Based on a change in federal law (Public Law 109-59), New York state is no longer requiring motor carriers to display state highway use tax stickers or to carry state highway use tax permits in their vehicles. Stickers no longer will be provided with the permits, but carriers should keep the permits to assist them in filing highway use tax returns.
Truckers in California’s San Diego County using the 10-mile South Bay Expressway – set to open this summer – will pay $11.25. For a four-wheeler, the expressway will cost $3.50 when using a FasTrak transponder and $3.75 if paying cash. South Bay Expressway Ltd. – a division of Sydney, Australia-based Macquarie Infrastructure Group – is building the road. After 35 years, ownership of the road will shift to the California Department of Transportation.
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency will pay $50,000 toward retrofitting diesel trucks in Wisconsin with anti-idling devices. The grant for the Wisconsin Department of Commerce is part of EPA’s Region 5 Midwest Clean Diesel Initiative. The retrofit cost per truck ranges from about $2,000 for diesel oxidation catalysts to about $12,000 for diesel particulate filters.
Fleet One announced that an additional 192 maintenance sites joined its Fleet One Local acceptance network. The new sites are Econo Lube N’ Tune & Brakes, which recently was purchased by Driven Brands, formerly Meineke Holding Co. Meineke already contracts with Fleet One to provide fuel cards.
Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future.
– John F. Kennedy
For the owner of a trucking company, truer words were never spoken. The industry is constantly in a state of flux, and an owner who fails to anticipate change is a sitting duck. Even getting out of the industry requires foresight. Successfully selling a business – or buying one, for that matter – is a process that should be spread out over several years.
If you think that you may find yourself – whether it’s tomorrow or 20 years from now – in a position where you want to buy or sell a business, start planning for it now. After all, even if you eventually decide not to sell, you will have strengthened your business model and fixed inefficient practices in your operation. Those are worthy outcomes in their own right.
