Letters to the Editor: Fuel Price Crisis, LTLs, Truck Weights, Hurricane Season
These letters appear in the June 16 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.
Fuel Price Crisis
I would like to comment on a letter in the June 2 edition suggesting that the only way to bring fuel prices down is for truckers to stage protests. (Click here for previous letter.)
I truly believe the trucking industry is grossly underappreciated, not only by the public but also by the government. Something definitely needs to be done about the outrageous price of fuel, which is affecting the trucking industry.
But to ask drivers to shut down for three to seven days is unrealistic and will never happen. This is their livelihood, and no one wants to risk that.
However, if drivers across the country would park their vehicles for a mere 24 hours, it would have an astonishing effect on the nation. I don’t think the general public realizes how much we depend on the trucking industry in all aspects of our daily lives. A 24-hour shut-down would not only affect the general public, but government officials as well.
Michele Deering
Auditor
State of California
Sacramento
I don’t want to hear any more crap about how supply and demand are driving the price of oil through the roof. Just look around: Thousands of trucks are being parked because of diesel prices, airlines are shutting down planes and restricting routes and people are drastically changing their vacation plans. I just read that more than 2 million gallons of fuel was added to inventories. Yet the price of oil continues to rise.
I don’t understand the cowards in the stock market who panic if anything anywhere in the world happens. If oil goes to $150 or higher per barrel, they will be stuck with millions of barrels of oil and no one buying the end product. This has absolutely nothing to do with supply and demand. The oil companies are getting higher profits from less product: They have a win-win situation.
Our economy is suffering severely because of energy costs. The only thing that will solve this crisis is a major shift in our economy. The next few years will prove interesting, as everyone from farmers to oil companies to consumers makes the adjustment to a new world economy.
Randy Holloway
President
Haul-Away Transportation
Middleton, Idaho
American Trucking Associations’ request for a government investigation into a legitimate trading activity — federal oil speculation — will only lead to more government investigations, including into your industry. Speculators, at a minimum, guarantee supply of oil, albeit at higher prices. They also bear the risk/loss when those futures fail, without which would lead to hoarding, waste and shortages of gas and diesel.
Government intrusion into the free market will not produce one drop more of distillates. On the contrary, you waste time and money defending a supply chain that has been hamstrung for drilling and refining domestically for more than 30 years. Couple that with increased regulations and a weakened dollar because of arbitrary lower federal interest rates (thus driving up the cost of world oil), which has led to this mess. Be careful what you ask for — you might get it yourself.
Charlton Wissmueller
Senior Buyer, Transportation Services
Chrysler
Auburn Hills, Mich.
LTLs
This letter is in response to the article about less-than-truckload carriers struggling because capacity and competition “outpace demand” (6-02, p. 3). The article was based on comments made at the recent Wolfe Research Transportation Conference.
I find it somewhat ironic and hypocritical that, as the article reported, Myron Shevell, chairman and CEO of the Shevell Group, said “he also blamed brokers for exacerbating the situation by aggressively pitting fleets against one another, telling investors at the conference, ‘They are destroying this industry.’ ”
I’ve never worked with any of the Shevell Group of companies and, throughout my 30-plus years in this industry, have found that most brokers have a stellar reputation. So where does that leave one of his companies in this mix, Apex Logistics?
In reviewing the Shevell Group of companies’ Web site, it indicates that Apex Logistics not only uses the assets of other Shevell Group companies, e.g., New England Motor Freight, Eastern Freightways and Carrier Industries, but also uses a network of high-quality third-party providers. In the truest form of the word, that is brokerage any way you look at it.
So, is Shevell talking about his own company as one of those brokers “destroying this industry”?
Michael Udermann
Chief Executive Officer
Master’s Logistics
Rosemount, Minn.
Truck Weights
Sen. Susan Collins’ (R-Maine) bill to allow higher truck weights would only be good for the shippers and receivers, not the trucking industry. (Click here for previous story).
Increased weight limits will cost the trucking companies more to haul a 95,000-pound load versus one at 80,000 pounds. There would be an increased cost of fuel, as a truck carrying that much weight would see a decrease in fuel mileage — not to mention that brakes and tires would wear faster, and engines would have more strain on them, causing more wear and tear.
This bill may be good for the shippers and receivers, but it is bad for the trucking industry and I would encourage everyone to attack the bill vigorously.
We have experienced enough interference in our industry already. We don’t need someone giving shippers and receivers ammunition to take advantage of us any more than they already do with low rates. What needs to happen is either for rates to go up — or for someone to take these oil company executives out behind the woodshed and give them a good “whoopin’.”
Michael Allen
President
Promise Land Transport
Murrieta, Calif.
Hurricane Season
My company works with Ventura Transfer Co., which has created a hurricane preparedness list for shippers and transporters that we’d like to share — particularly now that the 2008 hurricane season is officially under way.
If anything positive has come out of major storms such as Hurricane Katrina, it must be the determination to be prepared. Even if you don’t operate in hurricane territory, these rules can be adapted to other natural disasters as well. In fact, you can begin by reviewing all your safety policies, not just for hurricanes. After that:
• Don’t wait for a hurricane warning to be issued before paying attention. Get a hurricane tracking chart and place it in public view. Everyone should be aware of possible danger zones. Assign one person to be in charge of updating the chart.
• Once hurricane season begins, create an emergency plan with your carrier and transloaders. Include possible alternate routes, storage facilities and expanded timelines.
• Check in with all parties to review plan implementation four to five days before beginning transloading or transfer projects.
• If possible, secure forward storage of at least two weeks worth of material.
• Make sure end-users are notified of the possibility of delay because of hurricanes, so they can top off material.
• Make sure you have accurate contact information, including cell-phone numbers, for everyone in the supply chain.
• Establish a customer-forward person who is responsible for coordinating and disseminating information. This person also should be prepared to create emergency customer service centers.
• Put together a plan allowing your carrier to make some decisions on your behalf for delivery and customer service in your absence. This is where having a plan before trouble comes really pays off: Everyone in the supply chain should know what to do.
• As soon as the danger has passed, assess the damage and report your status to interested parties.
• Keep in close touch with your carriers and customers to make sure they are safe.
Kande Hall
President
Grabiner/Hall
Los Angeles
