So who's looking to reinvent the 18-wheeler?

[Cardinal Joe]

Who is looking to reinvent the 18-wheeler?


<http://auto.howstuffworks.com/reinvent-18-wheeler.htm> 22
Luigi Colani and the 18-wheeler of the Future


Ah, the life of a long-haul trucker -- there's nothing like it. It's just you and the open road: The occasional crackle of the radio cuts through the quiet hum of the highway as it passes beneath your wheels. It's a life of freedom; truckers get to dine out every day and see the world from its scenic byways.

Truck Image Gallery Truckers may live a free life, but they're also part of a major industry -- and a vital one at that. Transportation is linked to every aspect of the global economy. Everything from the clothes you're wearing to the food in your refrigerator likely spent some time aboard a semi between the time the item was made and the time it was purchased.

Since trucking's a business, truck line owners have to keep their profits high and their overhead low. And perhaps no other factor in the trucking business takes as big a bite out of truckers' profits as gas prices: When fuel costs rise, trucking profits decrease. In Europe in May 2008, diesel fuel topped $11 per gallon, 40 percent more than the previous year [source: Time]. Independent truckers and small outfits were in danger of bankruptcy from the high prices, and as a result, truckers across Spain, Portugal and other parts of Europe staged strikes.

These strikes had a ripple effect throughout the economies of the interdependent Western European nations. Auto manufacturers closed plants since they had no parts with which to build cars. Grocery store shelves ran dry as food supplies dwindled [source: AP]. Truckers showed how integral their role is in keeping economies thriving by effectively crippling the economies for a five-day period in the spring of 2008.
While governments are seeking ways to lower the cost of gas, there's at least one person looking at the problem from a different angle. Instead of attempting to decrease fuel prices, why not just make semis that consume less fuel?Cardinal Joe

[johnnydeep]

just pointing out the realities of my world.
We pass the cost of fuel on to our customers through fuel surcharges. Period.
We have absolutly no incentive to conserve fuel at all!
Now granted some of that has to do with the type of work we do. 200,000lbs moving down the highway burns a lot of fuel...think 600hp cat in a boat! except in a truck you can run an engine fully loaded at 65mph or 10 mph, depending on grade and gear selection. Pulling a 10 percent grade at those weights make boat fuel economy look awesome!
Point is if someone wants to underbid us, well they are paying the same costs we do! We tell our customers flat out, this is what fuel costs, period. Pay it or we will stay in the yard!
The difference in fuel economy verses price for a new truck still just does not work. We can buy a two year old truck with decent miliage and big power for 65,000 to 90,000... or we can buy a new one with the new emmisions controls(wich reduce mileage considerably, not to mention maintenence costs) and state of the art aerodynamics for 150,000.
That buys a lot of fuel! The difference in maintenence buys even more. By the time you prorate it out over a million or million and a half miles...
It shouldn't work that way...but it does!
There are a few guys around that can beat our rates...nobody can beat our customer service! Therefore when fuel goes up we just pass the cost along and put or 15 percent markup on it...just like a ferry pass or a toll!
Granted we do not run 2,000 trucks nationwide and pay by the mile! But we don't quote by the mile either!
Just another angle on the smae thing...
personally I like what Joe posted...and wish our business model was more cost effective!