Daimler Trucks North America LLC (DTNA) is recalling certain model year 2014 Freightliner Cascadia trucks manufactured January 21, 2013, through May 10, 2013; and equipped with Wabco Maxxus Brakes. The brake caliper mounting bolts may be incorrectly torqued, which could result in the bolts loosening.
Of the 20,067 commercial vehicles inspected in the September-held Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s Brake Safety Week, 2,714 were placed out of service to produce a 13.5 percent out-of-service rate, tying May 2013 and September 2010 for the lowest out-of-service rates for CVSA inspection blitzes since they began in 1998.
Carriers are becoming increasingly anxious about finding good drivers. Good drivers want to know why, in a time of shortage, they are not being rewarded better. And shippers are keeping their fingers crossed, hoping trucks will continue to be readily available – and affordable.
Steve Williams, chief executive officer of Maverick USA (No. 84 in the CCJ Top 250), looks no further than his bottom line to know that the balance of transportation supply and demand again has shifted in favor of carriers, even if it’s not a repeat of 2004.
“We don’t have a driver shortage yet, but if the end result of CSA is to imply that 35 percent of drivers are always fatigued, unsafe or unfit, it won’t take many cycles to have to come up with a robot for a driver,†Owen says. “It’s a self-created shortage by the agency. I don’t […]
Domestic freight demand firming in October after soft start to month, but outlook remains guarded. Anecdotally, demand trends moderated to end September and continued into early October, largely a result of soft retail trends. Channel checks reflect firming trends to end October, but retail demand outlook remains unsettled; and few near-term catalysts support reaccelerating volume growth […]
For most truckers the good news is that the answer is probably yes. Truckers who insure their cargo with insurers that specialize in trucking have policies that meet their needs, in almost all cases. Even policies from insurers that don’t specialize in trucking cover most cargo situations truckers run into.
Last August, a C.R. England truck was sideswiped at an intersection. A few hours later, Marcus Edwards, the company’s director of corporate safety, saw the event unfold from his desk. Immediately, he knew the driver was innocent. The truck remained stopped until the traffic light turned green.
A bill has been introduced in the House that would reinstate the hours-of-service rules in effect prior to July 1, 2013, by delaying the current rules until a Congressional investigation on the current hours rule is conducted.
