A Chinese businessman has formed a U.S. company in search of partnerships to build elevated bus lines. Yes, that’s right, these are buses that will travel over existing highways. Sounds kind of futuristic.

When I was first sent the email, the concept sounded interesting. Then I started thinking why? Why would I want to travel on a bus over the highway when I don’t travel on a bus on the highway?

The company, US Elevated High-Speed Bus, is looking for a partner, preferably an “RV, motor home, aircraft, train or bus manufacturer with production facilities in the U.S. who is looking to diversify,” said Mark Shieh, spokesman for the new company.

I guess even the company is not sure whether the vehicle is an RV, plane, train or bus.

(For a video on the Elevated High-Speed Bus, click here.)

“We hope to leverage not only their manufacturing capabilities, but also their domestic and export sales channels. In return, we’ll deliver the design and fully developed concept,” added Shieh.

The vehicle, based on Song Youzhou’s invention, the Straddling Bus, is actually quite interesting and could very well work in some areas. Song is planning to launch the project in China next year, where traffic congestion is taken to new levels on a daily basis.

“The word revolutionary is so overused, but this new bus actually is revolutionary” said Shieh. “Relative to the cost of a subway line or other rail transit, our bus delivers extraordinary value. Aside from the low cost, the time for construction is about one third that for a subway.”

The Elevated High-Speed Bus would zip passengers above street level, straddling two lanes of traffic to allow vehicles to pass underneath. It would travel either on rails or special painted “guidelines.” Designed to hold hundreds of passengers, the vehicle would have a top speed of almost 50 mph with an average of about 25. The company claims the average speed of a bus in a large city is 12 mph.

Of course, at those speeds, getting off at your assigned stop may be difficult, which is probably why a city bus travels at an average of 12 mph.

Song claims the high-speed bus is an ultra low-carbon producer and is powered by electricity and solar energy. He also said it will reduce traffic congestion, move a large number of people, and create jobs.

All very interesting, except Song may be missing one important fact about Americans: We love our cars.

I could envision this technology aiding in the transport of goods throughout this country someday, though. If the elevated bus rides on rails along existing highways, that would provide an efficient way to move freight throughout the country, reaching areas where trains cannot go now. Trucks could then pick up the goods and deliver the final mile. That’s a scenario that someday could work.

In all likelihood, though, Song may just be 50 years ahead of his time.

A new report from J.D. Power and Associates suggests estimates of our quick adoption of hybrid (HEVs) and battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) in this country may be a bit of daydreaming.

The report, titled “Drive Green 2020: More Hope than Reality,” hits some key points, many of which I agree with. Among the items noted is the company’s projection that 5.2 million HEVs and BEVs will be sold in 2020. That represents just 7.3% of the 70.9 million passenger vehicles forecasted to be sold worldwide. By comparison, HEV and BEV vehicle sales are expected to be 954,500 this year, or about 2.2% of the 44.7 million vehicles expected to be sold.

That sounds like a nice bump, doesn’t it? It’s just that 7.3% is not really a big number, especially given the hype these vehicles get. If you were a politician who garnered 7.3% of the vote, in some states, you would not be allowed to run again for that office, considered a non-viable candidate. Is that what hybrid and electric vehicles are, non-viable?

Of course not. The report notes several factors that will contribute to the slow sales growth. First, to make the vehicles cost-effective, we would need a significant increase in the price of petroleum-based fuels. Second, there would have to be a significant breakthrough in technology to reduce costs. I’m sure every company who produces one of these vehicles is searching and hoping for the same thing. Finally, the government will have to get involved and create a policy, perhaps tax credits, to encourage consumers to purchase the vehicles.

J.D. Power, basing its conclusions on available information, deems none of these scenarios likely before 2020. I’ll agree wholeheartedly with that when it comes to oil prices. If you were the big oil-producing countries and you saw sales of your product start to slide, wouldn’t you lower prices? Didn’t we see just that a few years ago, as fewer and fewer Americans drove their cars, gasoline prices fell. Now, as more Americans are returning to their cars, prices are rising again.

“While considerable interest exists among governments, media and environmentalists in promoting HEVs and BEVs, consumers will ultimately decide whether these vehicles are commercially successful or not,” said John Humphrey, senior vice president of automotive operations at J.D. Power and Associates. “Based on our research of consumer attitudes toward these technologies—and barring significant changes to public policy, including tax incentives and higher fuel economy standards—we don’t anticipate a mass migration to green vehicles in the coming decade.”

The study looked at why consumers would be reluctant to make the splurge and in what should come as no surprise, the answer was cost.

“Many consumers say they are concerned about the environment, but when they find out how much a green vehicle is going to cost, their altruistic inclination declines considerably,” said Humphrey. “For example, among consumers in the U.S. who initially say they are interested in buying a hybrid vehicle, the number declines by some 50% when they learn of the extra $5,000, on average, it would cost to acquire the vehicle.”

The overall cost of ownership situation is not clear to consumers, the report noted. Is the price premium offset by the fuel savings? Maybe. But that may also depend on how long an individual owns a vehicle and what the cost of replace the battery pack is. It’s tough to find estimates on the total overall cost of owning an electric vehicle. And ultimately, when it comes time to make a significant purchase, the average American who considers long-term costs more important than the immediate hit on the pocketbook is few and far between.

And consideration needs to be given to driving range. What if I need to leave my house in a hurry and my car is not fully charged, what then? All these factors play a role in purchasing decisions.

The biggest factor driving governments to require improved fuel economy, which in turn could spur more hybrid and battery-electric vehicles, is the reduction of greenhouse gases. But, if our goal is to reduce emissions, is putting more electric vehicles on the road accomplishing that? Sure, that would improve fuel economy, but don’t we still use coal-fired plants to produce electricity in this country? What impact would more electricity use have?

“We don’t want to replace tailpipe emissions with the emissions of coal- and oil-fired power plants that produce the electricity used by BEVs,” said Humphrey. “We have to look at the carbon footprint of the entire energy supply chain.”

A study last year by Danish Petroleum Industry Association indicated that going electric may not be the way to go. The study claims that the “wheel-to-wheel” energy production cycle of vehicles is similar regardless of the type of power used for the vehicle. CO2 emissions from hybrids and electric cars are similar, it said, with diesel-powered vehicles emitting 8% more carbon. Gas-powered vehicles produce about 35% more emissions when compared to diesel.

At this point, there are simply more questions than answers.

Many fleets prefer to do their own maintenance on their vehicles. There are benefits to that: knowing the exact condition of the vehicle; being able to monitor wear and tear; and knowing that you are not reliant on anyone else or beholden to anyone else’s timeframe. All of these and more contribute to piece of mind, which sometimes is worth more than any dollar figure.

But for fleets that don’t want to be bothered by chore of maintenance, there are management programs. GE Capital Fleet Services offers one such program. It’s Maintenance Management program connects customers of light truck and service van fleets to providers that offer quality service and repair for common problems.

According to the company, those enrolled in the program save big bucks too. Nearly $40 million in annual repair savings are seen by those enrolled in the program, according to a maintenance pricing study conducted.

“Fleets are continually looking to save money and time to streamline vehicle management,” said Eric Strom, maintenance product manager at GE Capital Fleet Services. “The objective of the program is to provide customers with an all-encompassing network that gives users substantial cost savings and ease of repair that helps fleets remain efficient.”

Among the benefits GE customers see are discounted pricing, 24/7 technical support, and thousands of repair facilities nationwide.

Even if GE Capital Fleet Services is not your service provider, maintenance contracts are becoming ever more popular. With the coming implementation of CSA 2010, maintenance is becoming more of an issue for fleets big and small.

It won’t take much for a small maintenance issue – something that could have been caught during a good preventive maintenance check – to trigger a more thorough inspection of your vehicles and operation. For small fleets, preventive maintenance can be a hassle due to time constraints. But that is not something FMCSA wants to hear.

Maintenance programs can help prevent some of these problems. And with someone else responsible for a vehicle’s maintenance, it allows managers, especially those from smaller fleets, to focus on the things they need to do to grow the business.

Plans to bring two small pickups to the U.S. have been put on hold again by the manufacturer. Mahindra & Mahindra, an Indian company that already builds small pickups in India with exports to Australia, announced plans back in 2009 to bring the trucks to the U.S. in its efforts to become a global company.

At the time, Mahindra struck a deal with Global Vehicles USA, a Georgia-based company set up to distribute the trucks here. Global Vehicles said it arranged over 300 dealers to sell the trucks and announced a launch date of early 2010. That time has since passed and arrival of the pickups does not appear imminent.

The relationship between Global Vehicle and Mahindra has, for all intent and purposes, dissolved into a legal battle that continues to delay the vehicles.

Global Vehicles claims Mahindra is responsible for delaying the introduction of the trucks. The company’s chief executive officer John Perez did not mince words in a press release, accusing Mahindra officials of not being truthful.

“Nearly 350 dealers have been ready to sell Mahindra trucks for more than three years,” said Perez. “If Mahindra executives were being truthful when they said that the trucks would be on sale by the end of the year, they should honor that commitment so dealers can start earning back the tens of millions of dollars they have invested in the brand.

“Binding arbitration will decide if Mahindra lied to Global Vehicles and our dealers about the status of the trucks and whether they broke the law when they attempted to arbitrarily terminate our distribution contract,” Perez added. “In the meantime, Mahindra is legally – and morally – obligated to conduct business as usual.”

According to Global Vehicles, Mahindra used an escape clause in the contract that allowed it to walk away from the contract if the vehicles had not achieved U.S. safety and emissions standards by June 11, 2010. Mahindra announced in August the vehicles had passed and could be sold in the U.S.

Global Vehicles invoked an arbitration clause in the distribution contract on June 11, claiming the clause forced both companies to continue to honor the agreement while any dispute – in this case the lack of EPA approval – is resolved. Once Mahindra tried to get out of the deal, a federal lawsuit was filed by Global Vehicles.

“Any suggestion that the arbitration process or the federal lawsuit we were forced to file to protect our rights are responsible for the delay in bringing trucks to the United States is patently not true,” Perez said. “If Mahindra’s trucks are ready to sell, they should continue performing their obligations under the distributor agreement just like we have. If dealers start to doubt Mahindra’s integrity, they don’t stand a chance of earning the trust of American consumers.”

Mahindra has only issued a brief statement saying, “the contract with Global Vehicles has expired. In light of this fact, Mahindra will be contacting U.S. dealers to make other arrangements for distribution.”

Based on an Australian model, Mahindra said the truck has a 2,633-lb. payload rating. It will be offered in 2- and 4-door versions, both powered by a 140-hp., 2.2L 4-cyl. diesel mated to a 6-spd. automatic transmission. WardsAuto.com reported a projected combined city-highway fuel economy of 30 mpg, and says the truck will be offered in 2- and 4-wheel drive.

According to Global Vehicles, it has nearly 350 dealers lined up in 49 states with more than $120 million already invested and millions more set aside to purchase inventory. In statements to the Associated Press, Perez hinted at the fact that Mahindra thought it could only sell “maybe 5,000 to 6,000 vehicles a year” in the U.S. With so many dealers lined up, he implied Mahindra is not interested in working with a third party.

A Mahindra spokesperson told the Associated Press the company is “still interested in getting into the U.S. We don’t want to turn this into a war of words.”

I guess we’ll have to wait until the court case for a conclusion, but I wouldn’t count on seeing the Indian pickups anytime soon, if ever at all.

Michigan-based Green Transportation, the long-haul division of parent Zip Xpress, has entered into a unique partnership with its insurance provided as a way to attract only the best drivers to its fleet.

Green and Westfield Insurance will work together to find quality drivers who live in Michigan, keeping jobs in the state, the company said. Green provides service between Michigan and the eleven Western states, plus Texas and Florida.

“We demand the best from our drivers and reward them with top pay and the respect they deserve,” the company’s website claims. “Our West Coast service is 100% team service for speed and DOT compliance. … Our drivers are carefully screened during our hiring process. They must agree to abide by our ‘code of conduct’ and participate in training on self-reliance, customer service and freight handling.”

The new screening process includes a number of new steps. First, the company will only interview a candidate who finished in the top 10% of their CDL graduating class. Second, each candidate will attend a 30-day “finishing” school conducted by Green.

All candidates must be Michigan residents, have a “reasonable” credit rating and a history of responsible behavior. In addition, the driver must have a spotless personal driving record. Westfield will be part of the interview and selection process, Green said.

The advantages of this agreement, the company noted, is to put more responsible and professional drivers on the road while creating jobs in Michigan.

The other benefit is lower-than-usual insurance rates for a company that hires drivers with less than two years of experience. That helps everyone including the drivers, Green said, as they receive full driver’s privileges and pay.

This sounds like a nice partnership that will ensure Green hires capable drivers. Of course, someone will have to hire the other 90% and there ultimately is no guarantee that a driver in the top 10% will be any safer or more responsible than any other driver. It just allows Green to manage its risk better, and that is what every company wants to do.

This week, the trucking industry learned an important lesson about roadway safety. Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) and its driver Donald Creed settled a civil lawsuit in Oklahoma for $62.7 million. The suit was filed by the families of eight people who were killed in a June 26, 2009, accident when the truck Creed, who was 76 years old at the time, was driving slammed into the back of a sport utility vehicle stopped on the roadway in a traffic tie-up.

In all, 10 people were killed that day. The SUV was part of a backup that resulted from a minor traffic incident just ahead on Interstate 44 near Miami, OK. According to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), Creed’s vehicle never slowed and there was no indication that he did anything to try and avoid the collision.

By most accounts, this appears to be an accident in the truest sense of the word. Attorney Jim Secrest, who represented AWG and Creed in the civil case, said that the AWG truck he was driving included “state-of-the-art” equipment and that Creed himself had “5 million miles without one personal injury accident.”

So what went wrong? NTSB attributed the crash to fatigue in its report, along with the lack of onboard technology such as forward collision warning systems and video event recorders. Creed, according to both the report and Secrest, seemed to have followed the letter of the law that day up until that point.

“To this moment, we know what happened, but we don’t know why,” Secrest said.

Creed had been driving for just over 10 hours that day, which might have played a role, but was still within the legal limits. He was not speeding at the time. Did he black out or doze off? We don’t know.

Secrest told me that there was a second claim against AWG that blamed the company for allowing the 76 year old to be driving.

“He’s older for a truck driver, we admit that, but you can’t fire him for that,” Secrest said, adding that that there was nothing in his history that would have indicated he was an unsafe driver.

NTSB proposed a number of items in its report, including the use of recorders, more fatigue management, etc. Because Secrest even admits that Creed remains fuzzy about what happened to this day, no one will ever really know why this tragedy had to occur.

We can legislate all the devices we want into trucks. We can take advantage of all the technology available to us today. We can even institute comprehensive fatigue management programs (Secrest and AWG admitted the company’s program may not have been strong enough at the time). What we cannot do is prevent accidents.

If all these devices had been installed in Creed’s truck, and if Creed had gone through a thorough fatigue management program, might this horrific tragedy been prevented? It’s impossible to know for sure.

Sometimes, accidents just happen.

According to a new survey conducted by NAFA Fleet Management Association, more than 76% of fleets have incorporated sustainability initiatives in the past 12 months. That’s good news in a year that saw many fleets struggling to get past the recession.

The non-profit group surveyed approximately 200 fleet managers in July. Results indicated that 76.6% of corporate fleets have sustainability programs, up from 64.5% in last year’s survey. That’s a very positive trend.

Public service fleets are more aggressive, the survey reported, and use a larger variety of methods and alternative fuels than their corporate counterparts. Three-quarters of all service fleets use a mix of hybrid, alternative fuel, and other fuel-efficient vehicles in their fleets. There is also a trend to downsizing the engine, with more than one-third shifting to 4-cylinder vehicles.

Another positive trend: 17.5% reported they have made the move to use only hybrid vehicles.

Corporate fleets also are using a mix of hybrid and other fuel-efficient vehicles, with 59.2% reporting that is their approach. And 55.1% reported downsizing to 4-cylinder vehicles, with 36.7% using alternative-fueled vehicles.

Corporate fleets were also more interested in becoming carbon neutral, with 10% purchasing carbon offsets, twice the percentage of public service fleets.

One concern from the study, though, is the number of fleets not developing sustainability programs. In fact, 86% of corporate fleets and 70% of public service fleets that currently do not have a program indicated they have no intention of starting one. Why?

Fuel use also saw a variety among fleets, although 91% of corporate fleets report using E85 in their vehicles. No other fuel topped 10%. Public service fleets offered a little more variety, with 64.4% using E85 and 63.5% running vehicles on biodiesel.

Compressed natural gas is used by 33.7 of public service fleets and liquefied petroleum gas at 16.3%.

Public service fleets also reported their plans to add more vehicles with 66.4% planning to add light-duty hybrids, 57.9% adding E85-capable vehicles, 52.3% adding biodiesel, 44.9% implementing battery-electric vehicles, 32.7% adding plug-in hybrids and 29% adding heavy-duty hybrids.

Corporate fleets are mostly interested in adding light-duty hybrids, 63.8%, and E85, 53.2%.

Natural gas advocate T. Boone Pickens had some interesting comments a few weeks ago in a speech at a Calgary business event. According to Reuters, Pickens advised natural gas producers to cut production in an effort to boost prices.

“Right now, if I was running a drilling program in the United States, I would stop drilling wells,” Pickens told the audience. “Kill the drilling, let the supply go down, and you can expect a better price for gas.”

I’m no economist, but it seems to me if the price of natural gas goes up, wouldn’t the demand likely go down? We saw that same scenario play out recently with record crude oil prices. A barrel of oil went up, therefore the price of gas skyrocketed, and driving behaviors changed.

Pickens is perhaps the leading advocate for natural gas in this country. One of his big pushes is to convince the trucking industry to switch to natural gas tractors. Costs often get in the way, though.

If the ultimate goal is to increase demand for natural gas, how would boosting the price do that? Why would anyone, in trucking or otherwise, spend the extra money to purchase a natural gas vehicle or install natural gas in their homes so they could knowingly pay more for the fuel?

Perhaps it’s because natural gas producers have not found the foothold they need in this country to make a significant profit. The only way to do that, and to meet investors’ expectations, is to raise prices. Pickens told the audience that producers are under pressure from investors and analysts to raise production. The investors may be right. Boost supply, lower prices, and create demand for the fuel.

Texas-based Brookshire Grocery Co. (BGC) is preparing to send 37 World War II veterans to Washington, DC, next week as part of its second WWII Heroes Flight.

The company, which operates more than 150 supermarkets in Texas, Louisiana and Arkansas under four names (Brookshire’s Food Stores, Super 1 Foods Stores, Ole Foods, and ALPS), held a similar flight back in May.

(Photo by Rick Latoff / American Battle Monuments Commission)

“We are very grateful for the service provided by these veterans,” said Rick Ellis, chief marketing officer for BGC. “Our first trip with WWII veterans back in May was so rewarding we’ve decided to do it again with a new group of east Texas veterans.”

The company pays for the entire trip, which will cover two days in DC. There is a public sendoff scheduled for 5 a.m. Tuesday morning at the company’s store on Rice Road in Tyler, TX, before the 37 veterans board a plan for the flight to Reagan National Airport. Brookshire is encouraging well-wishers to come to the sendoff.

The group will return on Wednesday, Oct. 6, around 10 p.m. Again, the public is being invited to meet the group at the Rice Road store. The group will visit the WWII Memorial, the Iwo Jima Memorial, Arlington National Cemetery and the U.S. Capitol, among other historic sites.

“Most of these veterans have never had a chance to see their memorial. We’re thrilled to provide this opportunity,” Ellis said. “We realize time is of the essence for this group. It’s estimated that we’re losing WWII veterans nationally at a rate of 1,000 per day. There is not much time left to honor them in this way.”

To participate, the company accepts applications on a first-come, first-served basis. Unfortunately, due to funding, not every applicant is able to make the trip. Spokesman Sam Lanier said that there have been over 100 applicants for the two trips with 75 making the trek. There is consideration being given to planning additional trips, but Lanier said there are no formal plans at this point.

The company is no stranger to charity work. In October alone, Brookshire’s website lists nearly 50 events that it or its employees are either donating time or money, or in some cases both, too. The company provides over $1 million annually to about 800 groups in need.

One of its more unique community events is the Brookshire World of Wildlife Museum & Country Store. The museum is open to the public with no admission charge. More than 450 animals are on display to educate children on the importance of wildlife. It is located on Rice Road.