Automobile shippers operating in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan are about to have the regulatory leash the Saskatchewan Ministry of Highways and Infrastructure put around the necks of car moving companies shipping cars to far away places within Canada removed as of February 1st, 2010.

It's nice to see some progress in this area of trucking in Saskatchewan, which has been of concern to the industry for awhile.

Starting on this date car delivery services on the roads of Saskatchewan, and hopefully Alberta, should improve for firms taking the cars to destination. On this date transport trucks will be able to travel at up to 100 km/h, rather than 90 km/hr, on certain routes. They'll also be able to work without having to constantly keep track of the speed of the vehicle with instruments that at times can take a drivers concentration off the road. Trucking firms still need to keep track of weather patterns affecting the roads they plan on using to move freight, but this just makes common sense.

The government of Saskatchewan and the trucking industry working together is nice to see. Nobody knows what needs to be changed more than the professionals that work in the industry every day and it's nice to see the government recognize this fact.

There are plans to make other changes to the regulations concerning B-train gross vehicle weights, specifically they plan on increasing the maximum weight, but any such plans won't be implemented until later in 2010.

The changes to the rules and regulations have been asked for by the Saskatchewan Trucking Association (STA) for awhile and the association has given the changes the nod. Hopefully, this is just the beginning of a beautiful relationship that will save lives in the freight trucking industry and the roads of Saskatchewan.

http://www.trucknews.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?aid=1000357207

The North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria for 2010 have been released for the world to read and auto transport carriers, owner operator truckers, and car delivery service providers definitely want to grab a copy of this important document. You can be sure that every enforcement officer in North America will be getting one and implementing the rules and any changes, like drivers know them by heart. The agency is implementing a new list called the CSA 2010 set that will be enforced in 2010. You probably want to make sure you at least give the document a read, just to make sure you're up to date on the reasons your transport trucks can be put out-of-service.

The North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria provides lots of important information that's certainly essential for all freight industry professionals. You can use the information on the criteria they'll be using to prepare yourself for the changes that will be implemented in 2010. The information on the document is designed to help you work safer and keep your automobile carrier in better operating condition, which should reduce downtime due to maintenance and breakdowns. It also should help you avoid unnecessary delays due to disagreements with the out-of-service criteria, which can expensive and embarressing.

Make sure you head over to the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance website and grab a copy of the North American Standard Out-of-Service Criteria. Keep in on your laptop or print a copy and keep it in the truck and learn the information within. It could be the difference between a profitable and enjoyable trip and a frustrating one that makes you mad.

http://www.cvsa.org/news/2010_press.aspx
http://www.trucknews.com/issues/ISArticle.asp?aid=1000357209

Japan has started up a version of a Cash for Clunkers program, but the requirement that cars be fuel-efficiency-tested in Japan excluded most US cars from the program. Japan has now relented, and allowed US EPA MPG figures to be used for US cars. That change will allow US car makers to be moving cars to meet the modest demand for imports in Japan, but the bigger effect might be on the used car market in Japan.

If the Cash for Clunkers program has the effect it did in the US, there will be a shortage of older cars, leading the Japanese to import some used cars to make up the difference in the used car market. Interestingly, those cars being imported might be Toyotas, if their reputation hit from their current woes creates an excess of used Toyotas on the US market; if the Japanese buyers aren’t as ticked off at Toyota, they might be more than happy to buy the US-built Toyotas off of the US used car market.

Regardless of the current peddle-powered fiasco, there will likely be some used cars heading across the Pacific to Japan, and US used car auctions and US car haulers will get some extra business of it. Japan has few restrictions on used car imports, so there aren’t any major blockages to the importation of US used cars. Savvy car exporters may want to cultivate Japanese contacts in the weeks and months to come, for there should be a demand for cars from the US market.

Source: http://www.freep.com/article/20100120/BUSI...-more-U.S.-cars

Columbia and Venezuela are not the best of friends in geopolitics, but they both share a common policy on car imports; they and Ecuador are part of an Andean Automotive Policy group that bars the importation of used cars, both from outside of the group and between countries within the grouping. That cuts off a large market for US used cars, shutting them out of the international used car market that is a boon to car transport firms. Thus, the car hauling industry is mostly a local affair with few cars coming in from the outside.

They also have a 35% tariff on new cars coming into the region and a 15% tariff on new trucks and buses. This is part of an “infant industry” approach to international trade, where you put up tariffs in order to encourage national industries; a fledgling South American auto maker would be hard-pressed to compete with mature companies elsewhere. The Andean Community is striving for the “development of a competitive and efficient automotive industry capable of penetrating other markets outside the region.” That way, they might be able to export manufactured goods rather than raw commodities like oil, coffee and other less licit exports the region is noted for.

Columbia has signed a free trade deal with the United States that has yet to be approved by the US Congress. US used cars would still be blocked, but auto parts would be part of the trade deal. Columbia will thus be outside of the international used car market unless they opt to leave the Andean Community, which might happen if frictions between them and Venezuela and Ecuador continue to grow.

Sources:http://www.trade.gov/wcm/groups/internet/@...adebarriers.pdf
http://www.comunidadandina.org/ingles/automotive_policy.htm

Car haulers have a new way to move cars into Europe as freight carrier Hupac has announced they have broken the seal on a new freight terminal located conveniently at the Belgian Port of Antwerp. Called the HTA Hupac Terminal Antwerp, this new terminal gives firms another option for shipping cars to Europe that's available to all firms transporting by rail that handles freight equal to about 600 truck loads per day. At the present moment the number of trains coming through the terminal is being restricted as they go through the opening phases of getting it up to capacity. It should only be a matter of time before the number of trains moving through the area is up to expectations and car freight begins moving through the region at a feverish rate. The Port of Antwerp is a central transport hub for Europe and trucks and trains have ready access to all of the cities of Europe using this port.

This new rail freight terminal falls in line with recent decisions by European agencies that seems destined to take the European freight industry down the road to putting as much long-distance freight on trains as possible. In Europe the idea that rail is a more environmentally friendly alternative for freight movements seems to be entrenched, unlike here where the debate still rages over this idea. Whatever the truth, this terminal is definitely one street down the road to putting as much freight onto European rails as possible, and is probably one of many more similar projects that will be undertaken in the years ahead, in an effort to move as much freight by rail in Europe as possible.

Any moves Europe makes down this road are going to be expensive to make and they'll have to make major investments in infrastructure, despite rail having a major presence in European life. Still, considering the geographical structure of Europe and Asia, it makes a lot of sense to move freight by rail.

http://www.pressreleasepoint.com/hupac-ope...erminal-antwerp
http://www.transportjournal.com/index.php?...7a2e2ebecd385e9