Editorial: Good News, Relatively Speaking
This editorial appears in the July 7 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
At a time when good news is in notably short supply, it’s nice to be able to report several positive stories on this week’s front page.
One welcome story is the news that trucking’s report card during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s annual Roadcheck safety blitz was among the strongest on record.
CVSA reported that 23.9% of the 52,345 vehicles that were subjected to the group’s comprehensive reviews — the so-called Level I inspections — were placed out of service, the lowest level recorded in the 21 years the program has been conducted.
This year’s result compares well with 2007’s 24.3% out-of-service rate, and is well below the 34.8% rate recorded in 1991.
CVSA reported that hours-of-service violations were dramatically reduced this year, although a rise in seat-belt violations prevented the rate from falling even more. This year’s driver out-of-service rate for all inspections dipped to 5.3%, from last year’s 6.2%. In the Level I inspections, the driver rate was 4.9%, down from 5.4% in 2007.
“Even though the economy is down and operating costs for fleets are way up, the results demonstrate that the trucking industry continues to put safety first,” Dave Osiecki, American Trucking Associations’ vice president of safety, security and operations, said of the results.
CVSA executive director, Stephen Campbell, said, “It is clear the safety message is being heard and that the increased enforcement presence is making a difference. We appreciate the industry’s continued commitment to make safety its top priority not just during Roadcheck, but throughout the entire year.”
Other positive news included a report from ATA that truck tonnage rose again during May, the seventh straight increase.
ATA said that freight volumes during the month were 3.3% ahead of May 2007 levels. While the increases have been coming against weak months of 2007, it’s still encouraging to see that business is increasing.
And another positive story is that the average price of diesel didn’t rise during June, only the second month this year that it hasn’t.
The big news here is that it could have been worse. Diesel is still selling on average for $1.816 a gallon more than it cost in the comparable week of 2007.
These days we’ll take our good news any way it comes.
