Save Fuel, Increase Profit, Save the Planet
Is this a case of win-win? Do the new regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions help both the environment and truck operators’ bottom lines? So it seems.
Is this a case of win-win? Do the new regulations limiting greenhouse gas emissions help both the environment and truck operators’ bottom lines? So it seems.
Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., introduced a bill that would raise federal fuel taxes and index them to the cost of living to pay for more investment in roads and bridges. The bill would repeal the taxes by 2025 in anticipation of replacing them with a vehicle-mile tax.
As the year drew to a close, we looked back on the last 12 months, identifying the high points and low points, our challenges and triumphs, and hopefully, what we learned.
In May, Navistar International Corp. named Bill Kozek, a 26-year veteran of Paccar, as president of Navistar's North America Truck and Parts business. He succeeded Jack Allen, who was promoted to chief operating officer. Kozek spoke with HDT Editor in Chief Deborah Lockridge shortly after the company announced disappointing fourth-quarter earnings. Here's the Q&A.
I hate rules, but there’s one I like, namely the ban on cell-phone use while driving. It’s a long way from universal state to state, but New York has just gotten very tough indeed on truck-driver use of cellular tools, and that’s fine by me.
Over the years, electrical failures have been the number one problem with trailers. Lighting problems have been reduced by the wider adoption of LED lighting. However, even LEDs, along with the rest of the electrical system, are subject to corrosion, which remains a major headache.
Does a bigger cab merit a larger model number for a truck? It does with Peterbilt’s 567, the builder’s latest vocational truck, which will eventually replace the current 367.
Whether you have lifts in your shop or not, there are some factors to consider before purchasing a lift or when determining whether the lift you have is right for your needs.
There is one overriding issue that all fleet owners and managers face…recruiting new talent.
Mobile computing is quickly becoming the platform of choice. Tablets and smartphones are far outselling laptop or desktop computers in the consumer market, and a growing number of trucking operations are deploying these devices.
The face of your company that customers (and often, their customers) see most is not that of the CEO, CFO, or even the fleet manager. It’s that of your driver. Who has a major impact on your company’s bottom line when it comes to fuel consumption efficiency, non-scheduled maintenance, and accident avoidance? Again, it’s your driver. So having the right metrics to evaluate driver performance is absolutely essential to the success of your business. But what are those “right metrics?”
In Joe Egan’s office, a framed picture shows a long-haul tractor, or more precisely, its charred remains. “It’s not one of our trucks, but it illustrates what can happen when an electrical fire is caused by a bad inverter installation,” he says. “It gives a visual reminder to any driver who comes into my office what can happen if an inverter isn’t installed correctly.”
Nobody balances trailer wheels, but oddly, they are the wheels on a truck most likely in need of balancing. With a few ounces of balancing material, those tires might easily run tens of thousands more miles before final removal.
Fleets don’t always have a clear picture of what’s happening with their fuel purchasing plans. That’s become quite clear in the recent Pilot Flying J scandal, where the truckstop chain allegedly bilked customers out of fuel rebates.
Is trucking in for a transformation? Many believe that long-haul trucking will become less important as regional operations grow and intermodal takes over more long-haul freight, and that will change the type of heavy-duty tractor bought by many trucking companies.
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