Posts Tagged ‘Oregon’

Damage Claims Represent Large Problem for Many Trucking Companies, But Not for Road Scholar Transport

Monday, October 17th, 2011

pillsImagine this.  You place $3.78 million dollars worth of pharmaceuticals on a truck (the average loss of a stolen load in 2010) only to find out that your shipment has been completely damaged by a trucking incident.  Now imagine getting reimbursed only 1/4th the cost of your shipment.

You don’t have to imagine, it’s reality.

According to freight101.com, most trucking companies only pay 1/3rd, even 1/4th, of your freight’s damage claims.  Even worse, the typical 3rd party provider (broker) has no cargo or liability insurance, which could lead to a great loss if your freight is damaged by an unqualified driver.

Road Scholar Transport, however, has up to 1,000,000 cargo and liability insurance with a damage claim record that is among the lowest in the industry and far below the rates of those major national carriers.  How low?  Here’s an example.  In 2010 Road Scholar Transport transported 64,891,422 lbs, traveled 6,651,102 miles, and made 31,137 deliveries with a total of 9 claims.  Put another way, Road Scholar had just 0.0003% damage claims in the year 2010!

Protocols, newer equipment, safety technology, security features, and qualified drivers are reasons why Road Scholar maintains such an excellent safety record.

Take last Thursday for example, when a truck crashed in Oregon when a driver decided to reach for his lunch while driving, causing a rollover and spilling the load of milk he was transporting.

Road Scholar Transport

Unqualified drivers are everywhere, which is why Road Scholar maintains policies and procedures geared towards putting only the safest drivers on the road.  Our drivers exhibit a clean, uniformed appearance and are well-trained for transporting your LTL and truckload freight.

Or consider last Wednesday when a truck driver was speeding, causing his tractor-trailer to rollover, losing its load of frozen food and presenting contamination concerns that led to the load being deemed worthless.

Road Scholar Transport, on the other hand, has safety technology that monitors the temperature within the trailer (and your freight), alerting dispatch of even the slightest change in degree of temperature.  Our ReeferTrak system will provide you, the customer, with the ability to see the temperature of your freight, as well as its location, at any given time, with accessibility months after delivery so you don’t have to deal with the problem of disposing your freight due to contamination.

So why risk taking a large financial hit by having your freight damaged in the hands of an unqualified carrier with a questionable safety record when you can ship with a reputable company like Road Scholar Transport?

What do you think of Road Scholar’s damage claim statistics?  List your comments below.

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Oregon Moves One Step Closer to Idling Law as Road Scholar Continues its Own Attempts to ‘Go Green’

Wednesday, June 1st, 2011

After sweeping the Senate yesterday in a 27-3 vote, the state of Oregon took a small, but meaningful, step in its attempt to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

no idling

The proposal, dubbed House Bill 2081, would limit a truck’s idling time to five minutes per hour, strictly enforced by a $180 fine, an article in The Register-Guard notes.

According to the site, the law would exclude reefers (such as those constantly monitored by Road Scholar Transport’s knowledgeable staff), the loading/unloading of a shipment, servicing/repairing a truck, armored trucks, or if there is a need for air conditioning/heating due to harsh outside weather conditions.

Senator Starr acknowledged three main benefits to for House Bill 2081: it will help reduce emissions, create a uniform law throughout Oregon, and save the industry money.

In a release by idleAIR, promoting their product which is said to be “an alternative to idling…allowing truck drivers to turn off their diesel engines and APU’s and still enjoy heating, cooling”…etc, “one hour of idling produces 23.37 pounds of emissions into the environment” as well as “burns 1 Gallon of diesel per hour” (http://www.idleair.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/02/Fleet-Benefits-rev2.pdf).  And that’s just one truck!  Imagine having a fleet of over 95 tractors and 350 trailers like Road Scholar Transport.

Road Scholar Transport

That’s why Road Scholar has taken several steps in an effort to reduce emissions and aid in our initiative to go green.  One of these endeavors include purchasing several new tractors that contain APUs (auxiliary power units) providing air conditioning/heating without having to idle the engine, thus reducing carbon emissions and saving on fuel.  These new trucks also contain exhaust systems that are 42 times cleaner than a 2007 tractor.  Now that’s green.

Although Oregon’s proposed rule would benefit the environment, not everyone is in favor of its passing, one of them being Senator Burdick.  In response to the rule seeking to prevent “local governments from establishing their own rules in the future to regulate truck idling in any way,” she believes that “cities should have the right to control truck idling within their borders, and this bill deprives them of that right.”

But Senators Beyer and Edwards were quick to rebut Sen. Burdick’s concerns.  Sen. Beyer claims that cities can still direct truck routes, handling where emissions are let off and both stated that states could still “set idling regulations for their own fleet of vehicles” (http://www.registerguard.com/web/newslocalnews/26320275-41/bill-idling-trucks-industry-truck.html.csp).

With Beyers in agreement, Sen. Edwards believes that although the legislation can be stricter, the bill is a “baby step” towards the right direction.

According to The Register-Guard, changes to House Bill 2081 will cause it to return to the House for approval.

Learn more about how Road Scholar Transport is helping to protect our environment by visiting www.roadscholar.com and be sure to check out our awareness program at www.roadscholarawareness.org.

ship with a green company

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Do Your Research Before Trusting Your Freight in the Hands of a Carrier

Tuesday, May 31st, 2011

Do you know who is pulling up to your dock to pick up your freight?  Or do you know what company you can expect to deliver it?  Better yet, can you guarantee that your freight will be delivered?

It is important to do your research when choosing what carrier to trust with your freight.  Not doing so is bound to place your freight, as well as company’s reputation, at risk.

king crab

So was the case last Friday with Vitan Enterprises, whose shipment of king crab was stolen “without a trace.”

Nearly 25,000 pounds of king crab was to be delivered on Monday to International Seafoods Venture in Seattle from the L.A. cold-storage warehouse where it originated.

On Monday, the driver phoned in from Oregon to report mechanical difficulties, The Seattle Times explains, and the load, which was valued at over $400,000, never made it to its destination.

According to the article, Vitan Enterprises uses New Sound Transportation, a Washington company that uses truck contractors to fill lanes, for several of its shipments.  The problem with this is that there is not a steady, single carrier transporting the company’s freight but rather various companies.

Wouldn’t you rather know that a distinguishable/recognizable company with uniformed drivers and reliable equipment is going to show up at you and your customer’s dock in a professional manner the way that Road Scholar Transport does?

New Sound Transportation acknowledged that although they post their lanes online for truck contractors, they do not list the contents of the cargo, and therefore, while king crab is currently a high valued target due to current price surges, there is doubt that thieves in this case knew exactly what they were stealing.

New Sound Transportation continued to explain that when they initially examined the truck contractor, “the trucker’s insurance, driver’s license and other documents appeared to be legitimate,” yet when the freight did not deliver, they reinvestigated the material and found it to be a case of fraud, stressing the importance of thoroughly checking a carrier before trusting them with your freight  (http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2015168410_crabtheft28m.html).

According to The Seattle Times, Vitan Enterpises’ Andrew Feoktistov states, “No one knows where it went.  Did it go south, north, east?”  This brings up the issue of cargo security.  If you are a company looking for the cheapest service, then you shouldn’t expect features such as satellite tracking or electronic door monitoring for when something goes wrong.Road Scholar Transport

Road Scholar not only has independent tracking on both the tractor and trailer, quickly uncovering the precise location of your cargo, but navalock and seals preventing the tampering of your products.

Don’t leave it up to the broker to find the right person to transport your precious LTL and truckload freight.  Do your research and choose Road Scholar Transport, an asset-based carrier ensuring quality service and security of your goods.

Have you ever experienced a problem with a broker before?

want quality service

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Two Popular Food Recalls Affect Ten States…Are You One of Them?

Friday, March 25th, 2011

If you’ve had cantaloupe or bologna in the past two months, then you may want to read this.cantaloupe

Two recalls have been issued for Del Monte Fresh Produce and Lebanon bologna by the companies themselves after several cases have been reported of disease outbreaks.

Salamonella Panama infections have been linked to Del Monte cantaloupe grown in Asuncion Mita, Guatemala and bought at Costco stores, resulting in 12 babies and adults from the states of Oregon, Washington, California, and Maryland becoming affected between Feb. 5 and Feb. 23 (http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/cidrap/content/fs/food-disease/news/mar2411illnesses.html).

Nearly 5,000 cartons of these cantaloupes were sold from warehouses between March 10 and 21st to stores, the site notes.

On a similar note, E coli infections were reported in over 23,000 pounds of Seltzer’s Beef Lebanon Bologna and distributed to California, Colorado, Maryland, New York, and Pennsylvania (http://www.allheadlinenews.com/briefs/articles/90042053?23%2C000%20pounds%20of%20bologna%20recalled%20on%20E.coli%20fear).

14 cases of infections caused by the bologna have been reported, the majority of them in Pennsylvania.

The bright side of this story?  You can be assured that your food products will not be contaminated during transport when shipping with Road Scholar Transport.  With temperature protect services and a 0.0005% damage and loss rate, your products will be safe and fresh.  Visit www.roadscholar.com to learn more.

On a scale of 1-5, how important is it for you to ship your food products via a safe carrier?

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Exactly How High Are Diesel Prices?

Tuesday, December 28th, 2010

Diesel prices are creeping higher and higher, ranging from costs of $3.15 a gallon in some states to $3.60 in others.  diesel fuelAlthough these prices are the highest they have been in two years, compare that with diesel rates back in October of 2008 when they reached almost $5-per-gallon.

According to truckinginfo.com, the average diesel fuel price of $3.294 is an impact of higher crude oil prices, which are at $91 per barrel and are predicted to increase to $100 per barrel next year (http://www.truckinginfo.com/news/news-detail.asp?news_id=72539).

The following are the current average diesel prices in each state provided by http://www.etrucker.com/apps/promiles/fuelprices.asp.

Fuel Prices Averages For Tuesday, December 28, 2010

State Tax Rate
4th qtr.		 Fuel Prices
As of
12/28/2010		 Ex-Tax Fuel Price
As of
12/28/2010		 Difference
From
12/27/2010		 Fuel Price
As of
12/27/2010
Alabama 0.19 3.23 3.04 0.01 3.22
Arkansas 0.225 3.269 3.044 0.025 3.244
Arizona 0.26 3.329 3.069 0.008 3.321
California 0.373 3.492 3.119 0.006 3.486
Colorado 0.205 3.254 3.049 -0.004 3.258
Connecticut 0.396 3.603 3.207 0.692 2.911
Delaware 0.22 3.322 3.102 0.023 3.299
Florida 0.3167 3.391 3.0743 0.023 3.368
Georgia 0.158 3.26 3.102 0.025 3.235
Iowa 0.225 3.27 3.045 0.007 3.263
Idaho 0.25 3.447 3.197 0 3.447
Illinois 0.35 3.405 3.055 -0.001 3.406
Indiana 0.16 3.216 3.056 0.008 3.208
Kansas 0.26 3.252 2.992 0.013 3.239
Kentucky 0.212 3.281 3.069 0.009 3.272
Louisiana 0.2 3.219 3.019 0.015 3.204
Massachusetts 0.21 3.391 3.181 -0.018 3.409
Maryland 0.2425 3.366 3.1235 0.001 3.365
Maine 0.307 3.441 3.134 -0.003 3.444
Michigan 0.304 3.32 3.016 0.001 3.319
Minnesota 0.275 3.384 3.109 0.005 3.379
Missouri 0.17 3.154 2.984 -0.001 3.155
Mississippi 0.18 3.188 3.008 0.016 3.172
Montana 0.2775 3.347 3.0695 -0.005 3.352
North Carolina 0.319 3.274 2.955 0.008 3.266
North Dakota 0.23 3.395 3.165 0.052 3.343
Nebraska 0.271 3.296 3.025 0.026 3.27
New Hampshire 0.18 3.319 3.139 0.003 3.316
New Jersey 0.175 3.231 3.056 -0.014 3.245
New Mexico 0.21 3.289 3.079 0.024 3.265
Nevada 0.27 3.375 3.105 0.01 3.365
New York 0.3855 3.532 3.1465 -0.021 3.553
Ohio 0.28 3.327 3.047 0.003 3.324
Oklahoma 0.13 3.155 3.025 0.003 3.152
Oregon 0 3.13 3.13 0.011 3.119
Pennsylvania 0.381 3.432 3.051 -0.032 3.464
Rhode Island 0.32 3.509 3.189 0 3.509
South Carolina 0.16 3.15 2.99 0.015 3.135
South Dakota 0.22 3.289 3.069 0.012 3.277
Tennessee 0.17 3.222 3.052 0.017 3.205
Texas 0.2 3.213 3.013 0.008 3.205
Utah 0.245 3.382 3.137 0.008 3.374
Virginia 0.175 3.217 3.042 0.014 3.203
Vermont 0.29 3.429 3.139 0 3.429
Washington 0.375 3.527 3.152 0.019 3.508
Wisconsin 0.329 3.358 3.029 -0.002 3.36
West Virginia 0.322 3.364 3.042 -0.019 3.383
Wyoming 0.14 3.263 3.123 0.012 3.251

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