Posts Tagged ‘freight’

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Heavy Haul Volvo Engine Reaches Milestone

Tuesday, July 20th, 2010

Heavy haul freight trucking professionals that implement a long haul transport with a Volvo 500 horsepower D13 engine during freight shipping duties will be glad to hear that Volvo Group recently reached an engine manufacturing milestone. Volvo Group announced the production of its 300,000th 13-litre heavy duty 500 horsepower D13 engine, at the Volvo Powertrain plant in Hagerstown, Md. Volvo Group was having a bit of a party in Hagerstown to celebrate the milestone in heavy-duty engine manufacture for Volvo Group and freight shipping professionals were on hand to help celebrate the moment. This news is a true historic moment for Volvo Group, especially when combined with the recent news that Volvo Trucks North America also recently announced that Class 8 trucks equipped with EPA 2010 certified Volvo Group engines has passed the 10,000 unit mark, and hopefully in a few years time were talking about at new manufacturing milestone for Volvo Trucks North America.

Volvo Trucks North America has been executing their EPA 2010 project, lately, and it appears that they are having some success in this regard. Sources around the roro and ltl freight shipping industry indicates that drivers are providing positive feedback on the performance, reliability and fuel efficiency of Volvo D11, D13, and D16 engines, which are the engines Volvo Trucks North America uses in its Class 8 trucks. More great news for Volvo Trucks North America as it goes forward down the road to the future and hopefully just a sign of great things to come for Volvo Group and the business of freight shipping in the United States of America. Volvo Trucks North America will only be using this milestone as a milemarker on the road before them though and they certainly will be looking to use this news to create a good feeling around the office and try to vault them to greater truck manufacturing heights in the days ahead in the century of the environment in America.

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Heavy Haul Pharmaceutical Loads Targeted?

Tuesday, July 13th, 2010

Heavy haul services carrying pharmaceutical freight has been the flavour in favor with thieves targeting long haul trucking in a recent string of a least 10 freight shipping thefts that has state police forces on alert for possible thieves. The theft of about $75 million in pharmaceutical freight occurred one Sunday morning in 2006 when thieves apparently rappelled from the ceiling of an Eli Lily warehouse in Enfield, Connecticut, disabled the security system in place to prevent thefts, and then took the time to fill a tractor trailer with pallets of antidepressants and other prescription drugs estimated to be worth at least $70 million, according to sources around the freight trucking industry of the United States of America. Sources also indicate that the thieves didn’t take the time to disable the video surveillance system, so police apparently have some video tape evidence that they can review to help them find the culprits.

The scope of the depth of planning that went into this caper in Enfield that this wasn’t a random crime and the culprits took the time to organize this well orchestrated crime. This speaks of individuals who are professional and determined and it might be difficult to retrieve the stolen pharmaceuticals, since the thieves managed to get away. The next time a patient sees these pharmaceuticals they might be in the hands of black marketeers or possible online pharmacies, since getting rid of pharmaceuticals through the tightly controlled and monitored American pharmaceutical distribution system is going to be difficult, according to sources in the police forces of the United States tasked with finding these stolen drugs. Hopefully, the thieves make somekind of mistake in the days ahead that leads police to them, otherwise it could be the stolen pharmeceuticals in question are gone and never to be seen again?

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Reduce the Carbon Wheel-Print of Freight Trucking

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

Long haul professionals, including the freight forwarder and the agent providing customers with a great freight quote, will be glad to hear that another page was turned in the freight trucking industries journey down the road to reducing the carbon wheel-print of the roro and ltl freight trucking industry in the century of the environment. The latest page deals with Detroit Diesel’s Engine Manufacturing Center in Redford, Michigan, which has been recently recognized by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as one of the first manufacturing facilities in American to meet the ENERGY STAR Challenge for Industry.

In fact, Detroit Diesel’s Engine Manufacturing Center was able to go beyond the expectations of the Environmental Protection Agency’s 10 percent reduction within five years or less, by decreasing the center’s energy use by 17 percent in one calendar year. At the same time, Detroit Diesel was being recognized for Outstanding Achievement during the DTE Energy and the Engineering Society of Detroit’s Energy Conference and Exhibit, for the Industrial Sustainability Energy Program of the Year award, which recognizes the Michigan-based industrial firm that has made the most contributions in the area of energy conservation.

This is great news for the freight shipping heavy haul industry of the United States and is definitely a road marker on the highway before the trucking industry that indicates the battle to reduce the carbon wheel-print of thefreight trucking industry is building momentum. All sectors of the freight transport industry of the United States and the world are beginning to weigh-in on the battle and things are really starting to get rolling in the carbon emissions reduction arena.

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Freight Load of Pharmaceuticals Recovered

Monday, July 5th, 2010

Heavy haul professionals will be glad to hear that a full truckload of pharmaceutical products stolen from a truck stop along the I-81 at 9 p.m. in Glade Springs, Virginia were recovered by the security provider for the load FreightWatch International on the I-81 in Tennessee on June 25. Apparently, the truck and load was stolen while the two man team driving the long haul rig in question were having dinner in a restaurant close by, while the thieves were busy stealing their truck and its freight load of valuable pharmaceutical products. The drivers must have been surprised to find their freight shipping vehicle missing when they came back from dinner, but apparently they had little to worry about as the truck was apparently quickly recovered.

Sources indicate that the truckload of pharmaceuticals had a tracking device embedded in the load that allowed FreightWatch to track and pinpoint the location of the load and truck. All FreightWatch had to do was contact the local police, who found the truck and its load waiting at a truck stop along the I-81 in Tennessee. FreightWatch indicated that the company had helped recover tens of millions of dollars in stolen pharmaceutical freight over the past few years. That tracking devices like the one used in this instance were only part of their layered security solutions their customers implement in order to prevent theft of pharmaceutical freight and recover it once stolen.

This is great news for the drivers and trucking company they work for, but it’s particularly important for people that might unknowingly end up using these pharmaceuticals once stolen. Hopefully, the investigation leads to an arrest and they find the individuals responsible for the theft, before they strike again. The next time they might find the tracking device and remove it from the freight load or find away to shield it from detectors, which is always possible once they know the tracking devices are being used.

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Heavy Haul Job of Massive Proportions

Thursday, July 1st, 2010

Plans of Exxon Mobil Corp. to transport massive pieces of freight starting this fall from the Port of Lewiston is being looked at suspiciously by American citizens concerned about a possible environmental disaster if one of the massive pieces of heavy haul freight should happen to end up in the Clearwater or Lochsa rivers. The Idaho Transportation Department has stated that it’s their job to issue permits for long haul loads of large size, such as the ones in question, as long as the loads in question can be transported without damaging roads or bridges along the proposed transport route. They want to have freight shipping services take the freight loads along US 12 through the Lochsa River canyon, over the Lolo Pass and then through northwestern Montana, before finally reaching the Kearl Oil Sands in northeastern Alberta.

This is a trip that would make any trucking company proud to complete as this job entails hauling 200 oversized loads of Korean-made freight along transport routes that travel across rough terrain in many areas, according to sources. Sources surrounding this affair also indicate that the largest load would weigh in the neighbourhood of about 580,000 pounds and be up to 210 feet in length, which is going to be a massive transport job for any firm. These shipments would in fact exceed legal weight limits for the Idaho stretch of the transport as a typical tractor-trailer is around 90 feet in length and weighs about 80,000 pounds. This fact is certainly one that’s going to catch the eye of observers looking on and this is certainly the case as a few concerned politicians have also been heard recently commenting on the proposed transport of these massive pieces of freight.

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Long Haul Drivers Concerned!

Monday, June 28th, 2010

There’s a growing concern in the American long haul industry about proposed changes to the allowable driving time of heavy haul drivers from 11 to 8 hours and the elimination of the 34-hour restart rule. The original changes were suggested by the Truck Safety Coalition, Public Citizen and Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety in a public comments document previously filed. The growing concern is over the possible economic impact this could have on the freight trucking industry in the United States.

Recent economic impact data originally developed back in 2003 and then reassessed in 2005, seems to indicate that the changes could cost the freight shipping industry as much as $3.1 billion annually, according to sources. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration had originally tried to rewrite the so-called 2003 rule a few years ago, but were subsequently stopped by a federal court ruling that suggested the FMCSA had failed to take into consideration the economic impact of the changes on the health of truckers.

The group that went to court to stop the FMCSA from making the changes were apparently hoping the court ruling would result in the driving time being reduced from 11 to 10 hours and the 34-hour restart rule eliminated. The FMCSA surprised them by keeping the 11 hour driving time and 34-hour restart rule, but changing the sleeper berth provisions to require longer rest periods.

This is great news for long haul professionals and it should save the freight trucking industry of the United States around $2 billion annually. It’s good to see the FMCSA following the directions they were given when developing new HOV rules that could have a significant econonic impact on the freight shipping industry. They also have to weigh all public comments, while looking at the costs involved when deciding to make rule changes and they have done a pretty good on this, so far.

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Trucking Industry Fights Cancer

Thursday, June 24th, 2010

Heavy haul professionals from the freight shipping industry were well represented at the CancerCare Manitoba Challenge for Life 20K Walk recently held in Winnipeg, Manitoba on June 12. This year trucking company professionals pulled out all the stops in order to fight cancer and proudly collected the most during the days walk, raising a total of $93,223 for the battle to defeat cancer. This was in addition to the long haul professionals that showed up for the Canadian Cancer Society 12-Hour Relay for Life on June 4, which included a freight forwarder or two, according to the latest reports. The money that was raised from this walk was also added to the total raised for the CancerCare Manitoba Challenge for Life 20K Walk and the desire to finally find a cure for cancer.

Cancer is a disease that most of us have had some experience with, either personally or through someone we know or love being effected by this disease. The freight trucking industry is no different and it’s good to see trucking professionals coming together with other concerned individuals around the world to raise money to combat cancer. Unfortunately, the freight quote that cancer gives those afflicted is a price that ends up costing too many humans the ultimate price, but hopefully the money raised in this walk helps find a solution that in years ahead will save lives.

The trucking industry has always had a big and caring heart for those that are suffering and this is just another example of humans in the business of transporting freight reaching out to others in the world to help out when they can. Together we can and will find a cure for cancer and raising the money we need to do the research is just part of the bigger picture.

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Domestic Freight Shipping of Oil

Tuesday, June 22nd, 2010

There are freight shipping professionals that think there could be some fallout from the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon falling on the offshore oil transport industry in the days ahead in the century of the environment. The consequences of the sinking of the Transocean rig Deepwater Horizon for the offshore oil freight industry have yet to be assessed. Domestic freight carriers of oil can certainly expect the fallout from the oil and debris floating in the Gulf of Mexico. Fallout that could include increased operating costs after the nation’s most significant offshore environmental accident in decades. Higher costs that could result from increased safety regulations for freight shipping professionals in the business of transporting domestic oil to destination in the United States to cover increases in safety training, additonal safety equipment and higher insurance premiums that could result for domestic transporters of oil.

The oil sector analysts at Jefferies & Co in Houston took a look at the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon this week? What did the oil sector experts at this United States investment bank conclude? The analysts pointed to the recent criticism of the domestic oil freight shipping industry in America and the future possibility that the Deepwater Horizon disaster could have definite financial consequences for the business of transporting domestic oil in the United States. They did point out that at the moment any firm consequences for the industry are difficult to determine, but that higher costs are certainly part of the equation as the domestic oil shipping industry travels further into the century of the environment.

The consequences of the Deepwater Horizon sinking could be significant for domestic freight carriers of oil that were planning on doing more business in Florida’s offshore oil market in the years ahead. Florida Governor Charlie Crist’s previous stance on offshore drilling in Florida appears to have changed course after the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon? This week he pubicly withdrew all support for offshore drilling of domestic oil in Floria, after reportedly flying over the devastation in the Gulf of Mexico that according to sources covers at least 1,800 square miles, at present.

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New RoRo Rail Loading Ramp in Port of Everett

Monday, June 21st, 2010

Heavy haul trucking professionals will be rolling roro freight onto the rail cars using a new 70-ton rail loading ramp that Port of Everett Marine Terminals maintenance crews built to the standards of the United States military in order to enhance intermodal freight shipping services in the ports terminal facilities in the future. This news should definitely decrease the amount of time it takes to move the roro freight onto and off of the rail cars and once news gets out of the enhanced roro freight services in the Port of Everett, we should see more customers show up at the port with freight to transport to destination in the months ahead in the century of the environment.

This announcement also has a number of other benefits, such as being able to drive heavy machinery onto the rail cars, instead of lifting the equipment with a crane, which is a lot more dangerous for the workers involved. This news also means that the Port of Everett can help serve the needs of the United States military since Naval Station Everett is located in the port and the new ramp will allow tanks and other heavy military equipment to quickly and efficiently be loaded onto rail cars should the need arise. One thing is for certain, we can certainly expect to see military transports loading roro freight onto rail cars more often in the Port of Everett in the future, and the volume of freight that can be moved through the ports terminals should increase significantly with this new rail loading ramp.

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UK Heavy Haul Services Wants Changes Made

Friday, June 18th, 2010

Heavy haul services in the United Kingdom during the winter is a dangerous activity that has been an area of concern for long haul drivers in the United Kingdom. The Freight Transport Association (FTA) recently urged government officials in the United Kingdom to be flexible in the working hours of drivers during the winter months in the United Kingdom. The association also indicated that there needs to be an overhaul of driver working hours during the winter months, especially for freight carriers of essential goods, and they might look at putting a little more salt on the transport roads in the United Kingdom.

The need for salt became critical last year in some regions of the United Kingdom and the Freight Transport Association thought it might be a good idea to see if they can shorten up the supply lines for salt for the roads this year. Freight shipping services on the roads of the United Kingdom was crippled at times last year because of shortages of road salt in critical trucking regions, according to sources, and they obviously want to make sure this doesn’t happend again. They want to look at making road salt more available on a region basis and this might certainly help the situation at times in the United Kingdom.

The FTA also asked that a system like the one used in container ports to book transport vehicles be implemented in the future and that they look at adding more vehicle parking near the vital Cheshire salt mine. The association wasn’t finished with its suggestions for the Department of Transport as it was suggested by the FTA that the department needs to be on top of these things in the future and quicker to respond to the need for change.

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