Archive for the ‘Transportation Technology’ Category


New Tire Technology Saves Costs

Monday, March 19th, 2012

New Tire Technology

As we all learned in our high school economics classes, the law of supply and demand is what regulates prices on goods. With the shortage in rubber last year, tires prices went up and supply went down. This is no surprise to fleet managers who understand the correlation between tire management and fleet profitability. As Colorado’s largest rental fleet, Prime Trailer Leasing is always looking for new ways to manage tires on rental trailers. A new technology may soon be available to assists fleet managers in keeping up with tire maintenance, tire replacement, and matching tires to the appropriate equipment which can result in a better method of controlling costs and increasing the bottom line for fleets.

ContiTrack 2

Continental Tire the Americas LLC, in Fort Mill, S.C began introducing its tire management program called ContiTrack 2. The system uses Bluetooth-linked technology and software integration to measure and record data such as wear and tear characteristics, tire pressure, and tread depth and record it in the system database. The company can then use this data to better assist its customers in projecting performance highlights like projected mileage and associated costs, the dollar value of a fleets tires based on tread depth, and even loss projections based on air pressure and inappropriate tire and equipment matching. Once the company has all its sales team trained and using the equipment they will begin to offer the tool to customers.

More Tire Techonology

Another potential technology that would be helpful for rental trailer fleets is the use of radio-frequency-id tags in tires which could store and transfer information into a reader. The tags would be linked to a specific unit and store information to tell technicians when they inspect the fleet’s tires making things more convenient to find information such as size, age, make, proper level of inflation, etc. These kinds of technologies are just the beginning when it comes to managing such an important part of business for the transportation industry.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Transportation Technology | No Comments »

Tire-Purchase Strategies Change

Monday, March 19th, 2012

3 Reasons Tire Buying Has Shifted

Tire purchasing and inventory management is not what it used to be. There are several factors that are changing the way that fleet managers are purchasing and managing their tire inventory.

Tire Inventory

Storage Concerns

Tires aren’t as cheap as they used to be and storing them does not make as much sense as it ties up capital and supply is typically short to begin with. In addition, past advantages to buying in bulk for quantity discounts are just not an option anymore. With supply being as tight as it is, it just doesn’t happen that way anymore reducing the opportunity for storing tires on location.

Theft Concerns

Tires walk, and with prices on the rise, they are walking even faster. Theft is another reason to not store on location. Even if quantity discounts were available, you would likely lose a few due to theft and completely eliminate your marginal difference. Theft is simply to prevalent to be ignored.

Tight Supply

One of the biggest concerns is tightened supply. We heard about this as a possiblity a few years back, and we are right in the thick of things now. Supply is short and that makes it hard to manage the inventory in light of the fact that storing your nuts for the winter makes less sense than before.

Solutions

We Outlined a few ideas that would be useful to fleet managers in light of these changes:

  • Hedge Your Purchase Price: A lot of smaller and larger fleets are beginning to negotiate deals with tire manufactures at a set inventory pace and a set inventory price to more easily manage their supply and demand while keeping their costs at a fixed rate.
  • Increased Security: If storing tires is your only option due to operational needs, consider spending the money on upgraded security to prevent theft to as little as possible.
  • Rent Storage Trailers: Renting a storage trailer to store your tires keeps them secure, off the ground, and accessible. Renting a storage trailer is cost-effective and simple to do and is a quick and efficient solution to management of your tire inventory.

Storage Trailer Rentals

Prime Trailer Leasing Rents Storage Trailers in Colorado, Utah, and Nevada and we have very affordable rates and a great supply for 45, 48 and 53 ft storage trailers to meet the needs of all our customers. Check us out and let us help serve your needs.

Tags: , ,
Posted in Business Development, Current Transportation News, Transportation Technology | No Comments »

FMCSA Delays Final EOBR Ruling

Monday, March 12th, 2012

FMCSA Delays EOBR Ruling to 2013

EOBR RulingRecently, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Spoke Up and Declared They Would Not Be Making a Ruling on the Current EOBR or Electronic On Board Recorders, Until Late in 2012 at the Earliest Likely Leading Out Into 2013. This Will Give Some Breathing Room for the FMCSA to Further Consider the Details, Concerns and in Their Words, “Better Listen” to the Needs of the Trucking Industry Both as a Manager and a Driver.

A Few Months Back in Late 2011, the FMCSA Made a Ruling on EOBR’s Which Was Quickly and Forcefully Appealed in the U.S. Court 7th Circuit. EOBR’s Are Proving to Be More Difficult to Decide Upon and Creating A Lot of Controversy and Conversation in the Trucking Community. As Industry Experts, We Need to Keep a Close Eye on This Discussion and How it Will Effect Us All in Our Businesses and Personal Lives of Our Employees.

Trailer Rentals and Sales

Prime Trailer Leasing Rents Dry Vans, Flatbeds and Refrigerated Vans in Colorado, Utah, and Nevada. In Addition We Are National Dealers for Refrigerated, Flatbed and Dry Van Sales. Visit Our Website for More Information on How We Can Serve Your Needs.

Prime Trailer Leasing

“Relationships Matter”

Tags: ,
Posted in Current Transportation News, Transportation Technology | No Comments »

Hybrid Truck Sales Expected to Double

Tuesday, January 24th, 2012

Hybrid Truck Sales Double

In a Recent Report by Pike Research Out of Boulder, Colorado, the Firm is Anticipating Hybrid Truck Sales to Increase in Demand. From 2011 to 2017, They Expect an Impressive 47.2% Annual Growth Rate for the Market Reaching a Total of 100,746 Truck Sales by the End of That Period.

It’s a Great Notion and Cool Idea to Imagine Hybrid Trucks Making Such a Growth Over These Next Few Years. With Fuel Prices Always Increasing and Additional Environmental Regulations Becoming More Burdensome, There May Be a Market Driven Surge in Electric Hybrid and Full Electric Commercial Vehicles. However, With Looming Economic Instability, These Sorts of Equipment Change Overs May Be Too Much for Companies to Risk. The Idea May be Sound, the but the Timing Has to Work Well Too.

Pike Research Believes That as the Retail Industry Rebounds, Pick-Up and Delivery Vehicle Sales Will Increase in Turn. Given the Environmental Concerns and Efforts of Companies, a Growing Choice May be to Choose Hybrid or All-Electric Commercial Trucks.

Envrionment Joins the Priority List

For Most Companies, Business Decisions That Take the Environment Into Account Take a Back Seat to the Cheaper or More Convenient Option, After All, Time is Money. However, More and More Companies as of Late Have Decided to Make Environmentally Friendly Priorities and Business Decisions. As Time Moves Forward, These Decisions Make More and More Economical Sense. As a Business Owner, You Need to Decide When, Not If, the Environment Will Take a Priority in Your Business.

Tags: ,
Posted in Colorado Transportation News, Current Transportation News, Nevada Transportation News, Salt Lake City Transport News, Transportation News, Transportation Technology | No Comments »

Nationwide Cell Phone Ban May Include Hands Free Devices

Tuesday, January 17th, 2012

Texting and DrivingDistracted Driving is Dangerous Driving

That is the Premise and Reasoning for the Recent Nationwide Ban of All Cell Phones for Commercial Motor Vehicles.  According to Transport Topics, Most Carriers are Not Happy with the Current Ban.   Most Agree About the Dangers of Driving and Texting, and Driving Without a Hand Free Device, But They Feel it is a Bit Excessive to Regulate all Cell Phone Usage.

Now the NTSB is Suggesting That All Cell Phone Usage, Including Hands Free Devices Be Banned for CMV’s.  This Poses Logistical Issues on Regulating This Ban as A Fair Amount of Companies Let Drivers Use Their Own Personal Cell Phones and Can Not Access Their Phone Records Without The Drivers Consent.

For Most, This is a Frustrating Issue.  Commercial Drivers Are Being Targeted First in This Cell Phone Ban, Including Hands Free, Before Civilian Drivers, With Worse Driving Records.  Most Carriers Are Making and Have Made Concerted Efforts Before the Ban Even Came Into Place to Reduce The Amount of Distracted Drivers.  The Laws Now Increase That Effort Due to Fines and Loss of Licenses Are in Effect.  While Most Don’t Have an Issue With Ending Up With a Nationwide Cell Phone Ban of This Nature, They Feel Like They Are Being Targeted Before the Bigger Problem.

Safety First

Regardless of the Profiling Concerns, None Can Deny it is Safer to be Off a Cell Phone While Driving and it Reduces Driver Distraction.  At Prime Trailer Leasing, Our Drivers Use a Nextel Radio to Communicate to One Another and Are Hands Free When on the Phone.  We Have Been Operating Under Those Standards for the Last Few Years Because Our Drivers Safety and The Safety of Others is of Upmost Importance to Us.  Whatever Comes Down the Road on This Ruling, We Will Stand Behind it Because Safety Comes First.  We All Operated Before Without Cell Phones on the Road, We Can Learn to Do it Again.

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Colorado Transportation News, Current Transportation News, Nevada Transportation News, Salt Lake City Transport News, Semi Trailer Safety & Regulations, Semi Trailer Sales and Rentals, Transportation News, Transportation Technology | No Comments »

« Older Entries