Truck shipments show improvement in March

The trucking industry's main trade group said Tuesday a key index measuring U.S. trucking shipments rose by 0.4 percent in March. Trucking shipment data is often a gauge of overall economic health, because truckers haul more than two-thirds of all U.S. manufactured and retail goods. read more

Google Dashes Hopes of Free iPhone Turn-by-Turn GPS

Google has denied the latest rumors that the search giant will bring free turn-by-turn GPS navigation on the Apple iPhone, although the features could come in the future to other (unspecified) mobile platforms. read more

Improving economy squeezes truck driver supply- YeeHaw

Talk of a driver shortage in the U.S. trucking industry has started to heat up, a sign that a recovery in the freight economy is well under way. The truck driver crunch is a recurring phenomenon that tends to disappear when the economy is on the slide and freight demand falls, but resurfaces as soon as volumes begin to pick up.

Truck drivers and driver/sales workers make up one of the largest occupations in the United States, holding 3.2 million jobs in 2008, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Demand for truck drivers tends to follow the demand for goods; as a recovering economy opens up more attractive job opportunities, carriers stand to face a severe crunch in driver supply when they begin to hire again. source

Pilot introducing app for drivers' iPhones

Coming to an iPhone near you: a Pilot Travel Centers application for truck drivers and motorists.

The Knoxville-based travel center operator says drivers now can locate a Pilot Travel Center nearest them with the new free app.

Lynsay Caylor, social media marketing manager for Pilot, said the company also plans to add the travel center locator service to Windows Mobile and Android platforms in the near future.
source

FMCSA Issues Texting Ban; Advocates Say It’s a Good First Step

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued interim regulatory guidance prohibiting commercial drivers from texting while operating a commercial vehicle.

The agency published guidance on the ban in late January under a regulation that generally restricts the use of “additional equipment and accessories that decrease the safety of operation of commercial motor vehicles.” In its Federal Register notice, the FMCSA said that an electronic device for texting would be considered additional equipment or accessories. The agency was also clear that the guidance notice did not prohibit the use of cell phones in commercial vehicles. read more here

NY backs down on rural large truck limits

Members of a task force charged with overseeing implementation of new highway regulations say the state Department of Transportation has scrapped a proposal to ban large trucks from seven state highways in the Finger Lakes.

Farmers said the proposal would cost them money by forcing them to re-route deliveries. The New York Farm Bureau said it's pleased the DOT reconsidered.source

Hero Truck Driver Saves Girl's Life

When Werner Enterprises truck driver Dave Nelson  decided to help a stranded motorist on Feb. 10, he saved the life of a 7-year-old girl.

Vicki Carter and her mother, Pam, were traveling along I-20 near Birmingham, Ala., on the way to pick up father and husband Air Force Capt. Ryan Carter in Texas  when their car ran off the road and hit a sign.  Pam jumped out of the car and tried to flag down help for her daughter.  Only Nelson stopped.

"She was literally out in the road," Nelson recalls.  He moved Pam Carter to safety as she explained that her daughter was still in the car and needed help.

Vicki was not breathing and had no pulse. Nelson asked permission from her mother to begin CPR, then swiftly pulled Vicki from the car and laid her on the ground on top of his coat.  While performing the lifesaving steps, Nelson conversed with Pam Carter to keep her calm.  He learned that Vicki had a heart murmur, just like his own daughter.  Nelson performed CPR until paramedics arrived.

"It was so amazing to see this big trucker hold my little girl and do CPR.  He kept me calm the whole time and the kindness he showed me really kept me together," remembered Pam.
read more

YRC president's sudden resignation hits shares

The sudden departure of YRC Worldwide Inc's (YRCW.O) President Tim Wicks sent the company's shares sharply lower on Tuesday, as analysts viewed the move as a blow to the still-struggling trucking giant and a sign of continuing instability. read more

Trucking Industry vs. Rail system - Follow the money

With the highway infrastructure deteriorating the way it is and with all the congestion around every major city. Why does the government seem to just "turn their heads" the other way from trucking?

Or at least it seems that way. The government wants to sink billions of dollars into the rail system and minimal money into the highways. read more here

Cluster of quakes still shaking Southern California

A cluster of
moderate earthquakes near the U.S.-Mexico border is continuing to
rattle southern California one week after a magnitude 7.2 quake slammed
the area.

The U.S. Geological Survey says a magnitude 4.4 earthquake struck at 9:42 a.m. Sunday, about 11 miles west of downtown Calexico.

At least 17 other quakes in the magnitude 3 range were also reported in the same area on Sunday.

read more

Trucking industry urges veto of bill allowing heavier trucks

The trucking industry is urging Governor Culver to veto a bill that
would let heavier trucks drive on county roads in Iowa. Under current
rules, trucks driving on a county road may weigh no more than 80,000
pounds. The bill would raise that limit to 96,000 pounds, if the truck
is equipped with one or two more axles.
read more here

Great American Insurance Group Announces Winner of 2010 “Big Rig Giveaway”

A single dad from Oklahoma is the latest winner of the “Big Rig Giveaway,” sponsored by Great American Insurance Group. Company representatives reached Ron Terrill by phone from the Great American booth at the 2010 Mid America Trucking Show (MATS) on March 27. Mr. Terrill was on the road when he learned he had won a Volvo VNL 780. more here

Redbox is considering streaming videos over the Internet

Good news for drivers:)
Redbox is considering streaming videos over the Internet for a fraction of what Netflix charges, if a reported survey is to be believed.

Netflix first made a name for itself with low-cost, essentially unlimited rentals that threatened the business model of major video-rental chains. Redbox chimed in with its dollar-per-video-per-night rental option, which also undermined chains like Blockbuster. Now, Redbox is asking customers what it thinks of low-cost video streams. read more HERE

Truckers glad no tolling I-80 in Pennsylvania

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) is
relieved that the Department of Transportation has rejected
Pennsylvania’s plan to toll Interstate 80.

“It
shows that accountability and the responsible use of taxpayer resources
wins the day and that diversion of those hard-earned dollars for
unrelated uses is unacceptable,” said OOIDA’s Director of
Legislative Affairs Mike Joyce. read more

DOT Issues Rule Requiring Electronic On-Board Recorders

The U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration today issued a new rule that will require interstate
commercial truck and bus companies with serious patterns of
hours-of-service (HOS) violations to install electronic on-board
recorders (EOBRs) in all their vehicles. Nearly 5,700 interstate
carriers will use EOBRs after the final rule's first year of
implementation.

"We are committed to cracking down on carriers and
drivers who put people on our roads and highways at risk," said
Secretary Ray LaHood. "This rule gives us another tool to enforce
hours-of-service restrictions on drivers who attempt to get around the
rules."

"Safety is our highest priority," said FMCSA
Administrator Anne S. Ferro. "In addition to requiring EOBRs for
carriers that have already demonstrated a pattern of hours-of-service
violations, we will initiate a rulemaking later this year that
considers an EOBR mandate for a broader population of commercial motor
carriers."

Electronic on-board recorders are devices attached
to commercial vehicles that automatically record the number of hours
drivers spend operating the vehicle. Driving hours are regulated by
federal HOS rules,
which are designed to prevent commercial vehicle-related crashes and
fatalities by prescribing on-duty and rest periods for drivers.more here

Gov't Set to Ban Texting by Truck, Bus Drivers

The Transportation Department on Wednesday proposed a ban on text messaging at the wheel by interstate truck and bus drivers, following up on its call to reduce distractions that lead to crashes.

The proposal would make permanent an interim ban announced in January by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, applying to drivers of buses and commercial trucks over 10,000 pounds. The drivers could face civil or criminal penalties.

The proposal "keeps our commitment to making our roads safer by reducing the threat of distracted driving," LaHood said.

As navigation systems, cell phones and mobile electronics have become ubiquitous in cars and trucks, safety advocates and the government have pushed for restrictions. The Transportation Department reports that 5,870 people were killed and 515,000 injured in 2008 in crashes connected to driver distraction, often involving mobile devices or cell phones.

Trucking and bus industry officials support the texting ban and many companies already have policies in place against texting behind the wheel. The government prohibition doesn't apply to onboard devices that allow dispatchers to send text messages to truck drivers, but industry officials say most of the devices have mechanisms preventing their use while a truck is moving.

Clayton Boyce, a spokesman for American Trucking Associations, said his trade group was analyzing the proposal but has supported LaHood's efforts. "Texting while driving is a serious safety hazard, which is why ATA also supports texting bans for drivers of automobiles," he said.

Twenty states and the District of Columbia already prohibit all drivers from texting behind the wheel, according to the Governors Highway Safety Association. Another nine states restrict texting by novice drivers.

The government, industry and safety organizations have found common ground on texting and driving, concerned that typing out a message on a mobile device can take a driver's eyes off the road for a dangerous number of seconds. source

MapQuest Brings Free Voice Navigation to the iPhone

It’s quite inevitable, really: after Google announced free turn-by-turn GPS navigation for Android devices, followed by Nokia’s decision to offer the same on its smartphones, the price of full-featured GPS navigation apps on other platforms is hurtling towards zero.

Case in point: MapQuest 4 Mobile, a free GPS navigation app for the iPhone, now offers “basic voice guidance.”

The app will tell you when you need to take a turn, and if you get lost, it will warn you that you’re off route. Other features
include saving maps and routes on MapQuest.com and retrieving them on
your iPhone, easy POI finding via the OS X dashboard-like Place
Carousel, finding you on a map or in relation to a route, and free form
search. read more

Cooking on the road....A reality

Cooking on the truck part 1......It aint easy out here...lol

Denny’s inks deal for more travel centers

Denny’s Corp. will begin converting at least 140 Flying J Travel Centers to Denny’s restaurants this year, a move that one analyst said could bring the restaurant company an additional $38 million in revenue by 2011.

The deal was struck with Pilot Travel Centers, which is in the process of merging with Flying J, an Ogden, Utah-based travel center operator and diesel fuel retail distributor that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in February. Pilot named Denny’s its full-service restaurant operator of choice for its 300-plus rest-stop plazas in the United States.

Spartanburg-based Denny’s, which operates or franchises more than 1,500 restaurants, currently operates locations at seven Pilot travel centers and has already converted four Flying J restaurants.

Nelson Marchioli, chief executive of Denny’s, said the partnership with Pilot would expand the family-dining brand and provide increased opportunities for the chain’s franchisees.

“Based on the success of our seven existing Pilot locations and four Flying J conversions, we expect this agreement will truly add long-term value for the company, its shareholders and franchisees,” Marchioli said.

Denny’s said it plans to begin converting the additional Flying J locations in the second quarter of 2010 and expects to complete the project by year-end. The conversions, which the company said would cost $525,000 each, are expected to increase Denny’s systemwide sales by between 7 percent and 8 percent, it said.

The family-dining company has struggled against a downturn in sales for some time — 2009 same-store sales fell 3.7 percent at corporate units and 5.2 percent at franchised units — as well as reduced corporate revenue from the sale of corporate locations to franchisees. more here

Kenworth Introduces NavPlus Navigation and Infotainment System

“Kenworth NavPlus is an exciting breakthrough in commercial vehicle
technology,” said Preston Feight, Kenworth chief engineer. “This new
cutting edge system provides powerful in-cab features, such as true
truck navigation by Garmin, communication, diagnostics, and infotainment
technologies that enhance truck productivity and the driving experience.
It’s simply a more productive and smarter way to travel down the
highway.”
more here