Car transporters that showed up to take a look at the 175 exhibits at the 31st annual Walcott Truckers Jamboree at the Iowa 80 Truckstop in Walcott, Iowa on July 8 and 9 had a great time according to car transport professionals on hand. This was the young auto transport professionals chance to take a look at the happenings at the world's largest truckstop during a two-day event and help celebrate the transport industry along with thousands of transport professionals and trucking enthusiasts. Events that are sure to be dear to the car shipping professional are the Super Truck Beauty Contest featuring 56 of the best looking transport trucks in the business. The truck lover will fall in love when they walk through the antique truck display on hand with over 200 trucks that will take you back to a better time and the Iowa 80 Trucking Museum that has been entertaining the trucking enthusiast for years.
Tens of thousands of truckers and their families were on hand for the fun that included an Iowa pork chop cookout that melted in your mouth, Trucker Olympics that featured transport professionals doing a few things with a heavy-duty truck that will amaze and astound you, a few carnival games to keep the kids and wife entertained while you check out the trucks, a concert by country superstar Tracy Lawrence and a fireworks display that had the kids jumping. This was the transport industries chance to celebrate truckers and the business of driving a heavy-duty transport and reports indicate that truckers showed up to continue a trucking party that first started back in 1979. Americans were also on hand to thank the transport industry for making sure the goods they need always make it to destination in an efficient and reliable manner on a daily basis and the transport industry's pride at the job they do was in full bloom for all to see.
If you missed the 31st annual Walcott Truckers Jamboree, you missed a party that won't be forgotten soon, but the great news is they plan on continuing the party next year at the same spot, so you can make plans to show up. Next year the party should even be better, so we'll look forward to seeing you at the party next year, having a great time.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Monday, July 12, 2010
Car Transport Group Invests in New Mack Trucks
Car transport professionals taking car parts to auto assembly plants and parts distribution centres in the United States of America for Chrysler Group Transport will apparently be driving new rigs by the end of November. Sources around the auto shipping industry report that Chrysler Group Transport has put in a huge order with Mack Trucks for 325 Mack Pinnacle day cabs that will use Mack MP-series engines implementing ClearTech selective catalytic reduction (SCR). Professionals around the vehicle transportation industry indicate that the Mack trucks ordered should save Chrysler Group Transport money down the road as they use less fuel in order to move the cars to destination and almost emit zero emissions. In addition, some think these Mack trucks even require less maintenance in order to keep them conducting car shipping duties, when compared to similar heavy-duty transport trucks, which according to many might enable the company to save more money as they travel down the road into the century of the environment?
Chrysler Group Transport has apparently decided to replace its auto transport fleet and this investment in new Mack trucks is certainly going to allow the firm to continue to provide customers with transport services in the days ahead. They must be looking forward to getting their new transports on the road and taking auto parts to the required destinations around the United States. Hopefully, they're able to keep their plans to have these new Mack trucks on the roads of America by November, which according to some in the automobile transport industry could be a little optimistic. If they're able to get the job done though there will certainly be some happy transport drivers working for Chrysler Group Transport that will have a skip in their step and smile on their face when they come to work. They'll have some learning to do on the job, but this can actually be fun, depending on your attitude.
Chrysler Group Transport has apparently decided to replace its auto transport fleet and this investment in new Mack trucks is certainly going to allow the firm to continue to provide customers with transport services in the days ahead. They must be looking forward to getting their new transports on the road and taking auto parts to the required destinations around the United States. Hopefully, they're able to keep their plans to have these new Mack trucks on the roads of America by November, which according to some in the automobile transport industry could be a little optimistic. If they're able to get the job done though there will certainly be some happy transport drivers working for Chrysler Group Transport that will have a skip in their step and smile on their face when they come to work. They'll have some learning to do on the job, but this can actually be fun, depending on your attitude.
Friday, July 9, 2010
Car Transport & Anti-Idling Regulations
Car transport firms conducting car hauling duties for customers in America that have been getting periodic reminders from the American Trucking Association about the idling regulations in the various jurisdictions of the United States probably won't be surprised by the news that the ATA has joined the fight to promote idling reduction in the auto shipping industry of the United States. The American Trucking Association recently announced that it had decided to put its support behind the Diesel Idle Reduction Campaign headed by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments (COG), which has been working hand-in-hand with the District Department of the Environment, District Department of Transportation and Maryland Department of the Environment on getting the 2010 campaign started.
What are the official aims of the 2010 Diesel Idle Reduction Campaign of the COG? The campaign is aimed at getting car movers to turn off their engines when the engine isn't required, which of course will avoid fines in the days ahead and cut fuel costs for transport vehicles. This the partners in this campaign feel is going to improve overall public health in the areas in question and protect the environment for future generations and hopefully align the campaign with the goals of the ATA's Sustainability Initiative.
The 2010 Diesel Idle Reduction Campaign is set to start at 11 a.m. on Tuesday at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government's headquarters located near Union Station. Car transporters that want to check this event out, should stop by and lend their support or show up and talk to other transport professionals about the campaign and the current conditions in the transport industry of the United States of America. This should give you a chance to check out the ATA's six-sided anti-idling campaign started in 2008, if you haven't already done so, and see what else they have planned for the future, as well.
What are the official aims of the 2010 Diesel Idle Reduction Campaign of the COG? The campaign is aimed at getting car movers to turn off their engines when the engine isn't required, which of course will avoid fines in the days ahead and cut fuel costs for transport vehicles. This the partners in this campaign feel is going to improve overall public health in the areas in question and protect the environment for future generations and hopefully align the campaign with the goals of the ATA's Sustainability Initiative.
The 2010 Diesel Idle Reduction Campaign is set to start at 11 a.m. on Tuesday at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Government's headquarters located near Union Station. Car transporters that want to check this event out, should stop by and lend their support or show up and talk to other transport professionals about the campaign and the current conditions in the transport industry of the United States of America. This should give you a chance to check out the ATA's six-sided anti-idling campaign started in 2008, if you haven't already done so, and see what else they have planned for the future, as well.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Car Hauling & Sleep Apnea
Car transporters on the roads of the United States deal with all kinds of elements during trips that can cause them to loose valuable sleep and slowly build up a sleep debt that can cause deadly fatigue to set in and become a problem that can increase the chances of an accident for car hauling professionals that have to deal with these elements.
Everything from irregular pick-up and delivery schedules, to unrealistic broker and shipper demands, and even things like background noise keeping them awake at the truck stops where they attempt to get a few hours of sleep often for many automobile transport drivers keeps them from getting the hours of rest they need to maintain a consistent level of safety while conducting auto transport activities on the highways of the United States. In addition, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association indicated during a recent conference on sleep apnea in the transport industry in Baltimore, Maryland on May 11-12 that other elements often arise that keep drivers from getting the sleep they need. That things like the lack of safe parking spaces, anti-idling regulations in some regions of the United States, and even troublesome working girls knocking on the doors of car tranports at all hours of the night often prevent drivers from sleeping. That these elements were never taken into account with the Hours-of-Service rules in place and that changes need to be made to take these elements into consideration.
It appears that maybe the United States Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration should maybe sit down and have a serious talk with the professionals driving the transport vehicles on the roads of America about some of these elements. This is the only way that these elements might be able to be taken into consideration in the Hours-Of-Service rules and any changes that might be useful could be made. The FMCSA has a history of occasionally working with and listening to the concerns of the transport professionals operating on the roads of the United States, so we can probably expect a few changes to be made in the Hours-Of-Service rules in order to try to solve some of these problems in the days ahead in the century of the environment.
Everything from irregular pick-up and delivery schedules, to unrealistic broker and shipper demands, and even things like background noise keeping them awake at the truck stops where they attempt to get a few hours of sleep often for many automobile transport drivers keeps them from getting the hours of rest they need to maintain a consistent level of safety while conducting auto transport activities on the highways of the United States. In addition, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association indicated during a recent conference on sleep apnea in the transport industry in Baltimore, Maryland on May 11-12 that other elements often arise that keep drivers from getting the sleep they need. That things like the lack of safe parking spaces, anti-idling regulations in some regions of the United States, and even troublesome working girls knocking on the doors of car tranports at all hours of the night often prevent drivers from sleeping. That these elements were never taken into account with the Hours-of-Service rules in place and that changes need to be made to take these elements into consideration.
It appears that maybe the United States Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration should maybe sit down and have a serious talk with the professionals driving the transport vehicles on the roads of America about some of these elements. This is the only way that these elements might be able to be taken into consideration in the Hours-Of-Service rules and any changes that might be useful could be made. The FMCSA has a history of occasionally working with and listening to the concerns of the transport professionals operating on the roads of the United States, so we can probably expect a few changes to be made in the Hours-Of-Service rules in order to try to solve some of these problems in the days ahead in the century of the environment.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Car Transporters Time to Pay UCR Fees
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration recently established the Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) fees that car movers will need to pay. This means interstate owner operators conducting auto shipping duties in the United States will need to make sure they get their Unified Carrier Registration fees for 2010 in by July 15. They were hoping to have finished mailing out renewal notices to car hauling professionals by May 15, which gives automobile transport professionals about 60 days to get their UCR fees into the agency. The 41 states that have signed up for this program apparently started accepting online payments on May 5, so car transporters have had awhile to pay their fees.
If you haven't sent in your UCR fees it might be time to begin putting the wheels in motion, before the sand in the time glass runs out and things really start to get complicated for you. Car transport professionals based out of a state that isn't participating in the UCR fee program should probably contact the branch of the FMCSA in their operating state or if that doesn't work you might try contacting the agency in one of the states that is part of the program to see what they tell you.
The FMCSA completed a reworking of the UCR fee structure in April that changes the fee structure in two ways. First the fee structure is based on an interstate operator's commercial motor vehicle power units only and secondly the fees have been increased to around $76 for the smallest interstate operator to about $76,346 for operators with over a thousand power units. The increases might be in part due to the fact that the total amount collected through UCR fees has fallen short of the expectations of the designers and implementers of the program by almost $30 million for each of the past three years. The fee increase has of course been met with significant criticism during a time when the car shipping industry is already dealing with a rough financial road.
If you haven't sent in your UCR fees it might be time to begin putting the wheels in motion, before the sand in the time glass runs out and things really start to get complicated for you. Car transport professionals based out of a state that isn't participating in the UCR fee program should probably contact the branch of the FMCSA in their operating state or if that doesn't work you might try contacting the agency in one of the states that is part of the program to see what they tell you.
The FMCSA completed a reworking of the UCR fee structure in April that changes the fee structure in two ways. First the fee structure is based on an interstate operator's commercial motor vehicle power units only and secondly the fees have been increased to around $76 for the smallest interstate operator to about $76,346 for operators with over a thousand power units. The increases might be in part due to the fact that the total amount collected through UCR fees has fallen short of the expectations of the designers and implementers of the program by almost $30 million for each of the past three years. The fee increase has of course been met with significant criticism during a time when the car shipping industry is already dealing with a rough financial road.
Friday, July 2, 2010
Car Transporters More Aware of Carbon-Wheelprint
The environmental revolution in America is starting to pay more attention to the carbon wheel-print of the car transport industry of the United States. Fleet managers for car hauling firms in America are apparently aware of this fact and have started to pay more attention to the carbon emissions of their vehicle transportation fleets, according to the latest annual fleet managers survey conducted by PHH Arval. This survey apparently shows that car movers in the United States have started measuring the emissions of their operations, compared to about 40 percent in 2009 and about 28 percent in 2008. The designers of this survey wanted to gauge fleet managers views and opinions on environmental issues with this survey and it appears they have succeeded?
What did this latest study indicate fleet managers are doing to help them more accurately measure the companies carbon wheel-print? According to this study 65 percent of the fleet managers that are measuring the carbon emissions of their fleet operations are using fuel data to help them, which is an increase of about 10 percent from last year. They're aren't concentrating on using mpg because this method doesn't account for changes in fleet size or the number of miles the fleet will travel during a specific period of time. They're are looking at driver behaviour behind the wheel as a good way to help reduce carbon emissions of their fleet operations though and the study indicated that about 74 percent of transport firms will be reaching out to drivers this year to see if they can help in this battle to reduce carbon emissions. The most common method that companies have been using is to teach drivers how their driving decisions can significantly impact carbon emissions, with about 56 percent of companies focusing on this task, which is an improvement of about 8 percent from 2009.
There was some concern expressed by those surveyed about the increasing cost of decreasing the carbon wheel-print of their car transport fleets, however, with about 42 percent of those surveyed indicating that they see this as a possible road block in the future. The study did show that overall transport companies are a little reluctant to adopt new or emerging alternative fuels in their operations and would probably prefer to keep using conventional gasoline hybrids, at least for the present time.
What did this latest study indicate fleet managers are doing to help them more accurately measure the companies carbon wheel-print? According to this study 65 percent of the fleet managers that are measuring the carbon emissions of their fleet operations are using fuel data to help them, which is an increase of about 10 percent from last year. They're aren't concentrating on using mpg because this method doesn't account for changes in fleet size or the number of miles the fleet will travel during a specific period of time. They're are looking at driver behaviour behind the wheel as a good way to help reduce carbon emissions of their fleet operations though and the study indicated that about 74 percent of transport firms will be reaching out to drivers this year to see if they can help in this battle to reduce carbon emissions. The most common method that companies have been using is to teach drivers how their driving decisions can significantly impact carbon emissions, with about 56 percent of companies focusing on this task, which is an improvement of about 8 percent from 2009.
There was some concern expressed by those surveyed about the increasing cost of decreasing the carbon wheel-print of their car transport fleets, however, with about 42 percent of those surveyed indicating that they see this as a possible road block in the future. The study did show that overall transport companies are a little reluctant to adopt new or emerging alternative fuels in their operations and would probably prefer to keep using conventional gasoline hybrids, at least for the present time.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Improve Car Transport Fuel Economy
Owner operators helping auto transport firms provide customers with outstanding auto shipping services in the United States looking for another way to improve the fuel economy of their car transport should take a look at the savings provided with new AeroFlex trailer skirts. AeroFlex trailer skirts have been verified by the EPA SmartWay program and is therefore a technology that according to the EPA should help you reduce fuel usage, and fairings are required equipment on the trailers of all car hauling vehicles in California, anyway. Reports from some transport firms that have implemented AeroFlex trailer skirts on their transports indicates that these trailer skirts demonstrated up to a 7.5 percent improvement in fuel economy. The truth of this statement is the question, but if one believes the reviews of transport professionals that have used these trailer skirts the benefits should be significant in this area of the environment we live in.
AeroFlex trailer skirts have been independently tested according to AeroFlex and verified against the SAE/TMC J1321 Type II test procedure and are made of impact-resistant, flexible TPO (thermoplastic olefin) plastic. The manufacturer claims that the flexibility of the construction material used, combined with a 180-degree top hinge design, allows these low-clearance trailer skirts to flex and withstand both side and bottom impacts as you drive down the road. These fairings are heavy at 160 lbs, have been designed to be easy to install and can even be put-on at a 5-degree angle to create the wedge configuration that diverts the airflow better along the truck surface.
AeroFlex trailer skirts have been independently tested according to AeroFlex and verified against the SAE/TMC J1321 Type II test procedure and are made of impact-resistant, flexible TPO (thermoplastic olefin) plastic. The manufacturer claims that the flexibility of the construction material used, combined with a 180-degree top hinge design, allows these low-clearance trailer skirts to flex and withstand both side and bottom impacts as you drive down the road. These fairings are heavy at 160 lbs, have been designed to be easy to install and can even be put-on at a 5-degree angle to create the wedge configuration that diverts the airflow better along the truck surface.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)