WIT Seeks Influential Woman in Trucking Award Nominations

Last year's winner Kari Rihm of Rihm Kenwortth (center) accepts her award. Photo: Navistar

Women In Trucking Association and Freightliner Trucks are seeking candidates for the 2016 Influential Woman in Trucking award.

Created in 2010, the award honors female leaders in the trucking industry. Past recipients include Marcia Taylor, CEO of Bennett International Group; Rebecca Brewster, President and COO, American Transportation Research Institute; Joyce Brenny, President of Brenny Transportation; Rochelle Bartholomew, CEO of CalArk International; and Kari Rihm, President of Rihm Kenworth.

“WIT celebrates the success of women in the trucking industry,” said Ellen Voie, president and CEO, Women In Trucking. “This award highlights female leaders who have been crusaders and role models to others.”

Now in its sixth year, the award recognizes women who make or influence key decisions in a corporate, manufacturing, supplier, owner-operator, driver, sales or dealership setting. The winner must have a proven record of responsibility and have mentored or served as a role model to other women in the industry.

The winner will be announced at the WIT Accelerate! Conference & Expo held in Dallas, Texas from November 7-9, 2016. Each finalist will be asked to serve as a panelist for the “Influential Women in Trucking” panel discussion.

Mary Aufdemberg, director of product marketing at Freightliner Trucks, will moderate the panel. Those that nominate a candidate need to ask the nominee to save the date for this event in case she is named a finalist.

“Women In Trucking plays a critical role in pushing the envelope to diversify our industry, and Freightliner is proud of our ongoing involvement with this important organization and our sponsorship of this award,” said Aufdemberg.

Nominations will be accepted through Friday, September 9. To access the nomination form, click here.

Related: WIT Honors Rihm 2015 Influential Woman in Trucking

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Phase 2 GHG Regs for Trailers Both Simple and Complex

Flatbeds, among the vocational trailers newly regulated for fuel economy and emissions by the federal Phase 2 rules, will need tire pressure management devices and low rolling-resistance tires to comply. Photo: Tom Berg

Last week the feds released their final rules for Phase 2 heavy-duty vehicle fuel-efficiency and greenhouse gas standards, which go into effect in 2018 and run through 2027. There's much to digest from the 1,700-page document, and we're getting help from truck and trailer builders and interested organizations and are publishing stories elsewhere on TruckingInfo.com.

Trailers, the subject of this weekly blog, have long been regulated for safety. But trailers' contributions to fuel economy and reduced emissions are new matters for the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the agencies that jointly researched and wrote the rules. That caught the attention of the International Council on Clean Transportation, a “green” think tank based in San Francisco.

“By far the most significant new addition into the regulation are the trailers hauled by heavy-duty tractor trucks,” wrote Ben Sharpe, a principal researcher at ICCT, in a blog. “Trailers were not included in the [current] Phase 1 rule, and their inclusion in Phase 2 helped to squeeze an extra half a mile per gallon out of tractor-trailers.

“Ok, so what?” he continues. “Well, for the vehicles affected by the regulation, adding an extra 0.5 mpg across the entire tractor-trailer fleet in the U.S. translates to a reduction of about 7 billion gallons of diesel and 100 million metric tons of CO2. That's roughly the same as taking all of the passenger cars and trucks in California off the road for an entire year! So including trailers in Phase 2 is indeed a big deal.”

What trailer types are affected? As suggested in last year's Phase 2 proposals, they're mainly box-type ...Read the rest of this story

ATA Announces MC&E Featured Speakers

The show floor of the 2015 MC&E. Photo: Evan Lockridge

American Trucking Associations has announced the lineup of featured speakers for its annual Management Conference & Exhibition being held on Oct. 1-4, 2016 in Las Vegas.

"We know ATA's members are leaders in this industry," said Chris Spear, ATA president and CEO. "MCE is the perfect place, not just to demonstrate that leadership, but to learn from fellow industry leaders about the new and exciting directions trucking and our association are headed."

The featured speakers at this year's event include:

Attendees will also have the opportunity to get a political update from respected pollsters Peter Hart and Neil Newhouse, as well as hear from leaders in the field of automated vehicles including Josh Switkes, president and CEO of Peloton Technologies Inc., Sean Waters, director of compliance and regulatory affairs of Daimler Trucks North America, Michael Roeth, executive director of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency and Jude Hurin, administrator of the management services and programs division at the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles.

"MCE annually features one of the most impressive programs of any major trucking event and this year is no different," said Pat Thomas, ATA chairman, senior vice president of state government affairs for UPS. "I would encourage anyone in our industry - member or not - who is serious about the future of trucking to join us this year in Las Vegas."

The conference features an exhibit hall showcasing the latest products from industry suppliers, policy committee meetings and education sessions on trending transportation topics. There will be several educational sessions and the ...Read the rest of this story

HDT Seeking Nominations for Top 50 Green Fleets

Heavy Duty Trucking is looking for fleets that have made a commitment to sustainability, alternative fuels and lowering greenhouse gas emissions for its 2016 Top 50 Green Fleets.

HDT's editors are asking fleets to fill out a short survey online with basic information about their fleet, alternative fuel use and SmartWay participation, plus room to offer additional comments on "green" projects.

Top 50 Green Fleets will have made a commitment to sustainability, reducing emissions, increasing fuel economy or adapting new fuels. The designation goes beyond the truck and trailer and extends to facilities that are greener or companies with green policies. Fleets of all sizes and types are encouraged to enter. Special attention will be paid to initiatives from the past year.

The top green fleets will be featured in the November issue of HDT and on Truckinginfo.com. View last year's winners here.

Fill out the survey here.

Related: HDT's 2015 Top 50 Green Fleets

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Annual Fleet Efficiency Study Helps NACFE Benchmark Fuel-Saving Trends

Seventeen fleets operating more than 62,000 tractors and 217,000 trailers saw a 3% increase in fuel economy in 2015, saving an accumulative $501 million on fuel when compared to the 2015 national average fuel spend of 1.7 million over-the-road Class 8 trucks.

They achieved these gains by purchasing a variety of fuel efficiency technologies, according to the Annual Fleet Fuel Study released by the North American Council for Freight Efficiency.

Fleet-wide mpg increased from 6.87 to 7.06 in 2015, the largest margin of improvement in eight years of consecutive improvements. The trade cycle for these fleets is a little over five years, meaning that the new trucks are about 16% more efficient than the 2010 model year trucks they replaced. 
The adoption rate of new efficiency technologies such as electronically controlled transmissions, low-viscosity engine oil, and tire pressure inflation on trailers continued to increase even though diesel fuel prices averaged $2.71 in 2015.

“Investing in efficiency technologies is the new normal,” said Mike Roeth, operation lead for CWR's Trucking Efficiency and executive director of NACFE. “And these fleets are continuing to make investments because they do not want to be caught short when fuel prices go up again.”

The primary finding of this report is that the 17 fleets studied are increasing their rate of adoption of these technologies, and that they are enjoying improved fuel economy as a result. The overall adoption rate for the technologies studied in this report has grown from 18% in 2003 to 43% last year.

The average fleet-wide fuel economy of the trucks in this study averaged 7.06 mpg in 2015, a 3% increase over the same fleet in 2014. The fleets in this study on average sell their trucks in 5.25 years. This suggests that the new trucks put into service in 2015 (2016 MY) by these fleets ...Read the rest of this story

Economic Watch: Manufacturing Declines, GDP Expectations Lowered

A preliminary look at the nation's manufacturing sector shows it continues to expand following a recent downturn. Separate reports show expectations of long-term economic growth have been moved lower and the housing market is suffering from low inventory levels.

U.S. goods producers saw a further upturn in overall business conditions during August, though the rate of improvement was softer than seen in July, according to a first reading for the month from the Flash U.S. Manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) provided by the financial information services provider IHS Markit.

It registered 52.1 in August, down from July's nine-month high of 52.9. The August reading pointed to a moderate rate of improvement that was weaker the post-Great Recession average. While output continued to rise markedly, total new work rose at a slower pace and employment expanded at the weakest rate in four months.

U.S. manufacturers signaled increased output for the third month running in August. The rate of expansion remained solid overall, having edged up slightly from July to a nine-month high. Anecdotal evidence suggested that new product launches, stronger underlying demand and new marketing strategies supported production growth in August.

“Taking the July and August readings together suggests that manufacturing is enjoying its best growth so far this year."

“The August drop in the PMI is a disappointment but less worrying when looked at in the context of July's better-than-expected reading,” says Chris Williamson, chief business economist at IHS Markit. “Taking the July and August readings together suggests that manufacturing is enjoying its best growth so far this year in the third quarter, and should help drive stronger gross domestic product (GDP) growth.”

With August seeing the largest rise in exports for almost two years, Williamson said, the improved trade performance should also help drive faster economic growth.

“However, a slowdown in overall order book growth is ...Read the rest of this story

Shippers Challenge Liability Changes in Uniform Bill of Lading

Some shippers are unhappy about changes to the standard bill of lading used by less-than-truckload carriers.

As the Journal of Commerce reports, the Transportation and Logistics Council and NASSTRAC say changes to the National Motor Freight Traffic Association uniform bill of lading, which went into effect August 13, are unfair to smaller shippers that rely on the BOL as their contract.

The NMFTA, which represents more than 600 less-than-truckload trucking companies, says the changes simply update and clarify provisions of the bill of lading, which was last revised in 1997.

The shippers' biggest problem with the revised agreement is language related to proving carrier negligence.

Section 1(b) states that “the burden to prove carrier negligence is on the shipper.” The previous UBOL stated “the burden to prove freedom from negligence is on the carrier.”

The shipper groups contend that this is in violation of the Carmack Amendment, the 1906 law that established uniform cargo liability standards.

NMFTA lawyers, however, told JOC that they're not changing the law. “The shipper has the burden of proof to show (a shipment) was tendered in good condition, delivered in damaged condition, and then the burden shifts to the carrier, to prove it was not negligent.”

The Surface Transportation Board has denied a petition by the supper groups asking it to suspend the controversial UBOL provisions and questioned whether it even had the authority to investigate.

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