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Trucking On The Upswing? Signs are pointing to a growth in trucking after six quarters of stagnation, according to Traffic World. Here’s a look at why some trucking companies are feeling more confident about the economy:
- Motor carriers are buying new trucks. New Jersey-based Jevic Transportation is just one carrier that has been slowly adding new heavy-duty trucks to its fleet over the last six months. “This is a $10 million strategic purchase for our future,” said Jevic’s president and CEO. The purchase shows confidence in trucking for the long term.
- For-hire truck tonnage is up. The American Trucking Associations recently reported an increase in July’s truck tonnage, the first such increase since March. However, the report was a mixed bag since the weight of freight hauled by trucks was down compared to the same period last year.
- Manufacturing is up. The Census Bureau reports that new orders, shipments, and unfilled orders and inventories hit record highs in July—all signs of an expanding economy. New orders for manufactured durable goods increased 5.9 percent in July, the fifth increase in the last six months and the largest jump in a year. Orders for automobiles, steel, and other primary metals are all up.
Mexican Trucks Get Approval: The Bush administration can proceed with a pilot program that allows Mexican trucking companies to haul their cargo anywhere in the United States for the next year. The Teamsters union, the Sierra Club, and Public Citizen all made a request to stop the program, but the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected it. The groups against the program cited public safety, oversight of Mexican drivers, and the environment as their main concerns. NAFTA requires that all roads in the United States, Mexico, and Canada be open to motor carriers from all three countries. Canadian trucking companies have had unlimited access to U.S. roads, but Mexican trucks have been forced to unload goods to U.S. truckers in a 20-mile border zone. (U.S. carriers faced similar restrictions in Mexico.) Up to 500 Mexican trucks may be approved to enter the country during the pilot program, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The trucks may pick up cargo at a U.S. city and transport it to Mexico, but they are not permitted to deliver freight between U.S. cities. The government says Mexican drivers will have to undergo rigorous safety protocols, including drug and alcohol testing; drivers must also have a basic understanding of written and spoken English (see below).
Crackdown At The Border: It’s been on the books for decades: commercial drivers must read and speak English “sufficiently to understand highway traffic signs and signals and directions given in English and to respond to official inquiries.” But enforcement has been lax since the law was created in 1971—until now. Once Mexican truckers got the green light to drive freely in the United States, state troopers have been working feverishly to identify non-English-speaking drivers. Those who can’t speak English in the commercial zone north of the Mexican border are ticketed and fined, but those beyond the border will also be pulled off the road. Per NAFTA, U.S. commercial drivers entering Mexico will have to speak Spanish. “The bottom line is safety,” said Richard Henderson of the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance. “Obviously if (the driver) can’t speak English, he’s not going to know what some of the regulations are.” Mexican drivers, however, say they feel discriminated against and that U.S. officials are looking for any reason to fine them. “They are giving us all kinds of fines,” said one driver. “Last week, for a headlight that I could change myself, they charged $150. And this after they saw that I was changing it.”
Debate Over Truck Weight Heightens: In the wake of the Minnesota bridge collapse, debates over weight restrictions on trucks are intensifying in some cities. Proponents of weight restrictions argue that big trucks are safety hazards and that they shorten the lifespan of bridges and roads, while opponents of weight restrictions say that bigger trucks make hauling more efficient and competitive. In fact, a 2006 study commissioned by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) found that heavier trucks increased cost-efficiency and may actually do less damage to pavement than lower weight trucks. “If you can carry more per truck, you can reduce overall the amount of trucks that are in the traffic mix, and that has a positive effect,” said a MnDOT official. The report recommended increasing truck weights to between 90,000 and 108,000 pounds from the current 80,000-pound cap, with the actual weight depending on the number of axles and their configuration. Still, heavier trucks on Minnesota roads would cost another $2.7 million a year in bridge repairs, by one estimate. Meanwhile, in New York City, state authorities imposed restrictions in the aftermath of the Minnesota bridge collapse so that trucks weighing over 80,000 pounds could not use three Bronx-Long Island bridges. Lawyers representing a group of trucking and construction companies argued in front of the New York State Supreme Court that the ban should be lifted, because it would cause economic, traffic, and environmental mayhem. The judge, however, said that officials acted legally when imposing weight restrictions, and the ban would stay.
The Battle Against Congestion: The Department of Transportation is handing out $850 million to Miami, Minneapolis, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle to help them wage war against a powerful foe: traffic congestion. The cities—winners of a federal contest that called for innovative ways to fight traffic—all will use tolls in their plans. Most cities’ plans call for congestion pricing, which involves charging tolls based on the level of traffic. In Miami, for example, more than a third of the city’s award will be used to convert 22 congested miles of Interstate 95 into two high-occupancy toll lanes in each direction. The Florida Department of Transportation estimates that tolls will range from 50 cents to $6, depending on the amount of traffic. New York City plans to spend $10.4 million of its $354.5 million award to institute a program that would charge cars $8 and trucks $21 per day to enter or leave Manhattan below 86th Street between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. Drivers don’t want to pay for roads that have always been free, while truckers have more specific concerns. The vice president of one trucking company says, “We are concerned that these programs only concentrate on commuter congestion and just assume that that will take care of freight. I don’t think it’s a good assumption to make.” The plans are stirring much debate, but if some European cities’ examples are any indication, the public may warm up to them. Both London and Stockholm residents viewed congestion pricing in their cities with great skepticism, but residents ultimately embraced the idea after initial trials, and now the plans enjoy strong public support.
Drivers Shape Up: Many high-tech companies in California’s Silicon Valley offer incentives for employees to bike to work and adopt healthier lifestyles. But who’s ever heard of a trucking company encouraging drivers to exercise, stretch, and eat granola bars? Con-way, a national freight company, is working hard to change the stereotype of drivers as consuming too much coffee and sweets and being overweight and out of shape. It’s been two years since Con-way hired a wellness coach at one of its Los Angeles centers to help drivers learn how to lead healthier lives. The first year’s results surprised company leaders: workers’ compensation costs dropped 80 percent and absenteeism dropped 75 percent. “Frankly, we were shocked by how positive the result was,” said Con-way’s regional manager of safety, Ed Boe. The wellness coach costs $4,500 to $9,000 per month, but the program more than pays for itself. One driver who suffered from an injured disk for years says the coach changed his life. “He cured my back pain with just a couple of stretches,” said the 36-year-old. “Just 15 minutes a day, and it’s gone.” The coach, a certified athletic trainer, encourages drivers to drink lots of water, reach for fruits and vegetables instead of doughnuts and chips, and,
of course, exercise.
Out Of The Rut: An old Japanese proverb says that even monkeys fall from trees. In other words, those who are good at what they do may sooner or later lose their balance and fall. Doug Lipp, former head of training at Disney Studios Walt Disney University, tells how the venerable Walt Disney Company “fell from the tree,” and picked itself back up. Back in the ’60s, Lipp says, Disney had a one-trick pony: Herbie the Lovebug. There were a string of Herbie movies, but the movie-going audience was starting to lose interest. No one at Disney, however, had the nerve to pull the plug. Why? Risk aversion and arrogance, according to Lipp. The company was haunted by Walt Disney’s ghost (“what would he think?”) and assumed it understood its customers’ wants and needs without actually talking to them. During this period, there was a lot of pressure to stay the course. Change and innovation were not part of the thinking. The results were disastrous. Disney produced flop after flop, and its stock tumbled drastically. Takeover attempts began—and these attempts acted as a wakeup call. The Board of Directors recruited new leadership, and the company hired the new talent that created blockbusters like “The Little Mermaid” and “Finding Nemo.” This meant letting go of old methods that had been highly successful in the past. “Had it not been for the willingness of the new management team to take calculated risks with product development, marketing, sales, and technology,” writes Lipp, “the company could
have vanished.”
The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong.
—Mahatma Gandhi
