Truck techs getting even tougher to find

From Fleet Owner Magazine
December 2010

SAN ANTONIO, TX . Demand for truck technicians is surging again, especially among dealerships, as the overall age of the industry’s fleet reaches levels not seen in decades and sales of new equipment remains below historical norms.

“We are busy enough already, with all the older equipment out there now,” Mike Besson, vp-operations for Rush Truck Centers (RTC), a division of Rush Enterprises, told Fleet Owner here at the company’s fifth annual “Tech Skills Rodeo” competition.

With the average age of Class 8 trucks in U.S. fleets now pegged at 6.5 years – the highest it’s been in 30 years – dealers Like Rush are witnessing a spike in parts and service demand. Fred Scott, service manager for RTC’s San Antonio facility, said demand has “exploded” since this April.

To read the rest of the article click here

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Intermodal Traffic Gains 13.8% for Week

Intermodal Traffic Gains 13.8% for Week

from Transport Topics
12-13-10

Intermodal traffic rose 13.8% last week from a year ago, the Association of American Railroads said.
Image via Wikipedia
Traffic for the week ended Saturday totaled 235,835 trailers and containers, led by a 15.3% gain in containers to 197,526 units. Trailers rose 6.5% to 38,309 units.

U.S. railroads originated 303,570 carloads for the week following Thanksgiving — up 6.8% from a year ago, AAR said in its weekly report.

Railroad volume is considered an important economic indicator. Intermodal traffic, which tends to be higher-valued merchandise than bulk commodities, uses trains for the long haul and trucks for the shorter distance at either end of the trip.

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From Transport Topics
December 13, 2010

Consumer Confidence Hits Six-Month High

Consumer confidence rose to a six-month high this month, according to the preliminary monthly Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index released Friday.
The index rose to a reading of 74.2, from 71.6 in November. Economists had forecast a reading of 72.5, Bloomberg reported.
The final index will be released later in the month. An improvement in confidence may increase consumer spending, which accounts for 70% of the economy.
Consumer Confidence Hits Six-Month High | Transport Topics Online | Trucking, Freight Transportation and Logistics News

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From: Transport Topics

Oil Slips After Topping $90 a Barrel

Oil declined Wednesday a day after topping $90 a barrel, following a Department of Energy report that showed higher gasoline and diesel inventories, Bloomberg reported.Image via Wikipedia

Crude futures fell more than $1 to below $88 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, after topping $90 in intraday trading on Tuesday, the highest level since October 2008.

Tuesday’s $88.69 per-barrel Nymex closing price was the highest since October 2008, when oil was falling from its record high levels of that summer.

Gasoline inventories rose 3.8 million barrels for the week ended Saturday, DOE reported in its weekly survey. That was in contrast to the 300,000-barrel decline forecast by economists, Bloomberg reported.
Distillates, which include diesel and heating oil, rose 2.15 million barrels, in contrast to the 900,000-barrel decline forecast, Bloomberg said.

Oil supplies fell by 3.8 million barrels, more than the 1.4 million-barrel drop predicted, Bloomberg reported.
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• Gasoline Exports to U.S. Falling on Profit Drop: Energy Markets (businessweek.com)
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How to save thousands of trucking jobs in America!

Over 100,000 trucking jobs up in smoke!

 Image via Wikipedia

Maybe yours!

The new CSA regulations pose a risk to every American Trucker. Under CSA, your records are made public and can cost you your livelihood . To understand how CSA could HURT YOU  and stop it please do 2 things...

1-Look at this article and its summary listed below

http://www.transportationlaw.net/articles/2010.07article.html

2- Contact Congressmen on the Federal Transportation committee (the contact links by state are listed below)

Article Summary

A-Under CSA a qualified trucker received a rating number from the government based on old information that was not illegal when it was recorded under Safestat.

B-A client of the transporter stopped doing business with them because they determined that the truckers rating number meant the trucker was a risk even though the trucker had  broken no laws since CSA went into effect.

 Imagine this happening to YOUR trucking company. Imagine being barred from doing business because of a random number. This has to be changed. We cannot lose more jobs.

This is going to require we contact people in positions of influence to let them know they can prevent job loss.

Please copy and paste the letter below and email these Congressman on the Federal Transportation Committee whose names are listed below, especially if they are from your home state or home district.
 
If we don’t fight this it could cost us our Jobs

Congressman,

I have a job in the trucking industry. Under CSA regulations over hundreds of thousands of jobs could disappear because of the rating system. Please keep the initial findings closed to the public so insurers and other freight companies don’t blacklist firms due to an arbitrary number. This is not democratic and does not give due process. Additionally, we can’t lose more jobs…or an entire industry. Please contact the Department of Transportation and get this stopped.

We are referencing this case…

http://www.transportationlaw.net/articles/2010.07article.html

Please do your part to protect our jobs!

Contacts

Here are the contact page links for the Congressman on the committee

if possible, please focus on Congressman in states you are from

Florida

John Mica

http://mica.house.gov/Contact/ContactForm.htm

Mario Diaz

https://writerep.house.gov/writerep/welcome.shtml

Connie Mack

https://mack.house.gov/?p=Email

Vern Buchanon

https://forms.house.gov/buchanan/webforms/contact-new.html

Corrinne Brown

http://www.house.gov/corrinebrown/IMA/issue.shtml

Minnesota

 Image via Wikipedia

James Oberstar

http://wwwc.house.gov/oberstar/zipauth.htm

Tim Walz

https://forms.house.gov/walz/webforms/zip_auth.shtm

West Virginia

Nick J. Rahall, West Virginia

http://www.rahall.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=91&sectiontree=91

Shelley Moore Capito, West Virginia

http://capito.house.gov/index.cfm?p=Offices

Oregon

Peter A. DeFazio, Oregon

https://forms.house.gov/defazio/IMA/contact.html

Wisconsin

Thomas E. Petri, Wisconsin

https://forms.house.gov/petri/zip_authen.shtml

Michigan

Vernon J. Ehlers, Michigan

https://ehlers.house.gov/Contact/default.aspx

Candice S. Miller, Michigan

http://candicemiller.house.gov/contact/index.shtml

Mark H. Schauer, Michigan

http://schauer.house.gov/Contact/

Illinois

Jerry F. Costello, Illinois

http://costello.house.gov/IMA/issue_subscribe.shtml

Daniel Lipinski, Illinois

http://www.lipinski.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=19&Itemid=8

Timothy V. Johnson, Illinois

http://timjohnson.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=56&sectiontree=3,56

Aaron Schock, Illinois

http://schock.house.gov/Contact/

New York

Jerrold Nadler, New York

http://jerroldnadler.house.gov/Forms/WriteYourRep/

Timothy H. Bishop, New York

http://timbishop.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=7&sectiontree=7

Michael A. Arcuri, New York

http://arcuri.house.gov/

Michael E. McMahon, New York

https://forms.house.gov/mcmahon/contact.shtml

California

Bob Filner, California

http://www.house.gov/filner/contact.htm

Grace F. Napolitano, California

http://www.napolitano.house.gov/contact/feedback.shtml

Laura Richardson, California

http://richardson.house.gov/

John Garamendi, California

http://www.garamendi.org/bio.

Gary G. Miller, California

http://garymiller.house.gov/Contact/

Pennsylvania

Tim Holden, Pennsylvania

http://holden.house.gov/contactform_zipcheck.shtml

Jason Altmire, Pennsylvania

http://altmire.house.gov/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15&Itemid=3

Bill Shuster, Pennsylvania

http://www.house.gov/shuster/

Jim Gerlach, Pennsylvania

http://gerlach.house.gov/

Christopher P. Carney, Pennsylvania

http://carney.house.gov/contact/

Ohio

Jean Schmidt, Ohio

http://www.house.gov/schmidt/contact.shtml

North Carolina

Howard Coble, North Carolina

http://coble.house.gov/Contact/

Heath Shuler, North Carolina

https://shulerforms.house.gov/contact/

South Carolina

Henry E. Brown, South Carolina

http://brown.house.gov/Contact/index.html

Tennessee

John J. Duncan, Jr., Tennessee

http://duncan.house.gov/services/contact-information.shtml

Kentucky

Brett Guthrie, Kentucky

http://duncan.house.gov/services/contact-information.shtml

Arkansas

John Boozman, Arkansas

http://www.boozman.house.gov/Contact/

Georgia

Lynn A. Westmoreland, Georgia

http://westmoreland.house.gov/Contact/

Tom Graves, Georgia

http://tomgraves.house.gov/contact/

Mississippi

Gene Taylor, Mississippi

http://www.taylor.house.gov/

Louisiana

Anh "Joseph" Cao, Louisiana

http://josephcao.house.gov/

Missouri

Sam Graves, Missouri

http://www.house.gov/graves/

Russ Carnahan, Missouri

https://forms.house.gov/carnahan/webforms/issue_subscribe.htm

Texas

Pete Olson, Texas

http://olson.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=3&sectiontree=3

Eddie Bernice Johnson, Texas

http://ebjohnson.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=3&sectiontree=3

Washington

Brian Baird, Washington

https://forms.house.gov/baird/webforms/issue_subscribe.htm

Rick Larsen, Washington

https://larsen.house.gov/contact/email-me.shtml

Kansas

Jerry Moran, Kansas

http://forms.house.gov/jerrymoran/webforms/contact.html

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/News-and-Specials-from-East-Coast-Truck-and-Trailer-Sales-.html?soid=1101539072269&aid=YN5j51aZmmg

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/News-and-Specials-from-East-Coast-Truck-and-Trailer-Sales-.html?soid=1101539072269&aid=YN5j51aZmmg

Truckers take on human trafficking

By John Burger
From the Dallas Examiner
10/26/10

The Department of Justice estimates over 14,000 people are trafficked into the United States each year. It is also reported that 25% of all human trafficking victims within the United States enter through Texas.

One of the first lines of defense against human trafficking is the trucking industry. Traffickers use the same interstates as truckers and travelers to transport their human cargo.

The non-profit group, Truckers Against Trafficking, aims to train independent truck drivers and trucking companies on recognizing the signs of human trafficking and reporting it.
Image via WikipediaImage via Wikipedia    to read the rest of the article click here

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