For all the talk about how unsafe big rigs are on the highways and all the people who are killed each year by truckers, there has been a steady flow of good news for the industry to tout in recent years.

Of course everyone in the industry knows all about the statistics. The American Trucking Assns. recently noted improved crash statistics, such as a 33% decline in truck-involved highway crash fatalities in 2009 compared to 2003, and how the rate of fatalities is at its lowest point since DOT started keeping records in 1975. On top of that, ATA said crash-related fatalities, injuries and property-damage-only crash rates for large trucks are at their lowest level since DOT began keeping records three decades ago.

But once in awhile, it’s nice to get some “outside” confirmation of just how professional and safe today’s trucks and truck drivers really are.

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An analysis from Jay Thompson at the Gerson Lehrman Group correctly points out the problems with the new Hours-of-Service regulations proposed just before Christmas by the Dept. of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.



The rule requires time – something that is in short supply in an industry trying to meet deadlines.

“It’s one of those things where we try to balance highway safety against driver health against driver income against driver happiness (miles and home time),” Thompson wrote. “As one who follows and tries to make sense out of numbers, improving safety numbers from where we are now is extremely difficult. The other main ingredient in truck safety is the drivers’ attitude, which these rules have us potentially going in the wrong direction.”

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With the ascension of Rep. John Mica (R-FL) to the chairmanship of the House’s Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, it’s all but certain that the contentious “Brown Bailout” provision in the FAA Reauthorization bill will go the way of other deal-breakers.

Mica, according to several published reports, is not likely to include the provision in the House’s version of the bill. The Senate had previously passed a version without the 230-word provision.

Nicknamed the Brown Bailout by FedEx, the provision would have classified FedEx Express truck drivers under the under the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Currently, all FedEx Express employees are classified under the Railway Labor Act (RLA), which governs airlines. more

So now we know. As the industry has gone through all kinds of regulations that have changed the industry for better or for worse, the most famous “truck driver” has seen his job change very little through the years. It turns out we could probably learn a thing or two from the world’s No. 1 truck driver – Santa Claus.

Yes, that’s right, the Big Jolly Old Elf himself was the world’s first, and certainly it’s most famous, truck driver. So says Driver Solutions.

Driver Solutions specializes in CDL training. The company, thanks to the work of multimedia content producer Kylee Wall, has created an alternative story to the Christmas classic “Twas the Night Before Christmas.”

“Twas the Night Before Christmas – Trucker’s Edition” compares Santa to the life of a truck driver, and remarkably, they are quite the same. The video, and accompanying rewrite of the classic tale, has a truck driver meeting Santa at a truck stop during a snowstorm and sharing notes on their jobs.

“Yes, Santa Claus steers eight grass-chomping reindeer instead of a diesel-powered eighteen-wheeler, and he’s seated in a sleigh, not a cab,” said Wall. “But what he does is strikingly similar to a professional truck driver.

Both Santa and today’s truck drivers are responsible for delivering packages on time. Both have to work no matter the weather. And both use modern tracking devices. more

The Ohio Turnpike Commission approved an increase in the speed limit on the Ohio Turnpike, according to an Associated Press article published on Recordpub.com.

By a 4-1 vote, the Commission increased the limit to 70 mph along the 241-mi. road, hoping that the increased speeds would lure trucks off of secondary roads and onto the Turnpike. The increase goes into effect on April 1, 2011, the article stated. more

The Ohio Turnpike Commission is considering raising the speed limit on the Turnpike. According to Marilou Johanek of the Toledo Blade, the authority wants to raise the speed limit on the Turnpike from 65 mph to 70 mph.

Mostly, I think I have to agree with Johanek, who lays out a pretty good argument against the proposal. But she does lose some credibility when she highlights the additional dangers due to faster trucks on the highway. And she takes this argument because the Turnpike authority itself uses truck efficiency as a reason for the proposed increase.

“If the turnpike commission sets a higher speed limit for all vehicles using the 241-mile highway, it could soon give truckers even more reason to speed,” she writes. “Ever since truck speeds on the Turnpike were raised, the number of accidents involving trucks has increased, as has the number of deaths in such accidents.” more

Jim Cramer, perhaps best known as the host of CNBC’s widely popular “Mad Money” stock-advice show, is bullish on truck stocks. Why? Because, according to the official Mad Money blog written on Mad Money web editor Tom Brennan, sometimes there are longer-term trends that outweigh short-term reality.

Brennan writes: “These are the longer-term trends in business that supersede any short-term fluctuations in the market or the economy. Like these Cramer faves taking place right now: the mobile Internet tsunami, agriculture, autos and aftermarket auto parts, cloud computing, shoes, aerospace and trucks.”

“Now, the benefit of trading these bull markets is that they lend you the confidence you need to weather those aforementioned fluctuations. Oil’s down? A bad unemployment number? China’s raising interest rates? Whatever—just use the weakness to buy your secular bull market stocks,” Brennan wrote.

The blog states that Cramer recommended buying into Cummins (NYSE: CMI) back on June 2. His belief was that there would be a resurgence in the truck market, and sure enough, Cummins rebounded, closing at $105.03 on Friday, up some 63% since June 2.

By the way, Cramer is also suggesting Paccar (Nasdaq: PCAR) and Navistar (NYSE: NAV). If he’s right, we’re all probably in for a successful 2011.

Support for increasing weight limits has been gaining ground in the last several years for a number of reasons, including improving productivity, increasing safety due to fewer trucks on the road, and environmental reasons.

And just as that support continues to grow, proponents of the higher weight limits suffered a setback on Wednesday night when the U.S. House of Representatives stripped out a provision in a funding bill that effectively kills the state of Maine’s pilot program to allow trucks up to 100,000 lbs. on Federal Interstate highways in that state.

“I am so disappointed that the House has passed a Continuing Resolution that does not include either a permanent fix or an extension of the current pilot program. Given the time constraints and voting rules in the Senate, it is unlikely that we can restore the truck weights language that the House took out, thus jeopardizing the fate of what has been a successful pilot project,” said Sen. Susan Collins, the Maine Republican who authored the legislation setting up the pilot program.

The provision had been included in a bill known as a Continuing Resolution (CR). The CR provides funding for programs through Sept. 30, 2011.

The pilot program will end at the end of the day on Dec. 17, forcing carriers in Maine to make some quick decisions.

“Permanently allowing the heaviest trucks to use federal Interstate highways in Maine has always been one of my top priorities,” Collins said in a press release. “The pilot project, that I authored, has clearly provided economic, energy, and environmental benefits and has made our secondary roads and many downtowns safer. That is why the President agreed to my request to include a provision to make the pilot project permanent in his proposed CR.”

The pilot program, begun last December, allowed six-axle trucks weighing up to 100,000 lbs. to travel in Interstates in Maine, including I-95, I-195, I-295, and I-395.

Collins’ office released the results of a preliminary study conducted by the Maine Dept. of Transportation that said the program saved both money and time while improving safety.

“For example, on a trip from Hampden to Houlton, a truck travelling on Interstate 95 saves 50 minutes over Route 2 and avoids more than 270 intersections and nine school crossings. The driver also saves approximately $30 on fuel by traveling on the Interstate,” the report stated.

Collins, who is on the Senate Appropriations Committee, has tried to work with the Administration to make the program permanent.

Just last week, experts speaking at the “Moving the World: The Future of Freight Transportation,” forum in Washington DC addressed the issue of heavier trucks and the role they can play in a more efficient supply chain.

“Truck productivity is limited by policy in this country, not technology,” said John Woodrooffe, director of the transportation safety analysis division at the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute (UMTRI). “Size and weight policy is frozen by politics and what we’re saying is let science guide policy instead.”

John Runyan, executive director of the Coalition for Transportation Productivity, said the climate for allowing heavier trucks is changing.

“The political reality surrounding this issue is shifting,” he noted at the conference. “Two years ago, when we started our group in the wake of the summer fuel price surge, I would never have thought states like Maine and Vermont would be pilot-testing heavier trucks on their highways.

“But the political landscape has shifted due to this conflux of environmental, fuel consumption, and highway congestion,” he added. “So we have a shot at this.”

Increasing truck weights still has a shot to win the war, but at least one battle seems to have been lost.

After 14 years leading the world’s second-largest truck maker, Leif Johansson will step aside. The president & CEO of Volvo Trucks has told the board of AB Volvo will he resign next summer as he approaches his 60th birthday.

“My years at Volvo have been a fantastic period in my life and this is by no means a light-hearted decision, but at some point it’s time to leave,” said Johansson. “The timing is good both with respect to my personal situation and with respect to the more stable situation for the company.”

Johansson will also leave the board.

“I made this announcement today because I wanted to give the Board ample time to arrange with an orderly replacement process,” he said, adding that he has no plans to move to a different company.

“I have been CEO and president of public companies for 20 years now and have no intention to move on to a CEO position elsewhere, but I might consider new board assignments,” Johansson said.

Johansson will turn 60 in August 2011 and has been CEO & president of Volvo since 1997. He is also on a number of other boards with other companies, including Bristol Myers Squibb and SCA. He is currently also chairman of the European Round Table of Industrialists.

“Leif Johansson has done an impressive job during his years at Volvo and although I regret his decision I have full respect for it given his many years of hard work,” said Louis Schweitzer, chairman of the board of Volvo. “The board will now focus on finding his successor.

Johansson led Volvo’s purchase of Renault Trucks and Mack Trucks and, according to the Reference for Business, was behind the decision to sell the Volvo car brand to Ford Motor Co. in 1999.

Johansson was not afraid to make the tough decisions in his career. Somehow, I’m betting this was another one.

For readers of this blog, I’ve made it easier to get access to the entries I write. I’ve joined Facebook.

Fleet Owner has been on Facebook for some time, but now Trucking Straight Talk has its own page. On the page, you’ll find the latest blog entries. But, I also hope to post interesting links to stories from around the web as well as interesting comments. Click here to visit the page.

My hope is that Facebook will provide a forum for some of the random thoughts that otherwise would disappear into the expanse of space. But just as importantly, it will provide the opportunity for you to comment on those thoughts, or even to add your own.

I would like the Facebook page to become a sort of social gathering place for fans of this blog as well as anyone else interested in trucking regardless of your job description.

So please head over to Facebook, search for Trucking Straight Talk and click “like” and join me for some interesting conversation.