Freight Index Rises 3%

 

The Department of Transportation’s freight transportation services index rose 3% in March from the same month last year and also increased sequentially.

The freight TSI rose to a reading of 116.7 —just below the all-time high of 117.6 set in November, DOT’s Bureau of Transportation Statistics said May 14.  BTS, which uses a baseline reading of 100 from the year 2000, also said it revised the February index downward and the monthly numbers for October through January up slightly.

March was the second month in a row that trucking and rail intermodal were the fastest-growing modes, BTS said.  “The growth in trucking represented continued recovery from unusually severe winter weather that hampered freight shipments in earlier months. Severe weather can affect the demand for goods to ship as well as the ability to move goods,” BTS said.
The freight TSI is a seasonally adjusted monthly gauge measuring the output of services provided by the for-hire transportation industries. They include railroad, air, truck, inland waterways, pipeline and local transit

They are Listening....

Here is a note we received from one of our professional drivers who listened to our first version of the Driver Hotline:

 

Just wanted to respond to the message you left for us about freight. 1st quarter this year was pretty good. Length of haul was up. I had 544, 729, 562. Miles per day 386, 382, 450. Then April what happened?  311 miles per day. This week I'm on my 7th load for the week and will get about 2640 if I can get this Sunday delivery on Saturday. 

You said in your message you want to maximize our productivity safely and legal. 

I have the ability to run 3000 miles a week but I need cooperation from your end of things to make it happen. Length of haul is key as well as flexible delivery times and a high Drop & Hook rate. These 3 or 4 hundred mile trips to deliver the next day doesn't make a paycheck. 3 to 5 trips and 3000 miles in a week is doable.

You guys are shooting us in the foot in a couple of ways too. With the pay period ending on Saturday is a real problem. In the past with a Monday cut off our fleet manager could set us up for the week end. Now they set us up with a Saturday delivery to get the last trip for the week. Then we are left to the mercy of the night & weekend crew that doles out 100 or 200 mile loads to start the next week off and the your fleet manager is playing catch up for the rest of the week.

 

Second, this decision to not preplan in advance hurts us all. I know you're trying to cut down the dead head miles & reduce costs. But in reality what happens is when you wait till the last minute to plan, what load you have available doesn't fit the hours of service of the driver then it's a fight to get a reschedule. That hurts a drivers productivity and it hurts our service cause the customer doesn't get the freight when they need it. So it's costing you a dollar to save a dime.

 

If I wanted to run local freight, I can go home and do that. I choose to be an OTR driver. It was my understanding that we were reestablishing the OTR fleet. I sure hope that to be true. I'm asking for your help to bring about some positive change to make this happen. 

 

This is excellent feedback and our fellow employee makes some excellent points that we should review as soon as possible. 

Carrier Applies for Exemption from HOS Rules

The public has 30 days to comment on a request from McKee Foods Transportation for an exemption from hours of service rules. McKee has asked the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to allow team drivers to cut the mandatory 10 hours of rest into two sessions, with each session not less than three hours. The current rules state that a rest period of at least eight hours is required for team drivers with another two hours in the berth or off duty.

McKee states that allowing each driver to switch when they feel tired allows for drivers to use the shorter time periods. It further goes on to say that the exemptions will allow drivers to work together in warehouse functions, which would cut back on unloading time and improve navigation in the warehouse.

In its application, McKee also cites an FMCSA research finding that split sleep is preferable to consolidated daytime sleep if consolidated nighttime sleep is not possible. McKee has offered several safety measures it says will help ensure safe operation if the FMCSA grants the exemption:

• In addition to giving drivers two or three days home time during the week, McKee shuts down transportation operations for 26 hours each week, beginning one hour before sundown Friday and continuing until one hour after sundown Saturday.
• Team drivers will be allowed to drive only 10 hours before completing their 10 hour breaks, rather than the current HOS mandate of 11.
•  All McKee tractors have speed limiters.
• McKee drivers track their duty time and HOS compliance with electronic logging devices.
• The carrier collects behavior-based event data from its ELDs to assist in improving current safety measures used to reduce the probability of accidents.

View from the Driver's Seat

What if this happened to you?  How would you feel?  This happened to one of our drivers this weekend.  It was unacceptable.  He was patient and eventually got loaded.  Would you have been able to contain your temper in the same situation?  Our drivers are the best resource we have in our customer experience we sell.  Treatment like the below would make anyone question their choice of profession.

  

Driver XXXXXXX had major issues getting loaded at shipper. They keep telling him to check back in 2 hours. William said he has been courteous with personnel there each time he has checked back in.

The most recent time he checked in was at 1700 and they told him they were waiting on a truck to arrive so they could unload it and then they would load him. William had called JB Hunt to ask the shipper for update. 

Shortly thereafter, the man at shipper came up to drivers truck, opened the door and proceeded to scream at the driver using offensive and threatening language for being "impatient" and getting JB Hunt involved. He also said "now you are definitely not going to get loaded." Driver did not get the man's name and obviously does not want to ask for it now. He described him as a shorter man with glasses and a beard.

 

 

Joe's Perspective

Jay Johnson received a note from Joe Maceiras.  Here was his opinion of the Million Mile Ceremony and the time he spent in Lowell last week:

It was a pleasure meeting and
talking with you during my time in Lo
well.  I want to thank you for the expe
rience that I had while there. Again, t
hank you from a proud J.B. HUNT employee.

Attitude of Gratitude

Alex Maldonado visited Lowell last week to be honored for attaining 1 Million Safe Miles.  He sent us a note after he left.  Here is what he wrote:

I HAD A REAL
GOOD TIME YEST. IT WAS VERY NICE WHAT
U ALL DID 4 US. THKS LOTS! ALEX :)

 

 



It feels great to have a positive impact on someone that has done such a great job for our company!

 

 

 

 

 

Yu failed, YOU didn't

 

Yu Darvish, a pitcher for the Texas Rangers, had his no-hit game spoiled with 2 outs in the ninth innning.  David Ortiz delivered a single to spoil the no-hitter, the second time Yu has been this close to a no-hitter in the past year.

You on the other hand had great success.  Our Truckload team pitched our version of a no-hitter on Friday.  The Truckload team had ZERO preventable collisions or injuries yesterday.  This is outstanding work by our drivers and our operations/planning team.