Downward pressure on rates is a top concern for motor carriers as we head deeper into the current freight recession.

The subject certainly came up during our annual shipper-carrier roundtable earlier this month. I thought Peter Di Tecco, president of Armbro Transport, made an insightful observation on the matter.

Di Tecco believes the downward pressure on rates any particular carrier will face has much to do with how that carrier has positioned itself in the market place -- through its equipment, performance and services. And its position in the marketplace will determine which kinds of shippers that carrier will be left to deal with.

A carrier that has emphasized a commitment to quality equipment, operations and service is more likely to attract the attention of shippers that care about such things, Di Tecco explained. I take his words seriously in part because Armbro Transport is a routine winner of our Shippers Choice Award for surpassing the benchmark of excellence for carrier performance set every year by shippers across the country participating in our research.

So is a carrier who has a reputation for quality service likely to get a significant rate increase this year or next? No -- the economic climate and the cost pressure on shippers can't be avoided. But if you are in the right position in the market place you will likely be able to negotiate something that is tolerable. As Di Tecco pointed out "When we negotiate with our customers, we look out for each other because if we are not in business they don’t have the service. And if they are not competitive then we won’t have their business.

Carriers who choose to compete primarily on price are often left to deal with shippers whose only concern is price and that can prove a very cutthroat relationship when capacity is as loose as it is right now.

So what are quality shippers looking for when selecting carriers? I think I have a pretty good idea thanks to research we have been conducting for several years now with the help of CITT and the Canadian Industrial Transportation Association. Our research aims to understand exactly which key performance indicators shippers value most during carrier selection.

While it's true that price is the 3rd most important indicator for LTL selection and 2nd most important for TL selection, on-time performance has always been the top ranking concern, followed closely by the quality of customer service provided.

As the old saying goes, you reap what you sow.

We've got a lot more about the industry issues discussed at the roundtable coming up in our November/December issue of Motortruck Fleet Executive. Look also for highlights of the roundatble, which is sponsored once again by Shaw Tracking, as part of our Web tv show special.

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Two years after it stunned the industry by announcing its much ballyhooed position on the mandatory use of speed limiters, the Ontario Trucking Association (OTA) was at it again during this year’s convention. This time, the association was endorsing the mandatory use of anti-rollover technology. And this time, the group’s position is likely to be far less contentious.

Fleets and owner/operators are still divided on the issue of the mandatory use of speed limiters. Almost immediately after announcing the association’s policy, Truck News was flooded with e-mails, phone calls and letters opposing the plan. This time around, there has been no such outcry in response to the association’s position on anti-rollover devices such as electronic stability control systems. And why would there be?

Anyone who has had the chance to test the technology would have difficulty arguing these systems do not reduce the risk of truck rollovers. And considering rollovers are a leading cause of truck driver fatalities, it behooves us as an industry to take advantage of existing technology that can mitigate these incidents.

Volvo has taken a lead in this area, making its Volvo Enhanced Stability Technology (VEST) standard on all its Class 8 trucks. It’s a non-deletable option in fact – you get it on new Volvo trucks whether you like it or not. Now the OTA is calling on other manufacturers to follow suit. The only argument that I can muster up against this policy, is that it could potentially drive up the costs of new trucks. Who needs that, when stringent new emissions standards and complicated new engine technologies have already accomplished this in recent years?

But in speaking with Frank Bio, marketing manager with Volvo Trucks North America, there are economies of scale at play that minimize the potential cost increases. When Volvo made VEST standard, the company kept costs in check due to its larger volume purchases and improved efficiencies on assembly lines. So provided the mandatory installation of anti-rollover devices on trucks does not come at a significant cost to customers, I feel this is a policy worth supporting.

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I hate how a lot of my blogs end up being traffic reports where I’m “telling on” other drivers, but with this most recent situation, I just couldn’t resist. I was heading south on the 400 near King Road on Friday, when up ahead I saw traffic was being directed off the highway to the nearest exit. I flicked on 680 News and heard that there was a major accident ahead, so I would have to head home using Highway 27, a slower, but adequate two-laner.

In front of me were two 53-ft. tractor trailers, one directly behind the other. At first I sort of groaned to myself, knowing that I would likely be driving a pokey 70 to 75 km/h in the hilly 80 km zone. But since it was already past 11 p.m. and I wasn’t in any particular rush, I decided to sit back and enjoy the ride.

The truck in front of me, however, had other ideas. We weren’t more than two minutes off the 400 when the truck to the rear started flashing their high beams at the truck in front of them, riding dangerously close to the back of the front-runners trailer, and weaving in and out of their lane, looking for an opportunity to advance. This nonsense continued for no less than 10 minutes before the truck in front was eventually forced to pull over to allow the other truck to pass.

I couldn’t believe how ridiculously arrogant and impatient that driver was. To put it into perspective, it was bad even by four-wheeler standards. Now that’s bad. The truck to the front was travelling somewhere in between 75 and 80 km/h the entire time; not an unforgivable speed given the darkness of the hour, the frequency of animals crossing those roads and then fact that that, oh wait, yes, he was driving the speed limit.

A four-wheelers driving like a jackass is one thing, but watching a trucker putting the life of a fellow trucker in danger was a deplorable thing to observe. So much for sticking together, I suppose. I guess it’s every trucker for themselves.

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Solid Waste & Recycling magazine contributing editor Usman Valiante -- along with contributing editor Clarissa Morawski -- recently had the opportunity to appear on TV Ontario’s program "The Agenda with Steve Paikin" to discuss “The Calculus of Going Green.” The show focused on the complexities of environmental decision-making (the topics of discussion focused on assessing the relative environmental merits of eating locally produced food, using compact fluorescent bulbs and driving hybrid gasoline-electric cars).

The show opened with an interview with Mr. Bjorn Lomborg – “The Skeptical Environmentalist” as he calls himself. Whatever your thoughts regarding the merits of Mr. Lomborg’s arguments there is no denying that his delivery is highly effective in questioning our priorities in addressing climate change and the flaws in the Kyoto Protocol approach.

Here is the link to the episode page so you can view the interview with Bjorn Lomborg:

http://www.tvo.org/cfmx/tvoorg/theagenda/index.cfm?page_id=7&bpn=779042&ts=2007-10-16%2020:00:15.0

(If it does not open when you click on the link please copy and paste it into the address line on your web browser). You can watch the episode by choosing video on the right menu on the episode page.

After that interview our contributing editors appeared with other panelists in a moderated discussion. You can watch that segment here:

http://www.tvo.org/cfmx/tvoorg/tvoutils/globalfiles/VideoPop.cfm?spot_id=3203&sitefolder=theagenda

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