Are Your Brakes Working? Inspectors Want to Check

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The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance will increase brakes inspections during Brake Safety Week.

Image via Pixabay

Brakes Safety Week is September 16-22, 2018. Enforcement personnel plan on doing everything in their power to ensure the safety and well-being of all highway travelers.

Overall, North American Standard Level 1 inspections assess everything from hydraulic fluid leaks and loose parts to defective rotor conditions. Also, vehicles that fall short of the minimum standards leave the road immediately.

In 2017, 14% of inspected trucks were put out of service. “Properly functioning brake systems remain crucial to safe CMV operation,” the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance wrote in a release. “Also, improperly installed or poorly maintained brake systems reduce braking efficiency. Therefore, this poses serious risk to public safety on our roadways.”

In addition, CVSA’s 2017 International Roadcheck inspections revealed the majority of violations involved brakes.

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Big Oil Enters the Electric Trucking Game

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Tesla has some new competition in the realm of Electric Trucking: electric tractor trailers.

Image via CNBC

Shell Global sent its new electric-engine AirFlow Starship on its first journey across the country. It traveled from Atlanta to Long Beach, Calif. The unveiling of the new tractor-trailer this year spiked both interest and concerns throughout the industry.

As the first major heavy-duty truck to come out since Tesla’s electric long-haul trailer, Shell thinks more companies will follow suit in choosing electric trailers, which decrease 25 percent of carbon dioxide emissions a truck creates. Shell’s Bob Mainwaring tells CNBC, “Shell is an energy company … It’s always good to conserve energy.”

Industry experts say they expected Shell to design a cab for years.

The Airflow Starship is modeled after the Airflow Truck built by Robert Sliwa, who has been working to design the most fuel-efficient trucks possible since 1983. In addition, the Starship has an aerodynamic design. Therefore, this helps in reducing drag, and solar panels to power smaller features, such as windshield wipers. Also, a “hybrid electric axle system and custom automatic tire inflation” allow for better fuel efficiency.

The new trailer is completing its maiden voyage across the country through Shell’s Rotella Starship Initiative. Sliwa has said he hopes his new trailer design will beat his last model’s previous record of 13.4 miles per gallon. That record was set by Tesla’s Bullet Truck, which can travel 500 miles without needing to be recharged. Though production of these trailers isn’t set to begin until May 2019, both Walmart and UPS have ordered mass quantities.

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Veterans Finally Getting a ‘Brake’ in the Industry

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Photo courtesy of KRIS TV

A university in Corpus Christi, Texas, developed a free training program for vets exiting the service.

The Skills for Transition Program, a part of the Texas Operation Welcome Home Program, focuses on reintegrating military members into their communities post-deployment. For example, one of its most recent projects is a training program through Del Mar College to help recent veterans become CDL truck drivers.

According to recent findings, the trucking industry has become a good fit for many military personnel after their discharge.

Also, according to Department of Motor Vehicles, their dependability, sense of teamwork, and situational awareness make veterans ideal driving employees. In addition, driving jobs offer some much needed financial and lifestyle consistency that many vets crave after being overseas.

Also, the course consists of four weeks of daytime classes or 10 weeks of night classes. Overall, the goal is to create the marketable students who can be hired upon completion of the course. For example, U.S. Express Inc. offers jobs to veterans who complete this training through their apprenticeship program. In addition, with this training and apprentice opportunity, veterans earn both their CDL A license and make money within weeks of returning home.

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Trucker and Dog Barely Survive Car Crash

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A CDL truck driver and his dog are alive and well after narrowly escaping from a crash.

Tractor trailer crash.

Photo via WWNY TV

As reported by WWNY, the unnamed driver was traveling down New York Route 37 outside Theresa, when a deer ran into the road. The driver swerved, overturning his cab and trailer. And then, both the driver and his dog were trapped for nearly 45 minutes before rescue teams could get to the crash.

Theresa Fire Chief Mark Savage told WWNYC he was surprised that both the driver and the dog sustained minor injuries. Also, he said the driver seemed to be in good spirits as he walked away from the truck. “Lots of cuts and bruises, a little sore,” Savage told the station, “…but other than that, [the driver] is alive and doing well.”

Both the driver and his dog were taken to a local hospital and animal clinic respectively.

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A Handy Guide to State-By-State APU Regulations

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Auxiliary power units (APU) are one of the best weapons truck drivers can have against wasting fuel.

They make it possible to power a truck’s heating, air conditioning and other comfort systems without the need to keep the engine idling during rest stops. While they are very beneficial by not wasting fuel, the additional weight can cause problems. With an APU weighing several hundred pounds, they can push a truck hauling its maximum weight limit over the line into non-compliance, depending on where truckers are driving.

When former President Obama signed the 2012 MAP-21 bill into legislation, many states began to rethink their policies regarding trailer weight limits. While some states have specific laws outlining their exact tolerance policies, others do not. Because of this, it can be difficult to keep each state’s policies straight.

The following table displays state-by-state APU Weight Exemptions.

APU Exemption Guide

APU Exemption Guide by Track Your Truck

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Salaries and bonuses continue rising for drivers in demand

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The American Trucking Association reports that salaries for all types of truck drivers are steadily rising due to increasing drivers in demand. The current salary for national irregular route full truckload drivers has risen more than $6k to $52,000 since 2014, while private fleet drivers are closing on $85,000, an 11% increase over all.

The tight transport market is supporting not only higher salaries, but also better benefits and generous signing bonuses of up to $7k as part of an ongoing effort to attract and — more importantly — retain new drivers. This supports similar data released in The National Transportation Institute’s (NTI) Quarterly National Survey of Driver Wages. NTI’s COO, Leah Shaver indicated, “We’re seeing unprecedented movement in driver pay.”

As salaries skyrocket, industry pundits believe 2018 is the year when pricing power officially shifts from shippers to carriers. Also, shippers complain about and resist rising rates. They reduce time wasted at loading docks so that drivers avoid delays.

Finally, current predictions suggest that at least 900,000 new drivers will be needed over the next decade, 49% of which will fill in for pending retirees. To learn more, click here.

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Freight costs could impact food and other prices

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Driver pay increases along with tight capacity are affecting not only transport companies, but also their customers. Retailers and distributors who foot the bill for higher shipping costs face high freight costs.

Among those affected, General Mills is alleging that freight costs have reached their highest rates in 20 years, reducing product margins.

Other purveyors such as Tyson, Hormel, and B&G Foods Inc., have cited lower earnings due to higher freight costs, which would likely be passed on to shoppers.

The spot market ratio of freight loads versus the number of trucks available rose well over 100% between 2017 and 2018. Shippers are under extreme pressure to have their products transported, especially seeing as how capacity on the spot market dropped 8.5% year on year from 2017. For more information, please click here.

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Women in Trucking gifts Volvo VNL to lucky driver

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women in trucking

On March 24, Women in Trucking gifted a 2014 Volvo VNL670 to Tiffany Hanna, a second-generation female truck driver.

Hanna is a former Navy vet and current instructor at Prime, Inc., a truck driving training school. She has five children. In addition, the giveaway took place at the Mid America Trucking Show.

Arrow Truck Sales donated the truck, worth $55,000. Women in Trucking CEO Ellen Voie awarded the truck to Hanna, noting “We are thrilled to hand over the keys to Tiffany, who has been an advocate for women in the trucking industry by mentoring and supporting the women and men at Prime, Inc. This is truly the chance of a lifetime, thanks to Arrow Truck Sales and their very generous donation.”

Also, the truck rocks new tires, a mattress topper, free gasoline, and other amenities, bring its total value to $75,000. Learn more about this giveaway and the other exciting things that Women and Trucking is doing to encourage young girls and women to enter the transportation industry.

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Could Millennials solve the driver shortage?

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The driver shortage could be addressed by a progressive program for obtaining a CDL plus a lowered legal age for state line crossings. This could also help draw more millennials into driving for the freight transport industry, reports Nicole Spector for NBC in the following article.

In addition, low numbers of female drivers contribute to the industry driver shortage. Even seemingly popular companies like UPS struggle with this issue. UBS trucks generally pose no mechanical obstacles for women. However, the issue of personal safety continues to plague those tasked with uncertain delivery locales.

Finally, a fresh assessment of the future of autonomous vehicles and their impact on drivers.

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Economy could be affected by driver shortage

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chabotphoto / Pixabay

Welcome to this three-part discussion on what ails the trucking transport industry and what can be done about it in terms of the economy.

Those involved with trucking have long recognized the growing driver shortage. Routinely blamed for the looming crisis are driver wages that haven’t kept pace with industry growth, coupled with frustration with “regulations that make it harder to work (etc.).”

However, some new factors in the economy are also beginning to have an effect. For example, an unusually low unemployment rate, meaning the pool of new drivers, is particularly shallow. What’s emerged as a result is a round robin of recruitment among fleets: sign on bonuses plus newer rigs serve as enticements away from other employers. (Whether such measures actually work is another matter.)

So, what’s the takeaway? There’s a risk that whatever converging factors depress freight transport could ultimately depress the economy, as well. For more details about the economy and its effect on the driver shortage, click here.

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