Letters: Carriers’ Dilemma, Higher Productivity, Merging Ports

Carriers’ Dilemma

The writer of the letter headlined “Carriers’ Dilemma” in the April 21 Letters to the Editor section (p. 8) risked appearing naïve, but I would echo his sentiments about who unloads a truck and who pays for it, and raise a related concern: Why does the truck delivering a sealed load have to wait while the pallets are broken down and the individual items that constitute the load are checked in?

It’s not uncommon for a load that’s been checked in to be removed and placed in storage before the truck is released by the consignee or for there to be an inexplicable delay in processing the paperwork to give the driver the consignee-signed bill of lading.

To say that the time it takes to be unloaded at grocery and drug store distribution centers is counterproductive is an understatement. Why does the trucking industry, which prides itself on finding and creating new efficiencies, put up with it?

Until the trucking industry is allowed to have bigger and heavier trucks, the surest way to increase truck productivity and driver contentment is to keep the trucks rolling.

Scott Wilbur

Company Driver

Marietta, Ga.

Higher Productivity

I am amazed that the matter of truck weight and size hasn’t been resolved with the use of technology that already exists in the form of 8-axle B-trains [i.e., a tractor pulling two trailers linked by a fifth wheel].

In Canada, Australia, New Zealand, many parts of Western Europe and several of the states between Illinois and New York, these setups are the new go-anywhere unit of choice for many carriers.

Their standard gross vehicle weight of 63,500 kilograms (140,000 pounds) allows a payload between 44,000 kg (97,000 pounds) while managing a respectable return on investment, even when operated in local and regional environments.

The percentage increase in productivity by B-trains over 5-axle, 80,000-pound standard tractor-trailers more than offsets the relatively minor potential for road damage caused by higher weights.

For example, the additional payload of a B-train over a 5-axle unit (97,000 pounds to 46,000 pounds) offers an increase of more than double what a 5-axle unit carries.

And even allowing for the de-creased axle-weight maximums in the U.S. system, a specification of 34,000 pounds for a tandem group and 48,000 pounds for a tridem group still allows for a payload increase of 48,000 pounds overall. In other words, twice the payload for an additional three axles, all controlled by one driver in an extremely operator-friendly format.

Additional benefits include:

• Better braking from three additional axles.

• Excellent maneuverability in tight docking arrangements.

• Better control of exhaust emissions.

Moreover, the decreased tire wear experienced by the judicious use of lift-axles (only when the unit is empty) make tire wear a much more easily controlled problem. In linehaul operations, these advantages are even more pronounced as the operational efficiencies are multiplied.

The time is over for the delaying tactics of more “testing” to be done on these setups — real-world examples are everywhere. I suggest launching several product-specific projects from bulk operations to daily freight. It should then be a fairly straightforward step to determining that the higher weights are no more a concern for the public than the constant pushing-on-maximums that are a daily struggle for 5-axle operators juggling fifth-wheel placement and sliding trailer axles.

From the perspective of the average motorist, the additional braking efficiencies alone are yet more evidence that this is the way to use technology that already exists.

Michael Smith

Fuel Tanker Driver (Retired)

Wheeler Transport

Kamloops, British Columbia

Canada

Merging Ports

The recommendation of merging the port of Long Beach, California, with the Port of Los Angeles by the special commission in the name of competing with other ports of the world is shortsighted and lacks real understanding of an ability to compete (4-21, “Port of Long Beach Rejects Advice to Merge With Port of Los Angeles,” p. 6). These ports do compete with each other, with one port operating like a business and the other operating politically.

Much of this suggestion will move both ports to operate politically, thereby creating more problems than it would cure.

When the Navy was resident between the two ports some years back, there also was a “Free Port” resident between the two. Had the Navy portion been merged into the Free Port area and it operated as a “Free Sovereign Port,” the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach would have had exactly what they needed to become the most productive and efficient ports in the world, with competition between the ports.

Competition always will be more successful in a free and open market environment where best practices, best technologies and true competitive spirit reign free to reflect the best you can be.

Unfortunately, when you merge two entities that reflect different management and administrative characteristics, too much negativity will contaminate the merger, and it will never result in the realities of a free and open market and work environment.

Greg Owen

Head Coach

Ability-Trimodal

Carson, Calif.