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Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Portable Sleep Apnea Monitor Will Make Testing Easier - Source Trucking Info

Portable Sleep Apnea Monitor Will Make Testing Easier

Precision Pulmonary Diagnostics will offer portable monitor testing of sleep apnea in commercial drivers.

The portable monitors provide an alternative to in-lab overnight sleep testing. Instead, drivers can be tested in their trucks or homes.

"Using secure, identity-confirming chain-of-custody technology, PPD's providing of ambulatory sleep testing offers carriers potential savings while having the ability to test their drivers in almost any location: in the cab, at home, or at the terminal," says Dr. Mark Berger, president and chief medical officer for PPD.

According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, sleep apnea affects 28% of commercial drivers, which is about 1.8 million people.

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Friday, January 27, 2012

Spot Freight Index Nails Hat Trick - Source Trucking Today

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December Used Truck Volumes Better than November, but Lag Year-over-Year-Source TruckingInfo

December Used Truck Volumes Better than November, but Lag Year-over-Year

Reported volumes of used Classes 3-8 truck sales improved in December. Volumes were consistent among channels on a sequential basis.

All three segments, auction, retail and wholesale, saw increases compared to November's activity. However, all three segments continued to lag on a year-over-year basis, according to State of the Industry: U.S. Classes 3-8 Used Trucks, published by ACT Research.

"The industry continues to look to improving new truck sales to provide some much needed relief for the used truck inventory shortage," says Steve Tam, ACT vice president, commercial vehicle sector. "Concerning pricing, our expectation remains unchanged. We believe year-over-year pricing growth will continue to slow. Prices will not necessarily fall, but just grow at a slower rate," he added.

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President Obama Talks Alternative Fuel in Las Vegas -Source TruckingInfo


President Obama Talks Alternative Fuel in Las Vegas

On Thursday, President Obama visited a UPS facility in Las Vegas to pitch a plan to boost the nations' use of natural gas.

Obama, who stood in front of two of UPS's Kenworth T800 LNG trucks, proposed tax incentives for companies to buy natural gas trucks, which would in turn help build demand for domestic natural gas supplies.

"We've got a supply of natural gas under our feet that can last America nearly a hundred years," said the president, whose re-election campaign is expected to focus a great deal on U.S. energy. "Developing it could power our cars, our homes, and our factories in a cleaner and cheaper way. The experts believe it could support more than 600,000 jobs by the end of the decade."

The president's stop in Las Vegas is part of a three-day, five-state tour dedicated to speaking about his energy plan. His stops include Iowa, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado and Michigan.

Obama's energy initiatives are similar to those proposed by energy executive and natural-gas advocate T. Boone Pickens, who supports the president's energy package.

"While we can take a victory lap, the work is not done," says Pickens. "It's great to see the president engaging in important and meaningful dialogue on this subject. But proposals are not enacted policies. The pressure needs to remain on. We can't let the special interests do what they've done for 40 years, and that's block a long-term energy plan for America."

Pickens says he will continue to speak out on this subject and call out those working to undermine the agenda.



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Total says Iran tensions won't have big oil price impact - Source Zawya

Total says Iran tensions won't have big oil price impact


PARIS, Jan 27, 2012 (AFP) - Geopolitical tensions over Iran should not have a major impact on oil prices, the head of French oil major TotalTotal said Friday, adding that it was not in Tehran's interest to close the Strait of Hormuz.
"And concerning the price of oil, which is of concern to consumers and our clients, I don't think they should be overly concerned," he added.
"The price of oil is at the moment relatively high, but there is no reason why it should rise on that type of news."

The European Union this week imposed a ban on the Islamic republic's oil imports to be phased in by July 1, with the Iranian parliament considering retaliating with an immediate export ban. Iran, OPEC's second largest producer, has been selling about one-fifth of its crude to EU nations, with Greece, Spain and Italy the top buyers.

The embargo, aimed at dissuading Iran from building a nuclear weapon, could see the major oil exporter react by closing the strategic Strait of Hormuz. The narrow waterway that links the oil-rich Gulf with the Arabian Sea and beyond is crucial to the global economy, as about 40 percent of global oil exports pass through it.
Any blockade of the Strait of Hormuz would send oil prices soaring by more than $30 a barrel, according to an IMF report on Wednesday.
But de Margerie said that by closing the Strait of Hormuz, Iran would also be blocking its own oil exports.

"I don't see why they would block the Strait of Hormuz when they need to get their own ships through," he said.
China is the top importer of Iranian oil.
"They are certainly trying to show they are free and independent, but not provoke a crisis," de Margerie added.
New York's main contract, West Texas Intermediate crude for delivery in March, gained eight cents to $99.78 a barrel in afternoon Asian trading on Friday.
London's main contract, Brent North Sea crude for March delivery was up 31 cents at $111.10.
De Margerie said the high price of oil was due to more than just Iran tensions as several producer countries have run into problems, as well as the general increase in energy prices.
Concerning France, where pump prices are at record highs, de Margerie said the recent slide in the euro against the dollar, in which oil is priced, was mostly to blame.
"The euro has much effect on the price of energy that any geopolitical issue," he said.
map/rl/txw
"The Iranian crisis is a serious subject, but it isn't new," Christophe de Margerie said on French television channel BFM Business from the World Economic Forum in Davos.

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Iran MPs to mull ban on oil exports to Europe

Iran MPs to mull ban on oil exports to Europe


TEHRAN, Jan 26, 2012 (AFP) - Iran's parliament is expected to consider next week a bill to ban oil exports to Europe after the bloc imposed an embargo on oil from the Islamic republic, media quoted deputies as saying Thursday.
Hosseini said that the proposal was likely to be presented on Sunday to the assembly, which would then decide if and when to include it on its agenda.
"If this bill is passed, the government will be forced to stop selling oil to Europe before the actual implementation of their sanctions," he said.

The European Union on Monday slapped an embargo on Iranian oil exports as the West ramped up pressure on Tehran over its controversial nuclear drive and urged it to return to the negotiating table. The Islamic republic, which is already under four rounds of United Nations sanctions, vehemently denies its nuclear programme masks an atomic weapons drive as the West alleges, and insists it is for civilian purposes only.

"The bill seeks to force the government to stop selling oil to Europe before the EU embargo comes into force," another deputy Hassan Ghafourifard who is also member of the energy commission was quoted as saying on the parliament website. EU foreign ministers agreed on an immediate ban on oil imports and a phase-out of existing contracts up to July 1. They also froze the assets of Iran's central bank while ensuring legitimate trade under strict conditions.
The bloc imported some 600,000 barrels per day of Iranian oil in the first 10 months of last year, making it a key market alongside India and China, which has refused to bow to pressure from Washington to dry up Iran's oil revenues.
The new EU sanctions meanwhile would make it even more difficult for Iran to be paid in foreign currency for its oil exports, worth more than 100 billion dollars in 2011.

If the law is passed, "the countries who targetted the Iranian oil will not receive a drop," warned another member of the energy commission, Nasser Soudani, also quoted by the media.
Iran's decision "will lead to higher prices and the Europeans will have to buy their oil more expensively," he said.
fpn/dv
The parliament's energy commission "is finalising a bill to halt oil exports to Europe," the body's spokesman, Emad Hosseini, said in widely reported comments.


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Thursday, January 26, 2012

Drop in euro, pound propels oil prices to record levels - Source Arab News

JEDDAH: The drop in the euro (EUR) and the British pound (GBP) against the US dollar (USD) in recent weeks has propelled oil prices to near record levels in key European currencies. As a result, energy consumers in various parts of the world are now faced with extremely high and potentially unaffordable oil prices, according a report by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Meanwhile, key energy importing emerging markets like Turkey or India are facing near record oil prices as well, as their currencies have weakened precipitously in recent months. Could the DXY continue to strengthen and oil prices go higher?
Energy as a share of GDP
BofA Merrill Lynch report said energy as a share of European GDP is already near the levels witnessed in 2008, suggesting that there is limited room for prices in EUR per barrel to keep on appreciating on a sustained basis in the short-run. Certainly, energy as a share of GDP in Europe is lower today than it was in the 1970s, but continued sovereign credit downgrades may limit the ability of certain countries to keep financing their trade deficit through external financing. It said the current account of weak European sovereigns is highly exposed to high oil prices, highlighting the risks of another round of sovereign debt woes ahead.

Oil bill

Looking back 10 years, Germany's cumulative current account surplus adds up to roughly $1.90 trillion, while the combined cumulative deficit of Italy, France, Spain, Greece and Portugal equates to $1.50 trillion. Most interestingly, oil has moved from 67 percent of the combined deficit of these countries in the 2000-2010 period to being close to 80 percent, suggesting that Germany's export surplus is effectively financing the rest of the euro zone's oil deficit. This means that, at a combined current account of $258 billion in 2011 for these five nations (and with around 80 percent of that being oil net imports), a 10 percent increase in oil prices would increase the current account deficit by around $21 billion.

Supply disruption

A key concern relates to the potential for yet another Middle East/North Africa oil supply disruption arising from a fresh round of sanctions targeted at Iran. Quite worryingly, troubled sovereigns such as Greece, Italy or Spain are all major importers of Iranian oil and Saudi Arabia likely has limited spare capacity to replace these barrels. In effect, Iran is the second largest crude oil supplier to Europe, highlighting its importance to the European economy at this difficult juncture and the potential risks of an embargo.
Europe's recession
BofA Merrill Lynch economists are already projecting a recession in the euro zone in H1, 2012. A round of higher oil prices or even higher oil prices in EUR could deepen Europe's recession. While demand for oil in Europe has been declining at a fast rate in recent months due to the deceleration in economic activity, Europe's oil bill has not due to high energy prices.

Global oil demand

To a large extent, the trend in Europe is also starting to show up in other regions, and that global oil demand growth continues to decelerate across the board. The decline in global oil demand is consistent with a deceleration in the major economic indicators around the world. After all, industrial output in the euro area is as of November about 1.5 percent below its Q3 level and Chinese export growth slowed in December on a weaker euro zone economy.
Libyan oil supplies
One of the saving graces for the oil market has been the return of Libyan oil supplies. Following the end of the civil war, Libyan supplies have been coming back at a faster than expected rate in recent months. Having said that, other countries like Nigeria and Venezuela have struggled to keep output up, limiting the benefits of higher Libyan exports on Atlantic Basin consumers.
Non-OPEC output
According to BofA Merrill Lynch, supply growth outside the organization should also help ease some of the upside pressures on oil prices. Non-OPEC supply growth is expected to increase by 890 thousand bpd in 2012, at almost double the rate of the 20-year average. It said, much of the incremental crude oil will likely come into the Atlantic Basin, potentially impacting Brent more than other markets such as Dubai.
Inventories
Broadly speaking, crude oil inventories in the United States have already started to build in recent weeks, pushing the WTI crude oil curve back into contango. Having said that, this is not true for other regions. In particular, European crude oil stocks remain at the lowest level since Jan 2001. These low inventory levels have naturally lent good support so far to Brent crude oil prices and term structure.
Consumption
A fact that is hard to reconcile with Brent's strong term structure is the mild winter conditions in the Atlantic Basin. BofA Merrill Lynch estimates that warm weather in Europe and North America may have softened demand by 105 thousand bpd in Q4, 2011. It is somewhat surprising that prices have held up so well under such a soft economic and weather picture, highlighting the physical tightness of this market. On the flip side, it is also true that Chinese oil imports have remained very robust in recent months, partly offsetting the weather-induced weakness.
Brent prices
In sum, despite the geopolitical risks, BofA Merrill Lynch still believes that a weakening economy coupled with an increase in supplies will remain the dominant factors in global oil markets. As a result, it continues to see a pullback in Brent crude oil prices toward an average of $102 barrels in H1, 2012. In part, expectations for lower prices are built around BofA Merrill Lynch view that OECD total commercial petroleum stocks will build by 830 thousand bpd in Q2.
Term structure
In turn, higher inventories in Europe should soon start to impact the term structure of the Brent crude oil market. So far, physical tightness has kept spreads going very strong, and June-December differentials remain near 2011 highs. Should Europe enter a deeper recession, oil demand could contract by 700 thousand bpd in 2012. Under that scenario, inventories would likely build very rapidly, negatively impacting the term structure of Brent. In turn, this could potentially translate into lower volatility, as there would be more room to accommodate for positive demand shocks.
© Arab News 2012

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EU agrees oil embargo on Iran

EU agrees oil embargo on Iran

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By Claire Rosemberg
BRUSSELS, Jan 23, 2012 (AFP) - The European Union agreed Monday to slap an embargo on Iran's oil exports as the West ramped up pressure on Tehran's suspect nuclear drive and urged it to return to the negotiating table.
The ministers, who also agreed to toughen sanctions against Syria, are to formally announce the measures against Tehran later Monday.

"Iran continues to defy UN resolutions and enriches uranium to 20 percent, for which there is no civilian explanation," said Britain's Foreign Secretary William Hague as he joined the talks. "It is legitimate for us to increase the pressure on Iran to enter into negotiations with the international community," Hague added.

The compromise agreement, which follows weeks of difficult talks, provides for an immediate ban on importing Iranian crude and a gradual phase-out of existing contracts between now and July 1, diplomats told AFP. Greece's dependence on Iranian oil had been holding up an accord on the timing and conditions of the embargo as the financially strapped nation relies on Iran for more than a third of its imports and had struck preferential financial terms with Tehran.
Greece had initially asked for a transition period of up to a year, or even more, and intensive talks have been going on for weeks to find alternative sources and resolve the issue.
Iran sells around 20 percent of its crude to EU nations, with Greece, Spain and Italy the top buyers.

In the toughest measures yet to reduce Iran's ability to fund a nuclear weapons programme, the EU ministers are set to also target the country's central bank, petrochemicals and gold. The measures come amid heightened concerns of confrontation following reports by the UN atomic agency, the IAEA, that Tehran is inching ever closer to building a nuclear bomb.
The Pentagon announced that US aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln on Sunday passed through the Strait of Hormuz and is now in the Gulf, after Tehran threatened to close the strategic shipping route.
As the West's reaction to Iran's nuclear programme strengthens, Britain's Ministry of Defence said a British Royal Navy frigate and a French vessel had joined the carrier group to sail through the waterway.
The EU has already frozen the assets of 433 firms and 113 individuals, as well as restricting trade and investment in the oil and gas industries.
Also expected are bans on the sale of gold, diamonds and other precious metals to Iran and any delivery of newly minted coins and notes.
The EU imported some 600,000 barrels of Iranian oil per day in the first 10 months of last year, making it a key market alongside India and China, which has refused to bow to pressure from Washington to dry up Iran's oil revenues.
The bloc therefore has been seeking new suppliers able to match the attractive conditions offered by Tehran to Greece. Contacts are underway with Saudi Arabia and hopes are high that Libya can soon increase its production.
Iranian oil accounted for 34.2 percent of Greece's total oil imports, 14.9 percent of Spain's and 12.4 percent of Italy's in the first nine months of last year, according to the latest EU statistics.
With the three nations all in financial difficulties, weeks of talks on an oil embargo stumbled on a deadline for importers to phase out existing contracts.
Britain, France and Germany wanted a total embargo within three months.
Also under discussion has been a request from Italy to allow Iranian companies to continue repaying debts with crude instead of cash, a move which some argue would mean Tehran having less crude to sell on the market.
The freeze on Iran's central bank would be partial "enabling legitimate trade to go ahead", and ensuring there were no obstacles to continued payment of outstanding Iranian debts to Europe.
Germany notably expressed concern over the reimbursement of loans to Iran worth 2.6 billion euros should financial channels be closed.
Meanwhile, global powers involved in negotiations on Iran's nuclear programme are still waiting for a reply to a letter sent to Tehran months ago by EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, her office said Friday.
ccr/co
"There is a political agreement on an oil embargo," said a diplomat speaking on condition of anonymity after early morning talks between ambassadors of the 27 EU nations, held as foreign ministers converged on Brussels for talks.
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Iran says EU oil embargo will fail Source Zawya

Iran says EU oil embargo will fail
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By Mohammad Davari
TEHRAN, Jan 23, 2012 (AFP) - Iran on Monday branded as "unfair" a decision by the European Union to impose an embargo on Iranian oil exports as its lawmakers vowed the ban would neither alter Tehran's nuclear policies nor affect its economy.
The spokesman said the newly adopted punitive measures would not prevent Iran from achieving its "inalienable rights."

The term is frequently used by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and other officials to refer to Tehran's nuclear programme which they say is designed to master only civilian applications of the technology. Western powers suspect Tehran is developing an atomic weapons programme.

The European Union on Monday slapped an embargo on Iranian oil exports as the West ramped up pressure on Tehran over its controversial nuclear drive and urged it to return to the negotiating table. EU foreign ministers agreed on an immediate ban on oil imports and a phase-out of existing contracts up to July 1. They also froze the assets of Iran's central bank while ensuring legitimate trade under strict conditions.
Mehmanparast said that the EU decision was shaped "under the political pressure of the United States," and warned that Tehran would immediately replace any country that turned its back on Iran's vast energy reserves.
The EU sanctions are among some of the toughest actions so far aimed at reducing the Islamic republic's ability to fund its nuclear weapons programme.

Iran sells about 20 percent of its oil to EU nations, in large parts to Greece, Italy and Spain. Iranian lawmakers also downplayed the EU ban.
Ali Adyani, a member of the Iranian parliament's energy commission, said the decision would "only serve some American and European politicians. It will not have any effect on Iran's economy," Fars news agency reported.
Another commission member, Hassan Shabanpour, rejected the sanctions as "propaganda", telling the parliament's website Saudi Arabia would not be able to compensate for Iran's oil exports to Europe.
The measures would cause a "drastic hike in oil prices" across the globe, he warned.
But the impacts of the new sanctions regime are becoming apparent as Iran's currency, the rial, continued a drastic weeks-long drop in value against the dollar on Monday.
The unofficial exchange rate in central Tehran was about 20,500 rials against the dollar during the day, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Although Iran's government insists there is no connection between the rial's slide and new sanctions, some officials have admitted a psychological effect as international sanctions spook ordinary Iranians.
The government has tried to shore up the rial by imposing a lower rate in banks and currency exchange bureaus, while also banning transactions outside of such outlets.
Last week, Iran's central bank banned possession and transactions in foreign currencies, including the dollar, without an official invoice, warning offenders would be prosecuted.
But many exchange bureaus have refused to buy or sell dollars at the imposed rates, thereby prompting along a black market despite police efforts to enforce the ban.
A sudden acceleration in the slide was seen after US President Barack Obama at the end of December signed into law more sanctions hitting the central bank and targeting foreign firms which do business with the Islamic republic.
The new EU sanctions meanwhile would make it even more difficult for Iran, OPEC's second largest producer, to be paid in foreign currency for its oil exports, worth more than 100 billion dollars in 2011.
The currency crisis has provoked a rush for gold and other non-currency assets, with the price of gold coins in Iran rising by 25 percent since January 18.
mod/arp
"The method of threat, pressure and unfair sanctions against a nation that has a strong reason for its approach is doomed to fail," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast said, quoted by the state broadcaster's website.


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Weekly Retail Gasoline Prices, Regular Grade - Source EIA

Weekly Retail Gasoline Prices, Regular Grade, by Week and PADD (Self Service Prices per Gallon, Including Taxes)

Date                              1/9/2012   1/16/2012   1/23/2012
U.S.                                 3.382       3.391       3.389
PADD 1 - East Coast                  3.414       3.431       3.456
PADD 1a - New England                3.463       3.482       3.507
PADD 1b - Central Atlantic           3.440       3.460       3.494
PADD 1c - Lower Atlantic             3.380       3.394       3.412
PADD 2 - Midwest                     3.356       3.362       3.307
PADD 3 - Gulf Coast                  3.200       3.210       3.228
PADD 4 - Rocky Mountain              3.012       3.003       3.012
PADD 5 - West Coast                  3.605       3.607       3.623
PADD 5b - West Coast less CA         3.428       3.447       3.466
California                           3.707       3.700       3.714


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On-Highway Diesel Prices- Source EIA

On-Highway Diesel Prices, by Week and PADD (Self Service Cash Price in Dollars per Gallon, Including Taxes)

Date                              1/9/2012   1/16/2012   1/23/2012
U.S.                                 3.828       3.854       3.848
PADD 1 - East Coast                  3.908       3.943       3.938
PADD 1a - New England                4.029       4.076       4.077
PADD 1b - Central Atlantic           3.996       4.031       4.030
PADD 1c - Lower Atlantic             3.820       3.853       3.843
PADD 2 - Midwest                     3.717       3.746       3.736
PADD 3 - Gulf Coast                  3.750       3.777       3.774
PADD 4 - Rocky Mountain              3.843       3.823       3.817
PADD 5 - West Coast                  4.026       4.037       4.037
PADD 5b - West Coast less CA         3.927       3.945       3.938
California                           4.111       4.116       4.121



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Monday, January 23, 2012

Mercer Embezzler Gets Maximum Sentence - Source HDT

Mercer Embezzler Gets Maximum Sentence

A woman who embezzled more than $1 million from Kentucky-based Mercer Transportation was sentenced to 13 years in prison.

According to published reports, Jennifer Carmichael, who previously pleaded guilty to stealing the money from the trucking company, where she worked as a clerk, also will have to pay $25,000 in restitution and forfeit her car.

Carmichael's family had asked for leniency because of her two children, one of whom has Asperger's syndrome. Her former employer had asked for the maximum sentence. The judge agreed with Mercer, although she will be eligible for parole.

Over a nin-year period, Carmichael wrote hundreds of checks to herself, ranging from small amounts to more than $10,000. In October 2010, the company caught on.

"Carmichael not only bit the hand that fed her, but also ripped out our hearts as well," said Jenny Howard Hill with Mercer Transportation, according to a report on WLKY Louisville's website.

Mercer employees told the judge that the crime raised its insurance premiums and forced changes to its culture.






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The driver shortage is a myth-Source Trucking Info

The driver shortage is a myth
On the Road Blog by Jim Park, Equipment Editor

There are thousands of men and women out there today with a CDL in their pocket no longer working as truck drivers. Why is the industry moaning about a shortage of drivers?

Like any perceived shortage, the tightness in the current labor market exists only in the minds of those unwilling to pay the price of resolving it. In our case, jobs are going begging because the cost of filling the empty seats seems too high. Or, looking at it from the opposite perspective, those the industry would hope to attract are unwilling to work -- again -- for companies that used and abused and took advantage of them for years.

If a fleet can't fill its empty seats, it's because the fleet has more trucks than it needs, or drivers simply do not want to work for that company.

It's like choosing a restaurant. As a diner, you have choices: fast food, nouveau cuisine, meat and potatoes, Indian, Thai, Italian ... Maybe you don't like Thai food. Maybe you got sick the last time you ate at the fast food place. You're a meat and potatoes guy, but you're bored with that. Well, there's that Italian place, but the parking lot is always empty; maybe the food's no good.

If that restaurant sits empty night after night, do you think the owner goes around whining about a shortage of customers? If he did, who'd listen to him? More to the point, would his pleas for more business entice you to try the place?

If that restauranteur wanted to improve his fortunes, he'd offer a more appealing menu, clean up the place, hire some friendly wait staff, and sell the customers on the experience one meal at a time. If he gets it right, his parking lot would soon be full. Then, maybe you'd try the place too.

Drivers have choices as well, and one of them is staying away.

This little rant comes about because of the recent 4th quarter 2011 Business Expectations Survey released by Transport Capital Partners in January. It suggested, among other things, that more and more carriers are starting to think that driver pay needs to rise to $60,000 or more.

Geez. I earned 20% more than that when I left at my last driving job in 1996. But I know drivers who are today making less than $40,000 for 50 weeks of 100 hours or more "on the job." And we wonder why people don't want to be truck drivers? If you're not quick with your math, that works out to eight bucks an hour.

Outdated Pay Structure

As a line in the sand, $60,000 is a good place to start, and to be truthful, plenty of drivers are making that and more today.

But while annual earnings are important, how drivers are paid is as much the reason existing CDL holders and potential new recruits are staying away as what they are paid.

Drivers are paid exactly the same way migrant farm workers are paid: piecework. Rather than fractions of a penny per head of lettuce plucked from the ground, drivers earn a few cents for each mile they travel. When they aren't moving, they aren't earning. It doesn't seem to matter that they remain responsible for the trucks they drive, or that they are away from home and prepared to do their employer's bidding at any time. There's nothing in most pay schemes to compensate for the inevitable irregularities that push the clock up to and past 100 hours a week, while the meter records only miles.

They are required to spend about a quarter of an hour every day inspecting their bosses' truck, uncompensated. They spend countless hours driving around drop-yards looking for trailers and doing paperwork, uncompensated. Hour upon hour is spent waiting around for loads, uncompensated. They are subject to the vagaries of loading dock politics, which can result in day-long delays, often uncompensated. And then they have to fight with payroll over all the miles and hours that were clawed back because customers didn't pay, or because of archaic pay policies.

There's nothing more dehumanizing that having to fight for your pay.

Carriers got away with that back in the days when drivers truly were a dime a dozen. That's no longer the case.

The other regrettable aspect to this is that trucking's current pay structure has bred a culture of noncompliance. There's more incentive to cheat on logs, cut corners on inspections, and push too hard and drive too fast than to take one's time and do the work properly. It's all about turning motion into money.

My last driving job -- at $72,000 for 49 weeks of 60 hours -- paid us for everything we did. We were paid off our tachograph cards. All miles and hours were recorded and all miles and hours were paid. And we weren't paid eight bucks an hour for loading and unloading and 15 bucks and hour for driving. The pay was about the same no matter what we did, so there was no incentive to rush through one to get to the other. If we were delayed at a customer, no big deal. I wasn't going to take home any less because of it.

No driver should have to worry about how much he or she will bring home to their families simply because a customer ordered a load a day early and decided to keep the driver sitting until there was room for the freight.

Anyone on the outside of trucking looking in soon discovers how drivers are paid. Sure, $40,000 might seem appealing if you're making only $18,000 a year behind the counter of a 7-11 store, but sooner or later, the cost of earning that extra $22,000 takes its toll and they pack up and leave. Those people aren't used to stopping the clock when there are no customers in the store.

Folks who work in factories don't punch out and wait in the lunchroom while their machines are repaired. They show up for work prepared to do eight or 10 hours of work, and they expect to go home with eight or 10 hours' pay for their trouble.

Why should trucking get away with anything different?

The UK experience

A few years ago in the United Kingdom, lawmakers all but banned mileage pay, forcing carriers to pay hourly wages or put drivers on salary. A couple of interesting things happened.

Carriers, forced to rationalize their fleet sizes because they could not afford to have drivers earning full wages while the trucks sat around earning nothing, soon found they needed fewer trucks. Those fewer trucks earned more money because of the pressure it put on capacity. Shippers soon realized that inefficiency would cost them dearly, and they suddenly started getting trucks loaded and unloaded a lot more promptly.

I'd like to think electronic logs will bring drivers closer to how I was paid back in the mid-'90s. Those things record everything a driver does, and drivers should -- must -- be paid for everything they do, even if it's waiting for a tire repair truck or a recalcitrant shipper.

Trucking can no longer afford to download all of its problems and inefficiencies to the driver. There aren't enough of them anymore willing to put up with that way of doing business. Many have already passed judgment on trucking and they have done so with their feet.

But at the end of the day, pay is only part of the problem. Check out the next installment of my blog in about a week, where I'll wax philosophic about the culture of culpability and why it retards meaningful improvements in safety and driver recruiting.



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Transportation Intermediaries Association Announces Convention Details - Source Trucking Info

Transportation Intermediaries Association Announces Convention Details

The Transportation Intermediaries Association will hold its 34th annual convention and trade show March 21-24 at the Grand Hyatt in San Antonio, Texas.

Seminars and workshops will focus on providing solutions and strategies for the challenges the face the third party logistics industry.

"TIA's meeting is designed to help the industry's leading 3PLs recognize the changes necessary to grow and prosper," says Robert Voltmann, TIA's president and CEO.

The keynote speaker for the event is Frank Miles, a professional speaker and entertainer whose keynote presentation is entitled "Laugh at Fear."

Networking events will include a 5K run/3K walk, a golf outing and the chairman's reception and award dinner. There will be three pre-convention seminars, and during the convention there will be 16 educational sessions in 4 tracks.

More information on the convention is available at tianet.org/conv12.


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Spot Freight Index Hits Third Year of Year-Over-Year Increases - Source Trucking Today

Spot Freight Index Hits Third Year of Year-Over-Year Increases

TransCore's North American Freight Index was up 11% in December compared to the same month in 2010. This is the third consecutive year of increases in same-month spot market freight volume, which has reached the highest level since 2005.

Compared to November, spot market freight volume slipped 18%. It is typical for spot market freight volume to decline in December. This year's dip was slightly above the 10-year average of 14%, partly because November's volume was stronger than seasonal norms.

Truckload freight rates likewise increased year-over-year on the spot market for all equipment types. When compared to November, rates declined for refrigerated and dry vans in December but flatbed rates remained stable, as a national average.

For dry vans, rates rose 5.5% compared to December 2010, and slipped 0.7% compared to November. Refrigerated van rates rose 4.1% year-over-year but fell 2.5% month-over-month. Flatbed rates increased 5.7% compared to the same month in 2010, but remained unchanged in the most recent 31 days.

These rates are derived from TransCore's Truckload Rate Index, and do not include fuel surcharges. Spot market rates are paid by brokers and 3PLs to the carrier.

Looking ahead to February, the best combination of relatively high freight volume and a favorable ratio of outbound loads are expected to emerge in Ohio, Illinois, Georgia, Indiana, Wisconsin and Tennessee.

Intermediaries and carriers across North America list more than 60 million loads and trucks per year across a variety of services feeding TransCore's DAT Network, including Link Logistics, the company's Canadian subsidiary. As a result of this high volume, TransCore's North American Freight Index is representative of the ups and downs in North American spot market freight movement.



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Exporting Natural Gas Could Mean Higher Prices - Source Trucking Today

Exporting Natural Gas Could Mean Higher Prices

There's been a lot of interest in natural gas as an alternative fuel for some types of trucking, largely because of its attractive price compared to diesel. But a study released by the U.S. Department of Energy says if natural gas exports continue to increase, it could cause prices here in the U.S. to rise by between 36% and 54% by 2018.

Some companies are seeking permits to ship liquefied natural gas overseas. After Cheniere Energy got a permit last May to ship gas from its Sabine Pass facility in Louisiana, manufacturers using natural gas, led by the Washington-based Industrial Energy Consumers of America, complained that sales to foreign countries may raise prices at home.

The EIA report is a response to an August 2011 request from the Department of Energy's Office of Fossil Energy for an analysis of "the impact of increased domestic natural gas demand, as exports."

The report found that with expected exports of 12 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day (bcf/day)-the amount of capacity companies have already applied to export-domestic natural gas prices could rise around 24% to 57% above baseline levels, depending on how quickly exports are ramped up and assumptions regarding the U.S. shale gas resource base.

U.S. natural-gas prices are at record lows. In face, Chesapeake Energy Corp., the second-largest U.S. natural-gas producer, will cut output and idle drilling rigs, reports BusinessWeek.

However, even without the exports, natural gas prices will increase under all scenarios considered by the DOE's Energy Information Administration.

"Rapid increases in export levels lead to large initial price increases that moderate somewhat in a few years," the agency said in the report. "Slower increases in export levels lead to more gradual price increases but eventually produce higher average prices during the decade between 2025 and 2035."

The Industrial Energy Consumers of America, which is against the exporting of natural gas, applauded the report. "It would be irresponsible for the DOE to approve export applications without first doing an economic analysis of the impact, but in fact, that is what has occurred," it said, noting that the law does not require the DOE to conduct a study on each export application to determine its impact to natural gas and electricity prices or the economy. It says The Natural Gas Act of 1938 never anticipated that the U.S. would potentially export natural gas.

LNG exports also were criticized by congressional Democrats, including Rep. Ed Markey of Massachusetts, the Ranking Member of the Natural Resources Committee and a senior member of the Energy and Commerce Committee, and Sen. Ron Wyden of Oregon.

The recent shale gas boom has led to the highest level of domestic natural gas production in U.S. history, notes Markey in a press release. The Department of Energy has already approved one application to export 2.2 billion cubic feet per day of natural gas and is now reviewing applications for seven more facilities. If all eight projects go forward, the total amount exported would equal about 18% of the natural gas currently consumed in the United States, according to analysis of data provided by DOE to the Democratic staff of the House Natural Resources Committee.

Rep. Markey sent a letter to Energy Secretary Steven Chu expressing concern about the impact of natural gas exports on American consumers and businesses and questioned the Energy Secretary about his department's review of natural gas export applications.



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Thursday, January 19, 2012

Warning! Dangerous Lack of Support for Hazmat Professionals Ahead - Source Inbound Logistics

It is often said that dangerous goods handling compliance becomes an issue only when a non-compliant situation is discovered. The better dangerous goods professionals perform, the less necessary they appear.
Lack of recognition for dangerous goods management professionals' contributions, increasingly complex global transportation regulations, and insufficient career development opportunities may prevent the most qualified management candidates from pursuing careers in dangerous goods transportation.
To encourage interest in the hazardous materials/dangerous goods field, industry associations and partner organizations are introducing initiatives such as the Council on Safe Transportation of Hazardous Articles' "Blueprint for Success: Enhancing the Image of the Hazardous Materials/Dangerous Goods Professional."
This initiative aims to elevate the business community's perception of dangerous goods professionals to help them gain career security and opportunities. Blueprint for Success promotes the following core objectives:
  • Develop key partnerships with regulators and other organizations domestically and internationally to coordinate and form new programs and resources for hazardous materials/dangerous goods professionals.
  • Work with existing programs and associations to design or expand professional development curriculum to evolve careers in hazmat transportation.
  • Stimulate awareness and influence regarding the value of the hazardous materials/dangerous goods transportation compliance profession among senior decision-making executives at corporations, associations, and within regulatory bodies.
  • Increase public awareness of the value the profession provides.

Promoting Top Talent

Transportation safety, especially where dangerous goods are concerned, demands highly qualified participants throughout the transportation chain. National and international legislation is currently imposing more stringent and severe requirements for training personnel engaged in dangerous goods operations. And, the amount of information and knowledge required from these specialists is constantly growing.
It can be challenging, however, for commercial companies and government entities to find the right personnel to comply with all the industry's requirements. Some countries suffer from an acute shortage of hazmat professionals, as worthy candidates are not attracted by career prospects in the dangerous goods field and seek employment elsewhere.
Industry associations are continuing to work with individuals, companies, schools, colleges, universities, and the regulatory community to heighten awareness of the critical function hazmat professionals perform in the global business community.
Proactive initiatives such as the Blueprint for Success are essential elements of promoting the safe transportation of regulated hazardous materials by all modes.

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Temp-Controlled Food Transport: Safe Travels - Source Inbound Logistics

Prompted by new FDA regulations, shippers examine food transportation and distribution safety procedures.
"We need to look at the food system as a whole, be clear about the food safety responsibility of all participants, and strengthen accountability for prevention throughout the entire food system—domestically and internationally." That's the statement Dr. Margaret A. Hamburg, commissioner of food and drugs, made the day before President Barack Obama signed into law the Food and Drug Administration's Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA). Hamburg was referring to the entire food supply chain, including its new transportation rules.
The FSMA took a rocky journey through the U.S. Congress, but now that it has passed, it sets a mandate for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to require comprehensive, service-based, preventive controls across the food chain. These controls cover safe production and harvest, the facilities used to store and process food, and the transportation system that handles products along the supply chain.
For food shippers, complying with the FSMA means more inspections, recordkeeping, and testing. It also gives the FDA greater authority to act—including issuing mandatory recalls if a company does not respond to a voluntary recall request.
Before the new law gave the FDA authority to require a recall, food companies typically recalled much more of a product than was actually affected, or even suspect, in an effort to ensure safety, notes Jon Eisen, senior vice president, government relations for the International Food Distributors Association (IFDA), a trade organization of foodservice distributors serving operations throughout the United States, Canada, and other countries.
In recent disease outbreaks resulting from contaminated food, determining the source of the contamination has been difficult, Eisen says. In one case, for example, tomatoes were recalled, but authorities later determined that tomatoes did not cause the outbreak.
Other challenges impede determining a foodborne disease outbreak's cause. For example, even if the FDA knows the source of the contaminated food, the problem could have occurred in a field that has already been harvested. And a blanket recall statement could cause consumers to avoid all products in that class—say, not buying spinach because a specific crop is suspected as the source of an outbreak.
Responding to an advance notice of proposed rulemaking for the Sanitary Food Transportation Act (SFTA), IFDA points out that "foodservice distributors have been primarily regulated by current Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) contained in Title 21 of the Code of Federal Regulations."
During a revision of the GMP regulations, specific provision was made for warehousing and distribution: "Storage and transportation of finished food shall be under conditions that will protect food against physical, chemical, and microbial contamination, as well as against deterioration of the food and the container," IFDA notes.
However, the SFTA requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to "issue regulations setting forth sanitary transportation practices to be followed by shippers, motor vehicle or rail carriers, receivers, and others engaged in food transport."
That broad-brush language sweeps in not only the food distributors represented by IFDA, but also any shipper, consignee, carrier, warehouse, or third-party logistics provider.
Buried deep in the SFTA's history is the fact that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) was originally assigned the task of inspecting food safety during transportation. Because food inspection fell outside DOT's expertise, that responsibility was eventually shifted to the FDA, which had the opposite problem.
Although it possessed the knowledge and mechanisms for inspecting food safety in the field and in facilities, the FDA did not have transportation expertise. As a result, little has happened in food transport, aside from the industry itself providing better controls and visibility. And now, HHS, the agency over the FDA, is being directed to develop safe practices for food transportation and distribution.
IFDA has been vocal about the rigor the food industry already applies to these functions. "Further rulemaking developments in this area should refrain from overly prescriptive regulatory language, which would be inappropriate because of both over-breadth and under-inclusiveness," it cautioned in comments concerning SFTA.
"Many procedures employed by foodservice distributors are mandated by customer specification," says IFDA. "For example, if one or more customers require that frozen products be delivered at no greater than -10°F, and fresh perishables be delivered at no greater than 38°F, foodservice distributors will adjust their practices to comply with these requirements."
Further describing how best practices regulate the industry, IFDA says, "Sophisticated foodservice operators will present distributors with exhaustive sets of product storage and delivery specifications, as well as require their own or third-party audits."
At this point, the effort is not to stave off regulation—the Food Safety Modernization Act is already law. The effort is to encourage collaborative efforts from the public and private sector to ensure safety while avoiding overly restrictive requirements.
Regarding increased FDA inspections, "Inspection as to the condition and functioning of outbound trailers is part of any master sanitation schedule," the IFDA points out. 'The reasons for this are simple: maintenance of the cold chain is an essential part of ensuring not only compliance with Good Manufacturing Practices under 21 C.F.R. § 110.93, but product quality and cost containment as well.
"The essential principle is that a foodservice distributor will not accept an out-of-specification product inbound, and will not send product outbound if the conveyance is not operating in accordance with the customer's specifications," the trade group adds.

One Up, One Down

Traceability is the tougher issue that may result from the mandate for sanitary transportation rules. Doug Sibila, CEO of Peoples Services Inc. and a member of third-party industry group the International Warehouse Logistics Association's (IWLA) government affairs committee, says IWLA has been out ahead of the traceability issue and recall requirements.
On the recall issue, he says, the government initially wanted anyone who touched a product to be responsible for a recall if something was amiss. The third-party industry has held that it does not own the goods under its care. Rather, a condition of bailment (one party gives property to another party for safekeeping) exists where possession or control, but not ownership, of the item is transferred. The bailment condition ceases when the agreed purpose for the bailment has been completed and the goods are returned to the bailor or disposed of according to the bailor's instructions.
For a food warehouse, the bailment exists for the storage of the goods, and essentially ends when the owner of the goods directs them to be delivered to a customer. That much may be clear and can keep the third party out of the recall requirement, except as it acts at the direction of its customer to collect, store, or transport recalled food items.
But as government agencies look for better visibility and traceability of adulterated food, current laws limit how far they can require traceability. And that is one level up and one level down the supply chain, under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetics (FD&C) Act.
The FDA spells it out: "Persons who are required to submit a facility registration under the FD&C Act are the owner, operator, or agent in charge of a domestic or foreign facility engaged in manufacturing, processing, packing, or holding food for consumption in the United States."
This levies a reporting requirement on those "responsible parties" under the Reportable Food Registry in cases where there is "a reasonable probability that the use of, or exposure to, such [adulterated] article of food will cause serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals."
In addition to reporting the situation to the FDA, the responsible party also notifies the immediate previous source(s) and/or immediate subsequent recipient(s) of the article of food. Each level of "responsible party" that receives such notification, in turn, reports and notifies under the same terms, taking the process completely up and down the supply chain.
Currently, industry sources believe the one-up, one-down requirement under the FD&C Act also governs the Sanitary Food Transportation Act.
In the current notification scheme, a responsible party may be called upon to communicate a suspected problem with multiple sources and/or multiple recipients—especially in the case of mixed product loads.
How far sanitary transport rules might go is difficult to say. A facility receiving moldy or foul-smelling produce would likely reject the load and notify its supplier, and possibly the carrier, to initiate a claim. Does that constitute a reportable food under FDA guidelines?
If a load arrives that should be refrigerated to 38°F, but the trailer doesn't feel cold when the dock worker enters, is that enough to require reporting and notifications under the yet-to-be-determined sanitary transportation rules?
In both cases, the problem could be limited to a single load, and the situation is contained when the suspect food is removed from the food chain. A one-up notification helps identify whether the problem extends to an entire lot of multiple shipments or is limited to a single trailer load. And, with the use of technology that is already required for commercial vehicles, that determination could be made quickly.
The same onboard recorders that register vehicle duty cycles and driver records can add data collection from temperature sensors monitoring the load. When a visible problem is detected at the receiving dock, those records could be polled to determine whether the whole load was subjected to unsafe temperature ranges for prolonged periods.
The situation changes slightly if there is no visible cue to examine the load more closely. If the refrigeration unit operation was interrupted but is running when the load is delivered, it may not be apparent that there could be a problem. That information would come from the data record contained in the onboard recorder, and it may only become visible when the carrier retrieves the data.
If the sanitary food transportation rules mirror those already in place for food safety, the carrier becomes the "responsible party" required to notify one up and one down the supply chain of the possible problem.
The food industry has been urging the FDA not to create excessively restrictive or redundant rules as it meets its statutory requirement to develop safety regulations. Parallel developments in driver safety and compliance, industry best practices, and the economic need to improve productivity and reduce waste have come together to provide a nearly complete solution for food safety, just when the responsible regulatory agency is looking for answers.



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Wednesday, January 18, 2012

TCP National Survey Shows Driver Shortage Continues - Source Trucking Today

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Billionaire Bridge Owner Sent to the Brig - Source Today's Trucking

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Diesel and Gas See Slight Gains, Crude Prices Rise 2% - Source Trucking Info

Diesel and Gas See Slight Gains, Crude Prices Rise 2%

U.S. diesel prices are up slightly from last week at less than 3 cents more per gallon, to $3.854. Gas prices for the nation are up by less than half a cent to $3.39. Both diesel and gas prices have risen slightly since the beginning of January, from $3.783 for diesel and $3.299 for gas.

The only drop in prices, for both diesel and gas, was in the Rocky Mountains, where diesel dropped 2 cents and gas prices dropped by less than a cent.

The highest diesel prices were seen in California, at $4.116; the lowest in the Midwest at $3.746. The national average is 44.7 cents per gallon higher than a year ago.

Light, sweet crude for February delivery went up 2% to $100.71 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude on the ICE futures exchange recently traded up 10 cents, or 0.1% to $111.44 a barrel.

The rise in crude prices is attributed to the promise of an Iranian oil embargo in Europe and economic growth in China.

The world's second-largest crude consumer, China's economy grew 8.9% in the fourth quarter, which helped ease concerns about an oil demand slowdown. Although the figure was smaller than a year ago, it was higher than the expectations of analysts and remains well above rates in the U.S. and Europe.



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Survey: Driver Pay Needs to be North of $60K-Source Trucking Info

Survey: Driver Pay Needs to be North of $60K

A survey of fleets shows that even though the number of unseated trucks is down slightly, more carriers are thinking that driver pay needs to be more than $60,000.

The recent 4th quarter 2011 Business Expectations Survey by Transport Capital Partners shows slight favorable moves since August. Almost 30% of the carriers indicate they have no unseated trucks, up slightly from last quarter. But this means 70% of the carriers are experiencing unseated trucks.

The number reporting unseated trucks in the 6-10% category rose from 10% to 18%, while the number reporting more than 10% unseated fell from 8% to less than 1%.

"Carriers are aggressively recruiting and are opening more training slots, while the lack of extension of unemployment benefits is potentially encouraging people to seek jobs and training," says Richard Mikes, TCP partner and study leader.

A larger number of small carriers (under $25 million in revenue) than large carriers reported zero unseated trucks (33% vs. 28%).

"An anomaly still exists with the 8.5% unemployment rate which has particularly impacted the construction industry, a historical driver source, but drivers are still scarce," said Lana Batts, TCP partner.

There has been a significant shift since May in the wage expectation of what the annual wage must be to attract and retain drivers, says TCP. According to the survey, 65% of the carriers now believe that wages must be more than $60,000, up from 49% in May.

In general, TCP found, smaller carriers see lower wage levels required than that of larger carriersâ€Â¦ 28% of the larger carriers think wages must be at least over $70,000 compared with only 8% of the smaller carriers. "Should the larger carriers prevail in increasing wages, the rate of driver turnover and unseated trucks for smaller carriers will surely increase," says the survey report.

"Shippers and brokers are reporting that trucks have been harder to secure, and while rates have risen, carriers still tell us that ROI is not adequate nor keeping pace with costs," Batts notes.

Mikes and Batts note that the stronger than expected end to 2011 brings ongoing challenges in 2012 to keep up and secure adequate rates to cover costs, with balance being the keyword for 2012: balancing trucks with loads, balancing rates with costs, balancing the scarce supply of drivers to man the trucks, and balancing the replacement of an aging fleet with adequate returns on newer more expensive trucks.



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23 traits of good leaders -Source Career Builder

23 traits of good leaders

 

Rachel Farrell, Special to CareerBuilder.com



Leadership is one of those nebulous terms -- you hear it all the time but it has various definitions. The traits that make up a good leader can vary depending on the organization, team, manager and work environment.
Leadership can also vary in style -- are you someone who dictates the group and doesn't listen to anyone else's opinion? Or do you lead with a more bureaucratic or democratic style?
"Every leader has a particular style of leadership that is innate. However, the behaviors, attitudes or methods of delivery that are effective for one staff member may in fact be counterproductive for another," says Michael Burke, account supervisor, MSR Communications, a public relations firm. "Great leaders are aware of their own style and make the effort to learn how their style actually comes across to their team. They learn to flex their leadership style to individual team members so that they communicate and behave in ways that motivate and inspire."
Here is what five leadership professionals consider to be traits that make up a good leader:
Rachael Fisher-Layne, vice president of media relations, JCPR, a public relations agency
1. Honesty. Always do the honest thing. It makes employees feel like they know where they stand with you at all times.

2. Focus. Know where you're going and have a strong stated mission to lead people on. If you're not sure, how can your people be sure? You have to have strong focus and stay the course.

3. Passion. Whatever it is, you must have passion for what you're doing. Live, breathe, eat and sleep your mission.

4. Respect. Not playing favorites with people and treating all people -- no matter what station in life, what class or what rank in the org chart -- the same.

5. Excellent persuasion abilities. People have to believe in you and your credibility. Image is everything and the belief people have in you, your product, your mission, your facts or your reputation are key to being a great leader. You have to persuade people of this -- it doesn't just happen.
Darcy Eikenberg, a leadership and workplace coach, Red Cape Revolution
1. Confidence. If you don't believe in yourself, no one will. I hear leaders worrying that if they show too much confidence, others will think them arrogant. The reality is people want to know what you know for sure -- and what you don't. Having the confidence to say "I don't know" is a powerful skill.

2. Clarity. The only way you can get confidence is by becoming really, really clear about who you are and what is most important to you. New leaders fail when they try to become all things to all people, or try to do too much out of their area of excellence. Clarity helps you say "yes" to the right things -- and "no" to others.

3. Care. The strongest, most effective leaders I've met care not just about the business, but about the people in it and the people impacted by it. Plus, they show they care through their words and actions, even proving how they care for themselves and their family by taking unplugged vacations and continuing their own professional development. Care shouldn't be a four-letter word in our workplace today -- and the best leaders know it.
Tom Armour, co-founder, High Return Selection, a recruitment firm
1. Integrity. They are people who are respected and worth listening to. I find in general due to all of the economic difficulties, employees prioritize and seek leaders and organizations that are honest and meet their commitments.

2. Compassion. Too many leaders these days manage with the balance sheet, often times at the expense of their employees and long-term customer relationships. Talented people want to work for leaders and organizations that truly care about their employees and the communities in which they operate.

3. Shared vision and actions. People produce real business gains and smart people need to understand what is needed and be part of the solution.

4. Engagement. Great business leaders are able to get all members of their teams engaged. They do this by offering them challenge, seeking their ideas and contributions and providing them with recognition for their contributions

5. Celebration. In today's work environment, people are working very long hours and they need to take some time to celebrate their successes in order to recharge their batteries. Those leaders who fail to do this create burnout environment overtime.
Mike Sprouse, CMO, Epic Media Group, and author of "The Greatness Gap"

1. Humility. True leaders have confidence but realize the point at which it becomes hubris.
2. Empowering. True leaders make their associates feel emboldened and powerful, not diminished and powerless.
3. Collaborative. True leaders solicit input and feedback from those around them so that everyone feels part of the process.
4. Communicative. True leaders share their vision or strategy often with those around them.
5. Fearlessness. True leaders are not afraid to take risks OR make mistakes. True leaders make mistakes born from risk.
Nancy Clark, author of "18 Holes for Leadership"

1. Genuine.
You need to be clear on what your values are and must be consistent in applying them. As part of that, you need to have the courage to hold true to them. You must not lose sight of reality. Lost values may be one of the biggest causes of downfalls.

2. Self-awareness. You need to be clear on what your strengths are and what complementary strengths you need from others. This includes understanding others and learning how best to utilize their strengths. Many unsophisticated leaders think everyone should be like them; that too can cause their downfall. They surround themselves with people like them. "Group think" can blindside them and cause failure.

3. Leverage team strengths. Part of awareness is don't expect people to change. If you think you can change someone, think again. This doesn't mean you can't help them grow and develop. But don't expect to change anyone (even yourself) behaviorally. We are who we are. Your job as a leader is to understand each person's strengths and place them in positions where they can flourish and grow. If you are good at that, you have a huge part of the equation for success.

4. Leadership transitions. Going from individual contributor to supervisor is only the first of many transitions along the leadership pipeline. You need to understand the business model, how it applies to your current position, what you need to do to provide the greatest value, and how to leverage your strengths at this level. This requires building competencies and focusing on the right things. No one ever tells you that there are many levels and many adjustments you need to make along the way.

5. Supportive. You need to foster a positive environment that allows your team to flourish. Also by aligning the reward and recognition systems that best match your teams profile and deliver results.

Rachel Farrell researches and writes about job search strategy, career management, hiring trends and workplace issues for CareerBuilder. Follow @Careerbuilder on Twitter.

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Tuesday, January 17, 2012

Retail Container Traffic Flat in January, Expected to Resume in Spring - Source HDT


Retail Container Traffic Flat in January, Expected to Resume in Spring

Now that the holiday shopping season is over, import cargo volume at the nation's major retail container ports is expected to be nearly flat in January compared to January 2011. However, significant year-over-year increases are expected for the spring, according to the monthly Global Port Tracker report.

January 2012 is forecast at 1.21 million Twenty-foot Equivalent Units (TEU), which is up one-tenth of 1% from last year. February, typically he slowest month of the year, is forecast at 1.06 million TEU, which is down 3.3% from 2011. March is forecast to be up 10.5% from last year, April up 3.8% and May up 0.9%.

The total for 2011 was estimated 14.86 million TEU, up 0.7 percent from 2010's 14.75 million TEU.

"We're headed into the slow season for cargo shipments, but forecasts indicate that retailers will be stocking up this spring in anticipation of a moderate recovery as the year progresses," says Jonathan Gold, National Retail Federation vice president for supply chain and customs policy. "Cargo volume doesn't translate directly into sales volume, but when retailers import more it's because they expect to sell more."



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Saturday, January 14, 2012

November Shippers Conditions Index Favors Truckers - Source Trucking Info

November Shippers Conditions Index Favors Truckers

FTR Associates' Shippers Conditions Index for November dropped 2.5 points from the previous month to a reading of -6.1 reflecting the seasonal tightening of shipping capacity.

The SCI sums up all market influences that affect shippers. A reading above zero reflects favorable conditions for shippers, while readings below zero favor transportation service providers.

FTR reported in its January Shippers Update that the trucking industry is currently in a stable phase with firm rates and modestly tight capacity. This is expected to continue throughout much of 2012. Because the revised Federal Hours of Service regulations have issued, the acute trucking capacity shortage that had been expected to hit in 2012 has been postponed until 2013

"The final Hours of Service regulations recently issued by the FMCSA were not as onerous as originally feared," says Larry Gross, senior consultant for FTR. "The enforcement date of mid-2013 provides plenty of time for the inevitable court challenges to proceed without imposing additional uncertainty costs on shippers and carriers. Nevertheless, unless there are further changes in this or other new regulations, or a major economic slowdown between now and the middle of next year, we still project a major capacity shortage in trucking for next summer."

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