Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/409540
10 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2014 JOURNAL NEWS t 'SFJHIUXBUDI*OUFSOBUJPOBMreported 182 cargo thefts between June and August, a 16 percent drop from the prior March-May quarter. The average loss value per load, $182,115, also fell 16 percent in the quarter. Food-drink loads remained the most stolen, accounting for 19 percent of the total. California had the most thefts among the states and made up 20 percent of the total. t $BMJGPSOJB(PW+FSSZ#SPXO on Oct. 3 signed legislation into law that will allow the state to implement a pilot program to test whether charging a road usage fee – or mileage-based tax – could effectively replace fuel taxes as the pri- mary means to fund highway and road projects. The legislation calls for the pilot program to begin no later than Jan. 1, 2017. With Brown's signature, California became the third West Coast state to implement vehicle mileage tax testing. t ,OJHIU5SBOTQPSUBUJPO(CCJ Top 250, No. 26) acquired Barr-Nunn Transportation (CCJ Top 250, No. 187), a 550-truck fleet based in Granger, Iowa. The enterprise value was $112.4 million, plus $3.5 million in incentives for hitting income targets and retaining key person- nel over the next four quarters. Phoenix- based Knight said it will continue to operate the business under the Barr- Nunn name and expected the current management team to remain in place, adding that Barr-Nunn drivers, nondriv- ing employees and customers "should notice little change." t ,SJTLB)PMEJOHT-UE and #SJUUPO 5SBOTQPSU were honored by Volvo Trucks and Michelin America Truck Tires with the 2014 Volvo Trucks Safety Award at the 2014 American Trucking Associations Management Conference & Exhibition in San Diego. Both were INBRIEF 11/14 I n 2013, transportation companies lost about $9.2 billion in productivity due to traffic congestion on the nation's interstates. A panel of trucking industry experts and fleet executives discussed this growing problem and ways to address it dur- ing last month's American Trucking Associations' Management Conference & Exhibition in San Diego. In April, the American Transportation Research Institute released the first of what likely will become an annual study on the cost of congestion to the trucking indus- try. The research firm has compiled a database of truck positions over a 12-year period for the calculations. On the interstate system alone, traffic congestion caused 141 million hours of lost productivity in 2013, the equivalent of more than 51,000 truck drivers sitting still for a year, the study found. "In a time when we struggle to put drivers in seats, we can ill afford to have 50,000-plus drivers just sitting still," said panel- ist Rebecca Brewster, ATRI president and chief operat- ing officer. Jim Ward, president and chief executive officer of Baltimore-based D.M. Bowman Inc., said that increasing the density of its shipping lanes and optimiz- ing its network to allow for more efficient use of assets – like operating a nighttime shift – have helped. The 350-truck company also uses research from ATRI and other sources to identify bottlenecks and monitors internal metrics, such as the average speed of loads from pickup to deliv- ery, to identify areas it can improve. "We try to dispatch at an average of 50 miles per hour," Ward said. Using the data collected from Panel dissects challenges, costs of traffic congestion The Government Accountability Office last month recommended clarifying the federal government's role in the National Freight Strategic Plan and the purpose of the nation's primary freight network. Sen. John Walsh (D-Mont.) had requested the agency review freight flow trends and how communities can lessen freight-related congestion. The 2012 two-year surface transportation reau- thorization requires that the U.S. Department of Transportation establish a national freight plan and network. On Sept. 8, President Obama signed a con- tinuance of the 2012 law after Congress approved extending it through May 31. The reauthorization's goals include reducing freight congestion and environmental impact, and it also mandates that the national plan identify best practices to mitigate the impact of freight move- ment on communities. GAO's report recommended that the national plan should clarify the federal role for decreasing local freight-related congestion and that DOT should include a strategy for improving data. Other recommendations were for Congress to consider clarifying the purpose of the primary freight network and revise the mileage limit requirement set by the omnibus bill. Under the reauthorization, the primary freight network is to be comprised of 27,000 centerline miles on existing roads considered most critical to freight movement. DOT and other freight stakeholders have expressed concern over this limit, saying it will result in a network lacking certain roads where national freight movement affects local traffic congestion, such as port-to-freeway connectors. In its draft network, the department identified more than 41,000 centerline miles it said would be necessary to establish an efficient primary freight network. DOT currently is reviewing public comment on that proposal. – Jill Dunn Report: National freight plan should consider community impact Continued on page 12 Continued on page 16