Trucks at Work Blog

“Look at all that steel and chrome!” –One driver speaking to another at a recent “pride & polish” show truck event

Since Labor Day is the holiday weekend that traditionally heralds the end of the summer, I thought we‘d close things out with a bang and have a little fun - which for me means combining big rigs and heavy metal!

Thanks again for the gracious help of that most ubiquitous trucking editor in the business, David A. Kolman, editor-in-chief of our sister magazine Refrigerated Transporter. Keep your eyes peeled for his cameo appearances in this clip, too. Have a safe holiday and see you in September!

“I try to relate what we‘re doing with truck driver training to the philosophy of the Navy SEALs: make the training tougher than the real operations are. That way, when a tire blows out or there‘s ice on the road, the driver reacts instinctively, without any time wasted on panic or worry.” -Randy Peterson, simulator facilitator, Dart Transit Co.

Though it‘s been rolling around the industry for over three years now, Dart Transit Co.‘s mobile training simulator still gets people‘s attention. The full-motion simulator is built into a 53-foot trailer that acts as both a classroom and as an exhibit for educating the public about the dangers drivers face on the highways - and the skills needed to overcome them.

Of course, the big draw is the simulator itself - a full-size cab mounted on a full-motion base, with video screens in front of the simulator and in the side view mirrors giving drivers behind the wheel about as realistic experience as you can get.

[As real as driving a truck can get — without getting out on the highway.]

“It‘s not a full-motion simulator, such as what airline pilots work with,” Randy Peterson, simulator facilitator for Dart told me. “We‘d need 14 feet of vertical clearance and a 20-foot circumference to use one of those. But it accomplishes the same goal very well.”

Developed by GE Capital I-SIM, the cab is built on a platform containing an actuator motor that creates realistic motions and vibrations to mimic the “feel” of a truck on the road. It certainly proved convincing to a number of drivers and regular folks that tried it out at the Great American Trucking Show last week.

[The video below shows the simulator in action - and the challenges Randy Peterson can throw at the person behind the wheel with just a keystroke or two.]

The realistic nature of the cab is what‘s important, Peterson told me. With the flick of a switch, he can set it up with a manual or automatic transmission, throw in different kinds of trailers and load weights, even change truck types - dual or single rear axle tractors, dump trucks, etc. All in all, he‘s got 52 different vehicle configurations programmed into the system. It‘s a real truck cab, too - using the same gauges, seats, and windshield design professional drivers encounter every day.

Positioned behind a big bank of computer screens, Peterson has at his fingertips a wide range of what he calls “performance experiences” - some 42 in all - including driving conditions that provide high driver stress; scenarios based on actual accidents; how to handle hot brakes, tire blowouts and road hazards; high, moderate and low speed controlled recovery techniques and safe driving maneuvers with liquid truckloads while engaged in traffic.

[Peterson at the controls of Dart’s truck driver training simulator.]

The carrier stresses, however, that the simulator is NOT intended for entry-level driver training. Instead, it offers the unique ability the recreate hazardous situations that could not be trained for in any other environment. “Our goal is to work with our owner operators, other carriers, and private fleets to make all drivers safer,” Peterson told me. “We take this unit on the road and can go anywhere in the lower 48 states and even into Canada if a company up there wanted to use it for training.”

Dart, of course, charges a fee for the use of its mobile training trailer, for it wasn‘t cheap to built it. The entire unit cost around $1.5 million - some $600,000 for the trailer and classroom potion, another $450,000 for the simulator alone. The carrier uses training modules provided by Tread-1 in the classroom portion of the trailer to educate drivers on specific skill sets before putting them into the simulator to put into practice what they‘ve learned.

[A few last instructions are given before the training session begins.]

“It takes them an hour to get through a training module - and it‘s very unforgiving,” Peterson explained. “Because if you fail the test at the end, you have to start over. It won‘t let you proceed to the next stage - the simulator - until you master the written materials.”

The simulator is, of course, where it all comes together - putting a driver‘s lifetime of experience on the road, combined with the skill training they‘ve just received, to the ultimate test.

“One of the reasons airline pilots are so good at what they do is they get an enormous amount of simulator training - recreating any number of hazardous situations over and over again until they react almost instinctively,” Peterson told me. “That‘s exactly what we‘re trying to do here.”

For example, if a steer tire blows out, the natural reaction of most people - including commercial truck drivers - is to hit the brakes. Wrong! “You actually have to accelerate a little bit, to get the vehicle under control, to know which tire is blown, before laying off the throttle and letting the vehicle slow on its own,” Peterson explained. “Hit the brakes after a tire failure and you‘ll jackknife or roll over.”

[The simulator and classroom are housed in a totally mobile 53-foot trailer.]

If the tractor brakes fail, how do you stop the vehicle? “Most drivers say shift down in the gears - that will slow the vehicle, but won‘t stop it,” Peterson said. “You need to use the trailer brakes to stop.”

Though both are very simple scenarios, the main reason you train drivers over and over and over on them is that they have only fractions of seconds in which to react. “You have this extremely small window in which to take action - hesitate, take a second to think about what you need to do, and it‘s too late,” he stressed. “The simulator helps makes those reactions instinctive, so the driver performs them almost automatically.”

Dart, a family-owned and operated business since 1934, is no stranger to doing things a little differently in order to boost not just profits but safety as well. For four out of the last eight years, one of its contractors has won the Truckload Carriers Association‘s “Owner-Operator of the Year” award - given out in part based on safe driving records. Dart also regularly hands out million-mile safety awards among its corps of drivers.

Yet even though its the 14th largest truckload carrier in America, with Dart‘s Intermodal division the 3rd largest intermodal asset based carrier in the U.S., the carrier doesn‘t hesitate to offer up its simulator for use by rival companies - highway safety is just too critical for that. Dart stresses that when a fleet leases its “Safety Advantage” simulator for safety training, it comes to them based on their schedule - with Peterson usually at the helm - with the training tailored to that fleet‘s specific driving environment.

“I‘ve been a truck driver for 38 years - 4.7 million miles without an accident and only five tickets,” Peterson said. “I started with Dart 13 years ago, first in dispatch and then in the safety department. But I really love this job - I really didn‘t care for the office environment. This job allows me to drive and to help improve driver skills all over the country. You can‘t ask for more.”

“I tell my students to be precise in everything they do - from their pre-trip inspections, to hooking up their airlines, making sure all their lights are working - and be careful to see that everything is in order before getting on the road. That saves us from a lot of difficulties.” -Donald Turkelson of Battle Creek, Mich. - truck driver, former instructor, and winner of Arrow Truck Sales‘ 2008 “Back On The Road” contest

It‘s no wonder that precision, discipline, attention to detail, and resilience are deeply ingrained in Don Turkelson, as he served in the U.S. Army for 28 years - 21 on active duty and seven in the reserves - retiring at the rank of Lt. Colonel.

Yet several other traits stand out as well, ones stemming from his service as a military chaplain - patience, tolerance, understanding, and not a little bit of humor (his trucking “handle” is Bald Eagle - a wry reference to his rank in the U.S. Army and lack of hair). It‘s all of those character hallmarks combined that enabled him to go from novice driver to truck driver instructor over the course of his 11 year trucking career.

(Truck driver Don Turkelson with his Volvo tractor and trusty companion Shadow. And “Shadow” is an appropriate name for Turkelson’s canine partner, for he never leaves his side — in or out of the truck.)

Turkelson boils his trucking philosophy down to one single word: safety. If there‘s one thing above all others he’s tried to drill into his students over the years - indeed, the single most important mantra he lives by on the road - it‘s to be a safe driver, not only in terms of tractor-trailer operation, but also in terms of extending simple courtesies to others on the highway.

“Too often, for new truck drivers especially, everyone is just ‘go-go-go‘ on the highway these days,” Turkelson explained to me in a sit down interview recently, with his trusty canine Shadow by his side. “The last four or five years especially, there‘s been little courtesy on the road. It just seems the attitude between drivers is getting ugly. That shouldn‘t be. We are a brotherhood out here.”

[Don explains why safety and courtesy are vital attribute for truck drivers today in the clip below.]

Many truckers might think that trying to change attitudes about safety and courtesy on the road today is just too difficult - too big a mountain to climb. Turkelson doesn‘t believe that‘s so - largely because he‘s used to adversity. He didn‘t drop out when the instructors at Lansing Community College relentlessly taught him how to shift gears back in 1997 (“I shifted bad enough to make a preacher swear,” Turkelson told me). He didn‘t give up as he moved from truck driver to commercial bus operator and back to trucker as he searched for the right job with the right benefits.

Not even after he got shot and left for dead.

On March 19, 2002, in a drop lot at 1:30 a.m. switching out trailers, Turkelson noticed one his airlines had become disconnected. Putting down his paperwork, he got out of the cab to check on it - and came face to face with a man in a ski mask and a pistol, trying to steal his truck. Turkelson refused, tried slipping back into the cab - then the man shot him in the leg. The bullet hit a Swiss army knife and screwdriver in Turkelson‘s pocket, shattering into a million metal fragments and forcing the knife and screwdriver out of the other side of his leg. His attacker fled, disappearing into the night.

Somehow, Turkelson managed to drive his truck to the guard shack by the drop yard‘s gate, where the security officer called an ambulance and the police - which both took 20 minutes to arrive. “We were completely exposed,” Turkelson recalled - his military mind instantly analyzing the situation. “If that man returned, we would‘ve had no chance.”

(Shadow is not just a friendly dog — he’s helped Turkelson overcome the trauma of the shooting and get back to driving a truck for a living, a profession he truely loves.)

Though he recovered after surgery and the intense physical therapy sessions that followed some two to three times a week for four months, the police investigation of the shooting proved almost as ugly as the event itself. “For a time they believed it was self-inflicted,” Turkelson said. “That trauma was almost as bad as the shooting.”

He also stayed off the road for several years, despite therapy, as Turkelson found he had “just too much fear in my heart” to get into a truck at night. But by 2004, he‘d had enough. “I wasn‘t going to let this man take my livelihood away,” he said.

Not only did he restart his career, driving just part time ease himself back in the swing of things, Lansing Community College brought him on board as a full-time driver instructor, allowing him to directly dispense the results of his experience to new drivers. “You cannot take safety for granted,” Turkelson said. “When you are out on the road driving 64,000 miles a year, you have to do all you can to minimize the chance of causing an accident.”

(Turkelson is a huge believer in the nitty-gritty of safe driving practices — slowing down to 10 miles an hour when entering truckstops, braking before a turn then accelerating through it, etc. — as to his mind focusing on the little details adds up to better driving overall.)

Some of the tips he shared with his students, and continues to share with others today, are as follows:

Be a professional - Approach driving with the same level of professionalism you would any other job. This means obeying all the normal traffic laws and staying courteous behind the wheel.

Stay alert - Constantly check your mirrors and be aware of the flow of traffic around you and pay special attention when entering or exiting the highway., as well as when changing lanes.

Know your route - Pre-planning your route can help you avoid difficult intersection and turns. Find the best course using free online services like MapQuest, Google Maps, and electronic navigation and routing devices.

Maintain a safe speed and following distance - A fully loaded tractor-trailer traveling 55 miles per hour takes almost 500 feet to come to a complete stop. Maintaining a safe following distance can help offset the amount of road needed to avoid a collision. Keep about four seconds of distance per 25 miles per hour between you and the vehicle in front of you.

Take a break - A good way to stay alert at the wheel is to take short breaks every three hours. A quick stretch and jog around the truck will perk you up for the next leg of the journey. This provides various health benefits as well.

“Every few hours, I take a break and go for a short walk with my dog, Shadow. It gets my blood flowing again and helps me stay focused and alert while driving,” he noted. “If you do all you can to stay safe behind the wheel, there is no reason why you can‘t have a clean safety record.”

Turkelson‘s story also proves an adage I strongly believe in: “Good things happen to good people.” He entered Arrow‘s Back On The Road contest this year and won, receiving: a tricked out 2005 VNL 670 tractor donated by Volvo Trucks North America; a one-year work agreement with Coralville, Iowa-based carrier Heartland Express; a three-year, 300,000 mile warranty courtesy of National Truck Protection (NTP); insurance from the Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA); business consulting and financial tools courtesy of ATBS; and tires from Michelin.

“Donald has an amazing story to tell and a great spirit,” said Carl Heikel, Arrow‘s president and CEO. “Arrow is proud to give him the opportunity to get back on the road with a quality truck from Volvo and a job from Heartland Express.”

“It‘s a dream come true for me,” Turkelson told me. “I am just so thankful I did this, becoming a truck driver. I love being on the highway; the freedom of it, like the pioneers of the past. There‘s no one looking over your shoulder, which also means the responsibility is on you and you alone to provide quality, on-time, and above all safe delivery of goods. In this job, you always know you‘ve done a good days work.”

“These are challenging times in this industry. I spend most of my time on airplanes, trying to find people willing to buy equipment. There‘s a lot of hesitation in the dry freight sector - and uncertainty freezes buying. That‘s why trailers must be more economical than ever - to be lighter yet withstand abuse is critical.” -Craig Bennett, senior vice president-sales and marketing, Utility Trailer Manufacturing Company

Times are tough all around in trucking, no doubt about it. The combination of high fuel prices, higher equipment costs (due to costly emission reduction mandates) and slumping freight volume is taking a horrendous toll on truckers large and small. According to recent data, some 1,900 trucking operations shut down in the first six months of this year due to the caustic business environment we‘re in.

So what‘s an equipment manufacturer to do? Well, if you make trailers for a living, it seems you boil your strategy down largely to one word: innovation.

(Hyundai’s new HT Composite XT trailer.)

That‘s what I‘ve seeing of late in the trailer market, anyways: a steady stream of new products and features designed to make trailers lighter, last longer, offer the potential for fuel economy improvements, and in general offer more value for the money.

Let‘s start with Hyundai Translead‘s newest product, the HT Composite XT trailer. One of its key new features is an extended scuff rail to prevent forklift damage, so if a forklift happens to hit the lower inside wall of the trailer known as the “damage zone,” the forklift will hit the extended extra tough aluminum bottom rail, not the composite sidewall panels, Stuart James, Hyundai‘s vice president if sales, told me at the Great American Truck Show last week.

[James explains this in the video below - it‘s much easier to show how this benefits fleets rather than try to describe it with words.]

The rail also includes a centrally located external rib for increased stiffness and scrape resistance, with the bottom rail and extended scuff both having interior and exterior ribs for greater protection to the fasteners while adding strength and rigidity, James said. He also noted that HT Composite XT also comes standard with Hyundai‘s HT Corrosion Resistance Package, mainly to help resist the damage caused by long exposure to de-icing chemicals used on the highways in winter.

“Forklift damage is overcome with this product, giving peace of mind to purchasers that their trailers can be used to maximum efficiency, with corrosion protection in place as well,” he said. All achieved while maintaining a full 101.5-inch panel-to-panel interior width, so the composite design provides a larger cubic capacity resulting in increased productivity, revenue and ensuring a faster return on investment. “This results in less downtime, increased utilization, and greater profits,” said James.

(Hyundai also offers a completely tricked out “SmartWay” trailer, designed to help fleets maximize fuel economy and obtain SmartWay certification from the Environmental Protection Agency.)

Finally, to make its products even more cost effective for customers, Hyundai offers a standard five-year warranty and a 10-year limited warranty on the composite sidewall panels. Not a bad deal for fleets looking to maximize the usable life of their trailers.

Fellow Californian Utility Trailer Manufacturing Co. is following the same “life cycle value” path with the launch of its 4000 D-X Composite trailer, slated begin production in January 2009 at the company‘s manufacturing facilities in Paragould, Ark., and Glade Spring, Va.

Craig Bennett, Utility‘s senior vice president-sales & marketing, explained during a press conference at the show last week that the side walls of the 4000 D-X Composite offer the same durability traits of a common plate trailer, plus added performance characteristics such as more payload capability, load securement versatility and longer life expectancy.

(The new 4000 D-X Composite trailer.)

Utility built it‘s own research and development center in Southern California for some $15 million, complete with a brutal figure-eight test track designed to torture trailers to failure (that‘s the responsibility of Craig‘s engineering genius relative Jeff Bennett). Those tests assured Utility that though its new composite dry van trailer may offer lower tare weight - some 500 to 1,000 pounds compared to a plate trailer - it can withstand the same level of workday punishment, lasting some 20 years, according to their destructive test results.

“You need to be light today,” Craig Bennett explained. “You‘re dragging weight around behind the tractor, whether empty or loaded. So the lower weight of the 4000 D-X Composite translates either into 0.2% fuel economy improvement or the opportunity to haul more revenue-generating freight.”

The key to that light weight is the bonded construction of the composite side, combining a sheet and post design with a polyurethane foam core that structurally bonds the interior lining panels to the outside skin panels providing side wall durability, strength and lower tare weight. The primary advantage in Utility‘s polyurethane foam core over the polyethylene core found in common plate trailers is that polyurethane has a much lower density - thus translating to a lower weight trailer.

All this while maintaining the 101-inch side-to-side width for maximum cube, said Bennett. “Cube is what it is all about today,” he said. “You have to get it in to haul it. If fleets can‘t get the freight into the trailer, they don‘t like that.”

Great Dane Trailers out of Savannah, GA, has also followed the innovation path these last few years, rolling out a steady stream of new features to help fleets reduce fuel and maintenance costs.

The company showed off its most popular platform trailer, the Freedom, at the Great American Trucking Show - a trailer equipped with ArvinMeritor‘s RSS (Roll Stability Support) to help reduce the occurrence of rollovers. It also features CorroGuard, a spray-in-place thermoplastic elastomer coating applied to suspensions and support gear to offer long-term protection from road abrasion and corrosion.

Great Dane noted that the 48-foot Freedom — specifically designed for the company‘s “in stock” program - is a combination steel and aluminum trailer that offers the advantage of getting competitive weight and price without sacrificing strength and durability. The rear crossmember is constructed of extruded aluminum to save weight and reduce maintenance costs, while reinforcements in critical stress areas provide additional strength without adding unnecessary weight to the trailer design as a whole.

(The Super Seal, built by Great Dane.)

The company also showed off one of its 53-foot Super Seal trailers, featuring not only CorroGuard but Great Dane‘s ThermoGuard thermoplastic interior lining. Developed several years ago, this liner material helps maximize the usefulness of the trailer by reducing the thermal degradation that occurs with conventional reefer linings - allowing the insulation to perform effectively year after year, extending productivity and the trailer‘s useful lifecycle, the company noted. It also helps lower operational costs as the cooling unit will run less, thus consuming less fuel and requiring less maintenance.

It all goes to show that trailer makers are noting standing still - they continue to push the envelope, to find new ways to increase the value their products can bring to customers larger and small. The real question is, can they keep doing it in the face of high commodity costs and the downturn in trucking?

“My heart tells me next year will be better - but then my head tells me there‘s still a lot of uncertainty,” Utility‘s Craig Bennett said. “We hope commodity prices will lower, with high steel and aluminum costs leveling out next year. Those commodity costs have continued to accelerate and that makes it tough on manufacturers.”

Indeed - but it doesn‘t seem to be slowing them down in terms of product development. That‘s a good thing for truckers.

“It‘s all about freedom. About getting that feeling of the highway, with no one looking over your shoulder, just you and the truck. I can turn off the phone, the CB, and just drive.” -Tim Young, speaking to the press before the premier of the movie “Drive and Deliver”

I‘ve got three letters for you this morning, ladies and Gs:

W.O.W.

That‘s my reaction after seeing Navistar‘s film “Drive and Deliver” this past Friday: a movie that started out ostensibly as a grandiose 45-minute commercial for its new LoneStar Class 8 highway tractor but became oh so much more than that in the talented hands of director Brett Morgen and the three drivers he culled from a pool of over 700 candidates.

[The LoneStar on display front and center outside the premier.]

The LoneStar (in my humble opinion) is completely upstaged by drivers Tim “Shoestring” Young, Chris “Discount” LeCount, and Steven “Stingray” Donaldson. Morgen does an absolutely brilliant job letting them tell their stories, relating the high and lows of piloting a big rig for a living. Now, sure, there‘s plenty of lavish praise heaped on the LoneStar (it IS a commercial after all) and more beauty shots than I can count, but it‘s the character of the drivers that really resonates throughout the film.

(The true stars of the movie “Drive and Deliver.” From left to right: Donaldson, LeCount, and Young.)

“We‘re the backbone of this nation,” Donaldson explains in one scene. “People need to realize without the truck, nothing would move, absolutely nothing would move … but you‘re out here, all alone, doing a job most people don‘t want to do. I guess it takes true grit to stay out here all the time.”

There‘s a lot of joy and laughter alongside sorrow and tears in this movie as it takes you on three week-long emotional journeys with Young (a company driver), LeCount and Donaldson (both owner-operators) - all tied together seamlessly with the lush vistas of America.

[Navistar spent big bucks making the premier of “Drive and Deliver” a real red carpet event.]

Oh, that scenery! It‘s simply GORGEOUS! Filmed from helicopters in Montana, Utah, Arizona, and Utah, spliced with film shot from the cabs of the trucks and chase cars, it‘s absolutely STUNNING. I simply can‘t do justice to it with words - even on the small screen (I‘ve watched the DVD four times now) the film just takes my breath away.

Whether you‘re a fan of Navistar and its International truck brand or not, you‘ve got to give the OEM credit for going out on a limb to produce a movie like this - to turn a highly-secretive new truck model over to three drivers, an Academy Award-winning director and his crew of 20, then basically take your hands off the steering wheel. But Morgen says that‘s exactly what happened.

[That’s Brett Morgen, second from left in the red checkered shirt, at the press conference before the premier. Al Saltiel, Navistar‘s vice president of truck marketing, is to the left of Morgen, with the three drivers and David Allendorf, chief designer of the LoneStar, line up to the right of him.]

“No editorial notes were given to me for this,” he explained during a press conference before the film‘s premier Aug. 22. “In fact, I‘d never been in many trucks before making this film. All I can say is that this is about as authentic as any commercial enterprise could be. I just hope I did justice to the stories of these drivers.”

[The drivers themselves talk about the film and the trucking industry below in these clips I shot at the press conference before the film’s premier.]

This reporter believes he did just that - and a whole lot more. Shot over the course of 21 days, covering 5,255 miles across 17 states and amassing some 153 hours of film, Morgen stayed away from trying to fit in every single detail and nuance about the trucking industry, instead keeping the story tightly focused on the three drivers, their experiences on the road, and the stories they tell in their own words without any narration.

What a hell of a risk Navistar took with this approach. Rumor has it they spent $5 million on this movie - $3 million to finance it, another $2 million to market it - which is about a third of the LoneStar‘s overall marketing budget of some $15 million. Yet they ended up with something so poignant, so rich in human emotion - almost a living, breathing ode to the truck driver, painted in searing, larger-than-life colors.

[Tim “Shoestring” Young.]

Even the music Morgen selected fit perfectly - including one of my absolute favorite songs of all time, Lynyrd Skynyrd‘s “Coming Home” (which I misremembered during the premier as being an Allman Brothers tune - SHAME ON ME!!)

[You can listen to Lynyrd Skynyrd‘s “Coming Home” below to see what I mean. It‘s even better when combined with the visual elements in “Drive and Delivered.”]

The music adds a loving and at times haunting aspect to what we see on the screen. Probably the best example is during Chris LeCount‘s at times nightmarish haul from West Point, Mississippi to Charleston, South Carolina to deliver an Navistar MRAP military vehicle (gee, how convenient!). The scenes at night, in the rain, with the glow of traffic around him, backed by the wicked strings of a blues guitar and the crackle of the citizens band radio is all anyone (myself included) needed to instantly understand LeCount‘s situation; to feel the stress of navigating those last nerve-wracking miles to his destination.

(Chris “Discount” LeCount.)

Now, I talked to a lot of drivers after the film and though they all loved it, many voiced expected complaints - a lack of traffic congestion scenes, car drivers dangerously cutting off big rigs at high speed, rude shippers or receivers, roadside inspections, struggles to find parking at night, horrid weather (snow, ice, etc.) and breakdowns (in a marketing campaign for a new truck model? Are you kidding me?)

Others noted the none-too-subtle hours-of-service violation by LeCount (a day that starts at 6 a.m. with delivery 12:10 a.m. the next exceeds 14 hours just a WEE bit), along with something similar as Donaldson relates his grief-stricken accumulation of 130,000 miles in under six months following the tragic death of his son, only 27, from a brain aneurysm back in 1997.

Even the happy homecomings for each driver at the end of the movie came under the cold glare of the cynic‘s eye. A few folks told me that - in reality - oft times the “coming home” ritual is boiled down to “throw the dirty laundry in the corner and go straight to bed.” I say, sure, maybe that‘s true, but isn‘t the happy greeting by family and friends how anyone - but especially truck drivers, gone 15 or 30 days or more - WANTS to be welcomed home? Isn‘t this film also about the reality we‘d like to see more of, too?

[Tim Young with his family — the family he treasures so much.]

Morgen I think answered those and other countless questions this way: his film is for truckers, pure and simple. It‘s supposed to tell a larger story through these three drivers about some - but not all - of the realities commercial truck drivers face every day on the road, as well as celebrate the real joys the profession holds.

“This film wasn‘t made to explain everything in trucking - it was meant to give voice to truckers and their unique lifestyle,” Morgen says. “We wanted to share their attitudes and philosophies about trucking. These three drivers opened their hearts and souls to us, putting themselves out there for all to see. All human beings have an innate desire to share who they are and what they stand for with other human beings. This is what you see on the screen.”

[Driver Tim Young - a native of Flat Rock, Alabama - explains in his own words why he participated in this film. FYI, his infectious laugh and southern drawl are big highlights of the film.]

It isn‘t all peaches and cream, either. There‘s plenty of vocal frustration expressed by the drivers in this film - about traffic, last-minute load assignments, the stress on the family back home, the high cost of fuel, lack of respect, etc. - along a with a lot of leeriness at times about their lives being put on camera.

Donaldson says he very nearly quit on the first day of filming in South Dakota - going so far as to dial information for the nearest airport so he could fly home. “There were people and camera equipment so stuffed in my truck that I barely had room to move in my seat,” he said at the press conference. “I wasn‘t used to being so confined like that.”

[Steven “Stingray” Donaldson.]

But he stayed - and ended up delivering one of the most powerful segments of the movie.

Let me tell you, too, no one is more pleased with this film — warts and all — than Al Saltiel, Navistar‘s vice president of truck marketing.

“You just never know until you see it,” he told me after the premier. “You can‘t help but feel really good about these guys on the screen, for as you get to know them, you like them more and more. Only along the way does the product story come out.”

[The site of the film premier in Dallas.]

He says the goal in creating this one-of-a-kind film was to capture the spirit and pride of today‘s long haul trucker, documenting both the challenges and triumphs they face while on the road, hauling the goods that keep our nation move. “All I can say is the movie is infectious; it creates it‘s own enthusiasm as it rolls along.”

Did it ever. The packed movie theatre that night rendered a pretty dramatic verdict, as well. They gave the movie a three-minute standing ovation.

“When you add up the attributes, we think it‘s the way to go.” -Jerry Warmkessel, marketing product manager, Mack Trucks

So I attended a press conference yesterday to learn that Mack Trucks is now offering Bendix‘s ADB22X air disc brakes the steer and drive axles of its Pinnacle Axle Forward and Axle Back tractor models, as well as on its Granite vocational truck product, as optional equipment. Now, air disc brakes are more expensive than the traditional drum brakes used by the trucking industry for decades - WAY more expensive - but Jerry Warmkessel, for one, believes that cost should be outweighed by all the benefits air disc brakes bring to the table.

(Bendix’s air brake for heavy trucks.)

Jerry‘s old school, by the way - meaning he doesn‘t dabble in snake oil or fancy pitches, despite having the word “marketing” in his title. He was awarded a Silver Spark Plug by the Technology & Maintenance Council back in 2004 - the group‘s highest honor - in recognition for years of tireless service (he joined TMC in 1989) developing standards in partnership with fleet managers to make the industry‘s equipment better for everyone, not just Mack.

So when he came right out and said air disc brakes can cost 50% to 80% more per axle than drum brakes - with front disc brakes lower in cost as they are less complex - you know he‘s a straight shooter. Despite that higher initial price, Jerry thinks there are some serious savings fleets can achieve by switching completely to air disc brakes - outside of their biggest advantages, which are more stopping power and better braking in poor weather conditions.

[I‘ll let Jerry explain the safety and maintenance benefits himself: just click on the video below.]

The reason braking systems are being debated in trucking right now is pretty straightforward: new federal stopping distance requirements that should go into effect later this fall. Finalized in March 2007, the new rules promulgated by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) cuts by 30% the amount of distance a Class 8 tractor gets to come to a complete stop from 60 mph. By 2009, all new three-axle tractors must comply with this new requirement - about 80% of all new tractor air-brake production - followed by specialty tractors in 2011.

(Mack’s Pinnacle tractor.)

So fleets have a choice - go with beefed up drum brakes designs or switch over the air disc brakes. Weight is the first hurdle to cross: while air disc brakes weigh slightly more than current drum brake packages (a fully air disc tractor system weighs 11 pounds more compared to one equipped with drums) the new wider drums needed to meet the new federal standards surpass the weight of air discs. Go with air disc over those wider drums and the truck slims down by 158 pounds - a pretty significant drop, says Jerry.

The other big savings comes on the maintenance side of the ledger. Air disc brake pads are easier to change out and last a lot longer than drum brakes. A Mack fleet that Jerry knows that runs all disc brakes on its tractor units reports that when they sell their trucks at 600,000 miles, 90% still have the original air disc pads in them.

Air disc brakes also self-adjust, bypassing a major out-of-service problem for many truckers. In its annual brake inspection safety blitz this year, the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) reported that 9.9% of the 11,908 vehicles inspected were placed out of service for brake adjustment defects.

(Mack’s Granite vocational truck.)

“Poorly adjusted or defective air brakes reduce the braking capacity of large vehicles and further increase their stopping distance,” said CVSA‘s Executive Director Stephen Campbell. “Even under ideal conditions, the stopping distance of commercial vehicles can be twice as far as that of cars and other smaller vehicles.”

Air brakes have a compelling story to tell - but will the price differential prove too much to overcome? That will be the big question as air disc brakes begin to position themselves in the market.

“It‘s pretty simple when you lay the facts out about retreads to fleets: they‘ll save them a lot of dad-gum money.” -Robert “Bobby” Ford, assistant center manager, Goodyear Truck Care Center, Dallas TX.

Got a chance to sit down with Ford and Scott Schranck the other day and talk not only about how retreading truck tires can save fleets money but also about how proper tire maintenance can save them even more - and may determine whether fleets get an opportunity to retread their tires or not.

(Scott Schranck checks over tires being readied for inspection and then retreading. The barcode Scott is pointing to allows Wingfoot to track each tire individually for fleet customers — vital when it comes to compiling wear pattern evidence that may reveal alignment or other wheel issues.)

Schranck, regional business operations manager for Wingfoot Commercial Tire Systems LLC - the retreading arm of Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. - explained to me that the economics of retreads is pretty simple. “On average, a retread is one-third the price of a new tire and is much more environmentally friendly,” he says.

[Below, Bobby Ford highlights the types of irregular wear that can damage truck tires — preventing them in some cases from being retreaded.]

Industry figures note that it takes 22 gallons of oil to manufacture one new truck tire, most of it used to make the tire casing, which is then reused in the retreading process. As a result, it takes only 7 gallons of oil to retread a tire - and that‘s why retreading helps save annually more than 400 million gallons of oil in North America.

According to retreading expert Marvin Bozarth, one-time executive director of the former American Retreaders Association (now merged into the Tire Industry Association), more than 33.5 million tires on North American commercial vehicles wear out and must be replaced every year - and 16.5 million, or nearly 49% of them, will be retreads.

(“Old style” retreading: this is where new tread is carefully stitched on manually once a tire clears inspection, the old tread is “buffed” off and any minor nicks and dings are repaired.)

“[Truck] fleets favor retreads over new tires because it makes economic sense,” he says. “That‘s because the cost of a retread is typically 30% to 50% lower than a new tire.”

In addition, the quality of retreads has improved in recent years to the point where they provide comparable life and performance to new tires, Bozarth adds. “In the 1960s and 70s, treads would wear out in 60,000 to 70,000 miles,” he explains. “Now a retread tire can go 200,000 miles or more, depending upon the wheel position and application. The tire construction has improved and today‘s tread compounds are more resistant to heat so they wear better.”

For example, the Buy Recycled Business Alliance (BRBA), an offshoot of the National Recycling Coalition formed in 1992 in partnership with 25 major American businesses, said that when the original tread is worn off the casing of a large truck tire, less than 30% of the tire investment is realized. Retreading can recover the rest of the investment, the group notes.

(These retreads are being loaded into the “chamber” where they will be “cooked” or vulcanized so the new tread firmly adheres to the old casing. As you can imagine, this process creates a lot of heat — and with three chambers in Wingfoot’s Dallas location in operation at any one time, added to the outside temperature on a typical summer day of over 100 degrees, being inside the building is like being in a sauna at times.)

Thing is, though, truckers won‘t get the benefits of retreading if they don‘t care for their tires properly in the first place, stressed Goodyear‘s Ford. “Tire wear comes from heat, generated by frication on the pavement and low tire pressure,” he says. “The lower the tire‘s air pressure, the hotter it will run and the faster it will wear out. And we‘re talking about running 10% to 15% under-inflated here, too.”

That includes not only maintaining proper tire inflation pressure but also pulling the tire before all of the original tread is used up - usually between 6/32nd and 5/32nd of tread depth, according to tire industry averages. Go below that and you risk damaging the tire casing and thus eliminating the possibility of retreading that tire.

I also toured Goodyear‘s Wingfoot retreading facility down here in Dallas, TX, to get a glimpse of all the technology and care being expended on retreads - largely because more and more fleets in these tight economic times are beginning to realize retreads can save them some serious money.

[And of course, I could NOT resist the chance to have some fun, as the video below illustrates …]

“Typically, it takes a full day - one 12 hour shift - to go through the entire retread process for one tire,” Ford told me, trying to be heard above the din of tires being buffed, repaired, then retreaded. “Naturally, when fleets are sending us hundreds of casings at a time, we can‘t turn them all around that fast, so we typically offer a seven-day turnaround window for them.”

About 75% of truck tire wear during the year occurs between April and October, leading to a falloff in retreading activity during the remaining months - the biggest drop from December through February - simply because the heat brought on by spring and summer temperatures is a major tire killer.

“It all depends on the state, though,” adds Schranck. “Florida, where it‘s warm almost all year round, only sees a 10% drop in business over those months, whereas in an area like Dallas we may see a 20% to 25% drop.”

(Good as new: once vulcanized, painted and tagged, retreads get stacked in preparation for shipping back to customer fleet terminals — by trucks, of course.)

Ford stresses, though, that it all goes back to properly taking care of tires. “You must keep them properly inflated - not only does that prevent irregular wear, it improves fuel economy as well,” he says. “Take care of your tires and you‘ll save a lot of money over time.”

“We are giving back to a soldier and his wife for the sacrifices they have made for our country. Ultimately what we are doing for Staff Sergeant Karl is very little compared to what he has done for us.” -Joel Ross, marketing communication manager, Avery Dennison Graphics & Reflective Products Division.

How do you properly thank our military veterans for the tours of duty in places like Iraq, Afghanistan, the Horn of Africa, and other nasty hotspots around the world? How can we even come close to offering a proper gesture for men and women who‘ve lived through some of the worst trauma human beings can go through, day after day, month after endless month?

So it was a welcome piece of news the other day when I heard about Avery Graphics, GatorWraps, and a couple of other companies that joined forces to give Staff Sergeant Jacob Karl of the U.S. Marine Corps a one-of-a-kind homecoming present - a free-of-charge custom vinyl mural, upgrade suspension package, and high-toned chrome and polish treatment for his beloved 1997 F-250 pickup.

(Pictured left to right: Rod Voegele, GatorWraps‘ president; Tammy Karl, Koby Karl, age 8; Sadie Karl, age 10; SSgt. Jacob Karl; and Bear Scharbarth, TAG Motorsports General Manager).

This is a 13-year veteran Marine, ladies and Gs, that‘s served THREE tours in Iraq - each lasting more than a year, leaving his wife Tammy to hold down the home fort solo for some long, lonely stretches. So how cool is it that several companies stepped up to the plate to make his homecoming to Camp Pendleton even more special?

For those interested in the nitty gritty, Avery donated its popular MPI 1005 EZ RS film and DOL 1100 matte overlaminate for this truck wrap project - a wrap custom-designed with the new Mossy Oak Break-Up pattern, printed and then installed by GatorWraps at its Ontario, Calif., location. Note that this vinyl wrap can be adjusted or removed without damaging the truck‘s original paint, notes Avery.

Tammy Karl, SSgt. Karl‘s wife, knew her husband has a weak spot for the Mossy Oak Break-Up pattern so she contacted GatorWraps a few months before he rotated home on Aug. 7 to see if it was possible to create a special design for his truck. Avery, GatorWraps and Mossy Oak didn‘t hesitate to grant Tammy‘s request - creating a unique truck mural that includes the U.S. Marine Corps emblem, silhouettes of Marines, and the shadow of a bull rider to reflect SSgt. Karl‘s love for the rodeo.

That‘s not all, of course. Tag Motorsports installed a Banks Stinger 2 Power suspension free of charge, with Banks Engineering donating the system. Herbie Auto Detailing also got into the act with a full detail & chrome polishing of Karl‘s truck as well.

So, after this latest tour spent training Iraqi police forces, let‘s hope SSgt. Karl and wife Tammy get some time off to enjoy his new custom truck and each other‘s company. SSgt. Karl, thank you for your service to our country and to us - “Semper Fi” indeed.

“If you wish to prosper, let your customer prosper… When people have learned this lesson, everyone will seek his individual welfare in the general welfare. Then jealousies between man and man, city and city, province and province, nation and nation, will no longer trouble the world.” -Claude Frédéric Bastiat

OK - THAT quote is definitely over the top! But the extremity of what Bastiat (b. 1801, d. 1850, a French economist, legislator, and writer who championed private property, free markets, and limited government) said is meant to highlight how important the relationship is between customer and service provider - a relationship that‘s becoming more and more critical every day in trucking.

Of course, many shippers in the freight world are focused solely on price (and lord knows, many shippers and receivers docks need electroshock-style customer service training for the way they treat truck drivers) so the value of courtesy, hard work, and diligence oft times get lost in the demand for low cost.

But not always. I talked to Gary Kelly, senior director of transportation and distribution for Schwan‘s Logistics, a few months ago about this subject after his firm - a division of the renowned Schwan Food Company, based in Marshall, Minn. - presented a series of wards to contracted carriers are rated for their on-time delivery, customer service, invoicing accuracy, damage free deliveries and technology.

K&J Trucking, Inc., of Sioux Falls, S.D., received the Gold Carrier of the Year award from Schwan, while Floyd Wild, Inc., of Marshall, Minn., received the Silver Carrier of the Year award and Triangle Trucking, Inc., of Salina, Kan., received the Bronze Carrier of the Year award. Doug Bradley Trucking, Inc., of Salina, Kan., received the People‘s Choice Award — given for outstanding customer service.

(Pictured left to right: Gary Kelly; Jim Gray, Marketing Manager, K&J; Shelley Schipper, President, K&J;

Joe Buysse, Carrier Relations Manager, Schwan’s Logistics.)

“We are well aware of the high level of commitment and fully appreciate the hard work that our entire carrier base does day in and day out,” said Kelly. “Their hard work assures that our company and our customers are serviced in the most effective manner. These carriers that we have specially recognized and honored clearly represent the best of the best.”

It‘s this level of customer service that reaps rewards for truckers over the long term - but it doesn‘t happen without constant attention and training. Professor Jerry Osteryoung from the college of business at Florida State University has a few thoughts on the subject, gleaned not only from the classroom but from real life experience as well. Here‘s why he thinks ongoing customer training service is essential in the business world today:

“I went in for some routine tests at a doctor‘s office. My appointment was for nine in the morning, and I showed up at 8:45 a.m. (for some reason, I am always early). The receptionist told me to have a seat in the waiting area, and that they would call me when they were ready.

At 9:45 a.m., they still had not called me. I went up to the same receptionist and asked her when I would be called. It did not seem to matter to her that I had been waiting, but she begrudgingly said that she would check. She returned a short while later saying that one of the machines was down, and that they would get to me as soon as they could. When I asked her how much longer this would be, she said that she did not know.

During this entire exchange, the receptionist‘s attitude was completely uncaring, and she never did apologize for the wait. When I finally told her that I was leaving, she asked if I wanted to reschedule my appointment. Of course, frustrated by the experience, I did not want to at that time.

When I got back to my office and calmed down, I called the office manager at the doctor‘s office and explained the problem. She said she did not understand what had happened, as the front office had received training in how to deal with these types of issues. When I asked her how long ago this had been, she said she thought it was about a year and a half ago.

Evidently, the staff had received the proper training a long time ago, but they had since lapsed into old forms of habitual behavior. But if you are going to change behavior and maintain it for any length of time, you must have continual training to reinforce the wanted behavior. Great firms have customer service training every month to ensure that exceptional customer service stays in the forefront.

In my case, the receptionist should have noticed how long I was waiting and done something about it. Basically, she needed to take action instead of being a passive receptionist. The real problem was not that a machine was broken, but that no one told me about it or really seemed to care when I brought up the problem.

Obviously, this experience was awful, but with additional training, it could be easily fixed. Customer service is a critical function of all offices - medical as well as non-medical. It is an important way to keep your customers returning. Since it is roughly 15 times more expensive to get a new customer than it is to keep an existing one, maintaining your customer base is vital. Once a customer walks in your door, it is the job of customer service to keep that customer happy and returning.

Every firm needs to have a continual customer service training program for all their employees that interact with customers. This training could use role-playing to simulate various problems and situations the staff might encounter. Having other staff observe the way an employee deals with a simulated situation is a powerful motivator for changed behavior. Customer service training could also cover the appropriate words to use when a customer is upset, current customer issues, and how to be proactive in customer service. That will ensure that you maintain great customer service.”

No doubt the carriers working for Schwan know more than a little about how that gets done.

“As these new statistics show, we are making progress, but far too many of our friends, neighbors and family members are still getting killed or seriously injured.” - Transportation Secretary Mary Peters.

The statistics Madame Peters, head of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), are referring to are these: In 2007, the overall number of traffic fatalities fell to 41,059 - the lowest number since 1994 - pegging the fatality rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled at 1.37, the lowest fatality rate on record, she noted.

Peters added that 2.49 million people were injured in highway crashes last year, the lowest seen since the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) began collecting injury data in 1988.

One the trucking side of the safety ledger, the news is even better. The total number of traffic fatalities in large truck involved crashes decreased 4.4% in 2007, from 5,027 in 2006 to 4,808 last year - the lowest level since 1992. Truck occupant fatalities decreased 0.4% and fatalities for occupants of other vehicles involved in the crash dropped 5.2%, while fatalities for people who were not a vehicle occupant, such as cyclists or pedestrians, decreased 4.7%.

This is all good stuff - if not great stuff - but the questions we need to look at are what‘s behind this big drop … and is a drop of this magnitude sustainable?

Let‘s see if we can answer the second question first. One reason I think we‘ll see even lower highway fatality and injury rates for 2008 is that people are simply driving less - way, WAY less. In June this year people logged 12 billion FEWER miles on the road than they did in June 2007 - and with fewer people on the road, obviously, fewer fatalities should occur. It also seems that people are slowing down for the same reason they are driving less: sky0high fuel prices.

Though gasoline and diesel costs have been in retreat for 26 days now, they are still far higher than last year, which, hopefully, means people will continue to drive less, thus reducing their chances of being injured or killed in a highway crash. (We‘re also reducing the golden lining of OPEC‘s pockets a little bit - to the point where they are mightily worried, as oil production has jumped 24% over the last month. But that‘s for another post for another day.)

So, now, back to the first question: WHY are highway fatalities and injuries - especially those related to large trucks - in such rapid decline? Governor Bill Graves, president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations (ATA) said recently that slower speeds being enacted by trucking companies larger and small to save fuel are also tangentially helping reduce crashes. He also noted that the slumping U.S. economy is reducing mileage for many truckers, too, which is reducing their exposure to crash risks as well (though this isn‘t what we would call a ‘win-win‘ by any stretch of the imagination.)

Technology is playing a role as well. “Some of the decline in fatalities may be attributed to trucks utilizing more safety technologies such as collision avoidance, lane departure warning, stability control and brake stroke monitoring systems,” he noted - one reason ATA is supporting the Safety Technology Tax Credit Bill (S. 3428) introduced at the beginning of August that focuses on providing incentives to add such systems to trucks.

The bill - which mirrors H.R. 3820, the Commercial Motor Vehicle Advanced Safety Technology Tax Act, introduced in the House of Representatives last year - offers a tax credit equal to 50% of the cost of a qualified system up to $1,500; allowing for a total credit of up to $3,500 per vehicle; limiting the qualifying taxpayer to a maximum credit of $350,000 per taxable year; and extending credit eligibility for the purchase of school buses, intercity buses and vehicles used in commerce weighing over 26,000 lbs.

“The statistics from this most recent study also show that the efforts of law enforcement agencies to focus on the most likely causes of crashes, such as speeding and impaired driving, are making our highways safer,” ATA‘s Graves added - stressing that this continued safety improvement occurred under the new federal hours-of-service (HOS) regulations, offering to his mind more evidence that the regulations are working and should be retained.

He also noted that ATA continues to call for a national speed limit of 65 miles per hour, while asking DOT to require speed governors for heavy trucks be set at 68 mph on trucks at the time of manufacture, to both improve highway safety and reduce fuel consumption. We‘ll see how that effort fares in the months ahead.

However, it‘s not all peaches and cream, as fatalities among motorcycle riders and passengers increased significantly. DOT Secretary Peters Motorcycle fatalities now account for 13% of all fatalities and, in 2007 alone, the number of motorcycle riders or passengers killed on the nation‘s roads increased 6.6% over the previous year. No doubt this is partly due to more people trying out motorcycles as a way to cut their fuel bills and commuting costs, though that‘s a very risky way to do it.

The big takeaway from all of this is simple: the highways are getting safer, with big rigs contributing to that safety improvement in a huge way. Let‘s hope that trend line continues - and that trucking gets some props for making it happen.