The Fifth Wheel

House G.O.P. and Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) Move to Stop HOS Regs

2011-10-19T08:30:00.000-07:00

House Speaker Boehner of West Chester and Eric Cantor, Majority Leader from Virginia have asked President Obama to withdraw the administrations proposed changes to the hours-of-service rules for commercial drivers. Both said in a letter to Obama on Oct 5, that withdrawing the proposed changes is an "opportunity to avoid adding another $1billion in regulatory burden" to the economy and to small businesses. It is estimated 90% of all trucking companies can be classified as small businesses.

Senator Kelly Ayotte (R-NH) has filed an amendment (S.AMDT.754) to the "minibus" Appropriations Bill (H.R. 2122) which is made up of the Commerce, Justice and science; Agriculture, Rural Development, and Food and Drug Administration; and Transportation and Housing and Urban Development Appropriations Bills. The amendment would block implementing the pending hours of service rules for truck drivers. Ayotte’s amendment at this point has only been filed and may never be considered.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rule, which is supposed to be made final on Oct. 28, but which seems likely to slip past that deadline, would reduce the daily driving limit for truck drivers from 11 to 10 and change drivers availability to restart their weekly work-cycle with a 34 hour rest period. The FMCSA has said they will not reduce driving time to 10 hours but it is clearly leaning in that direction.

Driven by the Teamsters, it appears that these proposed changes have other reasons behind them than just safety, and a further reduction in an already shrinking driver pool will only lead to upward pressure on transportation costs. These costs are almost always passed onto the consuming and buying public. Just to serve the current volume (which is low) more trucks will need to be added to our over-crowded highway system putting more stress on our infrastructure. This ill-conceived change will only further harm a struggling industry and add hundreds of millions of dollars in costs just through regulation. Whatever happened to an administration that was going to ease regulation on small businesses to foster job growth?

CSCMP - Firms See Capacity Curbed By Rising Costs, Regulation

2011-10-19T08:14:00.001-07:00

By Daniel P. Bearth, Staff Writer Transport Topics

This story appears in the Oct. 10 print edition of Transport Topics.

PHILADELPHIA — The combination of rising truck equipment costs, the driver shortage and increased government regulation is forcing shippers to confront a new reality: Capacity is no longer “infinite,” and new ways to improve efficiency must be found, several industry experts said last week at the Council of Supply Chain Management Professionals annual conference.

“I don’t believe that historic levels of service are possible or sustainable,” said Don Osterberg, senior vice president of safety and security for Schneider National Inc., Green Bay, Wis.

Click here to read article

FMCSA Reaches Settlement With Three Trucking Associations

2011-03-11T12:03:00.001-08:00

"CSA is a safety-critical program that helps to reduce commercial motor vehicle-related crashes and save lives,” said FMCSA Administrator Anne S. Ferro. “Through this settlement agreement, we addressed the concerns raised by petitioners without compromising the CSA program and its safety benefits.” http://csa.fmcsa.dot.gov/whats_New.aspx#30184

SPECIAL TRUCKLOAD RATE REPORT

2011-03-11T07:30:00.000-08:00

Brokers Pay More Than Shippers in 20% of Key Lanes
By Mark Montague, Industry Pricing Analyst, Courtesy TransCore Trendlines

Although February is typically a slow month for spot market freight, a surge in demand drove broker "buy" rates above the shipper's direct contract rate for dry vans in almost 20% of major lanes with a length of haul above 250 miles. The pricing bump included a 2.5% increase in the national average line haul rate for vans, month over month.

Price increases may have been driven by pent-up demand following January's severe weather, combined with growing truckload capacity constraints. Market conditions in February even began to look surprisingly similar to June, when brokered truckload freight movements in about a third of the major U.S. lanes commanded a premium compared to shippers' contract rates with carriers.

As a national average, contract rates exceeded spot market rates by 14% for the month of February, a gap that typically covers broker commissions and fees. These comparisons are based on line haul rates, not including fuel surcharges. [Note: Comparisons are based on average spot market rates from February but contract rates are from January. February contract rates, due for release on March 23rd, are not expected to change significantly.]

Trucking Blasts HOS Plan | Transport Topics Online | Trucking, Freight Transportation and Logistics News

2011-02-22T07:57:00.000-08:00

Trucking Blasts HOS Plan | Transport Topics Online | Trucking, Freight Transportation and Logistics News

Truckload Rates Seen Rising 5 to 10 Percent

2011-02-22T05:42:00.000-08:00

Truckload Rates Seen Rising 5 to 10 Percent

Interesting article here from The Journal of Commerce. Coupled with rising fuel costs, and decreased supply from the economic downturn of 2008-2010, this could be an interesting summer for freight rates.

Freight Shows More Growth in February Despite Series of Severe Winter Storms | Transport Topics Online | Trucking, Freight Transportation and Logistics News

2011-02-21T07:22:00.000-08:00

Freight Shows More Growth in February Despite Series of Severe Winter Storms | Transport Topics Online | Trucking, Freight Transportation and Logistics News

Diesel Continues to Rise

2011-02-08T11:41:00.000-08:00

Diesel continued to rise this week with the EIA reported on-highway cost for diesel of $3.513 per gallon and more than $3.60 per gallon on the west coast. Industry experts are now calling for diesel to rise above $4.00 per gallon by Memorial Day weekend and staying north of $4.00 throughout the summer.

Just today in a radio interview, House Speaker, John Boehner (R-West Chester, OH) predicted fuel will be $5.00 per gallon by the summer of 2012 unless serious efforts were made to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. With the unrest in countries like Egypt, Tunisia, Jordan and more market volatility remains highly unpredictable and the market threatened by these rising costs.

Fuel surcharges aside, the concern for carriers isn't just the cost, but also the initial outlay of cash or credit to purchase fuel (cash buyers are discounted) before they are able to collect from their brokers or shippers. Carriers are now looking to calculate the "cost of money" into their pricing strategies. Consider that a long-haul run of over 2000 miles will require a cash outlay of $1400 or more. We will continue to work with our customers and our carriers to manage these costs that protect the profitability of all three parties while continuing to provide the best transport services possible.

Diesel Rises to Two-Year High

2010-12-06T14:12:00.000-08:00

The Department of Energy reported that diesel fuel reached a two-year high, increasing 3.5 cents per gallon on the national average over last week. This week's national average is $3.197 per gallon. Analysts are saying today that fuel could continue to rise 5-7 cents per gallon over the winter. We will keep you posted here in The 5th Wheel.

Truckers for Troops

2008-05-01T14:46:00.000-07:00

While we often disagree with their point of view as it relates to the brokerage industry, we wanted to share this awesome story about Truckers for Troops organized by OOIDA. Click here to watch the piece...

House Bill 5934 "TRUCC Act"

2008-05-01T14:30:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday, April 30, Rep. Thomas Petri, R-WI proposed House Bill HR5934 that essentially mirrors S. 2910 detailed in yesterday's Fifth Wheel. We urge you to consider contacting your local Congressman as well as your state's two Senator's requesting their opposition to this measure. As we said below, we absolutely support the driver's right to be compensated for fuel through FSC collected by any party, however like S. 2910, this opens businesses like ours to frivolous lawsuits and a tangled mess.

Ready for Re-Regulation?

2008-04-30T05:52:00.000-07:00

In testimony before at a House Small Business subcommittee hearing April 9, trucker Michael J. Graff of Pennsylvania-based Graff Trucking, a 44 truck operation told the members of the committee, "(W)hat we need is some help from the government to help standardize rates. If the government doesn't step in now, what we are going to have is large transportation companies only, and they are going to be dictating rates." Standardize? Or Regulate?

Spurred by soaring fuel costs, Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) is pushing for fuel surcharge regulation aimed mainly at third party transportation providers. It seems that they want Congress to believe brokers hoard the FSC to themselves and don't pay any fuel? S. 2901 or the TRUCC Act, would mandate full transparency of all fuel surcharges billed to our customers. Bob Voltmann, TIA's president said, "(T)his legislation is not necessary and would turn the clock back on 28 years of deregulation. It is a repudiation of the free market. In the free market, companies are free to accept or reject jobs. Carriers should just say no to cheap freight." To read TIA's take on S. 2910, click here.

We couldn't agree with our colleague more. There is not one shipment, not one pound of freight that we ship on behalf of our customers where we don't pay for fuel. Often times, especially with our contract clients, we have to pay more for fuel than we are billing because of a customers FSC agreement. Who are they going to come after then, the customer? Don't kid yourself, that's next! Why the Senate would want to invade the free marketplace they created through deregulation 28 years ago is well beyond me! This is the third attempt in the last seven years by OOIDA to begin to strap our industry with government regulation. It is a veiled attempt at re-regulation and we will do everything in our power to rail against this bills passage - we urge you to consider the same! Find your state's two senators at http://www.senate.gov/ and write to them urging their opposition.

Do Proposed FMCSA Training Regulations Pose Problems?

2008-04-24T08:27:00.000-07:00

In their never ending quest to keep our industry, our drivers and the public safe, is it possible that the new FMCSA proposed training requirements do more harm than good for the overall health of trucking? While one can never begrudge any effort to increase public safety, these regulations likely have gone too far and present more problems than they solve. While exempting drivers with a current CDL, the estimated $3000 price tag for the new training regulations will likely be an impediment to new potential driver applicants. The trickle down impact will likely be shrinking capacity, decreased efficiencies and increased costs. For an insightful view on this proposed regulation, click here for an article written by a leading transportation attorney, Jay Barry Harris.

Fox Business News Story on the Truckers "Strike"

2008-04-07T11:48:00.000-07:00

Click here for a story we posted on You Tube from this weekend's Fox Business Report with Neil Cavuto discussing the truckers strike with some of the country's leading economists and investment bankers.

More Bad News for the Small Trucker

2008-04-07T11:18:00.000-07:00

With fuel now staying above $4 a gallon for the second straight week, the noise is being turned up quite a bit by the small and independent trucker. Strike or slow down actions are having an impact at the ports across the country, but general inland transportation has only seen a small affect from their actions.

According to Nassau Asset Management, truck repossessions increased 110% in 2007 sighting, in part higher fuel costs and it seems repos will be even higher in 1Q 2008. In this week's Traffic World, ATA said that for the first time ever, fuel costs may actually surpass labor costs as the highest expense item for trucking operators.

OOIDA and other trucking organizations are screaming for higher rates and higher surcharges to offset the rise in fuel. Now, more than ever, our reputation as a broker with the highest ethical standards takes on greater importance. It seems many brokers operating are hoarding surcharges to themselves as a revenue generator. Our hard-line policy of specific line-item pass through of FSC's on every load confirmation shows our carriers the line haul and surcharge captured from our clients and keeps our customer's load moving. Carriers continue to come to us to fill their trucks because we honor the parntership with them and our clients. Here's a link to OOIDA's website for more on their take...

"Strike" Update

2008-04-02T13:49:00.000-07:00

As we suspected the parking or "strike" by independent truckers and small carriers has really had little impact over yesterday or today. We've had one shipment affected and it really wasn't a big deal to re-source the load to a different carrier. Even with improved communication and the severity of the situation, it seems there's simply not enough support to really make an impact. Click here to read more...

Our "Going Green" Initiative

2008-03-25T15:39:00.000-07:00

From our earliest days as a company, our founders instilled a spirit of community involvement and outreach as well as the responsibility to be good corporate citizens. That commitment still lives in our company every day and it's in that spirit that we are launching a company wide initiative to do our part in making the world a better place to work and live.

As time goes on, we will be continually looking for ways to reduce our imprint on the climate. This project will be evolving over a period of time. We have started by joining the EPA's SmartWay Partnership and will continue on with new initiatives like office recycling and a document imaging system that will help us go "paperless" onto hosting educational summits about trucking's impact on the environment. We hope to take the lead on this very important global matter with our customers, carriers and vendors. Keep your eye on The Fifth Wheel and our website http://www.kingsgatetrans.com/ for more exciting news about this program.

Truckers to Park in Protest?

2008-03-25T15:17:00.000-07:00

I can remember as far back as 1993 and again in 2000 when the independent truckers threatened to park their trucks on the side of the road for an entire day in an effort to raise awareness to their plight. Will this widely discussed work stoppage actually gain any traction and will the drivers and carriers be able to get enough cooperation to gain national attention? We just don't know. What we do know is that this effort seems to be different in many ways and those differences just might be enough for this effort to be effective.

What's different? Well first and foremost is the activity of the website, trucker blogs, email, wireless connectivity, satellite radio and more to get their message to a broader audience than ever before. Will it happen, will it work? It's a great topic for thought and debate. We will keep our ears to the ground for any further developments as this will have a big impact on all of us! Click Here for an interesting viewpoint.

Fuel Prices Hitting Hard

2008-03-25T14:22:00.000-07:00

Like many of us feeling the fuel cost crunch to our personal budgets, our small and privately held trucking companies are feeling the pressure to the point where many are having to park their trucks. Many of the fuel surcharges, negotiated several years ago, are not able to keep up rising diesel costs. Surcharges posted on Monday afternoons when diesel prices are released are obsolete by Wednesday. Then there's the cost of money to pay for fill-ups. Many truckstops are charging as much as $0.10 per gallon for credit charges so truckers are trying to pay cash when they can. The problem there is the time it takes for the truck to actually collect his costs for fuel. We are working every day to help our carriers - the lifeline of our business - manage these difficult times. Here's an interesting article we found not too long ago...click here and click here to read more stories on this hot topic

Welcome To My Blog!

2008-02-12T18:36:00.000-08:00

Thank you for taking the time to visit my blog: "The Fifth Wheel". Like the fifth wheel connects the tractor and the trailer, it is my hope that we can use this forum - shippers, carriers and 3PLs to connect with one another and our great industry.

Please keep this site marked for future reference. We hope to keep you in touch with a variety of articles and columns affecting transportation. We have friendships throughout the industry with legla experts, shipper experts, carrier experts and experts in third party transportation.

That said, no matter how good our connections are to the industry, the effectiveness of this blog will be dependent upon the participation of our readers. So please take the time to add your thoughts and insight to make this an informative resource for transportation professionals.

We'll also have some fun with the site in areas not related to transportation but will add some insight into all of us "off the field". So thank you again for your interest , we look forward to connecting all of us together!