February 1, 2007
Editor's Page
One small step
It's hard to argue with the concept behind the proposed rule on mandatory hours-of-service recorders from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration make the worst offenders toe the line and encourage everyone else with incentives...
Managment: Feature
America's Top Private Fleets
Private fleets don't haul freight for profit, but instead quietly distribute products, deliver services, keep supply chains moving, and perform other essential services for their parent businesses....
Management: In Box
HOS scofflaw approach
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's proposal to require only motor carriers with serious hours-of-service violations to install electronic on-board recorders has left most trucking stakeholders breathing a sigh of relief....
Hill after the troublemakers
FMCSA Administrator John Hill's approach to trucking safety mirrors the way a police officer patrols a neighborhood beat: Focus on the trouble spots until they are cleared up...
Tax file: Take care with phone tax refunds
Taxpayers can file this year for refunds of federal tax paid on long-distance telephone service between March 2003 and July 2006. ...
FMCSA targets container chassis
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published a notice of proposed rulemaking in the Federal Register on Dec. 21 that would make intermodal equipment providers (IEPs) responsible for ensuring proper maintenance of their container chassis...
'07 National Motor Carrier Directory
The 2007 edition of the National Motor Carrier Directory is now available from Fleet Owner's FleetSeek data products group. The directory provides information on more than 27,000 U.S.-based for-hire carriers...
EPA wants better emissions OBDs
The Environmental Protection Agency is proposing that onboard diagnostic (OBD) devices be used to monitor the emissions-control systems used on 2010-compliant heavy-duty engines....
TSA finalizes port ID rule
The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) last month released a Final Rule for its biometric identification card program for workers and drivers requiring unescorted access to ports....
Raising safety bar
The Federal Motor Carrier Administration (FMCSA) has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that would raise the standards for passing the new-entrant safety audit....
going places
B.K. Kim has been named CEO & president of Kumho Tire North America, and Don Hun Ham has been named president of Kumho Tire U.S.A. ...
Management: Bottom Line
Funding ideas: loads wanted
Act now, and you can have input now into the congestion and pavement conditions your drivers will encounter a decade from now. ...
Management: Economics
Take the blinders off
What's $650 billion among friends? That's the amount of increased income the oil producers have received since 2002. ...
Management: Safety Matters
The big picture
I often wonder how frequently this column strikes a chord with readers. Sure, I've routinely received emails and phone calls. But never have I received as much feedback as I did in response to my December Bold Moves column...
Management: Managers Tool Box
Freight shift
You don't have to be a trucker or a fleet owner to know global economic forces are re-shaping freight distribution patterns here at home. ...
Management: Private Fleets
Centennial celebration
This year marks the 100th anniversary of Hillyard, Inc., one of the largest manufacturers and distributors of cleaning products and supplies in North America...
Equipment: Feature
COMMERCIAL PICKUPS: Built to work
Ask commercial pickup users what they're putting in these versatile light-duties and they'll tell you everything and the kitchen sink from toolboxes to ladder racks to jobsite equipment to fifth wheels and beyond....
Equipment: Nuts & Bolts
Toyota rolls out new Tundra
Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. (TMS) officially launched the new version of its full-size pickup, the Tundra, at the 2007 International North American Auto Show ...
Paccar joins engine club
Last month Paccar announced plans to build a $400-million facility to manufacture 12.9-liter and 9.2-liter engines for its Peterbilt, Kenworth and DAF-branded Class 8 trucks...
Wal-Mart eyes Class 8 diesel-electric drivetrain
ArvinMeritor has entered into an agreement with Wal-Mart Transportation to develop a dual-mode, diesel-electric drivetrain for a Class 8 tractor. ...
bulletins
Cole Hersee has introduced a digital Sigma Rocker switch with LED backlighting. The switch has a low-current input membrane that is compatible with microprocessor-based electrical/electronic systems....
Heavy-duty hybrid
The term hybrid vehicle typically brings to mind small, oddly shaped passenger cars like Toyota's Prius, not a beefy 64,000-lb. truck. ...
Fleet One expands network
Fleet One announced that its Local fuel card will now be accepted at more than 10,000 Chevron and Texaco filling stations across the U.S., as well as over 4,600 Sunoco stations and convenience stores...
Hendrickson completes Dana trailer purchase
Hendrickson president and CEO Gary Gerstenslager announced the completion of the company's acquisition of the trailer axle manufacturing assets of Dana Corp. on January 5. ...
Next-generation Castrol engine oil
BP Lubricants USA recently announced the development of its next-generation Tection Extra diesel engine oil. The new formulation exceeds the American Petroleum Institute's (API) CJ-4 specs...
Sloan markets Michelin blades in NA
Sloan Transportation Products announced that it has begun marketing Michelin brand wiper blades to the heavy-duty aftermarket in North America. ...
Equipment: Under Eight
Ongoing challenge
Down the road, finding and keeping the drivers, technicians and other workers critical to the operation will be one of the biggest challenges facing managers of light- and medium-duty fleets...
Equipment: Tire Tracks
Maximize casing value
Regardless of what position you take on retreading, you can't deny that protecting the value of the casing is paramount to a successful tire program....
Equipment: Used Trucks
What really matters
Although the biggest news in trucking right now is the changeover to '07-emissions-compliant engines, we're at least three or four years away from knowing what impact they will have on used truck prices...
Equipment: Whats New In
what's new in: LEDs
Remember when LED lighting was available only as optional equipment from a limited number of trailer OEMs? Times certainly have changed. ...
Equipment: Vocational Profile
Finding time/saving money
Huttig Building Products, Inc. (www.huttig.com) is a national wholesale distributor of millwork and other building products and the company knows a thing or two about building a profitable and lasting business as well....
IT: Feature
PLUGGING IN DISPATCH
Celadon Group's Tom Glaser follows a simple rule of thumb when he looks at integrating fleet software systems: He who has information makes better decisions....
IT: truck.com
GE buys Terion
Terion Inc., one of the first companies to market an untethered trailer tracking system, has been acquired by GE's Equipment Services, the world's largest trailer leasing and financing provider...
off the wire
@Road Inc. announced that Florida Light & Power Co. (FLP) has selected @Road as its official mobile resource management (MRM) solutions provider. ...
Customs slates ACE meeting
U.S. Customs and Border Protection is inviting importers, brokers, truck carriers, ABI software developers and self programmers to its Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) Exchange III Conference...
Cost control for smaller fleets
Comdata Corp. and expensewatch.com have partnered to provide an online expense-control solution for small and mid-size- trucking companies. ...
Truckstops as business centers
Ask Lance Velasquez what the future holds for truckstops, and he'll point to a fire-engine red machine that looks vaguely like an ATM at all of Flying J's 170 truckstops across the U.S....
EOBR adoption projected to heat up
Providers of electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) are expecting the trucking industry to accelerate its adoption of the technology, thanks to the proposed rulemaking announced by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)...
Driver data to predicts turnover
The way Dean Croke sees it, if driver data can be plugged into a software-driven model to rank those most at risk of having an accident, the same can be done to rank those with the highest risk of leaving their jobs....
IT: Patent Pending
The very busy signal
A Google search on the new iPhone from Apple popped up some 29,000,000 entries today and it won't even be available until June. What do you make of that?...
The Last Word
A Volvo for George Jetson
How about instead of having the sleeper berth behind the driver, it's above him. And there's a high-def TV. Oh, and forget about mirrors. The driver will be sitting dead-center in the cab, so he'll be too far away to use them....
LETTER OF THE MONTH
I just re-read your column on Dropping fuel costs [Editor's Page, 11/06, pg. 6]. Unfortunately, fuel is still cheap and we Americans simply do not get out of our comfort zone to conserve....
