Trucking News

LiberalTrucker contributed this post for Masslogics Trucking News.  For most of the past 2 decades, the price of diesel fuel has always been lower than gasoline. However, this pricing difference has evened out in the last 2 years. Truckers are now getting to feel the same pain at the pump as car owners.

Diesel prices have swelled in recent weeks to all time high levels, putting a strain on truck drivers, airline industry and most of the economy, at a time when there is already a recession in progress.

Why the diesel fuel has become so expensive has been attributed to many causes such as supply disruption caused by federally-mandated decrease in the allowable amount of sulfur in diesel fuel. Others point to the growing global demand for diesel fuel. Part of the most recent price hikes have been traced to the Katrina Hurricane with the disruption of the refineries, oil wells and fuel shipments.

Further the past few winters have been cold, demanding and long, thus accounting for an increase in the demand for heating oil, with further raises in the competition for crude, which raises the prices. Other factors include the global demand for diesel. In some European countries, more than half the cars have diesel engines.

At the same time, cooperative shipments of regular gasoline from other “friendly” countries that were so helpful following the hurricanes never showed up with the diesel fuel.

Still another important factor has been the recent manufacture of a new, cleaner diesel fuel. The goal of “clean diesel” is to eliminate sulfur from diesel fuel. Lower-sulfur fuel is claimed to be cleaner and have no health hazards.

In October 2007, the national average for a gallon of diesel fuel rose to a record $3.10. Since then there has been a steady increase in the price and there is hope that the summer may bring a slight drop in the prices. The EIA does say that there will be light at the end of tunnel. The big question is when?

OTRJoe Response to “Ban Independent Truck Drivers…” The Port of LA is a complex issue. What he’s not saying is the port’s plan is instituting laws regulating the age of truck used in the port. I believe no truck older than 2005 will be allowed unless it is retrofitted with special emmissions equipment that brings the truck up to 2005 emissions standards. Plus, they are initiating a port hauler fee of around $5000 per truck. It’s obvious from this plan that only the large carriers with cash reserves for newer trucks and the new fee will remain. Once that happens, these larger carriers will have higher haul rates to move the freight, thus raising the transportation costs which will filter down to raising the costs of goods in the stores. Largely what comes into the ports is fisnished goods from Asian manufacturers, so it will definitely impact the costs of stuff at Wal-Mart and Target.

That being said, there is a HUGE traffic/pollution issue at the LA port. I’m not sure if this is the right solution, but they definitely need to do something to address the issues at hand. Of course, it’s highly possible that the larger carriers that will benefit from this new plan are supporting the gov’t departments that are bringing it about. Isn’t that the American way?

LiberalTrucker contributed this post for Masslogics Trucking News.

America has been a world leader in providing opportunities for everyone. In the last 20 years, the deregulated trucking industry has contributed to a fair share of problems both off and on the roads. There is worse traffic, more pollution, pitiful working conditions and below par safety standards on the roads. However, the California port authority is now taking control of this situation. It has banned all independent truck drivers from the Port of LA. This is the first step to regain control of the roads, remove traffic congestion and lessen environmental pollution.

Reports have indicated that pollution from trucks in the Post of Oakland have been responsible for causing asthmatic attacks in 1/5 children in that area. Since many of these independent truckers make minimum wages they are unable to afford upgrading of their trucks and maintain safety. These independent truckers are also not part of any union and thus have no bargaining power in terms of wages, rights or benefits

The ongoing turmoil over the trucks on LA roads finally led the port authority of LA to ban all independent truckers. Numerous organizations have supported the port authority in their bid to develop a clean and safe port. The port authority says they are not discriminating against independent truckers, but they in fact claim that their actions will hopefully require trucking companies to use port based trucks driven by employee drivers.

A plan to completely ban independent truck drivers from the Port of Los Angeles by the end of 2013 was approved Thursday night.

This will hopefully led to an improvement in wages, limit pollution, lead to reliable short haul trucking system and assign due to labor law rights to all drivers.

Port officials have said that the plan will hold trucking companies accountable for maintaining big rigs, while also employing properly credentialed drivers. This does not sit well with the trucking companies who claim that this will lead to higher salaries, increased cost of labor and in the end, additional cost to the average consumer.

Camera crews and news reporters taking live footage of an early morning trucker, get more than they bargained for.

This video does wonders for the image of the trucking professional.

Selecting trucking software to run your business can be a daunting task. There are lots of selections available to fit every kind of business model. With all of these choices to look at you must first narrow the field a bit. You need to determine if you want PC or Server based fleet management software that you load on your computer hardware, or web based software that you log into on the web. Here are some things to think about when making this important decision.

With PC or Server based software, the benefits are speed of execution, and age of development. PC based software tends to run faster because the functions are internal on your hardware. There are hundreds of companies that have been developing this type of software over the last decade so the programming is mature and fairly solid. However, there are drawbacks. This software must be purchased outright, and can often be expensive requiring annual updates, maintenance contracts, user fees, etc. The hardware that is required for some systems is also expensive, and requires maintenance. Not to mention that if this hardware (like the hard drive) crashes, your data could be lost forever. Many man-hours of labor must be dedicated to operating and managing the hardware.

Web based software is much newer as an available option. This is the clear next step in the trucking software world. Since high speed connections to the internet are more common, web based software has become more attractive. The speed is close to that of PC software, and the amount of functionality can be better depending on the packages you are comparing. Add that to the affordability of monthly subscriptions instead of buying the software up front, and you have a very powerful combination. To top it all off, data backups are done automatically and included in the subscription. You no longer have to worry about hardware upkeep, saving valuable man-hours of company time.

In summary, unless you are ready to shell out thousands or tens of thousands for your business software, you should consider web based packages first. They are easier to purchase, easier to maintain, and quite simply offer more bang for the buck. Before you make a decision, take the Masslogics free trial: Free Trucking Software.