Truckers roll with relief supplies to storm-ravaged area

Trucks for Arnold Transportation were ready to deploy Sunday from Louisiana with water and ready-made meals. (Photo courtesy of FEMA)The trucking industry began preparing for the Sandy before the hurricane slammed into the East Coast by staging essential cargo in strategic locations and is now working to get relief supplies to areas most impacted by the storm.

Dawn McAreavey reported on an Overdrive community Facebook page Tuesday that she was “hauling rations from Camp Minden to Westover AFB. A lot of downed trees, no power from Pa. to Ma. Turned over semi’s.”
Driver Robert Vivod wrote he was “hauling Rite Aid supplies and meds” in the affected area. He urged other truckers to be careful,  “just remember appointment times can be changed not our lives.”

Read more here.

This story is just nuts!

$300,000 truckload of walnuts stolen between California, Florida

LOS MOLINOS, Calif. — Authorities are investigating the theft of more than 80,000 pounds of walnuts from Northern California valued at about $300,000. The Tehama County Sheriff's Office received a call from a freight brokerage firm on Friday reporting that a truckload of walnuts never arrived in Miami as they were supposed to.

Authorities believe the culprit is the same person who also picked up another load of walnuts days earlier from Los Molinos. Those walnuts were intended for Texas, but also disappeared.

Deputies tell the Record Searchlight of Redding (http://bit.ly/S8mOY9) the man who picked those walnuts up was not the person hired for the job. They have not identified the suspect although they do have a suspect description.

East Coast Braces for Hurricane Sandy

UPDATED 2 p.m. EDT: Hurricane Sandy could knock out power and flood highways in heavily populated areas such as New York City and Washington, D.C., as it comes ashore today, and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has declared a regional emergency, allowing for exception from some regulations for motor carriers providing emergency materials.

The national hurricane center said Hurricane Sandy was "expected to bring life-threatening storm surge flooding to the mid-Atlantic Coast, including Long Island Sound and New York Harbor."

FMCSA today declared a regional emergency that covers the states of Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia and West Virginia.

This exempts commercial motor vehicle operations that are providing emergency materials and services from Parts 390 through 399 of the federal regulations. The exemption does not include controlled substance and alcohol use (Part 382), the commercial driver's license requirements (Part 383), the financial responsibility requirements (Part 387), or applicable size and weight requirements.
Click here to view current highway closures and restrictions in the region

Story from Truckinginfo.com

85 mph highway opens in Texas

Wednesday marked the opening of the new 85 mph speed limit on Texas State Highway 130, where a 40-mile section of the highway — a toll road — between San Antonio and Austin is now home to the country’s highest speed limit.

The stretch of highway is privately managed, and the 85 mph speed limit has been in the works for some time. As Overdrive reported in June, Texas Department of Transportation officials told the media they were performing studies to test the feasibility  of an 85 mph speed limit for SH 130.

A law passed in 2011 allowed speed limits of up to 85 mph, but this is the first to go so far. Others in the state have posted 75 mph speed limits, and in March, a stretch of 130 between Georgetown and Mustang Ridge and SH 45SE from Mustang Ridge to I-35 in South Travis County became the first to post 80 mph limits.

Is is safe or is that too fast?

Pilot Flying J opens 650th Location

Pilot Flying J recently opened its 650th location in North America. The store, a Pilot Travel Center in Von Ormy, Texas, opened on Oct. 15 and features full amenities for professional drivers, area residents and the motoring public.

Pilot Flying J also opened its 651st location - a Flying J Travel Plaza in Hudson, Wis.

Located off Interstate 35 at exit 140, the Pilot Travel Center in Von Ormy offers eight diesel lanes and 16 gasoline lanes with high-speed pumps for quicker refueling as well as a Subway and Cinnabon.

The Flying J Travel Plaza in Hudson is located off Interstate 94 at exit 10 along U.S. Highway 65 and offers eight diesel lanes and 12 gasoline lanes with high-speed pumps.

Both locations also offer:

- Expanded food offerings to include pizza, salads, sandwiches and hotdogs;
- Premium coffee and cappuccino selections; and
- General merchandise for quick shopping needs.

Gasoline prices begin to slide – finally

NEW YORK -- Gasoline prices have finally begun their seasonal slide. Better late than never.

The national average retail price has fallen for 10 straight days and is now $3.74 per gallon. That's 13 cents below the fall peak of $3.87 reached on Sept. 14, although still higher than ever for this time of year.

In Tampa, the average price Thursday was $3.60, about 14 cents cheaper than a month ago, according to GasBuddy.com. The Florida average was about $3.67, a 13-cent drop from a month ago.

Gasoline prices typically decline in the fall as refiners switch to cheaper fuel blends and drivers take a break from road trips. This year, a series of refinery and pipeline problems sent gasoline supplies plummeting and prices soaring.

The problems have begun to clear up, though, and prices are responding. Tom Kloza, Chief Oil Analyst at the Oil Price Information Service, predicts drops of 5 cents to 15 cents per week for the next three weeks.

By The Associated Press

Speed and Space Management

 

The Speed and Space Management video shows you the importance of maintain a safe operating speed and safe space cushions on all side of your truck and trailer.  There are helpful tips on how to maintain those safe buffer zones and what to so in case weather and road conditions deteriorate.

Before you understand how to manage truck speed and the space around your truck, you first need to recognize why it’s important to do so.

· Speed can be costly

· Drivers experience pressure to save time, but pushing speed can actually cause drivers to lose time.

· A driver may be ticketed because he or she did not have enough time to slow down or stop or because he or she was simply going too fast for conditions.

· Speeding can result in serious delays, but it can also result in never finishing your run.

· Operating costs increase, too.  Driving 70mph instead of 50 mph can increase operating costs by as much as 70 to 80%

· The more you speed, the less time you have to react to what’s going on around you.

· Speeding puts your personal safety, your job and your life in jeopardy.

· Don’t be tailgater!!!!!

Perception distance… is the distance you travel from the time a hazard appears in front of you until your brain registers it. (For most of us, that takes about ¾ of a second which is 60 feet at 55 mph)

Reaction distance….is the time it takes for you to apply the brakes.  For most of us this is another 60 feet.

Braking distance….is the time it takes to come to a stop.  In a 50-60 foot truck at 55 mph this could take another 4/8 seconds.  The total stopping time is more than 6 seconds and stopping distance at 55 mph is more than 500 feet.

Business Development Coordinator Position Available at Reed Transport

Position overview: The role of a “Business Development Coordinator” is to manage the sales process for a targeted group of customers while working in conjunction with the Business Development team. This individual will also provide business critical information to their respective customers and assist in developing strategies to create efficiencies while adding value to the client relationship for continuous and sustainable growth for ReedTMS.

Primary duties:
- Proactively develops and improves services for our customers.
- Understands clients' needs.
- Build and maintain excellent relationships with colleagues and clients.
- Administering accounts, customer websites and sending customer updates.
- Provide market feedback to BD and Transportation Sales Teams.
- Maintains customer records by updating account information.
- Be a team player by supporting the overflow call volume and operational needs of the Business Development Team.
- Provide support for BD reps during travel.
- Assist in customer bids, rates and problem resolution.
Working relationships: Candidate must be goal oriented, self-motivated and possess strong negotiation skills. Outgoing personality and competitive attitude is a must. Familiarity with Microsoft and related software is a plus.

Education: Bachelor’s degree and 2 years trucking/logistics experience required.

Submit resume to: kpein@reedtransport.net

Diesel update

Gasoline, Diesel Prices Drop Slightly
This week the price at the pump for a gallon of diesel or a gallon of gasoline decreased marginally from last week.

Although the average price of a gallon of diesel fell nationally, it was by less than 1 cent, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly report. Specifically, diesel fell by 0.7 cents to land at an average of $4.08 per gallon.

Although the price of diesel has been falling the past few weeks, the price per gallon is still on average 33 cents above where it was one year ago.

Prices remain highest on the West Coast, which saw a slightly larger decrease at 2.2 cents per gallon. The price for a gallon of diesel on the West Coast is an average of $4.30. The highest prices are seen in California with a gallon of diesel costing on average $4.38.

The price for a gallon of gasoline also fell this week, on average 2.2 cents per gallon nationally to rest at $3.80.

Benchmark crude oil rose 29 cents on Monday to close at $92.48 per barrel, as investors took heart in a report showing U.S. manufacturing activity rose in September for the first time in four months.

Supply Chain Management Popular Among Business Students

Although supply chain management (SCM) has not historically been a popular specialization for business students, colleges have recently seen heightened interest in this subject. SCM involves getting the right products to consumers at the right time, including every aspect from the acquisition of parts to delivery.

According to Texas A&M's Mays Business School, students who study SCM typically hold job titles such as supply/demand planner, procurement manager, supply chain strategist and vendor relations manager. In these positions, individuals can find job satisfaction, global opportunities and high salaries.

For these reasons, Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports that there has been increased interest in SCM degrees. In fact, since 2006, the number of undergraduate SCM programs has risen by 25%.

Students who want to land a job in this growing sector will find that many colleges across the country now offer an undergraduate degree in SCM. For example, at Michigan State University, students can earn a bachelor's degree in SCM. This program was recently ranked number one in the nation by U.S. News & World Report, while the school's SCM graduate program was rated number two in March.

For working professionals who want to quickly and conveniently advance their skills, Michigan State also offers non-degree master and advanced master certificates in subjects like logistics, operations and integrated supply chain management. These programs are available entirely online to better suit the needs of full-time employees and busy professionals.

 By Catherine Groux at usnewsuniversitydirectory.com