Trucks at Work Blog

“The levels of uncertainty cited about prospects for both U.S. and global economies over the next year show that companies are still carefully navigating the sector’s landscape with cautious hope for the future.” –Barry Misthal, U.S. industrial manufacturing leader for consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers

A lot of the polls and surveys tracking the many fundamentals affecting freight volumes – manufacturing activity, retail sales, and of course oil prices – report things are still uncertain at best, although confidence seems to be growing in many sectors that the worst of the economic upheavals of late are now behind us.

Take the latest edition PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP’s Manufacturing Barometer, for example. This survey reports that optimism about the U.S. economy is down slightly from last quarter, but still shows strength, with almost half (45%) of U.S. industrial manufacturers optimistic about the next 12 months. Only 12% of industrial manufacturers are pessimistic about the U.S. economy’s prospects over the next 12 months, while 43% are uncertain.

Of those marketing abroad, 38% are optimistic about the world economy over the next 12 months, down 15 points from last quarter. PricewaterhouseCooper’s quarterly survey – based on interviews with 60 senior executives of large, multinational U.S. industrial manufacturing companies about their current business performance, the state of the economy and their expectations for growth over the next 12 months – also discerned that while more respondents are uncertain, at 46%, only 16% are truly pessimistic about global economic growth.

The majority of the survey’s panelists (58%) believe the U.S. economy was growing in the second quarter this year, marking the first quarterly survey since the third quarter of 2007 (nearly three years ago!) for which a majority reported growth. Only 15% viewed the U.S. economy as declining, PricewaterhouseCoopers pointed out.

Among international marketers, only 45% viewed the world economy as growing in the second quarter, similar to the 44% reported in the first quarter this year. Yet more (27%) viewed it as declining; a reading that swelled by 11 points.

However, of survey respondents selling abroad, 42% reported an increase in sales, which dipped from last quarter but is notably above the prior three quarters, even though 24% reported a decrease in sales abroad, while 34% stayed about the same.

“While international sales dropped from last quarter, the fact that they are still significantly above the last three quarters of 2009 indicates that global manufacturing sales will most likely continue their upswing in performance, despite the present uncertainty,” noted Barry Misthal, U.S. industrial manufacturing leader for PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Looking at the next 12 months, the projected average revenue growth rate among panelists doubled from 3% to 6% quarter over quarter, bringing it back into the normal range seen in this survey for a more stable economy, Misthal said, with 73% expecting positive revenue growth for their own companies over the next year, with 30% forecasting double-digit growth (up 18 points) and 43% forecasting single-digit growth (up 20 points). The 30% forecasting double digits are directly responsible for the rise in the overall average projected growth.

Here’s another piece of confident forecasting: according to Marcela Donadio, oil and gas leader for the Americas at Ernst & Young LLP, oil prices should stay relatively stable in the near term.

“Oil prices have been remarkably constant,” Donadio said. “More modest consumption habits and weak developed economies have eased demand pressures creating consistent prices in the $70 to $80 per barrel range for nearly a full year. Pending any swings in the economy, prices are expected to remain relatively stable in the short to medium term.”

That dovetails with what Noel Perry – principal of research firm Transport Fundamentals, as well as managing director and senior consultant with FTR Associates – thinks will happen.

While the excess production capacity maintained by OPEC [the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries] has dropped by a third from its four million barrels per day peak of last year, there’s still enough left to give truckers a year or two “grace period” before any major fuel price spikes might occur, he noted in FTR’s recent The State of Freight webinar.

“Fuel remains a wild card, of course, but I think it won’t be until 2012 where we’ll be more susceptible to the type of price swings we saw in the 2007/2008 time period,” he noted.

All that being said, big bumps remain along this road to economic recovery.

“Class 8 industry retail sales in the U.S. and Canada are expected to be in the range of 110,000-130,000 vehicles in 2010, reflecting the uneven economic recovery, high unemployment, and the continued low level of housing starts and auto production,” noted Dan Sobic, executive vp with global truck maker Paccar in the company’s second quarter earnings report.

“There are some encouraging signs as freight tonnage continues to modestly increase and our customers’ profitability benefits from stable fuel prices and recent improvements in freight rates,” he said. “[But] truck retail sales are still below replacement demand levels, resulting in the North American truck average fleet age of nearly seven years.”

More broadly, U.S. manufacturers are also becoming increasing concerned about the regulatory landscape. For the second quarter in a row, PricewaterhouseCoopers’ survey found that legislative/regulatory pressures ranked highest among perceived barriers to growth over the next 12 months, with 63% percent of panelists naming it as a concern, though that number is down 10 points from last quarter.

Taxation policies rose 14 points this quarter, cited by 57%, as another potential hurdle. Yet the number concerned about lack of demand dropped 13 points in the second quarter, even though it remains a potential barrier according to 50% of respondents, followed by the monetary exchange rate, cited by 40% of the survey panelists.

Just some of the factors we’ll need to keep a close eye upon as the global economy continues to revive in fits and starts.

“Tolling is about giving people choices, which adds to its appeal. Historically toll roads have been constructed where there also are non-toll alternatives. People decide whether to pay for a congestion-free ride or not.” –Jack Finn, national director of toll services, HNTB Corp.

Now, here are some survey results I completely disagree with – that most Americans prefer tolls to taxes in terms of generating the funds necessary to fix and expand highway infrastructure.

I mean, personally, I can’t STAND toll booths. And don’t give me chapter and verse about the electronic tolling either, for anyone that’s sat in a five mile backup at a toll booth knows that the electronic toll booth line moves just as slow as the “cash and carry” options. Let’s face it: people are getting in the wrong line or discover at the last second that the electronic thing-a-ma-jig attached to their vehicle’s windshield is all out of funds.

Now, while no one likes taxes, at least you can collect those without clogging up the roads during peak travel times. Yet apparently a survey conducted by consulting firm HNTB Corp. has determined that Americans PREFER tolls to fuel taxes. Imagine!

According to HNTB’s latest America THINKS survey, a strong majority of Americans (84%) feel tolls should be considered project-by-project or as a primary source of transportation revenue. Only a small minority (16%) say tolls should never be used, noted Jack Finn, HNTB’s national director of toll services.

Asked where they would be willing to spend more money to support long-term transportation improvements in their area, Americans ranked tolling ahead of other options, with nearly four in 10 (39%) choosing additional road and bridge tolls versus additional public transportation fees (29%), vehicle registration fees (23%), sales taxes (20%), gas taxes (18%), income taxes (11%) or property taxes (9%).

In addition, nearly half (47%) of Americans believe the most important function of a toll facility is to generate transportation revenue, versus reducing congestion (25%) or providing a higher level of customer service (13%), HNTB found in its research.

“Decades of underinvestment have left the U.S. transportation system in a losing battle against time, population growth, weather and wear,” said Finn. “There is no such thing as a free road. Tolling is a proven source of alternative funding, already used in a variety of locations across the country. Its primary appeal - as a user fee - means those who use the road pay for the road.”

HNTB’s survey also found most Americans support tolls on roads and bridges to generate transportation revenue, especially those that save them drive time. And when it comes to construction, Americans prefer a focus on fixing existing infrastructure than building new facilities, according to the polling results.

Now, the America THINKS survey – conducted by Kelton Research via an e-mail invitation and online survey questionnaire – polled a random nationwide sample of 1,005 Americans between June 25 and July 1. Quotas were set to ensure reliable and accurate representation of the total U.S. population ages 18 and over, with the margin of error of plus or minus 3.1%.

HNTB’s survey also found most Americans would support tolls that fund improvements for either the road on which it’s paid (53%) or other existing roadways (45%), with far fewer (18%) wanting these toll revenues to be devoted to new construction.

“Throughout the country, there’s an overwhelming sentiment that it’s important to concentrate on infrastructure that already exists rather than building from scratch,” Finn said.

Finally, it’s important to note than more than two in three (68%) Americans don’t really think about tolls without considering convenience; they would be willing to pay a higher toll fare if it saved them time on the road, HNTB’s research found.

So if tolls resulted in MORE congestion, then, perhaps Americans might not favor them as much? Maybe even avoid them?

Guess what – that Achilles heel in the tolling plan pops up in HNTB’s survey results, too, as 61% of those drivers polled admit they have purposely avoided a road or bridge with tolls at least once. The reason for such avoidance varies, with 43% feeling that tolls are generally too costly, and another 24% viewing most toll plazas as high-traffic areas.

Suddenly, there’s a big contradiction here, isn’t there? We want tolls, but not if they gum up the works. Yet Finn thinks that problem can be solved through technology – allowing for “high speed” capture of toll monies without impeding traffic flow. Indeed, nearly three in five (57%) respondents in the survey believe the future of tolling would ideally be a combination of cash and electronic collection on local roads and bridges.

“Technology now allows us to use video cameras and transponders to conduct transactions at highway speeds,” Finn said. “We’re generating revenue, reducing congestion and saving time. There’s no need to slow down and throw change in a bucket; just keep driving.”

If that REALLY turns out to be the case, maybe tolls will work as a funding mechanism for our roadway infrastructure needs. We’ll see.

“Everyone has a role in the movement of freight. As partners in our transportation system let’s draw on our commitment to doing what’s right and our shared commitment to excellence.” –Anne Ferro, chief administrator, Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

So, the White House’s rule crunchers – known more formally as the “Office of Management and Budget” or just “OMB” – now have in their possession the first draft of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) rewrite of the hours-of-service (HOS) regulations that govern the lives of truck drivers.

The clock is now ticking pretty quickly (as the rulemaking process goes, that is) for from this moment, OMB gets 90 days to review the agency’s initial stab at HOS reform and then must publish the re-done rules on Nov. 4 this year for public comment – a public comment period that runs until Jan. 4 of next year.

We’ll no doubt start to get drips of information here and there about the details of FMCSA’s first take on HOS reform in the coming days and weeks, then watch much furious debate ensue as spotlight shines on said particulars.

Yet I am hoping – and let me stress the key word “hoping” here – that the agency took to heart the many pieces of information it gleaned from the HOS public listening sessions it’s held across the U.S. since late last year.

One of the most important pieces of the trying to piece together this new HOS puzzle, though, is to figure out how decisions outside the control of carriers and drivers alike affects the safety profile of the trucking industry. And by this I mean how loading and unloading delays at ports, terminals, warehouses, etc. can put enormous fiscal pressure on drivers to violate the rules in order to earn a decent paycheck.

It was heartening to hear Anne Ferro herself – FMCSA’s chief administrator – point to the safety implications of this very scenario in a speech before shippers themselves just over a month ago.

At the Washington Freight Transportation Policy Forum back in June, hosted by the National Industrial Transportation League, Ferro (seen here at left with Don Osterberg, vp-safety for Schneider National, at a recent conference concerning sleep apnea) stressed that shippers – as the motor carrier’s primary customer – play a unique role in trucking safety, one few others possess.

“All of you know that truckers are limited to how long they can be on-duty and behind the wheel. When they arrive at a terminal, they are ‘on-duty,’ so when the truck is not moving, the drivers are burning hours they cannot recapture,” she said. “Consequently, when they do get a load and leave the terminal, they are under increased financial and mental stress to ‘not run out of hours.’ They have families to support, this is their livelihood.”

She noted that during FMCSA’s “numerous” public listening sessions – held as a run-up to undertaking the new HOS rulemaking proposal just slipped to OMB – the agency heard from hundreds of truck drivers from all over the country.

“The wasted ‘down time’ at loading docks was a constant refrain, a constant complaint that drivers said negatively impacted safety,” she stressed. “Think about that. Put yourself in the shoes of the truck driver who can’t get in and get offloaded, can’t get out with a load because of inefficiencies at terminals. Who is in the unique position to address this?”

As a result, Ferro pointedly asked the gathered shippers to increase their stake in motor carrier safety. “Practices that leave truckers waiting at the port or terminal for hours at a time do not take account of how long drivers may drive,” she noted. “I ask each of you today to take responsibility in your businesses to increase your stake in motor carrier safety. Between now and the end of the year, take the time to re-examine practices that short change the driver’s ability to drive safely.”

In her view, everyone in transportation – shippers included – has an important role to play in ensuring the safe movement of freight. “As partners in our transportation system let’s draw on our commitment to doing what’s right and our shared commitment to excellence,” Ferro said.

Let’s just hope FMCSA gave such words some serious teeth in what they’ve submitted to OMB.

“The new Explorer needed to deliver the fuel economy today’s customers want, combined with the performance, capability and empowerment they expect from an SUV.” –Jim Holland, chief nameplate engineer for Ford Motor Co.’s 2011 model Explorer sport utility vehicle

Interwoven amid all the hype and hoopla surrounding the roll-out of Ford Motor Co.’s new 2011 Explorer sport utility vehicle (SUV) , there’s an interesting vehicle engineering question being asked: how does one improve the fuel efficiency of larger vehicles without sacrificing performance?

Ford, for one, is trying to do this with smaller yet more powerful engines plus wider use of lighter materials, such as aluminum – a road many other OEMs are traveling as well.

First, let’s look at the powertrain. Ford’s using as a base engine in the 2011 Explorer an EcoBoost 2.0-liter I-4 engine that uses direct injection of gasoline and turbocharging to produce 237 horsepower at 5,500 rpm, along with 250 lb.-ft. of torque. In effect, that’s marrying the power of a six-cylinder engine with the lighter displacement and fuel-sipping profile of a four-cylinder model.

This is because the peak torque in an EcoBoost is generated at a low 1,700 rpm across a broad band to 4,000 rpm, making for flexible, efficient power delivery across a wide range of engine and vehicle speeds, while helping save fuel by making power at lower rpm levels.

Now, Ford says that 2011 Explorers equipped with EcoBoost engines should get 30% better fuel economy than the 2010 models – and if I’ve done my miles per gallon (mpg) math correctly, the 2011 Explorer about 18.2 mpg in the city and 26 mpg on the highway.

Add in these tidbits as well: The EcoBoost I-4 uses 5W30-GF4 oil to reduce friction and reduce cost of ownership, as it allows for a 10,000-mile oil change interval; targeted durability is 10 years, or 150,000 miles; the addition of an aluminum oil cooler with improved heat dissipation and cast inter-bore cooling inside the aluminum engine block – representing the initial U.S.-market application of a brick-style charge-air cooler, delivering increased thermal efficiency.

Weight reduction is the second key element in improving the new Explorer’s fuel efficiency, Ford said, as its engineers were able to reduce total vehicle weight by almost 100 pounds through the use of lighter materials such as an aluminum hood.

There’s of course a whole host of other stuff being packed into the new Explorer as well – safety systems, onboard navigation, better interior storage … the list goes on and on – but the key factor here is that vehicle engineers are trying to bring small vehicle fuel efficiency to bigger platforms without affecting performance and capability.

That’s a tough trick for any vehicle OEM these days. But it’s one they must all try and master in some shape or form.

“We’re at another interesting inflection point in our outlook. While we don’t think we’ll see a double-dip recession, we do project the overall economy growing slower than we previously forecast. That means the downside risks are increasing.” –Eric Starks, president and senior consultant, FTR Associates.

So I listened in on FTR Associates “The State of Freight” webinar today and got mixed bag of projections for trucking’s near- and long-term health.

On the plus side, Noel Perry – principal of research firm Transport Fundamentals, as well as managing director and senior consultant with FTR Associates – said freight volumes are definitely on the upswing, with a growing capacity crunch helping truckers boost rates and margins.

After watching truck freight pricing plummet by 11% last year, excluding fuel surcharges, Perry said prices should recover roughly 10% this year and next because freight demand is exceeding current capacity so strongly.

Fuel costs, of course, are always a wild card in all of this, but here Perry also sees some positive trends shaping up.

While the excess production capacity maintained by OPEC [the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries] has dropped by a third from its four million barrels per day peak of last year, there’s still enough left to give truckers a year or two “grace period” before any major fuel price spikes might occur.

Of course, there are some areas of concern, noted Perry. The first (unsurprisingly) regards the growing shortage of drivers. “Fleets just received a big lesson in caution during this recession, and when they are in pain, they cut overhead,” he explained.

Yet that overhead is the key tool through which truckers expand – especially in terms of the management and administrative skills necessary to hire drivers.

Those skills will be even more highly prized as hours of service (HOS) reform and new Comprehensive Safety Analysis (CSA) rules are put in place – efforts that may put at least 12% of the current drive pool off limits. He believes that may create double the size of the driver shortage faced by the industry back in 2004.

“It takes a LOT of work to hire drivers, and reducing all the overheard contracted the hiring pipeline by 33% or more over the course of the last year or so,” Perry said. “It’s going to take several years to rebuild all of that.”

Finally, there’s the overall economic picture. Based on its analysis, FTR is scaling back its U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) forecast to the 3%-3.5% range – a full percentage point lower than its previous estimate. The firm also thinks growth will remain “choppy” not only for the foreseeable future but will become the nominal state of economic behavior.

“We’re entering an era of ‘slow’ economic recovery, one characterized by several quarters of slow, uneven growth,” Perry said. “Economies just don’t recover in consistent ways – they jump around a lot more and while this is painful it will be normal.”

That’s also going to be strongly reflected in trucking industry financials from here on out, he thinks. “The long term volatility of the economy is going to be six times that of the 1980s and 1990s,” Perry said. “And transportation demand is going to be five times more volatile, with extremes in capacity doubling.”

As a result, trucking earnings are going to be far more volatile as well and not necessarily match the economic picture. “Carriers have tried to maintain steady earnings and just can’t. That’s going to be the challenge in the future here,” he said.

“To be a cargo theft investigator, you need to be both passionate and dogged. There’s a misconception out there that if you don’t recover stolen cargo in 48 to 72 hours, you’ll never see it again. We’ve actually made recoveries 30 days, 60 days, even a year later. That’s why you’ve got to be willing to not let go of a case.” –Scott Cornell, national manager, specialty investigations group, Travelers Investigative Services

They don’t carry badges, handcuffs, or firearms. They don’t drive supercharged squad cars or wear matching monochrome suits and sunglasses. Yet they are some of the most potent weapons facing off cargo thieves these days: the Special Investigations Group (SIG) within the Inland Marine division at Travelers Insurance.

Organized five years ago, SIG’s mission is twofold – investigate cargo thefts while helping clients adopt policies and procedures to “harden” their operations against such criminal activity. Scott Cornell, today SIG’s national manager, got the group off the ground with himself and just one other agent. Now, however, he commands a force of nine agents scattered across the U.S. – agents that for the most part are former law enforcement personnel that specialized in working the cargo theft beat.

“We’ve got agents in New Jersey, Dallas, TX, Atlanta, GA, Los Angeles – all the ‘hot spots’ where most cargo thefts occur,” he explained to me recently. “You’d also be surprised how difficult cargo theft investigations are, how far stolen goods will travel, and by how much logistical knowledge our investigators need. Furthermore, we’re on call 24/7, which means a lot of nights and weekends are spent working these crimes.”

While they have neither the firepower nor the arrest capabilities the law enforcement units dedicated to combating cargo theft do – such as the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Dept.’s Cargo Criminal Apprehension Team, known as the Cargo CATs for short – Cornell’s team possesses one distinct advantage; national investigative scope.

“We’re not limited by jurisdictions and state lines,” he told me. “We follow the trail wherever it might lead.”

To do that successfully, one of SIG’s agents is a full-time “desk jockey,” taking information called or emailed in from the group’s field agents, then working the Internet and other sources to try and connect the dots.

All of Cornell’s agents are well-schooled in the methods of cargo thieves, the places they like to hide and sell stolen goods, the ways they like to move them across the country. So the field agents and “desk jockey” are always working in concert to try and close the circle on the post-theft portion of these crimes.

“We’re also doing post-theft analysis of each crime our clients report,” Cornell explained. “We take the opportunity to review their security procedures, looking for the gaps that allowed the theft to occur.” He added that all of these investigative services are free to Traveler’s clients because – in the end – improved security and the recovery of stolen goods significantly reduces claims, thus saving Traveler’s a lot of money (and headache) in the bargain.

The tricky part is running the criminals and the stolen goods down. Any and all information gleaned by SIG’s agents gets turned over to the proper law enforcement authorities, but they really never wash their hands of such cases.

“To be a cargo theft investigator, you need to be both passionate and dogged,” Cornell (seen below) told me. “There’s a misconception out there that if you don’t recover stolen cargo in 48 to 72 hours, you’ll never see it again. We’ve actually made recoveries 30 days, 60 days, even a year later. That’s why you’ve got to be willing to not let go of a case.”

Inevitably, too, cases will link up as cargo thieves use the same illicit transportation networks and hiding spots to move stolen cargo. “That’s why you’ve got to have patience and a willingness to keep ‘cold cases’ alive in the back of your head, so to speak” Cornell explained. “We’ve found on more than one occasion solving one crime gives us pieces of information to solve another.”

Yet clients hold some of the most important cards in cargo theft investigations, he stressed, so it’s important for them to realize that they need to remain active participants right from the moment a crime occurs.

“They need to notify us as soon as the cargo is stolen,” Cornell emphasized. “If it’s stolen Saturday, don’t wait to call us on Monday. As I said, we’re open 24/7 and we need to move immediately on it.”

Clients must also gather every possible piece of information they can about the cargo and equipment involved in the crime and make it available to SIG’s agents. “Trailer license numbers and tractor vehicle identification numbers (VINs) are critical, as are bills of lading and other cargo paperwork,” he said.

“I can’t stress the immediacy of transferring that information enough,” Cornell added. “Once we had a client’s load stolen in Texas pulled over in Florida for a traffic violation. If we’d had the trailer information, we could have helped law enforcement make an arrest right there. But we didn’t.”

That’s one reason behind the development of the CargoNet information sharing system that went live earlier this year.

A division of Verisk’s ISO Crime Analytics unit, CargoNet helps prevent cargo theft and increases recovery rates through secure and controlled information sharing between theft victims, their business partners, and law enforcement.

Centered around a national database and information-sharing system managed by crime analysts and subject-matter experts, CargoNet applies an integrated, layered approach that exploits the weakness of cargo thieves at multiple points and includes: integrated databases, a theft alert system, task force and investigations support, a tractor/trailer theft deterrence program, the TruckStopWatch program, driver education and incentives, secondary-market monitoring and interdictions, crime trend analysis and loss control services, plus training and education.

Its tools like this that will help law enforcement and private investigators alike close down cargo theft operations, Cornell noted.

Finally, Cornell stressed that Traveler’s clients must still file a police report on stolen goods, even if they’ve alerted his agents and passed on the details of the crime. “We can tell you who to call, cutting through the bureaucracy to make the process easier, but we can’t file such a report for clients,” he said.

On a brighter note, Cornell thinks the transportation industry as a whole – including shippers and carriers alike – has turned a corner of sorts in the battle against cargo thieves.

“We’re really starting to coordinate and concentrate our investigative and preventive efforts on a national basis now industry-wide,” he said. “The goal now is to make the public more aware of the problem and get them involved. That’s what will really help us stop cargo crime in the long run.”

“These latest figures provide a grim reminder that even with all of the safety improvements that have been achieved in recent decades, our law enforcement officers still face grave, life-threatening dangers each and every day.” –Craig Floyd, chairman and CEO, National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF)

It’s bad enough that the number of U.S. law enforcement officers killed in the line of duty surged nearly 43% during the first six months of this year, according to preliminary data released today by the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF).

What’s worse is that traffic-related fatalities for law enforcement officers jumped 35%, from 31 at the mid-point of 2009 to 42 as of June 30 this year. The fatality totals this year included 29 officers who died in automobile crashes, four killed in motorcycle crashes and nine who were struck and killed while outside their vehicles – all increases from 2009, the group noted.

This is disheartening, to say the very least. If current trends continue, NLEOMF said 2010 would become the 13th consecutive year in which more law enforcement officers are killed in traffic-related incidents compared to any other single cause.

Think about this for a minute: Traffic-related incidents – again, including automobile and motorcycle crashes, as well as officers struck while outside their vehicles – accounted for more than 48% of the fatalities between January 1 and June 30 this year, whereas firearm-related fatalities made up nearly 36%, with deaths from all other causes combined accounted for the remaining 16%.

And if the mid-year trend continues, NLEOMF stressed, 2010 could end up being one of the deadliest years for U.S. law enforcement in two decades – mainly from traffic-related incidents!

Now, when it comes to traffic-stops, law enforcement agencies of all sizes and stripes focus a lot of their safety training time on what I call “the people factors” – how to interact with the folks they pull over, the warning signs for potential violent encounters, etc. Yet by comparison little of this training focuses on the roadway around the traffic-stop.

[Here’s a good training example one from the Chicago Police Department. Note how the traffic-stop examples take place on roads devoid of traffic.]

Now, I am certainly not trying to ding anyone here. Lord knows, getting into a shootout or physical combat as the result of a traffic stop is one of the biggest nightmares of any police officer, for the potential for things to go badly for the officer is very high.

The story of Officer Lou Gregoire, a police helicopter pilot in Gwinnett County, GA, provides a frightening example of this. He would’ve most likely have been killed during a traffic stop altercation outside of Atlanta back in 2000 if a truck driver named David Zorn hadn’t stepped in to save his life.

Yet I think it’s important to note that more police officers are dying in traffic-related incidents than in gun battles. That tells me, at least, that more thought needs to be given to the actual mechanics of the traffic stop.

Just take a look at the video clip below from about five years ago. The officer in question survives unscathed, but it’s a prime example of just how dangerous the environment surrounding a routine traffic stop can be.

To me, at least, NLEOMF’s data means we’ve got to look at more ways to better educate both the motoring public and law enforcement personnel about the inherent dangers posed by the vehicle flow surrounding a traffic stop, along with how things such as weather can worsen that safety picture, as well.

For far too many law enforcement personnel are losing their lives needlessly to traffic-related causes. That, my friends, has got to change.

“Thank you very much/Mister Roboto/For doing the jobs/that nobody wants to …” –From the song Mister Roboto by Styx

At first glance, forklifts might seem mundane pieces of equipment next to Class 8 rigs in the trucking world; small, easy to operate, and above all offering a far safer work environment compared to the crowded high-speed asphalt truckers ply every day.

Yet in many ways, that’s far from the truth.

Consider these statistics for a moment: 100 workers are killed in forklift related accidents every year in the U.S., with 25% of those fatalities due to rollover accidents. On top of that, roughly 20,000 workers are seriously injured in forklift related accidents annually, with some 34,000 injuries treated in emergency rooms across the country every year due to forklift accidents.

Suddenly, the forklift doesn’t seem so innocuous after all, does it?

However, all of that could possibly change based on a robot forklift prototype developed the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), BAE Systems, and Lincoln Laboratory based off a Toyota Material Handling U.S.A. (TMHU) chassis.

This project – sponsored by U.S. Army Logistics Innovation Agency (LIA), the Combined Arms Support Command (CASCOM) Sustainment Battle Lab, the Office of the Secretary of Defense (OSD) and the Director of Defense Research and Engineering (DDR&E) – modified a 3,000-pound capacity internal combustion engine-powered Toyota 8-Series lift truck to be operated without a human driver in the seat, directly operating the controls. Instead, the operator is at a distance, using voice and gesture commands to control the vehicle.

[Below, you’ll see how this robot forklift picks up pallets from the ground, filmed during recent demonstration testing hosted by LIA at Fort Lee, VA.]

This unmanned robotic forklift is capable of locating, lifting, moving and placing palletized supplies within an existing outdoor supply depot for right now, but I suspect that moving to indoor operations (the ‘modus operandi’ at most trucking terminals and warehouses) isn’t far behind.

Over the last two years, researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory developed a number of technologies to help this robot forklift function: using embodied speech and gesture understanding; shape estimation (from laser range scanner data); machine vision (from camera data); motion estimation (from GPS, inertial data and wheel odometry encoders); and autonomous mobility and pallet manipulation.

[Here’s how the robot forklift loads material onto a truck – in this case a flatbed medium-duty vehicle.]

Proprietary Controller Area Network (CAN-bus) protocols, provided by Toyota’s 8-Series product engineering team, enabled the MIT team to connect its algorithms directly to the lift truck’s manual and electrical controls, the participants noted.

“We chose the internal combustion-style lift truck because it can be operated outdoors on packed earth or gravel and – with mini-lever control – some of its functionality can be controlled electronically rather than solely mechanically,” said MIT Professor Seth Teller, who leads this project.

[Here’s how it off loads cargo from a truck.]

The reason the military is so involved in this project is pretty simple, too, explained Brett Wood, president of TMHU: it takes valuable personnel out of harm’s way.

“Robotic forklifts have the potential to protect both military and civilian personnel working in high-risk environments, such as hazardous material storage facilities,” he explained. “That’s why we are excited to work with the innovative researchers at MIT on this promising application of lift trucks.”

Neat stuff, indeed. Now the challenge is to make the technology cost efficient and robust enough to survive in real-world operations – all while being very simple to operate.

“Using propane as an engine fuel makes complete sense simply by looking at the return on investment. Fleets can save tens of thousands of dollars over the life of the van or truck and that alone is worth switching to propane even before you factor in the cleaner emissions and reduction in foreign oil dependency.” –Jack Roush, CEO of Roush Enterprises

I got the opportunity to talk with Jack Roush last year about the virtues of propane as a vehicle fuel — and it’s needless to say he’s a true believer in the stuff.

What’s important here, though – at least in my view – is that Jack isn’t an idealistic dreamer on this subject. In fact, Roush started out in 1964 as an engineer for Ford Motor Co., moving on to pursue his own specialized interests in engine development and motorsports.

He formed Jack Roush Performance Engineering, a precursor of today’s Roush Industries, in 1976 and Roush Racing in 1988 and is today one of the premier names associated with the sport of stock car racing.

All of that tells me that Roush doesn’t get involved in business ventures that don’t offer his company a viable future – meaning the involvement of the Roush Performance arm of his company in the propane vehicle market isn’t due to some “do-gooder” impulse. He really thinks propane is going to become a popular alternative fuel in the not-so-distant future.

[Here, Todd Mouw, Roush’s director of sales and marketing, gives an overview as to some the advantages of using propane as a vehicle fuel.]

Right now, Roush offers several vehicle models running on liquid propane: Ford E-150 / E-250 / E-350 passenger and cargo van equipped with the 5.4L V8s plus F-150, F-250, and F-350 trucks. The E-Series vans, it should be noted, achieve Super Ultra Low Emission Vehicle II emission standards, which, on average, results in 90% cleaner emissions than the average new model year car or truck.

A bit of background first, here. Propane got listed as an approved alternative clean fuel within the 1990 Clean Air Act, followed soon thereafter as an approved alternative fuel in the Energy Policy Act of 1992.

The big reasons why propane got this designation is that it produces up to 20% less oxides of nitrogen (NOx), up to 60% less carbon monoxide, 24% fewer greenhouse gas emissions, and fewer particulate emissions when compared to gasoline. Also, 90% of the propane used today in the U.S. comes from domestic sources of production – mainly as a byproduct of natural gas and petroleum refining.

In 1996, Congress formed the Propane Education & Research Council (PERC) with the passage of Public Law 104-284, known as the Propane Education and Research Act (PERA) to promote the safe, efficient use of odorized propane gas as a preferred energy source.

Today, propane is roughly a $10 billion industry in the U.S., with the country consuming more than 15 billion gallons annually for home, agricultural, industrial, and commercial uses. It’s become one of the most common alternative fuels around the globe, powering over 13 million vehicles worldwide.

And we’re talking commercial vehicles here, too – not necessarily big rigs, but definitely medium-duty units. Take Schwan’s Home Service, for example, which operates one of the largest direct-to-home food delivery businesses in the U.S.

Today, almost 90% of Schwan’s 6,000 trucks run on propane: trucks that are also roughly 6,000 pounds lighter, resulting in increased fuel economy. The company even recently redesigned its truck fleet to capitalize on the “green” image possibilities of using propane as well.

“While our customers are sure to recognize the outside of our trucks, it is important that they know that inside there is a fuel efficient machine that is safer for our environment,” noted Scott McNair, president of The Schwan Food Company.

In fact, company founder Marvin Schwan began using propane in his trucks in the early 1970s in response to the oil embargoes. The investment made to use propane has not only been efficient and better for the environment, but also economical, as the company has saved millions of dollars since the 1970s, McNair said.

Then take Prime Time Shuttle that serves southern California. Prime Time is replacing its fleet of 200 shuttle buses with 200 liquid propane-powered Ford E-350s over the next 24 months. Today, each of its gasoline-powered shuttle vans consumes more than 7,500 gallons annually; by switching to propane, Prime Time should save more than 1.5 million gallons of gasoline each year.

[Below is a recent interview with Tom Arnold, Roush’s manufacturing director, about the propane injected F-150 they’ve developed.]

Then there’s Ferrellgas Partners, one of the U.S.’s largest propane distributors, out there banging the propane drum via a nationwide tour of 5.4L V-8 propane powered Ford F-250 for the last year.

Ferrellgas’s 2010 Roush liquid propane injected F-250 offers the same horsepower (300 hp) and torque (365 ft-lbs) as a comparable gasoline-powered truck, equipped with in-bed tank provides about 55-gallons of propane, resulting in a range in excess of 500 miles.

During the first year of this road show, Ferrellgas said its propane-powered F-250 traveled more than 47,000 miles across 30 states, producing approximately 5,954 lbs less carbon dioxide than its gasoline equivalent while saving some $2,469 in fuel costs. Those are pretty compelling numbers, especially with the legacy of 2008’s oil price spike still fresh in our minds.

Add to that two to three years longer service life and extended intervals between required maintenance and you get an even more interesting vehicle life cycle equation to consider.

This doesn’t make propane a “silver bullet” in terms of taking care of our nation’s transportation energy needs by any stretch of the imagination, but it certainly makes it a compelling piece of an ultimate solution.

“I really am proof that the Lord do giveth, even when he taketh away.” –Larry Koester, champion driver, National Tractor Pull Association (NTPA)

You can’t help but be inspired by someone like Larry Koester.

Outgoing and personable (with a crushing handshake, I might add), Koester is living proof that tragedy not only can be overcome, but also sometimes opens the door to experiences and opportunities that might never have existed if fate hadn’t taken it’s cruel twist.

I met Koester (at right, with fellow racer and son Adam) several weeks ago during the 28th annual Shell Rotella SuperRigs competition at the LEE HI Travel Plaza outside of Lexington, VA. A onetime trucker and farmer, Koester lost both his legs at the knee in a freak farm tractor accident in 1986 – and isn’t bashful in the slightest in terms of talking about it.

“One minute I’m on the tractor, the next minute its six weeks later and I’m coming out of a coma with no legs,” he told me matter-of-factly.

It must have been a personal catastrophe of untold magnitude. How could it not, to go from walking to wheelchair in what probably seemed a blink of an eye?

Yet far from crippling his life, that accident opened a new chapter in Koester’s life – that of a champion driver in the National Tractor Pull Association (NTPA).

What started as a hobby to help him recover from his injuries turned into a full-fledged career in 1998 when Pennzoil Lubricants offered him a full-time racing sponsorship. Larry had to modify the throttle and braking mechanisms, of course, to compensate for his lost legs, but it sure didn’t affect his ability to find the winner’s circle.

Over the last 12 years since Larry’s been racing, he’s been a repeat NTPA champion in the “mini-modified” racing tractor division – behind the wheel of “Footloose,” as his machine is called.

[Here’s a look at how these “mini-mods” perform, from video shot at a truck and tractor pull event at The Danville Pittsylvania County Fair Grounds.]

In 2001, Larry captured his first Grand National Points Championship, later nabbing championships in 2006 and 2008. He bagged runner-up placements in 1992, 2002, 2005, and 2007 and was also (unsurprisingly) named “Mini Modified Puller of the Year” in 1992, 2001, 2003, 2006 and 2008.

Larry is also involved with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Northwest Ohio through his tractor-pulling career, acting as the group’s spokesman for more than 10 years running. I can only imagine what the kids think when Larry shows off his racing machine, telling him how much power it cranks out.

Because driving these racing tractors is no mean feat, even for drivers that still have two legs. The super-charged engines powering these mini-mods – fueled on methanol – crank out 2,700 horsepower, turning the rear wheels at 160 miles per hour. All the power is necessary, as these tractors need to try and pull 16,000 pound sleds as far and as fast as they can to sew up a win.

[Below you can watch Larry give a “tour” of his unique mini-mod racing machine.]

The best part of Koester’s story is that tractor racing is now a true family affair, with his son Adam Koester piloting “Double Play” on the same team as his father. Adam himself is a champion, having gained the winner’s circle in 2007 while placing second in 2006 and 2008.

Today, Shell Rotella now sponsors the Koester father-and-son racing team, with their mini-mods and trailer now revamped with Shell Rotella paint schemes, “Larry and Adam are two of the hardest working pullers out there, and it is an honor for us to ‘energize’ them in the 2010 season,” noted Mark Reed, global brand manager for Shell Rotella.

The 2010 season marks Larry Koester’s 24th year of tractor pulling in the mini-modified division and he hopes to come out and add another title to his ever-growing list – unsatisfied with anything but the top slot unless he falls second to son Adam, as he did in 2007.

Adam is entering his sixth year of tractor pulling in the mini-modified division and is a champion in his own right – not a shock, since the now 24-year-old grew up in the sport and is a “natural puller,” according to Larry.

Adam clinched Rookie of the Year honors in 2005, then placed second in points to his father in 2006 before beating him in a close finish in 2007 to win the championship. Dad was not to be out-pulled, however, reclaiming the championship in 2008.

Mechanical difficulties kept both Larry and Adam out of the winner’s circle last year, but they expect great things of themselves in 2010. For those so inclined, their racing schedule is below – and they’ve still got a lot more events to go in the current season:

May 14-15 Pinetops, NC

June 25- 27 Tomah, WI

July 9- 10 Arcola, IN

July 17- 18 New Hampton, IA

July 23- 24 Chapel Hill, TN

July 30- 31 Fort Recovery, OH

August 13- 14 Saluda, SC

August 17 Armada, MI

August 20- 22 Bowling Green, OH

August 24 Greenville, OH

September 3 Wauseon , OH

September 4 Findlay, OH

September 9 Wauseon, OH

September 18 Urbana, OH

October 15- 17 Raleigh, NC

Yet Larry is more than aware that he’s already claimed the greatest victory possible – a life reborn out of the ashes of split-second tragedy. “I really am proof that the Lord do giveth, even when he taketh away,” he told me.

Amen to that.