Spot Freight Availability Jumps, Capacity Tightens Over Past Week

The number of loads on the spot truckload freight market surged 7.6% during the week ending March 3 as rates appear poised to rebound, according to DAT Solutions, which operates the DAT network of load boards.

Truck posts declined 2% which helped push load-to-truck ratios higher from the previous week for all three trailer types.

• Vans: 7.0 loads per truck, up 5%
• Flatbeds: 79.9 loads per truck, up 13%
• Reefers: 10.6 loads per truck, up 15%

After seven weeks of declines, the national average spot van rate was unchanged at $2.14 per mile but rates rose on 66 of the top 100 van lanes. Van load posts increased 4% while truck posts declined 1%. The current van load-to-truck ratio is about three times higher than it was at this time last year.

The national average reefer rate fell 3 cents to $2.40 per mile but the number of available loads was 11% higher than the previous week and truck posts declined 3%. Reefer load counts are roughly equal to where they were in mid-January.

Flatbed rates rose 4 cents to an average of $2.39 per mile, an increase for the fourth straight week. Capacity continued to tighten and the load-to-truck ratio for flatbeds hit its highest point in years. Extremely strong markets include Atlanta, Birmingham, Memphis, Green Bay, and Cleveland.

According to DAT, capacity may tighten in the weeks ahead with the end of the first quarter of the year coinciding with both Easter weekend and the April 1 end of the phase-in period for the electronic logging device mandate.

All reported rates include fuel surcharges. The national average diesel price during the reporting period dropped another 1.5 cents to $2.99 per gallon.

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Daimler’s Kary Schaefer Redefines What it Means to be Green

Daimler's Kary Schaefer explains why she thinks that green innovation “goes beyond reducing tailpipe emissions.” Photo: NTEA

INDIANAPOLIS — As Kary Schaefer sees it, what's green for trucking shouldn't be narrowly defined. Rather, it should embrace any number of innovative advances that enhance efficiency. “I believe that green innovation goes beyond reducing tailpipe emissions – it's about creating a sustainable future; about providing a gateway to green,” she contended in her March 6 keynote address for the Green Truck Summit held here at the NTEA Work Truck Show.

Schaefer, Daimler Truck North America's general manager of marketing & strategy, said that, to her, “Green means increased uptime, lower operating cost, and enabling future investment in new equipment. It means improving efficiency and eliminating waste.” With that thinking in mind, she detailed “the big three” technology areas that fleets need to consider: active safety, connectivity, and propulsion.

She asked rhetorically why would active safety systems be regarded as “a green technology” before pointing out that “not only do these systems help prevent fatalities and accidents, they increase uptime and reduce cost. Many go beyond safety and provide a better environment for the driver by reducing workload, fatigue and stress.”

How safety saves

Making a business case for active safety, Schaefer pointed to a graph of internal data collected by Conway from a report by the National Transportation Safety Board on safety technology. The data compared trucks with and without active safety systems, specifically forward collision mitigation systems, electronic stability control, and lane departure warning systems

“Most significant is the reduction in rear end collisions, 71%, and crashes due to lane departures,” she noted. But at the time of the study, CMS on the market had evolved from just a warning system to providing active emergency braking on moving objects. “Now, through generations of innovation, CMS will ...Read the rest of this story

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Valvoline Engine Oil for Use in Natural Gas, Diesel and Gasoline Engines

Valvoline says its new Premium Blue One Solution 9200 is the first engine oil approved for use in natural gas, diesel, and gasoline engines.

“The purpose of Premium Blue One Solution is to dramatically simplify the fill process for fleet managers, enabling one proven product to be used across a number of engine applications,” said David Young, vice president of Valvoline Heavy Duty, in an announcement at the Technology & Maintenance Council's annual meeting in Atlanta, Georgia.

Valvoline Premium Blue One Solution was initially developed as part of Valvoline's close relationship with Cummins Westport, which has introduced a new series of low-emission natural gas engines.

The resulting engine oil is available in 10W-30 and 15W-40 SAE viscosity grades. Valvoline says it offers excellent oxidation resistance and TBN retention to support long oil life. At the same time, Valvoline says, it offers outstanding wear protection and superior deposit protection compared to industry requirements. And the viscosity shear stability is “amazing,” says Roger England, technical director. As a result, Valvoline says oil drain intervals will be able to be extended.

Valvoline Premium Blue One Solution meets API API CK-4 diesel category and API SN gasoline requirements. It's endorsed by Cummins and meets the new Cummins CES 20092 spec for natural gas engines, as well as CES 20086 and CES 20085 approvals. It also meets Mack EOS-4.5, Volvo VDS-4.5, and Detroit Diesel DFS 93K222 specs.

“While there were previously oils in the marketplace that could be used in diesel and gas engines, there was not one approved across all fuel types – until now,” Young added.

England told HDT that the ability to develop a single oil for the three types of engines was made possible by changes in engine combustion technology. As today's engines have been designed to be more efficient, ...Read the rest of this story