Fleet Management

By Jim Beach, Contributing Editor

In the abstract, reducing fuel cost represents a pretty straightforward undertaking: Get as many miles as possible out of every gallon of fuel, pay as little as possible for those gallons, and reduce the number of miles each truck travels to get the job done

Tags: Information Technology

By Jim Beach, Contributing Editor

SAN DIEGO -- "It doesn't matter if you are big or small, the principles are the same," said Richard Stocking, president and COO of Swift Transportation, in discussing how his company got back on track following the recession

Tags: Topics & Trends

Losing weight is rarely fun or easy, but winners of the Truckload Carriers Association's inaugural Trucking's Weight Loss Showdown proved that it can be done

Tags: Drivers

By Genevieve Conti, Assistant Editor

Past predictions of future technology called for flying cars and personal robots. Yet the biggest leaps in technology have probably been in communications, and trucking is no exception

Tags: Information Technology

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor in Chief

Fuel. Equipment. Tires. Tolls. Costs keep rising, and rates aren't keeping up. Instead of chasing after more loads and more revenue, you may be better off taking a careful look at the cost side of the equation

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Michael Geffroy and Chris Lee, Contributors

Most of us have done of these things manually for so long that the thought of automating can seem overwhelming -- something only the big boys do. Today, technology innovation has put automation within the reach of any carrier.

Tags: Information Technology

By Andy Ahern, Contributor

It's important to recognize that, for every dollar that your company spends, you will have to make $10-$20 in revenue to make up for it

Tags: The Bottom Line

You spend a lot of time, energy and money looking for ways to save on fuel costs, but what about the energy cost at your facilities

Tags: The Bottom Line

In our May 2012 issue, HDT looked at ways to save on business costs. The following articles offer more information on that topic

Tags: The Bottom Line

By David Beaudry, Contributor

With recent reports showing that the nation's transportation costs were up 10% over the previous year, it's no wonder U.S. businesses continue to look for every avenue of cost-savings possible

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Commentary Jim Park, Equipment Editor

How can you expect to maintain a good relationship if you never talk with your partner? This is where a marriage has something in common with your relationship with your drivers and owner-operators

Tags: Drivers

By Jason Rhyno, contributor

As CEO and founder of Swift Transportation, the largest trucking company in the U.S., Jerry Moyes knows a thing or two about trucking

Tags: Topics & Trends

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor in Chief

A combination of driver training and monitoring with careful attention to truck specs and being willing to try unconventional technology all contribute to fuel savings for HDT's 2012 Truck Fleet Innovators

Tags: Fleet Innovators

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

Automatically watching the perishable load as it goes down the road or the rails saves money and brings peace of mind. When you're delivering temperature-sensitive cargoes, things can get nasty if the produce, meat, ice cream or whatever's in the trailer shows up too cold or too warm

Tags: Information Technology

For Bill Malone, president of Enviro Express, trucking was a way to fulfill his goal of being an entrepreneur

Tags: Fleet Innovators

When asked about himself, Mike Jeffress claims it's "a pretty short story," but just about anyone who knows him would disagree

Tags: Fleet Innovators

John Fershtand, director of fleet operations and energy management for Ben E. Keith Foods, is a math whiz who loves anything on wheels.

Tags: Fleet Innovators

Nussbaum Transportation's very company motto signals its approach to innovation: "Setting new ideas in motion.

Tags: Fleet Innovators

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor in Chief

A key strategy that has emerged for fleets to help improve their scores under FMCSA's new Compliance, Safety, Accountability enforcement regime - more commonly known as CSA - is a proper pre-trip inspection

Tags: Safety & Compliance

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor in Chief

A panel of young truckload executives talked about making sure growth, technology, employees and customers are all contributing to a carrier's success during a panel discussion last week at the Truckload Carriers Association's annual conference

Tags: Topics & Trends

By Jim Beach, Contributing Editor

In trucking, miles are currency, and there are few companies that have become more synonymous with trucking than commercial routing and mileage software providers. Few truckers start, execute or navigate a trip that wasn't planned using

Tags: Information Technology

By Commentary Rolf Lockwood, Contributing Editor

Successful trucking depends on successful relationships - in every corner of our game. Nowhere is this more true than in the hyper-difficult connection between drivers and dispatchers

Tags: Drivers

By Rolf Lockwood, Contributing Editor

The need for first-rate maintenance of trucks and trailers is obvious, so let's not start this article blathering about the necessity of cost control and the ever-increasing challenge of safety compliance. All that's a given

Tags: Information Technology

By Jim Park, Equipment Editor

You can hide a multitude of sins inside a van trailer, but with an open deck trailer, any indiscretions are out in the open for all to see -- including DOT roadside inspectors

Tags: Safety & Compliance

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor in Chief

It was clear at last week's Recruitment & Retention Conference, put on by the Truckload Carriers Association and ACS Advertising, that forward-thinking carriers are realizing that recruiting and retention in the new environment means treating drivers are more than steering-wheel holders

Tags: Topics & Trends

By Commentary Rolf Lockwood, Editor at Large

Some time soon, if we don't already, we'll have a rulemaking proposal that ultimately will put a stability-control system on every new tractor, and maybe retrofit such a system on all tank trailers too, old or new. I'm sold on both ideas

Tags: Safety & Compliance

By Jim Beach, Contributing Editor

When the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rolled out its Compliance, Safety, Accountability program in late 2010, a number of carriers were surprised to find a poorer safety rating than they enjoyed under the old SafeStat

Tags: Information Technology

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor in Chief

We spoke with Don Osterberg, vice president of safety at mega-carrier Schneider National and a leader in trucking safety, about the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's new Compliance, Safety, and Accountability enforcement progra

Tags: Safety & Compliance

By Jim Beach, Contributing Editor

When the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rolled out its Compliance, Safety, Accountability program in late 2010, a number of carriers were surprised to find a poorer safety rating than they enjoyed under the old SafeStat

Tags: Safety & Compliance

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor in Chief

A recent survey by GE Capital of mid-market chief financial officers showed that transportation CFOs, while less optimistic about the U.S. economy and the global economy than their counterparts, are one of the more optimistic groups of CFOs when it comes to the state of their own industry

Tags: Topics & Trends

By Jim Beach, Contributing Editor

When it comes to serving customers, small carriers have the same requirements as the largest. If a small carrier can respond to a customer's demands as well as a much larger fleet, he can be competitive

Tags: Information Technology

By U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. David Salanitri

Air Force truckers from the 70th Medium Truck Detachment and convoy escort team soldiers of B Troop, 1-94 Cavalry, Pine City, Minn., Army National Guard, met for the first time on Oct. 26. Only hours later, these men put their lives in one another's hands as they convoyed throughout Iraq, hauling out cargo as the U.S. withdraws from the country

Tags: Topics & Trends