Month: April 2011

Categories
Lifestyle Trucker News

Driving at 18?

This article is intended to raise the concern about teen driving fatalities and what can be done to drastically reduce this alarming statistic. While this article may be sensitive to some readers in certain industries, we would like to raise the question as to what can be done to make our teens better drivers and how to alert others on the road that a new driver is behind the wheel.

Human life is precious and we must do everything reasonable to prevent deaths. Raising the driving age will cut the number of accidents on the roads. Teenage drivers are much more likely to have accidents than older drivers.

Young drivers do have more accidents, but that is because they are not very experienced, not simply because they are under 18. If we raise the driving age, it will be 18-19 year old new drivers having more accidents instead of 16-17 year old. After all, men are 77% more likely than women to kill someone while at the wheel, so if we went just by statistics we would ban all male drivers.

The age at which you can legally drive varies from country to country, but in many places it is lower than 18. In some American states it is 15 or younger. Usually you are allowed to take a driving test a year or more before you can vote or drink alcohol. As young drivers are the ones most likely to have accidents, from time to time there are calls to raise the driving age. So what do you think? Should minimum driving age be raised to 18?

Categories
Lifestyle

Oklahoma truck stop planned to fight prostitution

A judge has ruled an Oklahoma City truck stop owner must take new measures to deter the world’s oldest profession. On April 7, Judge Bryan Dixon of the District Court of Oklahoma County ruled in favor of city officials against Five Star Truck Stop. City representatives sought relief through the court after more than a year of negotiations with the business failed to resolve the soliciting issue, according to Master Sgt. Gary Knight. The judge ordered the business to fix and maintain fencing to completely separate the Five Star property from adjacent motels.

The property’s video camera capabilities must be improved and the owner has to buy and monitor video equipment that provides continuous parking lot surveillance. The owner must also provide copies of video surveillance data in usable form to police if requested.
The judge also has stipulated the truck stop must:
• Increase lighting.
• Post and maintain no trespassing or soliciting signs in conspicuous locations.
• Hire Council on Law Enforcement, Education and Training certified guards who can take prostitutes into custody and who are armed during certain hours.

Categories
Trucker News

FTR shipping index tightens

FTR Associates announced its Shippers Condition Index continues to decline, reflecting tightening capacity in the trucking sector.The short-term forecast for the SCI calls for continued deterioration from the current reading of -7.7 as the outlook for capacity shortages worsens. The SCI sums up all market influences that affect shippers; a reading above zero suggests a favorable shipping environment, while a reading below zero is unfavorable.“The SCI Index is moving into territory that we have not seen since 2004,” says Larry Gross, FTR senior consultant. “Now that we are emerging from the slow winter season, the dimensions of the effects of tightening capacity are beginning to come into focus.”

FTR

Gross says shippers are being hit in two ways, as both base rates are moving higher for all major modes, and fuel surcharges are surging, the latter reflecting oil price hikes stemming from the worrying Mideast unrest and its potential effect on supply. “While there might be some relief later in the year on fuel surcharges, we expect base rates to continue to increase,” he says.

Categories
Trucker News

Canad vs. Electric Cars

The Canadian province of Quebec has announced plans to offer government rebates of up to $8000 (Canadian) on high-capacity electric vehicles in a bid to place 300,000 plug-in electric vehicles on Quebec’s roads by 2020. With up to $50 million in funding already set aside for the program, the province hopes that – by doing so – they’ll be able to cut overall carbon emissions to the tune of 900,000 tons annually.

Currently, Quebec’s petroleum use breakdown looks like this …

Electric

… and, since more than 90% of Quebec’s electricity comes from hydro power, this isn’t a case of simply diverting fossil fuel use from gasoline being burned in cars to Albertan tar sand oil being burned at the power station, either. As such, a large-scale switch to EVs and plug-in vehicles would (arguably) have a bigger positive impact in Quebec than it would in areas that rely on coal.

Categories
Lifestyle

TWIC program under fire

The U.S. House transportation committee blasted the Transportation Security Administration for delays in approving TWIC readers.

Meanwhile, Congress is considering legislation to address renewal deadlines for TWIC holders.

The TSA is still conducting the pilot program for readers to verify the Transportation Worker Identification Credentials’ biometric identifiers, Chairman Rep. John Mica (R-Fla.) said. “Without any readers, TWIC is about as useful as a library card,” he said.

TSA Administrator John Pistole and TWIC Program Manager John Schwartz were scheduled as hearing witnesses, but did not attend or submit written testimony. The Department of Homeland Security said the TSA hasn’t testified before the committee since 2008, but reports to 108 other congressional committees and subcommittees.

“According to the House’s own rules, Congressional oversight jurisdiction over DHS functions relating to transportation security resides with the House Homeland Security Committee,” the department responded.

Mica said he would continue inquiries about full deployment of the $420 million TWIC program. The TSA has estimated TWIC could cost taxpayers and the private sector up to $3.2 billion over a 10-year period.

Categories
Trucker News

Driver hiring, turnover increase

Trucking industry hiring and driver turnover surged in the fourth quarter of 2010. According to American Trucking Associations’ quarterly trucking activity report, large truckload fleet turnover rose to 69 percent in the fourth quarter, its highest level since the second quarter of 2008. Trucking industry hiring and driver turnover surged in the fourth quarter of 2010.According to American Trucking Associations’ quarterly trucking activity report, large truckload fleet turnover rose to 69 percent in the fourth quarter, its highest level since the second quarter of 2008.

DRIVER

Turnover at small truckload fleets increased to 49 percent in the fourth quarter from 44 percent in the third quarter, and LTL turnover remained low at 6 percent. Also, truckload and less-than-truckload carriers increased payrolls in the fourth quarter. Small truckload companies increased employment by 0.8 percent, while large truckload companies boosted total employment by 0.3 percent.Less-than-truckload employment rose 0.4 percent, according to the survey.ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said the increased hiring, coupled with rising turnover, indicated fleets are responding to a growing economic recovery.

Categories
Business Lifestyle

Follow our Success

As anyone who’s ever suffered through an overcooked steak dinner at a business meeting knows, networking is part of marketing and promotions and a necessity for business and professional growth. Social networking is no different except that it happens online where the world is open to anyone with a computer. Here are the list of successful sites that can help you promote your business.

ONLINE LOAD BOARD
http://www.findfreightloads.com/-Provide 24/7 dispatching service for drivers to find loads all over the us.Most importantly our online load matching system is extremely easy to use. Our website is designed for owner operators to find work fast and get on the road.
Follow us on twitter @ http://twitter.com/#!/findloads

HOW TO TOP YOUR COMPANY
IBringTraffic.com-is the ONLY business promoting websites with Facebook & Twitter, where likes of users pages can be increased. You promote their sites! and we give you points that can be used as credits to redeem prizes. Add your site and the more points you have the higher your page ranking is displayed on the site.
Follow us on twitter @ : http://twitter.com/#!/bringtraffic

AMAZING T-SHIRT DESIGNS
TshirtsBlvd.com-We can create your own clothing label with custom labeling. We ship products to your customers. YOU get paid weekly for your online sales, minus a small commission fee. Special discounted prices for wholesale orders.
Follow us on twitter @ http://twitter.com/#!/tshirtsblvd

ONLINE FREIGHT BROKER COURSE
http://freightbrokerscourse.com/-Our freight broker license course is unmatched in the online training industry, because we give our students many tools that other online broker courses do not offer, like load board access, transportation database, license filing service and we sell our broker courses for half of the price. With over 5 years in the transportation industry we have developed not just an easy to understand self study freight broker course but a transportation network for you to jump start your freight brokerage career.
Follow us on twitter @ :http://twitter.com/#!/brokerfreight

WEB DESIGN
Once your website is built you need to promote it! You can gain traffic either by SEO or online marketing. My online marketing and promotion services takes care of everything for you from ongoing search submissions to management of multiple online listings.
Visit us @ http://darynduff.com/

Visit and follow us!!! And in the long run, it will leads to more profitable, long lasting, and better business contacts.

Categories
Freight Factors Trucker News

FMCSA opens utter period on EOBR

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on April 12 requested additional public comment on its Feb. 1 Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding mandatory electronic onboard recorders for commercial motor vehicle operators who must keep records of duty status.In its latest EOBR proposal and in a previous EOBR rulemaking published on April 5, 2010, FMCSA advised it is required by law to ensure that electronic devices are not used to harass CMV drivers resulting from invasion of their privacy, although they can be used by motor carriers to monitor productivity.

EOBR

FMCSA said in light of recent litigation brought by the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association challenging the agency’s treatment of driver harassment in the first EOBR rulemaking, it wants to ensure that interested parties can comment on the issue in the current EOBR rulemaking.
The first EOBR rule is a final FMCSA action and remains under review by the Seventh Circuit, but FMCSA argued the rule properly protects drivers from harassment. The agency also will continue to accept and consider comments on all other issues within the scope of the proposed rule.

Categories
Freight Brokers

Freight Broker Course- Shoulder your Success

Our freight broker license course is unmatched in the online training industry, because we give our students many tools that other online broker courses do not offer, like load board access, transportation database, license filing service and we sell our broker courses for half of the price.

Freight Broker Manual
With over 5 years in the transportation industry we have developed not just an easy to understand self study freight broker course but a transportation network for you to jump start your freight brokerage career. We cover all these topics in our training program. You will be ready to enter this booming transportation industry and always use our materials as a reference point in the future.Other freight broker training courses only tell you what to do, our freight broker course SHOWS you how to do it. Our freight broker training course was designed by FindFreightloads.com online load board and freight brokers in the industry. Utilizing the load board the course was designed from all aspects of the transportation industry the shippers perspective, carriers needs and the challenges of the truck and property brokers.
What makes us different from the rest?
* We are the only training program that give 1 Year FREE membership with a load board.
* We are the only training program that gives a 350,000 transportation database.
* We are the only training program that has freight broker courses under $900.
* We are the only training program that gives 24/7 Toll Free customer support.
* We are the only training program that gives forms and contracts included in their package.
* We are the only training program that includes license filing support.
* Course has lifetime access, NEVER EXPIRE. Some schools have limits on their course WE DON’T.

Even operating as a small freight brokerage you will need a professional website to give the impression to your clients and shippers that you are an established freight brokerage company. When you market your services to shippers they will want to see your website and more than likely, based on how your website looks, (if you even have one at all) will be one of their deciding factors if they want to do business with you. Your website will be the key to describing all your services, testimonials, and contact information.
So what are you waiting for? Be your own Boss and work at home.Visit us http://freightbrokerscourse.com/.FREE to Register.

Categories
Trucker News

Diesel soars

The national average retail price of diesel surged past $4 a gallon, increasing 10.2 cents to $4.078 a gallon during the week ended April 11, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration.
All regions reported prices above $4. California climbed 7.4 cents to $4.323, the nation’s highest. The West Coast, excluding California, gained 9.9 cents to $4.308. The Midwest increased 10.8 cents to $4.04, while the East Coast rose 10 cents to $4.082. The biggest increase was 11.2 cents to $4.204 in the Central Atlantic region.

Beautiful Sunset

The national average price is at its highest level since Sept. 1, 2008, when it was $4.121 and more than $1 a gallon higher than the same week last year.