ATA names new executive director of IMCC

American Trucking Assns. announced it has named Tyler Rushforth as executive director of the Intermodal Motor Carrier Conference.

“Intermodal is an essential sector of the freight economy, and IMCC carries out the important mission of providing a strong, unified and effective voice for this large and growing sector,” said ATA president and CEO Chris Spear. “Tyler brings a wealth of experience from his time on Capitol Hill — experience that will prove to be a valuable asset for our carriers.”

read more

Recovery and repair training

When big rigs go off the road into a ditch or down a hill, a lot of specialized skills are required to get them back onto the asphalt. The same goes truck for military equipment, such as the Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT) which is known as the Logistics Vehicle System (LVS) in the U.S. Marine Corps. Those units weight 24,500 lbs. to over 50,000 lbs., depending on the model type, and are none-too-easy to recover – especially when under fire. That's why the U.S.

read more

Southern Recipe, St. Christopher Truckers honor truck drivers

Southern Recipe announced it will honor the more than 3.5 million hard working truck drivers in the U.S. who travel nearly 400 billion miles each year with its 6th Annual Truck Driver Appreciation campaign.

read more

ELD makers frustrated with Congress, urge truckers not to wait until December deadline

Makers of electronic logs are frustrated with the uncertainty surrounding the mandate created by recent congressional actions, and are cautioning truckers against waiting until last moment to select a device.

They said costs for electronic logging devices (ELDs) have fallen sharply in recent years, and warned of a supply crunch for electronic components later this year.

read more

Truckers Gear up for National Truck Driving Championships

The 2016 National Truck Driving Championships winner, Charles White Photo: ATA

American Trucking Associations is set to welcome more than 420 of the trucking industry's top truck drivers to Orlando, Fla., for the 80th annual National Truck Driving Championships and National Step Van Driving Championships.

The National Truck Driving Championships opens August 9 with competitors taking a walk through of the driving course and registering for the different events.

Participants in different vehicle classes will partake in three phases of competition: a written examination testing background knowledge of rules and procedures pertinent to the trucking industry, a vehicle inspection to test competitors' ability to detect vehicle malfunctions, and a driving skills test where competitors are graded on their ability to operate a truck through a series of obstacles.

“Safety and precision will be the focus of these impressive professional truck drivers during this week in Orlando as they compete for honors at the National Truck Driving Championships,” said Chris Spear, ATA president and CEO. “Truck drivers work their entire careers and practice for moments like this to showcase their safety skills and compete among friends.”

Over four days, 428 competitors from all 50 states, including 35 first-time participants, representing 97 companies will compete for honors in one of eight different classes for the distinction of being crowned National Truck Driving Championships Bendix Grand Champion.

The competition concludes on Aug. 12 with the announcement of the National Truck Driving Championships Bendix Grand Champion, along with the winners of each vehicle class and awards for the top performing state delegation, rookie of the year, and other recognitions.

“These championships are a great spectacle and I couldn't be more proud to interact with drivers from all corners of the country,” said Kevin Burch ATA Chairman, president of Jet Express. “The drivers take this event very seriously and practice and study ...Read the rest of this story

Trucking Freight Growth up Nearly 38% Since End of Great Recession

Freight TSI modal data, January 2000-December 2016. Graphic: U.S. DOT

Newly released U.S. Transportation Department figures show all but one of the major freight modes have grown since the end of the Great Recession, with trucking posting the second-highest increase.

Trucking's growth of 37.8% was bested only by rail intermodal, which rose 50.6% from June 2009 through December 2016, as measured by the department's freight Transportation Service Index. The index measures month-to-month changes in for-hire freight shipments by mode of transportation in tons and ton-miles, which are combined into one index.

The seasonally adjusted index showed trucking's growth was followed by the modes of pipeline at 29.6%, water­borne at 23.2%, and air freight at 21.7%. During this period the overall freight TSI rose 29.7%.

The sole exception was rail carloads, which declined 0.8%. The drop in rail carload shipments took place at the same time as a decline in coal shipments. Total coal shipped by major railroads peaked in 2008 at 878.6 million tons before declining to 787.6 million tons in 2009, and continued to fall to 638.1 million tons in 2015.

All freight transportation modes declined during the recession, and the freight TSI fell 16.3% from January 2008 to its low point in April 2009. The biggest decline was in the air freight index, 26.5%, followed by rail carloads, 23%; waterborne, 18.6%; rail intermodal, 18.1%; trucking, 14.5%; and pipeline, 4.7%.

According to the department, the freight TSI tends to turn in advance of slowdowns and accelerations in economic growth. The most recent data show two economic accelerations following the recession; the first from June 2009 to December 2012 and the second from July 2013 to December 2014. The freight TSI led both accelerations.

While the newly identified turns in the freight TSI continue to lead growth cycles, the relationship between the freight TSI and growth cycles ...Read the rest of this story

VW CEO: Tesla Among Our Top Competitors

In an interview with VW's Inside magazine, CEO Herbert Diess said Tesla is the company's main competitor today. Photo: Volkswagen

In a sign of changing times, Volkswagen's CEO has identified his company's chief competitor today – and it's not who you think.

VW chief executive Herbert Diess, in an interview published on the automaker's homepage, said that in the “old world,” the competition was Toyota, Hyundai and French OEMs. In today's new world, however, he has his eyes firmly fixed on Tesla.

And while he was talking about cars, his points about staying on top of "disruptive" technologies and emerging competitors are revelant to trucks as well. Of course, VW also makes commercial trucks – and has a stake in Navistar International in the U.S.

At first glance, Diess' concerns seem unfounded: Volkswagen sold over 5 million vehicles last year, while Tesla only sold 83,922. But, Diess said, "Tesla belongs among the competitors which has abilities that we currently do not have. Around half of Tesla's engineers are software experts, while at VW's core brand it is a much lower proportion," Diess said. "Tesla has good electric motors, a fast charging network, autonomous driving technology, internet connectivity, and a new approach toward vehicle distribution.”

The lesson, Diess said, is that VW needs to improve its operations by measuring up against Tesla with the goal of catching up to, and overtaking, the electric vehicle manufacturer.

Diess also noted the emerging importance of connected vehicles in the interview, noting that VW's new Modular Electrification Toolkit is currently undergoing development across the company's entire brand offerings. “Our electric vehicles of the future will, just like smartphones, always be online and updatable,” Diess said. “Making a success of this new vehicle architecture is a huge endeavor, one that can secure our future in the new automotive world.”

Related: