December 1, 2009
Editor's Page
Fill 'er up
I think the general attitude after a year of truly horrible economic news is best summed up by one word feh...
Management: In Box
A new day at FMCSA
Anne Ferro has made it through the confirmation process and is now the top administrator of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) over...
Trucking’s pushback on “cap-and-trade” continues
The American Trucking Associations (ATA) is continuing to lobby hard against proposed “cap-and-trade” legislation with the support of new Congressional allies...
Politics and Trucking: More than 60 votes
BIRMINGHAM, AL. While acres of headlines and hours upon hours of newscasts have emphasized for months that the 60 votes the Democratic leadership of the U.S. Senate can now muster to pass legislation without fear of a GOP filibuster, a prominent labor lawyer argues that that fact alone does not give anywhere near the full picture of how much the American political landscape has changed since January, let alone how much trucking will be impacted by it....
Slow growth forecast for truck sales
Sales of new medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles are now projected to be at the start of a three-year period of slow yet steady growth, according to recent analysis by ACT Research Co...
FTR: October truck orders up on ’07 engine demand
Preliminary data released by Nashville-based FTR Associates indicates Class 8 net orders for all major North American OEMs totaled 21,792 units in October...
going places
The ArvinMeritor board of directors has appointed Carsten Reinhardt senior vp & COO. In addition, Tim Bowes was elected vp & president of the Industrial...
Cargo thieves getting sophisticated— and bolder
An ongoing survey of cargo theft trends finds that cargo thieves may be getting bolder and more sophisticated, even to targeting carrier facilities more frequently. On top of that, a spike in violence during reported cargo thefts in the third quarter of this year is another cause for concern...
Cap-and-trade crossfire intensifies
Like that old poem about the blind men describing the elephant, perspectives on cap-and-trade programs to reduce carbon emissions seems to depend a great deal on which part of that bulky animal is being examined. Some analysts are delighted with what they are feeling, while others sense only tusk-sharp trouble...
Equipment: Nuts & Bolts
Valvoline partners with Tiwi to guarantee MPG boost
Valvoline International, Inc. subsidiary of Ashland, Inc. and telematics provider, Tiwi, a division of inthinc Technology Solutions, Inc., unveiled a program here yesterday designed to get fleets up to 4% better miles per gallon-- guaranteed...
Allison details new transmission features
Additional horsepower and new shift schedule are just two of the changes to Allison Transmission model-year 2010 automatic transmissions for trucks and buses. “We’ve always been committed to understanding and satisfying the needs of our customers,” said Jim Wanaselja, vp, North America marketing, sales and service...
bulletins
Gates Corp. is introducing a new fuel hose design that helps prevent vapor loss for improved fuel efficiency and environmental compliance. Dubbed the...
Bendix announces SmarTire availability
Bendix CVS has announced that its SmarTire Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS) is now available to truck fleets through the network of Bendix OES and independent aftermarket partners across North America...
PRODUCT LINE EXPANDED
Refrigeration system maker Thermo King is expanding its product offerings with the addition of a temperature control system for small trucks. The V-520...
bulletins
A new sliding vane air compressor can cut offloading time by as much as 40%, according to maker Ingersoll Rand. The GHH Rand SV 120 uses oil-free sliding...
Peterbilt redesigns medium-duty models
STE. THERESE, QC. A new interior with a more automotive feel leads the changes for Peterbilt Motors’ two new medium-duty trucks, the Model 337 and Model 347. Now entering production at the Paccar truck plant here, the new models also offer improved visibility, a multiplexed electrical system and a redesigned HVAC with higher output, according to Peterbilt...
Kenworth introduces vocational model
The new T440 model rolled out by Kenworth Truck Co. is available in tractor and truck configurations for regional haul, city pickup and delivery, municipal and vocational applications. ...
Piranha LED has only 10 diodes
Peterson Manufacturing has released a new Piranha LED Smart Lamp that uses only ten diodes, yet maintains most of the same characteristics of its other models, according to the company...
Truck wraps, films offered
Avery Graphics has released four new products suitable for wrapping trucks and trailers. The products include two overlaminates and two films and all...
New backing system sees and senses
Mobile Awareness has combined a sensor system and video camera to offer VisionStat Plus as an option to prevent backing accidents. VisionStat Plus uses...
Session addresses 2010 needs
The new EPA diesel engine emissions rules will take effect just weeks from now and will bring with them many changes. In an effort to educate its customers...
Carrier reefer units available with 2010 engines
Carrier Transicold is now offering most of its trailer reefer units with 2010 model year engines, giving owners an additional year of life on the units under California Air Resources Board (CARB) regulations, the company has announced...
Alliance Parts updates web site
Alliance Parts, a Daimler Trucks North America brand, has updated its web site with enhanced tools for easier search functions and information gathering...
Mobile cleaning trailer
Cleanup no longer needs to take place where the cleaning equipment is located. Hotsy's new Trail Blazer, a mobile cleaning trailer, takes pressure washing...
Western Star reviving the brand
Many might think Michael Jackson, newly installed general manager of Western Star Trucks Inc., has the most unenviable of jobs: reviving a truck brand some have given up for dead. ...
Equipment: Tire Tracks
Interpreting OSHA
When Congress passed the Occupational Safety and Health (OSH) Act in the early 1970s, the goal was to improve safety for American workers...
The Last Word
Green for the green
The UPS Foundation, a nonprofit founded by United Parcel Service back in 1951, recently awarded more than $1 million in grants to a range of environmental organizations...
Tree tracks
A new web portal equipped to download real-time tracking data gathered by SkyBitz aimed to let anyone monitor the 3,000-plus mi. journey of the U.S. Capitol's National Christmas Tree from Eagar, AZ, to Washington, DC, this holiday season...
A trucker for charity
Jerry Charron, a driver for Con-way Freight out of Danville, VT, used his big rig to help collect and haul food for needy families ahead of this year's Thanksgiving holiday...
Inside view
A new online entertainment channel provides information on the new MaxxForce engines in a unique, on-demand format...
Articles
A green Paradise
Looking for ways to save fuel, cut emissions and be a better neighbor, Paradise Island Foods on Vancouver Island in British Columbia embarked on a path paved with green both literally and figuratively...
EPA: Slow going for diesel retrofit funding
Despite being authorized by Congress to spend up to $200 million annually through 2011 to fund diesel engine retrofits, barely half that money is being used on a yearly basis at this point, according to new report issued by the EPA...
SmartWay Trailer Regs Take Effect Jan. 1
Starting on Jan. 1, no 2011 or subsequent model year 53-ft. or longer dry, refrigerated or curtainside van trailer may be pulled by a heavy-duty tractor on a highway in California unless it is either SmartWay-certified or has been retrofitted with equipment meeting SmartWay technical requirements and specifications for fuel-efficient trailers...
CNG refuse fleet serving Fort Lauderdale
Compressed natural gas (CNG) powered trucks have come to the city of Fort Lauderdale, FL, with the decision by private waste hauler Choice Environmental Services to operate ten CNG refuse trucks in its fleet...
Green fuel tax credits proposed for government vehicles
State and local government fleets that use clean fuel and low-emission vehicles should receive federal tax credits, according to the municipal fleet association NAFA Fleet Management...
Ford switches to Azure for Transit Connect electric truck
As quickly as one deal came apart, a new deal between two old partners came together to keep Ford Motor Co.’s plans for an all-electric Transit Connect on track, Ford truck communications manager Anne Marie Gattari has told Fleet Owner...
Freightliner Custom Chassis hits zero-waste goal
At its plant in Gaffney SC, Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp.(FCCC) had a real green letter day yesterday as it celebrated becoming the first vehicle chassis manufacturer and the first company within the trucking industry to achieve “Zero Waste to Landfill” status in the U.S...
Idealease orders Kidron reefer bodies for Schwan
Idealease has ordered 248 Kidron Ultra Temp hybrid refrigeration truck bodies for customer Schwan Food Co. The total number of units represents the largest single order to date for the manufacturer, VT SVC Inc., a subsidiary of VT Systems Inc. Kidron is a division of VT SVC...
Peterbilt garners two Texas clean air honors
The North Texas Clean Air Coalition (NTCAC) has recognized Peterbilt Motors Co. with its 2009 Clean Air Champion award for the second consecutive year....
Law firm claims quietness of hybrids poses risk
Steven J. Schwartzapfel, a partner in the New York personal injury firm of Schwartzapfel Truhowsky Marcus P.C. is putting auto and truck OEMs on notice...
Tenneco gets DOE clean diesel loan
Vehicle parts supplier Tenneco Inc. has received a $24-million conditional loan commitment as part of the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing (ATVM) incentive program...
Security vs. efficiency
We all know cargo shipments of all stripes need tighter security. The speed bump in all this, however, is the impact on transport efficiency, something...
2009 Fleet of the Year Awards
Drumroll, please, and let's lift this curtain! On the following pages, Fleet Owner reveals this year's winners of its Fleet of the Year Awards ...
For Hire FOY: Pitt Ohio Express
PITTSBURGH, PA The all-consuming goal for many for-hire trucking firms has been just to get through this year but not so for Pitt Ohio Express...
Vocational FOY: NYC Dept. of Sanitation
NEW YORK, NY Given the brawny nickname New York's Strongest it's earned by keeping a shine on the Big Apple for almost 130 years, it's no wonder the New York City Dept. of Sanitation (DSNY) did not wait idly by for manufacturers to roll out hybrids for its heavy-duty refuse collection fleet...
2009 Private FOY: Coca-Cola Enterprises
ATLANTA, GA The Coca-Cola Enterprises (CCE) private fleet is pulling out all the stops to help the world's big red brand Coke go greener and greener...
Winter's worries
Between the ten consecutive hours of downtime required by hours-of-service regulations and the harshness of recent winters, drivers in the coming months can expect to wake up to winter wonderlands that were not there when their heads hit the pillow...
Taking a bite out of sales
The recession has not only lowered freight volumes, but changed distribution patterns within the supply chain as well...
Unlocking fleet value
In our experience, private fleets that prosper, regardless of the economic environment in which they operate, exhibit three interrelated characteristics...
Revenue quality
Our company, MSM Transportation, is celebrating its 20th anniversary...
Light trucks go commercial
If you want a vivid example of how fast and furious changes are occurring in the light commercial truck market, look no further than the Chrysler Group LLC...
2010 Light Duty Truck Specs
FLEET OWNER's coverage of light-truck specifications for the 2010 model year includes information on every Class 1 and 2 truck appropriate for commercial fleet applications...
What's new in oil filters
It's no secret that the tightening of emissions regulations that occurred in 2002 and 2007 with one more phase to go in 2010 has increased the strain on engine oils...
No more flats
Manager: Steve Hunter Title: Transfer station supervisor Fleet: Buncombe County Government Operation: Regional waste hauler PROBLEM Encompassing Asheville,...
McLeod broadens carrier and brokerage software
BIRMINGHAM, AL. McLeod Software has enhanced its Loadmaster IX and PowerBroker II systems with new analysis, efficiency and communications features that “transform base products into requisite tools for success,” said president & founder Tom McLeod today at a press briefing during the annual McLeod Users’ Conference here. ...
off the wire
Plustek Technology has released a line of ultra-portable document imaging scanners that are designed to quickly capture delivery receipts, bills of lading,...
PrePass offering suite of fleet management tools
While thousands of truck drivers and carriers take advantage of PrePass’ weigh-station bypass services every day, the company is now taking those services a step further with the addition of a fleet management suite of products...
Qualcomm service gains DoD certification
Customers using Qualcomm’s Untethered Asset Management Service can now haul Dept. of Defense (DoD) shipments after the product received Defense Transportation Tracking System II (DTTS) certification...
Cadec, ALK join for dynamic routing options
Cadec Global has enlisted the assistance of ALK Technologies to provide trucking fleets with optimized routes, a reduction of out-of-route mileage and lower fuel consumption, the fleet management systems company said...
PeopleNet adds 3rd-party service network
PeopleNet has established a new North American Service Network of third-party service centers that are certified to install and service PeopleNet systems...
Scheduling solution
Karmak said its ProfitMaster Scheduling product makes it easier to manage service schedules and dispatching of technicians by automating the scheduling...
Refrigeration management tool
To help control food temperatures during transport, Xata Corp. is rolling out a refrigeration management and monitoring option for its XataNet fleet management...
Improving collections
As fleets use factoring companies more and more, the need to transmit accurate information is increasing. To solve this problem, Innovative Computing...
Xata awarded Minnesota technology honor
Based on the performance of its flagship product XataNet, Xata Corp. has been given a 2009 Minnesota High Tech Assn. (NHTA) Tekne Award in the Technology Services award category...
Trucking is an adventure
As 2009 draws to a close, the trucking industry has been haunted by a less-than-stellar year...
