Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/269152
PULSE March 2014 | Overdrive | 3 By Max Heine Editorial director mheine@randallreilly.com Is the New eNtraNt test for New owNer- operators lookINg to get theIr authorIty Necessary? "No. The bigger companies don't want us to oper- ate [inde- pendently]. I think we are happier when we are own- er-operators." Peter Benjamin Irving, Texas Independent owner-operator "Any type of education is beneficial. As far as making them pass a test before getting authority, I don't know." Loren Bowman Taylor, Mich. Company driver, S&G Express "That would be fine. The safety [questions] are more im- portant than anything." Randy Patterson Guntersville, Ala. Company driver, Hanover "I guess it would be a good idea if they brought it up. They wouldn't bring it up if they didn't need it." Denzil Bailey Sr. Baltimore | Owner-operator leased to Pro Transport P resident Obama glibly referred to the new fuel standards he called for last month as a "win-win-win." That's reducing oil imports, pollu- tion and fuel costs. The cost-saving element is what appeals the most and, for those in trucking, raises eyebrows (See page 4). Truck buyers have grown weary of round after round of emissions standards, each adding thousands of dollars in truck costs. It's easy to set a miles-per-gallon goal and conjure up a huge windfall. What got little emphasis was the cost of meeting that goal. A Consumer Federation of America study that informed this initiative assumes many solutions and asks: "Why don't market forces drive these technologies into the vehicles?" The attempted answer involves a ponderous discussion of "externalities" that influence manufacturers. These are illustrated by a dia- gram: "Interaction of supply and demand side factors in a recursive loop inhibiting investment in efficiency." All of which seems to say: The private sector is a hopeless victim of this cruel loop that inhibits technology investments, so the omni- scient government must come to the rescue. Finally, after giving no specifics on technolo- gy costs, the study concludes: "The energy-sav- ing technologies will be more than recouped in lower fuel costs." How can they tell? Well, they just … know. What they really do know, and downplay, is how much fuel efficiency and emissions have improved. Also downplayed is that the industry has no shortage of incentives to continue improving fuel efficiency as long as the answers make financial and operational sense. Yes, government mandates can accelerate results, as they did for today's emissions levels. But the wisdom of a mandated rush to achieve some miles-per- gallon target is another thing. There's much more to be gained regarding fuel use and emissions by improving our congested infrastructure, as Werner Enterprises Pres- ident Derek Leathers wrote in response to the Obama announcement. Adequate highway funding would yield "significant improvements in fuel burn and productivity." After more than five years in office, the president finally announced, as we went to press, a $302 billion transportation infrastructure plan (See page 101). I hope he has the tenacity to stick with it. The state-fed- eral politics for funding and maintenance are extraordinari- ly complex, which is why high- ways have fallen so far behind. Nevertheless, the responsi- bility for overseeing essential, publicly shared resources comes with the job description of pres- ident. He doesn't need to dodge it, diverting the public's atten- tion by endlessly micro-manag- ing a private sector that's on the right track. Obama's eff iciency sideshow Adequate highway funding would yield "significant improvements in fuel burn and productivity," wrote Werner's Derek Leathers. Voices_0314.indd 3 2/27/14 9:08 AM