Blogs
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Internet images offer a preview of International’s newest truck
Recently, a reader e-mailed us some pictures of a new truck sporting the International logo, which appeared to have been photographed during a covert operation the likes of which you’d expect to see in a James Bond flick. The low-resolution…
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Zero Waste and winning the oil end game
My work has got me very involved in understanding the Zero Waste movement lately — and the zero carbon footprint dimension — and I’ve begun to feel that — with certain qualifications — it offers the philosophical underpinning to solve…
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HDAW Report: Long live the independent garage
I’m in sunny Las Vegas for Heavy-Duty Aftermarket Week, and if you’re in the parts and service business, you really should be here too. My head is beginning to hurt due to all the numbers being bandied about (honestly, it’s…
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How do you deal with trailer snow and ice accumulation?
It’s that time of year again, the first significant snow fall has created havoc on Ontario roads and already the local new stations have begun complaining about snow and ice blowing off the roofs of trailers. It’s an age-old problem…
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Living on the edge of healthy profit margins
When speaking to industry groups this year, I’ve been focusing on what I call the “Four Cs” driving motor carrier fortunes these days. Those four Cs are: Consolidation Complexity Accountability (okay work with me on that one – it does…
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Steampunk — a trend you should know about
This may count as my most frivolous Blog entry ever, but I imagine that quite a few of our readers are engineers or at least people with enthusiasm for various kinds of technology. And what I’m about to write may…
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Dealing with rates: you reap what you sow
Downward pressure on rates is a top concern for motor carriers as we head deeper into the current freight recession. The subject certainly came up during our annual shipper-carrier roundtable earlier this month. I thought Peter Di Tecco, president of…
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Mandatory anti-rollover devices? Why not?
Two years after it stunned the industry by announcing its much ballyhooed position on the mandatory use of speed limiters, the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) was at it again during this year’s convention. This time, the association was endorsing the…
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Bjorn Lomborg and contributing editors on TV
Solid Waste & Recycling magazine contributing editor Usman Valiante — along with contributing editor Clarissa Morawski — recently had the opportunity to appear on TV Ontario’s program “The Agenda with Steve Paikin” to discuss “The Calculus of Going Green.” The…
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Where’s the boldness?
Boldness is a prerequisite for success, whether in life or in business. And it’s the one word that Charles McMillan, a former advisor to prime minister Brian Mulroney and one of the architects of the Free Trade Agreement, believes summarizes…
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Road rage – has it come to this?
“Don’t cause a crash, just bash your dash.” That’s the tag-line for a new product developed by a Vancouver company aimed at combating road rage. The Dash Basher is a polyurethane foam-constructed club that drivers are encouraged to carry with…
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HoS tops list of concerns for US trucking execs
At the American Trucking Associations (ATA) annual management conference in Orlando this morning, the American Transportation Research Institute (ARTI) released the results of an annual survey exploring the most critical issues facing the industry. More than 5,000 trucking industry executives…
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A deeper look at offshore brands and retreading practices
In my last blog I argued that the greatest threat to retreading comes from cheap offshore tires. Our research this year found that 18% of fleet managers and owner/operators are experimenting with the new offshore brands (products such as Double…
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Are offshore tires affecting retreading practices?
One of the first things I learned when I started writing about the transportation industry almost 20 years ago is that retreading is a damn smart strategy. Back then the main concern was with getting the most out of your…
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An emissions-free truck plant – is it possible?
Before anyone seemed overly concerned about the state of our planet, Volvo Group made the environment one of its core values back in 1972. Global emissions standards have pushed the company to develop truck engines that are virtually smog-free. However,…