Monday, December 30, 2002

Venezuela strike: No solution in sight

Due to a nationwide strike aimed at forcing out its president, Venezuela, the world's fifth-largest oil exporter, must import fuel to their own use. As truckers and motorists line up at fueling stations, reports this week say Brazil will ship 520,000 barrels of fuel to Venezuela by the weekend.

The strike, now almost a month old, continues to paralyze Venezuela's petroleum industry, which usually supplies the United States with 14 percent of its oil and is a top supplier of home heating oil to the U.S. The drop of export orders is reportedly depriving Venezuela of $50 million a day in revenue.

According to AP reports, Dominican Republic said it would send food as a partial payment for oil it has received in the past and Colombia may send milk and meat.

Venezuelan labor, business and political leaders launched the strike on Dec. 2 with the intent to topple President Hugo Chavez, a man they blame for the nation's serious state of recession. They want him to resign and have demanded an early election.

Ohio troopers nab trucker after CB threat

Ohio State Highway Patrol troopers stopped a trucker Dec. 22 who was wanted in connection with threats made against the White House via his CB radio. Secret Service agents said Norayr Avetisyan, 27, of Glendale, CA, charged in the Southern District Federal Court in Indiana and is awaiting his initial court appearance at U.S. Federal District Court in Montgomery County.

Ohio troopers made the stop, but the threat was actually made in Indiana. Ohio state police said in a press release that Avetisyan was traveling eastbound on Interstate 70 when he made the threats during a conversation on his CB radio near Indianapolis. Authorities from the Indiana State Police were contacted by a caller using cellular 9-1-1 who provided information that alleged Avetisyan was planning to detonate explosives at the White House that were part of the freight shipment he was transporting.

Sgt. Robin Schmutz, Ohio State Highway Patrol Public Affairs Unit, told Land Line it was not known if the Indiana caller who contacted authorities with this information was a trucker.

"It was someone who heard the threat over the CB," said Sgt. Schmutz, "so it could have very well been another trucker."

All area law enforcement agencies were notified and troopers opened the eastbound scales in Preble County in an attempt to stop Avetisyan. At 1:15 p.m., troopers stopped him at the scales.

"We are obligated to take reports like this seriously and follow through, no matter what," said Schmutz. "In Ohio, we take homeland security very seriously."

Authorities contacted U.S. Secret Service agents and FBI Joint Terrorist Task Force members that later reported to the scene. Avetisyan was incarcerated in the Montgomery County Jail.

-- By Sandi Soendker, managing editor

The DAC files: your prints please

DAC Services is testing a program at the Port of Houston where fingerprints are captured and stored on smart cards to confirm driver ID and to control access to secure terminal areas, the company said.

In a release, DAC said of its TransSecure program: "Access control based upon identity verification is crucial to enhancing security at our nation's seaports."

The effort also includes Maximus and International RAM. DAC is a private company providing employment screening and drug and alcohol testing for the transportation industry.

Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, said DAC's effort duplicates background check requirements at the federal level.

"DAC and its partners are private companies that should not be handling personal information related to truckdrivers entering port areas," Spencer said. "We've made our privacy concerns clear to the Justice Department as it implements its background check requirements, and they have said personal driver information only will be handled by federal officials."

H. Thomas Kornegay, executive director of the Port of Houston Authority, said, "We recognize this is merely a component of a required comprehensive security solution; however, it is an important component, as it gives us the ability to know more and verify who has access to our facility outside of our employees."

DAC has conducted training concluding with user testing and verification of drivers. The procedure at the terminal entrance involves the driver presenting a TranSecure card to security personnel and providing a live fingerprint on a portable biometric reader. A security guard compares the live print with the print template embedded on the TranSecure card to confirm a match before authorizing the driver to enter the area.

--By Dick Larsen, senior editor

Cargo securement final reg effective Dec. 26

The final regulation requiring all interstate commercial motor vehicles to comply with new performance standards for securing cargo went into effect Dec. 26, 2002. However, motor carriers have until Jan. 1, 2004, to fully comply with the new regs. Until then, carriers have the option of complying with the existing or the new set of standards.

In some cases, the changes may require motor carriers to increase the number of tiedowns used to secure certain types of cargoes. However, the regulation generally does not prohibit the use of tiedowns or cargo securement devices currently in use.

The new standards address all types of articles of cargo, except commodities in bulk that lack a fixed shape or structure (sand, gravel, liquids, etc.) that are transported in a device that forms part of the structure of the commercial motor vehicle (hopper, tank, etc.). In general, the standards address cargo placement and restraint; minimum strength of cargo securement devices and systems; how the working load limit of a tiedown is determined; and how to determine the minimum number of tiedowns required.

The new standards also address specific securement requirements for certain commodities including logs, dressed lumber, metal coils, paper rolls, concrete pipe, intermodal containers, automobiles, light trucks and vans, heavy vehicles, equipment and machinery, flattened or crushed vehicles, roll-on/roll-off or hook-lift containers, and large boulders.

Oklahoma sues to keep truck tag fees coming in

Oklahoma has raised the stakes in the battle over base plating, filing suit against the administrator of the International Registration Plan Inc. to block sanctions against the state, The Oklahoma City Oklahoman reported Dec. 20.

The lawsuit, which will be heard before a federal judge in Oklahoma City, was filed to protect more than $16 million in fees the state would lose if the sanctions were put into place, the newspaper reported. Officials of the Oklahoma Tax Commission started the action after being notified other states and all 10 Canadian provinces would withhold truck fees from the state - which fund state government and schools in Oklahoma - after the first of the year.

In April, the IRP's Dispute Resolution Committee ruled that Oklahoma had cheated Illinois out of trucker fees by looking the other way when agents hired by truckers filed false mileage projections to get their clients cheaper tags, Land Line reported in November. The two states were given until November to try to reach a settlement, but the IRP says Oklahoma failed to reach an agreement with Illinois by that date.

The IRP had told Oklahoma that if the state can't prove compliance, other states and provinces would stop sending fees Feb. 7.

Illinois isn't the only state complaining about fiscal losses to the Sooner State. A number of financially strapped states are unhappy over losing money to Oklahoma. They're particularly peeved over Oklahoma's bogus mileage and the scandal within the Oklahoma Tax Commission.

Already, reports have come in that some states are citing Oklahoma base-plated trucks, calling them illegally tagged. Alabama is reportedly ticketing trucks that officials there think are improperly registered in Oklahoma.

Meanwhile, Oklahoma officials say losing the truck tag fees or facing a potentially large judgment would be devastating to the state, The Oklahoman reported, which is already facing budget shortfalls and layoffs.

Oklahoma wants the court to force the other states to keep paying the fees and to declare the IRP's sanctions invalid.

Austin's worry: Mexican trucks get free pass on EPA's 2004 regs

City officials in Austin, TX, say the addition of Mexican trucks won't add much to pollution in the short term, but could significantly worsen air quality if the government fails to regulate Mexican trucks under the Environmental Protection Agency's 2004 pollution rules, the Austin Chronicle reports.

Under EPA's 2004 rules, U.S. diesel engines must run more cleanly by being retrofitted with catalytic converters, and using extra-low sulfur diesel fuel, which is less polluting than standard diesel fuel. Under the current rules, Mexican trucks aren't required to take such emissions-reducing steps.

City Sustainability Officer Fred Blood said Austin recently moved to reduce its emissions through the addition of buses that run on electric power instead of fuel.

"I see the light at the end of the tunnel," he said, "but there's no light at the end of the tunnel regarding Mexican rigs."

Without additional federal action, he added, that tunnel could get awfully smoky.

Meanwhile, environmental, public interest and labor groups have filed an emergency injunction to roll back the Bush administration's Nov. 27 decision that could put Mexican trucks on U.S. roads by the end of the year.

A coalition led by Public Citizen, the Environmental Law Foundation and the International Brotherhood of Teamsters filed suit in federal court requesting the government to comply with the Clean Air Act and other rules. The results of that suit are still pending.

Mexican trucks are typically older than their U.S. counterparts and generate more pollution, partly because they aren't required to comply with U.S. regulations, opponents of the Bush decision say.

Moreover, according to The Los Angeles Times, "CANACAR, the largest Mexican trucking association, [reports that] only 30,000 of the 140,000 trucks it represents meet U.S. safety and environmental standards for hauling cargo north of the border." On the labor side, the Teamsters and California Trucking Association worry that cheaper Mexican hauling services threaten the jobs of American truckers.

The Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association points out that no state government - or the federal government - has the means to enforce compliance with U.S. customs or immigration laws by Mexican trucks, nor will they have the means any time soon.

Shaffer and Sunflower will merge

Shaffer Trucking Inc. of New Kingstown, PA, and its sister company, Sunflower Carriers of York, NE, will merge on Jan. 1. According to the Omaha World-Herald, the two fleets, part of the Acklie Cos., will combine under the Shaffer name.

The Acklie Companies, comprised of Crete Carrier Corporation, Shaffer Trucking, Sunflower Carriers, HTL Truck Line and Hunt Transportation are one of the largest privately held asset-based trucking and logistics companies in the country. Collectively, the Acklie Companies operate more than 5,000 power units and 12,000 trailers including dry vans, reefers and flatbeds serving all 48 states, Canada and Mexico.

The two companies that will merge specialize in refrigerated trailers. They will keep their respective headquarters but will share dispatching responsibilities. Chairman Duane Acklie does not anticipate employment changes.

Diesel prices rise nearly 4 cents

According to figures released by the Energy Department Dec. 23, the national average cost of diesel this week rose to $1.44 from $1.401 per gallon last week. The lowest price nationally is in the Gulf Coast region. Diesel there costs $1.394 per gallon on average.

The highest average prices are in California, where the price is $1.543 per gallon; New England, where fuel is $1.524; the Central Atlantic, where the price is $1.534; and on the West Coast, where the price is $1.506.

The remaining regions' prices per gallon are as follows: East Coast, $1.448; Lower Atlantic, $1.405; Midwest, $1.438; and the Rocky Mountain region, where prices are an average of $1.434 per gallon.

The Department of Energy reports the average price of self-serve fuel each week. Prices are based on a survey of 350 diesel service centers nationwide and include taxes.

Winter storm blamed for 21 deaths

A winter storm, blowing out of the Midwest on Tuesday and sweeping across Pennsylvania, New York and New England, has been blamed for at least 21 deaths. Most of the deaths stemmed from traffic accidents. Since Monday, seven people died in Missouri, four in Oklahoma, three in Kansas, two in New Mexico and Pennsylvania and one each in Illinois, New York and Ohio.

Stretches of major highways were closed and airplanes were grounded. Media reports estimated the number of homes and businesses without power Thursday morning at more than 200,000. The storm dumped snow up to three feet in some areas.

In New York, television stations called the storm the ninth fiercest listed for the area in National Weather Service records dating back to 1884. Portions of the western Catskills reported 15 to 30 inches. Northeast Pennsylvania averaged one to two feet.

According to news reports, at the height of the storm, a 103-mile stretch of the New York State Thruway was shut down between Syracuse and Amsterdam until after midnight because plows couldn't keep up, and parts of three Pennsylvania interstates were also closed.

The edge of the storm brought 9 inches of snow to parts of Michigan. In Cleveland, 10.2 inches of snow fell.

Wanted: Trucking singers, songwriters, comedians

AmeriSearch Music Group Inc. (AMG) has launched its search for talent within the freight transportation industry.

AMG was formed June 2002 in Nashville, TN, to find, develop, produce and distribute new talent from within the trucking industry. The company is the brainchild of three entrepreneurs - Marge Bailey, Steve Tveit and Frank Milstead. Bailey is CEO of DriverFinder.Net, founder/producer of EnCore Showcase and manager of several solo artists and southern bands. Tveit is producer and co-owner of Omni Sound Studios Inc.

Milstead, former owner-operator of Milstead Trucking, now manages and promotes The Paul Anthony Band. The trio is searching for undiscovered talented singers, songwriters and comedic talent.

The company's Web site at http://gearjammerrecords.com explains how to enter the talent searches for possible inclusion on one of AMG's compilation projects showcasing five artists. Songwriters do not have to be associated with the freight transport industry to enter their copyrighted material with AMG for review and possible inclusion.

AMG's first professional release is by accomplished, award-winning artist Kenny Robbins, formerly a trucker with 2 million miles under his belt. Robbins' Greatest Hits Album Vol. 1 will be released for distribution by the end of December 2002.

Robbins has been singing and writing songs, entertaining the truckers across America at large truckstops and shows since 1995. His award-winning greatest hits can be found on the Gear Jammer Records Web site. Robbins is donating 100 percent of the first 1,000 album sales to the Gear Jammer Records' talent search project.

The first talent search audition will be held at the 2003 Mid-America Trucking Show, Louisville, KY, March 20-22, 2003. Tim Young and the promoters of the truck show are sponsoring the main booth, No. 9016 outside at the food court at the south wing main entrance of the Kentucky Expo Center.

The artist entry deadline is Feb. 15, 2003. Artists can sign up at MATS. AMG suggests artist hopefuls contact them as soon as possible by calling (989) 892-8433.

Deadline nears for Goodyear Highway Hero nominations

The deadline for submitting nominations for Goodyear's 20th annual Highway Heroes program is Dec. 31. Last year's award winner, Larry "Scott" Travis, a professional trucker from Albuquerque, NM, saved a woman's life by pulling her from a burning vehicle just before it exploded.

"We know there are many brave professional truckdrivers out there who deserve to be recognized for their selfless and heroic deeds for coming to the aid of others," said Ted Fick, Goodyear's vice president, commercial systems. "However, they can't be recognized if they're not nominated. That's why we need our industry's help - if you know of someone deserving of the award, please take the time to make a nomination. The final deadline is fast approaching - we don't want to leave any deserving driver out of consideration."

Nominations should be made by calling the Goodyear Highway Hero Hotline at (330) 796-8183. The nomination form also is available at www.highwayhero.net. For award consideration, the following necessary criteria must be met:

The nominee must be a full-time truckdriver;

The nominee must reside in the United States or Canada;

The incident must have occurred in the United States or Canada;

The nominee must have been on the job or on the way to or from work, and in his/her rig at the time of the incident;

The nominee's truck, at the time of the incident, must have 14 wheels or more; and

The incident must have occurred between Oct. 1, 2001, and Dec. 15, 2002, to qualify for this year's program.

After the nomination period is closed, winners will be selected from each state and Canadian province. Ultimately, the list will be narrowed to four finalists. These finalists will appear at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, KY, where one of them will be selected to serve as the annual ambassador for the program.

XM Radio announces $450 million financing package

XM Satellite Radio Inc. has announced a set of definitive financing agreements totaling $450 million - consisting of $200 million in new funds from strategic and financial investors and $250 million in payment deferrals and related credit facilities from General Motors.

"With this financing package, we believe we have achieved full funding through cash flow breakeven," said Hugh Panero, XM's president and CEO. "The financing also removes a major roadblock to our company being valued based on its marketplace progress, business plan execution and future economic potential - all of which are exceptional," he added.

Based on sales-to-date and projections through year-end, XM expects to have more than 350,000 radios (both retail and OEM) sold and ready for activation by Dec. 31, 2002. The actual year-end activated subscriber total (sales which have resulted in activations) is expected to be between 340,000-350,000.