Archive For The “News” Category
“They are all basically the same whore, just a different dress,” states veteran 
long haul driver Patrick Simmons, when describing some of the nation’s largest carriers for whom he has driven over the years. He’s now driven nearly three years for Britton Transport Inc. of Grand Forks, ND, and says it is great to be working with a company that treats it drivers right.
Patrick has never owned a truck in his 23 years on the road, but has leased a truck and does not recommend that route to anyone.
“I have leased a truck and think it is the worst thing you can ever do. You are pretty much under their control if you have got their truck,” he states.
As for Britton Transport, Patrick says the company, which has 80 to 85 trucks, is easy to work with. “They will pretty much bend over backwards for somebody. They treat you right.”
He notes unlike the larger carriers, Britton has a check waiting for him every week, and he has no concerns about being paid. He also receives full medical benefits.
“I’ve been there, done that (with the huge trucking companies), and it’s something I would not do again,” Patrick states. “I like Britton because they get me home when I want to get home.”
He drives a conventional Volvo with a D-13 engine and an automatic, 12-speed transmission. While the auto tranny “takes a lot off you” as far as shifting, etc., he would still prefer to have a 13-speed manual transmission.
“You have more power when climbing hills,” he states.
He also would prefer not to have a governor on the truck limiting the speed to 62 mph, which he feels is too slow for a road truck, noting that a lot of western states have speed limits of 70 and 75 mph, although he notes Oregon and California have stuck with the double nickel.
During his career, Patrick has hauled a little of everything, including fresh produce, which he describes as “whole different ballgame.” Produce hauling often involves more pick ups and drops than dry freight.
His least favorite aspect of trucking is it not being conducive to good health. He admits to not getting enough exercise. “Other than that you meet a lot of good people in trucking. You don’t have to worry about getting laid off, or losing your job. Plus, I like getting paid!”
The flip side of trucking is Patrick believes there are a lot trucks being driven by individuals with no business being behind the wheel.
“There is no respect out here anymore like there used to be. It is a different class of drivers now. Some of them can hardly drive a lawn mower, much less a big rig,” he observes. “You have got a lot of the younger generation coming into trucking who don’t have any respect for anybody. That is a downfall as far as the industry goes.”
If you want to make it in trucking, you should take some pointers from a real 
veteran, Duane Riendeau. Although he’s now a company driver, for most of his career he was a successful owner operator.
He’s still running over the road, but he takes off a couple of months each year, raised five kids, and still enjoys what he is doing.
The resident of Grand Forks, ND began trucking at age 26. Until seven years ago when he became a driver for Troy Pecka Inc. of East Grand Forks, MN, he was an owner operator. Now 65, Duane doesn’t want to work as hard, pretty much selects his hauls, and still does his share of trucking. Yet, he usually takes off around January and February each year and relaxes in Arizona.
“I owned a truck for 25 years. I really enjoyed it. I paid for every truck I bought and I can’t complain. I had five boys and one girl and most of them went to college. I don’t have a lot of money left, but I accomplished that anyway,” he says in a modest, soft spoken voice.
“All my kids are grown and they are doing pretty darned good,” he says. The only kid involved in trucking is a son with a couple of trucks that run locally for a business his son owns.
So how does a guy raise give kids, vacation two months year and pretty much set his own driving schedule?
Duane says if you are a produce trucker, you have got to be “connected” and “be careful because a lot of people are out there who won’t pay.” For the young, inexperienced persons entering trucking he suggests relying on the credit and rating services such as the Blue Book and the Red Book. These will give one a good idea of how reputable a company is and show their pay practices.
“When it comes to rejected loads or claims, you sometimes learn as you go. I look my loads over when I’m being loaded. You can telll when the produce is fresh, or if it is ‘iffy’.”
When it is “iffy” with quality or appearance concerns, Duane stresses the need to tell your customer about its condition. It is better the load be “kicked” by the buyer at the loading dock than after you have delivered it to the customer. The shipper may not like what the trucker is telling the customer, but that shipper will also realize the product isn’t what it should be.
Duane says there are a lot of good trucking companies to work for, but that Troy Pecka was an independent trucker himself, plus his father and brother were in trucking.
“Troy understands the whole business. I go (on hauls) when I want to go with his truck, just like it was my own. All he expects is that the truck makes money. There are five or six guys my age that work for him and he wouldn’t have it any other way. He knows when you leave with a load it is going to get there,” Duane says.
Duane actually leased his own truck to Troy Pecka Trucking for four years, before selling it and becoming a company driver.
He is now driving a 2007 Kenworth T-600 with a C-13 Cat engine with 475 h.p., pulling a Great Dane trailer.
Duane has nothing but praise for the Great Dane, saying “you pay for what you get.” He cites the Dane’s heavy insallation and sturdy floors, noting some cheaper brands of trailers “are throw aways” because they are not built as well.
“I haul quite a bit of produce,” Duane relates. “I’ve hauled everything you can possibly imagine. We do haul some frozen items. I haul a lot of raw (fresh) potatoes out of the Red River Valley.” However, he also hauls everything from watermelons to lettuce, cabbage and other vegetables and citrus out of South Texas.
“I’ve always hauled a lot of produce and always made a living at it,” he states.
That’s pretty obvious, having raised five good children and vacationing in Arizona during part of the winter.
Britton Transport Inc., a U.S. subsidiary of Bison Transport Inc., announced 
today the acquisition of Scott’s Express Inc. and Scott’s Transportation Services Inc. (collectively “Scott’s), located in Grand Forks, North Dakota. Scott’s was established in 1952 and is a nationwide trucking and truck brokerage company, specializing in Agribusiness throughout the United States and parts of Canada.
Brad Seymour
“The acquisition of Scott’s expands and builds upon Britton’s customer relationships and capabilities as a logistics service provider in the Red River Valley,” said Dave Britton, President of Britton. “Scott’s has a long tradition of service excellence among agricultural shippers within the valley and will continue to service its customers with Britton’s support. We are excited about the opportunity to serve Scott’s long-term customers with Britton’s asset-based capabilities.”
Brad Seymour, President of Scott’s, will continue with the company in the transition of ownership and servicing of Scott’s customers. He says, “I have known Dave Britton for over 25 years and have a high regard for the way Britton does business. We are very pleased to be joining forces with Britton and I feel it gives our employees and our customers a platform to grow in the years ahead.”
Founded in 1952, Scott’s was initially operated as a filling station but soon after Archie Scott identified a need for sourcing trucks on behalf of local potato farmers. What started as a sideline became the first truck brokerage in the Red River Valley. Today, Scott’s continues to service the potato and specialty crop sector with superior service and an unmatched reputation.
Financial details concerning this transaction have not been disclosed.
(This story appeared 8/28/12 in Potato Bytes, the online publication of the Northern Plains Potato Growers Association)
I spent Thursday at the Great American Truck Show in Dallas visiting with as 
many drivers and exhibitors as possible. It was the first show I’d been to in five or six years. Dates of the show are Thursday, Friday and Saturday, August 23-25.
It appears to be a little larger than when I last attended, and there seemed to be more trucks entered in the Pride & Polish competition. There are over 500 exhibitors, according the GATS program. The first few hours of the first day of the show had light traffic, but it picked up significantly the last half of the afternoon. Traditionally, there will be a lot more attendees today and Saturday.
While there are some of the big name companies at the show such as Peterbilt and Great Dane, there are obviously a number of the big boys that continue to not exhibit at Dallas.
Still, it is a good show, with the usual workshops and country performers with big names, but past their glory days.
Apparently there is still good demand for drivers as quite a few carriers and logistics companies were exhibiting putting, their best foot forward to sign up owner operators and company drivers.
The show continues to be under air conditioning, which includes the Pride and Polish competition. Dallas can be brutal in August, although yesterday it was only 95 degrees, with low humidity.
Show hours today and Saturday are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
— Bill Martin
Within the next month USA transportation officials anticipate an audit report 
on the trucking pilot program with Mexico. While U.S. produce industry shippers may be anxious because thereport could be negative, they fear it could lead to another round of retaliatory tariffs by Mexico.
At the same time some trucking groups in the USA hope this is exactly what happens. Not necessarily retailitory tariffs by the Mexicans, but they are strongly opposed to Mexican truckers having free access to USA markets with poorly trained drivers and subpar equipment, compared to American standards — not to mentions concerns freights were plummet.
The apple, pear and cherry industries in the Northwest has paid tens of millions of dollars during the three years that Mexico imposed 20% tariffs.
The North American Free Trade Act requires the U.S. to allow cross-border trucking. However, opposition by U.S. trucking unions – including the Teamsters and trade organizations – such as the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, OOIDA, has kept the Mexican trucks out for more than a decade after the act went into effect in 1994. The trucking interests cited safety concerns with Mexican trucking equipment and drivers.
Despite lobbying efforts and some congressional roadblocks, the pilot program finally gained approval from President Obama and his Mexican counterpart Felipe Calderon in July 2011. The first Mexican truck came into the U.S. in October 2011.
However, only six Mexican carriers — each with one truck approved for the program — are participating in the pilot program.
One requirement built into the pilot program is that the DOT be able to document the safety of the Mexican trucks and drivers with “statistically valid” data. Powers said that could be a difficult task because of the low participation numbers.
WEST CHESTER. PA – A. Duie Pyle, a leading Northeast transportation and 
logistics provider, announced Leo Flack has won his second National Championship by earning first place in this year’s Sleeper Berth Class division. The American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) National Truck Driving Championship was held the second week of August in Minneapolis, MN and included top professional truck drivers from around the nation who qualified during the summer at state and regional levels in order to advance to the national competition.
Flack of West Chester, PA placed first in the Sleeper Berth Class division after completing a written examination, pre-trip inspection test and a skills test. A veteran of the competition, Leo has competed in the championship round for 7 years. In 2011 he took top honors in the tank truck division.
“We are extremely proud of our drivers, and we are especially proud of Leo Flack,” said Peter Dannecker, director of loss prevention for A. Duie Pyle. “He is a humble, soft-spoken gentleman who worked hard for this achievement by relentlessly studying and practicing whenever he could. Earning his way to the championship round for the past 7 years and winning gold belt buckles in the past two is a testament to his hard work and dedication.”
Over 400 drivers from all 50 states competed in Minneapolis for four days during the 2012 National Truck Driving Championships and National Step Van Driving Championships, known as the “Super Bowl of Safety”, challenging their driving skills, and knowledge of safety, equipment and the industry. This year marked the 75th anniversary of the event.
Press release provided by A. Duie Pyle
The higher costs of trucking is the reason given by The San Diego Unified Port 
District for unanimously approving a long-term lease for Dole Fresh Fruit Co. for less money than Dole had previously paid over the past decade.
The 20.7-acre property at the 10th Avenue Marine Terminal on the northern section of the terminal, originally leased to Dole in 2002, will be available to the company until 2036 at a starting rental rate this year, plus fees of $1.8 million, down from $2 million last year. Dole said it requested the 10 percent reduction to offset higher trucking costs.
The Port District dismissed objections that the action needed more community consideration for alternate uses.
by Roger Showley, San Diego Union Tribune
Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Acess America will use a new office in 
San Antonio to expand its refrigerated produce business
The third-party logistics provider is expanding its produce presence, and opened the Texas office August 1.
It is the first office for the third-party logistics service to focus on refrigerated freight, which is its fastest-growing mode. The San Antiono facility is close to Mexico and southern Texas produce, but Access America plans to use the office to handle all types of produce from throughout the USA.
The company has other offices in Atlanta; Birmingham, Ala.; Eufala, Ala.; Knoxville, Tenn.; Columbus, Ohio; Minneapolis; and Denver, but those locations handle little produce.
Xata Corp.’s Xata Turnpike management software is now integrated with TMWSuite transportation management software from TMW Systems.
The Xata Turnpike and TMWSuite integration provides a cost-effective solution that combines the driver and fleet management tools, according to a news release.
“Our relationship with TMW Systems is very important, and we look forward to continue working with them across their various products serving the transportation industry to bring customers more cost-effective integrated solutions,” said Kirsten Lester, Xata senior integration program manager, in the release.
The Xata Turnpike and TMWSuite combines driver and fleet management tools to emphasize productivity.
TMWSuite can detect site arrival and departure events and update loads in dispatch without manual intervention, according to the release.
Xata Turnpike’s data also assists dispatchers with load planning by organizing driver availability based on available hours.
Much of the USA is sizziling in triple digits and number 2 diesel prices, while not at record levels, are still high enough to make it difficult for 
a lot of owner operators and small fleet owners to make ends meet.
For example, the Flying J Truck Stop here in Grand Forks, ND has number 2 diesel fuel for $3.83 per gallon. That is above the national average for diesel this week, which is at $3.79 per gallon.
Duane Riendeau, 65, was an owner operator for 32 years. Five years ago he became a company driver for Troy Pecka Trucking Co. Inc. of East Grand Forks, MN. He sold his equipment stating trucking has become “too costly” with all of the government regulations and with the price of diesel fuel pushing $4 per gallon. He knows several owner operators personally who are just barely making it, because freight rates are not keeping up with costs of operation.
Although Randy Boushey of A&L Potato Co. Inc. in East Grand Forks, MN still has his CDL and continues to own three 18 wheelers, he only uses his trucks for deliveries within a 300-mile radius. His potato packing and shipping company has customers well beyond the 300-mile radius and he sees more late deliveries due to aging equipment with mechnical problems. He cites high fuel costs as one of reasons truckers are delaying replacement of tractors and trailers.
It seems there’s alway excuses for diesel fuel being higher than it should be, despite Americans reducing their fuel consumption. Whether it is problems with refineries in Illinois and Indiana cutting their out put, or economic woes in Europe, crazies in the Middle East pulling their stupid terrorist stuff, or any number of other factors – the reasons seem very few for prices to drop.
The experts and observors of oil prices are genenerally saying diesel prices will only go up until after Labor Day, before it starts dropping; unless of course some idiot in Syria, Timbuktwo, or someplace else does something which may not even be remotely connected to the price of oil. But that doesn’t seem to matter.
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