The Private Motor Truck Council of Canada is inviting entries for its 22^nd Annual Vehicles Graphics Design Awards Competition. So carriers, get creative with the side of your van trailers.

The Annual Vehicles Graphics Design Awards Competition is co-sponsored every year by 3M Canada’s Commercial Graphics Division to recognize truck fleet operators – both private or for-hire – and design companies, of course – who transforms their trucks into artistic creations graphically. All Canadian fleet operators are welcome to participate – entry deadline is May 1, 2007. This is a great opportunity for the PMTC to promote the work of fleet operators and design houses.  The public has fun – seeing these mobile billboards. Fleet graphics are a smart way for companies to make use of the marketing opportunity presented to them.

There are three entry competitions. Vehicle Graphics Design Awards, Hall of Fame for Professional Drivers and Private Fleet Safety Award. Awards are presented in six categories: Tractor-Trailer Combination; Straight Truck; Special Events/Promotion; Night-Time Safety, Light Duty Commercial Truck and Identity Fleet Graphics.

PMTC is also inviting nominations for 2007 for the next name in the Hall of Fame for Professional Drivers. This recognizes superior over the road performance of PMTC drivers.

The PMTC and Zurich Private Fleet Safety Award recognizes the private truck fleets most committed to safety improvement, especially where they exceed National Safety Code requirements. This year’s competition is open to all Canadian private truck fleets. 

Check www.pmtc.ca for more details.

In the world of trucking, safety is supreme. Winning the Truckload Carriers Association’s much sought after 2006 National Fleet Safety Awards for the second year in sequence, Bison, Canada considered among the safest fleets in NA.  The Truckload Carriers Association in Alexandria, Va. Recognized Winnipeg-based Bison Transport companies for its dedication to safety and reducing accidents. Bison finished first in the 100 million miles category and was the grand winner for all carriers who operated over 25 million  miles every year. Don Hummer Trucking of Oxford, Iowa was awarded the grand prize for the less than 25 million miles annually. Bison was the winner for the same category in 2006.

There were two other Canadian Carriers who were also recognized and placed high. Transport Robert of Que. Was awarded the first position in Division V (50-99.99 million miles), and MacKinnon Transport of Guelph, Ontario was awarded second place in Division IV (25-49.99 million miles).

The National Fleet Safety Division Awards are based on the frequency of accidents for every million miles driven in each of the six mileage divisions. The top three winders are selected and audited by independent experts to authenticate their accident frequency numbers. The accident ratios per million miles for all division winners ranged from zero to .43, while the truckload segment of the industry averaged .54 accidents per million miles traveled.

Bison Transport was chosen for its overall safety programs, on the highway and off the highway and this included employee driver/independent contractor selection procedures, training, supervision, accident investigation, inspection and maintenance of equipment, and outside activities including general highway safety.

Although they have softened pricing in some sectors in central and Atlantic Canada, the Freight Carriers Association (FCA) is urging fleets to up their freight rates 4.9 per cent from April 2, 2007. For rates from and to Alberta, there should be an additional increase of 3 per cent.

The FCA’s Tariff Advisory Committee recommends that if the trucking industry is to attract capital and maintain capacity, there must be an increase in rates. The TAC meets regularly to keep tabs on the economic conditions and profitability of general freight carriers. Some of the factors that are influencing the increase in costs for the trucking industry are driver shortage, rise in labor costs and regulatory changes.

The FCA, based on info developed by Statistics Canada, expects that labor costs for trucking companies have gone up by 4.2 % annually. The new regulations that are effective Jan 1, 2007, are those analogous to the US situation, where the impact is expected to be 1 – 5 %, based on the carrier’s operations.

Costs in Alberta have shot up because of demand for labor in the oil sands and connected sectors and there’s no way the industry can absorb these. The increase of an additional 3% for Alberta will therefore offset these costs.

The impact of 2007 model engines will add another $10000 to the cost of a new truck, which is not included in the rates. Other costs that are excluded from the rates are those related to appointment deliveries, waiting time, protective service, border crossing, return of pallets and handling of dangerous goods etc. 

In a move to encourage competition by opening the US border to Mexican trucks, the latest is that there wont even be a thousand Mexican trucks crossing the border in this pilot program, according to the DOT. Also these companies will only be transporting international freight. They will not be authorized to transport domestic deliveries between the US cities.  The big US trucking companies are okay with this plan. Truckers like Con-way Inc. and other biggies are supportive of opening the border to let Mexican trucks in to speed up trade and save costs. The American Trucking Associations also support this pilot plan of letting in the Mexican trucks. Oddly, when the ATA met at their HQ last week they were said to have been all for letting the Mexican trucks compete with the US trucking companies on an equal footing.

In any case the ATA insists that Mexican companies will also be bound by the same stringent US regulations that the US trucking companies are expected to stick to – in terms of highway safety, occupational safety, the environment, insurance, taxes, fees and finance.

The Teamsters President voiced that the union is against opening the border since it would mean letting in unsafe Mexican trucks to be on the US highways, compromising highway safety and national security. There is no way arrangements can be made to keep an eye on those Mexican trucks.

Lets keep a track of this to see how it turns out.!

Schneider National is one of the largest truckload carriers in North America. This week they were the proud recipients of the NSF Healthy Sleep Community Award. Schneider National ran the sleep apnea program in response to a study sponsored by Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the American Trucking Associations. This study showed that about 29 % of commercial drivers suffer from some degree of OSA – Obstructive sleep apnea. This is a life threatening respiratory system-related sleep disorder. Sleep apnea shows up as daytime sleepiness, falling asleep at odd times, loud snoring, depression, irritability, lack of concentration, and memory loss. Untreated, it can be very risky and result in motor crashes on the highway.

Alarmed by the potential danger to its drivers, Schneider took the initiative and started off an education campaign to make its staff aware of OSA. Around 547 drivers were tested in the period April to December 2006. A whopping 80% of them were found to be suffering with sleep disorder and treated. This was a major humanitarian move by Schneider in caring for its drivers’ heath and safety.  This pioneering action by Schneider National in creating the OSA detection and treatment program for its drivers was applauded by the National Sleep Foundation in Washington. Schneider hopes that everyone in the trucking industry will recognize the seriousness of this problem and take measures to diagnose and treat it since the safety of the highways is at stake. With the average age of drivers gradually rising, they are significantly at risk. For Schneider, its creation of the program for its drivers also resulted in reduced heath care costs which it shared with its drivers.

Ryder, a Fortune 500 company that provides transportation, logistics and supply chain management solutions worldwide named Con-way Freight as ‘Carrier of the Year’ for Xerox North America out of 12 LTL carriers. Con-way earned this privilege for the excellent service on a national basis to Xerox Corporation’s North American manufacturing and distribution operations. Ryder, third party logistics provider, manages surface freight transportation resources for Xerox. Con-way’s no.1 ranking came from competing with twelve other LTL companies that Ryder uses to support its logistic activities for Xerox. The award was recognition of performance in 2006. The categories taken into account were Overall Customer Service, On-time Performance, Operations, Claims and Damages.

Con-way Freight feels very honored to be receiving this award as it endorses their professionalism and dedication. It proves they can match the stringent customer standards expected of them. Ryder has a multi carrier transportation network for Xerox, manages thousands of shipments on a daily basis, and follows high standards of quality and performance. But Con-way Freight has sent a new benchmark this year for performance and service. They have demonstrated a deep commitment to customer service and quality consistently.

Providing “day-definite, less-than-truckload freight delivery services” for commercial and industrial businesses in the United States, Canada, Puerto Rico and Mexico, Con-way Freight is a subsidiary of Con-way Inc. based in California. This freight transportation, supply chain management and trailer manufacturing giant reports an annual turnover of US $ 4.2 billion.

Schneider National Inc is elated about getting approved to operate a trucking and logistics business in China. Based in Green Bay, Schneider is among the largest trucking firms in the United States, and has the distinction of being among the first to establish a business serving the internal Chinese market. The company in China will be called Schneider Logistics (Tianjin) Co. Ltd. Tianjin, a port city in the northeast, is China’s third-largest urban area.

Actual movement of trucks on the Chinese highways will commence sometime in the middle of 2007. Schneider intends to start conservatively small with around 50 trucks. They are also trying to acquire two Chinese trucking companies, which might happen around mid 2007. Schneider, in addition to trucking, will also offer warehousing, freight management and other transportation services in the Chinese market.

Schneider National, Inc. operates as a truckload and intermodal services company in the US, Canada and Mexico with five divisions that provide transportation and transportation-related services. Schneider National Carriers, Inc. provides truckload service throughout North America. It provides one-way van, dedicated, intermodal, brokerage and expedited services. Schneider Specialized Carriers, Inc. is a carrier for the industrial glass industry. In addition to glass, it provides transportation solutions to fit customers’ equipment shipping needs using qualified partner carriers.

Expansion activities into China have been on since 2005, when they opened an office in Shanghai. Not surprising, with the rapidly advancing Chinese economy and its various tie ups with the US. China is rich with opportunities for truckload carriers.

UPS, top air freight carrier will incur a one time cost of $80 million, with almost 200 of its employees accepting the voluntary buyout package. This cost will be recorded as expenses in the first quarter and is expected to generate a positive return in a couple of years. This buyout is part of a continuous effort to consolidate various functional areas like network planning, procurement, human resources, finance and sales. This deal was initiated in December 2006 to employees who were 50 years old or more and with a minimum of 10 years service. Employees at UPS usually retire at age 65.

UPS is ranked as No.1 in the for-hire carrier business in the US and Canada. They provide package delivery and supply chain solutions. The main business of the company is time-definite delivery of packages and documents Supply chain solutions include freight forwarding, customs brokerage, fulfillment, returns, financial transactions, repairs and less-than-truckload (LTL) transportation services. UPS operates in three segments - U.S. Domestic Package operations, International Package operations, and Supply Chain & Freight operations. In 2005, UPS delivered more than 14.7 million shipments per day, globally. Added to this, the supply chain solution service goes out to its clients in 186 countries. In 2005, UPS acquired Overnite Corp. to expand its and expanded its LTL transportation services. Overnite Corp. offers regional, inter-regional and long-haul LTL services in all 50 states, Canada, Puerto Rico, Guam, the Virgin Islands and Mexico.

On 26th February 2007, Navistar International Corp. decided to suspend production of diesel engines for Ford Motor Co. since Ford did not honor contract terms. Navistar is the parent company of International Truck and Engine Corp., which makes class 4-8 heavy-duty engines. Navistar has been supplying engines called Power strokes for Ford’s heavy-duty pickup trucks since 1979.  In January, Ford and Navistar had a dispute regarding warranty costs and engine prices for the 6.4 liter engines and Ford filed a suit against Navistar in a Michigan state court. Navistar produces Power Strokes, the engines for Ford’s heavy duty pick up trucks at its plants in Huntsville, Ala., and Indianapolis. Starting Tuesday, they planned to idle their Indianapolis plant.

Now, just three days after it decided to suspend producing the engines for Ford, Navistar has said it will resume production as a result of a court order from a Michigan judge where Ford filed the suit against Navistar. The court order instructed Ford Motor Co. to pay, without deductions, for all diesel engines it receives from Navistar.

Ford has been using Navistar diesel engines for a while now. A few weeks ago Ford introduced their 2008 Super Duty F-Series. The 6.0L V-8 in the last generation of the Super Duty caused Ford a lot of problems as a result of which they sued Navistar last month to recover some of the warranty costs they incurred on that engine. They claim that Navistar is not sharing these costs, and hence had to hold back payments – resulting in Navistar stopping production for Ford.

A rise in the price of crude oil has made gasoline prices soar up during the last few weeks. About 7000 gas stations were surveyed and mid grade gasoline was $2.46 per gallon, while premium was $2.56. The diesel price went up 8 cents more than the same week last year, while gas was 12.9 cents higher than a year ago, according to Department Of Energy.

According to the US Energy Information Administration drivers paid $2.83 last week for a gallon of regular gasoline, which was 8.7 cents more than the previous week. Compared to the same period last year, prices at the pump have gone up by 13 cents.

Retail price of gasoline also went up drastically costing 10 cents more in New England and 10.3 cents more on the Gulf Coast, compared to last week. New England gasoline prices were about $2.358 a gallon last week, while Gulf Coast prices were $2.234. But in spite of the increase, gasoline prices in the Gulf Coast were still the cheapest in the nation. West Coast service stations had the costliest gasoline at $2.60 a gallon. San Francisco’s pump price was the highest at $2.81 a gallon.

Oil prices appeared to go down at the beginning of the year, but began to rise quickly. Prices go up when the demand goes up. According to the EIA, Americans are using about 3.6% more gasoline than they were the previous year.

Will we touch the $ 3 mark in 2007?