For those people who always say, “If I was designing this…,” here’s your chance. Well, OK, you’re not actually designing the product, but you input is being sought.

Continental Tire the Americas, as part of its display at this week’s Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, is asking drivers, fleet managers, and anyone else who wants to stop by their booth, to offer their input on Continental’s next great tire – the company’s first super single drive tire for highway use.

The company already has a super single trailer tire, the HTL1, but now it’s getting into the business of super single drive tires. The HDL2 Eco Plus (the “223″ at right), expected to launch later this year, is expected to provide superior fuel economy, exceptional traction, and a weight reduction over dual fitments, the company said.

What Continental doesn’t know yet, though, is what you think. more

Sometimes, it really is who you know. The Seattle-based Northwest Lions Foundation knew the right person, and that person gave the charity a gift that will save hundreds, if not thousands, of children from life-altering sight and hearing problems.

Red Bingham, an 87-year-old retired marine construction worker, and his wife Beverly, gave the Northwest Lions Foundation the boost it needed to purchase a new Kenworth T660 tractor that would pull a new trailer designed for vision and hearing screenings. The Lions Foundation uses the tractor-trailer to visit schools in Washington State and Northern Idaho and offer free hearing and sight tests for elementary school children to identify potential problems before they interfere with learning.

The truck travels about 25,000 miles a year, the organization said, conducting tests on about 28,000 children. About 12-14% are identified as having previously undiagnosed sight or hearing problems. more

After years of being greener, package delivery giant UPS has finally taken the step so many companies before it has: UPS has hired a sustainability officer.

“The creation of the new post recognizes the expanding scope of UPS’ sustainability actions, as well as its strategic importance,” said UPS COO David Abney. “The long-term success of our company absolutely requires a balance of the environmental, economic and social aspects of the business. Sustainability encompasses all of those areas.”

Scott Wicker, a 34-year veteran of the company who got his start as package loader before working his way up the corporate ladder on the engineering side of the company, has been hired as UPS’ first chief sustainability officer.

“The discipline and systematic analytics we use in engineering are extremely valuable when devising internal sustainability programs,” Wicker said. “Quantitative methodology ensures that our sustainability programs measure impact and keep us moving toward continuous improvement.”

According to UPS, Wicker has been deeply involved with sustainability at the company. more

Part of the deal that President Barack Obama struck with Mexican President Calderon last week to allow Mexican trucks to cross the border and operate inside the U.S. was the requirement that those trucks install electronic onboard recorders (EOBRs).

What we now know about that deal is that FMCSA will pay for the installation of the EOBRs. Talk about a political football. Given how many feel about Mexican truck drivers on U.S. roads, I wonder if this provision was put in by the Administration to show Mexico that we were doing everything we could to comply with the requirements of NAFTA, while at the same time creating an out for the public and Congress.

For the record, I am in favor of opening the border and allowing Mexican trucks to haul into the U.S., just as American trucks should be allowed to haul into Mexico. As I’ve written before, though, those Mexican trucks should meet all U.S. rules and regulations, from safety to emissions to highway laws. There are many people, though, who disagree with this premise.

(Trucking leader says Mexican trucks can not meet EPA standards)

While I believe the specifics of the border trucking program should be debated. This revelation seems a lot like a poison pill designed to torpedo the program before it can be resurrected. According to reports, the reason the U.S. wants to pay for the EOBRs is so that the government “owns” the data the devices collect. Until someone can provide a valid reason as to why the government needs to own this data, I question why this is important. more

The U.S. House yesterday passed a seven-month extension of the multi-year surface transportation bill (SAFETEA-LU), aka the highway bill, to keep funding highway, safety and transit programs through Sept. 30, 2011.

The multi-year surface transportation bill expired in September 2009 and has since been extended several times to keep funds flowing and projects moving forward. A long-term authorization, however, has been elusive due to a variety of factors, including party politics.

The extension the House passed, by a vote of 421-4, needs to be approved by the Senate before the current extension expires tomorrow. According to U.S. Rep. Nick J. Rahall (D-WV), the ranking Democrat on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee (T&I), if an extension is not agreed to, nearly $800 million in highway reimbursements to states could be in danger next week.

But Rahall comments on the passage of this short-term bill identifies some of the problems that lie ahead to get a long-term authorization approved.

“Extending these programs is critical to keeping our economy on the road to recovery, and I strongly support this bill – as did my colleagues on both sides of the aisle – when we passed it out of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee two weeks ago under unanimous consent,” he said. “What I cannot support, however, are Republican attempts to gut investments that grow our economy, such as those in the Republican spending bill that passed two weeks ago. What I cannot support is dangerous and draconian cuts to investments in America’s future just as our economy is turning the corner. What I cannot support is cutting the job-creating muscle of our budget when we should be focusing on trimming the fat.”

House T&I Chairman John Mica (R-FL), along with other members of the committee, has been barnstorming the country in recent weeks to gain feedback from industry stakeholders and the public on how a future authorization bill should look. How much of that input will go into the final bill, though, will probably depend as much on party politics as funding possibilities.

If a long-term bill is not completed by September, and Mica has said it is a priority to get one passed by then, we could be looking at two more years of extensions as we enter a presidential election cycle. Very few member of Congress - Republicans or Democrats, Representatives or Senators - are going to want to wade into a massive funding bill that is sure to be criticized by nearly everyone that has a stake in transportation just before an important election.

For everyone’s sake, let’s hope this is the last extension for quite some time.

While most truck drivers in the U.S. worry about what the guy next to them is doing when he should be watching the road, there are a group of drivers who risk their lives every day, worried about a whole lot more than just the driver on his cell phone. They are the men and women who ferry supplies to our troops in war-torn countries such as Afghanistan.

Many people forget that even with all our military might, most of it would not be if not for fuel and other necessary supplies like replacement parts and food. And how does this stuff arrive at camps? Just like bread arrives in your local store: via truck.

And it’s not just the military’s men and women who put their lives on the line to deliver the goods, it’s also the average citizen. There is a wonderful article I saw today by Kathy Gannon of the Associated Press. Gannon writes about the haulers who transport 100 truckloads of fuel a day to the front lines to keep the U.S. army operational in Afghanistan.

(You can read the whole story here)

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