May 2, 2012
The after-effects of a serious crash can last years, or even a lifetime. The impact is entirely disproportionate to the time it takes for a crash scenario to develop. One instant you're cruising down the road, the next you're smashed to smithereens.
Tags: Safety & Compliance
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Wednesday, May 2, 2012 9:52 PM | » Comments(0)
April 25, 2012
The firing of a Texas-based flat-bedder for refusing to haul an improperly secured and unsafe load illustrates how CSA and the courts are failing truck drivers
Tags: Heroes & Villains
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Wednesday, April 25, 2012 10:42 AM | » Comments(3)
April 19, 2012
Canada is celebrating all that's good in trucking this weekend. It's Toronto's turn to host Canada's national truck show, called Truck World
Tags: Lifestyle
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Thursday, April 19, 2012 11:12 PM | » Comments(0)
April 3, 2012
A set of visual brake stroke indicators costs no more than a few bucks per wheel-end, and can save hundreds by preventing just one out-of-service situation. So why aren't more fleets and owner-operators using them
Tags: Safety & Compliance
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Tuesday, April 3, 2012 10:53 PM | » Comments(4)
March 6, 2012
Getting through EPA 2002 through 2010 has been tough for everyone. Occasionally fleets share their experiences with the likes of me, who report them when we can. But there's an entire sub-set of sufferer we seldom hear from, or take seriously when we do: owner-operators
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Tuesday, March 6, 2012 4:39 PM | » Comments(4)
February 13, 2012
Time means nothing to an over-the-road driver. But it seems a couple of carriers, at least, are trying to rectify that. A couple of recent announcements from Baylor Trucking and Con-way Truckload regarding weekly minimum pay for their drivers are heartening indeed
Tags: Lifestyle
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Monday, February 13, 2012 11:01 PM | » Comments(2)
February 2, 2012
For-hire trucking could learn a few things from the airlines, because they have finally figured out how to make money in a deregulated environment
Tags: Business
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Thursday, February 2, 2012 8:11 AM | » Comments(1)
January 18, 2012
There are thousands of men and women out there today with a CDL in their pocket no longer working as truck drivers. Why is the industry moaning about a shortage of drivers?
Tags: Business
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Wednesday, January 18, 2012 10:49 PM | » Comments(18)
January 9, 2012
Glass highway? Does that have something to do with electronic dashboards, as in the Glass Cockpit concept in modern aircraft? Nope, we're talking about roadways made of glass. But you're not far off on the electronic angle
Tags: Trends
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Monday, January 9, 2012 10:41 PM | » Comments(0)
January 3, 2012
Regular readers of Heavy Duty Trucking may know me as The Tire Guy. I've written the magazine's tire feature every month for the past four years or so. I got a dose of my own medicine on Christmas Day, trying to take my motorcycle out for a rare winter spin
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Tuesday, January 3, 2012 10:24 PM | » Comments(0)
December 20, 2011
Everybody wants good truck drivers these days. Funny thing though, the recruiting ads are usually desperately short on specifics. So what is a good driver? Let's ask a few of the many masters that drivers serve in the course of their duties
Tags: Heroes & Villains
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Tuesday, December 20, 2011 11:49 PM | » Comments(9)
November 13, 2011
An automotive assembly plant with oak hardwood floors transparent glass walls? There's such a place, and it's where Volkswagon builds its luxury Phaeton model. It's located in the heart of Dresden, Germany, and it fits in like a luxury hotel
Tags: Trends
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Sunday, November 13, 2011 11:50 PM | » Comments(0)
November 8, 2011
What do the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Federal Aviation Administration have in common -- aside from coming under the purview of the Department of Transportation? They both apparently have a penchant for dropping the ball on rulemaking
Tags: Regulations
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Tuesday, November 8, 2011 1:16 PM | » Comments(0)
October 31, 2011
They look like motorcycles, but they're regulated like bicycles. They have tiny motors supposedly incapable of propelling them faster than 20 mph. They require no special license, no special operator training, and no insurance. These things are accidents looking for a place to happen
Tags: Heroes & Villains
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Monday, October 31, 2011 10:32 AM | » Comments(0)
October 16, 2011
There's something in a convoy of trucks that seems to stir a driver's imagination. It's being a part of something. A cog in something turning, as the Woodstock song goes. The convoys I'm referring to are the various fund-raising convoys that take place around North America each fall
Tags: Heroes & Villains
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Sunday, October 16, 2011 11:56 PM | » Comments(0)
October 9, 2011
Late last week, on an otherwise hum-drum news day, a notice came in indicating Michigan was contemplating a $5 environmental levy on retreaded tires. That livened up the newsroom. Placing a surcharge on what has to be recycling's posterchild product is silly enough, but wait until you hear why
Tags: Heroes & Villains
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Sunday, October 9, 2011 8:20 PM | » Comments(0)
October 2, 2011
One of the tenets of our legal system is the right to cross-examine your accuser. From trucking's perspective, this could mean proving the accuracy of a radar device or a DOT scale by demanding proof of calibration. Will we retain that right in the world of cyber-enforcement
Tags: Regulations
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Sunday, October 2, 2011 11:55 PM | » Comments(0)
September 21, 2011
Humped torque curves were the norm in North American heavy-duty on-road diesel engine power maps for decades. Today's torque curves are much flatter, but the height and width of the torque curve remain limited. Volvo Trucks has broken that mold in dramatic fashion with its new XE13 powertrain option
Tags: fuel economy
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Wednesday, September 21, 2011 9:21 PM | » Comments(1)
September 11, 2011
Today is the beginning of Brake Safety Week in North America. CVSA inspectors will be doing a lot of brake stroke inspections this week, and also working with drivers, mechanics and others to improve awareness of brake systems and regulatory compliance. Its one of the best things CVSA does
Tags: Safety & Compliance
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Sunday, September 11, 2011 9:47 PM | » Comments(0)
August 30, 2011
Down in the basement lie several boxes of my old logbooks. Twelve books a year for each of the 20 years I spent playing in traffic -- half a lifetime on 7,200 pages
Tags: Lifestyle
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Tuesday, August 30, 2011 9:17 AM | » Comments(2)
August 18, 2011
Hard-wired five-minute idle timers will probably begin appearing on trucks in 2014. You'll have two choices come winter: freeze your hiney off, or get an APU. This week we provide a list of idle-cost calculators so you can start budgeting for the new EPA rules
Tags: fuel economy
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Thursday, August 18, 2011 10:08 PM | » Comments(0)
August 9, 2011
The headline reads "Texas Trucking Accident Attorney Says Roadcheck 2011 Reveals Truck Driver Fatigue Problem." It doesn't say we have a regulatory compliance problem; rather, this headline says in no uncertain terms we have a driver fatigue problem. We're back on the griddle again
Tags: Safety & Compliance
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Tuesday, August 9, 2011 9:23 PM | » Comments(0)
August 1, 2011
Owner-operator Henry Albert was at the Shell SuperRigs event in Kenly, N.C. in June, but he wasn't showing his truck in the conventional sense. He was walking anyone who was interested around his truck pointing out fuel-saving strategies he uses to achieve an average of 9 mpg
Tags: fuel economy
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Monday, August 1, 2011 5:31 AM | » Comments(5)
July 22, 2011
With another Roadcheck event now some weeks behind us, a few questions linger about this annual ritual. What's Roadcheck all about, anyway? What do we learn from the exercise? And why are nearly one quarter of the truck brakes inspected still put out of service
Tags: Safety & Compliance
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Friday, July 22, 2011 2:41 AM | » Comments(0)
July 2, 2011
As the debate over longer and heavier trucks simmers in this country, to our north, the Canadian province of Saskatchewan is about to begin a pilot project that will see triple 53-foot trailers in turnpike configuration operated on limited routes
Tags: Vehicle Spec'ing
Author: Jim Park | Posted @ Saturday, July 2, 2011 10:28 PM | » Comments(1)