Industry-Backed Truck Parking App Will Help Drivers Find Parking

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Truck Parking App Will Help Drivers

Movers and shakers in the trucking industry have banded together to help truck drivers find available parking spots on their routes. Those with CDL driver jobs know how hard it is to find truck parking, and now help is coming through a free mobile app due out in August.

Behind the app are some of the trucking industry’s biggest entities: the American Trucking Associations, the National Association of Truck Stop Operators, the American Transportation Research Institute and the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. The quartet announced the new app, called Park My Truck, on May 18.

Transport Topics wrote about the announcement.

Lisa Mullings, president of the NATSO Foundation, pays to develop the app. Overall, she said the app enables drivers to find available truck parking at commercial truck stops and state-provided rest areas in the 48 continental states.

“Professional drivers remain essential to our economy and our way of life in America,” Mullings said. “Therefore, their safety and security remain a major priority.”

In addition, ATRI Vice President Dan Murray noted truck parking ranked as the No. 2 issue on the organization’s list of industry issues.

One representative involved with the creation of the app, Rep. Paul Tomko, represented Jason Rivenburg.

Jason, a truck driver, died in 2009 at an abandoned South Carolina gas station inspired “Jason’s Law.”

That tragedy inspired Tomko to become involved in the issue of safe truck parking. “Access to safe and accessible rest stops can be a life-or-death issue as I unfortunately learned during my first term in office,” Tomko said. “Truckers deserve safety, nothing less.”

In addition, ATA President Bill Graves noted that many more trucks are expected to be on the road as the economy expands in the future. So, the need for this new app only increases as time passes.

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Lawyer: New food hauling regs for truck drivers will require clean equipment

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overdriveonline.comWith new regulations for food haulers handed down in April by the FDA, shippers will now be charged with setting cleanliness guidelines for truck drivers and their equipment, Overdrive writes. One attorney says shippers may turn trucks away without loads if they fail to meet previously agreed to requirements.

Rob Moseley of transportation firm Smith Moore Leatherwood offered insight into the new regulations in a May 11 webinar held for shippers, brokers and carriers.

The Food & Drug Administration rules remain broad, and only about 10% of the rule applies to food transportation. Even then, most of the transportation-focused portions of the rule, meant for shippers. So, just a small part of the rule applies to carriers directly.

The new rules goes into effect April 6, 2017.

They require shippers to develop standards for certain food shipments, such as temperature-controlled foods and produce.

“Shippers control the process without any question about it,” Moseley said. “They control how to transport their goods. And the consignee or receiver tasked with making sure those protocols set by the shipper have been met.”

Shippers must set sanitation requirements for carriers’ equipment.

In addition, they also set pre-cooling requirements for reefer loads and periodic training for carrier personnel, drivers included, who may interact with food products.

Likely the key takeaway from the new regulations for food hauling carriers is to have clean, well kept equipment, Moseley said. “This may mean that trailers need work,” he said. “If they leak with rain from the roof, or if road water comes into the trailer from the floor, you need to make changes,” he said. Small holes, debris, vermon droppings or trailers that smell bad give shippers pause under the new rules, Moseley said.

Another component of the rule likely to apply to carriers are its pre-cooling requirements.

Such requirements impact by load times. When shippers dictate certain pre-cooling temperatures prior to food being loaded onto a trailer, those requirements must be met, Moseley said. Long waiting times at a dock compromises pre-cooling. Then, shippers start checking for proper pre-cooling temperatures due to the new FDA regulations.

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For Pets in Need, One Truck Driver Rides to the Rescue

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Man Uses CDL Trucking Job to Rescue Animals

David Binz with Spartacus

David Binz is a longtime owner operator leased to Alaska West Express. His CDL trucking job requires that he move mining, construction and oil field equipment, day-in, day-out.

But, as a volunteer for Kindred Hearts Transport Connection, Binz also moves more precious cargo—pets in need. For Binz, who’s ridden shotgun with his own dog, Izzy, for 10 years, rescuing animals is a privilege. Binz likes Kindred Hearts for its compassion. Overall, it works to place orphaned animals with caring owners nationwide.

To date, Binz has placed 111 pets in need in the hands of caring owners along his trucking routes.

And while he typically moves cats and dogs, he’s also transported birds, gerbils—even a potbelly pig.

“I’ve been known to transport four or five animals at a time,” says Binz. “I draw the line at snakes. I will not move snakes.”

Kindred Hearts has nearly 30,000 volunteers around the country, though few of them are people with CDL trucking jobs.

The group posts upcoming runs on its Facebook page, and if one of them fits with Binz’s route, he lets the administrators know.

Also, Binz recalls the time he moved a military macaw bird. “That one was kind of unusual for me,” Binz says. “It would tell me I was on the telephone too long and that I needed to hang up.”

Man Uses CDL Trucking Job to Rescue Animals

Binz and a pit bull rescue

Meaningful Mission

Transporting the animals “means a lot to me,” Binz says. “It allows me to give back to society. If you have a 9-to-5 job, you have a lot of ways to give back, but those options are not out there for truck drivers. This is one thing I can do as a truck driver to make a difference.” These days, Binz rides with Izzy and Spartacus, a rescue dog he hasn’t yet found a home for.

Kindred Hearts is a natural fit for Binz, a lifelong animal lover who grew up on a horse farm. His son trains wild mustangs in the summer, and when Binz gets home time, he helps his son find loving owners for the horses. To transport animals as he does, “you’ve gotta love an animal,” Binz says. “No matter what the animal does, you have to be able to love it. If a dog craps in the middle of your bed, you have to clean the mess up and love the dog.”

PetSmart Partnership

When he’s on the road, Binz relies on PetSmarts all over the country for help. He buys pet food there and uses their training rooms to give dogs off-leash exercise.

Man uses his CDL trucking job to rescue animals

Izzy, right, befriends a dog Binz was transporting.

“I love PetSmart,” Binz says. “They always cut me a break on the bill for bathing the dogs. In the winter, when the weather’s really nasty, they let me bring my dogs in and they can run around and play.”

Binz admits he gets attached to the animals he rescues. “You end up crying a little bit sometimes,” he says. “Sitting there for an hour and reflecting. You have to say, ‘OK, I helped that one. Now it’s time to go help another.’”

 

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Trucking Is in Georgia’s Fast Lane with $2 Billion Project

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Truck drivers tired of facing road congestion get some good news. Georgia plans to ease traffic congestion on one of the state’s busiest highways. Their solution? Give people with CDL trucking jobs their own designated trucking lanes.

According to Trucks.com, the State of Georgia plans to build two lanes exclusively for truck use. This exists along a popular freight corridor outside Atlanta. Overall, the lanes encompass a 38-mile stretch on I-75. It serves as the largest truck-only project in America, estimated to cost $2 billion.

When the roadway finishes– expected in 2030 – the state may consider adding additional truck-only lanes in the opposite direction.

Overall, the project is ambitious, said Robert Poole, a transportation expert and co-founder of The Reason Foundation, a libertarian think tank. Truck-only lanes are usually reserved for short distances. For example, this applies to moving heavy vehicles out of the way of faster car traffic climbing hills.

No state attempted what Georgia is doing without utilizing tolling or public-private highway building partnerships as a way to pay for the truck-only lanes, he said.

CDL permit holders who travel the state often likely rejoice at the news. In addition, the American Trucking Associations welcomed it, too.

“The Port of Savannah expects to grow pretty substantially and generates a lot of traffic along the I-75 corridor. So, yes, it might make sense to add truck-only lanes there,” said Darrin Roth, vice president of highway policy for the American Trucking Associations.

Traffic congestion clogs the delivery of goods nationwide.

The American Transport Research Institute estimates that traffic delays cost the trucking industry about $50 billion annually.

However, people not in the trucking business appear slower to warm to news of truck-only lanes. Overall, they question if money could allocate to other projects. But, for CDL permit holders, truck-only lanes make traveling Georgia’s freeways a lot more enjoyable.

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Immigrants Filling CDL Trucking Jobs in Face of Driver Shortage

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Immigrants Filling CDL Trucking Jobs

As far as occupations go, few seem as American as CDL trucking jobs. Reflecting America’s melting pot status all the more, as the industry strives to think of creative ways to solve the driver shortage. They see success with immigrants filling CDL trucking jobs.

Fifty miles west of Los Angeles stands the busiest long-haul truck stop in America. Saul Gonzalez of the Global Post wrote a story on immigrant drivers like Harsharan Singh of Punjab, India, and others. Many of them hadn’t had trucking jobs in their homelands. However, thanks to opportunity here in America, they’re truck drivers now.

“I got my license back in 2009, when I came from India,” Singh tells Gonzalez in the story. “Now, a lot of people from Romania, Yugoslavia, China, Japanese, Russians are coming into this business.”

Part of the reason behind the shift is that the trucking industry is facing a labor shortage of up to 48,000 drivers, according to the American Trucking Associations.

That could balloon to more than 170,000 drivers in the next 10 years.

Nearly 30% of foreign-born drivers are now from Asia, the Middle East, the former Soviet republics and Europe. Most of the rest are from Latin America, according to the Census Bureau’s 2012 American Community Survey. That survey also found that the proportion of immigrant drivers varies from state to state, with California at 46 percent, the highest concentration of foreign-born drivers, followed by New Jersey at 40 percent.

Gonzalez talks with other immigrants about their experiences.

The next CDL truck driver he quotes is Steven Abramovich from the Ukraine.

“When I first got to this country, I never thought I would do this kind of a job. It was sort of a dream to do it,” says Ukraine-born Steven Abramovich over an outdoor meal of cold cuts, hard-boiled eggs and some wine with fellow Ukrainian and Russian drivers in a corner of a vast truck stop in Ontario, California.

Abramovich adds that a “trucker is a trucker” but feels foreign-born drivers, because of language and culture, create tighter communities than American drivers.

“We are raised differently,” he says. “I don’t want to be disrespectful to the American community, but the Russian community, the Ukrainian community, the Turkish community, the Europeans … we are sitting together, we are having a nice meal.”

But Ismael Abassov, who grew up in Russia and Turkey, is quick to add that when he started driving an 18-wheeler three years ago, American drivers always offered a helping hand when he needed it. “When I started, I didn’t know this job, I had never done it, but I was asking and they helped me a lot.”

But despite the hardships, for many new immigrant drivers, they’ll take the trucking life — one route to the American dream.

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Report Says Automated Trucks Will Cut CDL Driver Jobs in Long Run

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motortrend.comThis past April, a platoon of automated trucks successfully completed a transcontinental trip across Europe for the first time. The trip raised the important question: What does a successful run for automated trucks mean for CDL trucking jobs?

It is important to note that automated trucking as an everyday reality will be a long ways off in the future.

That said, an article in Motor Trend magazine says the transcontinental trip by six platoons of automated trucks doesn’t bode well for CDL driver jobs long term. Motor Trend wrote:

The experiment included in the European Truck Platooning Challenge, a program devised to advance autonomous trucking in Europe. The accomplishment shows the viability of automated trucks, and a new report from TechCrunch sheds light on how the technology will dramatically change the trucking industry.

Currently, it costs around $4,500 to ship a full truckload from L.A. to New York. Labor makes up 75 percent of that cost, according to TechCrunch, meaning a lot of that money would be saved if we moved to driverless trucks. In addition to saving labor costs, autonomous trucks would also significantly boost efficiency. Drivers are required by law to take an 8-hour break after driving 11 hours, but an autonomous truck could drive nearly 24 hours straight.

Also, a computer regulates speed, perhaps boosting fuel efficiency.

The article says that savings trickle down to consumers, reducing the cost of shipped goods overall.

Yet with millions of people holding CDL trucking jobs in America, truckers hold the most common job in 29 states. It added another harrowing employment statistic as well.

If self-driving trucks replace those jobs, it means 1% of the U.S. workforce face unemployment. But, the ripple effects could devastate the American highway as we know it. Truck stops, motels, gas stations, and other businesses struggle to stay open without a steady flow of truckers.

Regulation remains the biggest hurdle for autonomous trucks, adding to the negative impact automated trucking would have on the U.S. economy might not be worth the savings.

A price-performance increase of 400% is hard to ignore. But, can we afford to displace more than a million jobs?

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Truck World Takes A Bow to Women Truck Drivers

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The Women in Trucking Association celebrated female truck drivers with a salute to women truck drivers at Truck World in Canada on April 16.

Women in Trucking has feted female truckers in the United States. However, the event marked the first time women truck drivers in Canada were formally saluted for their hard work.

“We made history,” said Joanne Ritchie, executive director of the Owner Operator’s Business Association. “This has been a long time coming since we’ve wanted to have a salute (in Canada) and we’ve been thinking about it for a long time…so we’re really happy to see so many out here.”

Andreea Crisan, COO of Andy Transport thanked the women truck drivers for “choosing transportation” as a career.

“I’m here today to thank you and thank the sponsors and those companies that encourage the employment of women. But most importantly, the retention of women,” Crisan said. “Today is your day. Ladies, we’re here to celebrate you…so thank you for coming and let us celebrate your courage, your work and your commitment to the industry.”

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Autonomous Trucks Platoon Across Europe. What Will it Mean for Drivers?

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will autonomous driving effect people with CDL trucking jobs?Autonomous trucks platoons just pulled off a landmark feat. How it will impact fleet management and CDL driving jobs in the future remains to be seen.  Fierce Mobile IT  writer Alyssa Huntley recently wrote about the event—six brands of autonomous trucks that successfully platooned across Europe for the first time in history.

The automated trucks platooned across Europe and arrived in Maavlakte seaport in the Netherlands in April.

The journeys completed as part of the European Truck Platooning Challenge, an operation put on by Rijkswaterstaat. The Netherlands’ main infrastructure design, management and maintenance organization. Truck platooning could potentially be used for freight shipping, the article explained.

In platooning, two to three trucks drive in a single-file line – referred to as a column – along the highway. A human operates the lead truck, with autonomous trucks following connected via Wi-Fi. The lead truck determines speed and route, transmitted over the Wi-Fi connection.

Trucks follow more closely, freeing up space along the highway for other vehicles.

The Wi-Fi connection results in synchronized breaking and reduces the likelihood of sudden jolts or shocks, which could help traffic flow and speed up deliveries. Fuel costs could go down by up to 10%, which would come with a reduction in CO2 emissions, the article noted.

“This opens the door for upscaled, cross-border truck platooning,” Schultz van Haegen said. Van Haegen noted that the information gathered in the challenge proves useful during an informal European transport council meeting in Amsterdam on April 14. “It certainly helps my colleagues and I discuss the adjustments needed to make self-driving transport a reality,” he said.

The technology is still being refined. Autonomous driving has been a hot topic in the industry lately, but how will it affect people with CDL truck driving jobs? This is a topic we will continue to follow.

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Is a CDL trucking job right for you?

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A CDL trucking job is in high demand right now, which could be great news if you are considering joining the industry! Those who are interested in starting a career in trucking will like this article publicized by Transport Topics.

Writer John Cropley of The Daily Gazette (Schenectady, N.Y.) writes about the pros and cons of the trucking industry.

Here are some highlights from the article.

 1.  Starting wages are often more than $1,000 a week, and long-haul drivers with a high school diploma and a few years’ experience can earn $70,000 or more annually.

2. The volume of cargo trucked on American highways is continually increasing.

3. Truckers can move up to become a dispatcher or operations manager. Diesel technicians (they’re in short supply, too) can become a floor manager or department manager.

There are always opportunities for advancement, especially with the high demand of jobs right now. But along with all the perks, there are health, family and safety factors to consider. The author quotes Kendra Hems, president of New York State Motor Truck Association in Clifton Park, New York, saying:

4. “It’s not necessarily what you would consider a sexy career,” Hems said. To counter this, she said, “One of the things we try to do is educate potential candidates that this isn’t just a job, it’s a career path.”

Cropley continues with some cons about joining the industry.

5. Problems associated with the trucker lifestyle — inconsistent or insufficient sleep, smoking, obesity, unhealthy diet, sun damage to skin — remain up to the trucker to manage.

On top of that, purchasing and maintaining equipment gets costly. Cropley cites Timco Transportation of Glenville, N.Y. as one example.

6. A new truck and trailer combination costs Timco $182,000. Add a year’s worth of fees and surcharges and (company owner) Tim Adair is right around $190,000 for one big rig.

Like any career path there are going to be the ups and downs to CDL trucking jobs.

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Truck Parking: Should Truck Drivers Pay for It?

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Will paid spots alleviate the lack of truck parking?In an article in Overdrive, Wendy Parker took on the million-dollar question in eloquent fashion.

Should those with trucking jobs have to pay for truck parking?

Parker’s candid article sheds light on the lack of truck parking today and on how this problem may evolve in the future.

“Let’s talk about paid parking,” Parker wrote. “We paid for parking in Charleston, Mo., a couple of nights ago, at an establishment we spent over $20,000 with collectively last year. I’m not going to lie – it stung a little. For some reason, that $12 seemed pretty close to the straw that broke the money camel’s back.”

But, Parker continues, there was one benefit to that paid space—peace of mind.

“It was really nice to know we had a spot waiting for us, even if we did have to pay for it,” she wrote. Let’s face it, if you can’t stop to look for parking before 3 p.m., you’re pretty screwed these days. And even if you’re running nights, good luck finding a spot in the DFW area at all. Love’s and T/A in Rockwall are slam full by 11 a.m., and all the trip planning in the world isn’t going to magically create more parking spots in Seattle. There are simply not enough (spots).

Yet somehow, adding paid parking to the mix only fans the flames of discontent.

“Whether or not you love it or hate it, the underlying feeling of being screwed out of another twelve to eighteen bucks is still prevalent, especially for those of us who are very specific about where we fuel,” she writes. “When you commit to one company, and spend the bulk of your fuel dollars there, it’s hard not to feel like they’re just extorting you because they can.”

ELD mandates only exacerbate the parking problem, Parker says.

She also says that truck stops are keenly aware of that fact and, as businesses, they will seek to capitalize on it. She writes:

These are undeniable facts, and quite frankly, I don’t know of anyone in business who wouldn’t take the opportunity to (capitalize on it). When convenience is part of your business model, offering convenient, reserved, paid parking is a natural progression.

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