ELDs, cost controls top carrier and shipper agenda

After 43 Years, Learning the Other Side of Vapor Recovery

Driver Jeff McMannus checks progress as he delivers a load of biofuel. He was careful to avoid spills. Photos: Tom Berg

It's good to get out on the road and see what's going on. While driving across northern Illinois the other day I pulled off I-80 and into a Flying J truck stop and, after using the facilities and buying a bottle of pop, walked out to the fueling area to photograph some of the more colorful rigs.

In that few minutes, a tanker moved along one side of the complex and stopped. Its driver laid down a hefty hose and connected it to the wet line beneath the tanker. He had put a bucket under the connecting point to catch any spillage. There wasn't any, but I thought, this guy's being careful.

He dropped the hose's nozzle into place where he had removed a cover in the pavement. Then he returned to the tanker, twisted a valve handle, and the unseen product began flowing into the underground tank. I thought was a shipment of diesel fuel.

“Not diesel,” said driver Jeff MacMannus. “Biofuel.”

"You mean biodiesel?" I asked.

“No, just bio,” he said. “They mix it with diesel with equipment they have here.”

"What kind of bio?" I inquired.

“I don't really know,” he said, shrugging. “I just haul it.” He'd been driving for this company, Kane Transport, for just a few weeks and liked it. He'd spent seven years hauling freight containers, and it was a pain dealing with the loads and the customers. While the money was good, too often the containers were too heavy and that led to fines.

“One day I got a fine for $2,700 for being too heavy for the bridge,” he related, pointing to the area between the tractor's and trailer's tandems (that distance is called the inner bridge by authorities). “The container weighed ...Read the rest of this story

Economic Watch: Retail Sales Rebound But Consumers Less Upbeat

Retail sales in the U.S. posted a solid gain in September, indicating consumers remain confident about the economy – but a separate report revealed that certainty is being hit by the race for White House.

According to the Commerce Department, the 0.6% increase in retail sales last month follows a 0.2% drop in August, slightly better than the originally estimated 0.3% decline. This latest figure is in line with expectations from a consensus estimate of economists surveyed by The Wall Street Journal and is the biggest increase in three months.

When compared to a year earlier, September's level increased 2.9%. But the third quarter performance of a 0.7% improvement is not as strong as it was in the second quarter of the year.

Control retail sales, used to calculate the gross domestic product and excluding such categories as autos, gasoline stations and building materials, rose a weaker-than-expected 0.1% after a 0.1% drop in August.

The bounce in overall September retail sales, while encouraging, was not as broadly based as had been hoped, according to Paul Ferley, assistant chief economist at Royal Bank of Canada Economics.

“It will still contribute to third quarter real consumer spending rising a solid 2.6% at an annual rate. Though this will be down from the 4.3% surge recorded in the second quarter, it represents an above-average increase,” he said. “With the third quarter expected to see less of a drag from inventories, this strength in consumer spending should help send overall third quarter gross domestic product growth to an above-potential rate of around 3%."

If this happens with the GDP, this would be double the 1.4% gain recorded in second quarter of the year.

“As the Fed becomes convinced that this stronger growth will be sustained, it will return the central bank to tightening mode,” Ferley said. “Our forecast assumes such is ...Read the rest of this story

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Baldwin’s BD50000 Lube Filter Designed for Durability

Baldwin is offering the BD50000 lube filter designed for durability and performance and is an alternative to the LF14000NN filter.

The BD50000 is designed to meet or exceed the original equipment filter over the full life of the filter, according to Baldwin. The filter is designed for higher overall efficiency with improved protection against wear to extend parts life. It has a 17% greater capacity than the OE filter for longer life and a 40% lower restriction at cold-start to improve flow and reduce wear.

The filter was also developed with high structural integrity with improved reinforcement to ensure durability and prevent contaminant leaks.

Baldwin Filters are routinely tested at higher than the industry standards to ensure reliable performance in tough conditions.

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