Don't know much about geography
Don't know much trigonometry
Don't know much about algebra
Don't know what a slide rule is for

But I do know that one and one is two
And if this one could be with you
What a wonderful world this would be.
-Sam Cooke... Read More

It wasn't too long ago that fuel prices were lingering between $3.80 and $4.40 per gallon. At that point many companies took an aggressive stance on fuel conservation. However, for most it was just a flavor of the month. Many companies jumped on the U.S. EPA "SmartWay" bandwagon, which is designed to improve fuel efficiencies and reduced the environmental impact. That is all well and good but unfortunately, if a company doesn't have an aggressive fuel conservation program in place, being "SmartWay" certified should be considered consistent with permitting the tail to wag the dog. Or maybe Ready, Shoot, Aim is a more apt metaphor.... Read More

"While I take inspiration from the past,
like most Americans, I live for the future."
Ronald Reagan

As I write this column, we are between Christmas and New Year's holidays. This is a good time of year to reflect back on 2010 and to plan for 2011. Trucking in 2010 emerged from the worst and longest recession (2006 to 2009) that most anyone can remember. 2010 was a year of recovery. 2011 will be even better.... Read More

The long awaited Hours of Service changes have been announced. FMCSA has published the Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. We're devoting this issue to analyzing the changes and some of the possible effects. The bottom line is that work hours have been cut and some of the scheduling flexibility of the current regulations are now gone.... Read More

About a month ago I attended a safety conference for the NPTC. It was a great conference, great speakers, and a great opportunity to see a lot of familiar faces. While attending, I had the opportunity to listen to a DOT representative state categorically that CSA 2010 will not, nor was it ever designed to, put drivers out of a job. WHEW!!! Everybody in the room was visibly relieved that all the scary stuff they'd been hearing was false and that the scoring and violations would NOT create the next big driver shortage.... Read More

This blog entry was originally posted by Herb Schmidt, president of Con-way Truckload, on their Public Policy & Sustainability blog site.

The driver shortage affecting the truckload industry is certainly no surprise to anyone who's paying attention. Freight volumes are starting to come back, slow but sure, which is a good thing … but it's getting tougher and tougher to find the drivers to move it. How did we get here?... Read More

You're the Safety Manager and you are about to start a driver meeting to go over CSA 2010 and how it relates to the drivers and the company. It's early Saturday morning and all the good donuts have already been picked over. You just made a promise to yourself to never let the dispatchers pick up the donuts again. Your laptop is warming up and you're about to start your very well prepared slide show.... Read More