Commentary: EFCA-You Know You are a Target When...

Robert Chiaravalli (Commentary) If only we knew how to predict the future, then we could avoid all of our costly mistakes. Hectic, all of our mistakes – costly or not. But that is not the case, and as business leaders we are always walking the tight rope of managing well or managing poorly. With the renewed interest in a stronger labor movement by President Obama and a Democratic majority in both the House and Senate, there will be many firms targeted by unions for organizing in non union firms and regaining collective bargaining losses in union firms. So, how do you know when you are targeted.

The Long March to Lower Emissions, SCR-DEF-EGR May be Temporary

The syngas generator has a small electric blower and glow plug and burns diesel fuel at a rich mixture ratio, the total flow being only about 2 percent of engine flow. This produces carbon monoxide (CO) and hydrogen in a partial reaction. When these products are subjected to normal diesel exhaust temperatures, they burn using the oxygen that’s always in diesel exhaust, especially under light load, and heat the exhaust. The result, says Holt, is a DPF that can keep itself clean even when the engine is loaded lightly.

Commercial Vehicle Market Intelligence Report—March 2009

Polk Industry Overview—U.S. New Commercial Vehicle Registrations March 2009 and CYTD March 2009

New Commercial Registrations for GVW 3-8 vehicles for the first quarter of the 2009 Calendar Year were 79,800 units, down 40.0 percent from the comparable period of the 2008 Calendar Year.

Congress Outlines Policy to Reduce Trucking’s Freight Share by 10 Percent

The debate over future surface transportation policy is likely to be directed by Congress, rather than the Obama administration, several industry lobbyists said following the recent release of numerous documents.

Last week, in a handwritten outline for the bill, Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, sketched out a dramatic overhaul of federal transportation policy that would include “freight improvement.”

Fleets See Slight Freight Gain; May Not be a Trend

A broad spectrum of truckers are reporting modest recent improvement in freight levels, but industry executives last week said it still was too early to declare a steady positive trend is emerging.

Using words such as “encouraged” and “a little better,” 12 truckload and less-than-truckload leaders said that volumes are better, particularly in the past two or three weeks. None of the executives who commented on market trends reported a business decline.

Fleets Cutting Costs, Size, Buying Plans

NEW YORK - For-hire carriers are responding to the prolonged freight drought by shrinking fleets as much as 20 percent, while lowering operating costs by consolidating operations and by cutting driver pay and fuel costs. Most also have plans to limit, in not eliminate new truck purchases over the next 12 to 18 months, according to fleet executives addressing an audience of financial analysts at the Wolfe Research Global Transportation Conference here.

Since 2007, Swift Transportation has taken 2,000 tractors out of its fleet, which now stands at 16,000 tractors, according to CFO Ginnie Henkels. The truckload carrier instituted a hiring freeze last November, and then reduced driver pay and bonus payments, she told the analysts. The fleet has also sought to reduce fuel costs by limiting the top speed for its trucks and stepping up no-idling enforcement. A realignment of its 30 shops has also helped the fleet reduce operating costs and improve vehicle efficiency by lowering downtime for routine maintenance, Henkels said.