It’s been a year since Mexican trucks were first permitted to conduct long-haul operations in the United States, but  so few trucks have signed up for the pilot program that government auditors fear they won’t be able to complete a congressionally mandated study of the program’s safety.

A total of six Mexican trucking companies -- most with a single truck -- are participating in the program thus far, with some 24 other companies under review. As of July, Mexican trucks had made fewer than 100 long-haul trips into the United States.

Unless the number of participating trucks increases significantly, the Department of Transportation’s inspector general says, the department will not have the data needed to determine whether Mexican trucks present a danger on U.S. highways.

CCTA would like to congratulate one of our very own, Kelvin Monzon for his award winning tow truck at the Golden State Trucking Expo held on October 6-7 at the Pomona Fairplex.

VENTURA — Diesel particulate filter manufacturer Clean Diesel Technologies, Inc., has shortened its name to CDTi—which is the same as its trading symbol on the Nasdaq stock exchange.

CDTi makes and markets heavy duty diesels and light duty vehicle emissions control systems and products to automakers and retrofitters. The company operates in two segments: heavy duty diesel systems division and catalyst division. The heavy duty diesel systems division specializes in the design and manufacture of CARB verified exhaust emissions control solutions.

By Clayton Miller - Construction Industry Air Quality Coalition

While the California Construction Trucking Association is in federal court seeking to strike down the Truck and Bus Regulation, CCTA members and all other owners of heavy-duty diesel trucks must deal with compliance issues. Nearly all diesel-fueled trucks with a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 14,000 pounds operated in California are subject to CARB’s Truck and Bus Regulation. 

The rule took effect this year affecting truck model years 1996-1999 for trucks greater than 26,000 pounds, with requirements for exhaust retrofit particulate filters or replacing vehicles with newer vehicles originally equipped with PM filters. 

The regulation requires accelerated replacements for both lighter (less than 26,000 pounds) and heavier vehicles that do not have PM filters installed starting January 1, 2015.  Between 2015 and 2023 trucks that do not achieve 2010 model year engine emission levels will need to be replaced with those that do. 

The California Air Resources Board (CARB) has sent a warning to contractors and truck fleet owners to make sure the diesel particulate filters (or other devices) they install on their equipment to meet the on-road and off-road regulations are verified by the state agency.

In addition to DPFs, fleet owners need to know that there is only one diesel fuel additive approved for use in the state.  Some local governments have been taken in by snake oil salesmen and have tried to require the use of unapproved additives.
Here’s the CARB warning, issued October 12:

By Louise Kenitzer, J. W. Kenitzer Enterprises, Temecula

My “journey” through the complicated, confusing process to collect money owed to our company was indeed a learning experience.

It began with the phone call requesting our side-dump trailers for a job that that a landscape contractor estimated would take 3 to 4 days – using roll-offs. Because our side-dump trailers work very efficiently, we finished the job in only 4 hours. This saved the landscaping company several thousand dollars in trucking costs.

PrePass recently hired Mark Wolnisty to cover their Southwest Regional Sales. Mark began his career in transportation in 1990 by renting a tractor-trailer. This soon grew into purchases of a several tractors and two dry vans hauling LTL, followed by the purchase of additional tractors and two reefer trailers. Along the way, Mark logged hundreds of thousands of accident free miles working with his employees.

Mark’s philosophy has always been that the “hands-on” approach is the best approach.

After a successful run owning his own trucking company, he sold his business and began a training career with a large commercial truck and bus training school as Director of Operations & Training. In that time, he worked with many agencies including the Department of Transportation’s Department of Motor Vehicles, helping to create more standardized testing for commercial drivers. He also developed a workable curriculum that is still in place today ensuring high first time pass rates. After seven years with the school Mark switched gears and began working in Fleet Management with small, medium and large trucking companies alike. He spent four years in fleet sales for Freightliner in Los Angeles and a year in San Francisco as a fleet sales manager.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa’s plan to accelerate construction of a variety of transportation construction projects by borrowing against the proceeds of the county’s half-cent sales tax receipts for the next 60 years is one step away from success—the November 6 election.

One of Only Two Carriers In the Past Two Years

By Jamie James

On September 18, Dalton Trucking Inc. was one of four recipients of the prestigious STAR Award.

So what is this STAR award?

It stands for Safety Transportation Achievement Recognition. The award formally recognizes California motor carriers in the truck and bus industry for their efforts in making safety the number one priority in their day-to-day operations and their continued commitment to highway safety across California and the U.S.

As of the end of August more than 434,000 commercial motor carriers are enrolled in the PrePass weigh station safety screening system, bringing participation to a new all-time high, according to the company that provides the service.

“The recent growth in participation by motor carriers is a testament to bottom line safety and economic benefits carriers receive,” said Richard A. Clasby, president and CEO of HELP Incorporated, the PrePass service provider. “To date, carriers have saved more than 41 million hours of driver time, nearly 200 million gallons of fuel, and operating savings of $3.3 billion.”

By Erica Martinson, Politico

Opponents of EPA soot science are asking the agency to pick a side: evil or inept.

A lawsuit being trumpeted by Sen. Jim Inhofe makes the most lurid of accusations against the agency’s long-running experiments on the health effects of particulate matter, explicitly likening them to Nazi atrocities.

The suit, by website publisher Steve Milloy, offers the EPA two unattractive options: either admit that the agency deliberately exposed the sick and elderly to dangerous air pollution, or admit that soot isn’t that hazardous after all — undermining the agency’s regulations.

The California Air Resources Board announced that Ryder System, Inc., a provider of transportation and supply chain management solutions, paid $1,000,000 for failure to conduct testing and maintain complete records of required annual opacity tests on heavy-duty vehicles in its California fleet in 2008 and 2009.