The Impact of NAFTA on Trucking

By Carl Stinson 

NAFTA is a treaty agreement that can be described as slightly controversial. One of the area where NAFTA has had an affect is on the commercial trucking industry

In 1994, the United States, Canada, and Mexico signed the North American Free Trade Agreement known as NAFTA. This agreement was intended to encourage the free flow of trade between the countries of North America, and was viewed and touted as a wonderful boost to the economy of all three countries. In the years since the agreement was signed, problems were encountered that were not carefully thought through or ignored by the drafters of the agreement.

Many of these problems directly relate to the trucking industry. The primary cause of concern was the provisions in the agreement that would allow the trucks of each of the signatory countries to travel freely upon the highways of each other’s countries. The main bone of contention has been the overall conditions and standards in the Mexican trucking industry, and the quality of Mexican highways. The 67,000 member strong Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (ODIDA) has been outspoken in it opposition to free access being granted to Mexican drivers.

In 2003, there was court ordered Environmental Impact Reports done on the effect of Mexican drivers using U.S Highways. The courts ruled that the EIR was inadequate, and further studies needed to be done. Recent efforts to control the influx of illegal immigration between Mexico and the United States, and talk of a border fence and increased border security have further complicated the issue.

Mexico does not have anywhere near the safety regulations of the U.S. trucking industry, and if Mexican truckers were to be allowed on U.S. highways, higher insurance rates are one of the predicted impacts of this on the trucking industry. Insurance rates have been steadily climbing as the result of increased liability demands and further increases would create a severe hazard on an industry already reeling from the impact of increased fuel costs.

American truckers see the NAFTA tradeoff as opening up lucrative and already highly competitive American markets to Mexican truckers who will be able to travel freely on one of the best maintained and extensive highway system in the world. In return, American truckers get the chance to travel on poorly maintained and inadequate Mexican highways to visit markets that provide considerably less income potential than what they have in their own backyards. It does not appear to be a very good deal.

The trucking industry faces many challenges of its own today, and the prospect of having it hurt even more by unfair foreign competition is extremely disturbing to truckers. The future of NAFTA and the decisions that will be made in the future by the Congress concerning its implementation are of great concern to everyone in the industry, and also to everyone who depends on the industry to meet their transportation needs.

Carl Stinson is with TruckingCompaniesforyou.com - a directory of trucking companies. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carl_Stinson

Discount Truck Rentals

By Joe Robertson

Need a truck? You don't really need to own one if you don't need it often. You can always avail the facilities of a truck rental instead. Truck rentals can help you move to places, help you reach your camping destination, help you carry large items that you have purchased from the store and many more. So needing to use a truck doesn't necessarily mean you have to buy one because it doesn't usually pay of. Hence, whenever a truck is needed, a truck rental can be helpful.

Trucks can be hired for just a few hours or even a few days depending on your need. If you're moving from one place to another, you can find a truck through your local truck rental company. Also, depending on the load to be carried, the truck size can be chosen accordingly. And if in case it's inconvenient to drop the truck back to the truck rental, you can always drop it off at one of its other agencies near your destination.

If a truck is needed just for a few days while you get to your camping destination or even simply travel across town, you may opt to rent a car from your regular agency. According to your needs and requirements the correct truck size can be chosen from your truck rental. These truck rentals however come with additional insurance so that you wouldn't be penalised for any damage that may have been caused due to rough roads or bad weather. Hence, these truck rentals are very handy and can be used for a variety of purposes.

You can read more: Truck Rental Articles

Joe, a reporter, has been travelling around the world for more than a decade now and has extensive experience in many fields. Now he has a blog along with other article writers. To know more about him, do visit Random Rants Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Joe_Robertson

Using Dry Truck Shipping To Move Your Products

By Carl Stinson 

If you are in a business producing products, you have to get them to the market. Dry shipping is the most common method of doing this today.

Dry trucking refers to the type of trailer that is used to haul the trucks cargo. There are several different types of trailers in use on the highways and each serves a different basic purpose. Tanker and flat bed trailers are two examples of alternate trailer types. The most common trailer, by far is the dry van trailer. An estimated 41% of all trailers in use are of this type.

The dry trailer is essentially a large box on wheels and can be used to haul just about any type of non-liquid freight. The only limitation on dry and non-perishable freight is that it not be too big to fit inside the trailer. The normal dry van trailer is around fifty three feet long, and attaches to the tractor by use of a fifth wheel. The trailer does not have a front axle and the fifth wheel coupling is a round ball and socket type attachment that supports the weight of the trailer on the back axle of the tractor. The ball and socket connection allows it to pivot for turning. The trailer has front support legs that are lowered to support the uncoupled trailer.

The major advantage of the fifth wheel coupling of the dry van trailer is that it may easily be transferred from one tractor to another. It may also be uncoupled, and parked until needed. It is estimated that there are almost three trailers to every tractor in use.

A modern dry van trailer is likely to have a translucent roof to allow outside light. This feature makes loading and unloading safer. Most have tracks along the inside that are used to secure the loads to prevent shifting during transit. Air ride suspension systems are becoming more common on dry van trailers as more and more delicate electronic items are being shipped in large quantities by dry van trailers. New trailers are also equipped with locking devices to prevent “walking” or shifting when being loaded or unloaded after being detached from the tractor. Many trucking companies offer only dry van services while others have dry vans as an integral part of their trailer fleet. They are the most common and easily recognizable of the trailer types, and they carry the widest variety of products. There is no doubt that the dry van trailer is the workhorse of the trucking industry.

Carl Stinson is with TruckingCompaniesforyou.com - providing a list of trucking companies in each state. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carl_Stinson

Shipping Your Yacht Over Land

By Carl Stinson 

One would think moving a Yacht would be as simple as sailing off to a destination. Yacht shipping over land, however, is a growing industry as trucking is often the quickest way to get to a destination.

Yacht transports are the common name for a distinct branch of the trucking industry that is concerned with the transport of large boats across land. While it is usually desirable to sail the boat to its new destination, occasions arise when this is impractical, and the boat must be removed from the water and transported by truck and trailer. Many trucking companies specialize in this form of transport and utilize some special equipment to get the job done correctly.

The first major problem in the transport of a yacht by truck is getting the yacht out of the water and onto the trailer. The normal size limits for yachts that are to be trucked are 100,000 pounds of weight, 18 feet of height and 20 feet of width. These limits are set more by the limitations of allowed weight on bridges and highways as well as overpass heights than the capacity of the trucks and trailers themselves. Most dry dock facilities will have the cranes and the expertise to remove the yacht from the water and place it on the trailer. Yacht transport trailers tend to be very low to the ground to allow maximum height of the boat.

The next step is preparation of the boat for transport. The yacht trucking company will normally have a checklist of pre-transport items to guide the owners in the preparation of their vessel. These preparations include the removal or stowing of all loose items. All fuel and water must be removed from the vessel as well as drain plugs left open. All battery cables should be disconnected. Any device that extends above or outside the hull should be removed. This would include antennas and radar devices.

Shrink wrap is a debatable subject among yacht truckers. If the shrink wrapping is done professionally and correctly, it will protect the boat during transport. A poor job could cause damage if wind tears the shrink wrap and allows it to flap and scratch the surface of the vessel. If it is necessary to transport the yacht bow first, shrink wrapping of any glass or Plexiglas windshield is recommended to prevent damage.

A boat is a valuable investment that usually is the subject of much love and devotion from its owner. Yacht trucking companies that have the equipment and the experience in moving them are certainly worth investigating if you need to move your boat.

Carl Stinson is with TruckingCompaniesforyou.com - providing articles on trucking. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carl_Stinson

Have Your Freight Trailer Hauled By A Trucking Company

By Carl Stinson 

When it comes to the trucking industry, most people don’t realize the diversity. You can, in fact, have your own trailer and have it hauled by another trucking company for instance.

Power only trucking is the industry term for providing the tractor to haul another’s trailer. Freight companies that provide power only service are used for a variety of hauling jobs where the customer has a trailer that needs to be moved but is either unable or unwilling to haul the trailer with his own equipment. One of the examples of a time when power only trucking is used is in the delivery of new trailers to a trucking fleet. Power only haulers will haul the trailers to the fleet’s depots, and drop them off there.

Many of the other uses for power only hauling involve trailers that are used for set purposes and are usually designed to remain in one location for a long period of time. Equipment trailers and job site trailers are two examples of this type. Since the trailer is liable to remain at the job site for an extended time, the company that owns the trailers often foregoes the purchase of their own tractors and relies on the services of power only haulers to move the trailer from site to site.

An exhibit trailer is another example. The same criteria apply here as the exhibit will often be moved to a site and the exhibit will be set up and remain in place for an indefinite period of time. Once again, the cost of purchasing a tractor and hiring a driver to move the exhibit into place, and then remaining idle would be excessive. The power only hauler can deliver the trailer to its new location, and then go on to other work, returning when the exhibit is ready to be moved again.

Disaster relief organizations use ready packed trailers in the same manner. The trailers are loaded with emergency supplies and stand ready to respond to a disaster site. The cost of maintaining tractors and drivers who would be idle until a disaster strikes would be prohibitive. The relief organization, instead, hires power only haulers to transport the trailers to where they are needed, when they are needed.

Power only haulers usually have special tractors equipped with sliding 5th wheels that can easily be adapted to any trailer configuration and turning clearance. Many power only haulers do not restrict their business to this form of trucking, but use their drivers and rigs for routine hauling jobs while maintaining a reserve of drivers to take on ower only jobs when they are needed.

Carl Stinson is with TruckingCompaniesforyou.com - providing a list of trucking companies in each state. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carl_Stinson

Untethered Trucking Trailers Are Potential Terrorist Toots

By Carl Stinson 

These are dangerous times we live in. Terrorist use our own systems against us, which brings us to the subject of the need for a system to track trucking trailers.

The trucking industry has made good use of the global positioning system (GPS) to track the location and movement of tractors and drivers. The tracking of trailers has lagged behind, however, and is a concern of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). The FMCSA recognizes trailers as a significant security risk. Untethered trailers can easily be used to transport dangerous cargo and are subject to being used by terrorist to move weapons of mass destruction inside the borders of the United States virtually without detection. Almost 800,000 shipments of hazardous materials are being made daily and the risk of lost trailers, or theft is another concern.

One solution to this problem is a National Untethered Trailer Tracking system (UTT). Currently, UTT devices are installed on less than 2% of the nations estimated 2.5 to 3 million dry van trailers. This creates constant inventory problems within the trucking industry. It is not hard to keep track of a trailer when it is attached to a cab, but once it is untethered it is not as easy. The trucking industry uses almost three times as many trailers as tractors which means that at any given time two thirds of all trailers are sitting empty and unwatched. This makes them extremely subject to theft or misuse.

There are several ways that tractors can become lost even in normal use. They may be erroneously moved or parked. Trailers are often transferred to other carriers, and once this occurs the owner loses track of it until it is returned. The need to manually track the locations of trailers is what causes increased costs due to the need to perform yard searches, and sometimes engage in long and costly searches for misplaced ones.

A recent pilot test on a UTT system showed the ability to track the real time location of all trailers in the fleet. The location data is fed to a dispatcher on a regular schedule. The test system involved remote sensing of such things as the status of loads inside the trailer, and provided alerts when doors were opened or cargo was disturbed. This ability to track trailers with the same degree of accuracy as tractors could reduce loss through theft, and help guard against the potential security risks. Although some time would be required to equip every dry van trailer with a UTT device, the benefits seem to outweigh the trouble and expense.

Carl Stinson is with TruckingCompaniesforyou.com - providing articles on trucking. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carl_Stinson

Priority Shipping With The Trucking Industry

By Carl Stinson 

The economy of the world can often be found on trucks putting across nations. Priority shipping is a way to use the system quickly.

It has long been known that when a customer is asked how soon he needs a shipment his most likely response is going to be to say in a firm voice, “as soon as possible.” In fact, that has been said so often that the meaning of ASAP has changed to often mean, “as soon as we get around to it.” Despite this cheapening of the meaning of ASAP, there sometimes is a shipment that really has to get there as soon as possible. This is where priority freight comes into the picture.

Most shipping mediums have their own version of priority shipping. The Post Office uses Priority Mail which usually has a two to three day guarantee on delivery. If an item needs to be there faster than two or three days, they have express mail which usually can guarantee overnight service. United Parcel Service and Federal Express have similar premium services to address the need for overnight or priority shipment. In almost every case, these shipments use air to get the item to the customer within the guaranteed timeframe. When the size of the item is a factor is where Priority Freight Trucking becomes the only choice. It is size that eliminates many shipments from qualifying for the Postal or combination Air/truck services.

When the item is going to be sent by Priority Freight, there is still a limit to how quickly the delivery can made. The limitation is the distance that must be traveled. Regardless of how much care is taken to insure the shipment does receive priority treatment, the miles of road have to be traveled. This is the only limitation, however, that should be involved. When a shipment is declared priority freight, and the customer has paid for this service, every effort needs to be made to get it there as soon as possible.

One way the trucking industry has handled the demand for priority shipment is through the use of Priority Freight Brokers. A Priority Freight Broker specializes in matching loads with empty trucks. Their major advantage is that they are not restricted to only one fleet of trucks, and by tracking loads and movement of many major carriers; they can insure that the priority shipment is matched to the truck that is available at the earliest time. Trucks move over the highway 24/7 and this fact means that somewhere there should be a truck ready to take the priority load and begin its journey toward its destination. Any Priority mode of shipment regardless of carrier is going to cost more than routine delivery and this is another function of the Broker. They should be able to find you the combination of the best price and the quickest delivery.

Carl Stinson is with TruckingCompaniesforyou.com - a directory of trucking companies. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Carl_Stinson