Recently added articles from Transport Topics:

GAO Claims Many Truckers Skirt DOT Health Regulations

Jul 28, 2008; McNally, Sean ... WASHINGTON - The Government Accountability Office said last week that hundreds of thousands of truck drivers with potentially serious medical conditions are being allowed to drive heavy vehicles, citing loopholes and weaknesses in the federal government's program to certify ...

Diesel Dips 4.6¢ to $4.718

Jul 28, 2008; Bearth, Daniel P ... Decline in Crude Oil Pushes Fuel Prices Down The average price of retail diesel in the United States dipped 4.6 cents last week to $4.718 a gallon, the largest weekly drop in more than six months, the Department of Energy reported. The decline in trucking's main fuel followed a ...

Profits Decline at Most LTLs As Surcharges Lag Fuel Hikes

Jul 28, 2008; Watson, Rip ... Most public less-than-truckload companies' second-quarter profits fell as fleets were pounded by record diesel prices and flagging economic demand, but some executives said they thought the overall pricing environment had improved, or at least stabilized. Most carriers said that despite ...

Railroads Say Rate Increases Reflect Costs, Deny They Plan to Curtail Hazmat Hauling

Jul 28, 2008; Miller, Eric ... Railroad executives acknowledged to the Surface Transportation Board that they have sharply increased rates for hauling some highly hazardous materials but said they had done so because of their own sharply higher costs and not in an attempt to get out of the hazmat business. Edward ...

House Passes Bill Adding $8 Bln. To Depleted Highway Trust Fund

Jul 28, 2008; McNally, Sean ... The House of Representatives voted 387-37 to shore up the Highway Trust Fund by shifting more than $8 billion from the Treasury's general fund, undoing a 1998 transfer from the highway fund. Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, said ...

Pa. Turnpike Commission Alters 1-80 Toll Plan; Resubmits Application for Federal Approval

Jul 28, 2008; McNally, Sean ... The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission said it resubmitted to the federal government an application to toll Interstate 80, a key component in the state s plan to finance transportation projects. The commission previously released details of planned improvements to the highway, proposing ...

EPA Postpones Decision on Texas Request To Cut National Renewable Fuel Mandate

Jul 28, 2008; McNally, Sean ... The Environmental Protection Agency postponed until early August its decision on whether to grant a request from Texas to cut the national renewable fuels mandate in half, citing the huge number of comments EPA has received on the issue, which has pitted livestock growers against grain ...

Trucking Firms Post Mixed Results

Jul 28, 2008; Anonymous ... Digest Trucking companies reported a mix of second-quarter earnings last week, with most carriers reporting a decline from the 2007 period. * Ryder System Inc. said its net income fell to $62.9 million, or $1.10 a share, from $65.1 million, or $1.07 a share. Per-share results ...

Freight Forwarders Agree to Pay Fines

Jul 28, 2008; Anonymous ... Seven freight-forwarding companies have agreed to pay the United States a total of $666,237 for allegations of bid rigging in violation of the False Claims Act, the Justice Department announced July 21. The seven firms are Air Land Forwarders, Arpin International Group, Covan ...

Fed 'Beige Book' Cites Difficult Economy

Jul 28, 2008; Anonymous ... U.S. economic activity remained generally weak in June and early July, and several regions reported trucking companies were having a hard time recouping higher costs, the Federal Reserve reported. "A trucking-industry expert reports that the industry is having a very difficult year and ...

Paccar Sets Executive Promotions

Jul 28, 2008; Anonymous ... Truck maker Paccar Inc. said last week that the company's president, Tom Plimpton, will become vice chairman, and that Jim Cardillo will become its president, effective Sept. 1. Paccar is the parent company of U.S. truck makers Kenworth Truck Co. and Peterbilt Motors Co., and ...

Intermodal Traffic Falls for Week

Jul 28, 2008; Anonymous ... Overall rail freight volumes rose for the week ended July 19, but intermodal traffic declined from year-ago levels, the Association of American Railroads said. Intermodal traffic declined 2.4% to 233,516 containers and ...

Rising Costs of Raw Materials Squeeze Component Makers

Jul 28, 2008; Kiel, Frederick ... Soaring commodity costs, including steel that has jumped nearly 200% just this year, have battered truck component makers, forcing them to work with suppliers to cut costs, redesign parts or production and seek price increases from reluctant truck builders. "The cost of raw materials is ...

Union Says W. Coast Ports Deal May Be Near; Terminal Operators Upset With Slowdowns

Jul 28, 2008; Watson, Rip ... West Coast port labor negotiators are making enough progress that a contract agreement between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association could be near, a union official said. "There will be challenges, but they are coming into the home stretch," ...

UPS Posts 20.9% Earnings Drop, Blames Increases in Fuel Prices

Jul 28, 2008; Reiskin, Jonathan S ... Revenue Rises by 6.7%, Despite 'Anemic' Economy Faced with torrid increases in the prices of diesel and jet fuels while the domestic economy grew at an "anemic" pace, UPS Inc. posted a 20.9% fall in quarterly net income, even though revenue increased by 6.7%, the Atlanta-based carrier ...

Software Applications Help Trucking Companies Gain Snapshot of Their Financial Performance

Jul 28, 2008; Leone, Dan ... IT ACCOUNTING New accounting software applications enable trucking companies to do far more than digitize their general ledger. With programs now available, businesses can turn mountains of raw accounting data into computerized snapshots of a fleet's financial status. A ...

Helping the Trust Fund

Jul 28, 2008; Anonymous ... The House of Representatives wisely moved to prop up the Highway Trust Fund last week, agreeing to shift more than $8 billion from the general fund of the Treasury to the road pool. Actually, the House was undoing the 1998 siphoning of $8 billion from the Highway Trust Fund to the ...

Letters & Comments

Jul 28, 2008; Anonymous ... California in Crisis My name is Jim Ganduglia, owner of Ganduglia Trucking, Fresno, Calif. I am a member of the California Trucking Association and chaired the Environmental Policy Committee for the past three years. I am a member of Operation Clean Air, a ninecounty coalition in the San ...

Fleet Fueling Policies and the Pricing Crisis

Jul 28, 2008; Stecklair, Rich ... Even when gasoline was going for $1.49 a gallon and diesel fuel for even less, many fleets saw the logic in a solid fueling and vehicle-use policy. But with gasoline prices sailing past $4 per gallon and diesel exceeding an astonishing $4.50, it's even more important to make sure your fueling ...

Huge Drop in Sterling Orders Forced Layoffs, Daimler Says

Jul 28, 2008; Kiel, Frederick ... Daimler Trucks North America said a "dramatic and prolonged reduction in orders for Sterling trucks" forced it to cut the second shift from its St. Thomas, Ontario, plant and lay off up to 720 workers in November. "It is clear that there are no prospects for a recovery in market ...