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Diesel spikes another 4.3 cents to $2.904

Diesel fuel prices are on the rise for the third straight week. The national average price for diesel is up another 4.3 cents per gallon from a week ago to average $2.904 per gallon on Monday, March 8.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration’s latest report, diesel prices are about 85.9 cents per gallon higher than a year ago when diesel was selling for around $2.045 per gallon.

Eight of the nine regions of the country are reporting increases at the pump this past week. Four regions are reporting fuel prices above the $3 mark compared to a week ago. The New England region is the only one reporting a slight decrease of three-tenths of a cent to average $3.015 per gallon from a week ago.

The California region is reporting the highest diesel prices at $3.057 per gallon, an increase of 3.4 cents per gallon from a week ago, while the Midwest region is reporting the lowest prices for fuel at $2.870 per gallon.

Below are the regional price averages for ULSD reported by the Department of Energy. To see a map of the states in each of the listed regions, click here.

East Coast: $2.936
New England: $3.015
Central Atlantic: $3.037
Lower Atlantic: $2.882
Midwest: $2.870
Gulf Coast: $2.873
Rocky Mountain: $2.890
West Coast: $3.003
California: $3.057

Courtesy of LandLine Magazine

OOIDA members can now earn �Restaurant Bucks�

Thanks to TravelCenters of America and Petro Stopping Centers

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) has announced an unprecedented new benefit courtesy of TravelCenters of America and Petro Stopping Centers. “Restaurant Bucks” are now available to active OOIDA members by redeeming a mail-in offer form and enclosing fuel receipts from participating TA and Petro locations.

Active OOIDA members can qualify to receive 25, 50 or 100 “Restaurant Bucks” in correlation with the amount of fuel purchased at participating locations during the months of February, March and April, 2010. “Restaurant Bucks” promotional cards will be issued for fuel purchased during three separate qualifying periods when a mail-in form is sent along with required fuel receipts.

Purchases of 500 to 999 gallons of fuel can qualify to receive 25 “Restaurant Bucks”; purchases of 1,000 to 1,999 gallons qualify for 50; and for 2,000 plus gallons, qualify for 100 “Restaurant Bucks. These cards can be used at any participating TA or Petro full-service restaurant.

It's easy, with three easy steps. Step 1. Fill up at your convenient TA or Petro fuel islands. Step 2. Save your receipts. Step 3. When you have enough volume to earn a prize, send in your receipts and completed mail in form and copies of invoices to OMNI, Attention TA/Petro Restaurant Bucks Promotion, 495 Mansfield Ave., Pittsburgh, PA 15205.

For more information, please visit http://www.tatravelcenters.com/ooida-restaurant-bucks

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is the largest national trade association representing the interests of small-business trucking professionals and professional truck drivers. The Association currently has more than 157,000 members nationwide. OOIDA was established in 1973 and is headquartered in the greater Kansas City, Mo., area.

Great News!

Due to popular demand from fleets, professional drivers, and all of our valued customers, a new group is working to restart IdleAire service.

We hope you will use our proven idle reduction technology to save fuel, reduce emissions and improve your sleep and health.

IdleAire operated 131 locations in 34 states, providing filtered heating and air conditioning, electrical outlets, and a range of communications and entertainment options that allowed long-haul truck drivers to shut down their engines instead of idling for cab comfort during daily rest periods. Over 150,000 professional drivers and more than 1,000 fleets were actively using IdleAire services.

Professional drivers move the vast majority of all products used in the United States and their use of IdleAire played a key part in reducing America’s dependence on foreign oil and improving air quality and health for everyone. Through January 2010, use of IdleAire service contributed to saving over 50 Million gallons of diesel fuel and prevented over 1.1 billion pounds of diesel idling emissions from entering the air. IdleAire also reduced the carbon footprint by preventing over 519,000 metric tons of CO2 from entering the atmosphere.

Source: Idle aire

How Small Loans Help Truckers Comply With New EPA Regulations

Last month, Opportunity Fund helped truckers beat a February deadline to retrofit their truck engines as new EPA emissions standards in California went into effect. Truckers told Opportunity Fund that without loans to cover the retrofitting costs, they would have had to give up trucking or move their business to another state. We’ve made 30 loans to truckers so far. The price tag to clean up their engines amounts to $12,000 – $19,000, well beyond the capacity many of the truckers have to pay with their $30,000-$40,000 annual incomes. In order to help, Opportunity Fund put $1 million in financing on the table to enable truckers to comply with the new regulations by retrofitting their trucks’ engines.

The EPA’s Air Resources Board approved the new truck-engine emissions regulation in December, 2008. Why? California’s cities have some of the worst air quality in the country, especially around the Oakland and Long Beach ports, where thousands of trucks line up and idle each day as they await their next load. Unfortunately, the cost to move goods by truck throughout the state includes significant harm to the state’s citizens: Trucks and buses account for about 30 percent of statewide nitrogen-oxide (greenhouse gas) emissions and 40% of toxic soot emissions. These emissions cause numerous adverse health effects, including increased rates of asthma and about 4,500 premature deaths per year. Under tighter emissions standards, regulators expect to save 9,500 lives and $50 billion in heath care costs savings.

Unfortunately, a well-intended environmental health regulation aimed at improving the state’s future had dire consequences on the economic well-being of the state’s truckers today. As one self-employed trucker who received a loan from us explained, “Pollution comes from trucks, and I support efforts to clean up the environment. But it is very difficult for truckers to pay on our own.” We’re proud to be able to assist in an effort that gets truckers back on the road and improves the environment for these overly polluted communities.

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Ed Note: TriplePundit is a Media sponsor for the upcoming Microfinance USA conference on May 20-21 in San Francsico. The event is put on by Opportunity Fund and will feature speakers such as Maria Shriver and Premal Shah. Excellent speakers, tours of microentrepreneur operations, and a Taste of Microentrepreneurship Cocktail Reception are among the highlights to come. Register now, early bird discount ends March 15th.

Source: TriplePundit

From the Road to the Campaign Trail: Alaskan Owner-Operator Runs For Governor

Operator Runs For Governor
By Diana Britton, Managing Editor

While you'd typically see "Singin' Sam" Little hauling produce in his Kenworth truck between Seattle and Alaska, this spring and summer you might see his truck and trailer out on the campaign trail, as truck driver Little is running for Governor of Alaska on the Republican ticket.

While Little is somewhat of a household name among Alaskan truckers for his song "Kamikaze Trail," which has been featured on the History Channel, he's now trying to make a name for himself in politics.

Getting Into Trucking

Sam's been playing guitar and singing since he was a kid. In 1969, he recalls singing in a gospel tent in California, where he met a girl. That's when he realized he had to get a job.

Over the next 20 years or so, Sam did both driving and singing. His trucking career eventually led to a job with Vic Hoskins Trucking in Washington, hauling produce into Alaska.

Little still contracts with Hoskins, but in 2003, he started his own trucking company, Little Country. He now runs three to four trucks along his Alaska-Washington route. "I've always been independent," he said.

While he's been fortunate these days, Little understands what it's like to be a small business owner. His campaign was born out of the beating this sector has experienced, and he'd like to work to keep projects and cash flow going. "I would like to bring it back to the working people."

The Issues >>>>>>>>>...............

Ex-employee of Kearny trucking company admits $900K fraud

NEWARK — A former employee of a northern New Jersey trucking firm has admitted his role in a scheme that defrauded the company of more than $900,000.

Herbert Rodriguez, 44, of Woodbridge, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Newark to conspiracy to commit mail fraud.

Rodriguez admitted he conspired with a second worker to submit fake vendor invoices to his employer, Kearny-based J.F. Lomma Inc.

Rodriguez obtained hundreds of checks from the company, which he cashed.

Rodriguez faces up to five years in prison and a $250,000 fine at sentencing on June 7.

Source: New Jersey

Billionaire Truck Driver Lindsay Fox

Lindsay Fox's company had its best year ever and helped raise the Australian's worth to $1.5 billion.

The global economic downturn was bad news for most businesses but not for the one belonging to Australian trucking billionaire Lindsay Fox. Suntanned after a Christmas break at his $20 million beach house in Portsea, near Melbourne, Fox responded bluntly to questions about tough times: "No, no, no. It's the best year in the history of the company. Most of our business is FMCG [fast-moving consumer goods], food and beverages, plus we do a lot in the mining sector. Everyone's eating more at home, everyone's drinking, and everybody who's a miner is digging."

The downturn boosted demand for chocolate, ice cream, biscuits and beverages, items that his 5,000 red-and-yellow trucks deliver. (Signs on the backs of all trucks read: "You are now passing another Fox.") Alcohol sales were up 5.9% in Australia last year, good news again for Fox, whose privately held Linfox says it carts a bit more than half of the country's booze. It also moves 5.4 billion liters (1.4 billion gallons) of gas, $51 billion worth of retail products and a million tons of timber a year.

Fox, 72, who dropped out of school at age 16 and bought a secondhand truck, is now worth $1.5 billion, $500 million more than a year ago and enough to rank No. 10 among Australia's 40 Richest. Linfox, which also owns Melbourne's second- and third-biggest airports as well as the Armaguard cash-transport business, has $3 billion in sales, up from less than $2 billion in fiscal 2007. Net profits, which the company does not disclose, are conservatively estimated to be $100 million for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2009. Linfox does claim that ebit, ebitda and free cash were all up about 20% in the past year.>>>>.....................

CTA wants U.S. hazmat fee reconsidered

OTTAWA -- Near the end of February, the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) proposed a fee increase that didn’t sit well with the Canadian Trucking Alliance.

PHMSA, a division of the U.S. Department of Transporation, wanted to increase the registration and fee assessment program for hazmat transporters by as much as $2,000. Carriers, including Canadian companies that haul certain categories and quantities of hazardous materials, could see the annual fee rise to $2,975 (plus a $25 administrative fee) from $975 for registration years beginning in 2010-2011.

The fee increase would go towards funding the national Hazardous Materials Emergency Preparedness (HMEP) grants program.

In a letter to the U.S. DOT, the Canadian Trucking Alliance urged the PHMSA to review the proposed increase. CTA reiterated the importance of funding safety and environmental initiatives such as the HMEP, but questioned the application and level of need for the proposed increase.

“CTA finds it troubling that in the face of federal budget constraints, U.S. agencies are developing a propensity for significant fee hikes to maintain programs on a status quo basis, rather than taking a hard look at programs and determining where cuts to non-essential components can be made,” said CTA president David Bradley.

CTA has further concerns that the fee assigned to large carriers ($25.5 million in gross revenue) is partially based on revenues that are derived from domestic business in Canada that should be completely beyond the reach of the U.S. government.

“This is patently unfair in CTA’s view, and it is our position that the determination of large carrier status should be based solely on revenue earned in the United States to haul hazardous materials,” explained Bradley.

While the public comment period on the proposed fee hike was closed yesterday, CTA continues to monitor this issue as PHMSA works toward a final decision.

Source: Today's Trucking

Goodyear Names Finalists for 27th Highway Hero Award

AKRON, Ohio, March 4 . As finalists for the 27th annual Goodyear North America Highway Hero Award, a Pennsylvania truck driver used his rig as a "roadblock" to stop an out-of-control car; an Arkansas truck driver extinguished a fire and rescued a trapped fellow trucker whose legs were burning after a crash; a Massachusetts truck driver noticed a burning vehicle more than a quarter-mile off the highway on which he was driving, and made an effort to save the unconscious driver; and an Oregon driver who had his own rig struck in a multi-vehicle accident was able to pull one trapped driver from a burning car and contribute to the rescue of two others from another vehicle.

George Lantzy, of Turtle Creek, PA; Jesse Lee Seal, of Alma, AR; Stephen Page, of Gloucester, MA; and Junichi Shimizu, of Gladstone, OR; were named finalists today for trucking's most prestigious award for heroism.

"These four individuals represent the thousands of professional truck drivers who work every day across North America. Each year, this program offers an opportunity for recognition of those who put their lives on the line to help others," said Joseph Copeland, vice president for commercial tire systems for The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company (NYSE: GT).

"This year, our honored truck drivers all risked their own safety to rescue strangers who were in peril. In one case, three people were rescued following a fiery accident, but one of the drivers perished, and our thoughts and prayers go out to this family. Time after time, truck drivers have emerged as bona fide heroes. When motorists have needed help, truck drivers have stopped to help, and put themselves in harm's way," Copeland said.

For the 2009 award, the finalists are:

George Lantzy, of Turtle Creek, PA, a driver for Fubar Trucking. As Lantzy drove his tractor-trailer on Route 22 outside of Weirton, WV, on March 12, 2009, he noticed a car along the highway's shoulder that was slowly drifting into traffic. As he drove closer, he saw an elderly woman slumped over the steering wheel, and realized something was drastically wrong. The car was headed toward a potential accident on the busy highway, so Lantzy made a snap decision to get involved. He maneuvered his rig alongside the car, then drove in front to allow the car to contact the rear of his trailer, thus creating an impromptu roadblock and easing the woman's car away from danger. Once he was able to force the out-of-control car to a standstill, police and paramedics arrived. The driver, who had suffered a heart attack, was transported to a nearby hospital where she made a full recovery following surgery.

Stephen Page, of Gloucester, MA, a driver for Pit Bull Trucking. On July 14, 2009, Page was driving along I-80 near Clearfield, PA, when he spotted a fire in the woods alongside the roadway. He and another driver ran into the woods to find the burning wreckage of a double-unit rig that had gone nearly 1,500 feet off the highway. Upon reaching the driver of the truck, he first believed the driver had not survived, but then realized he had lost consciousness. The cab was getting hotter by the second, and Page and the other driver struggled to remove the victim. Finally, with the help of two more truckers who had stopped, the injured driver was removed before the tractor and trailer were completely destroyed by fire. Page stayed with the injured driver, talking with him as he drifted in and out of consciousness. With severe burns, the man was eventually flown to a hospital. He has a long road to recovery, but is alive, thanks to the lifesaving efforts of Page and others.

Jesse Lee Seal, of Alma, AR, a driver for PDP Unlimited. Early in the morning of Oct. 7, 2009, Seal was driving his 18-wheeler southbound on I-530 near Little Rock, AR, when another truck ahead of him abruptly swerved left, went across the median and the northbound lanes, eventually coming to rest on an opposite embankment. As this happened, the truck lost a fuel tank, which caught fire. Seal quickly stopped his truck, grabbed his fire extinguisher and ran across the lanes to provide assistance. As he passed by, he extinguished the burning fuel tank, then hurried to the disabled truck. Once there, he was able to open the hot door, put out the fire that was burning the driver's legs, and cut the seat belt to remove the injured driver.

Junichi Shimizu, of Gladstone, OR, a driver for Chipman Relocations. As he drove westbound on Highway 12 near Fairfield, CA, on Feb. 20, 2009, Shimizu witnessed a vehicle cross the centerline of the road and strike an automobile in front of his truck. The auto spun into the ditch, and the other vehicle then hit his tractor twice before bursting into flames. Upon coming to a stop, Shimizu called for assistance and then headed to the vehicle that was in flames. Unable to open the driver's side door due to the damage, he told the driver to protect his face and he punched out the glass in order to pull the driver free of the car. Gaining help from another motorist, he was able to free the driver's foot, which was wedged under the dashboard, then carry the driver to safety. Running to the other car, he quickly assessed that the driver was deceased, but there were two injured passengers inside. The passengers were removed, and Shimizu retrieved his fire extinguisher to keep the blaze under control until the local fire department arrived. The three rescued individuals had extensive injuries, but all survived.

Journalists from the trucking industry are now voting on the finalists, who will be featured March 25 at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, KY. One driver will be named the 2009 Goodyear North America Highway Hero at the Truck Writers of North America Annual Banquet and receive a $10,000 U.S. Savings Bond, a plaque and a specially designed ring; the other finalists will receive a $5,000 U.S. Savings Bond and plaque.

Founded by Goodyear in 1983, the Highway Hero program recognizes professional truck drivers and the often unnoticed, life-saving rescues and roadside assistance they provide as their jobs take them across North America.

For more on the program, go to http://www.goodyear.com/truck/news/hero.html.

SOURCE The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company

Closing of Rest Stops Stirs Anger in Arizona

Motorist drove past a sign indicating that the Wickenberg/Hassayampa rest stop along US route 60 is closed in Arizona.

PHOENIX — The people of Arizona kept their upper lips stiff when officials mortgaged off the state’s executive office tower and a “Daily Show” crew rolled into town to chronicle the transaction in mocking tones. They remained calm as lawmakers pondered privatizing death row.

The rest stop on U.S. 60 near Wickenburg, Ariz., is among 13 the state closed in a cost-saving move. Many people are not happy.

But then the state took away their toilets, and residents began to revolt.

“Why don’t they charge a quarter or something?’” said Connie Lucas, who lives in Pine, Ariz., about a two-and-a-half-hour drive from here. “There was one rest stop between here and Phoenix, and we really needed it.”

Arizona has the largest budget gap in the country when measured as a percentage of its overall budget, and the state Department of Transportation was $100 million in the red last fall when it decided to close 13 of the state’s 18 highway rest stops.

But the move has unleashed a torrent of telephone calls and e-mail messages to state lawmakers, newspapers and the Department of Transportation deploring the lost toilets — one of the scores of small indignities among larger hardships that residents of embattled states face as governments scramble to shore up their finances.

“People in this state are mad about this,” said State Representative Daniel Patterson, a Democrat from Tucson who has sponsored a bill that would allow other entities to reopen and maintain the rest stops. “This bill may have the broadest support among members of any bill this year.”

Some residents see something sinister in the closings. Betty L. Roberts, who lives in Sun City, west of Phoenix, said the topic was a hot one among her friends.

“I honestly think they are setting us up because they want to do a tax increase,” Ms. Roberts said. “I think by shutting down things people want, they will give us one.”

Arizona is not alone in singling out toilets. Colorado, Georgia, Vermont and Virginia are among states that have also closed rest stops, though Virginia’s new governor, Robert F. McDonnell, has vowed to reopen 19 stops that closed last year.

“It’s a safety problem, not only for us but car drivers,” said Clayton Boyce, the spokesman for the American Trucking Association, which has fought rest stop closings in Virginia and elsewhere. “We think it is a pretty bad idea.”

The Arizona Transportation Department has suffered an ever-ugly combination of large cuts and unforeseen costs. More than $500 million of the transportation budget was recently diverted to the state’s general fund — a common move among struggling states — and the department has closed 12 field offices, deferred $370 million in highway construction projects and cut 10 percent of its staff.

Further, two winter storms recently battered the north of the state, at a cost of roughly $4 million to the department. The roughly $300,000 a year it cost to operate each rest stop was something the department decided it could no longer manage.

“People think, ‘You just go in and change the toilet paper, don’t you?’ ” said Kevin Biesty, the government relations director for the Transportation Department. “The answer is, no, we have to maintain the water quality, we have do maintenance to the buildings and so on. Some of those places in the middle of nowhere are like their own little cities.”

Mr. Patterson’s bill, which is supported by a majority of legislators, Republicans and Democrats, would allow local governments, American Indian tribes and private groups to pay to keep the rest stops open.

The problem is that most localities in the state are broke, too. Further, federal law prohibits states (including Arizona) with Interstates built after 1956 from privatizing or commercializing their rest areas. “This bill doesn’t really give us any new tools,” Mr. Biesty said.

Gov. Jan Brewer, a Republican, wrote to Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood last month asking that the restriction be rescinded to allow the state more flexibility.

One of the newly closed rest stops is on U.S. 60 near Wickenburg, a little town about 50 miles northwest of here. The stop had served as a bit of a recreation area, too, with picnic tables and educational information about the nearby Hassayampa River, and the life of bats.

“That place was well used,” Bonnie Chapman, a waitress at the Golden Nugget, one of the few restaurants on Wickenburg’s main drag, said of the rest stop. “Locals even used it for picnics.”

The Golden Nugget, not coincidentally, is now a place that sees a few more visitors needing something other than coffee each day.

“It’s a long way to Phoenix from here,” Ms. Chapman said.

Source: The New York Times