Fleet Management

By J.K. Jones, Contributor

Shippers must work smarter and cooperate closely with their carrier partners to offset expected losses in truck capacity caused by government regulation, according to presentations at the 11th Annual Transplace Shipper Symposium held earlier this month in Dallas.

Tags: Drivers, Transplace, Shippers

By HDT partner, Today's Trucking

New hours of service rules go into effect July 1. Are you ready? The American Trucking Associations has published an easy-to-use, free tipsheet to help you help your drivers understand the new HOS rules.

Tags: Drivers, ATA, Training, Driver Training, Hours of Service

By Oliver Patton

In the past two years, 34 states have adopted laws that allow motor vehicle departments to waive the CDL skills test for qualified military veterans, the Obama administration says in a new report. Nine more states plus the District of Columbia are considering legislation to do the same thing.

Tags: FMCSA, ATA, Driver shortage, Veterans, Immigration reform, Drivers, Recruiting

By Deborah Lockridge

Whenever there's a panel discussion about driver turnover and the coming driver shortage, low pay is always pointed to as a culprit. Yet when it comes to making drivers happy, pay often takes a backseat to the bigger picture.

Tags: Driver Training, Driver pay, Driver retention, Driver recruitment

By Deborah Lockridge

Owner-operators are far from dead, but the population is experiencing some changes, according to Todd Spencer, vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, with many of those changes caused by government regulations.

Tags: Sleep Apnea, Driver shortage, OOIDA, Owner-Operators

By Jim Beach

Whether you call it a trucking management system, fleet management software, trucking enterprise software or a freight management system, in a nutshell, these systems manage vehicles (and the things on them), people and money.

Tags: Qualcomm, Bendix, XRS, TMW, TMS, Carrier Logistics, Paul's Hauling, McLeod Software

By Kate Harlow

Green shouldn't be the only color a fleet is considering when making a move toward “going green.” "The most important colors in business are still red and black," said Joe Fiorelli, fleet and safety director for Gulfeagle Supply, during a session for the National Truck Equipment Association's recent Green Truck Summit entitled, "Compounding the Green: Incremental Measures for Going Green and Sustainable."

Tags: Telematics, Verizon, Alternative Fuels, Green Truck Summit, Gulfeagle Supply

By Deborah Lockridge

If you haven't taken a look at your driver hiring and screening procedures in a while, it's time for a thorough review to avoid running afoul of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or the Fair Credit Reporting Act.

Tags: Safety and Compliance

By Mark Dyer, Allegiance Capital Corp.

Today, succession planning is not just about having a plan in place for your eventual retirement, or in case you unexpectedly kick the bucket. You may end up selling your company. Here are five key things to keep in mind.

Tags: Mergers & Acquisitions, Business, Acquisition

By Jim Beach

Truckstop operators have always used technology to meet customer needs and remain competitive. From relatively low-tech devices such as pay phones and fax machines to high-tech services such as wireless Internet access, shore power connections and smart phone apps, truckstops remain places drivers can connect — with both the office and home.

Tags: Comdata, Technology, Telogis, NexTraq, Z-Con, Truckstops, diesel, Fuel and Oil

By Jim Park

FMCSA and the U.S. DOT have no influence over what happens in Canada, but Canada has plenty of its own regulatory agencies and ministries whose rules will affect American carriers' privileges and ability to operate there.

Tags: FMCSA, NAFTA, Canada

By Jim Park

Today, borders aren’t so much barriers as they are trade portals. Yes, security concerns and trade issues have thickened our northern and southern borders in recent years, but the volume of NAFTA-region trade increased substantially at the same time.

Tags: NAFTA, ACE, E-Manifest, Canada, Mexico

By Deborah Lockridge

“Drivers don't leave companies, they leave people,” says Trent Dye. It's that philosophy, put into action in various ways, that has helped him lead Paramount Freight Systems to be the owner-operator winner two years in a row in the Truckload Carriers Association's “Best Fleet to Drive For” competition. And at press time, he was hoping for a three-peat. It's also helped drive the success of a company that was founded as the nation was going into the Great Recession in 2008.

Tags: Paramount Freight Systems, 2013 Fleet Innovators, HDT Truck Fleet Innovators

By Deborah Lockridge & Oliver Patton

Each year, HDT honors the industry's most innovative truck fleet leaders with its Truck Fleet Innovator Award. Winners are profiled in the magazine, honored during a special event in conjunction with the Mid-America Trucking Show and become a valued resource for HDT's editors.

Tags: Fleet Innovators, Drivers, Prime Inc., Paramount Freight Systems, Cowan Systems LLC, Jet Express

By Tom Berg

Chicago has ordered 20 heavy-duty, electric-powered trash trucks that will be the first of their kind in the nation. The electric trucks will run almost silently, produce practically no emissions and, with no traditional pow-ertrains to fuel and maintain, will cut operating costs by at least 50%, says Jim Castelaz, chief executive officer of Motiv Power Systems.

Tags: Motiv Power, Alternative Fuels & Hybrids, EVs

By Jim Beach

Whether truckload, LTL, local delivery or any other type of operation, all fleets want the same thing: to get their work done as quickly and as safely possible while burning as little fuel as possible.

Tags: Technology, ALK Technologies, Rand McNally, Routing, NexTraq, Carrier Logistics, Cadec, Prophesy Transportation Solutions, Paragon Software, Navigation

By Deborah Lockridge

When it come to trends in axles and suspensions, it's all about efficiency. Fleets are constantly looking for ways to become more operationally efficient, whether it's fuel economy, increased payload, lower maintenance costs, longer equipment life, or driver productivity.

Tags: Firestone, Reyco Granning, Meritor, Suspensions, Hendrickson, Axles, Dana Spicer

By Contributed by Pam Whitfield & Don Jacobson

February is American Heart Month for one really good reason. Heart disease is the number one killer in this country, accounting for about a quarter of all deaths every year. That means the odds are nearly six to one that you will die of a heart problem rather than in an accident.

Tags: Fit to drive, Health, Diet & Nutrition, Drivers

By Kate Harlow

With the advent of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s flagship Compliance, Safety, Accountability program, a new premium was put on safety. This required a number of fleets to focus on the issue like never before.

Tags: FMCSA, Con-way Freight, CSA, Safety & Compliance

By Tom Berg

When reviewing a product like the Caterpillar CT-660, there is no replacement for getting the opinion of the people who have been using it day in and day out. “The drivers love it,” said John “Dick” Jones, president of Jones Fuel Co. in Columbus, Ohio, talking about the fleet’s first in-service dump truck.

Tags: Caterpillar, Test Drive, Vocational

By Oliver Patton

The highway law that took so much effort over the past five years is just six months old, but now it's time to start again. As the U.S. Department of Transportation still unpacks the two-year, $105 billion measure passed last summer, Congress and transportation interests are gathering to return, once more, unto the breach.

Tags: GAO, Highway funding, CBO, Highway Trust Fund, MAP-21, White House, DOT, Congress, Infrastructure, Infrastructure Funding

By Kate Harlow

When you are getting ready to put a dry van trailer out to pasture and begin the process of searching for its replacement, there are many things to consider: maintenance costs, fuel-economy regulations, payload and the weight of the trailer, to name a few. One way to navigate through the maze of options is to follow some tips a few trailer manufacturers shared with us.

Tags: Trailers, Payload, Dry Vans, Capacity, MPG, fuel economy

By Jim Beach

Although technology has been able to reduce the trucking industry's reliance on paper, it hasn't been able to completely cut it out. Paperwork still has to be signed and submitted before a carrier or driver can get paid.

Tags: Information Technology, Scanning, Mobile Apps

By Bob Rose, Contributor

In December, the FMCSA made good on its commitment to Congress to install refinements to the CSA initiative by implementing 11 changes to the Safety Measurement System. J.J. Keller's Bob Rose has more details.

Tags: FMCSA, Safety, J.J. Keller, Compliance, CSA, Hazmat

By Tom Berg

"Uncertainty" is the word people at most truck builders used to describe this year's business mood. Sales started strong, then slacked off in the summer as many buyers seemed to be waiting to see what would happen in the general economy and the presidential election

Tags: Class 8

By Steven Spencer, Contributor

These days, transportation companies are caught between the proverbial driver shortage and their CSA BASIC scores

Tags: Drivers, Compliance, hiring, HireRight

By Jim Beach, Contributing Editor

Cloud computing has been getting a lot of attention in the information technology space. Before you put your head in the cloud, though, there are some things you should understand about the concept of cloud computing

Tags: Information Technology, cloud computing, Qualcomm, Fleet Risk Advisors, Telogis, Decisiv, service management software, Drivewyze PreClear, Equinox Owner-Operator Solutions, business management

By Guest Commentary Megan Younkin, Contributor

In my seven years with Strategic Programs Inc., I have yet to come across a transportation organization that does not have an orientation for their newly hired Professional Drivers

Tags: Drivers

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor in Chief

Trucking image. It's something just about everyone in the industry wants to improve, but it's a moving target, a never-ending battle

Tags: Topics & Trends, image

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor in Chief

How does a trucking company with a 500-plus-mile average length of haul keep its driver turnover down around 30% when the industry average is over 100%

Tags: Fleet Innovators

By Jim Beach, Contributing Editor

In-cab navigation improves fleet efficiency and safety and can help cut driver stress. Reducing out-of-route miles alone may be enough to pay for some systems, according to industry experts

Tags: Information Technology

By Jim Park, Equipment Editor

There's no B-Team in trucking. Nor do parallel roadways exist where inexperienced rookies can safely hone their skills before stepping onto the big road with the pros

Tags: Drivers

By Analysis Oliver B. Patton, Washington Editor

Congress recently passed a highway program that was better than expected, and both parties took credit for it during their recent presidential nominating conventions - but it's not nearly what the country needs

Tags: Topics & Trends

By Michael Koploy, Contributor

As the economy rises out of the recession and more goods must be transported domestically, many fleet operators will be hard-pressed to meet the coming demand -- but technology can help

Tags: Information Technology

By Jim Beach, Contributing Editor

In the first year after adopting electronic logs, Cargo Transporters, Claremont, N.C., had not only reduced out-of-service violations related to hours of service, but it also had improved its CSA "Driver Fatigue" BASIC score and was able to cut its compliance staff by 50%

Tags: Information Technology

By Christian Schenk, Vice President of Market Development & Product Marketing, Xata Corp.

Shopping for mobile apps to help your trucking operation? Here are some tips that can help

Tags: Information Technology