Trucking Advocate and Activist Allen Smith of TruthAboutTrucking.com : Articles Current News and Information for CDL Truck Drivers and Truck Driving Students…"Raising the Standards of the Trucking Industry"
Surface transportation between the United States, Canada and Mexico through the NAFTA agreement, fell by 30.9 % in February ‘09 compared to the same time in ‘08. This resulted in the largest year to year percentage drop on record, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics.
Dropping to $47.9 Billion, February was the fourth consecutive month showing a yearly decline that was greater than 13%. Imports solely transported through trucking, showed a decline of 29.3%, while exports dropped by 23.6%.
The Obama Administration is moving forward as part as their stimulus package plan, to bring back transportation by way of the railroad system, such as were the days of the 19th Century. Pledging $8 Billion for the plan, it will largely be dealt to the Southeastern United States but also included are New York City, Pennsylvania, Chicago, D.C., Texas, Alabama, Oklahoma, California and lines to extend through New England, Florida, the Gulf Coast and the Pacific Northwest.
Obama and his Administration, looking to create a monumental shift in transportation policy, have plans for 10 corridors, between 100 to 600 miles long, with the main focus on high-speed development. They also see this as a way to greatly reduce traffic congestion. Concerning the trucking industry, the following comments were made:
“They can put four times the amount of material on one rail car than they can on a truck.”Meaning fewer trucks on the road.
“Thousands of containers enter the port each day, most bound by tractor trailer. A freight line would take many of those trucks off the state’s highways.”
Just between the Port of Savannah to Atlanta, Georgia – they estimate the removal of tractor trailers from the highways could be as many as 200,000.
Plans for the new railroad system under Obama’s Administration could be completed within 10 years, with a few of the lines reaching completion as early as 5 years.
Generally, the month of May is the time when household goods movers and moving companies begin to gear up for the relocation process. As school lets out for the Summer, the furniture movers get ready to roll. Allied Van Lines, Bekins, Mayflower, United Van Lines, Graebel . . . we should start seeing them more and more as mid-May approaches.
With slow home sales, fewer job transfers and higher diesel fuel prices, I would expect the moving industry is feeling the pinch of the economic woes as well as their trucking freight hauling counterparts. In fact, According to statistics from the Census Bureau’s Geographical Mobility tables, 3.5 million fewer people moved in 2008, compared to 2007 – making it the smallest number of residents to relocate within a year, since 1962.
It was also observed that only 11.9% of Americans changed residences between 2007 and 2008, coming in as the lowest numbers since 1959-60, at a time when the population of the United States was 41% smaller than it is presently. The bottom line: millions of people appear that they are “staying put.”
If you are planning a move, be sure to download my freeConsumer Moving eBook to help you better understand how the moving industry works and thinks.
How the 2009 moving season will play out . . . we will just have to wait and see.
With the economy in its current state and the trucking industry feeling the hurt, owner operators are, without a doubt, feeling the brunt of the impact. I first posted about an excellent and affordable health plan program back in February, 2009 and feel it is important to mention here again.
We have received a great deal of feedback on this and would like to bring your attention back to it so you know that there is an affordable health plan program that can greatly benefit Owner Operators within the trucking industry.
Is the trucking industry as we know it in North America changing? Will trucking careers slide downward and may even eventually become somewhat “obsolete?” Many experts believe it will and are advising that the shear core of the U.S. trucking foundation is on very shaky ground.
Trucking in North America is in the midst of a fundamental reshaping which, according to James Hebe, a senior executive of Navistar Inc., “will lead to flat tonnage levels for fleets and fewer truck manufacturers producing much more expensive vehicles, mostly in Mexico.” Mr. Hebe, further noted that federal policies will cause the demise of a number of trucking institutions such as “long and tall tractor design, owner-operators and independent maintenance shops.”
He further noted that long haul operations will shift to regional positions and dedicated contract carriage for distribution and that “the availability of truck-rail intermodal for many linehaul movements of more than 1,000 miles and the shock of $4.75-a-gallon fuel last year mean “fuel prices have changed the world.”
Believing there will be a surge in truck sales within the second half of 2009, he states that this will just be a “suckers’ rally” but it is “only so buyers can avoid more expensive 2010 trucks equipped with new emissions controls.” Due to high fuel and equipment prices and the onset of electronic on-board recorders, this he said will be the “death knell” for owner-operators because they will not be able to survive by running legal.
He also pointed out the high cost to truckers due to the current administration policies for unionization. The cost of unions, he said, is driving manufacturing jobs primarily to Mexico. He pointed out that “there are no unemployed truck workers sitting around in Mexico. We will have to train truck builders who have never built trucks before — and that means a ramp-up will have to be slow, or quality will have to suffer.”
With 38 years of experience under his belt, he believes “truck pricing will increase dramatically. If you think the pricing in 2010 is bad, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
Summing it up, we must wonder if the outlook for the U.S. Trucking Industry is about to be shaken to its core.
According to Mr. Hebe: “Truck jobs in the U.S. are gone and will not be coming back.”
It has come to my attention that a driving force behind Virginia’s goal to close the rest areas could actually have something to do with the plans of building a railroad transportation yard on U.S. Route 11 in Elliston, VA. It is my understanding that Adams Construction, out of Blue Ridge, VA had been holding public meetings concerning this, but when the public said “NO”, then the talk of closing the rest areas began. We have not spoken with Adams Construction to confirm this.
In order to build the railroad transportation yard, they would have to widen U.S. 11 in the Elliston, VA area for the asphalt plant, as well as widen I-81 at Iranto, VA in order to accommodate the transportation facility. The land along the interstate does not fall under farm land zoning codes, thus the Federal Government could step in for commercialization of the land.
However, concerning the rest area closings, they did begin with mile marker 129 which lies within Iranto, VA. The proposed land site is maintained by the city of Salem, VA which is leased from Roenoke County, VA. Going on up from U.S. Route 11 to Route 117 is known as Peters Creek Road, which is in Roenoke County. This is where the first public meeting for public input about the rest area closings were held, according to my understanding. Thus, falling right in line with the information I have received relating to the proposed railroad transportation yard wanting to be built, and very well could be the real reason for closing these rest areas along I-81 in Virginia.
When freight forwarding giant, DHL from their Atlanta, GA office, pulled out of the U.S., they called Jack Martin for help in training. Owner of A1 Freight Broker Training, Jack Martin is the recognized leader and will return as our special guest on Truth About Trucking “LIVE” – Tuesday, May 5th, 2009 at 7:30 PM EST.
Discussing how to build your own customer base, the importance of checking credit and the outlook of freight and factors for the new incoming truck driver, we’ll take a look, not only at how you can be a more successful trucking owner operator with your own freight broker business, but how many of his clients have been able to leave driving and have built their own successful home-based business.
Since 2000, corporations have shipped more than 525,000 white-collar jobs overseas, and many estimates report that up to 14 million middle-class jobs will have been exported out of America by the year 2010.
Many high-tech jobs are and have been lost as corporations look for low-wage workers in countries such as India and China.
Meanwhile, the jobs being created in the United States through NAFTA, are generally low-wage paying jobs that do not offer health coverage or ensure any type of retirement security. Statitics show that almost one-quarter of U.S. workers are in jobs that pay less than $8.85 per hour, keeping them in the poverty range. Sixty percent of these workers are women.
Since its conception in 1993, NAFTA has resulted in the loss of million of jobs for U.S. workers. Although U.S. domestic exports to its NAFTA partners have increased, NAFTA has led to job losses in all 50 states. We will be taking a hard look at NAFTA and its future effects on the U.S. trucking industry on Truth About Trucking “LIVE” – Sunday, May 3rd at 4 PM EST.
The cost per savings ratio was just one of the aspects touched on about the Kool Rig System on trucking talk radio: Truth About Trucking “LIVE” – earlier this evening. Our special guest, Joel Harvey, founder of the Kool Rig, explained the importance of this new solar technology and the future it holds for the trucking industry.
Also provided was information for financing, through Cascade Sierra Solutions,a non-profit organization dedicated to saving fuel and reducing emissions from heavy-duty diesel engines. Presently, CSS operates in the States of Washington, Oregon and California with a primary focus on the Interstate 5 corridor. Check out the one hour show and for more information, contact Joel Harvey through his website – http://www.allaroundcontractingllc.com
Questions and answers still swirl around all over the place concerning trucking and the CDL driver who carries a gun permit. One of the most asked questions is “Which states will honor my concealed weapon permit?”
Here is a PDF file that you can download, save or print out that provides the answer to this question:
: agreement, decline, february, NAFTA, surface transportation, trucking
