Watch out for possible road closures in flood-hit Iowa and Wisconsin and possibly other upper Midwestern states.
On Friday, Interstate 80 was closed in both directions from Exit 265 to Exit 267 because of flooding near Atalissa, Iowa, due to rising waters of the Cedar River. Parts of I-90 and I-94 in Wisconsin were reported closed due to flooding.
Fuel, the price of it and conserving it, remains the most critical issue facing truckers.
In an effort to help the industry cope with the climbing cost of fuel which has now surpassed drivers as trucking companies¹ top operating expense Vancouver, Wash.-based Instructional Technologies Inc. (ITI) and Heavy Duty Trucking magazine are offering truckers in the U.S. and Canada the Pro-Tread ³Fuel Management² lesson for free, from June 1-21.
The lesson can be accessed over the Internet. Its content was developed from Heavy Duty Trucking¹s June issue which is dedicated to giving readers the latest information on the fuel situation and providing tips on fuel management, the latest fuel-saving equipment and techniques.
To take advantage of this offer, simply go to www.ProTread.com and follow the very simple sign-in instructions.
Ryder System announced the completion of its acquisition of substantially all the assets of Gator Leasing, a privately owned full service truck leasing, commercial truck rental and fleet services company headquartered in Miami.
In the transaction, Ryder acquired Gator’s fleet of approximately 1,475 full service lease, 650 commercial rental, and 150 held-for-sale units, serving 300 contract customers. Ryder acquired four of Gator’s nine Florida operating locations, two of which are in Miami, as well as Riviera Beach and Orlando. Customers previously served by Gator in the remaining five overlapping facilities will be consolidated into and served by Ryder’s nearest existing locations. The combined network will operate under the Ryder name.
A Spanish company and a unit of Citigroup teamed up to submit the largest bid for the right to lease the Pennsylvania Turnpike for the next 75 years, but it’s still up to the state Legislature to approve the deal.
Abertis Infraestructuras SA and Citigroup Inc. won the bidding with a cash offer of $12.8 billion. If the Legislature approves the contract to lease the Turnpike, the governor does not plan to pursue the tolling of I-80, which was called for in Act 44, passed last summer.
Governor Edward Rendell said that under the deal, “the turnpike will be upgraded and tolls will be no higher than the Turnpike Commission will charge. Where Pennsylvanians will see a major difference is on our other roads. Road repair all over the state will accelerate and we will be able to cancel the plan to impose tolls on Interstate 80.” (Click here to read more on the governor’s web site.)
According to published reports, the lease deal would let the private operator increase tolls by 25 percent in January, and in future years by either 2.5 percent or the consumer price index, whichever is greater.
The state’s trucking group criticized the deal.
“The Pennsylvania Motor Truck Association is concerned with the current state of Pennsylvania’s aging infrastructure, but the Governor’s solution to effectively sell our Turnpike for 75 years does not meet the needs of the transportation community at large,” said PMTA president Jim Runk in a statement released Monday. “We continue to advocate for viable, long-term alternatives that will put the public’s best interest ahead of the for-profit drive of a private entity. We remain committed to pursuing an equitable solution and to discussing any and all options for solving this statewide problem.”
“With the federal government planning to evaluate it on a national level in 2009, we should be leery of speeding forward with a plan that does not take federal solutions into account. If we bypass a thoughtful and transparent debate on how to best manage these necessary improvements, we risk punting the ramifications of a near-sighted solution to our children. We urge legislators to consider whether this proposed solution will truly improve travel for Pennsylvania motorists along our main artery.”
The Turnpike Commission says it remains committed to Act 44. Act 44 provides more than $116 billion over a 50-year period for transportation maintenance and improvements in Pennsylvania by converting I-80 to a tolled facility, increasing existing mainline turnpike t tolls, and issuing Monetization Bonds based on future toll revenues.
Con-way Freight has been recognized for its safety record and practices by Oregon Trucking Associations.
Con-way was awarded a fleet safety plaque for Outstanding Achievement in Highway Safety and received second place honors in the Common Carrier Less-Than-Truckload over 4 Million Miles category.
Winners are selected based on the number of miles driven divided by the number of Department of Transportation reportable accidents. The awards are sponsored by Great West Casualty Company.
“We are proud to receive these awards from OTA for our drivers’ outstanding commitment to safety,” said John G. Labrie, president, Con-way Freight. “Safety is one of Con-way Freight’s core values, and we are honored that our drivers are being recognized for their safe driving skills.”
The award recognizes drivers at all four Con-way Freight terminals in Oregon.
American Transportation Research Institute Vice President of Research Dan Murray will discuss new research on trucking safety and economics at the Transportation Table in Washington, D.C., May 30.
Murray has overall responsibility for directing ATRI’s portfolio of research initiatives, and has served as project manager on research initiatives sponsored by various state and federal agencies, including the Federal Highway Administration, Federal Aviation Administration, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Department of Agriculture, Customs and Border Protection, Transportation Research Bureau and Transportation Security Administration. He also has served on various transportation research committees for organizations such as the National Academy of Sciences, Government Accountability Office and Council on Competitiveness.
U.S. Senators Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) and Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) last week introduced a bill “to keep dangerously heavy and large trucks off the nation’s roads.”
The “Safe Truck and Operations and Preservations Act,” or STOP Act, would keep the current limit of 80,000 pounds for tractor-trailer trucks on Interstate highways in place and establish a maximum length of 53 feet for trucks. The senators say these measures will improve safety and prevent excessive strain on the nation’s roads, tunnels and bridges.
“Last year’s tragic bridge collapse in Minneapolis demonstrated how fragile our already-deficient bridges and roads are, and we should not be putting even heavier trucks on them,” Lautenberg said. “But that is exactly what some trucking company interests are proposing– even bigger and heavier trucks on our roads. If there was ever a recipe for disaster, this is it.”
“It defies common sense to let big trucks become super-giant trucks. Missouri drivers are already stressed by the presence of so many big trucks,” McCaskill said. “There are safety considerations along with the reality of increased fuel costs that require us to say no to even bigger commercial trucks on our roads.”
The bill would extend the current weight limit and freeze on triple-trailers to the entire 160,000-mile National Highway System, while still allowing exemptions, including for firefighting equipment. The NHS includes both Interstate highways and smaller national highways. The bill was first introduced in 2003. After winning a key Committee vote on the bill, trucking companies backed off their efforts to allow bigger trucks on the nation’s roads, according to the senator’s office. Lautenberg also wrote the original law that limiting the spread of triple-trailer trucks to only a handful of states.
The national average price for a gallon of diesel fuel is up to $4.497, according to figures released Monday by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
That’s 16.6 cents higher than a week ago and $1.694 more than a year ago. The American Trucking Associations notes in its weekly “Fuel Line” publication that diesel pump prices are up 34.4 percent from the start of the year and are 60.4 percent higher than during the corresponding week in 2007.
The highest average price was again in the Central Atlantic region at $4.682; prices were also over the $4.60 mark in New England, at $4.61. The lowest average price was in the Rocky Mountain region at $4.442, with the Gulf Coast close behind at $4.443.
Crude oil prices continued to set records, as well. Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose 76 cents to close at a new record of 127.05 dollars a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange Monday. ATA notes that the price of a barrel of crude oil has surged 31.6 percent so far this year and is up 94.5 percent from a year ago.
The latest casualty of high fuel prices is New Jersey-based Jevic Transportation, a 27-year-old less-than-truckload company known for its innovative approach to the LTL business.
In a letter posted on the Jevic web site, David Gorman, president and CEO, blamed high fuel costs, the economic downturn, increasing insurance costs and tightening credit markets. Effective Monday, May 19, Jevic stopped providing pickup service, but said they would continue operating to deliver all freight already in the system.
Jevic was founded right after deregulation, in 1981, by owner-operator Harry Muhlschlegel, who re-invented the LTL model. He combined elements of the truckload and less-than-truckload models in a regional company he and his wife named after their children: New Jersey-based Jevic.
Yellow Corp. bought Jevic for $200 million in 1999, and Muhlschlegel went on to start New Century Transportation in 2000. In 2002, Yellow announced it would spin off SCS Transportation, the holding company for Yellow’s regional operating companies, Saia and Jevic. In 2006, SCS Transportation sold Jevic to an affiliate of Sun Capital Partners for $40 million in cash, with SCS officials at the time noting that Jevic had “not achieved acceptable levels of profitability for several years.”
When the U.S. Department of Homeland Security announced its funding for “infrastructure protection activities” for fiscal year 2008 Friday, one name was conspicuously absent: the Highway Watch program, which was started by the American Trucking Associations.
The Infrastructure Program Activities grant program includes $15.54 million for the trucking security program, up from $11.64 million last year. This provides funding for an anti-terrorism and security awareness program for highway professionals in support of the National Preparedness Guidelines. Until this year, it had been administered through ATA’s Highway Watch program. This year, the grant was awarded to HMS Company.
According to its web site, HMS Company, based in the Washington, D.C., area, “is a veteran performer in industry that provides value added management, technical, security, training and administrative services to government, non-profit and private sector markets.” It has handled a number of IT contracts for state and local government agencies, and is the prime contractor for the Army’s E911 helpdesk, police dispatch and emergency call services.
Politico.com reports that “according to congressional sources, the firm will be administering the security contract in cooperation with independent truckers, school bus drivers and Teamsters.”
Earlier this year, the Highway Watch program came under criticism when a report by the Homeland Security Department’s inspector general found that the program spent more money on administration and marketing than it did on training. Congressional appropriators mandated that the program be let out for competitive bids.
“Although we are disappointed we will no longer be working with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security under the grant to assist with protecting the homeland, we are proud of what has been accomplished in a short four years of partnership with DHS,” said Highway Watch spokesman John Willard in a statement released Monday. “We have expanded the number of individuals trained under the program from 10,000 to over 830,000 and fielded over 10,000 incident calls. The program has been a valuable source of reporting and intelligence regarding incidents and potential threats to the Nation’s highway and motor carrier sector. We believe the Highway Watch program has contributed to America’s safety and security and we wish the FY 2008 awardee similar success.”
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