Roemer Report – September 2007

A TRAGIC WAKEUP CALL: The Minnesota bridge collapse is changing a lot of minds about spending priorities. The governor of Minnesota twice vetoed legislation that would have raised the state’s gas tax to pay for transportation needs, but since the I-35W bridge collapse, he’s open to it. The tragedy has focused national attention on the poor condition of the U.S. transportation infrastructure and on the “financial and political neglect they have received in Washington and many state capitals,” a New York Times article reports. Despite historic highs in spending on transportation, money typically goes toward new construction and politically popular projects rather than toward maintenance. The vice president of Taxpayers for Common Sense compared the crumbling infrastructure to a leaky roof. “It would be irresponsible of me to go out to dinner if I couldn’t fix a leak in my roof,” said Steve Ellis. “But that’s essentially what we do. We don’t take care of what we’ve got.” A study released in May found that 83 percent of the infrastructure would not meet the country’s needs over the next 10 years. The federal budget for transportation comes mainly from excise taxes on gasoline, but inflation and fuel efficiency have eroded the 18.4 cent tax since it was set in 1993. Consequently, 14 states have raised the state gas tax 19 times in the last decade. Some states are looking at other sources of income, such as toll roads and congestion pricing initiatives. Typically, however, the money goes toward building new roads rather than upkeep.

COURT TOSSES HOS RULES: Truckers may feel like they’re in a state of limbo since the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit recently eliminated the 34-hour restart and the 11-hour driving limit. (No changes were made to the sleeper-berth provision.) The judge said the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) had failed to follow proper procedures, such as allowing public comment, when issuing the two measures in 2005. The FMCSA said it was “analyzing the decision” to determine its next steps. In a letter to Transportation Secretary Mary Peters, ATA president Bill Graves said “there is no compelling safety reason for these two elements of the rule to be vacated,” noting that the Department of Transportation itself recently released truck-involved fatality figures for 2006 and found that fatalities fell by 4.7 percent, the largest drop in 14 years. Meanwhile, the president of the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) said the judge’s ruling creates an uncertainty that is creating problems. Chris Burruss said carriers will have a more difficult time planning routes and budgeting accurately, and drivers will have a harder time anticipating what their wages will be. But officials at the OOIDA said that the ruling affects the agency, not truckers, and that truckers should continue operating under the 11-hour driving rule and using the 34-hour restart until FMCSA takes some kind of action.

UPS SEES GREEN: Going “green” sounds great, but it’s not so simple. First, there’s the overwhelming variety of choices—hybrid-electric, natural gas, propane, ethanol, and biodiesel—and then there are the upfront costs. Robert Hall, fleet environmental manager for UPS, says the key is to work with government agencies to help cut the costs of going green. “The best way to evaluate new technologies and fuels is to test them in real-life conditions on the road,” he told FleetOwner. “Our goal is to prove the commercial viability of these alternatives, so that the industry can adopt them broadly. Then unit costs can go down for everyone and we can all have a more positive impact on the environment.” Nearly all the green vehicles that UPS is testing are expensive to buy and to refuel. However, they all will save money over the long term. UPS currently spends 4.8 percent of its revenue on fuel, one of the lowest percentages in the industry, but it wants to do even better. In 2004, the company began testing a fuel cell-powered parcel van, which uses hydrogen to produce electricity and emits only water vapor from the tail pipe. The vehicle has accumulated 34,000 miles to date. Hall said that, “Our ultimate goal is to reduce fuel use, emissions, and our impact on the environment so we can operate in a sustainable manner.”

IDENTIFYING RISKY DRIVERS: Since the 1990s, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) has lobbied for a national clearinghouse for positive drug and alcohol testing results of commercial drivers—and it’s not giving up the battle. Between 2 percent and 2.5 percent of the truck driving population tests positive for drugs or alcohol, and that is unacceptable to ATA, said the organization’s president and CEO. Bill Graves said recently at the National Press Club that a clearinghouse of positive test results would ensure that motor carriers are aware during the hiring process of drivers who have tested positive in the past. Graves’ request occurred less than a month after an Arkansas trucker, who admitted to using drugs on the job, was responsible for an accident that killed a woman and her four children. Five states have a drug and alcohol clearinghouse in place, but the ATA believes a better solution would be a national clearinghouse. “The trucking industry is a national industry,” Graves said. “State by state action will result in a patchwork quilt of differing reporting requirements by different people, with different commercial driver licensing actions or outcomes for truck drivers.” Last year, the nation saw the largest drop in traffic deaths (2 percent) in more than a decade. ATA wants the number of deaths to continue to drop and believes a national clearinghouse will help, as will initiatives like universal primary seat belt laws, speed limiters on trucks, and greater enforcement of traffic laws against unsafe driving around heavy trucks.

WHO’S THAT TRUCKER? There are new faces in trucking these days, as carriers look to recruit nontraditional drivers. Who are they? Here’s a look: (1) Baby boomers. This demographic is practically a custom-fit for the trucking profession. Thousands of boomers are tired of their desk jobs and looking for a change of pace and a chance to travel. Others are turning to trucking because they were laid off or are looking at semi-retirement options. Either way, these drivers, typically 50 and over, are considered safer, more dependable, and more aware of their driving limitations than their younger counterparts. (2) Women. Thousands of women took up truck driving during World War II, but as the men returned from war, their numbers fell sharply. Today, those numbers are creeping back up. Last year, there were 182,000 female drivers, making up 5.2 percent of the nation’s 3.5 million truckers. In 1983, women accounted for only 3.5 percent of the country’s drivers. An Indiana carrier says that 13 percent of its drivers are women, and the company is hoping to hire more. “Anecdotal evidence indicates women are more careful and take better care of their equipment, which is good for us,” says the company’s CEO. (3) Team drivers. Older husband-wife teams are also attractive candidates for long-haul trucking companies. Empty-nesters no longer have children at home and are free to travel, and the number of hours they can drive legally doubles, meaning that freight arrives sooner. Some shippers that demand just-in-time deliveries (which cut the need for big inventories and warehousing) pay extra for team drivers.

DRIVER HEALTH LACKING: It’s no secret that truck drivers lack a healthy lifestyle, and now a recent survey only confirms that. Professional Driver’s Medical Depots (PDMD) found that almost two-thirds of drivers polled say their health is poor to fair, and 85 percent cite heart disease and diabetes as their main health concerns. The survey found that 56 percent of drivers said they have difficulty using health care services; 47 percent lack a regular health care provider; and 32 percent received no health care in the last year. According to PDMD, carbon monoxide is the most common on-the-job exposure that contributes to heart disease. Other contributors include sporadic shifts, which lead to disruptions in the natural circadian rhythms, tobacco use or exposure to smoke, lack of exercise, and exposure to temperature extremes. Meanwhile, PDMD’s sleep survey found that 70 percent of drivers are at high risk for developing sleep apnea because of excess weight. The average weight for a male truck driver is 240 pounds.

OPTIMISM PAYS: It turns out that optimists fare better than pessimists in most aspects of life, including school, work, sports, relationships, health, and longevity. In general, optimists get depressed less often, make more money, and have happier marriages than do pessimists. And there’s more: Optimists live longer. A Dutch study on cardiovascular health found that pessimists die sooner of heart disease than optimists, but they also die sooner from just about everything. Optimists, on the other hand, typically find themselves in a loop where their hard work leads to success, which leads to more self-confidence, which leads to a desire to work even harder, which leads to more success, etc. The good news is that you can choose to be an optimist, even if it doesn’t come naturally. Researchers say optimism is 25 percent inherited; the rest is up to you. One way to become more optimistic is to “fake it till you make it.” One study found that participants who acted more assertive and energetic—even if they didn’t feel like it—actually felt happier after the experiment.

Whenever you are asked if you can do a job, tell ’em, “Certainly I can!”
Then get busy and find out how to do it.—Theodore Roosevelt