Trucks at Work Blog

“Although snow days often conjure happy childhood memories, this study makes it crystal clear that they have a tangible and serious negative impact on real working people and a wide range of businesses.” –Greg Cohen, president and CEO, American Highway Users Alliance

A new study penned by the American Highway Users Alliance (AHUA)and consulting firm IHS Global Insight looked at the economic impact dealt by the big snowstorms earlier – and the picture the data paints isn’t pretty.

The study put an estimated dollar figure on the cost of snow-related shutdowns in 16 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces, calculating that hundreds of millions of dollars in economic opportunity are lost each day that a state is shuttered by impassable roads. Further, the report also concluded that hourly workers are the most harshly impacted by such shutdowns.

[Here’s short video produced by the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) explaining the intricacies of snow removal – especially in terms of what substances the agency users at what temperatures to try and keep the pavement clear.]

“Lost wages of hourly workers account for about two-thirds of the direct economic impact of a major snowstorm,” said James Gillula, managing director of Global Insight and the principal researcher of the study. “Among all workers, hourly wage workers can suffer the most painful economic losses and the indirect economic effects of their lost wages can ripple through the economy.”

If they are even close to actual, the dollars lost per DAY due to snow-related closures are truly staggering. Just look at this list:

Illinois, $400 million lost per day

Indiana, $157 million lost per day

Iowa, $70 million lost per day

Kentucky, $96 million lost per day

Maryland, $184 million lost per day

Massachusetts, $265 million lost per day

Michigan, $251 million lost per day

Minnesota, $167 million lost per day

Missouri, $162 million lost per day

New Jersey, $289 million lost per day

New York, $700 million lost per day

Ohio, $300 million lost per day

Pennsylvania, $370 million lost

Utah, $66 million lost per day

Virginia, $260 million lost per day

Wisconsin, $149 million lost per day

Ontario, $474 million lost per day

Quebec, $250 million lost per day

“This gives needed perspective on the true costs of [a weather event] often thought of as harmless and fun,” stressed Greg Cohen, AHUA’s president and CEO.

“For state and local authorities, [this] serves as a wakeup call for bigger snow removal budgets. The shocking losses estimated by this study should light a fire under state and local authorities nationwide to get serious about investing in quicker and more effective snow and ice removal,” he said. “When roads are left unsafe or impassible, it is like money being thrown down the drain.”

It also reinforces that state and local authorities shouldn’t be “pennywise and pound foolish” when it comes to setting snow removal budgets, added Cathy Gillen, the AHUA’s communications director.

“If anything, it shows that states and local government need to be prepared for the worst – because this study shows that the cost of snow removal pales in comparison to the cost of a one-day snow-related shutdown,” she told me.

In Virginia alone, dealing with all of the snow that fell this past winter proved a Herculean task. VDOT estimated it removed about 500,000 tons of the white stuff northern Virginia roads ALONE – the fallout from just two big back-to-back blizzards.

[The Commonwealth of Virginia is one state that hones its snow-removal procedures year round, involving a wide range of employees and equipment. Here’s just a glimpse of what’s involved.]

The AHUA’s study also examined the indirect economic impacts caused by snow closures, including lost sales tax revenue and significant losses in the restaurant, general merchandise, and gasoline industries – and such “indirect impacts” more than doubled the initial direct impact of each storm.

For example, Lynn Cook, owner of Parker’s Exxon, a filling station in Northwest Washington D.C., said that February’s back-to-back blizzards reduced business by 20% – resulting in a reduction of over $6,000 in fuel tax revenue paid to the District’s local government.

“This study illustrates an important point: disruptions in the nation’s transportation network are a cost to the economy,” noted Janet Kavinoky, director of transportation infrastructure at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

It just goes to show that maybe snow days aren’t all they are cracked up to be anymore.

“I was a driver myself for a while, and people out there just don’t know the sacrifices truckers make to deliver everything we live on. That’s why I want to do a tour for them; to show them some appreciation for what they do every day through music.” –Terry Wooley, singer and songwriter.

I met Terry Wooley by happenstance at the 2010 Mid America Trucking Show last week, and I enjoyed this lucky coincidence thoroughly.

Despite shivering in the cold (and let me tell you, it only LOOKS like it was warm out in the photo at right!) Terry kept right on singing and picking on his trusty guitar, belting out a variety of tunes he’s penned over the years as an opening act for the likes of the late Jerry Reed, Alabama, Charlie Daniels, and the great Merle Haggard.

A husband and wife driving team I met a couple of years ago, Dennis and Debbie Zylvitis, introduced me to Terry as they are helping him support his latest musical venture, dubbed Highway Fever.

[In a sad coda to this story, I learned the Zylvitis’ recently lost their wonderful French bulldog Jack when he got hit by a car while playing on a dirt road. Debbie told me the driver, an elderly man, was just as heartsick as they were about the accident. Dennis now has a tattoo of Jack on his left shoulder to honor the memory of their faithful trucking canine. R.I.P. Jack]

Their goal is garner enough sponsors so they can patch together a nationwide tour of truck stops and other trucking locales for Wooley so he can hold free concerts in appreciation of the hard work drivers do every day. “We’re going to play anyplace we can where drivers can attend,” he told me. “We’ll do it until the money runs out.”

[Here’s a clip featuring a minute or so of Terry singing “Alabama Gator Oil” while at Mid America. His guitar work, it should be noted, is awful good for a guy that’s been playing in near 30 degree weather for several hours!]

You might think Terry is off his rocker after reading all of this, but I’ll tell you one thing – he’s got the musical chops to pull it off. With a lean rangy build, classic gravelly voice, and a healthy dose of self-deprecating humor, Terry’s been making a living with his knack for penning songs on a wide range of subjects for years now.

He’s focused now on trucking for artistic inspiration not only because he’s been in the driver’s seat, but because he believes it’s an audience that’s long overdue for musical appreciation – echoing the thoughts of not a few of his peers in the country music scene, such as Aaron Tippin.

Born on a small family farm in central Kentucky, Terry spent his formative years tending to the crops and cattle, all the while polishing his guitar and songwriting talents. With the nearest neighbor almost a mile away, he spent most of his spare time playing music. At the ripe old age of eight, Terry persuaded his parents to allow him to enter a local talent contest – and from then on he dreamed of a career in the big music leagues.

He eventually became a wandering musician of sorts, traveling all over the world playing guitar for many country music legends – his favorite being the great Merle Haggard – as well as performing a lot of sessions work with his guitar, penning songs for others to sing, and being the “opening act” on more than few tours. And Terry likes to say that all musicians know what the “opening act” at concerts is really all about – they provide that final, thorough check that the sound system is working properly before the main act hits the stage!

[As an aside, here’s a clip of Merle Haggard back in the day playing I take a lot of pride in what I am, a song you’ll hear in the Navistar-funded trucker movie Drive and Deliver.]

He’s also worked a variety of other jobs to pay the bills over the years (including his stint piloting big rigs), which proved to be fertile fodder for his songwriting.

[Here’s one Terry recently wrote in that vein, called Big Boys Toy, sung by a group he’s sponsoring called aly`an, the moniker for Andrea Warner and Alyson Burke.]

Terry also has a unique “style” as he grew up playing and singing a lot of Gospel music, to which he later added a classic country twist. “My ‘style,’ if you will, is a cross between Jimmy Swaggart and the Allman Brothers,” he said with a laugh (I told you he’s got a good sense of humor).

“A part of me, though, goes into every song I write – reflecting my experiences at times,” Terry stressed, turning serious about his craft. “That’s where Highway Fever comes from – a mix of my experience on the road with those of fellow drivers.”

Whether he succeeds in getting his Highway Fever trucker tour off the ground or not, Wooley is content just to have the opportunity to write songs and sing them, both in the recording studio and live on the stage. And that’s all that counts at the end of the day, doesn’t it?

“We’re getting good feelings out in the market, that the economic outlook is growing more positive. But the jury is still going to be out for another 60 days.” –Kevin Flaherty, senior VP-U.S. and Canada, for Mack Trucks

The word from the 2010 Mid America Trucking Show held in Louisville, Kentucky, last week is that things seem to be improving in the trucking industry – that there’s more freight to haul and more new trucks being ordered, if not sold, alongside a nice bounce in used truck sales and pricing.

The other side of the coin, however, is that any such “recovery” in trucking is uneven at best right now — and many are worried it won’t have the legs to stretch into the second half of this year, let alone 2011.

[Just for fun, here’s a review of some of the sights seen at the 2010 Mid America show … set to music, of course!]

As noted in our Mid America coverage, most of the truck makers gathered at the show think believe the worst of the U.S. and global economic recession is over – and further believe they’ll be selling more of their wares this year and next, though most added a ton of caveats such statements

[And I am STILL sleep deprived from it all, by the way – good thing trucking REPORTERS are NOT covered by hours of service regulations! At least … NOT YET!!]

“We’re really glad 2009 is over; it was a really difficult year,” said Kevin Flaherty, senior VP-U.S. and Canada, for Mack Trucks Inc. “We didn’t break selling 95,000 Class 8 units in the U.S. last year and only sold 11,000 to 12,000 units in Canada. It’s difficult for the [truck manufacturing] industry to sustain itself at those levels.”

Yet Mack thinks there’s the possibility that 2010 sales could jump 20% to 30% over last year’s dismal numbers, as orders for new trucks increased over the last four to six weeks.

“We’re definitely seeing some improvement in the market now,” noted Bill Jackson, general manager for Peterbilt Motors Co., predicting Class 8 sales volumes of 120,000 to 140,000 units this year, with slightly higher sales for the medium-duty segment.

[Like several OEMs at the show, Peterbilt introduced some new iron. Below, Landon Sproull, Peterbilt’s chief engineer, gives a quick overview of the company’s new Model 587 highway tractor.]

“The feeling is better among our customer base so far this year, with all key indicators saying 2010 is going to be a better year,” added Bill Kozek, general manager of Kenworth Truck Co. which, like Peterbilt, is a division of Paccar.

Yet the key to any truck sales recovery, he stressed, is for truckers to get better rates to help offset the cost of new mandated emission control technology, which has significantly increased sticker prices. “If they get better [freight] rates, then 2010 will be a good year, with 2011 even better,” Kozek noted.

[You can read more of their comments by clicking here.]

Aside from being a good place to buttonhole truck OEM executives concerning their near- and long-term sales forecasts, Mid America also never lacks for interesting products.

For example, take this unique trailer-based crane system, the Hammar side loader, seen below. It’s designed to “side load” everything from 48-foot shipping containers to trucks onto the back of a flatbed. In this case, you’re looking at Mike Ryan’s one and only Freightliner racing truck being loaded and unloaded.

Another nice benefit to Mid America is that many executives from the component suppliers to the major truck OEMs also attend Mid America, giving attendees (and of course us hacks) the opportunity to get insight on a variety of trends directly from the “horse’s mouth,” as the old saying goes (hey, if you don’t like being called a “horse,” don’t blame me! I didn’t come up with it!)

For example, I got the chance to chat with Joseph Palchak, the new president of Eaton Corp.’s new “vehicle group,” formed from the combination of its automotive and truck component divisions. It’s a pretty big deal for Eaton, as automotive and truck components represent 10% and 12% of their global business (totaling some $2.7 billion – not chump change in my book).

More important for truckers, Palchak told me, is that the new group structure is going to allow Eaton to find “synergies” between the two product streams – such as finding ways to integrate “supercharger” technology used for gasoline engines with their diesel brethren. That could be pretty interesting to say the least.

[You can view more of Palchak’s comments below.]

These are just some of the interesting tidbits gleaned from this year’s Mid America show. Stay tuned for a few more this week as I continue to digest everything I encountered during the most recent incarnation of this massive event.

“This contest isn’t just about getting ‘back on the road.’ It’s more about getting ‘back to my life’ for a truck driver.” –Dave Nemo, Sirius XM radio personality, on Arrow Truck Sales’ “Back On The Road” campaign

It’s hard – VERY hard – not to get teary eyed about Robert Snyder’s trucking story. A down-on-his-luck driver out of Dunnellon, FL, trying to feed his family and stave off an ever-increasing pile of bills with busted up rig in dire need of repair, Snyder had good reason for despair.

But that’s not the kind of person he is, nor is it the man his daughter Savannah Snyder saw on his increasingly fewer visits home as he stayed out on the road for longer and longer stretches trying to earn more money.

“My dad isn’t like most fathers, husbands, or even like most guys who are going through hard times,” she said today during Arrow Truck Sales’ third annual “Back On The Road” contest here in Louisville, KY, at the Mid America Trucking Show.

“He constantly puts everybody before himself,” Savannah noted. “Money is tight and our family is struggling. I want the weight lifted off of my dad’s shoulders; I want him to smile. Not those fake smiles. The smile we haven’t seen in years.”

[Here’s a look at the post-award ruckus surrounding Robert Snyder and his family — complete with 2008 and 2009 “Back On The Road” winners and country mucis legend Aaron Tippin.]

Well, Robert is smiling now – and crying as well, with tears of joy, I suspect – as he’s the 2010 winner of Arrow’s contest, taking home a 2007 Volvo VNL 670, courtesy of Volvo Trucks North America, along with a one-year work agreement with Heartland Express and a whole host of other products and services.

“Robert is like so many drivers we see on the road today,” noted Carl Heikel, president and CEO of Arrow Truck Sales. “He is a good man, who is passionate about trucking and providing for his family. He is doing everything he can to make it through the recession. We are proud to give him this opportunity of a lifetime to not only change his life but the lives of his wife, Sylvia, daughter, Savannah, and their family.”

Snyder’s financial problems mirror those of so many other drivers in this industry, starting two years ago when diesel fuel prices skyrocketed to over $5 a gallon, followed by the onset of the worst global economic recession in decades. As loads became scarce, Snyder found the career he loved no longer provided for his single income family.

With more than 1.5 million miles on the odometer of his 14-year old truck, he started staying out two and sometimes three months at a time to make money.

He neglected engine and transmission problems and left his broken air conditioning unfixed as he made sure what little funds he earned went back to the house.

“Loads kept getting shorter and short, and the checks got smaller and smaller, but the bills didn’t stop – they just kept coming,” he said.

Savannah hated seeing what the financial stress was doing to her dad, so she looked for ways to help. One day, while flipping through a trucking magazine, she stumbled on a story about the “Back On The Road” contest, and immediately set to work nominating her father for the honor.

And wouldn’t you know it – her entry caught the eyes of Arrow Truck Sales staffers and eventually made her dad a winner.

Now, Snyder’s got a good chance not just to stay in the business of trucking, but to get back into the black as well. “This is a dream come true,” he said. “Driving is my life and I am blessed to have this opportunity.”

Good luck to you Robert, and to your family. Let’s hope – like Dave Nemo said – this opportunity helps you get your life back.

There’s a lot going on here at the 2010 Mid America Trucking Show (or “MATS” as we tired hacks refer to it) in terms of new product rollouts, updates on industry trends, and the opportunity to gaze upon some mighty sharp iron, tricked out in all sorts of chrome and paint combinations.

[You can view a few of these nicely dressed rigs below, courtesy of National Association of Show Truck or “NAST” members.]

Doug Scholten, a 26 year old driver that’s spent the last seven and a half years or so on the road, told me that the reason he enjoys driving a “show truck special” as he calls it is that he gets lots of compliments on his ride. “It’s a fun and interesting job, driving a truck; I’ve been all over the place,” Scholten said. Though there are more than a few times when trucking can be a grim, tiring business, more often than not he enjoys putting miles on the highway.

It’s made all the better because Scholten makes good money running refrigerated freight largely on dedicated runs between Michigan and California. “The trick is to take trucking day by day,” he told me. “You can’t plan that you’ll drop a load here, pick one up over there, then make it home at a set time to do these two or three things,” he said, noting that schedules are always far more neater on paper than they are in real life, where traffic congestion is but one of many monkey wrenches thrown into a driver’s daily life.

Scholten is from a trucking family, his father and two brothers also being drivers themselves, and view trucking as a lifestyle more than a job – a career he hopes to stay in for a long while.

Part of the attraction of MATS is not only getting the chance to talk with drivers from all over the U.S., but get a glimpse of some of the new technologies and trucks being deployed to try and make their chosen livelihood that much more efficient, productive and profitable.

ArvinMeritor, for example, recently rolled out a new line of tandem rear axles for linehaul trucks aimed at improving fuel economy for truckers running on the traditional duals or new wide base tires.

[Joe Plomin, vice president of ArvinMeritor’s truck division, shows off some of the features of the new 14X axle package below.]

Then of course there are new trucks themselves, such as Kenworth’s T700 long-haul tractor, designed to give drivers not only a more comfortable working environment, but save on fuel so they can reduce their operation costs.

[Preston Feight, Kenworth’s chief engineers, points out some of the new features on the T700 below.]

One thing is for sure about MATS – try as you might, you just can’t see it all in a couple of days. However, that doesn’t mean I’m not going to try.

“There ain’t no way … but the hard way … so get used to it!” –Airbourne

I dropped by Mercer Transportation this week to talk with Dale Corum (seen below), the carrier’s general manager, about how things are going in the long haul business these days. Needless to say, things are a lot better than they were at this time in 2009, but Mercer – like everyone else in the trucking industry – took some heavy pounding.

In the space of three weeks – in late February through early March last year – Mercer had to let go 217 of its owner-operators. In Dale’s words, that was simply “a gut wrenching moment.” Over the rest of 2009, Mercer dropped a further 250 truckers from its ranks – while laying off 50 of its employees – reducing its fleet to right around 1,700 units. “For every 40 trucks we lose, we lose a person from the administrative side,” Corum told me.

The company also stopped all its recruiting efforts as well as it hunkered down to ride out the global economic recession sweeping the U.S. and domestic freight markets. “We aimed this whole effort at providing opportunity for our best drivers, the folks out there hitting it hard every single day,” Corum explained to me. “We were obligated to thin our fleet to support them.”

Despite all the pain and suffering of 2009, though – what Dale calls “a truly awful year” – Mercer learned a lot as well. And the company is taking these lessons to heart, embarking on a restructuring of its “freight mindset,” if you will, so it can maximize the advantages of its 100% owner-operator fleet.

“For starters, we’re going to hit recruiting hard in the short term – there are a lot of good, experienced drivers out there right now,” Corum said. “But we also know that most of the trucks we lost last year aren’t coming back. A lot of good, veteran drivers were on their last truck before the downturn because of all the changes going on in trucking.”

For example, mileage is continuing to decrease in the long haul flatbed market, and that’s forcing changes to how Mercer looks for freight opportunity. “We’re starting to look at more regional and dedicated lanes now – stuff most of our drivers would not have looked at 10 years ago,” Corum said. “We’re getting into the [dry] van market too, because that requires less physical work than flatbedding, giving us a chance to keep some older veterans on with us for a longer stretch.”

To date, Mercer has about 150 of its trucks running dry van trailers today and expects to see more of its drivers pulling them. “We’re going after this aggressively – by this time next year, we hope to have 250 dry vans in operation,” noted Corum.

Regional and dedicated runs appeal to both younger and older drivers, said Dale, because it gets many of them home every night and its freight that allows drives to stay busy in lanes almost year-round, regardless of the weather. But in the flatbed market, more “localized” flatbed freight has some drawbacks, namely because it is far more labor intensive.

“You’re talking about tarping, chaining and strapping down a load maybe once a day for a regional or dedicated haul, compared to maybe every three or five days in a long haul lane,” Dale said. “These tarps weigh 300 pounds, and that’s before you consider the weather – like shaking off two inches of snow and folding half frozen tarps back up. It’s just exhausting.”

Yet Mercer is going after this freight for its owner-operator corps, as many shippers that once operated their own fleets to handle it are looking to outsource it to someone else. “We think it’s a good fit for our owner-operators because they are all about service – on-time, consistent delivery day in and day out,” Dale stressed. “These are small business owners, not just drivers, so they have a bigger stake in making sure the job gets done and gets done right.”

That kind of focus on service pays big dividends as well. Mercer analyzed 367 lanes where it hauls 15 loads or more and found that, 87% of time, its rates were the highest – while tying or coming in just under the highest mark for the remaining 13%. “That shows us we can offer drivers a good opportunity,” Dale said.

Overall, the company is “cautiously moving ahead at full steam,” he added, as it tries to figure out if the increasing freight levels its seeing is just an uptick in seasonsal demand coupled with a decline in trucking capacity, or the beginning of a true sustainable economic recovery.

Another change Mercer is tackling involves its brokerage operation. Corum noted that the company is now focused on building better relationships with other brokers and especially other trucking companies so it can build up a more stable and consistent pool of freight on that side of the business.

“Our goal is to get our brokerage freight up to where it could support 500 to 600 trucks,” he said. “That way, if times get tight again, we can feed that back into our own system to support our people.”

Another new tactic is getting drivers to be more “self-managing” when it comes to selecting loads. Out of its 1,700 current operators, over 1,400 have laptop computers, said Dale, giving Mercer more “rapid response” capability.

“We’ll put the loads into our system and our drivers will select them; we’re not having to call each one to see if its fits them – they do that on their own,” he explained. “As we venture more into regional and dedicated opportunities, being connected through technology lets us tap all of our drivers quickly if an opportunity comes up. For example, in the case of shippers outsourcing their hauls, we can rapidly pull together a mix of drivers that could take those loads. It’s those technology connections that helps all of us think outside the box to a better degree.”

These are just some of the changes Mercer – like many carriers out there – is engaging in so it can survive and thrive in the years ahead, both for itself and its owner-operators.

It’s the traditional rite of spring for trucking reporters near and far – travelin’ on down to Louisville, Kentucky for the annual Mid America Trucking Show (MATS) for three days of non-stop press conferences and product introductions, elbow to elbow with thousands upon thousands of truckers.

[Here’s a glance at scenes from last year’s show. You’ll see all kinds of trucks and related components, along with the famous – race car legend Richard Petty and country music star Aaron Tippin – and not-so-famous enjoy the sights and sounds of MATS side by side.]

I must also admit that, over the years, the city of Louisville has grown on me as I’ve been fortunate to sample many of its unique cultural offerings as well as partake of some great meals in its many fine dining establishments.

In fact, the magazine Men’s Journal added Louisville to its list of the “Best Places to Live in 2010,” citing the city’s arts scene, coffee shops and stores — specifically touting the Bardstown Road area, a place loaded with great restaurants.

“To some, Louisville is just bourbon, baseball bats, and a famous horse race,” according to the review in the upcoming April issue of Men’s Journal. “To those who know better, it’s artistic funk and gentlemanly class. Packed with eclectic coffee shops, thrift stores, skate punks, and bluegrass street musicians, Bardstown Road is a slice of weirdness in the midst of an upscale neighborhood.”

The story went on to note that Bourbon’s reemergence as “a sophisticated beverage” rather than “redneck swill” parallels the city’s cultural renaissance. [Sort of a not-so-nice, backhand compliment, don’t you think?]

All that aside, it’s shaping up to be a fun visit this year. But of course one must survive the journey to Lousiville first! With that in mind, I’ll leave you with one of the funniest scenes from that great John Hughes classic, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, which is a film that truly captures how utterly maddening travelling can be in this day and age (even if the film is almost 30 years old by now.)

“U.S. Department of Energy support for domestic advanced technology is an important enabler for Chrysler Group and its key suppliers in order to understand and test customer acceptance and the capability of PHEV systems in a variety of real-world conditions.” –Paolo Ferrero, senior vice president-powertrain for Chrysler Group LLC

So Chrysler Group LLC is making another leap within the electric vehicle market with both feet in a big way – rolling out a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) version of its popular Dodge Ram pickup truck sometime in 2011, as well as bringing the all-electric version of the Fiat 500 here to the U.S. in 2012.

This is also yet another sign of how Chrysler’s parent company – Italy’s Fiat SpA – is trying to ramp up its presence in the U.S. market, notably on the commercial vehicle side of the light-duty ledger.

Last year, Chrysler unveiled a sweeping five-year plan formulated Fiat (which saved the struggling automaker from oblivion in 2009 after acquiring it with $12 billion U.S. government loan) that included slicing its truck products off from the rest of its Dodge group into a separate division called Ram Trucks, while planning to boost annual sales of commercial trucks some 50% by 2014.

And now it seems PHEV trucks are going to play a role in that plan, as Chrysler is getting a Department of Energy (DOE) grant of up to $48 million as part of the agency’s Vehicle Electrification program (itself funded by $2.4 billion in funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act or “stimulus bill” passed in early 2009).

Paolo Ferrero, Chrysler’s senior vice president-powertrain, said his company is planning to build a total of 140 Ram PHEVs for a three-year demonstration project that includes various geographic and climatic locations across the U.S. “This initiative represents how government, automotive industry, suppliers and key partners are reaching common goals and demonstrates how rapidly this type of advanced technology can be brought to market,” he added.

He said the Ram PHEV features Chrysler’s 5.7-liter HEMI V-8 with a two mode hybrid transmission and a 12 kilowatt-hour (KwHr) lithium ion battery from Electrovaya Inc. that offers up to 20 miles of pure-electric range without the need for gasoline and an overall fuel economy improvement more than 65% for average drive cycles, Ferrero noted.

[Here’s a review of the key features of the 2010 Dodge Ram pickup, which won’t be changed much for the 2011 model year.]

It should also be noted that in 2008, Chrysler Group tried to bring a Ram Hybrid Electric Vehicle (HEV) to market but could not, in the OEM’s words, “formulate an appropriate business case” and thus ditched development work on the 2011 Ram HEV altogether. Now, though, backed by Fiat and U.S. government cash, Chrysler is back at the truck hybrid tables again.

This is a big deal because, like I said above, it’s another sign of the company’s make-or-break push back into the U.S. commercial vehicle market – one crowded with some seriously good players.

First, there’s Ram’s large commercial van project – a product most likely going to be based on a platform developed via a joint venture between PSA Peugeot Citroen and Fiat. The Fiat version is called the “Ducato” while the Peugeot version is known as the “Boxer” in Europe, with the Ducato roughly similar to the now-discontinued Dodge Sprinter van.

Remember, Mercedes-Benz USA re-assumed responsibility for the sales, marketing, distribution and service of the Sprinter van back in September 2009, creating a new subsidiary to handle it – Daimler Vans USA, LLC, based in Montvale, NJ – as Mercedes’ owner, Daimler AG, believed some big opportunities awaited by going solo in the U.S. commercial van segment.

To compete against the likes of Ford Motor Co.’s Transit Connect light-duty commercial van, Ram also plans to add Fiat’s Doblo to its product offerings in 2012.

To improve the fuel-efficiency of its truck lineup — making it competitive with the Transit Connect and other such models — Chrysler said it would roll out a Fiat engine and fuel-saving engine technology as soon as 2010. By 2014, three-quarters of the company’s current engine lineup for this segment is expected to be replaced.

[Back in January, Nick Cappa, engineering P.R. manager, talked about some of the new engine technology coming to Chrysler’s vehicle lineup from its parent company, Italy’s Fiat. Though only the V-6 Pentastar in this video relates to Chrysler’s light-duty trucks, it illustrates how the company’s are sharing resources.]

The adoption of Fiat models wholesale, with re-tooling for the U.S. market, is part of a massive realignment of resources within Chrysler as part of its new five‐year business plan, noted Scott Kunselman, Chrysler’s chief engineer, at a big press event last year.

“We’re going to maximize use of common platforms, systems, and components through sharing with Fiat Group and expansion of Chrysler usage,” he explained. “We’ll be focused on maximizing fuel economy by reducing vehicle weight and optimizing aerodynamics; enhancing speed to market using Fiat’s timing benchmarks, virtual tools, and component communization; and implement advanced powertrain systems across vehicle platforms.”

The company said it believes that shared purchasing between Chrysler and Fiat will save it some $2.9 billion from 2010 through 2014, while it plans to invest more than $120 million in its retail network of dealerships in 2010 as it works to make dealerships more inviting to consumers.

In order to better accommodate commercial truck users, “dealers will have extended service hours and additional equipment to service this segment of the market,” stressed Peter Grady, vp-network development & fleet for Chrysler.

Richard Palmer, Chrysler’s chief finance officer, added that automaker expects all these efforts to help it break even on an operating profit basis by 2010 and break even on a net profit basis by 2011. Palmer said the carmaker projects revenue would grow about 20% per year over the next five years and reach $67.5 billion by 2014, when Chrysler expects to report an operating profit in the range of $4.7 billion to $5.2 billion.

To round things out on the EV side of the market, Chrysler is also planning to engineer and produce a pure electric vehicle using the Fiat 500 platform. Shown earlier this year at the North American International Auto Show, Chrysler plans to begin manufacturing the Fiat 500EV for the U.S. market in 2012, with all powertrain engineering and vehicle development taking place at Chrysler’s headquarters in Auburn Hills, MI.

Pricing will be announced closer to launch, but will be competitive with similar electric vehicles in the market, the company added.

“The alliance with Fiat presented new opportunities to merge Chrysler engineering knowledge with new platforms and the Fiat 500EV is an outstanding example of our efforts,” noted Kunselman, noting that the company also intends to build a Fiat 500 with a combustion engine for North America, due for rollout in late 2010.

It’s a big roll of the dice for a company once on the ropes and headed for extinction. We’ll see in the coming years how this bet pays off for Chrysler.

“Electric vehicles have enormous potential for creating a cleaner transport system … however, there is uncertainty over the pace of vehicle development, consumer take up and patterns of usage and charging. It is also important we anticipate the likely requirements these developments will have for grid enhancement and the need for an intelligent architecture.” –Jon Bentley, energy & environment partner, IBM Global Business Services.

Now here’s an interesting study just getting started over in the United Kingdom (the “U.K.,” which still refers to England, Wales, Scotland and – grrrr – Northern Ireland) concerning the impact widespread use of electric vehicles (EVs) might have on the electrical grid.

This is a VERY important issue, because one of the main selling points of a wholesale shift to EVs revolves around the use of “off-peak” electricity to meet re-charging needs. That is, EV owners – fleets and individual motorists alike – would conduct recharging at times when electrical demand is low, such as at night or the wee hours of the morning.

[This is part of the larger puzzle know as a “smart grid,” whereby supply and demand for electrical power is precisely monitored and managed. The clip below gives some insight into this concept.]

Of course, knowing the vagaries of humanity, this theory could become completely unraveled in practice – with significantly more recharging occurring during peak hours, thus putting more strain on the electrical system. And what fallout might result from THAT trend line?

Well, IBM and the U.K.-based Energy Technologies Institute (ETI) plan to find out – joining forces on a study to evaluate the potential impact of electric vehicles on the U.K.’s electricity grid while also assessing the infrastructure required to achieve a mass market for electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles in that conglomeration of countries.

IBM says it will lead the co-ordination of a consortium of companies – EDF Energy, E.ON and Imperial Consultants (I wonder if THEY employ a ‘Czar’ or two a la NFI on this side of the pond?)– in conducting this study, which is happening none too soon, for the U.K.’s government has already committed 300 million pounds (more than $452 million US) to create a recharging infrastructure for all-electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles – totaling some 11,000 charge points across areas in London and the South East, the Midlands and the North East in England alone.

The IBM led research is one of three projects costing 4.5 million pounds (over $6.7 million US) launched as part of the ETI’s 11 million pound (over $16.5 million US) Electrification of Light Vehicles program. The other projects will assess the economic and carbon benefits as well as the consumer behavior patterns linked to the mass roll-out of plug-in vehicles, ETI said.

[Another critical issue outside of “consumer acceptance” of EVs is the technology itself – especially when it comes to the batteries required to store the electricity necessary for powering the vehicles. Here’s a clip discussing “The Battery 500” project, which seeks to beef up the capability of EV energy storage systems.]

Together the projects are intended to propose an overall system architecture for integrating plug-in vehicles considering, noted Jon Bentley, energy & environment Partner with IBM Global Business Services, including electricity networks, charging points, and payment systems and helping to ensure compatibility across the U.K. (And this is an area of research IBM has worked in for some time, too, I might add.)

“We need to take action now to ensure lead times are put in place for open and interoperable architectures, while allowing time to monitor the positive impact on the electric vehicle market,” he added. “Furthermore, we need to achieve these goals alongside related programs in ‘smart grids’ and ‘smart metering,’ the shift to a renewable generation and the development of smart homes which are already under-way and gaining momentum.”

Here are some of the other key areas this research project will look at:

• Analysis of how growth in electric vehicle recharging could impact electricity distribution networks, and what steps energy companies could take to overcome any barriers to supplying demand.

• Identification of the smart infrastructure needed for mass market uptake of electric vehicles in the U.K.

• Design concepts for the ‘intelligent architecture’ of interconnected data and systems needed to enable local networks of electric vehicle charging points linked to the distribution networks.

• Planning for design changes which maintain effective operation and management of the electrical distribution network

• Assessment of current issues and likely future developments involving regulatory, legislative and commercial matters related to the recharging infrastructure.

The ETI said this study dovetails with its effort to start real-world testing of consumer attitudes towards all-electric and plug-in vehicles, as well as build out of supporting infrastructure through 2010 and into 2011.

I’ll be more interested in seeing if the economics of EVs and plug-in hybrids shakes out from this research, whether recharging will occur “off-peak” as expected, and if – over the long-term – electricity can really turn out to be a successful replacement for petroleum when it comes to motorized vehicles.

“We want to strive to be as efficient as we can be, because we’re preparing for the future, not just for profit.” – Robert Barron, senior vice president, general counsel, and “Fuel Efficiency Czar” for trucking conglomerate NFI

It’s no surprise the title Fuel fficiency Czar caught my eye – that’s exactly what trucking conglomerate NFI wants it to do, especially within its own ranks.

“The whole reason we’re using the term ‘Czar’ is to get our people to pay attention to what our sustainability team is doing,” Robert Barron (at right), NFI’s senior vice president, general counsel, and “Fuel Efficiency Czar,” told me recently.

“It’s a title designed to get a higher profile within the company,” he explained. “Like every fleet out there, we’re involved in numerous projects designed to improve efficiency, cut costs, etc. Using the word ‘Czar,’ though, tells our folks that this is something they need to focus on over and above everything else that we’re doing.”

Yet it’s also a term that works both ways – giving Barron and the “sustainability” team he leads a higher profile, certainly, but also an obligation to get results. In this case, those results are all primarily focused on reducing fuel consumption in every way possible for NFI’s fleet of 10,000 tractors and trailers, encompassing both over-the-road and dedicated operations.

And it’s not just about picking off the low hanging fruit, either, though that’s what Barron and his team focused on for much of last year: reducing truck idling time, lowering speed limits, reducing engine horsepower, and installing battery-powered auxiliary power units (APUs).

Those efforts boosted fleet-wide fuel economy by over 3.5% year-over-year, from 2008 to 2009, but those gains are now in the past – and finding another 3% gain is going to require a lot of hard, focused work.

“Industry thought processes always used to indicate that bigger was better: bigger trucks, bigger engines, and longer distances,” Barron said. “Now we are trending towards different truck designs which are more fuel efficient; they travel shorter distances to more localized distribution points, cutting down on emissions and fuel.”

It means improving truck aerodynamics, reducing truck and trailer, plus identifying and correcting improper driving habits. Take for example NFI’s Maximize Miles program, created by the carrier’s sustainability team – a program that uses letters, posters, driver-manager messages, newsletters and stickers placed on tractor dashboards to communicate the importance of four simple steps to maximize miles:

• Shifting gears at the right RPM for maximum power and efficiency

• Starting trucks in the most fuel-efficient gear

• Eliminating unnecessary idling

• Checking tire pressure before every trip

It sounds simple, sure, but sustaining these behaviors over the long-term is the real trick – and that’s why Barron is tagged with the “Czar” title in the first place, so employees will recognize the importance and value of sustaining such programs over time.

“We’ve adopted an ‘interdisciplinary’ approach towards researching, testing and implementing ideas and techniques aimed at balancing reductions in emissions and fuel consumption with cost management, as well as employees and customer satisfaction,” Barron added. “Of course we want to keep our costs down when fuel prices rise, but even when prices fall, we continue to aggressively focus on fuel efficiency. We strive to be as efficient as we can be, because we’re preparing for the future, not just for profit.”

Yet, being a history major, it’s been something of long, strange trip for me to watch this ancient imperial title of “Tsar” and “Czar” gaining such a big foothold in the political and business lexicon within the U.S. today.

Both are Slavic words derived from the Latin term “Caesar,” which means “Emperor” and “Supreme Ruler.” Both titles first originated in Bulgaria around 913, then were adopted by the Serbians and Russians – with Russia’s Czars, of course, figuring most prominently in history: Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, and the tragic Nicholas II, who along with his family was murdered during the Communist Revolution in 1916.

Simeon Saxe-Coburg-Gotha of Bulgaria (at right), also known as Simeon II, is the last person known to bear the Slavonic title Tsar – holding that title from 1943 to 1946 until that country’s monarchy was overthrown.

[Yet his story has a much happier ending than that of Russia’s Nicholas II. Only nine years old when “deposed,” Simeon was later elected Prime Minister of Bulgaria in July 2001, serving in that post until July 2005 – one of the last living heads of state from the World War II-era and one of the few monarchs in history to have become the head of government through democratic elections.]

The term “Czar” started being employed in the U.S. back during the administration of Franklin Delano Roosevelt (U.S. President from 1933 to 1945) as an informal reference to high-level officials overseeing particular policies deemed of great importance to the president and his advisors.

During FDR’s presidency, roughly 12 positions were so described. It came back into vogue to describe officials in the Nixon and Ford administrations, largely for special action office of drug abuse prevention. Today, 31 administration positions bear the “Czar” nickname in some fashion.

Now this word – a term that defines absolute, autocratic rule; a term that’s derived from the Latin word for Roman Emperors no less! – is being applied to specific positions within the trucking business community

In NFI’s case, Barron’s “empire,” if you will (for what’s a Czar without an empire, I ask you?) is his interdepartmental “sustainability” team — a group tasked with brainstorming ways NFI can remain a top “eco-friendly” trucking, distribution and logistics company.

Barron and his team are thus responsible for creating, developing and executing strategies aimed at improving NFI’s overall miles per gallon results through employee and driver work habits, technology, corporate policy decisions and other innovations. [No one ever said a Czar’s job was easy!]

It’s a huge task, but one Sid Brown, NFI’s CEO, believes is necessary to stay on top of the trucking business now and in the future. Privately held by the Brown family since its inception in 1932, NFI not only operates the aforementioned 10,000 unit fleet but some 18 million square feet of contract and public warehouse space as it continues to try and be a “one-stop” resource for integrated supply chain solutions.

Only one question remains, though – what title should Sid adopt in order to outrank the fuel efficiency “emperor” in NFI’s ranks?