Industry News

Sep 28, 2010

Less Drivers Available for the Trucking Industry

BIGrigdave Industry News

Don Osterberg, Sr. Vice President of Safety, Security and driver training at Schneider National Inc., has stated that the new federal safety laws affect the trucking industry.  He believes Truck Driving Companies will cut drivers by 180,000.  He supports this number by explaining how the drivers with bad records and those who are poor drivers will steer clear from the trucking industry.

In the article,  “New rules to take many truckers off the road” by Rick Romell of the Journal Sentinel, Rick writes about the driver shortage being created by tighter regulations to make our roads safer.  He believes that around 6% of our truck drivers in the industry may loose their licenses due to points accrued from tickets on the road.

Quite a few truck drivers are going into retirement within the next 5 years and some carriers were forced to cut back on truck driving jobs because of the recession.  Add onto this, the Freight Industry also is concerned that drivers will be forced to drive fewer hours a day for safety issues.  With all this information coming together, there comes a fear that freight prices will go up due to less cargo being shipped with fewer drivers available.

RAIR, a Risk Management Consultant for the transportation industry, states that 20% of the carriers in the United States and 42% of the largest trucking companies do not meet safety regulations.  The federal government with a cost will penalize these companies; raising the price of freight even more.

With the loss of bad drivers, comes the cost for good drivers.  Those truck drivers with a good record have a bargaining chip to raise their wages.  The trucking industry will have fewer drivers, but higher wages for those drivers.

All in all, the roads will be safer, which is the most important item to remember.  But with improvement comes a cost for drivers and freight.  It will cost the consumer more, but they will be safer.

Schneider National is one of the biggest trucking companies out there so Don Osterberg’s

http://www.jsonline.com/business/103186409.html

Jun 24, 2010

Heavier Trucks Can Drive Highways in Vermont

zachwhitney , , CDL jobs, Industry News, Trucking Companies, Trucking Jobs

Recently, we ran an article about the chance of heavier trucks having the possibility of being allowed on highways.  Here is an article from a couple of weeks ago that Vermont Governor, Jim Douglas, signed a bill allowing heavier trucks to run through his state and Maine.  According to the article, “Vermont governor signs bill permitting heavier trucks on interstates”, it is a 1-year pilot that allows trucks of 100,000 lbs. plus to use highways.  In the past, any trucks 80,000 or more lbs. had to stay off highways and drive through small communities and neighborhoods.

Trucking Companies are thrilled because they can save money and time with this new pilot program and neighborhoods are too because they resented big trucks driving past their homes.  This is a win-win for both disgruntled sides.

This beta program will evaluate the impact from heavier trucks driving over highway roads, safety, and durability of the bridges and pavement.

This program also is set to save energy and use less diesel, allowing the states to become more environmentally green.  Plus, Governor Douglas feels that this bill will allow employers to improve their bottom line and hire more people in the bad economy of our times.

Whatever the outcome of this 1-year pilot program, the rest of the country is watching.  If it succeeds, I’ll bet more states follow lead.

http://www.startribune.com/business/81501282.html?elr=KArksUUUoDEy3LGDiO7aiU

Tags: Heavy trucks, Minnesota Trucking Jobs
Posted in Trucking News

Jun 23, 2010

Trucking Industry Wants Drivers

zachwhitney , , CDL jobs, Industry News, Jobs

Portland News had an article about the income that can be made through driving a truck and quoting $40,000 yearly right off the bat.  With the diverse workforce looking for jobs, changing careers is an option for many people.

Take Kelly Lovering (age 27) of Portsmouth, OR.  She was quoted as saying, “I used to work for the Department of Corrections. I got laid-off in January, so I searched for six months to find a job and couldn’t find anything. So, I was like, ‘Well, I’ll do something different.’ So, I decided to come take lessons and learn to drive a truck,” she said.  At the time of the article, Kelly was half way through her course.  With truck driving almost recession-proof, she felt she had a lot to look forward to.

The article grabbed my attention because it brings up the matter of people being aware of opportunity in the trucking field.  Not everyone realizes that with a few months of classes, a career is created in a recession proof field.  Trucking is part of transportation, which is needed to keep the economy moving.  (Literally.)  The money is good and the job is stable.  Something many people are looking for now days.

There are trucking jobs available in companies like CR England with $85,000 income for even training positions.  Truck Driving Schools enrolment has gone up during this recession and the better quality the driver, the higher demand for that candidate.  Truck Driving Jobs are available in this economy when other jobs are not.  In fact, CR England guarantees a job for every student.

http://www.wmtw.com/news/20295797/detail.html

// Tags: cdltraining, WMTW.com
Posted in Truck Driving Jobs | 1 Comment »

Feb 17, 2010

B5 Bio-diesel Fuel Spreading

zachwhitney , , Bio Diesel, Industry News, Truck Driving Schools, Trucking

It looks like Iowa is now on the B5 Bio Diesel bandwagon.  Last year, legislation was created for what they call the “Iowa Biodiesel Fuel Quality Standard (SF464)”.  And on February 4th of this year, the House Ways and Means Subcommittee voted in the advancement of the bill so that it can move into the full committee.  If it is passed by the House that would mean that the state of Iowa’s fuel will be 5% biodiesel.

This is amazing technology coming to use for making a huge step in becoming more independent from foreign oil.  There are some people and groups with concerns about using biodiesel.  The Iowans For Consumer Fuel Choice is concerned that the mandate will create monopoly.  Dawn Carlson, their spokesperson stated,

“Mandating renewable fuel will create upside-down economics, eliminate the checks and balances of fair competition and increase fuel costs for Iowans.”

Balancing the Pros and Cons of such a mandate is something the Iowa House will have to review.  It would be wonderful if they can make everyone happy.  But, this isn’t usually the case.  The article stated that Truck Drivers and Fuel Retailer are also against the mandate, but does not state why.  Probably for the price of fuel going by having the mixture of bio and fuel together.

Who is next?  What other states will try to mandate B5Bio Diesel?  I for one will keep an eye on this story.

http://mobile.wallacesfarmer.com/index.aspx?ascxid=cmsNewsStory&rmid=0&rascxid=&args=&rargs=9&dt=634010149784981250&lid=a8yebu2d9qxnz7lo&adms=634010149783575000X741151ffa9&cmsSid=35268&cmsScid=9

Jan 29, 2010

Text Messaging Outlawed for Truck Drivers

BIGrigdave Industry News, Trucking News

A federal ban is now in effect as of 1/26/10, prohibiting text messaging while driving commercial vehicles.  U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood, is quoted as saying, “We want the drivers of big rigs and buses and those who share the roads with them to be safe.  This is an important safety step and we will be taking more to eliminate the threat of distracted driving.”  Future regulatory actions that FMCSA is looking into include electronic device usage while driving.  We will hear more information in the next few months.

The fine is steep at $2,750 under a civil and criminal penalty.  Large enough to grab drivers attention.  The fine will definitely distract commercial drivers from text messaging while driving.

Anne Ferro, the Administrator for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), made it clear that this new regulation will avert unsafe behavior inside the cab and that the text messaging ban is under the FMCSA regulations umbrella.

FMCSA’s past research proves that drivers take their eyes off the road 4.6 seconds for every 6 seconds of text messaging.  In mileage, that’s a football field!  And those who text more than 20 times a day while driving, are 20 times more likely to create an accident than those who do not.  The statistics explains why actions were taken for banning text messaging while driving.

For those who would like to read the new text-messaging ban, it will be in print 1/27/10 in the Federal Register.  To follow the U.S. Dept. of Transportation progression to fight against drivers distracted while on the road, go to www.distraction.gov.  They have an aggressive agenda that will be an exciting piece of history to follow.

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