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Some port truckers shut down in Oakland to protest fuel prices, surcharges
Some truckers who haul containers in and out of the Port of Oakland
shut down this week to protest the fact that their pay has not gone up
enough to counter punishing fuel costs. Diesel has been about $4.57 per
gallon in California’s Bay area this week.
Protest organizer
Ajit Singh Gill has been traveling back and forth from the Port of
Oakland and the Lathrop and Stockton rail yards to meet with truckers
who have shut down because they can’t afford to fill up their trucks.
Some are left with only $54 a day – after paying for fuel – to cover
operating expenses and their wages.
“We really don’t consider
this a shutdown. It’s just that these drivers can’t afford to drive
anymore,” Gill said. “People should understand that they are not making
enough money to pay for their trucks, their insurance and everything
else they need.”
Gill told Land Line on Thursday,
May 8, that some drivers are hauling loads from Stockton to Gilroy for
a flat rate of $210 per round-trip, plus a $24 fuel surcharge. With
fuel costs running them around $180 per trip, Gill said they are left
with just $54 per round trip. Because of traffic and wait times at
weigh scales and at docks, he said these truckers are only able to make
one round-trip a day.
Some drivers on the West Coast are paying as much as $1,500 each week for fuel, according to one source Land Line spoke to on Thursday, May 8.
“These guys have no other choice but to park their trucks right now,” said the source, who spoke to Land Line
on the condition of anonymity. “As the cost of fuel continues to
escalate, these guys with older trucks that are only getting about 4
mpg aren’t getting the fuel surcharge they need to keep them going.”
Gill
said companies at the Port of Oakland have not held up their end of an
agreement they made with port truckers four years ago. That agreement
calls for them to pay the truckers 5 percent of their fuel costs above
$2 per gallon, he said. He said that while motor carriers’ customers
are paying fuel surcharges, that money isn’t being passed along to the
drivers buying the fuel.
“This is not a strike that’s getting
out of hand. We gave two weeks’ written notice to the companies and
brokers that truckers are working for,” Gill said. “Some of the
companies responded, but some didn’t respond to the notice at all.”
Port
of Oakland Spokesperson Marilyn Sandifur confirmed that as many as 150
truckers were at the port protesting high fuel prices Monday through
Wednesday, but said there were only “sporadic demonstrations by
truckers” at the port when she spoke to Land Line on Thursday, May 8.
Gill
said that decrease in protesters at the port is because truckers began
meeting elsewhere after being ticketed for parking their cars at the
port.
“The Oakland Police Department is on the scene because
the port area is really not a good place for pedestrian access, as you
can imagine,” Sandifur said. “The port is not a safe place for people
to protest so the police are out there to ensure the safety of the
protestors as well as ensure the safety of everyone that’s moving
through the port. And then they’re there to make sure that commerce
keeps flowing.”
She said she couldn’t estimate what kind of economic disruption the protests have caused at the Port of Oakland this week.
“There’s
really no way for us to estimate at this point,” Sandifur said. “We
know there’s been some impact, but we really don’t have an idea if it’s
a minimal impact or a larger impact.”
Tensions on the rise
One protester described the scene at the Port of Oakland as being under
“martial law.” Sandifur said that wasn’t the case at all.
“There
isn’t an area set up for protests; this area is set up for train, truck
and cargo movement,” she said. “But their right of free speech has been
protected, and the Oakland Police are there to see to it. As long as
they obey the rules, no one is going to ask them to leave.”
Sandifur
said she did see one of the flyers that read, “Subject: Rate adjustment
due to high diesel prices,” which was being handed out by truckers at
the port.
“Things are definitely difficult for people whose
livelihoods depend on the cost of fuel,” she said. “I think what we are
looking at is a nationwide issue not a local issue. The elected
officials really need to be examining this.”
Oakland Police
Department spokesman Roland Holmgren said there have been a few
incidents involving protestors at the Port of Oakland, but that overall
things have been relatively quiet there.
“There was one
arrest for someone who threw a rock and broke a windshield of a truck,
and there have been two reports of vandalism,” he said.
Holmgren
said he has heard varying statistics on the number of protestors, with
as many as 200 protestors reported at one time at the Port of Oakland
earlier in the week.
Gill said some companies have come out
to negotiate with truckers. He said he was hopeful the protest would be
over in the next day or two.
“We are only asking for
companies to give us what they agreed to pay us four years ago,” he
said. “If you calculate how much it costs to own and operate a truck,
there’s no way we can make it on what they are paying us.”
Some federal budget and transportation officials say every dollar
paid for transportation must be accounted for. They also say the public
deserves a quality return on the taxes and user fees paid into the
system for infrastructure.
Officials testifying before a
joint committee hearing of U.S. House budget and transportation leaders
said population growth, increasing traffic counts and congestion are
outgrowing the nation’s infrastructure of highways, rail, transit and
water systems.
Patricia Dalton, managing director of the
physical infrastructure team for the Government Accountability Office,
was one of two federal officials testifying at the hearing Thursday,
May 8, before the House Budget Committee on Financing Infrastructure
Investment and the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee.
Dalton
said the nation’s 4 million miles of roads, 600,000 bridges and 117,000
miles of rail are under strain, and the government has to rethink the
way it invests in infrastructure.
“Given these types of
challenges and the federal government’s fiscal outlook, it is clear
that the federal government cannot continue with business as usual,”
Dalton stated. “Rather, a fundamental re-examination of government
programs, policies, and activities is needed.”
“Prudent use of taxpayer dollars is always important,” she said.
The
math regarding needs and current spending is basic, suggested Peter
Orszag, director of the Congressional Budget Office, when he testified
during the hearing.
Orszag said that just to maintain the
current level of performance for highways – without upgrading the
system or adding capacity – the federal government would need to commit
at least $79 billion per year, which is $12 billion more than is
currently spent.
“Estimates from the Federal Highway
Administration and other sources indicate that additional spending of
up to tens of billions of dollars each year on transportation
infrastructure projects could be justified,” Orszag said.
Substantially more dollars would be needed for adding capacity to the infrastructure, he said.
Some
experts, including members of the National Surface Transportation
Policy and Revenue Study Commission, believe investment in
transportation should be in the neighborhood of $225 billion per year,
including money for new and upgraded capacity.
House Budget
Committee Chairman John Spratt, D-SC, chaired the hearing. He said
public infrastructure, including highways, rail, transit and water
systems, is the lifeline of the economy.
“Despite their vital
importance, infrastructure investments have not kept pace with repair,
maintenance and the need for expansion or replacement,” Spratt said.
Discussions
about funding are taking on a whole new importance as members of the
U.S. House and Senate have begun preparing to write legislation that
will become the next generation of transportation funding policy.
That
legislation is due from Congress in 2009, when the current funding
legislation known as SAFETEA-LU is scheduled to expire. SAFETEA-LU is
the Safe, Accountable, Fair, Efficient Transportation Equity Act – A
Legacy for Users, was signed into law two years after its 2003 deadline.
Read more about the funding authorization process in upcoming issues of Land Line.
British Columbia considers truck jail, Rocky Mountain doubles
In British Columbia, Canada, the Transportation Ministry is
considering setting up a so-called truck jail similar to the one
Ontario has had since 1998.
Trucks found to be grossly unsafe
could be impounded for up to 30 days. A truck with “several brakes
broken, in combination with bad tires, in combination with bad
steering,” would be a suitable candidate for jail, Paul Landry,
president of the British Columbia Trucking Association, told the Times Colonist newspaper.
Truck News
reported that the province is also considering allowing wider use of
so-called “Rocky Mountain doubles,” which proponents say can cut fuel
consumption by 30 percent.
In other Canadian trucking news,
the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association in New Brunswick is calling
for a provincial tax cut of at least 40 cents per gallon (10 cents
Canadian per liter) on diesel fuel.
Diesel has been selling for around $5.60 per gallon ($1.40 Canadian per liter) in the province.
SPECIAL REPORT: Truckers need help ‘soon’ OOIDA tells Congress
Tuesday, May 6, 2008 –If there were any members of
the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee who didn’t think
fuel prices were strangling small-business truckers – they probably
don’t have the same opinion following a hearing on the topic today.
Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the
Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, told committee members
in his testimony during the hearing that small-business truckers are
victimized not only by high fuel costs, but also by questionable
business tactics in the industry.
“The rising cost of fuel is
causing harm to the trucking industry as we know it. Across this
nation, small-business truckers are experiencing unprecedented
operating cost increases and are being forced to make tough decisions
in the name of saving their businesses and providing for their
families,” Spencer told members of the committee.
“Unfortunately, the climbing diesel prices have already painted many truckers into a corner and for them it is too late.”
Spencer
cited a recent report released by Donald Broughton, a long-time
trucking industry analyst now with Avondale Partners LLC. Broughton
reported that in the first quarter of this year, 935 companies with
five or more trucks failed. That’s a failure rate the industry hasn’t
experienced since 2000 and 2001.
“While this data is
shocking, it is not the complete picture. Broughton’s data is not
representative of the industry as a whole because it only counts
trucking companies with five or more trucks,” Spencer told the
committee.
Spencer explained to committee members that the
blame for these failures cannot rest solely on the shoulders of high
fuel prices. Fuel surcharges are a long-standing mechanism the industry
has used to recoup fuel costs.
The problem, Spencer told the
committee members, is that more and more middlemen are charging a fuel
surcharge and pocketing a chunk of it rather than passing it on to the
trucker who actually bought the fuel.
“It is common practice
for motor carriers and especially brokers to push shippers for higher
fuel surcharges, but only pass along a portion of those surcharges to
the truckers who are actually hauling the freight and paying the fuel
bill,” Spencer told the committee.
When pressed by members of
the committee, especially acting Chairman Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-OR, on
how this can happen, Spencer pointed to the lack of transparency in
trucking transactions.
“(Keeping a fuel surcharge is) often
done by charging the shipper in one way … then withholding information
or misrepresenting transactional information and compensating truckers
in another manner, for example providing one flat rate, which is
usually much lower,” Spencer explained.
Even if a trucker
finds out a broker is skimming fuel surcharges, Spencer said that with
the lack of regulation and oversight of brokers it’s far too easy for
bad brokers to fade into the night.
“Every day at our
headquarters in Missouri we hear horror stories from small-business
truckers about unscrupulous brokers with FMCSA authority who collect
money from shippers, but never pay the truckers who actually transport
the loads,” he told committee members. “Often, when the truckers try to
collect the money due to them, they find the broker has closed up shop
and moved on.”
In the end, Spencer called for quality regulations and oversight of the industry to give truckers some relief.
“If
we do not find ways to help them soon, small-business truckers will
continue to lose their businesses or refuse to drive unprofitably. I
have no doubt that we will see greater disruptions in the movement of
our nation’s commerce and our economy,” he said.
Dallas bridge with hole had been inspected recently
A 2-foot-by-3-foot hole on an Interstate-30 bridge in downtown Dallas caused delays during Monday’s early morning commute.
A motorist reported the hole at about 10 p.m. Sunday. KXAS-TV
reported that chunks of concrete from the hole damaged several cars,
bending the rims of wheels. The hole was repaired and lanes were opened
shortly before 7 a.m. Monday.
TxDOT spokesman Randy Black told The Dallas Morning News that the bridge had been inspected within the past 30 days. “Results were normal,” he said.
XM and Sirius have extended an agreement expressing their intention
to merge while they continue to wait on the Federal Communications
Commission to approve the proposal.
The boards of directors
from XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio first voted in
February 2007 to merge into one company worth $13 billion. The proposal
required filing an application with the FCC, which has the final say.
When
the XM-Sirius proposal did not appear on the FCC’s docket scheduled for
May 14, the two companies decided to extend their intention to merge
until an agreement is reached.
Approval from the FCC is all
that stands in the way since the U.S. Department of Justice concluded
in mid-March that a merger would not stand in the way of competition
among broadcasting companies.
I spoke to a woman this week who was upset at the way the police had
handled the clearing of an out of control party at a residence. The
officer had advised all the teens that they must leave immediately and
would not listen to reasons for doing anything other than that. She was
upset because this forced the teens to drive away from the party while
impaired.
I will not discuss his behaviour, but that of those who placed him in this position.
The last time I checked, the legal drinking age in British Columbia was
19. Had the law been followed, the majority of the teens at the party
would not have been in this situation to start with.
The Graduated Licensing Program requires that its participants have no
alcohol in their blood at the time of driving. Why would a teen in the
GLP choose to go to a party and consume alcohol knowing that they were
going to drive away from it at some time during the evening?
The officer did not force the teens to get into their cars and drive.
The majority of them had two good legs, and assuming that they were
parked legally, could easily have walked home and returned to pick up
their vehicles the next day. They could also have used their cell
phones to call for rides.
Full blame must not be placed on the teens. After all, they recieved
permission to use the vehicles involved from their parents. I dare say
that there is a duty of care placed on the parents whenever they hand
over the car keys or sponsor the ownership of a vehicle.
Common sense and courtesy toward the neighbours by the party goers
would also have meant that the police would not have known about the
gathering in the first place.
__________________
Have you ever met anyone that would admit to being less than a better than average driver?
Police looking for suspect who accosted Indiana trucker
BIG BEAVER, Pa. - State police in Beaver County say an Indiana trucker
has reported being accosted by a gunman who posed like a motorist
needing assistance.
Police say the trucker, 44-year-old Paul Michael Brant, of Fort Wayne,
told them he was flagged down on Route 18 in Big Beaver about 3:30 a.m.
Thursday.
When the trucker got out to help, police say the man pulled a gun and
ordered the trucker back in his rig to drive. Police say the gunman
ordered the trucker out of the truck after a while and told him to run
away into some woods where the trucker got lost.
Police say the trucker told them he heard someone trying to drive the
truck away. But the trucker found his rig abandoned only a short
distance from where he left it when he ran into the woods.
Truckers continue grassroots campaign to motivate New York lawmakers
Across the country, truckers have started grass-roots movements in
several states to wake up their lawmakers to the harsh realities many
drivers are facing – losing their livelihoods as high fuel prices and a
rocky economy continue to beat up the industry.
In New York,
owner-operators, company drivers and trucking company owners are all
banding together and pounding the phones to get the message out to
their lawmakers that they are running out of time.
On
Wednesday, April 30, OOIDA member Paul Looman of Gloversville, NY,
addressed the New York State Assembly about how high fuel prices and
high tolls on the New York Thruway are depleting his and other
truckers’ resources.
“I told them that high fuel prices and
high toll prices that truckers are forced to pay on the Thruway are
breaking the backs of truckers who are trying to make a living,” Looman
told Land Line on Friday, May 2. “Farmers around here are hurting as well.”
Looman said speaking before the Assembly was a little “overwhelming,” but worth every minute if something good comes from it.
“They must have like what I had to say because they applauded when I was done,” he said.
He said another round of phone calls is planned for next week to keep the pressure on lawmakers in New York.
Looman
said New York Assemblyman George Amedore, R-Rotterdam, and Assemblyman
Peter Lopez, R-Schoharie, both have recognized truckers’ importance to
the state’s economy, and are working with the truckers to get them some
relief.
Amedore and Lopez also arranged a roundtable
discussion with other lawmakers, truckers and businessmen on fuel
issues on April 17 at a truck stop in Fultonville, NY.
One
New York trucking company owner, Butch Mix, who owns Sunshine Bulk
Commodities Inc., in Clifton Springs, NY, has 65 trucks. He has started
making phone calls to lawmakers as well.
Mix has been in the
trucking business since 1975. Skyrocketing fuel prices and the rising
costs of doing business have caused him to take a hard look at how he’s
running his company.
“It’s getting harder and harder to survive in this business and make a profit,” he told Land Line on Friday, May 2.
The
costs for parts and tires have gone way up in price, too, which is
hurting his trucking company’s profits. Mix said his customers all pay
a different fuel surcharge, ranging from 20 percent to 50 percent,
which he said is hard to figure his operating costs.
“I have
started looking at some of my customers who can’t or won’t pass on a
fuel surcharge and I have to decide if I want to continue to do
business with them anymore,” Mix said.
WINDSOR–The most expensive highway ever built in Ontario will relieve
traffic across a congested U.S. border crossing and reduce truck
exhaust by linking Highway 401 with a new international bridge to be
built over the Detroit River in Windsor, the federal and Ontario
governments said today.
Construction is expected to start next year on the $1.6-billion,
12-kilometre stretch of six-lane "below-grade roadway," which will run
through Windsor and the neighbouring communities of Tecumseh and
LaSalle.
The new highway will include 11 tunnel sections stretching about two
kilometres, while other parts will be built below grade to minimize the
impact of traffic noise and exhaust on neighbourhoods. The project will
also create a square kilometre of parkland and 20 kilometres of
recreational trails.
"The selection of this road represents years of careful technical
study, analysis and community input," said federal Transport Minister
Lawrence Cannon. "While this access route may not be everybody's first
choice, we believe it is the most sustainable and responsible choice."
Highway 401 currently stops about 12 kilometres short of the border
with Detroit, forcing trucks onto city streets and slowing down
international trade.
Provincial officials say a motorist driving from Toronto to Florida by
highway encounters 19 traffic lights, 16 of them in Windsor.
Getting the truck traffic off Windsor's streets and improving the speed
with which vehicles and goods can get across the international border
has long been a goal of the local, provincial and federal governments.
"This thing is going to enhance our community's quality of life,
improve the environment and it's going to improve our trading ability,"
said Ontario Finance Minister Dwight Duncan.
The five-year construction plan is expected to create about 12,000
project-related jobs, two-thirds of them in Windsor, which has been
reeling from layoffs because of the downturn in the auto sector.
The new access road would be five times more expensive per kilometre
than any previous highway built in Ontario, but it must first pass an
environmental assessment before it gets final approval.
Both levels of government are recommending it proceed, said Cannon, who
was joined by Duncan and Economic Development and Trade Minister Sandra
Pupatello, both of whom represent Windsor ridings.
While Pupatello called the proposed highway "the most beautiful piece
of roadway that this country has ever seen," others weren't as
impressed.
Windsor Mayor Eddie Francis said the announcement was short on details
and didn't include proposed plans for a new truck plaza or border
crossing.
Several options are still being considered for the new bridge to be
built at the Windsor-Detroit crossing, and the exact location is
expected to be announced in the next few months by the Detroit River
International Crossing committee, a joint project of Transport Canada
and the Ontario Ministry of Transportation.
"You don't separate them," Francis said. "You don't come to talk about the road today and the bridge and the plaza next month."
The Ontario Chamber of Commerce hailed the new highway as a ``critical
step" toward the opening of the new international crossing in 2013.
Chamber president Len Crispino said improving the flow of traffic at
the border is a "matter of national and international urgency."
"Secure but efficient trade and tourism is vital to the continued
prosperity of our country, and to our relations with our largest
trading partner," he said in a statement. "But it's also a crucial
factor in the attraction of new investment."
Last-minute Mother’s Day shopping? Just pay her what she’s worth
For those who haven’t had time to shop around for the perfect
Mother’s Day gift this year, here’s an idea. How about writing Mom a
check for $117,000?
According to the research company
Salary.com, that’s how much a stay-at-home mom would be paid each year
if she was actually compensated for everything she does. Those
responsibilities include taxi service for the kids, housekeeper, cook,
psychologist and nurse for family members.
The researchers figure a working mom is worth an extra $68,000 beyond what she brings home from her outside job.
So for those of you who are buying your mothers some flowers for $20, just think how much you’re saving.
CARB schedules workshops about in-use truck retrofit rule
The California Air Resources Board has scheduled several workshops
to discuss and accept public input regarding its proposed requirement
that an estimated 1.5 million in-use trucks meet 2007 emission
standards by the year 2012.
The proposed plan would force at
least 1.5 million trucks to be replaced or retrofitted in order to cut
diesel particulate matter and oxides of nitrogen.
CARB
announced a proposed in-use truck rule in August 2007 that would have
forced truck operators to replace engines twice in a nine-year span.
The current proposal requires truck fleets to meet 2007 emission
standards by the year 2010. CARB was redrafting language of the
proposed regulation Thursday and Friday, May 8 and 9, after outcry from
trucking industry representatives about the regulation’s potential
costs.
CARB plans to consider approval of its in-use diesel retrofit rule in October.
Upcoming workshops are scheduled for:
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Wednesday, May 21, at the CARB Auditorium at 9530 Telstar Ave. in El Monte, CA.
From 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday, May 27, at the California DOT’s Garcia Room, at 4050 Taylor St. in San Diego.
From 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. on Tuesday, May 27, at the El Centro Community Center, at 375 S. First St. in El Centro, CA.
From 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Thursday, May 29, at the Riverside County Administrative Center, at 4080 Lemon St. in Riverside, CA.
From
noon to 4 p.m. and from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, May 30, at the
County of Santa Clara Isaac Newton Senter Auditorium, at 70 West
Hedding St. in San Jose, CA.
From noon to 4 p.m. and from
5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Monday, June 2, at the Shasta County Board of
Supervisors Chambers, at 1450 Court St., Suite 263 in Redding, CA.
From noon to 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Wednesday, June 4, at CARB’s Byron Sher Auditorium, at 1001 I St. in Sacramento.
From
noon to 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Tuesday, June 10, at the Fresno
County Plaza Ballroom, at 2220 Tulare St. in Fresno, CA.
The
proposed rule has been changed and is likely to continue changing
before it is formally proposed in October, said Karen Caesar, a CARB
spokeswoman.
Until then, truckers and others are encouraged to give input, she said.
“We’re working hard to listen to the truckers and the folks that would be directly affected by this rule,” Caesar told Land Line.
CARB
estimates the proposed in-use truck regulation will cost private
businesses between $3.6 and $5.5 billion, although the California
Trucking Association reportedly have said that estimate is low.
SPECIAL REPORT: Fuel surcharge legislation moving in House, Senate
The days of middlemen using fuel surcharges as a way to beef up
their profits may very well be numbered thanks to bipartisan
legislation being considered in both chambers of Congress.
A
bill introduced May 6 by Rep. Peter DeFazio, D-OR, and co-sponsored by
Rep. Thomas Petri, R-WI, and Rep. Brad Ellsworth, D-IN, seeks to
mandate 100 percent pass-through of fuel surcharges to whoever actually
buys the fuel.
The bill, HR5977, “Truth in Reliable
Understanding of Consumer Costs Act,” or the “TRUCC Act,” is identical
to a bill introduced in the Senate in late April by Sen. Olympia Snowe,
R-ME, and co-sponsored by Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-OH.
“This
bill will go a long way toward helping truckers and their shipping
customers weather the brutal cost of fuel,” said Todd Spencer,
executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers
Association.
Fuel surcharges have been a staple in the
industry as a way that trucking companies can recoup the high cost of
fuel. And now with skyrocketing fuel prices, more and more is being
collected – but not passed on.
There currently is not a
uniform fuel surcharge standard for the trucking industry. Fuel
surcharges must be negotiated individually, leaving shippers and
truckers vulnerable to opportunistic middlemen.
“It’s all too
common for middlemen in the trucking industry to push shippers to pay
fuel surcharges, but only pass along a portion of those surcharges to
the truckers who are actually hauling the freight and paying the fuel
bill,” Spencer said.
To make matters worse, small-business
truckers are often denied access to the contracts and rate information
negotiated between freight brokers and the shipper or customer they are
hauling freight for.
The TRUCC Act also seeks to ensure that
brokers and middlemen negotiating a contract to haul freight for a
shipper are not using the high price of fuel to exploit that shipper or
the small-business trucker who actually hauls the shipper’s freight.
OOIDA
issued a national Call to Action on Wednesday, May 7, urging its
members to contact their lawmakers in support of the legislation. To
read the Call to Action, click here.
Truckers
wanting to express their support of the TRUCC Act should call both of
their senators and their representative. Those who don’t know who their
lawmakers are can call the Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121 and
provide their ZIP code to the operator to be connected to the
appropriate office.
National average price for diesel drops 2.8 cents to $4.149 a gallon
The national average price for diesel dropped slightly this past
week – 2.8 cents – to average $4.149 a gallon, the U.S. Energy
Information Administration reported Monday, May 5. However, the average
price for diesel is still up $1.357 compared with the same week of 2007.
Eight
of the nine EIA regions reported slight decreases in the cost of
diesel, except the Rocky Mountain region, which reported an increase of
1.6 cents a gallon to average $4.159.
The Lower Atlantic
region experienced the greatest decrease of 3.6 cents to an average of
$4.133 this past week. The East Coast region’s average dropped 3.2
cents to $4.218, while the Central Atlantic region reports a decrease
of 3 cents a gallon to average $4.351.
Even with the
decrease in the price of fuel in the Central Atlantic region, the cost
for a gallon of diesel is still the second-highest of all of the
regions.
The Midwest and Gulf Coast regional averages
decreased 2.8 cents a gallon, putting the average at $4.116 in the
Midwest and at $4.088 a gallon in the Gulf Coast region.
The
New England region is reporting a nine-tenths of a cent decrease to an
average of $4.337 a gallon, while diesel prices have dropped a penny on
the West Coast to put the weekly average at $4.313 a gallon.
The
California region, which showed a decrease of eight-tenths of a cent,
still ranks first in the highest cost for a gallon of diesel, averaging
$4.382 a gallon.
FAST border program takes applications online, but not in paper
Truck drivers seeking quick border crossings between the U.S. and
Mexico through the Free and Secure Trade program can put away pens and
fire up the Internet. FAST applications are exclusively online.
FAST
aims to speed efficiency of goods movement at the U.S.-Mexico and
Canadian border. Beginning April 15, FAST applications were accepted at
CBP.gov.
The agency removed paper applications for the FAST
program in April, a practice already in place for other global
enrollment systems.
“It’s a way to do things faster; it
facilitates the process,” said Joanne Ferreria, a Customs and Border
Protection spokeswoman.
Customs and Border Protection plans
to launch online enrollment for drivers needing access at the
U.S.-Canada border in August. That program, however, will continue to
accept paper applications.
The U.S.-Mexico FAST program is
administered by U.S. officials, Ferreria said. U.S.-Canada FAST is run
jointly between the United States and Canada.
“It’s a different kind of program than the U.S.-Mexico program,” she said.
FAST
applications in 2008 for U.S.-Canada tallied 6,835 as of May 1,
Ferreria said, while U.S.-Mexico applications stood at 874.
LAWSUIT UPDATE: Allied/North American offer $1.25 million settlement
Friday, May 2, 2008 – After having negotiated an $8 million
settlement in the fall of 2007 with truckers in a lawsuit about
problems with their owner-operator leases, Allied Van Lines and North
American Van Lines filed for bankruptcy in February this year with $5
million still due to be paid.
However, the Owner-Operator
Independent Drivers Association had its legal team go to bat for the
truckers, and the companies have proposed paying $1.25 million of the
balance due. Under the original plan filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy
Court the carriers wanted the entire $5 million balance wiped clean.
Lawyers
from The Cullen Law Firm in Washington, DC, argued that it would be in
the best interests of the reorganized companies to ensure that their
owner-operators received as much compensation as possible.
The court must still approve the revised bankruptcy plan, and the timing of payments will be determined at a future date.
Originally
filed in May of 2004, the truckers’ case alleged that the carriers’
leases failed to comply with federal truth-in-leasing regulations
regarding compensation and chargeback disclosures. As part of the case
settlement, Allied and North American were also required to implement a
new uniform independent contractor operating agreement.
“CIG BOX” will help reduce the number of overall accidents
CIG BOX USA, LLC, St. Pete Beach, Florida manufactures a patented product that will increase safety on the road for TRUCKERS. The product is called “CIG BOX” (an automatic ‘’pop-up’’ cigarette lighting dispenser). “CIG BOX”
was designed exclusively for use in TRUCKS but can also be used in
other vehicles (Cars, RV’s, Pickups, Buses, SUV’s and Boats). “CIG BOX” can reduce the risk of accidents caused by distraction while lighting a cigarette.
Here is a brief explanation of how “CIG BOX”
works: After easily mounting the unit and plugging it in to any 12 volt
source, the driver of the vehicle places the contents of a pack of
cigarettes inside the “CIG BOX” drawer. When a
cigarette is desired, the driver or passenger simply presses on a
lever, a cigarette pops up vertically and the built in igniter lights
it. All this is done within 8 seconds and without fumbling with a
pocket lighter, matches or car cigarette lighter. Eyes are always on
the road resulting in safer driving.
A Study was done in Europe
which stated that 18% of all serious accidents involve drivers who are
in the process of lighting a cigarette the conventional way (vehicle
cigarette lighter, hand held lighter or matches) while the vehicle is
in motion. “CIG BOX” was tested by BMW in Europe (where “CIG BOX”
was initially sold). The study stated that a driver at 62 mph would not
be in full control of his/her vehicle for about 656 feet. However, both
the functionality and benefits of “CIG BOX” for road safety were confirmed meaning that a driver was much safer using “CIG BOX”.
Based on these tests, this product was awarded the European ‘’TUF’’
Certificate, for quality and a major increase in driver safety.
Use of “CIG BOX” assures greater safety while driving and lighting a cigarette.
• “CIG BOX” assures greater safety for drivers who do not smoke as those who do smoke will be less apt to cause and accident.
“CIG BOX”
will help reduce the number of overall accidents, thereby saving human
lives and millions of dollars in property damage caused by drivers
‘’lighting up’’.
“CIG BOX” is now being introduced to the U.S. market for the very first time. “CIG BOX”
is expected to be sold by Truck stops throughout the country in the
next few months. In the interim, anyone interested in purchasing a “CIGBOX” may send an e-mail by visiting the “CIG BOX USA, LLC” website. Allan Shapiro, Vice President, Sales stated that, “we do not encourage people to smoke but if they do, “CIG BOX” can minimize driving accidents.
CIG BOX USA, LLC P.O. Box 66551 St. Pete Beach, Fl 33736 Website: www.cigboxusa.com
A big drug bust on I-94 in Michigan could be bigger than first thought.
Federal agents are investigating after they uncovered nearly $2 million worth of cocaine Tuesday in Van Buren County.
"The
troopers who stopped it and the motor carrier officer — they were
excited, no doubt about it," said Sgt. Rich Dragomer of the Michigan
State Police.
Acting on information from another agency,
state police and federal agents pulled over a Canadian semi-truck and
another car along I-94.
They say they found 140 pounds of cocaine hidden in three duffel bags in the cab of the semi.
It's worth $1.8 million, but on the street police say it could go for even more.
Police say it's one of their largest busts on I-94, which they consider a major pipeline for drugs.
"That Detroit - Chicago connection is huge," commented Capt. Paul Toliver of the Berrien County Sheriff's Department.
Last
year on I-94 in Berrien County alone, police seized $230,000 worth of
marijuana in one car. They found $100,000 worth of cocaine in another
car.
On one traffic stop they found almost $146,000 in a hidden compartment.
On another stop police found more than $240,000 hidden.
"The
drugs will come into Chicago or Detroit and the money will flow the
opposite way," said Toliver. "So, we'll see what we call mules running
drugs in one direction and they'll run the money back."
The concern is it may stop along the way.
"Oh, it's a problem, yeah," Ted Johnson of Hartford told WSBT News.
And the latest bust is no surprise to many people who live near the busy highway.
"I think it's probably just the tip of the iceberg," said Johnson.
Police arrested the driver of the semi. He's in federal custody and his name has not yet been released.
As for handling this drug problem — police say they have officers who are trained in detecting drugs that work I-94.
The different agencies also work together.
In
Berrien County, the sheriff's department also has two new narcotic dogs
that are being trained right now. In about five weeks, police say
they'll be out helping in the fight to stop the drug traffickers.
But police also say they know they may only be scratching the surface of this problem.
Detour on I-40 through downtown Knoxville to last 14 months
Truckers who normally take Interstate 40 through downtown Knoxville,
TN, will be detoured onto I-640 and I-275 for the next 14 months.
Highway crews shut down a section of I-40 on Thursday, May 1.
The
closure and reconstruction of a 0.9-mile section of I-40 will include
widening the stretch to six lanes; adding four auxiliary lanes; and
building nine overpasses, new ramps and noise barriers.
The $275 million project is due to be complete by July 1 next year.
Longshoreman spark May Day shutdown at many West Coast ports
Several major U.S. ports along the West Coast were partially or fully
closed for business Thursday, May 1, as part of an organized protest.
The May Day shutdown closed terminals at California ports in San Diego,
Los Angeles, Long Beach, Oakland and San Francisco. Ports in Seattle
and Tacoma, WA, also closed. The shutdown had been planned by some
labor organizations for weeks, and most ports were warned about the
shut down.
News stories and labor organizations listed a host of reasons for the
port shutdown, ranging from the International Longshore & Warehouse
Union’s stance to end the war in Iraq to truck drivers’ frustrations
with ever-rising diesel prices and calls for transparency in fuel
surcharge agreements.
The Los Angeles Times noted that “all 29 ports” along the West Coast
were shut down, while the Oakland Tribune reported that some protesters
tried to stop trucks and convince them to shut down as well.
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