Fleet Management

By Jim Park, Equipment Editor

If you were serious about getting the best odds on a pro basketball bet, you'd research the heck out of the starting lineups, and know in advance that Kobe Bryant's sprained ankle doesn't seem to be much of a liabilit

Tags: Information Technology

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

New York City is famous for horror stories about crime in general and theft in particular. Here's one we just heard: A tradesman had all his expensive power tools stolen from his locked van by someone who was destructively determined

Tags: Safety & Compliance

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor

Once upon a time, you had truckload companies, less-than-truckload companies, warehousing/logistics companies, rail intermodal companies, port drayage companies, and brokers. But today, the lines are blurring

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Glen Sokolis, Sokolis Group

Fuel Management might be lost at sea, but it hasn't gained any demand on land either. What are we talking about?

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Tom Flies, Xata Corp.

We've all heard the old saying: you can't improve what you don't measure. Yet that is exactly what fleets are trying to do these days

Tags: Information Technology

By Diana Britton, Managing Editor

In early December, two executives from Panther Expedited Services traded in their suits and ties to take up the job of Panther's owner-operators for a week, delivering freight in the Northeast

Tags: Information Technology

By Diana Britton, Managing Editor

In July, fleets across the country will be hit with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's new Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010, or CSA 2010, which will completely redefine the way motor carriers must comply with regulations

Tags: Information Technology

By Diana Britton, Managing Editor

According to Allan Lowry, director of safety at Central Refrigerated Service, there are three main priorities for a fleet: safety, service and retention

Tags: Information Technology

By Glen Sokolis, Sokolis Group

How many of you forget something that you were going to do today, but you won't remember until tomorrow? I know everyone's hands would be raised if we were in a fleet fuel seminar.

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Glen Sokolis, Sokolis Group

There are only a few things that are out of the hands of fleet fuel managers; the price of fuel itself may be one of them. But there are other ways to still have a handle on your fleet fuel

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Glen Sokolis, Sokolis Group

&newsThere have been so many discussions on oil and fuel prices these last few weeks, especially with prices soaring up to $84 in early January to taking a dramatic hit back down to $80 only three days later

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Glen Sokolis, Sokolis Group

Last week's Friday Fuel included a discussion on some factors that drive oil prices such as current weather conditions and stockpiles, or inventory, around the worl

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Glen Sokolis, Sokolis Group

Oh, the commodity of oil, how its price changes and bends at the drop of a hat. Since December, when prices were at the $70 mark, oil has taken a ride all the way up to $82 earlier this week

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Diana Britton, Managing Editor

You probably anticipate problems such as missing paperwork, a driver getting lost, or an unexpected breakdown. But have you thought about the possibility of losing your data to terrorists, extremists

Tags: Information Technology

By Guest Commentary Brian McLaughlin, PeopleNet

Knowledge is always power, and in the trucking industry, access to driver and vehicle performance data helps management make decisions that squeeze every ounce of profit out of their fleets

Tags: Information Technology

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor

Perry Famularo, a longtime independent contractor for Dart Transit, was "one of those die-hards who said I would retire before I would use a computer for log purposes.

Tags: Information Technology

By Diana Britton, Managing Editor

When fleets look to automate operations, one of the last places they look is the yard. For most carriers, yard management is still a manual process, with a fleet manager walking around performing yard checks, keeping track on a clipboar

Tags: Information Technology

By Glen Sokolis, Sokolis Group

In 2009, things started off like a lamb and at times felt like a lion, but we certainly didn't see the scary lions in fleet fuel buying, as we did in 2008

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Glen Sokolis, Sokolis Group

We are less than a week away from the full-blown holiday season. As part of your company's fleet management program, are your trucks ready to be sitting still for several days during the back-to-back holiday weeks

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Sandeep Kar, Frost & Sullivan

The Japanese economy has remained in a state of recession for the better part of this current decade. The Japanese truck industry therefore has come to rely on export sales to not only remain stable but also to grow

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Guest Commentary Mark E. Tabakman, Esq., Fox Rothschild

The latest threat to the transportation industry is not rising fuel costs or clogged highways, but rather, the inevitable wave of lawsuits by dispatchers claiming that they are entitled to overtime pay

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Diana Britton, Managing Editor

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has made it clear that it's back in the rulemaking business, with a sling of new labor rules in the pipeline for 2010 that trucking companies ought to be aware of

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Jim Park, Equipment Editor

Even as the U.S. trucking industry awaits the final rule on EOBRs from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, Canada's trucking industry has been battling with some of the same questions

Tags: Information Technology

By Glen Sokolis, Sokolis Group

In last week's Friday Fuel, we talked about how to put your fleet fueling policy in place. Today, we have eight tips that will make your fuel management program more effectiv

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Diana Britton, Managing Editor

Acquisitions of transportation technology companies seem to be commonplace these days, as the economic environment leaves some companies with no choice, while others want to keep up with the advancing of technology.

Tags: Information Technology

By Glen Sokolis, Sokolis Group

As a new year quickly approaches, it's an ideal time to review current policies that your company has in place

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Diana Britton, Managing Editor

George Van Dyke Trucking, Tangent, Ore., used to allocate a 100-square-foot storage room, a large in-office filing area, and a team of two to handle the same amount of paperwork controlled by one employee and a computer today

Tags: Information Technology

By Oliver B. Patton, Washington Editor

Bruce Carlton is president and CEO of the National Industrial Transportation League, which represents shipper interests in Washington, D.C. Here's an edited version of an interview with Carlto

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor

Coastal Pacific Xpress is bigger now than it was three years ago - and it's done so while being choosy about its customers, even through the recession

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Diana Britton, Managing Editor

While the use of stability control systems could mean the difference between a collision and the avoidance of a crash, it also could help you create safer, more conservative drivers

Tags: Safety & Compliance

By Glen Sokolis, Sokolis Group

As we approach the Thanksgiving season and Black Friday, it's time for us to look at where the fuel market is and how it could affect your fuel management program. There are clearly mixed signs in the fuel marketplac

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Glen Sokolis, Sokolis Group

Preventive maintenance prior to the onset of the cold weather is an important factor in keeping your fleet on the roa

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

Falling from a tall trailer will almost certainly result in broken bones or worse for a driver or maintenance person, and will cost thousands of dollars in medical and worker's compensation claims

Tags: Safety & Compliance

By Diana Britton, Managing Editor, Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

Wayne Cedarholm told a story 20 years ago about his employer C.R. England, the major refrigerated carrier based in Salt Lake City

Tags: Information Technology

By Glen Sokolis, Sokolis Group

Every year the transportation industry faces new challenges during the winter months, and this year is no different

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor

From the rise in truck intermodal to shippers' use of 3PLs to the coming black box, the changes we're seeing in the trucking industry were front and center during the opening general session of the McLeod Software User's Conference

Tags: Information Technology

We're at a familiar point in the business cycle, a dismal one from the perspective of many carriers

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Glen Sokolis, Sokolis Group

Your company has decided to get its first fleet fuel card, or perhaps you are tired of your current vendor. How do you go about shopping for the right fuel card

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Glen Sokolis, Sokolis Group

Summer may be over, but our offices are still beehives of activity. In the fleet fuel management business, it never seems as if there are enough hours in the day or days in the wee

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Glen Sokolis, Sokolis Group

If you are exploring ways to improve your fuel management program, on-site fueling could be the right solution for your fuel planning process

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Glen Sokolis, Sokolis Group

Many companies large and small have no idea how to negotiate fleet fuel prices and discounts.

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Diana Britton, Managing Editor

Cell phones today are nearly second-nature. You can walk down the street and see almost everyone holding one. And it's almost impossible to imagine how the trucking industry did without the

Tags: Information Technology

By Glen Sokolis, The Sokolis Group

The Sokolis Group performs a lot of audits of fleet fuel invoices, reviewing hundreds of thousands of fuel transactions a month

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Bob Johnson, director of fleet relations, NTEA

Maximizing fleet productivity starts with getting the most out of your vehicles

Tags: The Bottom Line

Several years ago, many fleets thought owning their own trucks made the most financial sense

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Fleet fuel suppliers for over-the-road, bulk, retail, and mobile fleet fuel are no different than any other business. They are in business to make a profit, just like you

Tags: The Bottom Line

By Diana Britton, Managing Editor

The economic meltdown has fleets scrambling to cut costs and improve efficiency in more creative and innovative ways than ever before. This involves getting the most out of fleet management softwar

Tags: Information Technology