Trucks at Work Blog

“This is the best of both worlds – advanced clean diesel engines with near zero emissions coupled with hybrid powertrains that capture and recycle energy of the truck operation.” – Allen Schaeffer, executive director, Diesel Technology Forum

So I attended the Maryland Hybrid Truck Initiative’s (MHTI) “ribbon cutting” ceremony this week at a Nestle Waters North America (NWNA) depot just south of Baltimore – an event celebrating the first “wheels on the ground” of 143 hybrid trucks among five national fleets that will be placed into operation in and around the state of Maryland.

The MHTI program, as you might guess, is a complex “public-private” partnership that uses federal grants to help spur the adoption of new technology – in this case, hybrid trucks.

MHTI used $5.9 million in grant funding from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (also known as the “stimulus bill”) through the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) to help offset the incremental cost to purchase and deploy these 143 diesel-electric and hydraulic hybrid trucks built by Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA); specifically Freightliner Business Class M2e and Freightliner Custom Chassis walk-in van models.

The way it works is that the five fleets in question pay the base sticker price for these 143 trucks, with the $5.9 million federal grant money covering the “incremental” cost for the hybrid systems. Averaged out, that’s just under $42,000 per vehicle – not chump change in the fleet world.

But as Dennis Smith, director of the DOE’s national clean cities program, explained without this grant money, most fleets are reluctant to experiment with new technologies like hybrid trucks because they just cost too much. So government steps in help “seed” the market, if you will, giving these technologies a chance to prove themselves. more

So one of my good compatriots in the trucking reporter pool recently told me about this “insane rally car driver” by the name of Ken Block one day – a dude about a year older than me, who also dabbles in skateboarding, snowboarding, and motor cross (I guess he must have nine lives like a cat or something).

The guy is also an expert in another popular motor sport known as “gymkhana,” where drivers race small cars at high speeds around some truly bizarre obstacle courses set up in parking lots, abandoned race tracks, places like that.

OK, sure – crazy car stunts.

Yeah, I’ve seen those (and ones involving big rigs, as well).

But NOTHING prepared me for the stuff Ken Block puts together.

After watching a nearly eight minute extravaganza he conducted in France at the helm of a super-charged Ford Fiesta (which you can see below), I didn’t know WHAT to think exactly. more

“In the past, companies were faced with a war for talent. Now that has evolved into a war for talents because in this new reality, employers require a much greater specificity of skills than they did previously. As well as individuals with the technical skills that their role requires, firms need people with human qualities such as adaptability and agility which make them more versatile and enable their companies to do more with less.” –Jeffrey Joerres, chairman and CEO, Manpower Inc.

The World Economic Forum (WEF – sounds like a wrestling acronym, doesn’t it?) is holding its annual meeting this week in Davos, Switzerland, and one of the big topics on the table for discussion is how the standard “models for work” across the global need to be completely rethought.

And if you don’t think that applies to trucking here in the U.S., I’d say you’re flat-out wrong.

Jeffrey Joerres (at right), chairman and CEO of employment consulting firm Manpower Inc., is one of the 2,500 participants at the WEF and he’s got a lot to say on the subject of work – especially as it applies to what he calls a “new war for talents.”

First, the big picture – and it’s a fairly bleak starting point.

The world economy hemorrhaged more than 30 million jobs since 2007, three-quarters of them lost from advanced economies, he notes, and slow job growth is seen as the weakest link in the global recovery, challenging both developed and emerging economies.

Yet at the same time there’s what Joerres dubs an “unparalleled talent scarcity” that’s still growing despite high unemployment; and this, more than anything else in his estimation, will put a brake on economic growth worldwide unless an action is taken now. more

“The uncertainty of gas prices, combined with the government-mandated increase in Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE), has most automakers preparing both small and fuel-efficient vehicles for their future lineups.” –James Bell, executive market analyst, Kelley Blue Book’s kbb.com

It’s none-too-surprising to see “fuel efficiency” becoming the focus of not just owners and operators in the light vehicle world but of manufacturers as well for the near future. The question, however, is whether this focus is temporary or represents a more permanent shift in specification demand.

High fuel prices have much to do with this, especially on the consumer side of the equation. AAA Chicago, for example, noted that the cost of regular unleaded gasoline jumped 16 cents in Illinois during January alone, driving pump prices up to a statewide average cost of $3.22 per gallon for the month; 38 cents higher per gallon than the same period in 2010. Nationwide, gasoline prices are hovering at about a $3.12 per gallon average, AAA noted.

“Oil prices are trading at nearly $90 per barrel, which is having an enormous effect on the price of gasoline at the pump,” said Beth Mosher, director of public affairs for AAA Chicago. “Unfortunately, at least in the near-term, consumers should get used to paying these high prices at the pump.”

Thing is, consumers seem to be resigned to high fuel prices – which may be driving them to rank fuel-efficiency higher on the “vehicle needs” list on a more permanent basis. more

“The whole transportation environment has changed so drastically since we started out in 1986 that it’s almost like a totally different industry now. And it will continue to keep changing, and won’t get any simpler by any means.” –Max Fuller, co-chairman and co-founder of U.S. Xpress Enterprises

Reaching the quarter-century mark is a major milestone for any business, but it’s even tougher to achieve in the rough-and-tumble trucking industry.

Needless to say, it’s a mark just now reached by U.S. Xpress Enterprises, a firm that’s been nursed by co-chairmen and co-founders Max Fuller (on the left in the photo) and Pat Quinn from a small 48 truck exclusively long-haul fleet to a billion-dollar multi-faceted carrier operating over 7,000 tractors and some 22,000 trailers.

Fuller and Quinn sat down on the eve of the company’s 25th anniversary with reporters (both in person and via conference call) to talk about the huge changes they’ve witnessed since they hauled their first load of freight out Long Beach, CA, back in 1986 – as well as ruminate on the challenges ahead for motor carriers. (You can read about some of this in our top news story today, as well).

The biggest change witnessed by these two trucking veterans over the last two and half decades is probably just the sheer amount of change that’s affected motor carriers. Fuller noted that in the 1980s and early 1990s, product “sourcing” for the U.S. market took place in big U.S. cities like Chicago and Detroit. Then it started shifting overseas to Asia, meaning freight volumes swung to port cities such as Long Beach on the west coast.

Now, much of that manufacturing is coming back to North America, primarily to Mexico but even into parts of the U.S. again – all due to the rapid rise in transportation costs over the last decade. more

“There is no rigid prescription – no ‘best way’ – to address congestion problems. The most effective strategy is one where agency actions are complemented by efforts of businesses, manufacturers, commuters and travelers. Each region must identify the projects, programs and policies that achieve goals, solve problems and capitalize on opportunities.” –Tim Lomax, researcher with the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) at Texas A&M University, from TTI’s 2010 Urban Mobility Report

There’s a lot of traffic out there on them thar roads – and, once again, we’ve got a big, detailed report to prove it.

The 2010 Urban Mobility Report, published by the Texas Transportation Institute (TTI) at Texas A&M University, paints a pretty grim picture (as it always does) of the traffic congestion clogging up America’s roadways.

Consider these statistics, for starters: The top 15 urban areas in the U.S. out of 439 studied by TTI account for 55% of the traffic delays that occurred in 2009, with the top 20 areas accounting for over 65% of those annual delays.

Here are some others: in 2009, congestion (based on wasted time and fuel) cost about $115 billion in the 439 urban areas, compared to $113 billion (in constant dollars) in 2006 and $24 billion in 1982 (the first year researched by TTI when it began publishing these disheartening traffic studies in 1984). more

“One area we found very interesting is Michigan State University’s analysis that the actual car shopping experience is three times more important to ‘Generation Y’ than vehicle design … and must connect across the evaluation, sales and post-sales cycles.” –Joe Vitale, with Deloitte LLP’s automotive practice and Generation Y research program

It’s a sure-fire given that automobiles and heavy commercial trucks live and work in vastly different transportation worlds, in terms of everything from daily/yearly mileage, vehicle handling characteristics, on down to the dominant type of fuel consumed (gasoline versus diesel, respectively).

Yet it’s also a sure-fire given that people – good, old fashion living-and-breathing humans – are required to operate both, and thus commonalities are bound to be shared.

That “commonality” regarding the human experience is one reason trucks today are quieter, more comfortable, provide far more stopping power, and often times don’t require any shifting of gears. They’ve become in many respects “car-like” because the folks driving today’s advanced automobiles don’t want to take a “step down” when they enter the cab of a big rig.

In a larger sense, a similar trendline may be starting to develop on the buying/selling side of the truck equation, if new research compiled by consulting firm Deloitte LLP pans out. more

“We expect the efficiencies to continue to climb as modifications are made and new simulations are conducted.” –Sal Scuderi, president of Scuderi Group, after fuel efficiency gains of 25% to 36% were identified via computer models developed by the Southwest Research Institute for his company’s new engine designs

I’ve written about the Scuderi Group’s revolutionary engine designs in this space before; designs that the company claims produces up to 80% fewer toxins than a typical internal combustion engine while posting big gains in fuel efficiency – all done without expensive aftertreatment systems.

Originally conceived and designed by Carmelo Scuderi (seen here at right; the namesake of the company, engine, and thermodynamic equations powering it), the Scuderi “split-cycle” engine design divides the four strokes of a conventional combustion cycle over two paired cylinders: one intake/compression cylinder and one power/exhaust cylinder.

By firing after top-dead center, it produces highly efficient, cleaner combustion with one cylinder and compressed air in the other, according to the Scuderi folks. Also, unlike conventional engines that require two crankshaft revolutions to complete a single combustion cycle, the Scuderi engine requires just one; all while purportedly producing more torque than conventional gasoline and diesel engines, the firm said. more

“Drivelines are at once very simple yet very complex components. They are very important in terms of vehicle reliability. It’s one of those components that often goes largely unnoticed but is oftentimes very critical to vehicle uptime and operation.” –Karl Mayer, ArvinMeritor’s director-product line management for drivelines

Let’s face it: drivelines aren’t the sexiest component on a big rig. Heck, they aren’t even visible, unless you crawl under a Class 8 truck and look up underneath at the chassis.

You can hear the big growl of a diesel; you physically interact with the transmission, either manually changing the gears or at least moving the shift lever from ‘P’ to ‘D’. Tires, wheel hubs, axles, not to mention cab styles, all get their day in the sun, so to speak. But a driveline? C’mon, man – it’s a couple of tubes, a u-joint, and yokes. Not much to write home about, as the saying goes.

Yet without the driveline, the truck doesn’t move, for it connects the transmission to the axles. No driveline means no torque reaches the axles, which turn the wheels on the asphalt. To badly butcher an old phrase, pop a driveline and your trucking goose is cooked; you won’t be limping anywhere without it. more

“Last year was remarkable for its series of public gaffes made by CEOs and other leaders that shattered organizations, share price, job tenure, coastlines, and even religious tolerance. In 2011, we can learn from their mistakes in order to protect our own reputations.” –Davia Temin, CEO of Temin and Company

If there’s one word that can really sum up a trucking company’s chance at success in the rough-and-tumble world of freight, it’s got to be (in my estimation at least) the word “reputation.”

If a carrier gets a reputation for 98% on-time delivery, for low levels of freight damage claims, for professional and safe drivers, word still spreads pretty far and fast in the shipper community – as does word of carriers with the exact opposite characteristics.

Now, yes, in this very space I’ve argued that, for a long time now, many shippers focused simply on the cost of freight services to determine who hauls their cargos – good drivers and good, safe equipment taking a back seat to price and on-time delivery metrics.

Yet reputation still matters in this business – especially within trucking companies themselves, from drivers on up to the fleet managers and chief executives. more