Tag: trucking companies

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Trucker News

Shippers Top Priority for Carrier Leaders

The unifying theme of a wide-ranging discussion among several chief executives at the Truckload Carriers Association conference this week was that trucking needs to make sure its customers have a clear understanding of the challenges the industry now faces.Shippers need to be as familiar as carriers are with the complexities of the driver shortage, industry costs, inflation and fuel prices, said the presidents of Swift Transportation, Knight Transportation and Prime, Inc. Talking about the coming driver shortage, Robert Low of Prime said that it is hard for shippers to understand but the truth is that drivers are not making enough money to reward them for their sacrifices.

SHIPPER
That’s in part because shippers are used to the truckload sector’s ad hoc business model, which makes for efficient trucking but is hard on the driver, he said. Over the past several years the industry has not made much progress on this issue because with business down there was not much need to. That’s going to change this year, he said. “It bodes well for rates but we need drivers.”Richard Stocking of Swift echoed the point: “The burden is on the industry to educate the shipper,” he said.

SHIPPER
One tactic Swift has adopted is to bring in unemployed workers for training to get a CDL and then indoctrination into the company as drivers. The average age of those novice drivers, by the way, is 43. “We’re not growing kids to be truck drivers,” Stocking said.Stocking stressed that it is important to create a driver-friendly environment. “(Drivers) have the hardest job out there and we owe them a lot of respect,” he said. Another Swift tactic is to start assigning several drivers to a single truck, so that it’s easier to schedule time off.Kevin Knight of Knight Transportation said that because his company has always hired experienced drivers, the recruiting job is getting more challenging. In preparation, the company a couple of years ago started a training business that takes on CDL holders and integrates them into the business, as a supplement to its recruiting efforts.Knight returned to his core message: “We need to work with customers to make them understand that this industry needs reinvestment. It is a difficult mission but if all speak loud and clear there’s a great opportunity that we will have breakthrough.”

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Trucker News

Trucker pleads guilty to theft through Gov’t Fuel Cards

A trucker faces sentencing July 8 after pleading guilty to using fuel cards without authorization to steal more than $300,000 from the U.S. Postal Service. On March 11, Vincenzo Bender, 36, of Collings Lakes, N.J., entered a guilty plea to one count of theft of government property before U.S. District Judge Joseph E. Irenas in Camden, N.J.

FUEL CARD SCHEME
The USPS contracts with trucking companies for long haul delivery of mail, including with a trucking company that employed Bender. The USPS gave special fuel credit cards called “Voyager cards” to the company, which its drivers were to use to buy fuel for trucks used to transport the mail. The USPS was billed directly for all charges incurred.Bender admitted that from November 2005 to October 2008, he used the cards to make numerous unauthorized purchases of fuel for his personal use, including for a side towing business and to sell to others at a discounted price. Bender used a number of cards – issued to trucks he drove and to trucks operated by other drivers – and visited multiple gas stations, often hear his home. As part of the scheme, Bender installed a large rubber bladder in his personal truck which held approximately 100 gallons of fuel.
FUEL CARD FRAUD
The theft of government property charge to which Bender pleaded guilty carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000, or twice the amount of loss caused by his offense. In addition, Bender agreed to pay restitution of $335,972.U.S. Attorney Fishman credited special agents of USPS, Office of Inspector General, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Elizabeth Farcht, Eastern Area Field Office, for the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea.

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Lifestyle

Who do you think is worst? Men or Women drivers?

Women always point out that they are more scrupulous, while men boast about their reaction quickness. Women and men are very different. And our driving habits make this evident. At some things men are more successful , at some – women. In this lens I am going to analyze and compare female and male driving from various aspects.

In addition to the one-third of men living in fear of the passenger seat, one-fifth said they’d literally grip the seat cushion due to their anxiety. (Fraidy cats!) And, of course, a large majority boasted the superiority of their own driving prowess over their spouse’s.

Women VS. Men Drivers
Yes we are! Sorry ladies but it’s not because that we feel that you are better drivers than us, but our main fear stems from the fact that we know deep down inside, that women might lose control in any moment and get involved in an accident.When a woman panics behind the wheel, they usually do the opposite of trying to avoid the accident. They either slam the gas, let go of their steering wheel or just scream with their eyes closed. So now that’s out of the way, women, does this sound accurate? What are some of your most harrowing moments driving at the wheel? Ladies, is this total BS and guys are just too controlling in the car?

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Trucker News

Underride guards fail even at low speeds

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety has asked federal officials to require greater rear impact protection for commercial trailers.On Feb. 28, the group of insurance companies and associations petitioned the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to upgrade Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards for underride guards, which are meant to prevent a car sliding under a truck or trailer in a crash.

Underride Guards?
Of course, some trailers are better than others, but there is no testing standard for evaluating the underride guards and their attachment points and hardware. Despite this, there is a federal safety standard for the guards, and there’s also a more stringent Canadian specification that requires the guards to be stronger and absorb more crash energy.
trailer.gif Pictures, Images and Photos
Despite major advances in passenger car safety since the mid-1970s, it seems the guards on tractor trailers still fail to reliably prevent vehicles from sliding under trailers in the event of a collision – a similar result to studies conducted over 30 years ago.In analyzing the Large Truck Crash Causation Study, a federal database of about 1,000 actual crashes from 2001-2003, the Institute determined that of the 115 crashes where a passenger vehicle struck the rear of a truck or semi, nearly 80 percent involved underride, and nearly half of those vehicles suffered severe or catastrophic damage.
However, it concluded the decrease was not statistically significant. The Fatality Accident Reporting System does not list trailer model years, so conclusions could not be drawn from this data either, the researchers said.

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Lifestyle

Importance of Transportation to Industry

Freight transportation is a very important need of every business these days. In fact this is the backbone of several industries and business. One cannot deny its importance in any respect. Although freight transportation depends upon three main modes of transportation Air Cargo, Railways and Road Transport (involving trucks), but trucks remain the major contributor of all time.
Different Roles of Trucking Companies
Trucking companies play an important role in moving freights from one place of country to another. For agro businesses and several small, medium and large industries these trucking companies are lifeline. Its impact can be felt in case of trucking companies’ strikes when the prices of all commodities go up.

Trucking Business
Importance of Trucks for Industries
Importance of Trucks for Industries – Every industry needs raw materials and fuels to keep their operations smooth. To keep their output rate intact, they need proper supply of both raw materials as well as fuels to induce their production in provocative manners. To serve this need they have to maintain the flow of raw materials and fuels regularly, trucking companies help these industries in maintaining required flow. At the end of production process, trucking companies also help industries to transport their end product to their end customers. Thus, trucking companies are of great help to industries in both pre and post production operations.
Trucking Business
Importance of Trucks in Agro Business
Importance of Trucks in Agro Business-Trucking companies are among one of the most vital factors for the success and failures of agriculture and other agro businesses. Right from the transportation of seeds, fertilizers and required machinery for agriculture, to the transportation of final products and by-products of agriculture, trucking companies help farmers and other people associated with agriculture based businesses or small industries.
Truckgif Pictures, Images and Photos
Trucking Business
Trucking Needs of Common Man
Trucking Needs of Common Man – Not only industries and business but also common man needs services of trucking companies at several point of time. People need services of trucking companies in home construction, transportation of their furniture and other home stuff in case of shifting to some other places. Even some business entities like packers and movers are completely dependent on trucking companies for all their operations.Thus, we can easily figure out how important trucking companies for everyone are. In first look, not everybody can understand its importance directly, but after an observation everyone can figure out the involvement of trucking companies.

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Carriers

How to Improve the Truck’s Performance

The performance of any vehicle is very important to ensure its proper functioning and a longer life. The trucks are most of the times moving on the roads or on the highways. They require a lot of maintenance and the trucking companies keep a check on truck’s performance and the maintenance required by it. If the truck is in a good condition, it will require low repair costs and its functioning will also continue in a proper manner. The advancement of technology has launched many products in the market which can improve a truck’s performance.

Most of the trucking companies are opting for employing the services of these products as they can help in the efficiency of their vehicles. The word performance is linked with many parts of the truck like the mileage, fuel efficiency, condition of the tires and above all the working of the engines. There are truck driver jobs and the trucking companies also go for the drivers who can also handle the minor repairs in the truck. This will be especially helpful for the drivers if they are stuck on a highway or a place where there is no repairing shop.

The basic things which will make sure that the truck is performing in a proper way are its speed which is often referred as horse power of trucks. Different kinds of trucks have different speed capacity and horsepower depending on its size and capacity. Pick up truckers or flatbed trucks have a higher loading capacity compared to the medium sized trucks or normal truck carriers. The trucking companies often hire the flatbed drivers who can handle the high pick up power and speed.

Freight load boards are widely used for hiring any truck, however the shipper sees whether the truck is in a good condition and will be able to make an on time delivery of the loads. Torque is an essential component in the trucks which generates the pick up. It helps the truck to roll and also in the towing and picking up the materials. If the towing capacity in the trucks will not be in a proper place, it won’t be able to handle the weight of the loads available. The crux of the truck’s life lies in the proper functioning of the engine. If the air intake and exhaust facility in the engine is in the right way, it will surely improve the truck’s performance. There are many kits available in the market which can improve the efficiency of the engine by doing some modifications in it. A slight change in the programming of the trucks will improve the speed and torque of the trucks and it won’t harm the trucks as well.

There is a filter in the air intake of the trucks made of paper which may congest the air flow. The trucking companies can install the filter made of cotton or engineering foam which won’t obstruct the air flow. It is very easy to install these filters by replacing them with the older one. The rising fuel prices are also an issue of concern. The fuel addictive can be really helpful in this problem as it will reduce the fuel usage. These are some simple ways to improve the performance of the trucks.

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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.

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Trucker News

New Law Framed for the Repair of the Vehicle for Truck Drivers

The Massachusetts federal law body has put forth the new law of Right to Repair Act which is brought into form in the present legislative year of 2011-12. The chief legislative representatives who have put this idea in form are Rep. Garrett Hadley (D-Hingham) and Senator John Hart. There are sixty other representatives who have come in support of this bill. The new repair act will put forward a wide array of choices for the consumers because previously the repair codes which were limited only for the dealers of new cars will now also be provided to retail stores.

The main reason behind bringing the bill back into the present shape is that the customers have an availability of better choice before them and they can take the services of the shops which they want to. There is no compulsion of sticking to a particular dealer. The trucking companies seem to have a double opinion on this act. It is good for those owner operator jobs who are bound to go to a big dealer. The data and codes will be bought by the individual shops and they will have to give the prior and correct information to the customers. It will be an additional benefit for the small retailers to expand their businesses and the customers may also go for a better deal.

More and more senators are coming in support of this bill and it is gaining a high approval among the legislative members. The economy is undoubtedly going through a tough phase and it is important for the government to understand the problems of the masses. Repairing a truck is often done by a trucker and it is important that he has a wide variety of choice where he can go for his truck repair which will add some extra pennies to his pocket. The technological advances have made a great improvement in the efficiency of the vehicles but the loads available demands, services and maintenance of the vehicles have also increased. This thought has also motivated the right to repair act to come in form.

The trucks and other motors have many options of safety and more and more researches are done to make the vehicle fuel efficient. This has also opened the doors for the dealers to take the advantage of the present situation. So it has become all the more necessary that the truckers have an access to all the repair shops and their choices are not limited. The guidelines and directions are meant to be given to the vehicle manufacturing companies that the repair access is not confined to the dealers of these companies and the repair rights are also scattered among the different individual repair shops and the motorists.

Check our truck loadboard blog page for more articles related to trucking industry.

It will also be useful for the truckers who are driving on the highway and have no choice to go for when the truck breaks up. They will not have to hunt for the dealers and simply repair at the shop which is easily accessible to them.

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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.

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Business

Truck Driving: A Career as Good for Women

With the changing trends and patterns of life, there have been major changes in the job profile as well. The demarcation line of the jobs has been blurred and trucking industry is no exception to it. The truck driving jobs are no more limited to men and women are also launching themselves with confidence in the business.

The truck driving business was pre dominantly confined to males and it was hard for a female to think of entering into the business. But in the past few decades, the phenomena have changed considerably and the concept of women truckers is not new to ears. The trucking companies are also witnessing a huge crisis and there has been a huge gap between the demand and the supply.

The shortage of drivers has forced the trucking companies to look at the alternative of women truckers and many women have tasted success in the trucking business. Driving a flatbed is a difficult job and there are a number of flatbed driver jobs available in the trucking industry. Driving a truck has been a challenging job for women and they generally don’t consider it as dream career choices. But the profitable returns received have left few women to regret of entering the business. The statistics reveal that the number of women truckers is increasing day by day. The trucking company is also heaving a sigh of relief as they also have a alternative present before them.

As compared to the other business in which gender bias has been seen, trucking industry seems to be an exception. The drivers are paid according to the number of kilometers that they have undertaken and so there is no question of any discrimination being made. Women truckers also go to cross country delivering the loads and are catching up with the deadline. The trucking companies have also brought up the new idea of trucking couples in which both the partners drive together. This is certainly a very good choice especially for the wives whose husbands often go for long distance journey. The women drivers have also formed teams in which more two women drive together. This makes the long journey less tiresome as both the truck drivers drive equally and they can also go for a 24/7 job.

There have been many associations and organizations for men which work on ensuring the safety of the women truckers. There have been a number of load boards which have a large amount of loads available on them. The deficit of the truck drivers has opened a lot of opportunities for the women who are planning to enter the business. With the technological advances, the power steering of the trucks requires less manual strength.

By large women have entered the trucking business and they are ready to face the challenges planning to take trucking as a long term career option.