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February 17, 2012
Diesel Jumps 8.7¢ to $3.943 a Gallon; Gas Gains for Seventh Time in Eight Weeks Transport Topics 2/14/12
Diesel jumped 8.7 cents to $3.943 a gallon, its fifth increase in six weeks, while gasoline rose for the seventh time in eight weeks, the Department of Energy said Monday.
Gas gained 4.1 cents to $3.523 a gallon, DOE said following its weekly surveys of filling stations.
The diesel increase left it 40.9 cents higher than the same week a year ago, while gasoline is now 38.3 cents over a year ago, DOE records showed.
Diesel - which has risen three straight weeks - has posted a net gain of 16 cents in the past six weeks, following a cumulative drop of 22.7 cents in the previous six weeks.
Gas has risen almost 30 cents in two months of steady increases. Monday marked its third straight gain, each of which was at least 4 cents.
Monday's diesel price is the highest since trucking's main fuel registered $3,964 per gallon on Nov. 28, while gas is at its highest level since it was $3.601 on Sept. 19.
Oil rose $2.24 Monday to finish the trading day at $100.91 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange - the first time crude has closed over $100 since Jan. 19, Bloomberg reported.
Each week, DOE surveys about 350 diesel filling stations to compile a national snapshot average price.
ATA Files Suit on Hours-of-Service Rule Transport Topics 2/14/12
American Trucking Associations asked a federal appeals court on Tuesday to review the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's recently published hours-of-service rule, citing "changed assumptions" by the agency that went into developing the rule.
"We regret that FMCSA and the Obama administration have put ATA and its member companies in a position to take this legal action," ATA President Bill Graves said in a statement.
The HOS rule, released in late December, reduces total driver hours to 70 from 82 per week and requires a 34-hour rest period before drivers start a new workweek. ATA has objected in recent weeks to the 34-hour restart provision and a requirement that drivers take a break no later than eight hours into their driving time.
"The law is clear about what steps FMCSA must undertake to change the rules and we cannot allow this rulemaking, which was fueled by changed assumptions and analyses that do not meet the required legal standards, to remain unchallenged," Graves said.
After the HOS rule was released, several analysts said they expected lawsuits from the trucking industry and/or public safety groups.
FMCSA was sued in 2003, 2006 and 2009 for allowing 11-hour driving shifts, Bloomberg reported. The third suit was settled with an agreement that the agency would redo the rule.
ATA said it would "continue to work with FMCSA to implement rules and programs that are based on sound research," including a mandate for electronic onboard recorders.
The trucking group also said it supports a new government requirement for large trucks to be electronically speed limited and a national maximum speed limit of 65 mph for all vehicles.
Trucking, Railroads Call Truce on Size, Weight Issue in Highway Bill Transport Topics 2/13/12
American Trucking Associations and the Association of American Railroads jointly urged the House of Representatives to approve a proposed highway funding bill, while avoiding attempts to change truck size-and-weight limits provisions contained in the bill.
ATA President Bill Graves and AAR President Edward Hamberger asked House members "to oppose any floor amendments" to the version of the bill that was approved by the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee earlier this month but later failed in a vote by the panel.
In a joint statement, Graves and Hamberger said "the long-term reauthorization of our nation's critical surface transportation programs is necessary and long overdue" and that passage of the bill "is an important step in the process of reaching an agreement of a long-term, fully funded surface transportation bill."
The House had considered a proposal for trucks to run as high as 97,000 pounds, up from the current limit of 80,000 pounds, an idea that was supported by trucking and some shippers' groups, but opposed by railroads.
ATA spokesman Sean McNally said the group was "disappointed we weren't able to see more productivity gains" in the bill, but hopeful the joint agreement would "get us one step closer to passage" of a final bill.
Obama Budget Plan Would Boost Transportation Spending 50% Over Six Years Transport Topics 2/14/12
President Obama's proposed budget would spend $476 billion on transportation over the next six years - a nearly 50% increase over current levels.
The transportation spending plan is contained in the $3.8 trillion Fiscal Year 2013 budget the White House unveiled on Monday.
The plan calls for an immediate $50 billion infusion in spending this year, with about $38.5 billion per year being transferred from the U.S. general fund, offset by "reduced overseas military expenditures," the administration's budget document said, Bloomberg News reported.
Funding for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration would increase 5% to $580 million in 2013, from $554 million in 2012.
FMCSA is struggling to meet deadlines for new regulations on an array of trucking issues such as a rule on electronic onboard recorders, a national registry of certified medical examiners and minimum training requirements for entry level drivers.
Federal Highway Administration funding would increase to $42.6 billion in fiscal 2013, from $39.9 billion in 2012.
National Highway Safety Administration spending would rise to $981 million in 2013, from $800 million in 2012.
The federal Highway Trust Fund, which finances U.S. transportation projects using vehicle-fuel taxes, faces insolvency as soon as October, according to the Congressional Budget Office, Bloomberg said.
The president and some Republicans have ruled out raising the taxes to fill the funding gap, Bloomberg reported.
Transport Industry Fights N.J. Employee-Driver Bills Measures follow failed bids in California to impose local mandates on drivers Journal of Commerce 2/15/12
Industry groups including shippers and trucking companies are urging New Jersey legislators to reject union-backed bills that would require owner-operators hired by drayage and parcel companies to be classified as company employees.
The bills also would allow individuals and unions to file civil damage lawsuits against companies for improper classification of drivers as independent contractors. Similar bills supported by the Teamsters union have been introduced in other states, including California and Washington, where the efforts follow failed attempts in Southern California to impose employee-driver mandates in local regulations.
Sponsors of the New Jersey legislation include Sen. Loretta Weinberg and Assemblymen John Wisniewski, Thomas Giblin and Vincent Prieto. The bills were referred to the labor committees of the state Senate and Assembly.
Twenty-two organizations including the New Jersey Motor Truck Association and business, transportation, warehousing and import-export organizations sent letters to lawmakers urging them to scuttle the bills, which the groups said would handicap the Port of New York and New Jersey.
"Owner-operators in the trucking industry do not wish to be employees. If they did, they would already be working for trucking companies," said the groups, organized as the Coalition Against A1578/S1450.
The Intermodal Association of North America also expressed opposition. It said the bills create "an erroneous presumption that a work arrangement between a motor carrier and an independent contractor providing drayage service automatically establishes an employer-employee relationship."
Such a requirement means a motor carrier that classifies drivers as independent contractors is "guilty until proven innocent," IANA President Joni Casey said in a letter to lawmakers.
Casey also said the New Jersey legislation would be preempted by the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act, which prohibits states from enacting laws or regulations "related to a price, route or service of any motor carrier."
Check out LMS' latest blog, "Intermodal 2012: Full Steam Ahead": http://blog.lmslogistics.com/intermodal-2012-full-steam-ahead
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