October 2009 |
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For the record
By Truckers News Staff
Engine makes outline new technologies
Officials from heavy-duty engine manufacturers gave an audience of drivers and fleet representatives the latest details concerning cost and performance of their technologies for meeting 2010 engine regulations.
The event was the 2010 Engine Super Session, held at the Great American Trucking Show in August.
With the exception of Navistar, which is using advanced exhaust gas recirculation, selective catalytic reduction is the technology being introduced by engine manufacturers to meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s mandate to reduce NOx emissions to 0.2 grams, starting in 2010.
SCR requires the use of diesel exhaust fluid. Navistar plans to meet the requirements in the engine cylinder without an additive.
The 2010 Cummins ISX engines will yield better fuel economy than current engines, said Jason Owens, customer performance technical manager with Cummins. “Our new engines will have a larger ‘sweet spot,’ resulting in better drivability,” he said.
David Siler, director of marketing for Detroit Diesel, also touted improved fuel economy as a big advantage for truck owners with the company’s BlueTec technology. “The DD15 will provide fuel economy not seen since the pre-2002 engines,” he said.
In addition to improved mileage claims by the engine manufacturers using SCR, David McKenna, director of powertrain sales and marketing for Mack, reported that there would be no change in engine hardware under the hood, making the engines “service friendly.”
Volvo’s engines will show higher horsepower and the bonus of no active regeneration with the 2010 power units, said James Fancher, marketing product manager.
Navistar said its 2010 MaxxForce engines offer truck owners greater simplicity because no new agent will have to be added, as with DEF. “We have a turn-key strategy,” said Steve Perkins, senior sales specialist for the Navistar engines. “We take the burden off the customers and put it on us as the manufacturer.”
Perkins said Navistar will likely use EPA credits to meet emissions regulations into 2012, depending on sales, as the company continues to hone its technology.
The panel also fielded questions from the audience concerning issues such as driver inducements for systems using DEF, additional weight, DEF shelf life, cost per mile, as well as price increases for each engine brand.
Video of the presentation will be available soon at 2010truckengines.com.
The event was sponsored by Castrol and Rand McNally. The panel was moderated by Randall-Reilly editors.
New Features Help Lift GATS Attendance
The Great American Trucking Show in August experienced a slight increase in overall attendance from 2008, helped in part by new features added to this year’s show.
“We are very pleased with the results of this year’s GATS, as well as the attendee turnout,” said Mike Reilly, chairman, president and CEO of Randall-Reilly Publishing Co., which owns GATS. “To attract so many highly qualified visitors, in such a challenging environment, is a testament to our commitment to deliver the attendees our customers are looking for.”
New events included the 2010 Engine Super Session and expanded educational opportunities offered through a re-formatted educational track, called the TruckSmart Summit. “We are confident that the vital information delivered during these sessions contributed to the increase in the number and quality of this year’s attendees,” says Randy Davidson, GATS national sales director.
Show management reported overall visitor registrations grew from 44,669 in 2008 to 45,987, an increase of 2.9 percent. The largest registration increases were in the company driver, executive management/owner and transportation operations/safety areas.
GATS also hosted the 2009 Truckload Carriers Association Independent Contractor Meeting. The event ran concurrent with GATS and attracted several hundred attendees.
Next year’s Great American Trucking Show will be Aug. 26-28 at the Dallas Convention Center. Randall-Reilly also produces the Great West Truck Show, held annually in Las Vegas. The GWTS was recognized earlier this year as one of the Tradeshow Week “Fastest 50” shows for 2008.
Cross-Border Program Awaits Congress
Progress hasn’t been made in resuming the Mexico-United States trucking program, but the Senate will consider a long-term transportation funding bill that provides funds for it if congressional concerns are met.
Meanwhile, a recent poll shows most Americans are against restarting the program.
U.S. President Barack Obama and Mexican President Felipe Calderón discussed the issue at the recently completed North American Leaders Summit in Guadalajara, Mexico.
Congress just passed a short-term funding bill and is expected to resume work on the long-term transportation omnibus bill next month. The Senate Appropriations Committee-approved FY2010 omnibus transportation act includes program funding, contingent on resolving congressional questions.
“The Committee notes that the Congress acted earlier this year to suspend the Mexican trucking pilot program because of serious and legitimate safety concerns, and expects that the administration will not commence another Mexican trucking pilot program until those concerns have been addressed and resolved,” the Senate committee report says.
The report “urges the administration to work expeditiously with the Mexican government” to re-establish a safe program.
A new Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey indicates 19 percent of Americans say the U.S. Congress should let trucks from Mexico cross the border and carry loads on U.S. highways.
Sixty-six percent of respondents oppose lifting the ban on Mexican trucks operating in the United States, while 15 percent are uncertain.
Twenty-eight percent of Democrats think the border should be opened, but only 11 percent of Republicans and 16 percent of those not affiliated with either party are in favor of it.
The American Trucking Associations supports program resumption, while the Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association opposes it.
FYI News Briefs
Daimler Announces Cummins Surcharge
Daimler Trucks North America will offer customers their choice in EPA 2010-compliant engines and emissions technologies from both Detroit Diesel and Cummins. A $9,000 surcharge will be added to vehicles with Cummins ISX15 engine and emissions technology. As previously announced, vehicles equipped with Detroit Diesel BlueTec emissions technology — DD15 and DD16 and DD13 — will be offered at the same $9,000 surcharge per vehicle.
NAFTA Trade Down 31.5 Percent
Trade using surface transportation between the United States and its North American Free Trade Agreement partners Canada and Mexico was 31.5 percent less in June 2009 than in June 2008, dropping to $50.8 billion in the sixth consecutive month with a year-to-year decline of greater than 27 percent, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
Illinois Increases Width Limits
Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn has signed legislation that will raise the legal limit on vehicle width from 96 to 102 inches on Class III highways, nondesignated highways and local roads effective Jan. 1. Prior to passage of the legislation, 102-inch-wide vehicles were restricted to Class I and Class II highways only.
Number of Trucking Failures Down
The number of trucking companies with five or more power units that failed in the second quarter of this year was the lowest in more than two years, according to a leading industry analyst. Donald Broughton, senior research analyst for Avondale Partners, estimates 370 carriers failed in the second quarter, down sharply from both the first quarter of this year and the second quarter of 2008.
Iowa 80 Redesigns Website
Iowa 80 Truckstop has redesigned its website, iowa80truckstop.com. Visitors can take a virtual tour of the truckstop, learn about its 45-year history, register their rig for the 2010 Super Truck Beauty Contest, as well as learn more about the Walcott Truckers Jamboree and the Iowa 80 Trucking Museum. Truckers also can register to be notified of upcoming specials or buy trucking accessories online.
Two Georgia Rest Areas Close
The I-85 northbound rest area in Franklin County and the I-85 southbound rest area in Gwinnett County east of Atlanta closed permanently Aug. 25, the Georgia Department of Transportation announced.
Slice of Life Program Extended
Freightliner Trucks announced it is extending its “Slice of Life” program with the three participants receiving new Cascadias equipped with Detroit Diesel’s 2010-compliant BlueTec emissions technology. Drivers Henry Albert, Dick McCorkle and Kurt Grote regularly blog their experiences at www.SliceofTruckerLife.com.
Mack Opens New Headquarters
Mack Trucks opened its new corporate facility, Mack World Headquarters, with festivities Sept. 3. Near the Piedmont Triad, the building is on National Service Road in Greensboro, N.C. Displays of antique to modern Mack trucks, headquarter tours and retrospects of the company’s accomplishments during more than a century of business highlighted the grand opening. A gold 8-ft. statue of the Mack Bulldog poised in front of the new headquarters was unveiled.
Driver Wins Custom Truck
Owner-operator John Lacusky of Cortland, Ohio, won a 1998 International 9400 customized by the Chrome Shop Mafia during the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas. The prize was the highlight of the Win Big With Custom Rigs sweepstakes, sponsored by Overdrive’s Custom Rigs. The tractor contains a Reliabilt replacement engine, covered by a three-year, 300,000-mile warranty from Detroit Diesel.
Continental Exceeds SmartWay Goal
Continental Tire North America has increased compliance with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay Transport Partnership this year, more than doubling its target score of 0.5. At the end of its first year of partnership, after shipping more than 24 million tires to NAFTA countries, Continental had achieved a score of 1.14 out of a maximum of 1.25.
Trucker Buddy Names Director
Randy Schwartzenburg, former associate publisher of Truckers News with Randall-Reilly, has accepted an offer as the executive director of Trucker Buddy International. For the last six years, he has served on the board of Trucker Buddy as its treasurer. Trucker Buddy International is non-profit pen-pal organization that matches school classrooms with professional drivers for educational purposes.
Special Report: West Points
Controversy over Port of Oakland resolution sparks fears of L.A. Clean Trucks-style phase-out of independent contractors, as new California statewide regulations loom.
The Port of Los Angeles’ Clean Trucks program originally included a phase-out of independent contractor drivers as a requirement for transporters granted concessions to do business there. That element of the overall program was enjoined in federal court earlier this year after a successful suit by the American Trucking Associations alleged an illegal attempt to economically regulate interstate commerce.
While the L.A. case is on appeal, officials with the Port of Oakland have resolved to appeal to Congress to get the necessary legal changes to allow them, a loose coalition of transportation groups and the American Trucking Associations said, to essentially do the same thing without fear of legal challenge.
“There’s a big push here to make an environmental issue an employment issue,” said Carl Dolk, controller at heavily owner-operator Bay Area fleet Devine Intermodal. “It’s moved up [from L.A./Long Beach] to Oakland big-time.”
“The unions and [Oakland Harbor Commission President Victor] Uno aim to destroy small independent businesses serving the Port of Oakland and replace them with larger trucking companies whose employees can be more easily organized by the Teamsters,” said ATA Vice President of Public Affairs Clayton Boyce. “Unions and their supporters are wrongly claiming that banning independent owner-operators from the Port of Oakland is necessary to clean the air. The recent experience in the Port of Los Angeles, where clean air efforts are far ahead of schedule even though the L.A. ban on owner-operators has been enjoined, has shown that claim to be false.”
Success has indeed been seen in implementing the programs, according to port officials. L.A. reports 5,800 trucks with 2007 or equivalent emissions technology registered in its program. “The clean trucks making gate moves were about 43 percent of the trucks that made gate moves in July,” port spokesman Arley Baker said, “but they are making 60 percent of the overall gate moves at Port of Los Angeles terminals.”
That success, Baker added, has been achieved working not only with large-fleet port haulers but with smaller companies as well. “Clean truck gate moves are being made by companies of all sizes,” he said. “Almost two-thirds ... are being made by companies with less than 100 trucks. More than a third are being made by companies with less than 20 trucks.”
“We are watching it,” said OOIDA regulatory affairs specialist Joe Rajkovacz of Oakland’s recent efforts, explaining the intricacies this way: “The Teamsters and environmentalists are pursuing legislation to allow the Federal Aviation Administration to regulate port drayage, essentially.” Their preferred change could make it legal for local authorities to preempt federal oversight of interstate commerce for environmental initiatives — the lynchpin in the case against what L.A. tried to do with their phase-out. “It’s a flat-out crapshoot as to whether it will happen or not,” Rajkovacz said. “[The supporting interests] are certainly going to try to line up congressional support for it, and the California congressional delegation is pretty powerful. They certainly signed on to what L.A. did, so I can’t imagine they’re not going to sign on to this.”
Baker characterized the desire to include the phase-out in the Clean Trucks’ program as a “move to get [independent contractor owner-operators] a consistent paycheck, benefits, workers’ comp and establish a more stable/secure work environment on port property. It also made the drivers more accountable to the [fleets], which is better for the ports, since the concession program places responsibility for the trucks and the drivers on the [fleets].”
Rajkovacz acknowledged there are “systemic issues surrounding harbor drayage” with fleet “bottom feeders all around the country at ports that screw with owner-operators’ profitability.” At the same time, though, rather than mandate employee status for all drivers serving a particular port, or simply shield fleets from such mandates (“This is where we split sheets with the ATA,” he said), Rajkovacz and OOIDA believe that that if the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration were to get tough on the economic regulations already on the books — in the form of the long-codified Truth in Leasing regs — it could effectively solve the problems port truck owner-operators are having around the country.
CARB on Drayage Rule: ‘Full speed ahead’
A rumor running the highways of the trucking community is that, like the reefer unit requirement that was delayed at the 11th hour from its July deadline earlier this year, the drayage rule also will be delayed. Both regulations as currently written contain compliance deadlines at the end of the year, and both have at one time or another seen deadlines delayed.
But CARB stationary source division chief Bob Fletcher said those rumors are untrue and the board is moving “full speed ahead” with the drayage rule, in spite of rumors of its delay and reported difficulty obtaining new-truck grant money for retrofits from some quarters.
Since the February 2009 Truckers News feature on intermodal hauling, Bay Area-based, mostly owner-operator fleet Devine Intermodal has seen the lot of its owner-operators’ applications for $50,000 grants for truck replacements to meet the drayage rule, detailed in that story, repeatedly delayed. “We were ready to order the trucks in January,” Devine Controller Carl Dolk says, but after California’s state budget process, all grant assistance was put on hold as the revenue-strapped state sorted through priorities.
“They opened up the pipeline in the second quarter,” Dolk said, but Bay Area Air Quality Management was advised to begin by granting money for retrofits in the area rather than replacements. In the third quarter, they were “still processing those retrofit applications,” Dolk said. “There are just so many, and they’re telling us we’re probably going to have 45 grants instead of [the initially granted] 66.”
And not only that: The closer the end of the year gets, the more likely it will be that OEMs’ plants will have been retooled to produce 2010 engines, which will be “$9,000 more expensive than the others,” Dolk said. Which is to say nothing of owner-operators getting them in time to meet the requirements of the drayage rule. As of late August, the grants were still forthcoming.
All the same, California pushes ahead with rule. “The situation is a little different than with the [reefer rule],” Fletcher said. “We do have the support of the ports — the L.A./Long Beach requirements mirror ours and they are actively implementing them. Incentives for compliance in L.A./Long Beach and Oakland are kicking in — we’re assisting them in getting applications processed and evaluated. That one seems to be going pretty well.”
California compliance deadlines for reefers, port trucks at year’s end
Reefers
Jan 1, 2010 2002 and older model reefer units must meet the California Air Resources Board’s emissions requirements of a 50-percent reduction in particulate matter, achievable by unit replacement or retrofit with a CARB-verified Level 2 diesel particulate filter. At the end of 2010, 2003-built units will need to be replaced or retrofit with a Level 3 particulate filter to reduce emissions by 85 percent to remain in compliance. California-based owner-operators and fleets with reefer trailers should have registered their units with CARB by the end of July this year, and they are required to submit information on any changes that are made.
Fines: Up to $500 for CA fleets/operators not registering reefer units. Up to $1,000 for reefers that don’t meet requirements
Estimated Compliance Costs: $6,000 for DPF retrofit, $10,000 for engine replacement, $20,000 for new reefer unit
Trucks Entering California Ports (or rail yards within 80 miles of a cargo port)
Jan. 1, 2010 Trucks with engines of model years 2003 and older will need to retrofit with Level 3 particulate filters verified by CARB or replaced. By Jan. 1, 2012, 2004 engine technology will require Level 3 retrofit or replacement, and by Jan 1, 2013, 2005-06 engines will fall under the same requirement. If you’re serving the ports extensively, the safe long-term move is to adopt 2007 and newer technology to remain compliant going forward: Jan. 1, 2014, is the deadline for all trucks to be utilizing 2007 technology or equivalent. By 2021, all trucks serving the ports must be utilizing technology meeting 2010 standards or equivalent. Sept. 30 was the deadline for all trucks serving the ports to be registered in CARB’s Drayage Truck Registry.
Estimated Compliance Costs: $10,000-$31,000 for retrofit and/or truck replacement
Estimated Fines: “We expect to take a progressive approach to enforcement, treating initial infractions as outreach opportunities and not issuing citations,” said CARB spokesperson Mary Fricke. “Eventually, citations will be issued.” Amounts of fines, she added, will be “based on the severity of the infraction. We will be receiving information from the terminals that shows us which motor carriers sent non-compliant trucks to the terminals and ARB will issue penalties based on that information. We can also fine owner/operators for not properly maintaining their emission control device (to be determined through on-road inspections).”
FMCSA Plans to Increase UCR Fees
Fees under the Unified Carrier Registration system would increase by a factor of 2.22 under a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration proposal to be published in the Sept. 3 issue of the Federal Register. The minimum fee, which applies to a one-truck operation or to a broker or freight forwarder, would go from $39 to $87, while the maximum fee for for-hire and private carriers with more than 1,000 trucks would rise from $37,500 to $83,412.
Several factors drove the need to increase fees in order to provide the $113 million necessary to provide states with the revenues they received under the Single State Registration System. One was a change in federal law last year that eliminated trailers from the calculation. That change alone requires increasing fees by 61 percent to maintain the $113 million in revenue even if every single carrier complied.
But compliance with the registration requirement has been far from 100 percent. Between 80 and 90 percent of carriers operating 100 or more than trucks have registered under UCR. But the compliance rate among brokers and freight forwarders is only 16 percent, and fewer than 60 percent of single-truck operations have registered. In 2008, the overall compliance rate was 62.5 percent. While industry representatives on the UCR board believe the fees should continue to be based on 100-percent compliance, FMCSA is choosing a compliance rate of about 86 percent.
On top of those concerns is a phenomenon FMCSA calls “bracket shift,” where carriers end up registering fewer trucks than anticipated based on the federal database.
Freightliner Tops in Vocational
Freightliner Trucks announced it has received the “Highest in Customer Satisfaction among Vocational Segment Class 8 Trucks” in the J.D. Power and Associates 2009 Heavy Duty Truck Customer Satisfaction Study.
Freightliner performs particularly well in performance, quality, warranty, and cost of ownership factors, and improves notably from last year on each of these four factors that comprise customer satisfaction.
The results from the 2009 Heavy Duty Truck Customer Satisfaction Study were based on interviews with 2,492 customers of 2-year-old Class 8 vehicles. Of the customers interviewed, the average fleet size was 34 trucks, and 52 percent of those fleets have 10 vehicles or fewer. Respondents interviewed are asked questions about their level of satisfaction with the product, service and parts. Freightliner Trucks is a division of Daimler Trucks North America LLC.
Duncan Named National Grand Champion
Dale L. Duncan, a Con-way Freight professional truck driver based in San Diego, was named the 2009 National Truck Driving Grand Champion. Duncan’s driving skills and knowledge of transportation and truck safety information topped those of 415 other professional drivers from all across the United States in the National Truck Driving Championships, held in Pittsburgh.
The 72nd annual “Super Bowl of Safety” is sponsored by the American Trucking Associations. In route to his title, Duncan has logged 26 accident- and injury-free years as a driver, with more than 1.25 million miles behind the wheel. Duncan began competing in the National Truck Driving Championships in 1995, when he placed sixth in his division. The contestants were the state champions in nine truck types from all 50 states. Collectively, they have driven 521,946,523 accident-free miles.
In their respective classes, drivers tested their expertise in the driving skills they use daily. The competition course inside Pittsburgh’s David L. Lawrence Convention Center challenged their knowledge of safety, equipment and the industry. The skills course tested drivers’ ability to judge distances, maneuver tight spaces, reverse, park and position their vehicle exactly over scales, before barriers or around curves.
“The National Truck Driving Championships showcase the industry’s commitment to safety,” says Bill Graves, ATA president and chief executive officer. “I applaud all the competitors for their efforts in making our highways safe, and congratulate Dale for demonstrating how a dedication to safe driving skills can make you a Grand Champion.”
Duncan also won the individual 5-axle truck driving competition. Champions in their respective classes:
•Straight Truck: Robert (Bob) J. Dolan — Con-way Freight (Catasauqua, Pa.)
•Three-Axle: Don Logan — FedEx Freight (Eskridge, Kan.)
•Four-Axle: Mike Stickley — Con-way Freight (Winchester, Va.)
•Sleeper Berth Class: Troy Swenson — FedEx Freight (Watertown, S.D.)
•Twins: Mark McLean — FedEx Freight (Gardiner, N.Y.)
•Flatbed Class: Mick Simpson — Family Dollar Trucking Inc. (Rose Hill, N.C.)
•Tank Truck Class: Tony Spero — ABF Freight System (Stratford, Conn.)
•Step Van: David Thompson — FedEx Ground (Alexander, Ark.)
Brandon E. Souder, a driver for Con-way Freight from Hamilton, Ohio, was named 2009 Rookie of the Year after competing in the Flatbed division.
Agency Taking Safety Exam Comments
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is accepting comments on whether the agency should require applicants for federal operating authority to pass an exam on safety requirements before being allowed to operate. Comments are due Oct. 26.
FMCSA’s advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) regarding a new entrant proficiency exam follows new rules issued in December tightening rules governing new entrants. Among other things, the rule established that failure to comply with any one of 16 specific requirements would result in automatic failure of a new entrant safety audit.
The ANPRM responds to one issue raised in a petition for reconsideration of the new entrant rule filed in January by Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. FMCSA said it is still reviewing other aspects of the Advocates’ petition, which contends the final rule did not go far enough to ensure that new entrants operate safely.
For the December 2008 new entrant rule, the Advocates’ petition for reconsideration and future comments on the ANPRM, go to www.regulations.gov and search FMCSA-2001-11061.
Group Plans 11 Additional Truckstop Clinics
Roadside Medical Clinic + Lab, a network of retail health clinics at Pilot Travel Centers, plans to expand after selling licenses for 11 additional sites in six states including Texas and California.
A clinic in Oklahoma City will be the first of the 11 to open in October, followed by one in Dallas in the first quarter of 2010. The sites have been licensed to Brough Group International, a Houston-based investment and physician-staffing company.
Roadside President Bob Perry said, “As we expand, we continue to bring convenience and affordability to truckers.”
Long Haul Clinics of Ft. Myers, Fla., which operates Roadside Medical, spent two years and $3.5 million in research and development to create the business model for physicians and investors to run the truck stop clinics. Three Roadside Medical sites are open in Arkansas, Georgia and Tennessee. Long Haul is negotiating to award licenses for a total of 80 sites at Pilot locations.
At its existing locations, Roadside provides DOT physicals and screening, sleep apnea tests and wellness programs. No appointments are necessary at clinics, which are typically open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m.
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