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Lifestyle Owner Operators

Social Media Serving Freight and Owner Operator Businesses

The world has turned into a small globe and it owes its debt to the technological advances that have taken place. It has made dynamic changes and no industry or field can be said to be have remain untouched by it. No century saw as much growth and development as the 21st century. Transportation and communication in one way go hand in hand.

Cargo business could not be also put into a different place from this as this industry has very much to do with transportation. Social networking is no more a new thing and it has become a chain linking many people to it. Most of the people are associated with the social networking sites like twitter, face book or Orkut in some way or the other. These sites have been proven really fruitful in giving its results and have helped giving a boom to many businesses linked to it.
There was a time when the companies had to go for the newspaper classifieds to promote their business and plan a market strategy making it a costly issue. But now the things have changed entirely giving a new shape to the whole scenario.

The trucking companies can simply post their ads on the internet using loadboards and also give their links on the various social networking sites as well. These companies can create their groups and also make associates with whom they can be in a constant link. The freight business basically thrives on supply chain management and proper communication can prove a boom to it. The world is no longer isolated and anyone from any part of the globe can correspond with the trucking companies. This will definitely help them groom their business. There are bundle of trucking companies who have registered on the social networking sites and are a part of it.

Not only businesses can receive a boom by these sites but also other purposes can be served by it. Truck driver jobs can be placed on the Facebook community or on your twitter page. The area of choice increases and one can choose the right person for the job. There are also communities of truck drivers by which they remain in touch with other and also help them communicate. They are also aware of the job listings and the credit can be given to these social network groups.
The information of the loads available could be placed on the website or any other source of the social network and one can go picking up the load. These things are surely going to give a boost to the business and will help flourish it.

Many freight companies agree that their businesses have seen a remarkable change after having a link up with the social network. One can use twitter for posting contents while photos and other similar links can be placed on Facebook.

It cannot be denied that in this competitive world social networking sites have given a huge platform to businesses as well helping them grow.

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Trucker News

Speeding a Major Safety Compliance Issue for Truck Drivers

Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) has taken up the operation under Safe Driver Campaign. The report has been recently released by CVSA which points out on three major safety concerns. The warnings as per the citations were issued to the vehicle drivers and trucking companies for both commercial and non-commercial drivers. The three safety violations were speeding, traffic signal disobeying and not using the seat belts.
If we consider the percentages than speeding was the number one. The 2009 figures for commercial drivers suggests there were 20.3 % cases of over-speeding reported whereas for traffic signal violations and seat belt violations were 4.2 percent and 2.6 percent respectively. Similar violations were tracked for car drivers and the percentage violation for car drivers was found to be even higher.

According to 2010 commercial driver’s safety alliance report, the reported cases followed the similar trend with maximum number of safety issues were for speeding. There were 13.7 percentage of speeding related safety concerns. For traffic signal disobeying and failing to use seat belt while driving the car were 4.6 and 10 percent respectively. However 2010, witnessed more cases of non usage of the seat belts while driving.

Since 2007 a program has been launched Operation Safe Driver. This was brought up by CVSA and Federal Carrier Safety Administration to look on the issues to create more awareness and improve the driving pattern of the drivers. The measures are taken to educate and enforce safe driving strategies especially on the drivers whose truck driving job has been found more risky. On 17th to 23 rd October 2010 the fourth annual Operation Safe Driver was conducted in which 53,000 commercial vehicle driver were brought forward.

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The executive director Stephen Keppler addressed that this drive is proving really beneficial and they will continue to focus on the driver behavior that become the main cause of road accidents and in worse cases the cause of life losses.

Many other steps have been taken by several official bodies. One such step that everybody is looking forward is the rule making by National Highway Traffic Safety Administration for speed limiters. Though there has been a heated debate on this rule making but the NHTSA is clearing its path for it and intend to lay down its proposal in this line by 2012.

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Owner Operators

Commercial Truck Finance a Feasible Option for Owner Operators

An owner operator or truck driver wanting an independent trucking business is a costly affair. The big rigs often cost too much for the truck driver job to realize their big dreams. A new rig and a trailer would require a big sum of investment ranging from one fifty thousand to two hundred thousand dollars. In this situation the truck driver turns towards commercial truck finance option. The finance companies are more than happy to offer commercial truck finance as this loan is far less risky. This is because of the reason that truck drivers make good money and has the potential to earn over one hundred thousand dollars in one year by running their trucks for approximately 70 hours a week. If they start the business in partnership with two drivers on the road then the amount earned is even more.

The types of finances covered not just include the big rigs which makes interstate trips but all other truck types used for different loads available as well. The other truck purchases that might require commercial truck finance are flat bed, dump truck, reefers, dry vans, hazmat trucks and many more. The area includes all those trucks and trailers that are commercially used to raise income. At this point of time many new owner operators and truck driver feel hesitated to take up such a huge amount of loan. Therefore, many starters go for another option which is more economic and practical i.e. of Truck leasing. In this case they take the required truck on lease for a certain period of time. This option does not require a big initial investment so the truckers can focus on other financial requirements until the business is perfectly set.

Rising fuel price is another challenge faced by both the owner operators and the truck finance companies. Where the fuel was costing 500 dollars some four years back now costs 1000 dollars. The investors are now looking for low cost finance options. The overall economy of the country depends on its fuel prices and trucking industry. According to estimation the trucking industry will face a shortage of 20,000 drivers by 2014. There are a few reasons why the truckers these days want to have their own commercial truck. The first one off course is the freedom to drive the big rig on your own terms and conditions. Many truckers don’t find the scheduled 10 or 14 hours a day job offered by trucking companies much fascinating. Moreover these days the new semi trucks are coming loaded with features like beds, microwaves, toilets, satellite televisions, and much more. So the aspiring trucker wants to get all such facilities with their own trucks.

Commercial Truck Finance options are not only limited to new trucks but are also available on used trucks and trailers for those who do not want much financial load on themselves. Many companies are coming into picture offering truck finances for new and used trucks. With the start up of the owner operator business you have the potential towards increased earnings. You can use the facilities of load boards to keep your truck always loaded. Thus taking commercial truck finance is a good idea for those truck drivers who cannot afford to buy a truck on their own but want to start up the o/o business.

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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.

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Owner Operators

Truck Driving Schools – An Insight

Nothing comes free these days. This also implies to truck driving schools. There are options available where you will have to pay out less comparatively or sometimes no upfront fees to enroll to the truck driving school classes. There are many ways in which you can attend discounted or almost free truck driving schools. Let us discuss in this article some.
Since the economy is facing challenges and people are suffering job losses and layoffs. Trucking industry remains the number one option for the jobless people to secure a truck driving job. However, you need to attend a truck driving school before you establish yourself in this industry. One most straight forward way is that you attend any independent truck driving school. This will cost you more somewhere around $3000- $7000. If you do not have enough money to pay for the fees you can take a government loan to pay for the fees. The loans are easily approved keeping in mind the trucking industry is ever blooming and they get there loans paid back easily. The pay back period usually starts 6 months after you complete the course.
Second option is to join a truck driving school run by any trucking company. These schools offer you free truck driving courses but they usually make you sign one year contract that you will work for the company. At this duration they will pay a little lower wage as they try and compensate what they spent for your truck driver graduation. The disadvantage of this option is that you get stuck for one year with one company and in case you intend to leave they will charge you what they have spent on your course. The advantage is you have the job security as soon as you complete your truck driving lessons and you do not have to pay any upfront fees from your side.
If we check out the technical points related to the two type of schooling then the independent school will teach you trucking lessons from scratch. They will teach you every lesson to become a successful truck driver and fit into any truck driving company easily. The learning approach followed is general so that you can apply them wherever applicable. Whereas when you take the course from the trucking company school they will follow a customized learning pattern which is used in their trucking company to dispatch available loads. Thus you may lack the competing knowledge when compared with the independent school truck driving course.
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Now the selection of CDL training depends on your needs and requirements. Drivers and owner operators getting educated from both ways do well once they are on the road. The choice will depend on your initial investment capabilities.

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Business

Changing Times

With the 2010 elections behind us we can now look forward to the 112th Congress and what it might have in store for the trucking industry. There are several important trucking issues that the new Congress should address, but there is no guarantee that they will make progress on them. Highway funding, parking safety, Mexican trucking, and other hefty issues will rear their head in 2011, but will there be any resolution?

The U.S. House of Representatives, which the Republicans took control of, is where the greatest change occurred. Rep. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., will remain the leader of the House Democrats, but Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, is the new Speaker of the House. In a somewhat surprising election result, longtime House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Chairman James Oberstar lost his re-election bid. Not only was this a gain for the Republicans, but it means the trucking industry has a new committee chairman. At the time of this writing, that chairmanship has not yet been assigned, but it is likely to go to Rep. John L. Mica, R-Fla.

Oberstar’s former committee may have the most transportation-related work to do in the upcoming Congress. The Highway Trust Fund continues to operate on a deficit. This is the fund that pays for road improvements and other highway infrastructure improvements. The real challenge is that the gas tax simply isn’t covering expenses (though some might argue earmarks not related to highways are helping cause this deficit). Newly elected Republicans have suggested one of the first things they will do during the next Congress is to ban earmarks, so that could be an interesting and distracting debate that could keep officials focused on issues other than infrastructure and potentially kill current plans.

Oberstar has urged Congress to approve a one-year extension of the current highway legislation so the new Congress can have time to “come to agreement on a funding mechanism for a six-year bill.” This is the same omnibus funding bill that has failed to leave the floor of the House the last two years. The challenge for Oberstar and his recommendation was that the remainder of 2010 was a lame-duck session in Congress. Yes, they should extend the current bill that they failed to fully renew after it officially expired on Sept. 30, 2009, but they also needed to pass a continuing resolution to make certain the federal government can operate after Dec. 3, 2010. As it turns out, they failed to pass this omnibus bill, too.

Though the Republicans in the Senate gained five seats, the Democrats maintained control of the upper house. The five additional Republican seats all but guarantee numerous opportunities for stalemates on major policy issues – possibly including the Major Highway Bill. The 112th Congress will also have its hands full with environmental-, safety- and trade-related issues. The Obama administration continues to negotiate and consider reinstituting the cross-border trucking program with Mexico. And Congress will likely see a new bill introduced to address truck parking safety (Jason’s Law).
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Should those of us in the trucking industry be excited by the new makeup of Congress? It’s tough to gauge, but probably not. The first several months will be devoted to partisan bickering as those newly elected to Congress attempt to reverse many of the steps the Obama administration has taken. Any reversal attempts on major issues like health reform will likely be unsuccessful and will only serve to divert resources from those issues that can successfully be addressed – like actually doing their truck driver job and passing an omnibus highway funding bill.

So, expect more of the same partisanship. And expect it to intensify as we approach the end of 2011 and enter the 2012 election cycle. It’s interesting how change can often bring more status quo.

Source: http://ptcchallenge.com/2011/01/changing-times/

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Manufactures

Sales Trend of Medium Truck Types

With the improvement in the global economy the sales of medium-duty truck is showing an upward trend. According to the medium truck, Navistar this is the time for rising sale competition. The company intends to grab at least 50 percent sales of medium duty truck. The introduction of 2010 spec diesels has got momentum due to this market revival. Navistar’s vision to get half of the class 6 and class 7 vehicles in his account has left all dealers across the globe to make huge sales. However, in August, International trucks have crossed the sales target of Navistar therefore leaving no option for Navistar but to focus on the sales of heavy trucks.
To make Navistar’s dream come true the company has launched new incentive programs which includes big advertisements of the products and sales incentives. One International Dura Star sale is complimented with an incentive of $3000. The product training was laid emphasis on during “Boot Camps” run by the company. Hebe the company president said, they aim for this target sale against a tough competition which includes Cummins Inc. and other builders of medium duty trucks. Since there products and service excel in the market therefore they look at achieving this target.
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Scope for competition: The medium duty trucking companies has lured the builders recently. General Motors and Isuzu were assembling truck of class4 to class7 at its plant in Flinch MI. With the GM’s closure of the plant in 2008, Isuzu business was highly affected and it almost lost the market position in pre 2010 diesels.
If we see the sales number of class 6 trucks it is lesser than class7 trucks. However, the percentage growth of class 6 is much higher than class 7. This figure indicated the increasing trend of the class 6 truck. This growth can be much accounted for the fact that CDL compliance of class 6 drivers and owner operator job is mush less.
The slow sales market of 2009 and emission regulations implied, the introduction of 2011 models in delayed. This is primarily because the builder has enough stock left to last 2010 sales. The truck builder started adding the EPA-spec diesels in their 2010 models and stated them as their 2011 models. The new models which have started now will start as the come 2012 models leaving a very little scope for true 2011 models.
The increase in class 6 models is also because the class 6 drivers can take the available loads as per there wish without any CDL liabilities. 2010 spec diesel freightliners is now available with different exhaust systems to haul different truck bodies. There is a provision of programmable chasis controls.

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Trucker News

Vehicle Maintenance – A Necessity for Truck Drivers

As per the new safety program introduced under CSA 2010 by FMCSA, the vehicle maintenance is a must and the most important risk factor associated with the fleets. In this line Rair, a carrier risk safety management company has issued a report to compare the safety measures introduced by CSA and the older SafeStat reports. As per the information released by CSA the larger fleets that are under the maintenance violation risk are 10-15%. The smaller fleet sizes are comparatively very high in ratio for the violation of maintenance regulations. Now with the open CSA reports, the fleet owners can simply see the scores to find out where they are lacking. Despite of all the sources and information available there is BASIC’s violation.

What steps should be taken to get the bare minimum maintenance level for the fleets:
Driver Vehicle Inspection Report (DVIR): According to the Rair president, DVIR should performed everyday and recorded on the form by the truck drivers, may it be a hotshot, reefer or flatbed drivers. To carry out the task effectively and to tackle the issue in case any problem is identified the driver should be trained to do so. In present day scenario DVIR reporting is thought of as another paper work on which the driver and trucking company manages simply put their signature. In such cases, when the vehicle is inspected on the road many maintenance problems come into picture which then become the maintenance violation and are penalized .
The maintenance does not only mean the repair of any non-performing part but it should be done before and after every shipment is done by the fleet. The details of the regulations are specified in CFR title no 49 under the parts 393 and 396. The DWS Fleet Services president Darry Stuart lays emphasis on the importance of CSA 2010 maintenance BASIC.
Check our load board blog posts for more articles on CSA2010 regulations.
Before the driver starts for the shipment of loads available the driver vehicle inspection report (DVIR) and the vehicle condition report (VCR) should be carefully made. The report should cover the crucial aspects of the fleet maintenance such as the checking of steering, parking brake, lights and reflectors, service brakes, trailer brakes, horn, mirrors, windshield wipers, tires, rims, wheels and emergency tool kit.
If the truck driver job regarding the correct reporting of DVIR is performed well then their CSA rating will improve and the regular maintenance will not pose them any big maintenance issue. However if they do not follow the regulations then their business is likely to get affected both due to the bad rating as well as the delay in delivery as the under maintained truck will be first sent back to cover up all the maintenance required. The best solution to this situation is to perform a detailed post trip evaluation and make the truck ready for next dispatch then to do a pre-trip evaluation and postpone the dispatch in case of any fault.

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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.

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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.

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Business

Insurance and Trucking Industry

Insurance is the thing which is necessary in every field, whatever the case; it may be your personal insurance, car insurance, family insurance and house insurance. Insurance may be look burden in the initial time when you are paying its installments but at the time you have some problem in insurance thing then in that case you will feel that how important role insurance can play. Suppose you are paying installments for your truck from last one year than in that case you will feel burden of insurance over you but let your car is stolen by someone or accident then you can claim your whole loss and in that case you will feel importance of insurance.
Importance of the insurance increases if you are in the industry of something which involve high risk and one of the common examples of this type is trucking industry with high truck loads available. As generally covers large distance or loaded by tones of goods so it may have problem anytime and if you have its right type of insurance then you can claim whole money every time you have problem. As truck travels in the night time generally so chances of the accidents increases, in that case also if you have third party insurance then you will have full claim.

Legal issues related to trucking insurance:
Now a day insurance of the truck and other vehicle is must just after you purchase your new vehicle or truck otherwise you can be thttp://findfreightloads.com/blog/wp-admin/post-new.phphe victim of laws. You can take help of any insurance company for your insurance but before that always check the background of that company. Does it pay a full claim to its customers or not, how much time it takes to pay your claim, otherwise once you have insurance then you can do nothing. Use an advice of the industry expert to be safe. Many load boards feature different insurance companies and their covers.

Primary Liability Insurance:
This type of insurance is must for the owner operator job; this insurance covers all types of accidents and takes care of the claims related to the injuries of your driver or other related person on the truck at the time of accident. The insurance cost varies and depends on the type of the truck means size and initial cost of the truck. It should be in the range of $70000 to $80000. Always keep in mind that your insurance should always be legal otherwise the other party lawyer may file sue against you. It is really going to affect drivers’ employment.

General Liability Insurance:
This type of insurance take care of the trucking companies, whatever loss you will have to your truck in the accidents, you can claim for that. It care about all types of accidents whether it is on the road, parking lots, some halt during the journey and such type of accidents. The cost of this type of insurance is generally higher than the previous one as the money involved in the claim may be very large and sometimes it may be equal to the cost of the truck.