Bridgestone Names New Bandag Marketing Director

LaTres Jarrett Photo: Bridgestone

Bridgestone Americas has named LaTres Jarrett as the director, marketing for Bandag, the Bridgestone business dedicated to the research, development, and manufacturing of premium retreads.

In her new role, Jarrett will lead the strategic marketing efforts at Bandag to revitalize and grow the brand among customers and dealers.

Prior to joining Bandag, Jarrett managed marketing campaigns for leading brands such as Pepsi, Gatorade, Cap'n Crunch and Dole, among others. She also facilitated licensing partnerships on behalf of CSM Bakery Solutions with brands such as Hershey, Cinnabon, Oreo, and Welch's. Jarrett earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan and a Masters in Chemical Engineering from the University of Louisville.

“We are excited to welcome LaTres to the Bandag team,” said Eric Higgs, vice president, marketing, commercial tire group, Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations. “LaTres brings more than 16 years of valuable experience in brand-building and customer strategies. She is a natural team leader and creative thinker who is well-suited to take Bandag marketing initiatives to the next level.”

Related: Bridgestone Names New GCR President

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Help Inc. Offers ELD Application

The PrePass ELD application from Help Inc. is an electronic logging app available for Android and iOS devices.

The PrePass ELD app costs $14.99 per month per license and is reduced to $12.99 per month when bundled with the PrePass weigh station bypass service.

The PrePass ELD records driver hours-of-service, based only upon the data required by law. It operates as a bring-your-own device app, available now for Android devices and followed soon for iOS formats. Users first establish a Fleet Manager account and order on-board diagnostics connector devices. After plugging the OBD device into the truck's diagnostic port, drivers can download the app to any tablet or smartphone to begin recording truck movement and driver hours.

The PrePass ELD also offers Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports, central web-based reporting, and simple OBD wireless connection via Bluetooth.

Help Inc., the non-profit provider of PrePass, the nation's most complete truck weigh station bypass system, developed PrePass ELD to address requests from owner-operators and fleets for a simple and low-cost way to comply with the ELD requirement taking effect on December 18, 2017.

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J&R Schugel Offers $15K Signing Bonus for Experienced Drivers

Photo: J&R Schugel

Minnesota-based J&R Schugel has announced a $15,000 sign-on bonus for experienced over the road drivers who join the carrier before the end of the year.

The sign-on incentive is for company drivers with a minimum of 6 months experience. Drivers will have the opportunity to earn an additional $500 per month for 2 1/2 years after their first full month of employment.

If eligible, drivers can receive $250 for 7,500 to 9,999 dispatched miles driven in a month or $500 for 10,000 or more dispatched miles driven.

“The incentive directly relates to driver productivity and retention, while giving them an additional earning potential on top of their base pay rate,” said Courtney Wittman, director of human resources for J&R Schugel. “Once the sign-on concludes a company driver will then be eligible for the Employee Stock Ownership Plan and start earning shares towards retirement.”

In addition to top pay and achievable incentives, J&R Schugel says is company drivers can expect late model equipment, compensation review every six months, rider program, pet policy, guaranteed home for Thanksgiving and Christmas, and a 100% employee owned company.

Related: Pay Hikes Abound as Fleets Try to Retain Drivers

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Test Drive: Bold New Look for an Old Dog

There will be no mistaking an Anthem when you see one coming down the road. Mack has dumped the conservative Pinnacle set-back axle model in favor of this show-stopper. Photos: Jim Park

Mack's new Anthem tractor took me completely by surprise. I wasn't expecting it to look the way it does. Mack has traditionally been pretty conservative with its styling, but the Anthem puts boots to that notion.

Not since Navistar tapped into the retro vein with its LoneStar back in 2008 has a truck maker put forward such a highly styled and striking truck. Mack says it's hoping to regain a larger share of the highway market, lost because of its aging Pinnacle model. Comparatively speaking, the Pinnacle is vanilla pudding compared to the Anthem's New York Italian-style cheesecake.

With many of today's highway tractors taking on a similar and familiar shape, albeit with styling cues unique to each OEM, Mack's Anthem stands out from the crowd. With its bright metal accents around the headlights and the grille, the large squared-off fenders and the iconic bulldog hood ornament, it goes unabashedly against the jelly-bean grain. I'm sure when Mack's designers conducted their driver interviews they must have heard time and time again that customers wanted a truck that looks like a truck. Mack has delivered big-time on that wish.

“We are definitely an American brand. We were born here, we were raised here, and we literally helped build this country,” said John Walsh, vice president of marketing and global brand for Mack Trucks. “We wanted to make sure that the truck we rolled out is unmistakably Mack, unmistakably American. The name Anthem speaks to that American spirit, and I think we have captured that very well.”

Drivers will take to this truck because of its looks, but once they are in ...Read the rest of this story

FMCSA to Study ‘Excessive Commuting’ by Truck Drivers

Photo: FMCSA

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is seeking comment on a proposed survey of “excessive commuting” by truck drivers. The agency is defining as excessive any commuting to work that exceeds 150 minutes.

The survey would focus the prevalence of such commuting in a commercial motor vehicle; the number and percentage of CMV drivers who commute; the distances they travel and the time zones they cross; the impact of such commuting on safety and fatigue; and existing commuting policies of motor carriers.

In its notice on the survey, published in the Federal Register for Nov. 27, the agency said it is inquiring about trucker commuting practices to fulfill Section 5515 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. That section of the 2015 highway bill requires FMCSA to conduct a study on the safety effects of commutes by motor carrier operators that exceed 150 minutes. The FMCSA administrator is then required to submit a report to Congress on the findings of the study.

Providing some background context, FMCSA also stated that “in the past two decades, as the number of workers has increased and the distance to affordable housing has also increased in most metropolitan areas, commuting times have increased in the United States.”

The agency went on to say that long commuting times can adversely affect CMV drivers “in multiple ways,” including:

Tires just won't do on your Sierra 2500HD? Try tank treads

Economic Watch: New Home Sales Hit 10-Year High, Manufacturing Eases a Bit

Sales of new homes rose last month while two separate reports show the nation's manufacturing sector is nearly as strong this month as it was during October.

Sales of newly built, single-family homes in October rose 6.2% from the month before to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 685,000 units from a downwardly revised September reading of 645,000, according to new Commerce Department figures released Monday.

This is the highest sales pace since October 2007 and the third straight monthly increase. Year-to-date, new home sales are 8.9% above their level over the same period last year.

“The October report shows strong sales growth at entry-level price points,” said Granger MacDonald, chairman of the National Association of Home Builders. “In markets where builders are able to provide homes for families with different household budgets, they can fulfill a growing demand for housing.”

New home sales increased in all four regions. Sales rose 30.2% in the Northeast, 17.9% in the Midwest, both possibly due to mild weather, while sales increased 6.4% in the West and 1.3% in the South.

“There is solid growth in the number of sales contracts signed before construction has begun, a strong indicator that new single-family home production should continue to grow as we look ahead to 2018,” said NAHB Chief Economist Robert Dietz.

This followed a report from Friday that showed the pace of manufacturing in the U.S. remains strong so far this month, but is down just a bit from October's level, according to financial information services firm IHS Markit.

Its data indicated a positive month with output, new orders and employment all rising at solid rates, however, with a reading of 53.8, the seasonally adjusted Flash U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index pointed to a slightly slower improvement in business conditions than the nine-month ...Read the rest of this story