FALL MEETING
The North Carolina League of Transportation and Logistics Fall Meeting and Luncheon are set for September 26, 2008 at the Four Seasons Convention Center in Greensboro NC .  The meeting will begin with a time for networking followed by lunch and the educational program.  The agenda and registration forms will be available very soon.  A strong educational program is being planned with highly regarded speakers.  A Board of Governors meeting will precede the meeting.  If you have an specific comments to be considered by the Board and for the meeting please get in touch with President Eddy Burgos, Husqvarna or Chairman Gary Harwell, Hickory Springs.  

NEW 53 FOOT TRAILER ROUTES
It is anticipated and hoped that legislation on the new NC 53 foot trailer routes are signed into law by Gov. Easley very soon.  The additional routes will allow most freight loaded on 53 footers in NC to be delivered to customers without delay or fines for being off-route as has been past practice.  This will result in a tremendous savings to Shippers and Truckers alike.  NC has lagged behind other states such as South Carolina in opening up these additional routes to truckers.  Many truckers have been forced to pay fines and have even had drivers license points assessed to its drivers.  The League has strongly supported this new legislation and the NC Trucking Association as well as members such as Lowe's.  Opposition to the new routes has been strong.  Comments from special interest parties in the media such as the Department of Transportation the NC Highway Patrol and Gerald Donaldson of the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety reveal their opposition to the new routes.  Without these new routes, many businesses would rethink the location of new distribution centers and retail stores and could cost NC a lot of money and jobs.  For instance, Waxhaw Mayor Duane Gardner worries about the safety of pedestrians,  and the road’s sharp curves and even the effect on downtown Waxhaw’s historic buildings on NC Highway 75.  He stated that “trucks of any size come through downtown, especially at midnight , come barreling through.  It shakes the buildings.  These are 100 years old.”  The League supports our professional truckers.  They work all hours of the day and night in all kinds of weather to get goods delivered to fill our stores and often are away from home for days on end.  Federal and State regulations demand that their equipment is safe and that they get sufficient rest.  Fines and accidents can result in increased insurance rates which can and has forced truckers out of business.

DOES YOUR DRIVER SPEAK ENGLISH?
Following is an edited excerpt from the Charlotte Observer.  An Alabama state trooper thought Manuel Castillo (a permanent US resident) apparently couldn’t speak English well enough to drive an 18 wheeler when he was headed back to CA from picking up a load of onions in Glennville GA.   Mr. Castillo was stopped for a routine inspection.  He claims that he speaks third-grade level English but the trooper cited him with a $500 ticket for being a “non-English speaking driver.”  Castillo is aware of the requirement to be able to speak English well enough to converse with a law enforcement officer, as required by Federal law for anyone with a commercial drivers license.  25,230 tickets were issued nationwide for the language violations.  The federal government wants to tighten the English requirement for safety reasons.  Most states let truckers and bus drivers take at least part of their license tests in languages other than English; however the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has proposed rules requiring anyone applying for a commercial drivers license to speak English during their road test and vehicle inspection.  The agency wants to change its rules to eliminate the use of interpreters, and congressional approval isn’t required.  The Bureau of Labor Statistics estimated that 17% of the nation’s 3.4 million truck drivers and 11% of the buss drivers are Hispanic.  This may become an item with the Bush administration.

NATION’S BRIDGES AND ROAD STILL STRUCTURALLY DEFICIENT
Across the US , there are about 600,000 bridges.  The Federal Highway Administration reported in 2006 that one quarter of the nation’s bridges were at risk.  The American Society for Civil Engineers said in 2006 that it would cost nearly $10 billion every year for the next two decades to fix them.  But the funds to repair and maintain the country’s bridges and highways are drying up.  Some of the money comes from the Highway Trust Fund, created from American tax dollars from gasoline, but more American are carpooling, taking mass transit or driving less, and paying less gasoline taxes.  The federal government has predicted taxes will fall far short of what is needed for improvement projects leaving many projects delayed or canceled.  Ryan Toohey, a strategist with American Moving Forward which lobbies for private investment to fix the nation’s infrastructure problems stated that nearly every state is facing a budget crisis and doesn’t have the money to solve problems. The Bush Administration projected that at some point in the next fiscal year the highway account will hit zero after spending $8 billion so far this year.  The House has passed a resolution to inject $8 billion into the trust fund but President Bush has threatened to veto the measure.  Pennsylvania has approved $350 million in bonds to repair 411 bridges along with road tolls going up next year.  Beefed-up inspections since the collapse of the Minnesota bridge led states to close bridges, reduce weight limits and make immediate repairs.  South Carolina and Wisconsin are installing high-tech sensors that record the deterioration of a bridge, which inspectors can track on the internet.  Arkansas is training assistant building inspectors to team with bridge inspectors.  Kent Harries, a University of Pittsburgh engineering professors says “we will see more bridge collapses”.  Colorado has identified 125 major bridges in need of replacement or major repair at a cost of $1.4 billion.  Funding for the repairs fell from $32 million in 2007 to $18 million in 2009.  States are looking for other financing.  Nine are issuing bonds, taking on debt, raising taxes, hiking fees or shifting funds from other road projects.  NJ is moving funds from other road projects in order to spend $605 million on bridge repairs this year, up $96 million from last year.  Minnesota is raising its gas tax and phasing in a surcharge to pay for $6.6 billion in bonds for road and bridge projects over 10 years.   

SLOWING TRADE GROWTH FORECAST
Following are excerpts from a Journal of Commerce online article written by Peter Leach.  Big new ships that the liner companies have been ordering and adding to their fleets in response to forecasts of robust global trade growth are hitting the global trade lanes just as their growth rates are slowing or even turning negative.  Carriers are trying to evade overcapacity by combining services and eliminating others, adding extra vessels to slow ship speeds, and joining in vessel-sharing agreements with other lines.  Carriers are running out of places to stash the big new ships of over 8,000 TEUs as they are only suited for the major trade lane Asia-Europe.  Growth in the westbound Asia-Europe trade lane has slowed dramatically and eastbound trans-Pacific volumes have declined from last year’s levels.  A stagnant US economy and a slowed Europe growth rate, demand for vessel space is expected to remain tepid.  According to Mike Andrews, chief economist of PIERS Global Intelligence Solutions, the global economy will grow at 2.25 to 2.5 percent this year and next.  He also expects the US economy to grow 1.5% this year and next and the euro zone’s economy to slow to 0.8 percent next year.  The economies of central and eastern Europe are growing at a faster rate but are slowing from last year.  Mr. Andrews expects those economies to grow 5.5 percent this year, and slow to 5.2 percent next year.  Already the growth in container throughput at China ’s major ports for exports to the US and Europe has fallen to less than half of last year’s rate.  Freight rates in the westbound Asia-Europe trade lane have plummeted, causing liner executives to warn of the dangers of continuing overcapacity.  Ron Widdos, CE of APL Ltd., has warned that high fuel prices and too much capacity will “force substantial service pullbacks.”  By the end of next year, the world’s container lines are scheduled to take delivery of 112 ships with capacities ranging from 7,500 to 15,500 TEUs.  There is talk that the supply of new capacity is so huge, and demand is dropping so fast, that some carriers may be considering laying up ships.  Philip Damas, Drewry Supply Chain Advisors of London stated that carriers are trying all sorts of ways to absorb capacity such as moving from eight-vessel services to nine-vessel services in the Asia-Europe trade and some are talking of 10-vesel services operating at fuel-efficient slower speeds.  One of the bright spots is the growth of US exports, driven in large measure by solid growth abroad and the decline of the US dollar.  In its summer forecast, PIERS expects US containerized exports to increase 10.9 percent this year and 8 percent in 2009.  Mr. Andrews expects US imports to increase 1.3 percent next year as the dollar moves higher against the euro and yen.

TROUBLED BRIDGES
States with the highest percentage of bridges needing closer inspection or repair:
      Pennsylvania 26%
      South Dakota 25%
      Oklahoma 24%
      Rhode Island 21%
      Iowa 19%

ATA FILES SUIT AGAINST CALIFORNIA PORTS
The trucking industry is fighting back against the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach claiming that their new stringent clean air regulations will effectively drive independent truckers out of business.  The ports seek to cut nitrogen oxide by 45%, particulate matter by 47% and sulfur oxides by 52%.  If trucking firms do not agree to the new rules by Oct. 1 they will face being barred from the ports.  The pollutant cuts become effective January 12, 2012 along with a $35 cargo fee to pay for new, cleaner-running trucks.  The American Trucking Association filed suite in federal court July 28 in the US District Court of California claiming the restrictive regulations violate the Commerce Clause in the US Constitution.  ATA’s suit claims the rules illegally regulate prices, routes and services by favoring large fleets over independent truckers.  The ATA also claims the regulations limit the number of trucks allowed to enter the ports, thereby reducing competition says ATA spokesman Clayton Boyce.   

WEST COAST WATERFRONT CONTRACT
Four months of negotiating have secured a preliminary handshake agreement by rank-and-file members for 26,000 west coast dock workers.  The proposed agreement is preliminary; it must be evaluated by the rank-and-file, and is subject to a democratic ratification vote by the membership.  The proposed agreement will first be reviewed by elected Longshore Caucus delegates who will meet in San Francisco beginning the week of August. 18.  An election date will be set that allows enough time for full consideration, questions and answers about the proposed agreement.  Details will not be released until the contract has been approved.

FOREIGN INVESTMENT IN CHINA
Foreign investment in China during the first half of the year rose 45 percent to $52.4 billion, according to the government, and is well above the 18 percent increase for all of 2007.  Foreign investment financed the creation of 14,544 businesses in China in the first six months of the year, the Commerce Ministry said in a statement.  Foreign companies are looking to China ’s fast-growing consumer market to help drive sales as demand elsewhere slumps.  A large sum is being put into factories, as well as consumer oriented sectors.

REPAIR OF INTERSTATE LIGHTS IN CHARLOTTE
The NC Dot awarded $450,000 in February to repair burned-out lights along interstate 77 and 85.  However the money is gone with miles left to fix.  The state is now spending an additional $560,000 to finish the repairs.  Jen Thompson , NC DOT, says that the lights could be fixed on I-85 by the end of September and I-77 could be finished by early August.  Unfortunately, thieves are stealing copper wire from the fixtures delaying the work and costing thousands of dollars to replace. 

DUKE ENERGY, GM TEAM UP ON ELECTRIC VEHICLES
Duke Energy and GM are teaming up to smooth the way for a future of electric vehicles.  The future will require a revamped power system that can integrate a new breed of cards drawing a massive amount of electricity from the grid.  GM is working to bring the Chevrolet Volt rechargeable car to showrooms in 2010.  It is being designed to run on an electric motor powered by lithium-ion batteries.  When fully charged, the car will be able to travel 40 miles on battery power and longer trips a small internal combustion engine will recharge the batteries to keep the Volt moving.  GM claims that the vehicle is real and is on schedule for production.  Cost has been variously reported to be from $25,000 to $35,000.  The vehicle is a two door model with seating for five persons.

TRUCKERS GO GREEN, SAVE FUEL COSTS
Some drivers are now being able to save fuel by resting at electrified truck stops.  A yellow hose funnels air conditioning, TV and internet connections through a window into the cab of a truck and there is no need to run the engine on the truck.  Some truckers also have auxiliary power units.  Both of these innovations save money and reduce pollution and also comply with many state’s anti-idling policies.  However APUs cost about $8,000 per truck.  The US EPA established new rules in 2001, including the introduction of cleaner highway diesel fuel in 2006 and new requirements for the manufacturing of new truck engines starting in 2007.  Once fully enacted the rules could lead to a reduction in 2.6 million tons of smog-causing nitrogen oxide emissions and prevent 8,300 premature deaths, the EPA has said.

CLEAN TRUCKS ORDER BY POLB
The Port of Long Beach has placed a $35 million order for 300 heavy-duty trucks to jumpstart its landmark Clean Trucks Program.  Beginning Oct. 1, 2008 , the port will bar 1988 and older trucks from entering port shipping terminals.  By 2012 all 2006 and older trucks will be banned, reducing truck-related pollution by 80%, the port said.  The Port is providing truckers will financial assistance to acquire clean trucks.

NC TURNPIKE TOLLS
Officials with the NC Turnpike Authority say they are on track to open the state’s first toll road in 2010.  The General Assembly set aside tens of millions of dollars in the state’s budget to cover the difference between the cost of the project and the money officials predict will be generated by drivers in the coming years.  Lawmakers also approved a measure outlining how the Turnpike Authority can collect tolls through a cashless system with electronic transponders and prepaid passes.  The passage of those measures means turnpike officials can move forward with the Triangle Express way.  The first leg of the western Wake County toll route is scheduled to be completed in a little more than 2 years.

VARIABLE SPEED LIMITS ON I-495 IN VIRGINIA
Speed limits on part of I-495 in Northern Virginia began changing along with traffic conditions.  Initially the variable speed limit will be in effect only at night, when certain lanes of I-495 near the Woodrow Wilson Bridge will be closed for roadwork.  Speed limits along the affected portion of I-495 will range from 35 mph to 55 mph.

LOWES TO ADD STORES IN CANADA
Lowe's has announced plans to open three new stores in Ontario , Canada by February.  Lowe's opened its first three Canadian stores in December and four more in February in the Toronto area.  Lowe's is also continuing with previously announced plans to expand into Mexico in 2009.

HORIZON LINES ANNOUNCES NEW EXECUTIVE
Horizon Lines has named James R. Storey as its new director of investor relations and corporate communications.  He has served as VP, investor relations for BlueLinx Holdings in Atlanta .  Horizon is the largest domestic shipping line and logistics company.

NEW CHANGES AT ROADRUNNER
President and CEO Mark DiBlasi has announced that Roadrunner Dawes Freight System has changed its name to Roadrunner Transportation Services, which better reflects the comprehensive supply-chain options available to its customers.  Please refer to www.rrts.com.