Perspective

A question for shippers: Have your carriers asked for rate increases to cover higher fuel costs? If so, how did you react to their request?

When the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration finally launched its Pre-Employment Screening Program in May 2010, it represented a huge leap forward for improving the safety of America’s highways.

Social media are transforming the way America does business, and there’s no reason that shouldn’t include trucking. When it comes to traditional trucking products such as vehicles, systems and components, the development life cycle can be fairly long.

The average price of a gallon of diesel fuel the week of June 6 was 18% higher than it was at the beginning of this year, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, and the June 6 price of that fuel in California was 20% higher.

Large and small carriers increasingly find themselves on opposite sides of a widening gulf when the topic is electronic logging devices — particularly when the issue is whether or not ELDs should be required by government mandate.

Because transportation costs outweigh warehousing costs several times over and continue to rise, most companies think outside that big box called the warehouse when the topic is logistics and concentrate instead on how things get to their destination.

The successful application of just-in-time delivery requires every link of the supply chain to remain unbroken. Trucks and their cargo must arrive within a very precise, predetermined period of time — often only hours before the cargo is needed on the assembly line.

As the price of a barrel of oil stands in excess of $100, we should remember how dependent the trucking industry is on petroleum-derived diesel fuel.

This is a pivotal moment for our nation’s commitment to investing in transportation infrastructure. The Interstate Highway System has been built, but it no longer meets all our needs and is showing its age.

Traditionally, fuel has been second only to drivers as the highest variable expense truckload companies face. Since the price of fuel probably isn’t going down anytime soon, this a good time for carriers interested in future prosperity to review the costs associated with fuel.