Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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10 commercial carrier journal | august 2017 JOURNAL NEWS Many fl eets are switching to 10W-30 engine oils from traditional 15W-40 oils. The reason is fuel economy. Thinner viscosities mean the engine doesn't have to work as hard and uses less fuel. Think of it like swimming through honey vs. water. Honey is thicker than water, so more energy is used to move through it. The same goes for an engine's moving parts. A 15W-40 oil requires more energy to move through it whereas 10W-30 oil produces less drag on your engine. But can a 10W-30 protect as well as a 15W- 40? You bet. It comes down to quality additives and composition of base oil. In fact, Shell ROTELLA ® T5 10W-30 can protect as well or better than industry-standard 15W-40 oils. Give it a shot in your fl eet. To learn more go to ROTELLA.com/products ROTELLA ROUNDUP The 411on10W-30 By Dan Arcy, Shell Lubricants Comments, questions or ideas? Email us at RotellaRoundup@JWT.com 1151572_SB01_ROTroundup_2_25x9_5 f.indd 1 6/15/17 1:49 PM • Heartland Express (CCJ Top 250, No. 28) last month acquired 100 percent of the outstanding stock of Interstate Distributor Co. (No. 74 last year) from Saltchuk Resources for $113 million. Interstate provides primarily dry van truckload services, including local, regional, dedicated and transconti- nental offerings, in the Western and Southeastern United States. The com- pany generated about $325 million in total revenue in 2016. Heartland, based in North Liberty, Iowa, said that Interstate's headquarters in Tacoma, Wash., and its terminal network overlap with existing Heartland locations and will be consolidated. Interstate's fleet includes about 1,350 company tractors, 220 tractors supplied by independent contractors and 4,700 trailers. • Daseke Inc. (CCJ Top 250, No. 37), a consolidator and owner of North American flatbed and specialized transportation and logistics solutions, announced a merger that added The Steelman Companies – Daseke's third merger in two months. Steelman, which generated $46 million in rev- enue and $7 million in adjusted EBITDA in 2016, includes flatbed and heavy- haul provider Steelman Transportation and specialty hauler Group One. Daseke now is comprised of 12 com- panies with over 3,600 trucks and over 7,500 flatbed and specialized trailers. • XPO Logistics (CCJ Top 250, No. 4) is eyeing additional acquisition targets in North America and Europe, accord- ing to CEO Brad Jacobs, who didn't name any companies specifically. The Teamsters union blasted XPO's plan to expand operations and increase its debt. XPO in recent years has made some major additions, including the $3 billion purchase of Con-way and all of its subsidiary companies in 2015. XPO last year sold off Con-way's truckload business, but it retained that compa- ny's brokerage and less-than-truckload operations. • The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration denied a 30-minute break exemption request from Transco Inc., which operates through McLane Co. and wanted its drivers to be able to use unloading time at grocery stores and restaurants to meet the require- ments for the mandated break. The agency said the 30-minute break is "especially important" for Transco driv- ers because they accumulate fatigue from both unloading freight and driv- ing. • FMCSA embarked on its ELD Implementation National Tour featur- ing driver-focused presentations and panel discussions to help carriers and drivers comply with the Dec. 18 federal electronic logging device mandate. The remaining stops are Aug. 24-26, Great American Trucking Show, Dallas; Sept. 25-27, North American Commercial Vehicle Show, Atlanta; Oct. 14-15, California Trucking Show, Ontario; Oct. 21-24, American Trucking Associations Management Conference & Exhibition, Orlando, Fla.; and Nov. 6-8, Women in Trucking Accelerate! Conference & Expo, Kansas City, Mo. • Nearly 2,000 trucks across the United States and Canada were placed out-of- service during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's unannounced Brake Safety Day on May 3. CVSA inspectors in 33 U.S. states and 10 Canadian prov- inces conducted 9,524 inspections dur- ing the one-day enforcement blitz. Of the 1,989 trucks placed out-of-service for various violations, 1,146 of them were parked for brake-related viola- tions. During the event, 4,635 trucks were identified as requiring ABS, and 8 percent (or 391) had ABS violations. • A Senate bill would disqualify truck drivers from holding a commercial driver's license permanently if they've been convicted of a human trafficking offense. The No Human Trafficking on Our Roads Act would institute a lifetime CDL ban on those "who [use] a commercial motor vehicle in com- mitting a felony involving an act of practice [in violation of] the Trafficking Victims Protection Act," according to the bill's text. The legislation is part of a two-bill package sponsored by Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) and introduced in the Senate's Commerce Committee. • The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission approved a 6 percent increase for both E-ZPass and cash customers effective Jan. 7, 2018. The increase will see the most common toll for a Class 8 truck increase from $23.60 to $25.01 for E-ZPass and from $33.10 to $35.08 for cash. The annual increases of 3 to 6 percent for the Turnpike are expected to continue through 2044. INBRIEF 8/17