Category: Carriers

Categories
Carriers

Is Hybrid Truck an Answer to Trucking Industry Challenges

There is a continuous hike in the oil prices and the hybrid trucks are looked as a new alternative by the trucking companies. There are many companies which have launched their hybrid trucks in the market and they are very fuel efficient as compared to the normal trucks. The trucking companies are facing the challenges on the fuel front and they are forced to cut the costs by reducing the number of truck driver jobs. Hybrid trucks are becoming more and more popular these days as it is very environmental friendly and the amount of pollutants emitted is also very less.

The basic reason behind the launch of the hybrid trucks is to reduce the cost. There is still a doubt in the minds of the truckers about how these hybrid trucks are operated. The trucking companies are also looking forward to train the drivers about the operation of the hybrid trucks. Most of these trucks run on two kinds of fuels: electric motor and gasoline motor. There are only one or two companies which have come up with the idea of the hybrid trucks and have launched selected models in the market.

The government is putting strict laws regarding the pollutants emission by the trucks and hybrid trucks can be considered to be a big step to solve this serious problem. There is much less noise produced by the engine of these trucks and are very silent in its functioning. Mostly the hybrid vehicles run on the gasoline motors but when extra power is needed, the electric motor is also started. The trucking companies can also look for the truck drivers’ employment that is well trained in driving the hybrid trucks. It is very economical for the trucking industry which was coping hard to survive the hard market conditions especially the overhead costs due to the fuel hikes.

The gasoline motor is installed in the hybrid trucks to save the energy. It will stop the engine automatically as soon as the truck will come to a halt and will result in preserving the energy. The researches show that the fuel consumed by the hybrid trucks is almost half in cost to that of any normal truck. Most of the hybrid trucks available in the market today have the limited capacity of loading the materials as there are batteries and electric motor also employed in it. The load boards have a huge supply of materials and they look for the vehicles which have a huge capacity of loading. They do not want the loads available to be kept like that and this is a huge disadvantage for the hybrid trucks. The motor companies are planning to launch heavy hybrid trucks in the market but it may take some time.

The costs of the hybrid trucks are also more as compared to the normal trucks. The trucking companies may be reluctant to go for the hybrid trucks looking at the initial costs but they should not overlook the advantages of the hybrid trucks.

Categories
Carriers

Zurich Reported Truck Crashes can be reduced by Telematics

The cost involved in the crashes can be reduced considerably with use of the technological advancements, said the Zurich Financial Services Group. This will be very advantageous to the trucking companies.

Telematics and Fleet Risk Management Zurich has evaluated the use of this strong technology. This along with the driver development programs can ensure high level of safety to the owner operator jobs and other risky jobs like flatbed drivers, reefer drivers and straight truck drivers

Telematics will also help reduce the operational cost of the fleet and help save the environment too.

How does Telematics Work:

The telematics devices are installed in the trucks. The data is regularly captured by the device and is transmitted to the centrally located server. The fleet managers, owners and dispatchers can derive the data captured over the internet.
It includes the vital driving information of the truck driver activities like the speed of the vehicle, location of the vehicle and other diagnostic statistics. There are sensors on the vehicle which detects and reports the wide range of trucking activities. There is a secure link linked with this to the data center therefore, the fleet manager can view and manage real time reports.

This ensures the trucking companies and shippers that the available loads are on their correct route and safe to be delivered on time.

Telematics are mostly seen in connection with other vehicle systems. This is nothing but the GPS sensors are connected with the wireless communication servers and are utilized with computer resources. With the critical data supplied to the fleet managers, it can help reduce the collision risk associated with the driving jobs. It guarantees regulation compliance and enhance fleet performance. The application of telematics will offer 10% reduction in operation cost and 11% reduction in fuel cost.
Check our load board blog page for more articles on driver safety.
There are a range of products available which depends on the fleet size and the characteristic of the carrier type and loads hauled by it.

The fleet managers usually start with the basic fleet safety solution offered by telematics. Then getting the required solution and gaining experience, they move upward to more comprehensive and competent management capability mobile resourcing.

Categories
Carriers

34 Hours Rest Period for Truck Drivers – A New Challenge to Trucking Industry

The life of a truck driver is always set on the wheels of the truck. It seems to be an unending journey for them. It is not an easy job to drive a truck continuously without any pauses and breaks. The various researches done on the truck drivers recently show that the side effects of driving for a long time are clearly visible in the living style and behavioral traits of truckers. There is abundance of driver employment for different drivers like flatbed drivers, reefer drivers, dry cargo van drivers and more, but the drivers seem to resist taking up the life of a trucker. There are many trucking companies which have a demand for many drivers. There is a need of a lot of patience and endurance before going for the job of a truck driver.

The increasing cases of the accidents of the truck drivers have raised a hue and cry and forced the people to look for an alternative. Besides the accidents, the health problems of the truckers are also raising issues of concerns among the researchers and the scientists. Recent study of a Washington University makes it evident that insomnia is quite a common problem in the truck drivers who go for longer destinations and get a very little time to rest.

The researchers of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Association (FMCSA) has proposed a 34 hour rest period for the truck drivers but the trucking industry doesn’t seem to agree with this study and is opposing it in every possible way. The owner operator jobs are also available and the owner operators are also being hired by the trucking companies. The freight and the logistics companies have a lot of work. If the 34 hour rest period is brought into shape, it will definitely pose new challenges before the trucking companies.

The global breakdown in 2008 led many companies to do job cuts and it badly affected the number of drivers in the trucking business. The load boards work was also not untouched by it. But the conditions have become better and there are ample of loads available. But the shortage of drivers is an issue of concern. If the 34 hours rest period is put into form, there will be more need of truck driver jobs. There is already a huge gap in the demand and supply chain and it will create imbalance in the chain management system. Many of the drivers are on the verge of retirement and the increasing number of load boards and freight companies have put the trucking companies in a tensed situation. An old study which was conducted by the national highway traffic safety administration showed that it will be difficult for the young drivers to adapt driving conditions.

There will be a need of around 1 million truck driver jobs in the coming 15 years. The trucking industry needs to take adequate steps to ensure the safety and health issues of the drivers. It will be able to attract the applicants only when it provides all the facilities to the truckers. There is a common problem of fatigue and tiredness seen in the truckers. If the trucker is driving flat bed truck or carrying petroleum or some other explosive product, he needs to be very careful. A minor mistake can cause huge loss and even cost life of people. The interests of the truckers cannot be discarded.

Categories
Carriers

How Can a CDL Driver Clear the Negative Charges off the DAC report?

As we have seen in the earlier blog posted on our load board, a DAC report is the one which contains all the driving history of a driver. It includes drug/alcohol tests, criminal reports, MVR records, accidents and other incidents related to the driving with the earlier carrier companies the driver has worked for. The DAC report has gained its importance as major percentage of the carrier companies ask for this report before hiring any commercial driver.
If the report has inaccurate or false information that goes negative on your driving part then it should be rectified immediately as the negative charges might affect your driving career for years to come. The serious criminal convictions should be expunged from the court records, only then the convictions will be erased from the DAC report.

You can seek legal service in this regard. One such company is DACOff.com. They give affordable and reliable service with a high success rate

Check out the steps below if you are seeking a legal advice:
Take the copy of the original conviction judgment, analyze and figure out the situation in when you were convicted and that is there any scope of that the case can be expunged. You do a thorough research by referring to the FindLaw websites to learn about the statutes and procedures of expunging any specific case.

After you find out that you qualify for the conviction to be expunged, the next step is to get an attorney or prepare the documents required for the petition yourself.

Now you need to file a petition with the court where your conviction has been recorded. The next step will be simple if your state does automatic expunging in case you qualify the statutes. In other states where this facility is not working. You will be called for a hearing in front of the judge after you have filed a petition. Its then solely on the judge’s discretion to grant you the petition and give you a clean chit or deny it.

After the legal procedure is over, you need to get you DAC report to ensure that the charge has been removed from the DAC report as well. HireRight is the company where you can get your free annual DAC report.

The information about your truck driving job is placed on the DAC report by the carrier companies you have previously worked with or by the companies whose orientation programs you have attended in the past. Thus, if you watch out for some key areas you will not get strangled in the negative conviction at the first place.

1. Whenever you are planning to leave a carrier company, give at least two weeks resignation notice. In such cases the company cannot charge you negatively against available loads abundance or quit under dispatch cases. These negative points prove very harmful when you seek new truck driver employment.

2. Attend the orientation program and give the pre-employment drug screening test only to the employer you are certain you will work with. If you unnecessarily attend an orientation program of a carrier company and leave the orientation program in between, the company can report this to DAC. Thus you can easily avoid such conditions and keep your DAC report clean by selective approach.
3. For small incidents and accidents try not to report them and pay off the damage yourself. This will help keep your DAC and insurance report clean.

4. Never say no to random drug test. Give the test and make sure to take the document which shows you have undergone the test. Add the paper to your trucking records.

I hope this article will be helpful to you to know how to expunge your DAC report and to avoid the negative convictions beforehand.

Categories
Carriers

What is the Importance of a DAC Report to Truck Drivers in the Industry?

This article will be really helpful to truck drivers who are looking for a job change. Whenever you would move to a new trucking company for work, the company will ask you for your DAC report. Let us see what is this so called DAC report is?
The DAC report is a record and summary of the truckers past work related activities pertaining to the trucking industry. The report is shared among the trucking companies so that they all get benefited in due course of time. Usually a DAC employment report contains accident history, any traffic violations and types of violations, why the truck driver wants to change the job or in case if he is fired, what is the reason? It also reports the type of driving done, the types of trailers hauled, is he a reefer driver, flatbed driver or dry van driver? It throws a light on the types loads available dispatched by the drivers. Therefore, the potential employer can come to know the drivers work habits, the companies worked for, training and orientation programs attended.
The DAC report can also be used to verify driving license number, criminal reports, social security number and work pay. All these reports play an important role for the trucking companies in pre hiring process to decide whether the trucker is qualified for the job or not.
To maintain the clarity in reports the reports are regulated by Fair Credit Reporting Act. According to this act each driver is eligible to acquire a free copy of this report each year. This will help them know the information that has been collected against their driving.
Earlier the report was distributed by USIS, but this procedure is now handled by a company called HireRight. A consumer report request from can be filled and send to the company in order to get your free report copy or the request can be sent online on the HireRight website. The request for the report can be submitted online but the report is not delivered in the digital form. It takes 15 days for the hard copy of the report to be delivered to you through US mail delivery system. If in case you find the there are incorrect charges on the report you can file a dispute with the dispute section of the website.
With the growing popularity of the DAC reports, nearly 90% of the commercial long hauls trucking companies are utilizing these reports to play safe while hiring new driver onboard. Since, the DAC report is a very crucial document for your truck driving career, you should read carefully the report and make sure to file any dispute for the wrong charges. The HireRight will look into the matter and make sure that inappropriate charges are removed from your report.
Keep checking our load board blog page for more trucking article. We will see in the next article, how to avoid negative DAC reports and what you should do in the case if the report stands negative for you.

Categories
Carriers

Make your Semi-Truck more Efficient!!!


Check our load board blog page for more interesting trucking articles.

Categories
Carriers

Trucking Industry – Going Green!!

In all fields of business and life, everybody these days is concerned about the environment and saving our planet by adopting greener ways of doing things. Going green is a tough job in almost all spheres and it is even tougher in the case of trucking industry. This is because diesel fueling is the lifeline of the trucking industry and every truck runs on the road delivering goods world over with the billions of gallons of diesel consumption. However, many carrier and trucking companies have come up with greener solutions to manage the increasing carbon emissions causing environmental hazards.
The heavy duty 18 wheeler truck manufactured are highly competent these days. Their efficiency has improved manifolds, thus attaining more loads available being delivered with lesser fuel being consumed. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is setting up standards to make this move more successful and to ensure that there is a governing body to keep a check on the trucking activities that are harmful for the environment. Trucking industry is the backbone of US economy therefore more planned and smaller operational changes would be largely beneficial.
Some of the ways that will help control the carbon emissions are:
Slow Down: Speed Reduction is the most simple and effective way. If the speed limit is set to 65 mph, then the fuel mileage can be improved as well as fuel can be saved. This move can save up to 27 percent of fuel as against with the speed limit of 75 mph and the carbon emission around 31.5 million tons could be reduced.
Engine Maintenance: The long hail drivers who use their trucks to sleep through the nights and resting hours can make use of the Truck auxiliary units or truck stop electrification systems to heat or cool their trucks. This way they will save the diesel consumption which they otherwise used while idling the truck.
Driving Behavior: A little change in the driving habits of a driver can save up to 5-10% of the fuel consumed. Soft and timely shifting of gears, avoiding sudden break and sharp starts proves helpful in this regard. These steps make truck driver jobs more responsible towards nature.
Accessories and Equipments: Low viscosity lubricants can be used to reduce friction and thus use lesser fuel energy. Monitoring tire pressure regularly is yet another efficient step towards fuel-economy. Many companies who can afford a little expenditure have installed aerodynamic panels on their trailers and have replaced the old polluting engines with new more environment friendly engines.
Read more articles on Trucking on our loadboard blog page.
Many trucking companies have joined the move already and others plan to do so very soon. EPA’s SmartWay Transport Partnership is also becoming hugely popular among the transportation industry. This is a joint initiative by EPA and Freight Industry experts to combat the environmental risks associated with trucking jobs. SmartWay assists companies in measuring the carbon emission by their fleets and to track the steps to achieve long term results.

Categories
Carriers

EOBR Use – A Problem or Relief? for Owner Operators

Electronic On Board Recorder is an instrument which can be installed in the semi-truck. This device is used to record the exact running time of the truck. This will in turn keep the track of the driving hours of the driver. There is a never ending debate on its application to the US trucking industry. This article will discuss some of the advantages of having this EOBR also known as the black box to your truck.
The EOBR regulation will come into effect from 1st June 2012. According to this rule the owner operators and trucking companies who violates the hours of service rule for drivers in the 10 percent of cases will have to install this Electronic on Board Recorder to keep control over there driving activities. The functions of an EOBR will be to record the location where the duty is changed and where the truck is moving. The driver will have the options to maintain the information on the recorder but the recorder will be programmed to keep the original as well as fed information intact for future use. The information will be digitally recorded so that in case of any mishap the safety officials can retrieve the data. EOBR is used in same way as the paper log books are used. It will keep track of all operational and functional processes; record the truck loading and unloading time with location. It will also store the time a driver spends in his sleeping berth.
The Owner-Operator Independent Truck Drivers Association is highly opposing the imposition of this rule. As they say that the paper logs are as effective as the recorder and that the recorder will hinder in the day to day life of a driver and affect his privacy. However the FMCSA is adamant of taking this regulation into effect from 2012. The target will be first only on the hour of service rule violators that will count to some 6000 fleets. Then the rule will be a mandate for more number of carriers.
The trucker who have voluntarily adopted the Electronic On Board Recorder or their carrier company have installed them on their truck find it useful and easy to use. The truck driver can now manage their work time more efficiently. They know how long they have to work .They will drive the truck for 14 hours and sleep for 10 hours, thus driving the truck for no more than 70 hours a week. This way they can plan which available loads they should select. They will also not sit idle and waste their time on the truck stops. After they finish the unloading they can look for more loads by making use of the loadboards.
In case of accidents the recording of the EOBR will tell whether the driver was guilty or not. It will tell precisely the trucker was out of service hours at the time of incident or not. When you first place it in your semi-truck you might face some difficulty to operate in the start. But in long run you would see that it becomes a necessity and also helps you earn more money by following a scheduled work culture.

Categories
Carriers

How to Get the Best of your Reefer Truck

Driving a refrigerated truck is a work of its own kind. This work, though seeming similar, has a lot of technical differentiation from other work.  It takes a very experienced trucker to drive a reefer truck. This fact makes this work very unique. In this article I will discuss about the ways to get the best from your reefer truck. Driving reefer truck is the most hectic among truck driving jobs. Reefer drivers have to go through a lot of tough conditions then a normal truck driver.

The loads available of different kind must be transported in the containers of different size. For the fruits and vegetables any size is good to go but if you want to opt for some other stuff to transport like some scientific and research material then the reefer driver must understand the responsibilities related to this and the proper procedure must be opted.

Reefer trucking

For reefer drivers, it is very important to stabilize the temperature during the trucking. A swing more than 5 or 10 degree can waste the purpose of the transportation.  One have to cope with all the facts including the insulation cost and the maintaining the swing value very low. Ambient value with proper aging and condition is very important in the transportation. If you fail to manipulate all the factors involved the operation will not be economical and you will not earn enough money as desired.

Maintaining all the mentioned factor during a constant and continuous run is also an important factor. There are several other issues too which must be properly addressed in a reefer trucking job too. These factors include the temperature and the capacity of the shipment.  The capacity varies with the initial investment made. An optimum relation must be maintained between the initial investment and the capacity so that the maximum possible profit is obtained during the operation without financial load on the driver.

Check our loadboard for more interesting articles like this.

The driver must consider every factor related to the particular run. The client might ask different type of service in different projects. The reefer driver must ask the question from himself that what is the possible benefit of this operation are and whether he will be able to successfully handle the job or not. In this scenario another factor of the trailer size also comes into the play. The type of job is highly dependent over the trailer size.

Here I am discussing few bullet points to suggest the optimum use of reefer truck for any trucking company:

1.       Perform all the operation in the proper way to save yourself from the wastage of time and make the maximum use of your resources

2.       You must not run the units if the doors are open because it is simply the waste of power and the effort.

3.       Use the max value of possible insulation to reduce losses because it may make the initial cost high but later it will be very useful for saving the cost of maintaining temperature.

Categories
Carriers Newbies

LTL Freight Performance

Frozen Food specific Industries (primarily Dallas based frozen food transporter with truck load and lesser than truckload freight services) released its fiscal results for the 2nd quarter of 2010. The first emphasis of the transporter is to drag temperature controlled and iced up perishables for the fitness care, sweet, and foodstuff industries. The transporter conjointly comprises a third party logistics (3pl) division to surpass requirements of transporters and other cargo brokerage clients.
The Firm’s CEO specified the transporter as an improved stress on facility quality and asset application. Mr. Stubbs trusts the main objective on lucrative client holding can upsurge limitations in trucking companies and rise in tonnage and cargo count on the LTL unit similarly. A mixture of any departure of opponents and shrink in existing capability has enhanced the merchandise shipping and logistics bazaar. These economic issues allowed Cold Foodstuff specific reduction in their pre-tax damage by quite a forty one.
In spite of income exclusively indicating up September 11, the occupation of current machine, upsurge in prizing, and absence of participants permitted for these enhanced results. For the previous 6 months but, the functioning income had reduced fairly third-dimensional. Truck efficiency (sedated by revenue per truck / week) was conjointly up by reasonably four-dimensional all over the quarter because the marketplace has appeared to offhand contain by the favor of the available loads. In 2009 Frozen Food unambiguously said they’d dogged to park a slight of their present tractors till the marketplace came. Presently the commercial market seems to be setting them into facility because the marketplace continues to reinforce.
Transporters are conjointly ready to retort to the cargo marketplace. Shipper managers say they require a willingness on a portion of the transporters and logistics firms to normalize valuing to reflect the constriction of the market. Truck Drivers approaching to figure out will certainly simplify the conveyance occupation yield to effectiveness as merchandise expenses escalate off of conventionally low ranks. Numerous transporters have accepted cost-saving methods as harms through the latest assortment of years. Through the 2nd quarter of the 2010, most haulers have seen improved results from a mix of a good freight pricing atmosphere and fall outs of those transporter values saving methods.
Check our load board for more interesting trucking articles.
Frozen Food definite senses a massive portion of its achievement through these stormy financial periods are the supervise obligation to the commercial and slyness to pursuit new productivity in all stages of the maneuver. The shipper remains to possess a potent money situation while not mortgages outer of its credit contract. Frozen Food specific has nearly 7 million greenbacks in cash, 83 million in shareholder equity and no unresolved debt.
It seems transporters have recovered an authority within the transpiration skill. Many Transporters and third party logistics corporations have stated advanced than predictable wages and tapering losses due to constriction ability and dense overhead. A monetary release inside truck driver job certainly seems to be happening. Let’s anticipate a thrust permits for a continued financial retrieval not just for merchandise and transport, though conjointly for the wider economy.