June 1, 2007
Editor's Page
Behind the news
The business news has been filled with stories about the pending sale of Chrysler. For the trucking industry, though, the real news is the ongoing series of realignments, restructurings and renewals that quietly signal a major shift in how the trucks you rely on will be built, sold and supported....
Management: Feature
Shifting ahead
Quality employees are the ones most concerned about their future employment and the least interested in sticking with a dead-end job ...
Making a good impression
It's common wisdom that you only get one chance to make a good first impression, but when you roll by tens of thousands of people a day, you hope that first impression makes them good and hungry, at least if you're in the hamburger business....
Management: In Box
Freight springs a leak
With the dramatic first quarter results in the record books Swift Transportation saw profits fall 74%; U.S. Xpress Enterprises endured a loss of $2.6 million in earnings and UPS saw net income drop 13.5% compared to the same quarter in 2006 carriers are looking toward the rest of the year with guarded optimism and concern...
NPTC gathers in Indy
The National Private Truck Council's recent annual conference in Indianapolis featured a range of educational workshops covering everything from safety compliance to driver wellness as well as an exhibit boasting over 100 industry suppliers....
Partners in education
PPG Automotive Refinish has launched an initiative to partner with post-secondary technical schools and colleges to develop skilled entry-level technicians to be employed with PPG customers....
Tax file: Worker classification resurfaces
Congress and the U.S. Tax Court have each shown renewed interest in an old issue-the proper classification of workers as employees or independent contractors....
Fleets talk to Wall Street
By all measures, the first quarter was not a very good one for trucking, but early signs indicate freight volumes may already be rebounding, according to presentations by leading fleet executives, equipment suppliers and industry analysts at the Bear Stearns annual Global Transportation Conference...
going places
Jonathan Randall has been named director of sales and marketing for Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp. ...
Eye on the challenge
Jeffrey Chulack, fleet maintenance manager for Talon Logistics, the transportation arm of regional grocery store chain Giant Eagle, was named top graduate of the National Private Truck Council's Certified Transportation Professional (CTP) course for 2007....
Management: Bottom Line
Ready for urea?
Just when you thought it was safe to plunge back into the truck-buying water, along comes another scary creature. A further tightening of emissions rules takes effect in 2010....
Management: Economics
Shakeout ahead
The recent report of economic activity shows a significant drop in the growth of consumer demand, as well as business investment. ...
Management: Safety Matters
Think again
Regular readers of this column are aware that I frequently promote increased oversight in the areas of at-risk driver behavior identification and management....
Management: Managers Tool Box
Soy Sauce
They're only a quarter of the way to the finish line but the organizers of the Two Million Mile Haul feel their field-documentation study on the benefits of running a 20% soy biodiesel blend (B20) in a fleet of trucks is already smelling like roses....
Management: Private Line
Moving ahead
Yes, I am a truck driver and, yes, I am a mover, says Chuck Racine, an owner-operator who's worked for The Paxton Companies in Springfield, VA, for 34 years....
Comeback fleet
After outsourcing a large percentage of its private fleet for two years, Unisource Worldwide has brought the fleet back in-house a move that is producing valuable dividends....
Equipment: Feature
SUSPENSIONS: Still on a diet
As any trucker knows, weight is a big deal: Shaving pounds off a vehicle helps improve fuel economy and most importantly makes it possible to carry more freight, thus generating more revenue. ...
Equipment: Nuts & Bolts
Next generation for Freightliner
Although it's significantly wider and offers more interior room than the Columbia and Century Class, it will eventually replace, the new Cascadia Class 8 on-highway tractor is more aerodynamic, offering a 3% improvement in fuel economy....
GM shows off StabilTrak
At its annual Fleet & Commercial Operations' product preview event in Charlotte, NC, last month, GM demonstrated its StabiliTrak electronic stability-control system, which the OEM is rolling it in stages across all its car and light-truck product lines....
Next-generation tire monitoring
Mobile Awareness has released its latest line of tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) for commercial trucks, utility vehicles and trailers, the MA-TPMS series....
bulletins
Volvo announced the $1.34-billion purchase of Ingersoll Rand's road development equipment division, which has factories in the U.S., Germany, India and China....
Autocar to roll out new refuse cabs
A totally redesigned cab is coming to Autocar LLC's line of Xpeditor refuse trucks in the second quarter of this year. ...
Cascadia available with RollTek rollover protection
The RollTek side-roll protection system by LifeGuard Technologies, a division of IMMI, is now available on the new Freightliner Cascadia...
Sleeper for VHD
Volvo Trucks North America announced that its VHD vocational vehicle is now available with a 42-in. sleeper cab. ...
GE adds reefer leasing
At the National Private Truck Council's annual conference and exhibition in Indianapolis last month, GE Trailer Fleet Services announced that it is offering an integrated refrigerated trailer leasing program....
SmartWave TPMS as retrofit
The Commercial Vehicle Systems Group of Dana Corp. announced that its SmartWave TPMS tire pressure monitoring system is now available as a retrofit for a number of chassis configurations....
Online lube training in Spanish
Chevron Products Co. announced that Lubricants University, the company's online training resource, is now offering Fundamentals of Lubrication in Spanish....
Raybestos revamps product line
Raybestos has simplified its line of aftermarket brake products to make it easier for technicians to get what they need from one supplier. ...
Payback time
Cummins is offering a payback calculator to help fleets determine what kind of cost savings they can garner by using the company's ComfortGuard auxiliary power units....
Radials for severe-service apps
The Bridgestone M860 all-position on- off-highway radial is an ultra durable tire designed especially for severe-service and refuse applications. ...
International ramps up vocational focus
Phil Christman, newly installed vp & gm of International Truck & Engine Corp.'s severe service division, believes the customization needs of the vocational market will increase in the near future...
ConocoPhillips oils meet Cat specs
ConocoPhillips announced that both its API CJ-4 and API CI-4 Plus diesel engine oils are compliant with Caterpillar's new Engine Crankcase Fluid (ECF) -2 and ECF-1-a specifications....
Equipment: Under Eight
BioTown
Ever heard of Reynolds, IN? Me neither. Turns out it's a speck on the map about an hour north of Indianapolis, with a population of at most 500 souls. And like a lot of small towns, Reynolds hadn't been doing well over the last few years: It was slowly dying as people moved away, leaving its farming past behind....
Equipment: Tire Tracks
Optimal footprints
One of the goals when specifying the proper inflation pressure is to create the optimal footprint, which is the portion of the tread that's in contact with the ground when the vehicle is fully loaded....
Equipment: Maintenance Bay
Sub-zero brakes
Manager: Shannon Tracey Title: Fleet Coordinator Fleet: 1-800-Got-Junk?, Vancouver, BC Operation: Coordinate truck design and options for franchisees PROBLEM Stop-and-go operation is hell on truck brakes, and no one knows that better than Shannon Tracey....
Equipment: Whats New In
what's new in: Fifth wheels
Safety is still the most important goal in fifth wheel operation, and designers of fifth wheels have invested a lot of time and money over recent years to be able to offer fleets improved safety options....
Equipment: Vocational Profile
Full Spectrum
When Dixon Bros. Inc. started operating tanker trucks 47 years ago, propane was its sole commodity. Today the Newcastle, WY-based carrier is much more diverse, hauling a variety of petroleum products from crude oil to finished fuels and motor oils, as well as chemicals for a major chemical producer....
IT: Feature
What do you know?
Once upon a time not so long ago, fleets received and processed information about their equipment, drivers and loads by telephone, on paper or in person, and that was that. As a result, trucking was a business as linear as the highway and real time simply meant the same very busy 24-hour day to everyone in the industry...
IT: Patent Pending
Cursing the Net
Just when it seemed like the Internet was becoming the world's shopping mall, research library, post office, branch bank, switchboard and magnet-covered refrigerator door all rolled into one, there are rumblings of trouble in Web Land....
IT: Truck.com
Qualcomm adds navigation
A real-time in-cab navigation system will be one of the first third-party applications offered for Qualcomm's new OmniVision onboard computing and communications system. ...
Field service fleets see IT benefits
According to a study conducted by Aberdeen Group, field service companies have plenty of potential to boost productivity and profits by managing their most overlooked expense: the fleet...
off the wire
Fleet management solutions provider @Road announced that SimplexGrinnell has agreed to deploy @Road's GeoManager MRM. ...
SkyBitz beefs up services
Trailer tracking provider SkyBitz is adding three new options to its Global Locating System (GLS) designed to heighten security and increase operational efficiencies for carriers...
DriveCam goes cellular
DriveCam is offering a new cellular data delivery option with a Web interface for its driver behavior monitoring system. ...
GE has new cargo sensor, web site
A full-length cargo sensor is now available on both the satellite and cellular platforms GE's VeriWise trailer tracking system. ...
A positive case study supports EOBRs
While the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has yet to issue a final rule on electronic on-board recorders (EOBRs) for tracking hours-of-service (HOS) compliance, at least one fleet says it is benefitting from its voluntarily use of EOBRs....
Idaho, Montana add e-manifests
U.S. Customs and Border Protection has announced that effective August 6, truck carriers entering the country through Idaho and Montana will be required to file electronic manifests through the Automated Commercial environment (ACE) truck manifest system....
PeopleNet goes portable
A new handheld platform equipped with PeopleNet's g3 mobile computing and communication system lets drivers gather and display information wirelessly....
Saia retools Web site
Regional LTL carrier Saia has new e-commerce options to its web site, offering customers quick access to resources, according to the regional carrier....
Online safety training for drivers
Vertical Alliance Group Inc. (VAG) has announced its latest niche market website, VAGSafetyTraining.com an online training resource for commercial trucking companies and their drivers is now available and can be accessed from any Internet-enabled computer....
InfoLogix poised for mobile-business solutions
InfoLogix has acquired proprietary software development tools to help the company develop mobile end-user applications for field sales, field service, vehicle tracking, proof of delivery, and other business applications....
The Last Word
the last word
Still rolling The Rolling Road Show is set to roll for its third year, screening movies outdoors at the very locations where they were filmed...
