For rescue operations ‘response time’ is one of the measures for effectiveness. In emergency situations response time should be as short as possible as this could be crucial for saving lives or properties at danger. Accordingly, much effort is put into reducing response times. But actually, what is response time?
Spring is finally here. Although the start of spring in the USA officially began on March 20th the winter season would not go quietly. On the East coast, for example, a wintry mix of snow and ice started off the month of April. Now, however, the colder weather truly seems to be behind us as streets are swept clean, motorcycles take to the roads and classic cars come out of storage. During this time of the year there is also a focus by many towns and cities to start spring maintenance on their equipment and vehicles.
Guest Blog, no 3 from the Haaks
"...You don’t even have to stop your vehicle. Press the button, overtake the others and steadily drive upwards the slope... And in the end the road was mine – at least for a while…". Karsten Glaschick ( KaSaTrans e.K.)
This week we are happy to share a post from one of our valuable customers, Karsten Glaschick from KaSaTrans e.K in Germany. We are always very happy and proud when our customers get back to us with stories about situations when Onspot has helped them out in their daily life. KaSaTrans´ trucks are lowliners, a truck type not so well known outside Germany. A lowliner is a kind of a volume combination truck with smaller tires, a flat frame and a big upper structure. In other words a low semitrailer. Enjoy your reading! / The Onspot team
Is the truck driver an endangered species? At least it seems like that if we look at reports from many countries – all concluding that carrier companies have a hard time finding good truck drivers to hire. But, what’s the reason for this shortage of drivers? Of course, there is not one single answer to that, and besides, reasons differ from country to country and from region to region. However, I think that the solution to the problem is most certainly many-sided.
Nothing is a direct route in trucking and we had to attend a recertification class in January. We carry a lot of hazardous materials, hazmat for short. As a result, we are required to attend classes every two years, have a background check, provide fingerprints, and take a hazmat test to keep our commercial driver’s licenses compliant. This year we had to attend the class which was held in my birthplace of Tucson, Arizona. We had to be in class on January 13th and our route was anything but straight.
Guest Blog
In this week's post we'll get a glimps of how it is to work in the expedite industry as a team truck driver. A way of working that is quite common in the USA, but not so familiar to us outside the USA. A team truck driver drives with another driver. While one driver operates the truck, the other rests or sleeps. Drivers on a team can work out their own schedule and hours. Using a driving team allows a truck to be on the road continuously, resulting in faster delivery of the products on board. This week's writer, Linda Caffee, is an industry leader and a well known team truck driver in the USA. She will share her experience from the roads on the Onspot blog. We think that Linda's experience is of great value for all of us in the haulage industry.
/The Onspot team.
Getting started as truck drivers was not as easy as it sounds. After twenty years as a diesel mechanic Bob decided he wanted to start driving trucks instead of working on them. I, Linda at the time worked at our local county courthouse and we were facing the “empty nest syndrome” as our youngest daughter was heading off to college. The idea sounded appealing and we started our research.
Guest Blog
Although Onspot automatic snow chains are mostly used in transportation trucks and rescue vehicles, of course there are other users who also need to make it in time. This week’s guest blogger, Jonas and Henrik from the Haaks band, points out that also showbiz has the very same need. Enjoy! / the Onspot team
We’re Haaks, a show band who have been playing full-time for the past 24 years. It’s me Jonas (bass & vocals), my brother Johan (guitar & vocals), Mattias (keyboards), Roger (drums) and me Henrik (sound & light).
From being mostly a night club band, we’re now doing more and more company events and happenings. Especially, we look forward to the after beach gigs in the summer and the after ski gigs in the winter. Nothing compares to entertaining people who are on vacation. Summertime, we’re mostly in Swedish Tylösand and Tanumstrand and wintertime is mostly about Swedish and Norwegian ski resorts. All gigs also mean that we spend a lot of time out on the roads and it requires good planning.
A transport stoppage for just a few days is enough for large parts of our society to come to a sudden halt. Despite this, the challenges facing the transportation and logistics industries have never been so great as they are now. Lower rates, increased competition, bigger forwarders, a shortage of drivers, tighter requirements for safety and quality certification, and requirements for clean, climate-friendly transport are just some of the challenges that contractors themselves describe as obstacles to good profitability and productivity.
More than half of transportation firms in the USA and Europe have problems with profitability. How can contractors adapt their operations to the challenges they face while also achieving profitability for their own companies?