJ-4 diesel engine oil service category....
Arrow certifies medium-duties
Used truck dealer Arrow Truck Sales Inc. has broadened its certified pre-owned truck program to include medium-duty trucks. ...
Volvo Group to use SCR for 2010
Volvo Trucks North America (VTNA) and Mack Trucks, both companies of the Volvo Group, will use selective catalytic reduction (SCR) to meet EPA's 2010 diesel engine emissions standards. ...
Heavy lifting
Kenworth Truck Co. now offers a 13,200-lb. steerable lift axle on selected Kenworth Class 8 vocational truck models....
Equipment: Under Eight
Too much baggage
The sooner GM gets taken over by Toyota, the better off our country will be. Tom Friedman, NY Times, May 31, 2006 There 's no doubt that the American automotive industry is in serious trouble these days, and it's not just because U.S. automakers are losing market share and billions of dollars to the Japanese....
Equipment: Tire Tracks
High cost of cosmetics
There are only a few places on the continent where steel wheels and rims are not subjected to an environment that causes rust to form on the surface....
Equipment: Engineers Panel
Tweaking test cells
At first glance, the Frankenstein-style look of the engine testing rooms at Volvo's Hagerstown, MD, facility gives one a vaguely sinister impression...
Equipment: Whats New In
what's new in: Retreads
Delivering value to fleets is the name of the game for retread manufacturers, who are stepping up to the plate to better focus their efforts on helping...
Equipment: Vocational Profile
Wow story
Each night the Customer Success department at JMC Restaurant Distribution Co. shares with company personnel what they call wow stories phoned in during...
Equipment: Maintenance Bay
Eye on the road
Manager: David Guess Title: vp-safety Fleet: National Distributors Leasing, Sellersburg, IN Operation: National and cross-border truckload carrier PROBLEM...
IT: Feature
Profit's Building Blocks
Financial analysts have long realized the value of activity based costing (ABC) in uncovering the various elements driving a fleet's ability to turn a...
IT: truck.com
fleets online
COMPANY: Dennis K. Burke Inc.Chelsea, MATed Burke, vp OPERATION: Private fleet delivering bulk gasoline, diesel fuel and lubricants to truck-fleet and...
Congestion added to routes
Traffic congestion information will be integrated with route planning applications to improve estimated time of arrival accuracy within the continental...
Warranties automated
TMTsoftware has integrated its Transman fleet maintenance software with Cascor's warranty services to provide an automated maintenance tracking solution...
off the wire
The FleetView 3 untethered trailer tracking system from Terion Inc. now offers an interface for integrating its tracking data with TMW Systems' fleet...
Handsets for drivers gaining ground
One of the fastest-growing areas in the commercial telematics market revolves around driver use of GPS-enabled mobile handsets, according to a study by...
Interface for cross-dock scales
Synergy Cross Dock 3.0 from Synergistic Systems offers a new interface for connecting Weightonix scales and forklift-mounted industrial computers from...
Ryder forms telematics alliance
Ryder System, Inc. has formed a telematics partnership with Teletrac and Cingular Wireless to launch RydeSmart, a GPS-based tracking and monitoring system...
ACE certification for TMW
As a newly certified provider for the U.S. Customers and Board Protection (CBP) Agency's Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) e-manifest program, TMW...
Weather alerts go wireless
WeatherBug and on-demand incident notification provider Send Word Now have launched a cellular location-based two-way severe weather warning system. WeatherBug's...
Industrial tablet PCs upgraded
The latest generation of Hammerhead and Hammerhead Xtreme tablet PCs a range of wireless connectivity options, displays for use in direct sunlight and...
NMFTA offers new online service
The National Motor Freight Traffic Assn. (NMFTA) has released ClassIT, a new online version of the National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) used to...
IT: Patent Pending
So many miles, so little progress
Attracting new people to the trucking industry, especially to the job of long-haul driver, has never been a tougher sell than it is today. ...
The Last Word
the last word
Floating on air Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. has a winner in its Name the Blimp contest Spirit of Innovation, penned by Matthew Harrelson, a chemistry teacher...
