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Lifestyle Trucker News

Great West Truck Show seminars

The Great West Truck Show will feature a broad range of educational seminars and panels June 9-11 at the Las Vegas Convention Center.

Included will be sessions on Compliance, Safety, Accountability; hours of service; and how to pass a U.S. Department of Transportation audit. Partnering on the presentations will be representatives from the California Trucking Association.

Overdrive will host a free two-hour Partners in Business program presented by Kevin Rutherford June 10. Rutherford, an accountant, small-fleet owner and satellite radio host, will discuss how to increase revenue and reduce costs. He will be joined by a representative from financial service provider ATBS. The show begins at 2 p.m.

Attendees will receive refreshments and a copy of the 2011-2012 Overdrive Partners in Business manual for owner-operators.

Also on hand will be Custom Rigs’ Pride & Polish truck beauty show, part of the National Championship Series.

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Trucker News

FMCSA proposes intermodal defect report rule

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has proposed to delete a requirement for drivers operating intermodal equipment to submit and intermodal equipment providers to retain driver-vehicle inspection reports when the driver has neither found nor been made aware of any defects on the intermodal equipment used.

FMCSA’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking responds to a joint petition for a rule from the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association and the Institute of International Container Lessors. FMCSA previously had extended until June 30, 2012, the compliance date of the requirement for drivers and motor carriers to prepare a no-defect DVIR while it considered the groups’ joint petition.


FMCSA said that all other requirements concerning drivers’ preparation of DVIRs to report damage, defects or deficiencies to intermodal equipment providers remain in effect, as well as for intermodal equipment providers to take action in addressing the safety issues identified by such reports.

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Business Lifestyle

Trucking jobs added

The surge in trucking employment came to an abrupt end in May as the industry added a mere 100 jobs on a seasonally adjusted basis, according to the preliminary estimates released June 3, by the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Through April, payroll employment in trucking for the year had risen by 18,000. BLS did revise its initial April estimate upward by 1,100, however. Compared to May 2010, payroll employment in trucking is up 3.2 percent.

The overall economy put the brakes on hiring as well. While the nation added 232,000 nonfarm jobs in April, it mustered only 54,000 net new jobs in May. The unemployment rate ticked up a tenth to 9.1.

Total employment in trucking in April was just over 1.274 million – down 179,100, or 12.3 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.

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Trucker News

NAFTA trade rose in March

Surface transportation trade between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement partners Canada and Mexico increased 15.6 percent in March over March 2010 to $80.8 billion, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the U.S. Department of Transportation.

The March total was the largest month since data collection began in 1994, beating the previous record set in April 2008 by 8.8 percent. BTS reported the freight value in March rose 21.5 percent from February.

U.S.–Canada surface transportation trade totaled $48.7 billion in March, up 15.7 percent from March 2010. U.S.–Mexico surface transportation trade gained 15.3 percent to $32.1 billion in March compared with a year earlier.

NAFTA

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Lifestyle Newbies

GLOBALIZATION ON TRUCKING COMPANIES

Globalization shapes our identity to the extent that we are influenced by people around us, new and old ideas and beliefs, and even the consciously held notion that we are and will continue to be influenced by globalization.

Media is a powerful tool that affects and shapes everything from our buying habits to our self concept. When global patterns of trade and transportation are portrayed through the media, the effect is to solidify and intensify those patterns.

First, trade ties into the shaping of globalization. This is done by international trade. There are many companies in Canada that are owned by the United States, but the products that sold by the company are made in various locations around the world. The fact that the labor is distributed worldwide means that jobs are being provided for people who otherwise would not have been able to have a job without the factory located where they live. For example, Nike products are sold in many stores and countries but are manufactured in China, Thailand, Indonesia, and Vietnam. This influences the way people in different countries dress–an aspect of globalization at work. National trade also shapes globalization.
Truckgif Pictures, Images and Photos

Second, transportation helps with the connection of how globalization shapes identities. International transportation also shapes the globalizing world. Products can be shipped overseas on boats and planes to other countries. Trucks also play an important part in transportation on land. Bananas are one example of how this process works. They are shipped to places around the world in containers on planes, boats, and vehicles. This influences how the items are transported while also tying into the food part of globalization. National transportation affects how globalization shapes identities. An example would be the fruits and vegetables from British Columbia that are shipped throughout Canada by trucks. This is done because some places can`t hold the proper climate to grow them.

This influences what people in certain areas eat and how often they get that certain type of food. Local transportation also affects globalization. Many people can just take their regular vehicles and sometimes big trucks to local grocery stores or markets and sell their products there. This Influences how and what people eat in their town, meaning that they can get fresh home-grown produce rather than having something that is from a large market. Thus transportation plays a role in the shaping of globalization.

Globalization in the world can be defined by three aspects; media, transportation and trade. They link together and help the world become closer connected

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Trucker News

NY port expands drayage truck incentives

The board of commissioners for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey expanded eligibility of drayage trucks that can be replaced under its Truck Replacement Program to include trucks with model year engines 2003 or older.

The TRP is a first-come first-served limited offer to provide grants and financing to eligible truck owners to help them purchase newer, cleaner and more environmentally friendly trucks. Eligible applicants, either licensed motor carriers or owner-operators, will receive a grant that will cover up to 25 percent of the purchase price of a newer truck and also may qualify for low-interest financing.

The Port Authority implemented a plan to phase out older trucks serving its marine terminals. As of Jan. 1, port drayage trucks equipped with engines model year 1993 and older are not allowed access to the Port Authority’s marine terminals. In addition, starting Jan. 1, 2017, only trucks equipped with engines that meet or exceed engine model year 2007 federal emissions standards will be allowed access.

The Port Authority has received $8.57 million in grant funding to assist with the TRP’s implementation. The Port Authority has additionally dedicated up to $25.7 million to provide qualified truck purchasers that may cover up to 75 percent of the cost of the replacement truck at a 5.25 percent interest rate over five years.

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Trucker News

FMCSA sets rules calendar

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration issued a new schedule of pending rulemaking, which includes anticipating publishing a Dec. 9 final rule establishing a national medical examiner registry.

Some rulemaking has been delayed for reasons that include a need for further analysis, insufficient resources or staffing and more pressing priorities. Explanations are not always provided for postponing publication and some schedule information is incomplete.

The Dec. 9 final rule will establish training, testing and certification standards for medical examiners; provide a medical examiner database; and require medical examiners to identify drivers they have examined to the FMCSA

The agency anticipates publishing a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking for safety auditor certification May 29, 2012. It would require safety inspections or audits and compliance reviews be conducted by a certified inspector, auditor or investigator.

The agency did not provide publication dates for new rules regarding Mexican carriers to operate in the U.S. and distracted driving.

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Trucker News

DOT gives road repair funds

The U.S. Department of Transportation on May 24 made $1 million in quick release emergency funds immediately available to the Minnesota Department of Transportation to repair roads and bridges damaged by floods from this spring’s snowmelt.

Quick release emergency funds provided by DOT’s Federal Highway Administration will be used to reimburse the state and counties for repair costs.

FHWA Administrator Victor Mendez says the program is bracing for additional funding requests from states across the country this year that have been battered by extreme weather events.Widespread flooding in more than 40 counties and tribal nations near the Mississippi, MnDOT will use the funds to continue repairs on roads and bridges that were damaged by erosion and seepage.

Road Funds

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Trucker News

FMCSA extends intermodal inspection

Intermodal Equipment Providers (IEPs) are required to register an Intermodal Equipment Provider Identification Report (form MCS-150C) with the FMCSA. The intermodal equipment (IME) must then establish a systematic inspection and a repair and maintenance program to assure the safe operating condition of each intermodal chassis. The IME must also maintain documentation of the maintenance program.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has extended until June 30, 2012, the compliance date of the requirement for drivers and motor carriers to prepare a driver-vehicle inspection report on intermodal equipment when no damage, defects or deficiencies are discovered by, or reported to, the driver.

The previous compliance date was June 30, as a result of the agency’s amended final rule of Aug. 20, 2010, which extended the compliance date of the same provision of the Dec. 17, 2008, final rule concerning maintenance responsibilities for intermodal equipment. FMCSA said this action is being taken to provide it sufficient time to address a petition from both the Ocean Carrier Equipment Management Association and the Institute of International Container Lessors to rescind the requirement for no-defect DVIRs.

FMCSA said all other requirements concerning drivers’ preparation of DVIRs to report damage, defects or deficiencies to intermodal equipment providers remain in effect, as well as requirements for intermodal equipment providers to take appropriate action in addressing these safety issues.

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Newbies Trucker News

Trucking Software ? Efficiency in Transportation

Transportation of freight has been the most tough job since the time of industrial revolution. Company logistics system has transformed and evolved a lot since the onset of modern industrial era. This evolution was actually possible simply because of the induction of technology in this system. Out of the quite a few technological changes adopted by the logistics system, the modern trucking software technologies has turn out to be the most effective instrument of transformation. Trucking software has brought out a significant improvement in the functioning of the overall transportation system. With the help of this advanced software technology, the trucking industry has been providing a substantial contribution in the development and evolution of the company logistics system.

Trucking software has significantly contributed in the improvement of the functioning of freight transportation system. This software is created in a extremely organized manner, in-order to allow the trucking firms to efficiently manage their business operations. Trucking software contains a variety of vital features to manage practically all the critical processes involved in handling the trucking company. There are specially designed features to maintain invoice, pay reports and accounts related to the trucking organization. Moreover, all the trading and documentation records can also be maintained via this software. This newly found efficiency in the trucking organization is not only enhancing the revenues of the numerous trucking organizations, but has also led to an overall growth and development of the whole transportation system.

Trucking software has induced a systematic arrangement in the operations of the transportation system for the growth and development of industries, within the economic framework of a nation. All the organization operations of the trucking business could now be effectively carried out with the help of this new technology. Increased efficiency in the system of transportation would not only lead to the growth and development of numerous economies across the globe, but will also incorporate new innovations in the functioning of overall trucking industry.