DC Velocity - April 2019

inbound

Drivers may soon notice more logging trucks hauling their freight down interstate highways if an industry trade group has its way. The American Loggers Council (ALC) has launched an initiative that seeks federal legislation enabling more log trucks to utilize federal roads for short-haul trips.

Noting that fatal log truck collisions increased 41 percent between 2011 and 2015, the Hemphill, Texas-based organization says one of the reasons is inconsistent truck weight tolerances between state and federal roads. Those inconsistencies can force trucks hauling logs to sawmills to use city, county, and state roads, where more than 96 percent of log truck collisions occurred, the group says. To cut down on these accidents, the ALC has urged Congress to allow the industry’s trucks to haul state-legal weight tolerances on federal interstate highways, which often provide safer routes to mills.

“Safe and efficient log hauling is essential to our industry and the nation’s economy, but inconsistent truck weights are putting American lives at risk,” ALC Executive Vice President Daniel Dructor said in a release. “As fatal log truck collisions increase, there is ample data suggesting that truck weight reform saves lives by routing log trucks away from schools, crosswalks, city intersections, and railroad tracks.”

Lure of the open
road

You won’t find a lot of scripture in The Trucker’s Bible, but you will find a lot of practical advice for succeeding in the truck-driving business. Written by veteran driver Gerald Howard, the book is intended as a resource for both experienced truckers and those just getting started, covering the bases from starting truck-driving school, landing your first job, and owning your own truck.

Howard shares lessons learned and earned over a

20-year career driving various types of vehicles as both
a company driver and an owner-operator. “This book
is intended to reduce your learning curve if you are new to trucking,” Howard
said in a release. “It will also help you survive the popular ‘lease purchase’ that
so many trucking companies are using to attract drivers. This book will help you
save money and reduce stress in your daily life. Even if you don’t drive a truck, this
book is full of insight into the life of truckers for those who are curious.”
The book’s publisher, Page Publishing, says The Trucker’s Bible is available at
bookstores everywhere or online at the Apple i Tunes store, Amazon, Google Play,
and Barnes and Noble.

Reading, writing, and 18-wheelers
The search for more efficient and eco-friendly ways to package and transport liq-
uids has led to such innovations as biodegradable six-pack rings, beer trains, and
even auto-stackable bottles that eliminate the need for cardboard cartons.

But until now, no one has figured out how to fit more wine bottles into a case. The answer to that puzzle may come from a British bottle-maker that has invented a flat wine bottle made from durable recycled plastic called polyethylene terephthalate, or PET.

London-based Garçon Wines says its “Garçon
bottles” conform to the traditional wine-bottle
shape but are 40 percent spatially smaller and

87 percent lighter than round glass bottles of the same volume. Viewed from the front, the bottles resemble the classic cylindrical Bordeaux bottle. But the side view reveals that the bottles are actually flattened into a kind of flask shape, which allows them to be stacked more densely into rectangular crates than standard bottles.

Garçon Wines says it can eliminate almost all of the unused airspace in a typical wine case by packing eight flat bottles vertically, with two more bottles lying horizontally in the open space around their bottlenecks. This “ 10 flat bottle case” is about 55 percent smaller than a typical case built for six round glass bottles, the firm says. Translated to warehouse terms, that means a pallet loaded with the 10-flat-bottle cases can carry 1,040 bottles of wine compared with a standard pallet load of just 456 round glass bottles. And fitting 2. 28 times more wine on a pallet translates to lower costs for packaging, storage, warehouse handling, and transportation, the company says.