December 1, 2006
Editor's Page
High stakes
Foresight isn't one of the strengths of our federal government. Our legislators spend most of their time trying to put out fires rather than planning to prevent future ones...
2006 Fleet Owner Fleet Of The Year Awards
2006 Fleet of the Year Awards
Top of their game. The Fleet Owner Fleet of the Year Awards salute fleets one each from the for-hire, private and vocational ranks of trucking selected by the editors for raising the bar for innovative management...
Celadon Group Inc.
Without the slightest hesitation, chairman & CEO Steve Russell declares it's the efforts of all our 3,500 employees that's responsible for the after-tax profits...
Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire
When it was launched years back, the BFNT private fleet was charged with duties that pretty much any carrier could have handled. But its full mission was soon realized delivering top-shelf service at an economical price...
Palm Beach County
There are three ways to handle a problem. Ignore it and hope it will go away. Ignore it and wait for someone else to solve it. Dive in and fix it yourself....
Management: In Box
Democrats prevail
With the Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives and the Senate, the question on the minds of trucking officials is, How will things change?...
Safe Port Act has trucking implications
The Safe Port Act signed into law by President Bush this fall contains trucking provisions that tighten guidelines and processes for law enforcement to verify legal commercial vehicle traffic....
CBP announces ACE schedule
U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) published in the October 27 Federal Register a schedule for the mandatory use of the Automated Commercial Environment manifests at land ports of entry...
Tax file: IRS proposes excise-tax records system
The Internal Revenue Service proposed to set up a new system of records specifically for its excise tax compliance programs....
Peters says DOT will foster safety technology
The Dept. of Transportation is already getting busy preparing for reauthorization of the Highway Bill in 2009, according to the new Secretary of Transportation, Mary Peters...
FMCSA seeks to merge medical and CDL info
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) published a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) in the Federal Register on November 16, 2006 that would require information from medical certificates be merged with CDL databases...
EPA offers fuel-saving loans
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) announced that it has partnered with the Small Business Administration (SBA) to provide loans to small trucking companies to buy SmartWay Upgrade Kits...
FMCSA seeks safety gurus
FMCSA is soliciting nominations for members of its newly formed Motor Carrier Safety Advisory Committee, which will provide advice and recommendations to the agency's Administrator...
Management: Bottom Line
More or less
Two recent IRS pronouncements and a U.S. Tax Court decision are important for companies paying for driver meals. ...
Management: Economics
Difficult choices
The past year has produced several major issues whose impact on the trucking industry will be felt for some time to come. Although the effect of the election may not be felt immediately, if history is any guide we can look for an increase in trucking-related regulations in the coming years...
Management: Safety Matters
Bold move
In late October, the American Trucking Assns. petitioned the Dept. of Transportation to require the installation and oversight of speed governors on all new commercial vehicles with GVWRs of more than 26,000 lb....
Management: Managers Tool Box
To their health
Building a lasting positive connection with drivers means being willing to invest time, thought, and money into designing and implementing programs that directly improve their quality of life...
Management: Private Line
A Knaack for trucking
In l960, a milk-route delivery driver named Howard Knaack would occasionally interrupt his runs to have breakfast with two friends who were in the construction supply business. Often the discussions revolved around their need for a reliable source of jobsite boxes. In due course, Knaack and his friends started Knaack Manufacturing Company...
Equipment: Feature
A hard look at biodiesel
It's expensive and can gum up a truck's engine, but it is also easy to use and could reduce our dependence on foreign oil...
'07 LIGHT DUTY TRUCK SPECS
FLEET OWNER's coverage of light-truck specifications for the 2007 model year includes information on every Class 1 and 2 truck or chassis appropriate for commercial fleet applications....
Equipment: Nuts & Bolts
Worn treads regain traction
A palette of new technologies under development by Michelin North America will deliver to up to a 50% improvement in tread life and better traction throughout the life of the tread...
In-tire sensor redesigned
The next generation of Michelin's eTire pressure and asset monitoring system features a wireless, battery-free sensor patch that weighs less than half an ounce, yet provides temperature-compensated pressure measurement that can even identify a slow leak...
Better Aerodynamics could save billions
Aerodynamic trailer and truck design improvements that could save 1-billion gallons of diesel a year if implemented across the trucking industry were unveiled last month in Washington DC...
USPS turns to GE for trailers
Under a new six-year contract, the Trailer Fleet Services division of GE Equipment Services will provide the U.S. Post Office with over 4,750 dry van trailers to move mail between distribution centers and local post offices....
bulletins
Thermo King now offers an online ROI calculator for its TriPac Auxiliary Idle Reduction and Temperature Management System. ...
Kenworth unveils urban COE
A Class 7 cabover for urban delivery applications has been introduced by Kenworth Truck Co. The new K360 medium-duty vehicle is based on the DAF LF55, built by Kenworth's European sister company, DAF...
Cummins has OTR APU
The Cummins ComfortGuard auxiliary power unit (APU) for over-the-road trucks will be available starting in January 2007. ...
Holland has MDpintle hook
A new rigid mount pintle hook for medium-duty on- and off-road towing is now available from The Holland Group. ...
Hino shows off '08 cabover
Hino Motors USA is taking its 2008-model trucks, equipped with EPA '07-compliant engines and aftertreatment systems, on a multi-city tour to demonstrate that cutting NOx tailpipe emissions by 50% and PM pollution by 90% doesn't impact vehicle performance or longevity....
Engineering for a flat world
In a world gone flat thanks to galloping globalization, commercial vehicle engineers will be increasingly called on to drive product success across international boundaries as manufacturers seek to best serve established and emerging regional truck markets...
Peterbilt hybrid-electrics
Peterbilt Motors plans to build a limited number of hybrid-electric medium-duty trucks for municipal and utility applications in 2007. ...
Electronic stability now standard
Mack Trucks announced that an electronic stability system is now standard on all of its on-highway vehicles. ...
Equipment: Under Eight
Smooth ride
The dirt and gravel road winding through the desolate northern high country of Arizona would not make for smooth travel or so I thought. ...
Equipment: Tire Tracks
Time for winter air
Like snipe hunts, the subject of winter air in tires is always good for a laugh. Of course, this is the time of year that winter-air salespeople do their best work because waking up to flat tires on a cold morning is a pretty common occurrence in many parts of the country....
Equipment: Maintenance Bay
Saving via safety
New specs boost safety, cut costs for propane service fleet Manager: Len Strazza Title: Manager - national fleet operations Fleet: AmeriGas, Valley Forge, PA...
Equipment: Whats New In
what's new in: Truck seats
Driver shortages continue to plague certain segments of the trucking industry. To attract and retain the best drivers, fleet managers are putting driver comfort at the top of their priority list when spec'ng fleet equipment...
Equipment: Vocational Profile
No worries
For nearly 20 years PRIMMS LP has been providing equipment financing, full-service leasing, contract maintenance and other transportation management services targeted specifically at food distributors....
IT: Truck.Com
OmniVision comes to market
Qualcomm officially announced the commercial availability of the new OmniVision System for Transportation mobile computing platform at the American Trucking Assns. annual Management Conference & Exhibition in Dallas...
Eaton unveils onboard fleet management system
A new suite of fleet management applications was introduced at the annual American Trucking Assns. conference by the newly formed Vehicle Solutions Business Unit (VSBU) of Eaton Corp....
Next-generation Toughbook
Panasonic Computer Solutions Co. has introduced two new rugged Panasonic Toughbook computers: the CF-19 convertible tablet PC and the CF-30 clamshell notebook....
Smart Sensor Tracking from SkyBitz
The new Smart Sensor Tracking system provides fleets with essential trailer and load arrival and departure information, according to the developer SkyBitz....
Maptuit launches open truck navigation system
Designed to work with onboard devices running Windows CE, the Maptuit NaviGo navigation system stores some data on the device, but also updates it dynamically over a hosted service for a approach to truck-specific turn-by-turn directions....
New LoadMaster and PowerBroker versions released
McLeod Software has unveiled two new upgrades simultaneously-Version 8 of both its LoadMaster fleet management solution and of PowerBroker, the software solution for non-asset-based brokerage and logistics providers....
TransCore does 3sixty
Eventually merging six separate logistics capabilities into a single platform for carriers, shippers and third-party logistics providers, the Transcore product suite has launched a new version of the DAT-powered Freight Match....
PeopleNet open to third-party apps
PeopleNet has announced the launch of a new services API interface, dubbed g3 Services, which is designed to permit virtually limitless third-party applications to access PeopleNet's g3 system...
Tread-1 joins InCab U
An accredited online college education program for truck drivers called InCab University (InCab U) has signed an agreement with Instructional Technologies (ITI) to offer its Tread-1 computer-based driver training as part of the InCab U's curriculum....
ALK's FleetCenter
CoPilot FleetCenter is a low-cost fleet management solution from ALK Technologies that offers tracking, two-way messaging and access to ALK's location based services, including real-time traffic and points of interests...
IT: Feature
If highways could speak
Imagine unfolding a map of the future of highway transportation just like you might unfold a printed state highway map today, small section-by-section, until you finally have the entire future spread out before you, showing every feature in eye-straining detail...
IT: truck.com
fleets online
COMPANY: Fast Trac TransportationHouston, TXJeff Steele, terminal manager OPERATION: Air freight cartage and industrial equipment hauling company operating in Texas and Ohio...
IT: Patent Pending
Per trip insurance
Over the past few years, fleet insurance programs, policies and even providers have ebbed and flowed like those famous tides at Canada's Bay of Fundy....
The Last Word
the last word
The Boss lives! Here proudly displayed is a hunk of history - one of the original mud pullers that made Monster Truck Shows American cultural icons ...
Articles
off the wire
Brent Russell has been named vp, national sales for GE's Trailer Fleet Services business in the U.S. ...
