Now, no one panic! This isn't the beginning of an ode to that 1971 classic movie Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and the oddest of its characters, the Oompa-Loompas.
[I'll admit I got a little wigged out when I first saw these orange creatures with the green hairdos, let me tell you.]
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Ancra International has launched a new line of safety equipment featuring wearables, flags, banners, and reflectors to compliment the company's existing safety products.
The new safety vests are made with highly-visible lime green or orange mesh with contrasting retro-reflective strips on the front and back. The vests feature a Velcro closure at the front and elastic side straps to make it easy to put on and take off. Ancra is also offering reflective work gloves which improve visibility through retro-reflective strips and are designed to emphasize comfort and breathability.
The company's warning flags can be secured with a magnetic flag holder. The magnetic flag holder has a center screw and wing nut for secure flag attachment and features a 2.3-inch diameter magnet rated at 80 pounds of pull force. The magnetic flag holders will securely fix a safety flag without risking damage and easily remove to make it easy to move to a new job. Additionally, a reversible vinyl banner offers sewn-in bungee cords to easily attach, eliminating the need for additional ropes or cords.
For emergency situations, Ancra is offering a new help light kit, LED flashlight, and triangle warning kit. The help light kit features 3 puck-style lights with a visibility of 360-degrees for up to 1 mile, according to Ancra. The lights are rain proof, have a magnet, and a folding hook on the back and a battery life of up to nine hours. The company's LED flashlight has a battery life of 2 hours with a range of around 220 yards and an output of 400 lumens. Both the help light kit and LED flashlight comes with batteries included.
Stored in a durable red plastic case, Ancra's triangle warning kit contains three DOT certified collapsible reflective triangles used in compliance with FMCSA standards and certified by AMECA. Each product is ...Read the rest of this story
The Chevrolet division of General Motors is flexing a lot of “work truck” muscle these days. At the 2017 NTEA Work Truck Show, the company announced its soon-to-be-unveiled Class 4-5 medium-duty conventional truck, being jointly built with Navistar, will be powered by its Duramax diesel engine mated to an Allison Transmission automatic gearbox.
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...Read the rest of this storyStefan Seltz-Axmacher knows that many drivers don't like him and his autonomous trucks so he tries to change the conversation. "Yes, we're these nerdy guys from San Francisco, and we've built a robot that looks like it does their work," says the CEO and co-founder of Starsky Robotics. "Drivers say, 'Oh, my gosh. Are they going to take our jobs?' but when the conversation becomes about remote driving, and more home time, we go from being an enemy to a friend. I really hope that's the dynamic we're largely able to have."
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A measure of truckload linehaul rates fell again in February, but it is expected to improve, according to newly issued figures, while a gauge of intermodal rates posted its largest gain in just over four years.
The Cass Truckload Linehaul Index, which tracks monthly changes in linehaul rates, declined 0.8% in February compared to the same time in 2016, after falling 0.3% and 0.9% in January and December, respectively. This latest drop and month-over-month declines in both February and January puts the index at a level of 123.3, its lowest reading since last September.
Although this represents twelve consecutive months of year-ago declines, analysts at Avondale Partners have increased their pricing forecast for a range of a decline of 1% to 2% year-over-year improvement.
The investment banking firm, which provides analysis with the numbers, said that "the current strength being reported in spot rates ... is leading us to believe contract pricing rates should move back into positive territory at least on a sequential basis."
The Cass Truckload Linehaul Index measures market fluctuations in per-mile truckload pricing that isolates the linehaul component of full truckload costs from others, such as fuel and accessorials, providing a reflection of trends in baseline truckload prices.
Meantime, the Cass Intermodal Price Index, which measures changes in total intermodal per-mile costs, increased 4.9% in February compared to the same time in 2016. That marks the largest year-over-year increase since January 2012. Part of the hike was influenced by the 29% jump in fuel surcharges.
Despite this being the fifth year-over-year increase, the index fell to a February reading of 130.8, which is 2.9% lower than it was in the first month of 2017.
Analysts at Avondale Partners expect intermodal pricing to be stronger than last year, given that the price of diesel fuel has recovered from oversold lows.
"The current level of demand ...Read the rest of this story
Commercial tire industry veteran Rick Phillips is joining Triangle Tire USA as vice president of sales, effective April 1, the company announced.
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