As they reach retirement age, some Baby Boomers are finding that they need or want to continue working — 32% of workers aged 55-64 plan to push back their retirement because of financial concerns, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Truck driver fatigue is one of the most serious safety issues facing the transportation industry today. Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration studies show that more than 750 fatalities and 20,000 injuries are caused by commercial driver fatigue each year.

April 22 is Earth Day—a day when we all stop for a moment to consider our impact on the environment. Earth Day organizers encourage us to use reusable grocery bags and to turn off unnecessary lights to conserve energy. But for truckers, being green has benefits above and beyond the environmental impact. By adopting environment-friendly strategies, we can not only help the environment, but also save money. And, let’s be honest, that’s the green that we really care about.

Trucking is a risky business. The one who knows this better than anyone else is the owner of a small trucking company. Equipment is expensive to acquire and maintain, revenue is elusive, (here one day; gone to a cheaper hauler the next), and the liability risk is astronomical with one’s drivers constantly one vehicle away from a lawsuit eleven hours a day. Added to this, anyone with a CDL and a few thousand dollars can be trucking in just a few weeks, regardless of his knowledge of the business of trucking.

Building success and wealth is a process; it is not based on luck, or being in the right place at the right time. Individuals who become successful and wealthy and remain so do it with a plan, no matter what business they enter. We’ve all seen the person who has the Midas touch—every business he goes into rockets to the stratosphere. If you sat down with such a person and asked what were the most important things he did to make each of those businesses successful, here is what he would answer:

Allows truckers and brokers to search and match loads on their cell phones

LOUISVILLE, Ky., March 19, 2009, Mid-America Trucking Show – Getloaded.com is officially mobile, launching the first mobile site that allows truckers and brokers to match loads and trucks right from their Web-enabled cell phones. The site is a critical tool for trucking industry professionals who will no longer need the use of a laptop or conventional desktop computer to access loads and match trucks while on the go.

Congratulations to the 5 winners of the Getloaded.com Treasure Hunt!

How many times have you said or heard, “How do I know what my minimum is for carrying freight?”  You hear it all the time but how can you stop it?  Well, Tim Brady has the answer and it’s called your Break-Even Point. 

With the difficult time many truckers and small motor carriers are having finding quality, decent-paying loads, it’s time to look at the one area in your operation that you can actually control. The value you provide your customers is a greater determiner of the hauling rate you can charge than any other single action available in your logistic arsenal.

Definition:

val·ue ¹

What is lane density? This is a term you may or may not have heard in the course of doing business as a trucker. But as you’re about to see, it’s very important in determining whether you are profitable or not. This applies to a single truck operation or multiple unit dispatch.