Trucks at Work Blog

“We expect to be able to reduce the energy consumption in a city bus by up to 65% [and] carbon-dioxide emissions by more than 75% with a plug-in hybrid compared with today’s diesel buses.” –Håkan Karlsson, Volvo Buses CEO

Here’s another alternatively-powered commercial vehicle design to keep your eye on for the future: the plug-in hybrid transit bus being developed by Volvo Buses, a division of Sweden’s AB Volvo.

Now, Volvo’s been building diesel-electric hybrid buses for a while now – in fact, it’s sold over 250 of them worldwide, and these hybrid models reduce diesel fuel consumption by 35% on average compared to their diesel-only brethren.

But the adding the “plug-in” piece takes fuel efficiency to a whole new level, potentially cutting diesel consumption by 65%, according to Volvo Buses, because it allows the electrical drivetrain to be re-powered independently of the diesel engine.

In short, the bus can run on just electricity alone and then be plugged in somewhere down to the line to recharge its batteries, without having to operate the diesel engine to perform those recharging duties. more

“Understand that most problems are a good sign. Problems indicate that progress is being made, wheels are turning, that you are moving toward your goals. Beware when you have no problems. Then you’ve really got a problem. Problems are like landmarks of progress.” –Scott Alexander

We’re conditioned in this country to view all mistakes as terrible, awful things – and of course, in more than a few cases, that’s the right view. We certainly don’t want to hear the word “Ooops” uttered by a commercial jetliner pilot on final approach during a pelting, wind-driven rainstorm, for example; nor is it a word we EVER want to encounter during any form of surgery.

In trucking’s corner of the world, of course, mistakes can often lead to serious consequences, not the least of which are crashes – and any sort of accident involving 80,000 pounds traveling at highway speeds is bound to leave damage in one form or another in its wake.

Yet mistakes are perhaps humanity’s best teaching tool; I myself know this to be true from the other part of my life as a youth soccer coach.

You can talk to a kid until you are blue in the face about the importance of first touch on the ball or properly weighted passes. Yet when a kid makes a mistake in either of those areas in a game, leading to a missed scoring opportunity or – worse yet, for them – a goal for the opposing team, you can BET they will never forget why those skills are critical again.

That’s of course why the concept of soccer PRACTICE exists – to allow players the opportunity to screw up royally and then recognize the consequences of said screw up, without the fear of winning or losing clouding the picture. Indeed, most of the soccer leagues my kids participate in don’t start maintaining divisional rankings until the kids are 11 or 12 years old – largely to give them time to learn, through their mistakes, how to properly play the game. more

“We use this tractor-trailer to engage our fleet and owner-operator customers in a discussion about the importance of lubricants and coolants to their operations.” –Jim Gambill, direct marketing specialist, Chevron Lubricants

Like many of its fellow suppliers (and not a few OEMs as well), Chevron uses a special mobile exhibit pulled by a Class 8 tractor to help it talk with customers about how its products impact their business on a daily basis. And frankly, mobile exhibits like these offer an interesting opportunity to view any number of products – from motor oils to entire truck engines – in a new light.

In Chevron’s case, though, the use of mobile exhibits isn’t new – in fact, Jim Gambill, direct marketing specialist for Chevron Lubricants, explained during a special tour of the new rig at the Great American Trucking Show that the company has been using these specialized tractor-trailers since 1999.

A brand new 2011 model Kenworth T700, featuring a 267-inch wheelbase and powered by a 455 horsepower Paccar MX 12.9 liter engine, hauls Chevron’s mobile display, craftily fitted into a 48-foot long trailer.

In “exhibit mode,” the trailer’s side slide out to create a 22-foot wide display area featuring 19 different “learning stations” designed to highlight a number of issues, from how diesel engine piston engine size and shape has changed over the years to how Chevron’s “Delo” motor oil got its name. more

“There’s a constant appetite for energy and that will drive up oil prices in the future. As a result of high energy prices, transportation will cost more. That will drive a lot of industrial manufacturing back to North America from China. And if it comes back to North America, it will create more demand for freight – and so more demand for trucks.” –Sandeep Kar, global director-commercial vehicle research, Frost & Sullivan

It’s one of the tantalizing prospects of higher oil prices, which is usually something that only elicits nothing but gasps and groans from the U.S. populace: The return of manufacturing operations from overseas (read as China) to North American shores.

The reason for such “return migration” to the minds of experts such as Sandeep Kar, global director-commercial vehicle research for consulting firm Frost & Sullivan boils down to a simple chain of facts: high energy prices drives up the cost of transportation, and as transportation gets more expensive, it eliminates the costs savings generated from moving manufacturing operations halfway around the world to benefit from what we politely call “lower labor costs.”

The risk factors surrounding the use of far-flung manufacturing sites to produce goods for U.S. consumers are growing in other areas as well, according to a new report from global consulting entity PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), entitled Achieving Excellence in Production and Supply. more

“While automobile travel is expected to increase slightly, if recent declines in gasoline prices continue through Labor Day, we could see an increase in last-minute holiday weekend travel.” –Glen MacDonell, director, AAA Travel Services

Well now! If the thoroughly unexpected 5.9 on-the-Richter-scale earthquake that hit the East Coast of the U.S. yesterday plus the impending landfall this weekend of Hurricane Irene weren’t enough, now we have predictions for a third type of calamity to make a most unwelcome strike in the none-too-distant-future: traffic congestion!

According to AAA, some 31.5 million Americans are expected to travel 50 miles or more from home during the Labor Day holiday weekend (defined as Thursday, Sept. 1 to Monday, Sept. 5, just to be specific), which is down 2.4% from the 32.3 million people who traveled during the Labor Day holiday period last year

AAA, based on economic forecasting and research by IHS Global Insight, said the projected decrease in expected travelers is a result of a mixed economic outlook, consumer uncertainty regarding the overall economy, and recent downturns in economic factors that affect discretionary income, which is particularly relevant to the travel and tourism industry.

Real disposable income is up just 1.3%, which is being offset by the travel price index rising 6.7% since last year, due primarily to rising transportation costs, the group said.

However, more of those folks could be hitting the roads than previously expected, AAA stressed, as car travel – due to the nice decline in fuel prices we’ve been experiencing – is going to be an increasingly cheaper way to go. more

“This is the kind of collaborative effort that is required to address the big global challenges of energy independence and environmental sustainability.” –Alan Mulally, president and CEO, Ford Motor Co.

It’s been no secret that OEMs across the vehicle spectrum believe hybrid technology – systems combining battery-driven electric motors with their diesel or gasoline counterparts – offers perhaps the simplest way to reduce fuel consumption in the transportation sector.

Now, when we use the term “simple” here, let’s be clear about the context. This isn’t “simple” technology by any means. Rather, it’s just “simpler” in comparison to what’s needed in terms of both vehicle technology and infrastructure to switch to natural gas, propane, or even all-electric vehicles.

For in the case of hybrids, diesel or gasoline engine produce the electrical “juice” to recharge the vehicle’s battery pack – providing a “closed loop” propulsion system of sorts that doesn’t have to rely on a refueling infrastructure outside of the one already in existence to support petroleum-powered equipment.

That’s what seems to be driving a new development partnership just inked between Ford Motor Co. and Toyota Motor Co. aimed (in part) at crafting new hybrid systems for light trucks and sport utility vehicles (SUVs). more

“A malicious cyber attack on electric vehicle infrastructure could potentially result in brownouts or stranded vehicles, and any failure in smart charging systems could strike a huge blow to utilities as well as consumer confidence in the reliability and viability of electric vehicles as a preferred mode of transportation.” –Bob Lockhart, senior analyst, Pike Research

As anyone in the transportation business knows, it’s a lot easier to talk about making a wholesale shift to alternate forms of vehicle propulsion – such as natural gas, propane, and electricity – than it is to actually do it.

For starters, alternatively-fueled vehicles simply cost more than their gasoline- and diesel-powered brethren – costs that take a long time to recoup – and they almost always come with more limited range.

But perhaps the biggest bugaboo, in the estimation of many experts, centers on the refueling infrastructure issue – an issue with far more ticklish twists and turns than many might expect.

Let’s take electric vehicles (EVs) for example. From the perspective of Pike Research, a firm that’s been analyzing the EV market for some time now, one of the most pressing challenges is related to securing financial transactions and end-to-end power delivery via the EV recharging infrastructure, which is only now – with many fits and starts – coming into being across the country. more

“Only passions – great passions – can elevate the soul to great things.” –Denis Diderot

Jerry Osteryoung, professor emeritus of finance with the College of Business at Florida State University, is no stranger to this space and though his words are meant for the ears on entrepreneurs across a wide swath of businesses – from restaurants to computer services – they often offer particular resonance for truckers large and small.

His most recent missive concerning what he believes to be three critical, yet simple, keys to success for anyone in business is a case in point. In his view, after observing (and in many cases advising) over 3,000 entrepreneurs, three fundamental building blocks are required to succeed in business: passion, purpose and knowledge.

“Most folks have two of these down, but you really need all three if you are going to be successful,” he explained recently in one of his columns.

I think any trucker can relate to this, especially given the tough economic times this industry – and indeed the U.S. as a whole – continues to experience. Without a love (or at least a substantial “like”) for what you do day in and day out, without a reason for doing it, and without the hard-won nuts-and-bolts understanding of how to make money operating trucks for a living, you’ll just stall out on the side of that proverbial road of life. more

“Part of the problem is bad policies. We’ve forgotten what we’ve learned about economics. Our initial monetary policy in 2008, such as TARP [the Troubled Asset Relief Program], played an essential role – it was the right thing to do. But since then we’ve wandered wildly off course. The ‘quantitative easing’ by the Federal Reserve is simply stupid, leaving us with [federal] budget problems and in a terrible situation if inflation erupts.” –Bill Witte, principal of Witte Econometrics and economist for FTR Associates.

It’s not every day that an economist I respect uses the word “stupid” to describe U.S. economic policies. But that’s exactly what Bill Witte (below at right), principal of Witte Econometrics and economist for FTR Associates, did yesterday during FTR’s quarterly State of Freight webcast.

Frankly, though, he’s right: we’re in a hell of a monetary mess as a nation and things are only looking bleaker down the road. To rub even more salt in our fiscal wounds, the nominal revisions to U.S. gross domestic product (GDP) numbers now paint a far starker economic picture than anyone previously figured – both in terms of a much harsher recession followed by a far more tepid recovery.

Fortunately, FTR’s forecast for trucking contains some bright spots (if they can be called that), but that’s largely because the industry’s capacity remains extremely tight – so much so that despite downgrading its tonnage projections for the rest of 2011 and 2012, FTR thinks TL and LTL carriers alike will still be able to raise rates and make them stick.

Yet it’s the larger economic picture that’s creating cause for worry; the one that’s causing all these violent triple-digit swings in the stock market, among other unhealthy trends. more

“There’s a misconception that fleets must purchase their trucks in order to take advantage of the tax savings available from the federal legislation passed late last year. But that’s not the case.” –Olen Hunter, national sales director, Paccar Leasing

One of the drivers behind the big spike in truck orders and sales we’ve been witnessing in 2011 stems from a “bonus depreciation” addendum in the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization and Job Creation Act of 2010.

That rule extended a 100% bonus depreciation provision from Sept. 8, 2010, through the end of 2011, according to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. However, once we reach 2012, “bonus depreciation” reverts back to 50% for all qualifying assets placed into service through Dec. 31, 2012.

In short, truckers that need wheels realized they could reap some pretty significant tax savings if they bought equipment and placed it into service by the end of 2011. Indeed, a lot of businesses benefited from this provision, as well, if they needed to buy physical assets for their operation. more