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Lifestyle Trucker News

Electronic shipment system in Canada

In September, Canada will begin phasing in the third stage of its Advance Commercial Information for motor carriers.

Canada Border Services Agency’s eManifest will require trade community members to electronically submit trade information to the CBSA at least an hour before their shipment’s arrival in Canada. The agency’s goal is to identify health, safety and security threats in commercial goods.

The eManifest Portal was developed mainly for small- to medium-sized enterprises to ease the transition from paper reporting to pre-arrival electronic data transmission.

Once fully implemented, eManifest will require trade partners for all transportation modes to electronically provide cargo, conveyance, crew/passenger, secondary and importer data to the CBSA before arrival at the border.

Starting Sept. 1, release requests must be transmitted to the CBSA electronically if the total number of invoice lines is 250 or fewer. By February 2012, release requests must be made electronically if the total number of invoice lines is 500 or fewer.

Finally, by 2012, release requests must be transmitted electronically if the total number of invoice lines is 999 or fewer.

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Owner Operators

New state laws affect owner-operator

Trucking supported changes affecting owner-operators and workers’ compensation became law last month in Tennessee, while similar legislation will soon become state regulations in Pennsylvania and Maine.

Tennessee’s new law, SB 932, excludes unemployment compensation for leased operators and owner-operators contracted to common carriers while engaged in interstate commerce.

Pennsylvania’s independent contractor definition under workers ‘compensation will broaden Aug. 29 when HB 440 becomes effective. It will allow sole proprietors, partners of partnerships and limited liability company officers to purchase workers’ compensation insurance.

The Maine Motor Truck Association had requested legislation to determine if someone is an independent contractor for purpose of workers’ compensation.

In September, LD 1099 takes effect, which will define Maine contractors through several factors, including if compensation is based on factors directly related to the work performed, such as mileage-based rates. The contractor also substantially must control the means and manner of performing services and be responsible for a significant amount of operating expenses and maintenance.

The sponsor of a California bill to bar owner-operators from working ports ordered the bill, AB 950, to the inactive file on June 2. Assemblyman John Perez made the request for the legislation, which would require port truckers be carrier employees.

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Lifestyle Trucker News

Minnesota ends shutdown!

Minnesota’s government will begin to resume services July 21, but state officials have not indicated when rest areas and other services used by truckers will be reopened.

On July 20, Gov. Mark Dayton signed into law budget and bonding bills the Legislature approved during a special session earlier in the day. However, state representatives have not said when the public safety department’s Driver and Vehicle Services will reopen.

On July 14, Minnesota Trucking Association President John Hausladen sent letters to U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and state congressional representatives describing how trucking was hurt by the government shutdown. “We urge your agency to fully engage the situation in Minnesota to ensure that the state is honoring its obligations as a safety and enforcement partner,” Hausladen wrote.

Truck stops lacked enough parking to accommodate the overflow of trucks that drivers normally would have parked at rest areas.

Truckers also were hurt by the lack of DVS services. Motor carrier could not obtain apportioned plates through the International Registration Plan, preventing companies from registering trucks. That affected those receiving time-sensitive freight, including perishable food, medical supplies or disaster-relief materials.

Truckers could use local registrars to renew CDLs. but only the DVS can issue permanent cards to replace temporary licenses or renew hazardous materials credentials. Third-party vendors could not obtain motor vehicle records or could companies register pro-rated trucks.

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Carriers

DOT carrier inspections

The U.S. Department of Transportation said that in the last two years, the Obama Administration has issued as many imminent hazard orders placing unsafe bus and truck companies out of service as in the previous 10 years combined.

As part of the administration’s effort to step up motorcoach safety, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has cracked down on unsafe carriers through surprise inspections, full compliance reviews, and enforcement actions.

Between 2000 and 2009, FMCSA issued a total of 14 imminent hazard orders placing unsafe carriers out of service. In just the last two years, FMCSA has already issued another 14 imminent hazard orders to take carriers that pose an immediate risk to passengers off the road. For example, last month the USDOT issued an imminent hazard order to a Michigan company found to be transporting passengers in luggage compartments, at great risk to passengers.

“From Day One, I have pledged to put public safety above all else, and we will continue to take action when we see carriers placing passengers at risk,” said U.S Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. “We have seen the tragic consequences of unsafe practices – whether it’s ignoring fatigue regulations, providing inadequate driver training, or failing to conduct the proper maintenance of a bus or motorcoach. We continue using all of the tools at our disposal to get unsafe carriers off the road and hope that Congress will act on our proposal to provide us with the necessary authority to expand our safety oversight.”

In just the past four months, FMCSA has issued eight out-of-service orders. FMCSA issued these orders immediately following safety investigations that found the carriers and/or the drivers to be in such substantial non-compliance with federal safety regulations as to pose an imminent hazard to public safety. The eight imminent hazard out-of-service orders in 2011 have been issued to seven interstate motorcoach companies: two each based in Georgia and Pennsylvania, and one each in Michigan, Mississippi and North Carolina. One order was issued to a Tennessee-based truck driver.

“Our safety investigators, inspectors and state partners will continue demanding that motor carriers and their drivers adhere to safety requirements,” said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. “While most of the industry operates safely, I also look forward to working with Congress to add new tools to prevent unsafe companies and drivers from operating.”

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Trucker News

Nevada trooper seeks help in finding ex-trucker

A Nevada lawman is asking truckers for help locating a former trucker and his dog who disappeared on Interstate 80 between Wells and Winnemucca.

Humboldt County Undersheriff Curtiss Kull said the Nevada Highway Patrol pulled over Patrick Francis Carnes just east of Wells about 9 p.m. April 13. The 86-year-old Reno resident violated the state’s “move over” law by not shifting to the fast lane to pass an emergency vehicle stopped on the shoulder.

Carnes was returning to his Reno home after visiting family in Ohio. Following the traffic stop, he continued west in his 2005 dark-green Subaru Forester station wagon, apparently traveling with a tractor-trailer. Truckers who viewed the trooper’s dashboard film said the truck might have been pulling a reefer, Kull said.

About 6 a.m. the next day, his Subaru was discovered abandoned but in good condition at the exit 205 Pumpernickel Valley off-ramp.

No businesses are located near this rural exit, which is the location a vehicle was abandoned in another unsolved missing person case. A Reno area woman disappeared in February 2006 and her pick-up was abandoned there the following month.

World War II veteran Carnes had great respect for truckers, was in excellent health and stayed in close touch with his family. Carnes’ constant companion Lucky, his 100-pound Akita/mixed-breed dog, has never been found either.

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Lifestyle Trucker News

Shipping Carbon Plan Includes Penalties

The World Shipping Council and regulators in Japan say their joint plan on vessel efficiency would set fees for operators of ships that do not meet new environmental and energy standards.

The shipping group and the Japan’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism released details on Tuesday of the Vessel Efficiency Incentive Scheme the submitted to the International Maritime Organization, a plan sets a regulatory path for environmental improvements in the business.

The paper details their joint proposal to stimulate improvements in the carbon efficiency of the world’s maritime fleet in detail, including how the system would work in practice and how it compares to other proposals under consideration by the IMO.

The proposal would establish efficiency standards for both new and existing ships in the world fleet. Vessel efficiency would be measured using the Energy Efficiency Design Index developed by the IMO.

New and existing ships meeting the specified standards would not be subject to any fees or costs other than those costs associated with the design and installation of more efficient ship technologies.

Ships that fall short would be required to pay a fee based on the amount of fuel consumed and how far short of standard the specific ship falls. The per-unit fee applied to each metric ton of fuel is adjusted based on the relative efficiency of the vessel. Ocean carriers and said it hopes the paper and the joint WSC-Japan proposal contribute to efforts at the IMO to address the industry’s carbon emissions.

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Lifestyle Trucker News

Tax credits for electric trucks, anti-idling

Idling comes from idle which means absence of motion. In the present case IDLING relates to a running engine that is powering a vehicle when it is not moving. An idling engine consumes only enough power to keep itself and its accessories running, therefore, producing no usable power to the drive train. On a school bus, the practice is actually beneficial to the engine during pre-route. It warms the engine and circulates the fluids, preventing the interaction of cold parts, reducing friction and maintaining maximum driving efficiency during route.

U.S. Sen. Herb Kohl recently introduced legislation to provide tax credits for buying hybrid, plug-in hybrid and electric trucks, and idling reduction devices.The Wisconsin Democrat’s bill, the Hybrid and Electric Trucks and Infrastructure Act, was referred to the finance committee with one co-sponsor.

The tax credits would include application to trucks with a gross vehicle weights in several classes, includes those with rating of more than 26,000 pounds and more than 33,000 pounds with a maximum credit of $24,000.The bill also creates a tax incentive of up to $3,500 for anti-idling infrastructure and anti-idling devices installed on trucks, which would expire before 2014. An example of this credit for infrastructure would apply to truck stops installing electrification units.

Finally, S.1285 would extend the tax credit for recharging and refueling infrastructure for plug-in and alternative fuel vehicles.Kohl introduced a similar bill in 2009, which was referred to committee with five co-sponsors.

Categories
Freight Brokers Lifestyle

Freight Broker Revenue Grows 17.1%

A freight broker is an individual or company that serves as a liaison between another individual or company that needs shipping services and an authorized motor carrier. Though a freight broker plays an important role in the movement of cargo, the broker doesn’t function as a shipper or a carrier. Instead, a freight broker works to determine the needs of a shipper and connects that shipper with a carrier willing to transport the items at an acceptable price.

Freight brokers increased their revenue 17.1 percent in the first quarter from the same period a year ago as the third-party logistics companies expanded fastest in business beyond their core truckload sales, according to an industry report.

The Transportation Intermediaries Association said the shipment count in its quarterly survey of 3PLs increased 7.4 percent in the first three months of the year but that the overall profit margin for the brokers slipped back to 14.9 percent from 15.3 percent a year ago.

But revenue per shipment grew at a sharp rate, including 10.3 percent growth in truckload business, a sign of tight capacity in a growing market at the start of 2011.

The strongest shipment growth came in less-than-truckload arena, which soared 24.5 percent over last year, and brokered intermodal shipments jumped 11.7 percent in the first quarter. Truckload shipments, which bring 3PLs some 98 percent of their operating revenue, grew 5.3 percent.

“The report indicates that 3PLs expanded their services into intermodal and LTL to meet customer needs,” said TIA President and CEO Robert Voltmann.

Categories
Business Lifestyle

ATA offers driver pay study

The American Trucking Associations released the ATA Driver Compensation Study with the first look at the state of the trucking labor market since the end of the recession with data from 2010 and 2011, the new driver compensation study updates the previous report from 2007 and 2008.

It is the trucking lobby’s first report on driver compensation in six years, gleaned from data from publicly held and privately owned nationwide less-than-truckload (LTL), regional LTL, nationwide truckload (TL), regional TL, dedicated carriers, logistic providers, and other companies.

“The trucking industry faces many challenges in 2009,” said ATA president & CEO Gov. Bill Graves. “Appropriately compensating and retaining top-notch drivers is a necessity for companies trying to weather the current economic storm. This study provides very important national and regional data the industry desperately needs today and during the subsequent economic recovery.”

The 96-page report synthesizes information from 155 motor carriers of all types and sizes and includes a variety of data, including:

• Employee driver salaries on national and regional levels;
• Employee driver salaries by carrier type (flatbed, refrigerated, tank truck and more);
• Employee driver benefits, including bonuses, insurance, retirement and vacation;
• Employee driver recruitment, training and retention practices;
• Owner-operator employment and compensation structure; and
• Technician employment, salaries and benefits.

Categories
Business Lifestyle Trucker News

Trucking adds 4,400 jobs

A lot of people in this country have been laid off because of job cuts and the lagging economy. A lot of the people who were affected have found it very hard to find work. Many have ended up in the unemployment lines, but a few have decided to be proactive and are considering a career change. Some of the proactive people are getting training from a truck driving school. Our focus here is to help those that attended a truck driving school find a great trucking job.

The surge in trucking employment didn’t just resume in June; apparently it never stopped. While last month’s job report from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics indicated for-hire trucking companies had added only 100 jobs in May, the latest BLS report released July 8 revised those numbers to a 3,000-job increase in May and pegged the growth in June over May at 4,400.

Since the end of December, payroll employment in trucking is up nearly 27,000, according to the preliminary BLS figures. Since trucking employment bottomed out in March 2010, the industry has added 55,500 jobs.

Job growth in the rest of the economy isn’t so healthy. Nonfarm payroll employment edged up by just 18,000 jobs in June, and the unemployment rate actually ticked higher by one-tenth of a percentage point to 9.2 percent, according to initial BLS estimates. Modest gains in private employment were offset by 39,000 jobs lost in federal and state governments.

Compared to June 2010, payroll employment in trucking is up 3.9 percent. Total employment in trucking in June was nearly 1.283 million – down 170,500, or 11.7 percent, from peak trucking employment in January 2007.

The BLS numbers reflect all payroll employment in for-hire trucking, but they don’t include trucking-related jobs in other industries, such as a truck driver for a private fleet. Nor do the numbers reflect the total amount of hiring since they only include new jobs, not replacements for existing positions.