perspective News Updates

While debate continues on hours of service, truck size and weight, and their effect on truck productivity, we should not lose sight of an issue that has been consistently raised by major trucking groups and relates to time lost at the loading docks of shippers and receivers.

Within all segments of the trucking industry, safety is always a priority. Two recent incidents — an extremely offensive ad from a personal injury law firm depicting a Class 8 tractor with the words “Serial Killer” at the top and a tragic accident involving comedian Tracy Morgan — have generated outside attention to perceived lack of safety in the industry.

Recent articles have stated that truck capacity is running close to 100%. Industry experts have been saying the increased freight volume that comes with sustained economic growth, plus other factors such as a long bout of poor weather, could create a truly critical situation.

Gridlock in Washington, D.C., is increasingly creating gridlock on our highways. Failure to invest responsibly in infrastructure has led to higher costs for everyone — from trucking companies to consumers.

There has been a lot of discussion lately about the proposed regulation that will mandate the use of electronic logging devices. Personally, I am in favor of using ELDs.

I recently gave a presentation on why trucking companies should improve driver health, and how to do it.

It’s the age-old question, “What do you do for a living?” Throughout our lives, we’ve spoken with countless professional truck drivers who tell us their responses are met with scorn, disdain and lack of respect.

It’s that time of the year again. The roads are filled with people hurrying to their holiday travel destinations and parties and trying to get gifts purchased.

For 25 years or longer, operating ratio (the ratio of operating expenses to operating revenue) has been a common measure of profitability and efficiency in the truckload transportation industry.

Excessive roadside service calls are a major symptom of a dysfunctional fleet operation, the sort whose pickup-and-delivery times are less than dependable and whose truck downtime is costing the head office big bucks for lost business and expensive repairs. And the No. 1 cause of roadside service calls is tires.