The Roemer Report On-Line, July, 2004

INITIAL JOBLESS CLAIMS DROP 3,000 TO 344,000: The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits fell by 3,000 to 344,000 for the week ended May 15, stated the government in their weekly report on unemployment benefit applications A tracking device, called the four-week moving average, used by the Labor Department to smooth out changes in volatile week-to-week figures rose by 1,000 to 335,000 from 334,000. The Department also added that the four-week average for continuing jobless claims fell 14,000 to 2.938 million from 2.952 million during the same week. The continuing claims average is at its lowest level since June 2001.

RUSSIAN OIL EXPORTS MAY SLOW IN FUTURE, REPORTS SAY: Growth in crude oil output and exports is expected to stop next year as companies deplete their fields, according to a report out of Russia. Down from the 11% growth last year, Russian oil output will grow only by 7% this year, to 9 million barrels a day, according to one Russian energy official. Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin in his state-of-the-union address called on his energy ministers to expand oil exports. Russia surpassed Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest oil producer last year, though lack of export capability leaves it trailing as an exporter.

TRAFFIC RELATED ACCIDENT AND DEATH TOLL ON THE RISE: A staggering total of 1.2 million people around the world will die in traffic-related accidents this year according to the World Health Organization. In the United States the death toll is projected to be around 43,000, with about 11% of those fatalities coming from truck-related accidents, based on recent history. The world’s two largest makers of commercial vehicles, DaimlerChrysler and AB Volvo, have decided to make safety a hallmark of their marketing campaigns. Officials of both companies told journalists earlier this month that they would be adding new technologies to their new vehicles that would improve safety for all drivers. The official who heads Daimler’s commercial vehicles division, Eckhard Cordes, said, “90% of all accidents can be avoided, provided the new [safety] technologies are introduced on a broad scale.” Systems that could help prevent most rear-end collisions, prevent most rollovers, prevent trucks from running off the road or crossing medians, and detect driver drowsiness before an accident occurs with an alarm, are just a few of the products that Daimler and Volvo officials discussed and demonstrated. The two manufacturers already have introduced some of the safety systems, and will add more to their trucks in the near future. Although most of these safety systems are being rolled out in Europe, the two companies are also major players in the North American market. Daimler owns the Freightliner, Sterling and Western Star brands, while Volvo owns Volvo Trucks North America and Mack Trucks. The only downfall to this seemingly perfect plan is the funding; typically, the manufacturer itself foots the bill for these types of feature; often selling them below cost in order to spark interest. Most likely, these new-aged trucks will be exhibited only if the fleet owners are willing to pay for them. Safety has its price.

FMCSA TO RESTRICT ACESS TO SOME DATA IN SAFESTAT: In response to a report published earlier this year, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration said it planned to restrict access to some data in its SafeStat system. Because of the Feb.13 report by the DOT’s Inspector General, who criticized FMCSA’s SafeStat program for problems with the timeliness and accuracy of the data, the safety agency said it would make changes in the way it collects and analyzes safety data. “By the end of this summer, we will temporarily remove the accident Safety Evaluation Area (SEA) and the overall SafeStat scores from the Web site,” FMCSA Administrator Annette Sandberg wrote. “The delayed receipt of crash report data can skew the overall carrier scoring. We recognize the need for more accurate data.” Due to these issues, the inspector general recommended that the data be used only internally until those problems were repaired. SafeStat is an online data analysis program that FMCSA uses as the basis for initiating truck and bus fleet compliance audits. In order to comply with some of the recommendations, the FMCSA has made plans for upgrading or improving its data collection procedures. “FMCSA shares the OIG’s concern for improved data quality,” Longo said. “In fact, the agency has already implemented, or is in the process of implementing, a number of improvements, which address the recommendations outlined in the report.” Among the changes that Longo highlighted were: an effort to require states, when they apply for enforcement funding, to describe their data collection process and strategies for improvement; expansion of the Commercial Vehicle Analysis Reporting System; and the upcoming publication of a “data quality map on our Web site to help states judge their current data quality.” FMCSA planned to rate data quality on its timeliness, completeness and accuracy of inspection and crash information. In addition, FMCSA has implemented an electronic system for carriers to comment on the way their safety data has been represented. With this new system, “Carriers will be able to access their own Accident SEA and overall SafeStat scores through their standard company safety profiles, sustaining their ability to conduct self-assessments of their safety performance,” Longo said. Raw crash data will remain on the agency’s Web site. The FMCSA felt it necessary to remove the score data from the site until the quality issues were resolved because interested parties, including shippers, insurance underwriters and investors, were using this information to determine a carrier’s reliability and assess its risk level. The agency will continue using the data to initiate fleet compliance audits, even though the score data will no longer be available to the public, and use the scores internally to identify carriers posing the greatest potential safety risk. FMCSA believes it important that the OIG found SafeStat generally calculated scores consistent with its design, and a 1998 study supported the model’s validity.

ONE TRUCKERS OPINION: Have you ever been stuck in a traffic jam? Have you ever had the driver next to you try to cut you off, just to get ahead of you? How much further down the road did these efforts get them? One car or truck length; was it worth the effort to possibly cause an accident? No. Have you ever had anyone dart in front of you without using a signal, almost clipping your bumper? Has anyone ever had someone come on the entrance ramp of the freeway and merge into traffic at 35-40 mph and just linger there? Frustrating isn't it? Not just frustrating, but dangerous, to you, to them, and everyone around when cars and trucks are doing 65-70 mph and have to slow down suddenly. Think about how you drive, think about yourself, your loved ones and your fellow people on this earth. We all want to live to see another beautiful day, don't we? The previous is just a few examples of what happens on the roads of America today. These problems exist for both cars and trucks. I drive for a living, for my family and myself. I do this by choice. Truckers are the backbone of the American life; they are our means of transporting goods from one place to another, so that we may purchase what we want and need. We all work hard to make a living in these fast paced times. Let's all show a little more courtesy to our fellow human beings. Enjoy life!!!

Give the American people a good cause, and there’s nothing they can’t lick.
- John Wayne