Truckers hauling high-dollar loads often find themselves targets for thieves looking to make a quick buck by robbing drivers of their possessions, freight and – in some tragic cases – their lives.

However, some thieves may think twice before approaching a truck if they know the driver might be armed.

This is why the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association sent out a national Call to Action on Tuesday, July 14, to its members, urging them to contact their senators to support an amendment that is being offered by Sen. John Thune, R-SD. Thune’s amendment would allow individuals who have concealed carry permits to carry a firearm in other states that also grant concealed carry permits.

Thune’s amendment was one of 35 that was added to the National Defense Authorization Act – or S1390 – which was being debated on the Senate floor on Tuesday.

In June, OOIDA President Jim Johnston sent a letter of support to Thune, who introduced S845, the “Respecting States Rights and Concealed Carry Reciprocity Act of 2009,” because of its potential benefit to truckers who are in harm’s way daily.

“Every day the nationwide shortage of safe and secure truck parking threatens the well being of Americans who make their living behind the wheel of commercial motor vehicles,” Johnston wrote. “Drivers who are forced to park in unsafe, unsecure areas are vulnerable to individuals seeking to do them harm, rob them of their possessions and steal the freight they are hauling.”

OOIDA Life Member Tim Begle of Dale, IN, who carries a gun with him when out on the road, said he agrees with Johnston’s statement that Thune’s amendment, if enacted, would go a long way toward helping truckers protect themselves.

“As drivers, we go into some pretty unsecure locations in some of the warehousing and industrial areas that aren’t great places for truckers to be in at night, but are great places for crooks waiting to prey on truckers,” Begle told Land Line on July 14. “I have spoken to many drivers who have even been robbed at truck stops.”

Just showing his weapon to potential thieves has saved him at least twice, Begle said.

“This is an important issue for drivers,” he said. “If a thief knows a driver may be armed, it might be a deterrent for the thief not to take any chances and mess with a driver or his truck.”

Multiple changes have been made to New Jersey law in an effort to make roadways throughout the state a little safer for all users. Gov. Jon Corzine recently signed into law three bills that put tough restrictions on the youngest drivers in the state. The changes take effect in spring 2010.

One new law cuts back the number of hours young drivers can be on the road and limits the number of passengers.

Previously S16, the new rule limits probationary licensed or permitted drivers under age 21 to one passenger, unless accompanied by an adult. Affected drivers also will have to be off the road from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Existing state law mandates that affected drivers park their vehicles by midnight.

New drivers without a full-privilege license also will be prohibited from using wireless devices – hands-free or not – while at the wheel.

Advocates said the changes are aimed at minimizing distractions by tightening regulations.

They cite a report issued last year by the New Jersey Teen Driver Study Commission that found the risk of crashes increases when teen drivers take on more passengers. Carrying three passengers can increase risk 207 percent, according to the report.

Another change to state law requires people with the graduated driver’s licenses to display special orange decals when they get behind the wheel to make it easier for law enforcement to spot young drivers. The mandate applies to any vehicle they drive.

Sen. Fred Madden, D-Camden, Gloucester, said that 40 percent of fatal teen car wrecks occur between 9 p.m. and 6 a.m.

“This new law will work to protect all drivers by reducing these numbers, while also making it easier for law enforcement officers to identify teen drivers,” Madden said in a written statement.

S2314 is intended to reinforce existing rules in the state regarding teen drivers. Violators of the decal requirement would face fines of $100.

One more change amends the state’s graduated driver’s licensing law.

Previously A3068, the new law requires teen drivers with a learner’s permit to log at least 50 hours of practice driving – including 10 hours of night driving. The practice driving must be certified by a parent, guardian or supervising driver. A six-hour driving course also is mandated.

Drivers age 17 to 20 who obtain an examination permit will be given the option to complete the learner’s permit certification requirements or complete 100 hours of certified driving, including 20 hours of night driving.

Drivers under 21 who have been issued learner’s or examination permits will be required to hold those permits for one year before being eligible for provisional licenses.

To view other legislative activities of interest for New Jersey in 2009, click here.

A proposed rule that would ban truckers from seven key routes in upstate New York has made its way to the governor’s office for review.

For more than a year now, the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association and its New York members have been fighting against the New York State Department of Transportation’s plan to restrict trucks from certain state routes in the Finger Lakes region.

On Friday, July 10, OOIDA sent out a Call to Action to its New York members urging them to contact Gov. David Paterson about how this could prove disastrous for small-business truckers.

OOIDA Legislative Affairs Director Mike Joyce said the timing of this “couldn’t come at a worse time” for truckers who are just trying to survive during these challenging economic times.

The NYSDOT estimates its plan could cost truckers an additional $10 million per year in additional fuel, toll and operating costs if truckers are forced off these secondary roads and on to the New York State Thruway.

While the original intent was geared toward restricting trash truck traffic on these particular routes in the Finger Lakes region, the ban would apply to all heavy trucks that use these roads.

This ban would prove detrimental to all trucking operations in the state. That is why Kendra Adams, the New York State Motor Truck Association executive director, is urging its members to speak out as well.

“(We) are prepared to do what is necessary to prevent the rule from being enacted,” she told Land Line on Thursday, July 9.

If Paterson signs off on the proposed rule, it would be published on the New York State’s Register, which would then trigger a 45-day public comment period.

“Given this economic climate, this is extra money our members just don’t have right now,” Joyce said.

“There is no question that this has been a difficult year for the transportation and logistics industries, which makes this award that much more meaningful,” said John Hill, executive vice president of sales for Pilot. “Pilot has continued to work with our partners and customers to ensure that we maintain the same standards regardless of changes in the environment we work in, and we are extremely gratified to be recognized by Ryder for our hard work.”

The Ryder awards recognize excellence through a variety of metrics, including on-time performance, claims handling, customer service, technology applications, economic value and innovation. Ryder places more than $4 billion of its customers' freight on selected carriers in all modes of transportation.

ABOUT PILOT FREIGHT SERVICES

Pilot Freight Services, Inc. is a full-service transportation and logistics provider with over 75 locations throughout North America. Pilot is also a founding member of the World Freight Alliance (WFA), operating in more than 190 countries worldwide. The company’s freight forwarding services encompasses every mode of transportation, including air, ground, and ocean, serving all corners of the globe. Pilot’s logistics programs offer a complete line of expedited and time-definite services, international shipping solutions, product warehousing, and inventory management. In addition, Pilot’s online shipment navigator, CoPilot, provides customers all of the necessary tools to make online shipping fast, convenient, and secure. Learn more about Pilot Freight Services at www.PilotDelivers.com.

DALLAS, TEXAS:  Affiliated Computer Services, Inc. (NYSE: ACS) now offers the largest truck stop scanning network in the country with more than 525 locations.

A new five-year agreement with Flying J Communications for the placement and positioning of TripPak Truck Stop SCANNING services at all participating Flying J locations moves ACS Expedited Solutions to the top of the list. The contract adds 150 new locations to ACS Expedited Solutions' current 383 locations.

"Securing this partnership with Flying J supports our mission of becoming the best and largest provider of truck stop scanning services in the country," said Kelley Walkup, division vice president and general manager for ACS Expedited Solutions.  "Once again, we're proving our commitment to creating a better bottom line for drivers and carriers."

"Flying J is listed among the top 20 private companies in America and is the operator of the pre-eminent chain of quality travel plazas throughout both the USA and Canada," said Gary Barlow, CFO of Flying J Communications. "We are honored to select TripPak Truck Stop SCANNING as our partner to provide the broadest driver access to our innovative new Scan & Go Xpress product which will soon be available at the fuel desk of all participating Flying J Travel Plazas."

The Scan & Go Xpress scanning station offers an automatic document feeder for quicker scanning and an easy to use touch screen. Full-service scanning is also available by Flying J fuel desk attendants.

ACS, the recognized leader in business process improvement and IT solutions in the truckload market segment, is the leader in providing truck stop scanning and document delivery services through TripPak Truck Stop SCANNING and TripPak EXPRESS.

"Providing Flying J with TripPak Truck Stop SCANNING makes us the undisputed leader by providing the largest truck stop scanning network available to drivers and carriers." said Walkup. 

TripPak Truck Stop SCANNING is the 100 percent imaging solution for outsourced scanning.  Through the Capture AnyWare approach, carriers can utilize one, all, or a combination of the following submission methods for receipt of their mission critical documents: TripPak EXPRESSÒ delivery, terminal scanning, fax, email, in-cab, or full service truck stop scanning.  With the scanning options offered by ACS, companies can have delivery of trip documents within minutes.

ACS touches millions of people's lives every day. Each year, ACS makes moving people and products around the world easier by processing approximately 260 million travel transactions for 12 major passenger airlines; by utilizing the largest truck stop scanning network in the country ACS helps more than 900 trucking companies make deliveries, including 8 of the top 10 carriers representing more than 13 million truckloads annually; and processing two million documents every day for a worldwide shipping and logistics leader. Whether it's helping consumers make airline reservations, purchase hotel and vacation packages or assisting companies in managing their accounts, providing customer support or streamlining planning and scheduling, ACS keeps the world moving.

About ACS

ACS, a global FORTUNE 500 company with approximately 70,000 people supporting client operations reaching more than 100 countries, provides business process and information technology solutions to world-class commercial and government clients. The company's Class A common stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "ACS." Learn more about ACS at www.acs-inc.com/.

Source: Layover.com

Before the economic “tsunami,” as OOIDA member Russ Iund refers to the recession that has crippled his business, he was living the American dream.

Iund’s small flatbed trucking company in Chehalis, WA, was doing well. Work was plentiful, and over the years he had managed to build up his fleet to 12 trucks – with all but one paid for.

But then diesel hit nearly $5 per gallon in July 2008 and his fuel bills were running him nearly $10,000 a day to keep all of his trucks moving, even with the 175-gallon-per-day fueling limit he had to impose on his drivers. Unable to keep up with the $50,000-per-week fuel bills for long, he was forced to lay off some of his drivers.

A year later, Iund said while he has seen a “spark” in the past few weeks that business is coming back, it may be too late to save his small trucking company. That’s because the renewal license fees are due on his fleet, which is down to five trucks, and he doesn’t have the money to pay the approximately $12,500 that he owes to keep them going.

Read more

The Arizona Legislature has forwarded to the governor a lengthy transportation bill that includes several provisions of interest to truckers. Among the most notable provisions is an attempt to bring toll roads to the state.

Cities and towns throughout the state would have the authority to build, operate and finance the construction of toll roads.

The provision was tacked onto the transportation bill that received final approval in the Senate on a 19-8 vote. House lawmakers previously approved it by a vote of 40-19. The passage cleared the way for the bill – SB1320 – to move to Gov. Jan Brewer’s desk.

Advocates for the new tolling authority say collecting fees would relieve some of the burden on taxpayers. Others insist they aren’t pushing specific toll projects. They simply want to expand the options available to the state to get work done.

Truck driver and OOIDA member David Goss of New River, AZ, isn’t opposed to toll roads but he is concerned about the state abusing eminent domain laws to take land for projects.

“I don’t have a problem with toll roads used by local people. If they want to make a toll road, that’s fine – as long as it’s not on the interstate and affecting interstate commerce,” Goss told Land Line. “I do have an objection with toll roads being built where they use eminent domain to seize the property.”

Also included in the bill are provisions that directly address trucking. Courts would be required to send records of photo radar traffic tickets to the Arizona Department of Transportation for commercial driver’s license holders.

Another provision would allow courts to require CDL holders to attend defensive driving school as part of a sentence for a moving violation.

Goss said he thinks all truckers would benefit from regular defensive driving courses.

“There can’t be enough education for truck drivers out here. Just like pilots. They are always in training. They have (multimillion dollar) aircraft where we have a $100,000 truck. We still are moving large vehicles with property,” he said.

Other changes to Arizona law seek to get tough with those in the trucking industry who don’t heed their out-of-service orders. First-time offenders would see the length of time they are prohibited from driving double from 90 to 180 days. Repeat offenses within 10 years would result in two years off the road. Currently, violators are prohibited from driving for one year.

For motor carriers who violate an out-of-service order or permit a driver to violate an OOS order, the maximum penalty would jump from $11,000 to $25,000.

Supporters say adoption of the OOS penalties would preserve some of Arizona’s federal highway funding.

To view other legislative activities of interest for Arizona in 2009, click here.

– By Keith Goble, state legislative editor

If you fail a drug test, when it comes time for your retest, you will be watched.

The Department of Transportation enacted new regulations in 2008 that mandated the “observed collection” of urine samples collected in return to duty tests, follow-up tests or when tampering with the sample was suspected. The regulation was to go into full effect Nov. 1.

BNSF Railway Co. and nine other groups sued the Department of Transportation over the new drug testing policy. The cases were consolidated, and the groups filed a motion for emergency stay pending review to stop enforcement of the new regulations. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit granted the motion Oct. 31, 2008.

On July 1, the court ruled against BNSF and the other groups and lifted the stay. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will issue a Final Rule providing a start date for the mandatory direct observation for all follow-up and return-to-duty tests.

Tom Fidger said he’s facing an impossible Catch-22 situation.

The OOIDA member from Littlerock, CA, has received his final code enforcement letter and has until Thursday, July 9, to comply or pay a hefty fine and risk further action from the Los Angeles County Department of Regional Planning. To avoid the fine, he must move his rig to an area the county deems a “compatible land use.”

While LA County zoning code doesn’t specifically say Fidger can’t have a commercial vehicle parked on his property, it also doesn’t say he can either. Instead, it’s up to code enforcement officials to “interpret” which home-based businesses are allowed or not allowed to park on their own property.

However, Fidger said either decision will financially devastate him at this point. A lengthy battle with code enforcement will prove to be costly, but so is risking that his truck and equipment may be vandalized or stolen if he parks it elsewhere. That is a  real fear for Fidger since this happened to him when he tried to park elsewhere in Littlerock in the past.

“I used to park my truck in a gated lot, and thieves just jumped over the fence and took what they wanted off my truck and trailer,” Fidger told Land Line. “My insurance threatened to cancel me if I submitted any more claims if I continued parking there. So I brought my truck back to my property and now I have code enforcement after me. I can’t win.”

OOIDA Regulatory Affairs Specialist Joe Rajkovacz, a former trucker who hauled produce for more than 29 years before joining the Association full-time in 2006, said he’s very familiar with the dilemma Fidger is facing.

Rajkovacz’ trailer was tagged in 1997 while parked on a surface street on Avenue U in Littlerock.

“I was parked under a street light, and my equipment was attacked,” he told Land Line.

LA County’s John Calas, who is the deputy director of the Land Use Regulation Division, told Land Line that he will check into possible locations where truckers can potentially store their trucks in Littlerock. However, even that gets complicated.

“We have to have somebody run a report for the community and find the number of parcels that may permit the storage of trucks, subject to standards of development,” Calas said. “You just can’t put a truck on a vacant property. There are standards of development when you have storage.”

In December, Rajkovacz attended a meeting of the Antelope Valley Truckers’ Organization, or AVTO, which includes some OOIDA members and other concerned residents who are working to develop a revised Community Development Standard that would allow them to continue parking their trucks on their property.

If truckers like Fidger are forced to move their trucks elsewhere, Rajkovacz said they will have a hard time complying with code enforcement.

“There are no industrial areas in Littlerock. It’s a rural area,” he said.

Fidger, who sits on the Littlerock Town Council and serves as the council’s liaison for code enforcement to LA County, said it’s ironic that he’s the one in the hot seat with code enforcement because the whole reason he decided to run was to help revise the community’s CSD for truck parking.

“I am a tax-paying citizen who has lived here peacefully in the high desert for more than 20 years,” Fidger said. “I pay my taxes; I filed my tax return ahead of the deadline and was given an IOU. It seems the state and LA County only want to take, take, take, but don’t want to give anything in return.”

Rajkovacz said the county seems to be using selective enforcement when deciding which businesses are in compliance and which ones are not.

“The code is silent on the issue so how can truckers be cited for something that isn’t in the code?” he said. “It seems these truckers have been targeted because they are just that – truckers. The county should view them as citizens who should be extended the same rights and privileges that are supposed to be accorded to all citizens.”

Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law Monday, July 13, a $31 billion capital bill that routes two-thirds of the money to transportation projects.

The state’s first construction spending plan in more than a decade is expected to create thousands of jobs and to help rebuild the state’s crumbling infrastructure. The work will be paid for through new and higher taxes and fees and a vast expansion of legalized gambling.

Quinn said the massive funding bill will allow the state to keep up with demand for new or rebuilt highways, bridges, schools and public transportation systems. He also said it will create and retain more than 439,000 jobs during the next six years.

The bill allots $14.3 billion for roads and bridges through 2015, while another $7 billion is pegged for other transportation projects such as high-speed rail and Chicago-area transit. Education is slated to receive $5.1 billion.

Of the amount dedicated to roads and bridges, nearly $10 billion will be used for repairs while $4 billion will be spent on new construction. Local projects – work done by county road departments and other agencies – will get $500 million.

Illinois will use bonds to pay for the public works program. In effect, the state will borrow money and repay it over the next two or three decades. Revenue to repay the debt will be created by charging more for licenses and registrations. The tax on alcohol also is increasing. And sales tax will be applied on more items, including sweetened tea.

In addition, it will be easier to gamble throughout the state. Video poker machines now can be added in taverns, restaurants and truck stops. Also, betting will be permitted over the Internet on the state lottery.

Critics of this initiative are upset the state is using video gambling to lure more citizens to lose money during a time of high unemployment. Supporters say that towns and cities can choose to keep video gambling illegal in their jurisdictions.

To view other legislative activities of interest for Illinois in 2009, click here.

– By Keith Goble, state legislative editor

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. and OGDEN, Utah — Pilot Travel Centers and Flying J today will announce an agreement to merge the two companies’ travel centers into a single operation.

A spokesperson for Flying J confirmed the announcement was scheduled for today.

The Trucker first learned of the pending agreement late Monday.

A spokesperson for Pilot would neither confirm nor deny the merger.

Other Flying J entities are not involved, sources have told The Trucker.

The merger would seemingly free up cash that could be used to help Flying J in its effort to reorganize certain aspects of its company under Chapter 11 of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code.

Flying J announced in December that Flying J Inc. and its Big West refining and Longhorn Pipeline subsidiaries filed voluntary petitions to reorganize under Chapter 11.

The scope of the filing is limited to those operations only, Flying J officials said, noting that the filing did not apply to other business units or affiliates, or the company's Canadian operations, including truck stop locations.

Last month, Flying J announced it was closing restaurants at seven of its locations in the U.S. in a cost cutting move.

“The reality of our country’s struggling economy requires those entrusted with the immediate and long term welfare of our company to prudently evaluate measures that will best sustain us through challenging times,” Virginia Parker, director of marketing, said at the time the closings were announced. “Like any successful business, we regularly review the long-term potential of each property and evaluate the performance required for each location to continue operating.”

Parker said after careful evaluation, Flying J recently made the decision to close the following restaurant locations: Commerce, Ga; Bessemer, Ala., Lubbock, Texas; Cokeville, Wyo., Evanston, Wyo.; Payson, Utah, and Casper, Wyo.

She said the Flying J stores at those locations would continue to provide hot and cold deli items.

Whether those seven restaurants remain open under Pilot management is not known.

Pilot traditionally has not operated full-service restaurants at its locations, preferring to lease space to established food vendors such as Wendy's, Subway, and Arby's among many others.

However, published reports have indicated that some of the Pilot locations that are being remodeled will feature a Denny's restaurant.

Also not known until the formal announcement is made is the status of Comdata at Flying J locations.

Flying J presently does not accept Comdata cards

Source: The Trucker

In Ohio to drop a load of food, Bradley Butler paused to take a phone call from home.

On the other end, Butler’s wife told him police were saying a serial killer had killed at least two people in the family’s hometown of Gaffney, SC, and police were asking residents to lock their doors.

Victims included a peach farmer and two teachers. Two of the slayings occurred only a couple of miles from the Butler family’s front door.

The news worried Butler, particularly because the OOIDA member wouldn’t make it home for another four days.

“They were locking doors, and she didn’t do any outside work,” Butler said Thursday.

From June 27 until he was shot and killed on July 6, Patrick Tracy Burris allegedly killed five people in Gaffney and terrorized the community before being shot and killed on Monday, July 6. As investigators grapple with motive, and reporters ask authorities why Burris wasn’t incarcerated, trucking families recounted a tense, emotional 10 days spent mostly away from their families.

On June 27, Kline Cash, 63, was killed. On July 1, Hazel Linder and her daughter, Gena Linder Parker, 50, were bound and shot in Linder’s home. That crime scene is about two miles from the Butler residence.

Butler’s wife was a classmate of Parker’s.

“It was all very tragic,” Butler said quietly.

Butler, a former Gaffney police sergeant and shift supervisor, called former co-workers at the station for insight as investigators grappled to find the killer.

Their information wasn’t encouraging.

“They basically didn’t have anything to go on,” Butler said. “They had a description and a sketch of a suspect, but that was basically it. No name, motive or any idea of where he was living at the time.

Butler’s college-age son and daughter stayed around the house, mostly inside, during the manhunt. When Butler had to leave town again after two days at home, he said he was more at ease knowing they were staying with his wife.

“I felt fairly secure,” Butler said. “We have, of course, several guns in the house.”

OOIDA member John Martin also learned about the killings from relatives.

With two grown children and seven grandchildren in Gaffney, Martin said he worried the entire first week after the first murder. Martin was making his regular run between Tennessee and Florida during that week, and didn’t go home until the July 4 weekend.

His mother moved in with relatives, and Martin got reports about each subsequent killing in phone calls from her and other family members.

“My biggest worry was for my family,” said Martin, who’s lived in Gaffney all his life.

Driving around town after coming home, Martin said Gaffney had an eerie, ghost-town feel. Parks were mostly empty, doors were locked, and some fireworks shows for Independence Day were canceled.

“Everyone was just real nervous,” Martin said. “Everybody was keeping their doors shut. You wouldn’t have wanted to be a door-to-door salesman; I’ll say that.”

Since Monday, when Gaffney residents and the world learned police shot and killed Patrick Tracy Burris, Martin said people have begun working their way back to normal.

A previous strangler in the area was famous in the 1960s, but Martin said the recent killings were particularly chilling because they happened in broad daylight, including some very public locations. Stephen Tyler and his daughter Abby, 15, were shot and killed in their family’s furniture store just blocks from county sheriff’s offices on July 2.

Several media reports, including The Associated Press say Burris had a long rap sheet and apparently abused drugs before going on the rampage. Some law enforcement officials were blaming the judicial system for not incarcerating him sooner for parole violations.

“I’m just glad it’s over with,” Martin said. “I hate it for (Burris’) family that he had to be killed – but this needed to come to an end for everybody else.”

"One of the big issues with sustainability initiatives is cost, but the Postal Service was able to complete this green project and remain cost-neutral," says Philip Carter, a professor of supply chain management at the W. P. Carey School and executive director of CAPS Research, which recently documented the USPS project in its report, "The Greening of Expedited Packaging: A U.S. Postal Service and Supplier Collaboration."

"There are a lot of good lessons in this example," Carter says. "Private companies can learn that cost reduction is not the only way to achieve good results. It is better to be cost neutral than to do nothing, which is what many companies do when it comes to environmental projects, because they don't see the benefit."

The USPS, however, clearly understands the benefits, and is committed to sustainability. Its drive to become a more green organization stems from both an internal desire to be a responsible corporate citizen, and a sensitivity to the consumer perception that unwanted mail piles up in landfills and contributes to environmental problems, explains Susan Brownell, USPS vice president of supply management. In fact, the EPA estimates that mail makes up less than two percent of waste in landfills, she notes.

Among other things, the Postal Service's green redesign of expedited packaging was an important signal to consumers -- and the marketplace -- that it was embracing green principles. "We were trying, from a broader corporate view, to use the packaging changes to change the image of the Postal Service and show customers that we were committed to sustainability; that we were walking the walk and not just talking the talk," says Brownell.

Read more

Even with federal stimulus spending that put shovels in the ground on new infrastructure projects, analysts predict an overall decline of 4.3 percent on infrastructure in 2009.

Analysts from IHS Global Insight stated in a report that they expect a 5.5 percent decline in highway spending despite a $48 billion infusion to the U.S. Department of Transportation from the stimulus package passed by Congress earlier this year. The U.S. DOT had, at last tally, allocated $16 billion of its stimulus money to specific highway projects in need of funding.

“This sector is not expected to see positive year-over-year growth until 2010,” the authors of the report wrote. IHS Global Insight provides market analysis for freight, transportation, power, real estate, agriculture and other sectors.

State budget shortfalls continue to plague the market for infrastructure construction, according to IHS Global Insight’s construction division.

Analysts predict a further decline of 1.6 percent for infrastructure in 2010 followed by an anticipated 2.4 percent growth in 2011. The bounce-back will occur “as tax receipts improve for state governments, and the federal stimulus package, totaling approximately $120 billion for infrastructure, is fully implemented,” the authors of the report wrote.

Stimulus money is being used for more than just roads, with improvements coming for power grids, water systems, waste disposal and oil refineries and pipelines.

“With the exception of power, all infrastructure sub-sectors are expected to drop in 2009,” IHS Global Insight wrote.

Other forms of transportation construction, including high-speed rail and port renovations, will contract by 10.2 percent, the analysts wrote, with modest gains expected in 2011.

Click here to read the full report.

The 30th Annual Walcott Truckers’ Jamboree in Walcott, IA, begins Thursday, July 9, and continues through Friday, July 10.

The first Jamboree was held as a ‘thank you’ from Bill Moon to his Iowa 80 truck stop customers. It attracted a few hundred drivers then, but recent attendance has reached 30,000.

Country singer, songwriter Aaron Tippin will perform at the show, which is also a celebration of Iowa 80’s 45th anniversary. Tippin is a former truck driver and a Life Member of OOIDA.

Other happenings include an 8-foot long truck cake big enough to feed 2,000 people, antique trucks, a pork chop cookout, fireworks and a pet contest.

For complete details, click here.

Uncle Sam may be paying to protect one of the defense contractors that provided services – including trucking – in Iraq.

KBR is battling three lawsuits stemming from an attack on a truck convoy in April 2004 in which six truck drivers died, 15 were injured, and one remains missing and presumed dead. The plaintiffs claim KBR did not take appropriate measures to protect the truck drivers.

An attorney for KBR told the Houston Chronicle that if the cases go to trial, KBR could ask the government to accept responsibility for the legal fees under its contract.

The idea isn’t sitting well with the plaintiffs’ attorneys. One claims that asking the government to foot the bill for defense or any judgments essentially is passing the buck on responsibility.

Courtesy of LandLine Magazine

Oregon moved closer to implementing California-style idling and retrofit rules in mid-June. Immediate plans for such rules have been put off, but eventually, the bill is likely to have several sweeping effects on truckers in Oregon.

The Oregon House of Representatives approved House Bill 2186 on June 25, just one day after the state Senate narrowly approved the measure 16-14.

During the debate over the bill, OOIDA asked its membership to contact Oregon and discuss the drastic influence the proposed bill would have on U.S. truckers driving in that state and what impact it might have on out-of-state truckers.

OOIDA Executive Vice-President Todd Spencer described bill as it was first proposed as “overkill” and said the “timing couldn’t have been worse.”

The final version of the bill directs the state’s Department of Environmental Quality to study medium-duty and heavy-duty trucks before reporting back to the legislature by October 2010. Regulators would examine potential “maintenance and retrofitting” of medium- and heavy-duty trucks to reduce aerodynamic drag and “otherwise reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”

The bill also directs environmental regulators to look at restrictions on engine use by parked commercial vehicles, hinting at idling restrictions. The bill also sets in motion a plan to require a low-carbon fuel standard for fuel and diesel in the state.

One trucking lobbyist says due to several late changes in the bill, it’s not as bad as it could have been. Bob Russell, president of Oregon Trucking Associations, said both idling and retrofits would have to be approved by the next legislature. Previous versions of the bill would have mandated idling and retrofit rules to be implemented sooner.

“It is a very broad delegation of authority to the DEQ,” Russell told Land Line. “They’re starting down that path.”

The bill, however, will have no immediate cost for trucking, Russell said, which he termed “a pretty significant victory.”

“There was a great deal of concern about this bill,” Russell said. “I had several legislators tell me they were concerned about it. They would refer to it as a bad bill, but because of politics they had to vote for it. There was a lot of pressure from environmental groups and, quite frankly, a huge amount of pressure from the governor.”

Oregon also will study what Washington and other left-coast states are doing with regard to the low-carbon fuel standard, Russell said.

Oregon’s legislature meets biannually, and won’t hold another legislative session until 2011, when Russell said idling and retrofits may well be taken up again.

“With so many states doing idling restrictions, it’s getting harder and harder to hold them off,” Russell said.