Truck Transport News

The Freight Transport Association has told the European Commission that higher quality standards for road transport operators’ entry and conduct in the industry are not required. FTA says that any shortfall in operating standards is more likely to be the result of poor application and enforcement of regulations by some member states. The problem can only be resolved by member states themselves taking responsibility for introducing appropriate systems, not by adding further burdens on to the industry in those states which enforce the regulations in a manner that ensures a high compliance rate.

New research published by the Freight Transport Association in its July 2006 Quarterly Transport Activity Survey presents a picture of a freight transport industry blighted by high diesel prices which is struggling to meet ever more demanding business customers and consumers because of rampant congestion on the UK’s road trade routes. To mark ten years of the FTA survey, over 100 members were asked what had most adversely affected business performance in the past ten years. Rising world energy prices was cited as the most significant negative effect, followed by road congestion. Operators fear that the same factors will dominate the next decade, together with possible tax measures to curb carbon dioxide emissions.

Optimism for Scotland and Midlands
New data from the Freight Transport Association’s Quarterly Transport Activity Survey undertaken in July 2006 shows freight demand growing strongly despite record oil prices. Businesses are more positive about prospects for domestic road freight activity than they have been for two years. During 2005 domestic road freight demand had been in the doldrums, with demand for haulage services particularly hit as industry scaled back its use of third party carriers in response to weaker levels of business.

With Department of Justice (DOJ) approval, ATA has released its long-awaited model agreements for structuring motor carrier and broker contractual relationships. On Aug. 10, 2006, the DOJ issued what is referred to as a business review letter that stated it had no present intention of challenging the ATA proposal to develop and publicize model carrier/broker agreements. That language signals the government’s position that the creation, distribution and use of the model agreements does not raise antitrust concerns.

 The IRU is encouraged by important and positive developments in the review of the 2001 Transport White Paper. In particular the Commission has explicitly recognised the critical role that road transport plays within the EU economy and its success in significantly reducing vehicle emissions. The Commission has also shown pragmatism by acknowledging that a forced modal shift policy simply isn’t working.

Volvo Trucks' Hungarian subsidiary, Volvo Hungary Trading and Services Kft, has received an order for 1,000 trucks from Waberer's Optimum Solution, a transportation and logistics company. The trucks will be delivered over a three-year period.

 American Trucking Associations President and CEO Bill Graves urges the state Senate Transportation and Housing Committee to reject a pending California state “magnet bill” that would authorize local air districts to control diesel emissions and dilute the authority of state and federal regulatory agencies over diesel-powered equipment operated at ports, rail yards and airports. 

-Purchase contributes to reduction in harmful particulate and nitrogen oxide emissions
TNT N.V. has ordered 176 trucks fitted with Euro V engines for use in the Netherlands and the European road network. With the purchase of Euro V trucks, TNT aims to reduce the harmful effects of its fleet on people and the environment. TNT is one of the first companies in the Netherlands to opt for Euro V engines, placing it far ahead of the European environmental legislation, which will not come into effect until October 2009

Scania, the world’s only manufacturer of ethanol-powered commercial vehicles, is supplying the city buses for use in the BEST consortium’s field trials of ethanol as a vehicle fuel. The initial trials will take place in La Spezia, a coastal city in north-western Italy.

A national investors’ conference this week heard a top trucking industry official outline the critical issues facing the trucking industry and discuss trucking’s preparations for the next highway transportation funding bill. Speaking to the Bear, Stearns Global Transportation Conference in New York, American Trucking Associations Senior Vice President Tim Lynch said the trucking industry is working to ensure that Congress allocates more money for freight infrastructure and to relieve congestion when it reauthorizes the next highway spending bill in 2009.

ATA Further Revises Upward Diesel Fuel Costs Estimate for 2006
The American Trucking Associations  revised upward the trucking industry's 2006 fuel costs, projecting motor carriers will spend $98.3 billion on fuel in 2006. 
The revised estimate follows the release today by the Energy Information Administration of an adjustment in its 2006 forecast of the national annual average price of diesel from $2.59 per gallon to $2.70.