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NEW YORK — The price of oil fell below $93 on Wednesday after disappointing economic reports from Europe and the U.S.

By late morning in New York, benchmark oil for June delivery was down $1.78 to $92.41 a barrel. That marks five straight days of declines after oil rose above $96 last week.

New figures released Wednesday showed the eurozone's economy continued to contract in the first quarter, keeping it in recession for a sixth consecutive quarter. And a report in the U.S. showed factories cut back sharply on production in April, suggesting economic growth may be slowing this spring.

That added to the pressure on oil prices seen Tuesday after the International Energy Agency raised its forecast for U.S. oil production while cutting its prediction for global crude demand.

The dreary economic news is overshadowing the latest data from the Energy Department showing that oil supplies declined unexpectedly last week.

Crude supplies declined by 600,000 barrels, or 0.2 percent, to 394.9 million barrels, in the week ended May 10. Analysts expected an increase of 300,000 barrels. Still, demand for gasoline and distillates such as diesel remain below year-ago levels.

Meanwhile, traders were monitoring news that the EU has launched an investigation into possible price-fixing on the oil markets. Three oil companies, Britain's BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Norway's Statoil, as well as Platts, a division of McGraw Hill Financial which compiles prices for energy markets, confirmed they were being investigated.

The EU, which did not name the targets of its investigation, said oil companies "may have colluded in reporting distorted prices."

"Even small distortions of assessed prices may have a huge impact on the prices of crude oil, refined oil products and biofuels purchases and sales, potentially harming final consumers," the EU said.

Brent crude, a benchmark for many international oil varieties, was down $1.32 to $101.17 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.

In other energy futures trading on Nymex:

— Wholesale gasoline fell 5 centx to $2.79 a gallon.

— Heating oil lost 4 cents to $2.83 a gallon.

— Natural gas added 2 cents to $4.05 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Source: The Trucker

Forty-four percent of fleet managers cited maximizing productivity as their primary concern in managing their company’s truck fleet, according to a recent survey conducted by GE Capital Fleet Services.

Highlighting fleet managers’ increased focus on keeping operating expenses in check, additional concerns include meeting cost savings goals (24%) and understanding the impact of new vehicle technologies, such as alternative fuel vehicles (20%).

When fleet managers were asked to name the single most important area of focus in maximizing fleet productivity, 29% cited specifying the right truck for the job. Similarly, 22% said specifying the right truck was the most important service their fleet management company could provide.

The next most important areas cited were tracking downtime and reducing total cost of ownership (both 18%).

Source: Truckinginfo

SAN DIEGO — Two new trucking rules — one from California and the other federal — could have wide-ranging effects on the fresh produce industry from the shipper all the way to the retailer.

A panel of industry experts outlined the two regulations and their implications during the Expert Council Workshop Series, May 15, at United Fresh 2013.

Of the two, the California Air Resources Board’s Transportation Refrigeration Unit, is the more challenging, said Kenny Lund, vice president, support services, for The Allen Lund Co. Inc., La Canada, and chairman of the United Fresh Supply Chain & Logistics Council.

The rule requires all reefer units operating within California or entering the state to have engines manufactured in 2007 or later.

To comply, older units can be retrofitted with an Environmental Protection Agency-approved filter designed to remove 85% of the particular matter produced.

But the filters cost at least $8,500 and have been plagued by performance issues, so few operators have chosen this route, Lund said.

“It’s simple economics,” he said. “Coming out of this recession, they don’t have the financial wherewithal to comply with some of these rules.”

In surveying the hundreds of small owner-operators that Alan Lund contracts with to haul produce, only 25%-30% meet the CARB regulation, Lund said.

“So if you’re 25% compliant, how do you eliminate 75% of the trucks and move half of the U.S.’s produce? And how can the state (of California) regulate interstate commerce?”

Although CARB doesn’t have the authority to stop truckers, it teams with the California Highway Patrol, said Joe Rajkovacz, director of governmental affairs and communications for the Western Trucking Alliance, Upland.

In addition, CARB’s two dozen or so inspectors focus on areas where large numbers of truckers congregate, such as the Flying J Truck Stop near Barstow, to perform spot inspections.

Rajkovacz said he’s already heard anecdotal stories of out-of-state truckers refusing to haul into California because of the regulations.

Not only can CARB ticket drivers of non-compliant reefer units, but it also can fine shippers, truck brokers and even produce receivers for knowingly using non-compliant truckers, he said.

The state already has made headline by fining an Ontario, Calif., egg producer $300,000 for using non-compliant units.

New Jersey and Oregon also are exploring similar rules, Rajkovacz said

As a result, Lund said he is working with the United Fresh Produce Association to put together an industry task force to try to address the issue.

The revised national hours of service regulation, expected to become effective July 1, would increase the amount of rest truck drivers would be required to take in many cases, said Steve Lohman, North American transportation manager for Chiquita Fresh North America, Charlotte, S.C.

Drivers who have put in 60 hours during seven consecutive days or 70 hours during eight consecutive days would be required to take off 34 consecutive hours before hitting the road again.

But those 34 hours now will have to include two periods between 1-5 a.m. — something that didn’t used to be required.

If a driver finishes in the morning, the rest period could extend to as long as 51 hours before he could legally climb behind the wheel again.

But if the driver doesn’t come off duty until the evening, the period could be as short as 34 hours.

In the case of Chiquita, Lohman said about 80% of the loads are picked up or delivered during the morning.

Lohman said he’d heard industry estimates the new rest provisions could extend overall trucking times by up to 10%. So he examined Chiquita Express’ routes, which included 48,000 loads last year, and found the impact would be about 12.5%.

The impact most likely will be felt more by long-haul routes, where drivers routinely max out allowable time on the road, Lohman said.

Although it’s too early to tell what impacts the revision will have, he said it could possibly cause freight rates to increase.

“It could mean more trucks and more drivers to move the same amount of freight,” he said.

This rule comes on top of existing driver shortages.

Lohman suggested working with your carriers to forecast your freight needs, which will help reduce spot-market capacity needs.

He also recommended making long-term commitments with carriers and exploring ways to consolidate loads with nearby shippers with similar loads and markets.

Source: The Packer

An Illinois tour bus company has been ordered out of service for being an imminent hazard to public safety, according to a Thursday news release from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

Illini Tours Inc. of Champaign, IL, is a passenger carrier tour and charter service that operates five motor-coaches with services in Illinois and neighboring states. The order names the company and its president, Robert L. Frazier.

Among the findings of a March 2013 compliance review were charges that the tour company “does not have systematic vehicle inspection, repair, and maintenance programs in place to prevent the operation of unsafe motor coaches” according to the order.

Investigators inspected four of the company’s motor coaches and found various brake deficiencies, air suspension pressure losses, and a wiring problem that caused a two-foot spark when one motor coach was started during the inspection.

The company was also cited for failing to correct safety-related defects listed on vehicle inspection reports. At least one of the buses was kept in operation for several days despite the fact that drivers “repeatedly listed a problem with the anti-lock braking system indicator light” on the vehicle inspection reports.

The owner of Illini Tours, Robert L. Frazier, is also the owner of Lex Express, Inc./Lincolnland Express, a passenger carrier ordered shut down by FMCSA in December 2012 for multiple violations, including making false entries on vehicle maintenance records and failing to correct identified safety defects contained in drivers’ inspection reports.  The imminent hazard out-of-service order cited Frazier’s history of operating motor carriers in an unsafe manner.

A copy of the imminent hazard out-of-service order can be viewed here.

Courtesy of Landline Magazine

A Georgia attorney who has filed a class action lawsuit against Knoxville-based Pilot Flying J has hired The Freeh Group, headed by former FBI Director Louis Freeh, to conduct a forensic investigation into the truck stop chain’s alleged fuel rebate scam.

Mark Tate, founder of the Tate Law Group LLC, of Savannah, GA, was the first to file a class action lawsuit against Pilot on behalf of trucking company Atlantic Coast Carriers of Hazlehurst, GA.

“The Freeh Group is a very high-quality, recognized and trustworthy group of forensic investigators that can digest the information that’s out there for us and make it so we can present admissible testimony,” Tate told Land Line.

Pilot CEO James “Jimmy” Haslam III has offered to reimburse trucking companies that may have been victims of the alleged scheme what they are owed. However, Tate said it isn’t enough to compensate the affected trucking companies.

Haslam has personally called 250-300 companies since the FBI and the IRS raided Pilot Flying J corporate headquarters April 15, seizing computers and documents related to the alleged fuel rebate fraud scheme.

“He voluntarily paid one (trucking company) a couple hundred thousand dollars; I think that’s probably the floor of it. If they are paid back the interest and the penalties they should be paid, I think this is easily a case that would involve $100 million dollars or more,” Tate said.

“Is that anything to Haslam? No, they gross $34 billion per year. This is good news for everybody. He has the ability to repay all of the people he scammed from – all of it and go on.”

According to Tate, the trucking companies that have been reimbursed by Pilot and Haslam, who also owns the Cleveland Browns football team, have not had to sign any type of release stating they won’t sign on to become part of the class-action lawsuit.

“The lawyers for Pilot Flying J agreed that the money they are paying them is not compensation and they are not getting releases for it,” Tate said. “That’s pretty interesting. They will be part of the class once it’s certified.”

Since the FBI and the IRS launched their criminal investigation, at least six civil lawsuits have been filed against Pilot Flying J. The lawsuits are based on the FBI’s affidavit for a search warrant, now unsealed. In the affidavit, claims were made by former employees and informants cooperating with the FBI that sales staff entered into rebate or discount programs with trucking companies for purchasing a certain volume of fuel each month, but then manually reduced the amounts the companies were owed.

Courtesy of Landline Magazine

Juice cleanses are in high demand these days, so much so that on Friday, a thief stole 15,303 bottles of BluePrint juice from the company's warehouse in Queens, New York.

A man posing as a truck driver filled out a shipment slip, used a forklift to load the pricey products - which cost around $10 a bottle - into his truck and then drove away with the goods, which are valued at a total of around $153,000, according to the New York Post.

Whatever the burglar's intentions, however, he will have to act quick; the bottles were due to be pressurized at a facility in Allentown, Pennsylvania before being made available for consumption. In their current raw state, the juices will only be good for five days, instead of the usual 30.

Unlikely heist: 15,303 bottles of BluePrint juice (pictured), valued at a total of around $153,000, were stolen on Friday. But since the bottles had not yet been pressurized, they will only be good for five days

Zoe Sakoutis, co-founder of the popular juice company, explained: 'We realized this happened when our real driver showed up a couple of hours later.'

As of Sunday evening, no arrests have been made.

Juice cleansing is a widespread phenomenon these days, and has been raved about by celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow, Beyonce and Sarah Jessica Parker.

BluePrint juices - which come in a variety of flavors like pineapple apple mint and lemon cayenne agave - are one of the most popular choices among people looking to cleanse their bodies of toxins.

Each cleansing program includes six different raw and organic fruit and vegetable juices a day, which are used as meal replacements.

According to an interview with Musee Magazine, one day's worth of the BluePrint Cleanse includes 20 pounds of fruits and vegetables.

The company was launched seven years ago by Erica Huss and Zoe Sakoutis, both of whom had experienced the health benefits of juice cleanses.

The juice heist was no doubt a shock, but the loss incurred is merely a drop in the ocean for the company, which grosses more than $20million a year.

BluePrint juice, which is available throughout the U.S. and Canada, is delivered directly to consumers' doors for $45 to $75 a day.

It can also be purchased at grocery stores such as Whole Foods.

Source: MailOnline