Trucks at Work Blog

“We need to be careful not to become so obsessed with the challenges of the moment that we give up on the opportunity of the future.” –Bill Graves, president and CEO, American Trucking Associations

There’s a wry (and ancient) Chinese curse that I am sure Kyle Treadway (at right), the outgoing chairman of the American Truck Dealers (ATD) trade group can fully appreciate: “May you live in interesting times.”

Indeed, Treadway’s four-year term as ATD’s chairman (his nominal two-year added to another left vacant by a member unable to serve) occurred during some of the most tumultuous economic times ever experienced by the trucking industry – much less our nation.

Yet despite the hammer blows delivered by the oil price shock of 2008, the “Great Recession,” the implementation of the super-strict 2010 emission reduction mandates, formation of the first ever heavy truck fuel economy mandates and much, much more, truck dealers – like truckers themselves – soldiered onward, albeit in many cases in very reduced numbers.

“As you all well know, it’s been an amazing ride – not for the fainthearted,” Treadway noted in his final speech at ATD’s convention in Las Vegas this week. “Between the relentless waves of government regulations altering the engineering and cost of our equipment, the collapse of the housing and construction markets, the whipsaw effect of fuel pricing and the manic-depressive stock market, we have witnessed the demise and rebirth of our economy, industry and markets.” more

“Everybody needs to keep an open mind as the only way to get a highway bill done is for both the House and Senate to pass a bill. This is a critical first step and as such should not be condemned. We passed the last highway bill in 2005, so we are long overdue for a new one.” –Senator James Inhofe (R-OK), ranking member, Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works

Despite the confidence expressed by the self-titled “most conservative members of the U.S. Senate” above, there’s not much hope out there that either of the proposed highway bills – the two-year $109 billion bill now working its way through the Senate and the five-year $260 billion plan unveiled in the House of Representatives this week – can be approved by Congress this year; much less even reconciled, I fear.

[Inhofe is not nearly as pessimistic, as you can see in the video clip below.]

The biggest sticking point between the two bills (no surprise here) is money. With fuel tax increases largely off the table, Congress is suggesting some very different ways to try and attain what it (and many in the transportation industry) believes is an adequate level of highway funding. more

“The global recovery is threatened by intensifying strains in the euro area and fragilities elsewhere. Financial conditions have deteriorated, growth prospects have dimmed, and downside risks have escalated.” –from the International Monetary Fund’s World Economic Outlook update this month

“Optimism among U.S. industrial manufacturers regarding the prospects for the U.S. economy over the next 12 months rose to 30% in the fourth quarter of 2011 – up from only 5% in the third quarter of 2011.” –from PricewaterhouseCoopers’ fourth quarter Manufacturing Barometer survey

For truckers trying to read the economic tea leaves to figure out what direction freight volumes might be headed in, there isn’t much clarity to be found of late.

For example, take the quotes above – one from the latest World Economic Outlook update compiled by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the other gleaned from a quarterly survey of manufacturers conducted by global consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

They only scratch the surface of the iceberg in terms of uncertainty plaguing the global economy right now, as portents of doom are being issued right alongside a sudden surge in confidence about the business opportunities ahead.

The gloom of course derives from the still precarious sovereign debt situation in Europe; a region of the world the IMF now believes is headed for a recession this year. The international entity slashed its economic growth outlook for the “Euro zone” this month, predicting a drop in economic output of 0.5% for the region in 2012 – a decline of 1.6% from its outlook last year – and only meager growth of 0.8% in 2013, a decline of 0.7% from previous estimates. more

“Our economy spends over $300 billion a year on imported petroleum and the cost in economic activity in this country over the last couple of decades has been measured in the trillions of dollars of lost purchasing power.” –Frederick W. Smith, president and CEO of FedEx Corp. and co-chairman Energy Security Leadership Council

It’s no great surprise that energy policy took a front seat in President Obama’s State of the Union address for the third year in a row. And certainly no shock should be registered that many of the policies advocated by the president in his speech contradict the actions of his administration over the past three years as well.

I mean, how else is one to hear and read of his goal to “boost domestic oil and natural gas production” when projects such as the Keystone XL pipeline are tabled, offshore drilling permits are banned, and the President himself again calls for the cancellation of tax breaks for oil and gas companies – even as such tax breaks are established (and federal loans given) to the so called “green” energy sector?

Well, that’s how it goes when energy and politics collide.

Yet no amount of political bickering can obscure the most salient (and frightening) fact about energy as it relates to our country: it remains one of our most vulnerable weak spots. Thus anything we as a nation can do to not only reduce energy consumption but change the kinds of energy we consume remains a welcome target for the U.S. to aim at.

“Oil plays a role in almost everything we do,” explained retired U.S. Air Force General John W. Handy, former Commander of the U.S. Transportation Command and co-chairman of the Energy Security Leadership Council (ESLC); a group which seeks to wean the U.S. off foreign oil import. more

“A lack of harmony in the political process is limiting our ability to accomplish the big things that are required to re-build America’s infrastructure.” –Mark Gerencser, executive vice president with global consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton

It’s no secret that our nation’s infrastructure – from its four million miles of highways to its 55,000 drinking water plants and over 160,000 miles of high voltage electrical transmission lines – is in pretty rough shape.

In particular, truckers (of course) know better than anybody the abysmal condition of our roads and bridges – including how much more crowded they keep getting year after year – yet, like many others, are baffled by government’s inability at both the federal and state level to fix the problem. more

“This is about doing something that saves money and people time out on the highway. We’re using innovative techniques to speed project delivery and get more for every dollar we spend.” –John Njord, executive director, Utah Department of Transportation

If you want a quick understanding of why building highways, roadways, and vehicular bridges in this country is so expensive — and so complicated — just watch the video below concerning the Utah Department of Transportation’s (UDOT) I-15 CORE Project.

Even though this huge highway project is an example of how new techniques and processes are being deployed to make roadway and bridge construction faster, safer and cheaper (relatively), the price tag is still astounding: $1.725 billion for a 24 mile stretch of roadway and bridge work.

The I-15 CORE Project is Utah’s largest highway construction effort to date – in no small part because it involves the movement of a fully-built 3.8 million pound bridge, a move that will set a world record. more

“Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each New Year find you a better man.” –Benjamin Franklin

It’s a new year and of course that means it’s a time for resolutions to be set forth – be it to lose weight, exercise more, or quit smoking. And if you DO smoke, please try and really quit this year. It took me a year to quit in my 20s but it’s one of the best things I ever did.

[Another impertinent editor’s resolution: get more vehicle OEMs to use heavy metal riffs in their commercials! I mean, if HONDA can use The Hellion by Judas Priest to salute the introduction of its new MINIVAN, for goodness sakes … then the sky is the limit! If the Electric Eye allows it, that is …]

Ah yes … but let’s return to planet Earth, shall we?

From a more serious angle, noted entrepreneurial expert Jerry Osteryoung has a few resolutions from a business perspective he’d like to share as well. more

“It will happen to all of us that at some point. You get tapped on the shoulder and told not just that the party’s over, but slightly worse: The party’s going on, but you have to leave.” –Christopher Hitchens, noted essayist, journalist, and war correspondent, prior to his death from esophageal cancer this year

It’s an inelegant term at best, “change agent,” but it really does fit the late Pat Quinn, co-founder, co-chairman, and president of trucking conglomerate U.S. Xpress Enterprises, who sadly passed away December 13 this year after a long battle against brain cancer.

Quinn (at right) – along with his long time business partner, fellow U.S. Xpress co-founder and co-chairman Max Fuller – in many ways helped reshape the trucking business, as they were some of the first executives to make a huge push into the world of in-cab communications and deliberately focus on recruiting more women to enter the truck driving career.

[You can view more photos of Quinn over his career in trucking by clicking here.]

Indeed, U.S. Xpress now employs about 1,000 women drivers – more than three times the industry average – and has gone so far as to make spec’ing changes to its trucks to accommodate them.

In fact, I remember covering U.S. Xpress’ forays into the world of automated mechanic transmissions (AMTs) 15 years ago in my junior reporter days not only to make the truck driver’s job simpler and easier by eliminating the need to shift gears, but also as a way to make it less daunting to female applicants. more

“It’s a positive sign for the travel industry that so many Americans are planning to travel this holiday season, collectively contributing to the second-highest year-end holiday travel volume in the past ten years.” –Bill Sutherland, vice president, AAA Travel Services, referring to the organization’s prediction that 91.9 million Americans will travel 50 miles or more from home during the 2011-2012 holiday season

There are of course two ways to view AAA’s travel forecast for the 2011-2012 holiday season – which the group says runs from Friday, December 23, 2011, to Monday, January 2, 2012.

One is reflected in Bill Sutherland’s quote above; the other can be gauged from the collective groan truckers from coast to coast will emit upon hearing that 91.9 million Americans are predicted to travel 50 miles or more from home during the year-end holiday season – a 1.4% increase over the 90.7 million people who traveled during this time period one year ago.

AAA noted, by the way, that this year’s predicted holiday travel volume is the second highest in the past decade and represents 30% of the total U.S. population. And if those statistics don’t make truck drivers cringe, I don’t know what will, for as we all know a lot of freight still needs to be moved during the holidays and so truckers will need to wade through all that holiday time travel to deliver it. more

“These guys make us who we are.” –W.M. “Rusty” Rush, president and CEO, Rush Enterprises

I first met Michael Willoughby (seen at right in the red shirt next to W.M. “Rusty” Rush, president and CEO of Rush Enterprises), a well-seasoned Rush Truck Centers (RTC) technician back in 2007, which was the first time I ever attended RTC’s Technician Skills Rodeo – an annual competition that just notched its sixth year.

Willoughby (often called “Wills” by his friends) won a slot at each of RTC’s rodeos, but had only finished “in the money” (so to speak) just once.

To be honest, I’ve pulled for Willoughby to win the whole smash in the medium-duty division where he competes every year because, frankly, he just seems to epitomize the modern-day truck technician; someone who’ll balance out any gaps in his knowledge concerning the ever-more complicated world of truck technology with humor, patience, and a work ethic second to none.

Thus it came as a pleasant surprise to see him win “the whole smash,” as I call it, this year — taking home the grand champion cup in the medium-duty division, along with $7,500 in cash, $4,500 worth of prizes, a $1 per hour boost in pay, and a vacation package for him and his second wife, whom he married after his first wife died several years ago after a long battle against cancer. more