New Trailer Tools Save Fuel, Raise Productivity, Firms Say

By Rip Watson and Neil Abt, Senior Reporters

This story appears in the Oct. 31 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

GRAPEVINE, Texas — Enhancements to trailer productivity were spotlighted recently as suppliers offered several approaches to fleets for improving productivity by either lowering fuel costs or increasing payloads.

Aerofficient LLC presented hinged side fairings and announced an order of 5,000 units from U.S. Xpress Enterprises for the new equipment during American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition here.

ATDynamics Inc. launched a campaign to install 50,000 of its “trailer tails,” while Transtex Composite Inc. and Solus Solutions and Technologies LLC also displayed their series of aerodynamic products for truck trailers.

In addition, Alutrec Inc. said it was introducing an aluminum flatbed trailer that could increase payloads by as much as 5,000 pounds.

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Productivity Rises in Third Quarter

U.S. workers’ productivity increased in the third quarter and labor costs declined, the Labor Department said Thursday.

The 3.1% increase in productivity followed a revised 0.1% dip the previous three months that was previously reported as a 0.7% decline.

Productivity is a measure of how much an employee produces for every hour of work.

Economists had forecast a 3% increase, Bloomberg reported.

Labor costs fell 2.4% after a revised 2.8% gain in the previous quarter that was originally reported as a 3.3% rise.

When worker efficiency improves at a slower pace and labor becomes more expensive, companies may raise prices in order to guard their profits, contributing to more rapid inflation.

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ATA, TCA call on policy makers to increase truck productivity

GRAPEVINE, Texas -- The American Trucking Associations and the Truckload Carriers Association came together at the conclusion of ATA's Management Conference and Exhibition to call on policy makers to allow for increased truck productivity.

"The trucking industry, like any family, sometimes takes a while to reach a consensus, but we're happy that we have been able to bring our respective policies on truck productivity in line," ATA president and CEO Bill Graves said. "It is critical that we petition our elected leaders with one voice and this brings us closer to our industry unity."
"Considering all of the challenges we face as an industry, it should always be our priority to find common ground on as many issues as possible," said TCA president Chris Burruss. "I applaud the leadership of TCA and ATA for finding common ground on this difficult issue."
The ATA Board of Directors voted to add 88,000-lb, five-axle combinations with enhanced braking capability, to its list of preferred productivity improvements. This new component joins 97,000-lb, six-axle combinations and harmonization of longer-combination vehicles on the menu of productivity improvements ATA will advocate for in Washington and state capitals across the country. ATA endorsed increasing truck weight limits to 97,000 lbs in 2006.
Also this week, TCA voted to approve a two-tiered productivity policy of supporting combinations of 88,000 lbs on five axles as well as 97,000 lbs on six axles.
"With possible hours-of-service changes threatening to limit capacity, congestion choking our highways and the driver shortage worsening, we need to find ways to improve our industry's productivity in order to continue delivering the nation's essential goods," said ATA chairman and C.R. England chairman Dan England. "Studies have shown that more productive trucks are safer, more efficient and greener than conventional combinations without causing more wear and tear on our roads, and now that we and TCA have come together on this issue, we're in a better position to continue to make that case to policymakers."
"Given the advances in brake technology, an 88,000-lb, five-axle truck using enhanced brakes will meet federal rules limiting commercial vehicle stopping distance," said TCA chairman Gary Salisbury, president and CEO of Fikes Truck Line. "By amending our policies and compromising, TCA and ATA have set the trucking industry on the road to success."

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