A lot of unforeseen incidents can happen while out on the road. If you are in the business of towing or hauling vehicles for others, then you should look into ways of guaranteeing their safe passage while they are in your possession. Consider the acquisition of on-hook insurance for the fleet. This will protect your company’s finances in the event of an accident. It is meant to cover the repairs for any damage sustained by the client’s vehicle while in transit. Note that it is for your customer’s properties and not your own, which are presumably already covered by other forms of insurance.
Types of Damage
Vehicular damage can happen despite multiple safety measures. After all, we cannot control everything once we go out into the world. The cars being transported may be harmed by a collision with another vehicle. Dents and scratches may result from these collisions to varying degrees. The company is responsible for fixing these problems since they were obtained while they were in-charge. Theft is another common issue. Valuable parts may be removed if security precautions are inadequate. Vandalism may become a problem if passing through rough neighborhoods. In rare cases, fire and explosion may ensue. These are all covered by most on-hook towing insurance policies.
Limits and Deductibles
As with most policies, it is necessary to specify a limit and a deductible. Be careful when choosing the amounts for these as they have major consequences. The limit will be the highest possible amount that the insurance provider will pay per occurrence in case the vehicular cargo gets damaged. This should be high enough to cover most issues. The problem is that lofty limits come with expensive monthly payments. Find a good balance that works for the business. Meanwhile, the deductible is amount that you must pay from your own funds before the insurer helps with the balance.
Restrictions
If it often necessary for trucking companies to get liability insurance before they are allowed to acquire on-hook insurance. Present proof of this to your service provider for faster processing. All of the vehicles on the fleet that are being applied for coverage under the same policy must have equal limits. Remember that this is only applicable for businesses that are engaged in towing and trucking for hire. It covers the vehicles that are being hauled for clients. It is not applicable when transporting cars owned by your company. It cannot be counted upon when towing a vehicle with a mobile home or any other personal use.
An On Hook Insurance Example
A concrete example will be helpful at this point. Let’s say that a number of racing cars need to be transported from a pick-up point to the race track. Your company is called up to perform the task. This should be a straightforward affair. Your truck drives to the client’s location to pick up the cars, loading each one carefully onto the platform. These are then driven along the highway to get to the track on time. Unfortunately, a slick road makes it difficult to drive and the truck hits the side of the road. No one is hurt but the cargo has sustained some damage.
The insurance policy now gets activated. If you selected a $600 deductible, then you pay this amount towards the repairs first and the insurer takes care of the rest up to the designated limit. For instance, you might have chosen a limit of $20,000. If the scratches, dents, and other damages sustained fall below this amount, then you will not have to worry about paying anything more. However, if the issues require an outright replacement which costs more than this, then you will have to shoulder the rest of the bills.
Many types of materials ranging from biological hazards to nuclear waste are shipped across the nation daily. Though each cargo has the capacity to do serious harm, a large number of regulations exist so that the threat is kept to an absolute minimum. Shipping dangerous goods under the auspices of the United States Department of Transportation keeps all hazmat transports regulated by federal code, dictating that the contents must be sealed and marked individually so as to provide the smallest element of risk to handler and shipper. This is done under the umbrella of seven separate classes of goods.
Explosives, the first class of dangerous goods, can be anything from TNT used for mining operations to ammunition and highly flammable goods. They must be marked according to their ability to cause damage, ranging from minor blast hazards like fireworks to extremely fire-sensitive materials like rocket fuel.
The second class are gases, substances that may be corrosive, poisonous, or flammable. Poisonous gases like chlorine are the easiest to transport, given that nothings short of extremely high pressure will puncture the hull. Flammable gases, conversely, are some of the most dangerous as they can be set alight with a single spark.
Flammable liquids are a separate entity given their capacity for boiling at certain temperatures. Simple gasoline can withstand temperatures of up to one hundred fifty degrees, while carbon sulfide must be kept at a much lower temperature.
Flammable solids are much rarer than liquids, as they are rarely used for fuel. Some solids, like calcium, may react violently with water and must be kept away from moisture at all costs. Others can ignite spontaneously like white phosphorus; still others like spent nuclear fuel can catch fire without producing flame.
Organic peroxides like potassium permanganate and ammonium nitrate are capable of quickly killing any material they come in contact with and must be kept sterile at all times.
Any infectious substances, such as virus specimens or used needles, must be shipping according to World Health Organization standards rather than American regulations, given that any potential spread of the infection could affect other nations.
Radioactive substances, usually uranium or plutonium, will emit radiation during their transport and must be sealed in lead, then transferred immediately to a safe storage location.
Corrosive materials that can quickly erode metal or human tissue, like hydrochloric acid, are relatively safer to transport given that they can be exposed to air.
There’s no question that truckers keep things running. Without truckers, the entire infrastructure as we know it would collapse. Imagine stores with empty shelves, food shortages, hospitals without the medications and supplies they need to treat patients, schools without food for students and other scenarios that seem impossible to fathom. Unfortunately, these unthinkable scenarios are not only very possible, if the current truck driver shortage is not solved soon, they are probable.
Although there are an estimated 3 million truckers who keep America running, the trucking industry reported a loss of more than 48,000 drivers in 2015. A large portion of these lost drivers retired after years driving big rigs across America. The current driver shortage is attributed not only to the loss of retiring drivers, but also to the extremely high turn over rate of newly licensed drivers.
Citing long hours, too much time away from home, lower than expected wages and impossible to meet time frames for deliveries, many of the newest drivers end up quitting before even completing their first year. Other drivers jump from trucking company to trucking company in search of better hours, higher pay and other benefits leaving their former employers in a lurch and facing a shortage.
The trucking education industry, however, is booming and turning out licensed, knowledgeable drivers at a very high rate. School across the country enroll and graduate new drivers almost every day, so why is that there is a driver shortage and what can be done to solve it?
While the answer to why a driver left the road is often different for each individual, the most commonly cited reason is low pay. In reality, there is not so much a driver shortage as a pay shortage. Drivers do not feel adequately compensated for the time they spend away from their families and the quality of life they endure while on the road. Living in a small truck cab, no matter how tricked out it is, takes a toll on a driver’s mental and physical health. Having to eat truck stop food, shower in communal bathrooms at truck stops and being confined in a small space for hours on end, day after day, are working conditions many drivers are unwilling to endure if they feel their pay is not commensurate with their work demands and conditions.
Not only do many drivers feel that life on the road is difficult, they do not feel appreciated or valued by their employers. Most trucking companies pay their drivers by the mile. This means time spent sitting in traffic, waiting at loading docks, weighing in at weigh stations and time spent in other delays is unpaid time. When drivers add up the time they actually spend on the road, away from home and family, versus the pay they receive, their pay rate often comes up very short. For many drivers, the paycheck they get is not in line with the actual time they spent working and it is simply not financially worth it to them to be away from home for the check they get. Why would a driver elect to be away from home, sleep and work in a cramped cab, eat sub-par food and deal with all the hassles and aggravation of a life on the road if there is no financial incentive to make it worth it? They wouldn’t and they don’t, ergo the driver shortage.
Solving the driver shortage is going to take major initiative on the part of the trucking companies who employee drivers. Companies are going to have to offer real financial incentives to drivers in order to keep them. Reconfiguring the way drivers are paid to compensate them for their full time on the road, not just the miles they cover, would be a good first step.
Additionally, new legislation requires drivers to electronically record the hours they log in an effort to combat fatigue. However, these laws slow truckers down and cut into the time they spend driving, accruing mileage and earning pay. If they want to keep drivers, trucking companies are going to have to find a way to compensate drivers for the time they spend complying with transportation laws in addition to the compensation they receive for miles covered.
Another way trucking companies can correct the driver shortage is by offering more benefits and recognition to their drivers. Many drivers feel unappreciated, undervalued and completely replaceable by their companies. Offering bonuses, paid vacations and pay raises for drivers who stay with the company are smart ways to incentivize drivers to keep on trucking.
Solving the driver shortage is the way to keep our current infrastructure up and running. Without drivers, almost everything we use on a daily basis will soon be in short supply. It’s time for trucking companies to share their profits with their drivers and keep them on the road.
Shipping food can be hard work. Many individuals do so around the holidays, shipping easy dry food. However, the lessons learned during this kind of shipping are not applicable to those situations in which one wants to ship something more substantial. Shipping frozen food is actually more a difficult process than some might realize, and it does take careful preparation. You must not only buy the right materials for the shipping process, but you must also invest in the right container. Even after this is done, you will be racing against the clock to make sure that your precious cargo does not thaw out before it can be delivered.
Prep Work
Shipping frozen food requires a bit more thought than throwing a frozen pizza in the mailbox and hoping for the best. If you actually want to ship something that is frozen, you are going to have to do a bit of prep work. The most important preparation note is that you must use dry ice to pack frozen food. It is the only thing that can guarantee that your food stays frozen for any length of time, and it will not turn your container into a soggy mess. Since you are using dry ice, you will also have to invest in plastic wrap for your food. After all, you want to make sure that your food will not come into contact with the ice.
Packing
Packing is a fairly important part of the process. You want a urethane container that is at least two inches thick for the best results, though some rely on duct tape and Styrofoam coolers to do the job. As a rule, you will use about five to ten pounds of dry ice for every day you need the food to stay frozen. Always make sure to pack the food and ice tightly, and fill in any extra space with wrap or plastic peanuts. Empty space in the container can cause your dry ice to warm, thus defeating the purpose of using the substance.
Shipping
Speed is the key for shipping frozen food. You should always pay extra for overnight shipping, as even a great packing job is not likely to last for more than two days. This can be quite expensive, and it is usually best to go through a private shipper rather than the post office. Costs vary by region and by weight, and every extra ounce is likely to cost you a bit more money.
If you absolutely have to ship frozen food, it can be done. It is an expensive process, though, and there are many mistakes that can be made along the way. If you use the right materials and pack correctly, though, you can get the food shipped out quickly. It should be thawed out upon arrival, and you should always ask for some kind of return receipt. After all, you want to make sure that no one decided to have a snack when they were out delivering your parcel.
Shipping container dimensions have been standardized, so they do not vary from one market to another, or from country to country. This is because they are made to international standards, making cross-border trade much easier. Containers can also be interchanged by shipping, rail and truck companies easily without having to make any adjustments whatsoever. The following are standard shipping container dimensions.
External Container Dimensions
The standard lengths of shipping containers are 10 feet, 20 feet, 30 feet and 40 feet. These containers have a standard external width of 8 feet. The height for standard containers is 8’6″ while High Cube containers have a height of 9’6″.
Internal Container Dimensions
Since containers are made from thick metal, the internal measurements are normally a little bit smaller than external measurements. The internal dimensions for the 10, 20, 30 and 40 feet containers are reduced to 9’2″, 19’3″, 29’4″ and 39’4″ respectively. The internal widths are also reduced to 7’7″. The internal height for standard containers is also reduced to 7’9″, while that of High Cube containers is reduced to 8’9″.
Carrying Capacity
Standard containers can carry 560, 1160,1760 and 2360 cubic feet of goods respectively in the 10, 20, 30 and 40 foot containers.
Companies that manufacture shipping containers have to adhere to these standards regardless of the type of materials they are using. Containers are designed to offer maximum carrying capacity while ensuring maximum stability of the road, bearing in mind the fact that traffic and trucking rules differ from country to another. Standard dimensions also make it easier for shipping companies to stack up the containers in their ships and shipping yards. After making a container, manufacturers are required to give each container a unique identification number.
It is important to note that refrigerated and insulated shipping containers have smaller internal measurements. They are also much heavier.
Types of Shipping Containers
The following is a list of standard shipping containers commonly used in the trucking industry.
– Flat rack
– Half height
– Open side
– Open end
– Standard
– Modular
– Liquid build (tank), and
– Refrigerated containers
Container shipping services are very important in the global trade. They must be used whenever individuals or corporations need to import items into the country. Using standardized containers makes loading, transportation, unloading and storage very easy. When you want to transport something, it is important that you consult a shipping company to come up with the best shipping solution.
