Blogs

May 17, 2013

They've tried flashing lights, neon signs, low-impact barriers, but sometimes nothing seem to keep oversize trucks from squeezing into tunnels. Jim Park has more in his latest "On the Road" blog.

Tags: Safety

May 15, 2013

The American Trucking Associations used the National Transportation Safety Board's stricter impaired-driving regulations as an opportunity to again push for the DOT to move forward on a process to allow motor carriers to collect hair samples for DOT-required drug testing in lieu of the currently mandated urine testing process.

Tags: Drivers, Safety, Safety and Compliance

May 8, 2013

Maybe you saw it in March at the Louisville truck show – that transparent trailer in Ancra International’s booth. I spotted it earlier in the month, at the TMC’s annual meeting and expo in Nashville. Story-wise, the why of it is obvious: It’s a rolling stage on which Ancra displays a number of its freight handling and tie-down products.

Tags: Trailers, Ancra

May 8, 2013

Slaughtered. The dictionary on my computer defines it as "kill (people or animals) in a cruel or violent way, typically in large numbers : innocent civilians are being slaughtered." The use of this word by the "Truck Safety Coalition" in the context of truck accidents is irresponsible and reprehensible.

Tags: Safety, Truck Weights, CRASH

May 7, 2013

There's a good reason we don't have enough parking spaces in this country, says Jim Park in his "On the Road" blog: Truckstop operators can't make any money with 10 acres under asphalt because trucking won't pay for it.

Tags: Truckstops, Driver shortage, Drivers, Fuel and Oil, Truck Parking

May 3, 2013

Do you know what's lacking in trucking? Dignity. Simple dignity. If this sounds all soft and squishy, read on. I think I'll change your mind. A chance meeting outside my hotel lobby one evening during the Mid-America Trucking Show last month provides a clue on how to avert a pending disaster.

Tags: Driver shortage, Drivers

April 30, 2013

When Sandra Ambrose-Clark, president of ESJ Carrier Corp., told her daughter's teacher she was up for the Influential Woman in Trucking Award from Women in Trucking and Navistar, the teacher was surprised. How could Ambrose-Clark, a vivacious and well-dressed woman with an impeccable manicure, be in trucking?

Tags: Women in Trucking

April 29, 2013

Heavy-haul equipment has always fascinated me, ever since I was a little boy watching “steam shovels” dig basements in our then-expanding neighborhood in post-World War II Milwaukee. The shovels (which were actually gasoline- and maybe diesel-powered) were carried to job sites on low-slung pull trailers. The trailers were pulled by dump trucks which, after parking the trailers on the street, also carried away some of the dirt from the new holes.

Tags: Trailers, MATS, Talbert, MATS 2013

April 22, 2013

In his latest Trailer Talk blog, Senior Editor Tom Berg takes a closer look at what first glance might look like an ordinary equipment trailer.

Tags: Trailers, Heavy Haul

April 15, 2013

Here’s a novel approach to making trailer skirts: Use reclaimed materials, consult with a veteran fleet executive to be sure you get the design right, and employ U.S. military veterans to assemble them while they attend school.

Tags: Aerodynamics, Trailer skirts,

April 15, 2013

Driver surveys done for the Truckload Carriers Association's Best Fleets to Drive For program seem to indicate that driver pay -- and some other issues -- may not matter to drivers as much as you might think.

Tags: Drivers, TCA, Recruiting, Retention

April 5, 2013

In his "On the Road" blog, Equipment Editor and former driver and owner-operator Jim Park wonders if three months of mandatory entry-level training would have made him a better driver.

Tags: FMCSA, Drivers, Training, CDL

March 11, 2013

For the second time, two Canadian truckload fleets earned top honors in the Truckload Carriers Association National (maybe it should be International?) Fleet Safety Awards. In his "On the Road" blog, Jim Park muses on whether Canadian truckers have a leg up in safety, despite longer work days and bigger rigs.

Tags: Brian Kurtz Trucking, Bison Transport, TCA, , Canada, Safety