Trucks at Work Blog

“Citizens now trust one another more than they do established institutions.” –Richard Edelman, president and CEO of global public relations firm Edelman, in the company’s 12th annual trust and credibility survey

Is it any surprise that faith in government institutions worldwide is on the rocks? Or that trust in business, particularly CEOs, is waning as well? I’d think that neither finding would shock anyone at this point, considering the utter economic and political mess we’ve been wading through over the last three years – particularly as, in many respects, the mess isn’t going to be cleaned up any time soon.

Leafing through the 2012 Edelman Trust Barometer – the global public relations firm’s 12th annual trust and credibility survey – you’ll find that blame for the financial and political chaos of 2011 is being placed squarely on the doorstep of government, with trust in government falling a record nine points to 43% globally. more

“From a public policy perspective, this is a classic case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.” –Pete Ruane, president, American Road & Transportation Builders Association (ARTBA)

It’s inevitable that regulatory decisions in the transportation arena lead to a range of both intended and unintended consequences.

Take airbag safety systems, for example. In 1984, the federal government mandated that all cars built after April 1989 must incorporate “passive” safety restraints – either airbags or automatic seat belts (light trucks weren’t covered by this regulatory change until 1997). Almost all the automakers went with airbags and between 1990 and 2000, some 3.3 million airbag deployments occurred, saving 6,397 lives and preventing countless injuries, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA)

Yet airbags also killed some passengers, too – a wholly unexpected development. Some 175 people, mostly children (104 to be precise) died as a result of airbag deployment; largely because the bags inflated at speeds in excess of 100 mph, thus leading rare but nonetheless fatal impact injuries.

As a result, the feds went back to the rulemaking board in 1998 and amended the rule to “de-power” airbags so they would not cause injuries to un-belted males or females in the 50th percentile for height and weight. Placards were also developed warning parents not to place children in front seat.

Now – switching gears here – while no lives are at risk from the new fuel economy standards being proposed for cars and light trucks by the Obama Administration, there’s an unintended transportation funding issue it could cause, meaning yet another fix of some kind will be needed. more

“The priorities of the American Taxpayer have been and will be placed ahead of the unchecked desires of some in Washington [D.C.] to spend money that is borrowed … This new reality has proven to be frustrating for some in Washington who even fail to consider positive alternatives for supporting transportation projects and simply resort to deficit spending ‘come hell or high water.’” –Rep. John Mica (R-FL), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, from a letter sent last week to Thomas Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce

It’s being referred to as “blistering,” “scathing,” “vitriolic,” and “scolding,” this letter sent last week by Rep. John Mica (R-FL), (at right), chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, to Thomas Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce; a letter than in very blunt terms pours a big bucket of cold water upon the aspirations of many within U.S. to somehow reinvent, revitalize and ultimately expand our nation’s transportation infrastructure.

Mincing few words, Mica laid out the unvarnished truth that everyone knows but tries very hard to ignore: as a nation, we’re broke. In fact, we’re actually worse off that that; we’re in serious debt, with one of our major creditors a nation that is in many ways an economic, military and political rival to us.

This is position from which Mica launched his written “tirade,” as many also called it, against the biggest business lobbying group in the U.S. – a group that has long understood the dangers posed by unchecked deficit spending by the U.S. federal government, which is one of many reasons behind Mica’s overheated prose.

“Our years of excessive deficit spending are at an end and responsible Congressional leaders must make difficult decisions about achieving real and tangible priorities,” Mica wrote. “My primary priority is to produce a long-term re-authorization bill to provide states with the certainty they require for large-scale infrastructure planning, and instituting reforms to existing programs. A continuation of deficit spending and General Fund transfers will destroy the dedicated user-fee based Highway Trust Fund. As stewards of that fund, it is our responsibility to stabilize the fund to protect its budgetary treatment and existence.” more

“This bill will assist carriers and owner operators to specify safety technologies needed to prevent thousands of crashes annually involving commercial vehicles. Highways would be safer for fleet drivers and passenger car drivers alike.” –Jon Morrison, president and general manager, Meritor WABCO

There’s an old saying that while you can lead a horse to water, you can’t make it drink. And that increasingly seems to be the case with the U.S. Congress when it comes to establishing a tax credit to spur wider adoption of various safety technologies for commercial trucks.

Two bills were sent to Congress in 2008 and 2009 to try and win such tax credits, all to no avail. Now our national legislators are getting a third opportunity by way of the Commercial Motor Vehicle Advanced Safety Technology Tax Act of 2011, introduced by Congressman Geoff Davis (R-KY) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) this month as H.R. 1706.

The proposed bill would speed up the deployment of advanced safety systems by providing tax credits to purchasers of commercial vehicles of up to $1,500 per safety system and $3,500 per vehicle, while installing a cap of $350,000 annually per taxpayer. more

“Despite shrinking federal and state transportation budgets and a public debate over the most appropriate role of government, it’s clear that a majority of Americans want government officials to do more – not less – about highway safety.” –AAA President and CEO Bob Darbelnet, discussing the results of a recent survey conducted by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety

Perhaps it’s a reflecting of our conflicted national conscience on other matters, this apparent demand for more “highway safety regulation,” if the responses to AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety’s most recent survey are to be trusted.

I mean, it’s been overwhelming noted in the national media, in story after story, that Americas desire more government services, yet don’t want to pay more taxes to pay for it. Thus I suspect a similar mental dichotomy may be in play here where “highway safety” is concerned.

[Here’s a state-level view of how a greater focus on reducing highway fatalities and injuries might look like, from the Minnesota Department of Transportation’s Toward Zero Deaths program.]

For while folks may surely call for more stringent safety enforcement, don’t doubt for a minute there will be a great hue and cry when THEY get ticketed for talking on cell phones while driving, speeding, and the like. And the good citizens won’t be too pleased to see sticker prices increase for vehicles, either, if their demand for more safety technology is met, either, I’ll bet. more

“We think there’s a misunderstanding about CSA out there in the law enforcement community that’s hurting the driver.” –Dale Corum, general manager, Mercer Transportation Co.

Just about every year, right before the Mid America Trucking Show gets rolling, I take an hour or so to slip over and visit Mercer Transportation Co. and chat with Dale Corum, the fleet’s general manager for over three decades.

Typically, we talk about how the flatbed freight business is doing and the big issues of the day affecting Mercer’s corps of hard working owner-operators.

In terms of the former, things are great. Demand has outstripped capacity for the first time in a LONG time, Corum (at right) told me, with the number of loads Mercer’s hauled in each of the last three weeks exceeding the company’s best week ever – a record set back in September 2008.

“For every load we move, we’re missing two others because we don’t have the trucks to haul them,” he said. “Military goods is still the top freight we haul,, followed by machinery and building materials, especially steel. The [residential] housing market is still a few years away from recovery but we’re seeing a big revival in commercial construction – that’s what’s driving the demand for building materials.”

In terms of freight by region, the West Coast is still struggling but on the whole freight is plentiful across the U.S. right now, Corum reports – an upswing that’s been gaining strength since January of last year. “There’s a lot of freight out there right now,” he added. more

“The ones planning the loads get to go home every night and sleep. They don’t stay up all night to get those loads to where they need to go.” –An 8-year veteran truck driver commenting on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s proposed changes of hours of service (HOS) regulations

Sitting through yet another “listening session” on the hours of service (HOS) reforms being proposed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) reinforced a maxim well understood by those inside and outside the trucking business: what works out on paper rarely works out in reality.

[Watch the clip below for a quick summation of the reasoning behind FMCSA’s current HOS reform effort as well as the seven changes the agency is proposing.]

On top of that, trying to governing the many different styles of truck operations in existence today is almost impossible with a single, rigid set of rules. more

“We’re not sure of all the fleets out there – especially the 10 to 20 truck operators – fully understand the equipment implications of the new CSA 2010 rules. That’s why we’re engaging in several outreach efforts, to try and explain what these new regulations in terms of how fleets take care of their equipment.” –Jeff Sass, marketing manager, Paccar Parts

The implementation date for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) new Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 (CSA 2010) set of safety regulations isn’t far off – it’s November this year, to be exact – and when these new rules go into full effect, many fleets are going to find more emphasis placed on how they maintain their equipment than ever before.

For example, the new CSA 2010 program identifies 10 different groups of parts and accessories that the government considers critical for safe operation, stressed Chris Harrison, general manager of CIT Kenworth of Morton, IL

Among them are lamps, reflective devices, electrical wiring, brakes, glazing and window construction, fuel systems, coupling devices including fifth wheels, miscellaneous equipment such as heaters, and frames, cab and body components, he explained.

As a result, Harrison recommends truck operators and maintenance managers take a number of steps can take to make sure their equipment complies with the new CSA 2010 rules. Those steps include:

• Wash trucks and trailers routinely, particularly during the winter season to remove chemical de-icers and road salts. Routine washings not only prevent corrosion of the body, it also prevents the buildup and potential damage to truck and trailer electrical systems and wheel components, including brakes. Routine washings also help prevent build up of road salts on fifth wheels, which can cause them to seize up. Allowing calcium chlorides and salts to settle on truck and trailer parts for long periods of time can encourage premature damage, particularly if any cracks or chips develop in the protective coating.

• Develop a routine maintenance program for trailers. That includes periodic inspections and replacement of trailer brakes, such as spring brake chambers. Trailers can often sit unused for long periods of time in truck operations, meaning maintenance issues can sometimes go overlooked.

• Consider a replacement program for truck, tractor and trailer lights. New light emitting diode (LED) lighting products can enhance detection of the vehicle or trailer when it’s parked in a dark or dimly lit parking lot or on the side of a road, something that’s particularly important in the dead of winter.

• Follow engine manufacturers’ recommendations for regular valve adjustments and diesel particulate filter [DPF] cleanings. Note this this is needed only for trucks equipped with 2007 or later compliant emission systems.

• Conduct regular analysis of your engine oil condition. This can help you identify potential failures prior to a major expense or downtime.

“As with any vehicle or trailer, regular preventive maintenance properly conducted can identify the potential for problems in the shop before they occur on the road or become a violation of the new federal regulations,” Harrison stressed.

Another big issue is what to do about placing trucks parked for long stretches back into freight-hauling service. “Checking out idled trucks used for spare parts during the economic downturn before they return to service will be particularly important after new federal safety regulations go into effect,” he said.

Harrison said before returning an idled truck to service, it should always be thoroughly checked out – preferably by a trained, qualified technician – since CSA 2010 establishes vehicle maintenance as one of seven categories under which carriers will be examined.

Andy Cox, service manager for CIT Kenworth of Chicago in Joliet, IL, added that the practice of using idled trucks for spare parts was common among a variety of customers from line haulers to construction companies.

Cox recommends an automated parts inventory and fleet maintenance tracking program can be helpful here, particularly ones highlighted in the CSA 2010 rulebook.

“One of the issues we run into is where parts have been taken off of sidelined trucks, but no records were ever kept of which parts were removed,” Cox said. “So if they took a fuel pressure sensor, for example, and no one wrote it down, then nobody would notice until somebody tried to start the truck.”

Here are some other critical areas to double check, he noted, as idled equipment gets prepped for a return to active duty:

• Check the fuel tanks, fuel lines, and fuel filters before putting idled trucks back into service. During the winter, water or moisture can condensate on top of the fuel tank from the fuel constantly freezing and thawing. The lower the fuel level in the tank, the bigger the problem can be, he added. Algae begins to form, actually, from the water condensation within the tank, not the diesel fuel itself, but it can ultimately contaminate the fuel.

• Do not use diesel additives to treat algae in a fuel tank. The truck should be towed to a repair facility that can drain the fuel tank, the fuel pump and fuel lines, properly dispose of the contaminated fuel and clean the injectors and filters, he added. Using additives inside the tank can make the contamination problem worse, particularly if the truck has a 2007 model or newer engine. Newer engines depend on a fuel with very low sulfur content in order to meet the strict emission limits set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency or the California Air Resources Board.

• Replace damaged fuel tanks with OEM-quality replacement tanks. These should be ones uses the same thickness and grade of aluminum standards called for in OEM manufacturing.

• Check engine oil seals. When trucks sit for long periods of time without being routinely started and allowed to run for brief amounts of time, the rubber in the seals can actually dry out and deteriorate.

• Examine drive belts, hoses, fittings and adaptors, plus the exhaust system for leaks.

These are just some of the things fleets must keep a closer eye upon as a new set of safety regulations begins to take hold this winter.

“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.

“Rules fail because you cannot write a rule to contain every possible behavior in the vast spectrum of human behavior.” –Dov Seidman, from his book How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything … in Business and in Life

Ah, the love/hate relationship between trucking and the rules governing all facets of its operations. No single subject within this industry, in my humble estimation, creates a more cantankerous climate for debate than regulation.

Oh, but the irony any such discussion unearths!

Drivers and managers alike will bristle with indignation at the intrusiveness of trucking’s rules, the burden they create in terms of record keeping and cost, yet turn on a dime and point furious fingers at those that don’t follow them.

For non-compliance is the dirty secret in trucking – allowing shirkers to unfairly lower their rates and win business, even as they put themselves and others at risk while simultaneously blackening reputation of the entire industry.

So, how does trucking reconcile the burdens and benefits of regulations? For this industry needs them even as it detests them.

I got some insight into this most thorniest of questions after thumbing through a business book by Dov Seidman entitled How: Why How We Do Anything Means Everything … in Business and in Life.

Yes, yes, I know – the mere title suggests someone dressed up as the Dali Llama dispensing pearls of vague so-called wisdom that’s almost impossible to use in the rough-and-tumble world of trucking.

Except that Seidman’s analysis of what’s right – and so utterly wrong – about the rules governing the business world these days hits the mark, in my estimation; even with the specific section headline, “The Limitations of Rules.”

“To pursue our endeavors and achieve our desired success, we need certainty, consistency, and predictability – a ‘hard floor’ from which to take a leap,” he explained. “Basketball players can jump higher than beach volleyball players because they play on a hard wooden floor – for it is much more difficult to leap high with the sand shifting beneath your feet.”

[To get a flavor for Seidman’s approach, here’s a clip of him speaking in Minneapolis not too long ago.]

To Seidman, regulations provide that “hard wooden floor” in business and in life. “In democratic societies, we look to rules – in the form of laws – to provide the certainty, consistency, and predictability we require,” he explained. However, in business, “we began to sense that the rules were letting us down.”

There are good reasons for this let down, Seidman stressed. “For one, the way we write rules often makes them inefficient when governing human conduct,” he noted. “Rules, of course, don’t come out of thin air. Legislations and organizations adopt them usually to proscribe unwanted behaviors, but typically in reaction to events.”

For example, localities lower speed limits after too many accidents, he said, or new rules governing pit bulls are formulated after a series of attacks.

“Such rules are established for a reason, but most people are out of touch with the rational and spirit of why,” Seidman noted. “They don’t read legislative histories and so have a thin, superficial relationship to the rules. [Also] rules fail because you cannot write a rule to contain every possible behavior in the vast spectrum of human conduct. There will always be gray areas, and therefore – given the right circumstances, opportunities, or outside pressures – some people might be motivated to circumvent them.”

When people DO break the rules or exploit loopholes, he pointed out, the typical response is … to just make more rules. “Rules, then, become part of the problem,” Seidman stressed.

Covering the basics is what rules are really geared for, he explained. “Companies have rules that tell people when to come to work, because absent those rules. People would come to work whenever they felt like it and it would be harder to get things done,” Seidman said.

“Rules achieve good floors, minimum standards of behavior, and prevent bad things from happening – if people follow them. But people transgress, so we write rules to prevent further transgression. Yet rules are inherently limited, so people find a way to transgress again,” he pointed out. “People who feel overregulated, in turn, feel distrusted and they lose fealty to the rules and those who make them, searching for ways to avoid their yoke.”

This then creates a downward spiral of rulemaking which causes lasting detriment to the trust we need to sustain society, he warned.

“There is just something in the nature of rules and laws that reduces their effectiveness in certain realms of human behavior,” Seidman said. “How do you legislate fairness? What enforceable language can we use to enshrine into law a powerful value like that? You can – and we do – write long lists proscribing a number of behaviors you think are unfair, but it’s impossible to write them all without creating hopeless contradictions, inequities, and loopholes.”

More importantly, rules DON’T cover some of the critical hallmarks of good business. “How do you write a contract that obligates you to delight a customer? To exceed expectations or even surprise customers? You can’t,” he noted. “You can set optimum schedules and basic compensation, but you can’t construct language that will mandate that extra measure of performance that builds long-term, successful relationships. So by setting floors for behavior, rules also unintentionally set ceilings.”

This, then, is the complex problem at the heart of trucking’s – indeed, almost every industry’s – relationship to the rules governing its operations. Solving it will be tricky and require some very thoughtful thinking.