Research and Markets: The Refuse Truck Industry in North America: Size ... - Business Wire (press release)

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/7c7ca6/the_refuse_truck_i) has announced the addition of the "The Refuse Truck Industry in North America" report to their offering.

“The Refuse Truck Industry in North America”

The Refuse Truck Industry in North America: Size, segmentation, competition, growth and trends underlying the manufacture and market of front, rear and side loader refuse trucks and recycling trucks in North America

Household waste generation and its haulage have historically been viewed as recession-resilient activities. However recent studies indicate that households put out less waste for collection during an economic downturn, driven by the economics of recycling and reusing a portion of the waste which previously would have been set out for disposal, as well as encouragement from green initiatives actively promoted by community groups and governmental entities. Zero-waste (no waste sent to landfills) is a target set by many local governments. While this target is still quite some distance away, both waste haulers and refuse truck manufacturers are changing to accommodate this trend.

The refuse truck industry is cyclical in nature, albeit moderately so. With private haulers and local governments being the customers, curtailment of their buying power during a recessionary period negatively impacts demand for the refuse truck industry. Local governments and municipalities are hampered by shrinking budgets owing to lower tax collections, while waste haulers cut back on capital expenditures in the face of rising costs, increasing price pressures and lack of financing. Housing construction is the direct demand driver for waste hauling services, and with this segment being in the stranglehold of a severe recession for the past several years, waste haulers have not seen an increase in demand from new routes.

Despite the above-mentioned factors, the refuse truck industry has not witnessed a significant decline in demand. 2007 and 2008 were strong years for the industry; 2009 saw some decline, but the outlook remains positive.

Alternative fuel-powered refuse trucks are generating a lot of interest, and it is expected that such trucks will increasingly replace the ageing fleet of diesel-powered vehicles. The other area of interest is automation of refuse collection activity. Automation contributes not only towards significant reduction in the direct cost of refuse collection, but also works towards improved driver and operator safety and work conditions.

These and other issues are the subject of this succinct report from SpecialtyVehicles.net (SVN). The report can be put to immediate use for sales and market planning, M&A identification, competitive share analysis, alliances and technology transfer considerations

Key Topics Covered:

A. INTRODUCTION

B. SUMMARY OF MAJOR FINDINGS

C. INDUSTRY CHALLENGES & MARKET OUTLOOK

D. RECENT DEVELOPMENTS IN PRODUCT & TECHNOLOGY

E. MARKET ANALYSIS

F. COMPANY PROFILES

Companies Mentioned:

Amrep Inc. Bridgeport Manufacturing, Inc. E-Z Pack Manufacturing LLC Edge Manufacturing, Inc. G&H Manufacturing Ltd GCI Environment Inc. GSP Marketing, Inc. Heil Environmental Kann Manufacturing Corporation Labrie Environmental Group Loadmaster Corp. Lodal Inc. McNeilus Truck & Manufacturing Pak-Mor Ltd. Pendpac, Inc. Scranton Manufacturing Co., Inc./New Way Shu-Pak Equipment, Inc. Universal Handling Equipment Co. Walinga Inc. Wayne Engineering

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/7c7ca6/the_refuse_truck_i.

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Waste not, want not - Road Transport

Recent cases have highlighted the penalties operators can face if they fail to observe environmental legislation, particularly with regards to illegal dumping of waste materials or pollution of rivers or streams.

In May the Environment Agency (EA) successfully prosecuted nine haulage companies and individuals involved in dumping construction and demolition waste at a designated area of natural beauty in Kent in 2008. Fines totalling £74,250 were imposed on the offenders.

The defendants, who had failed to notify the Highways Agency about it, pleaded guilty to charges under the 1990 Environment Protection Act.

Last month, in another EA prosecution, Nicholson's Transport of Billingham, Teesside, and a driver, each pleaded guilty to a charge of causing liquid wood preservative and toxic chemical Wolmanit CX 8 to enter a tributary in Sedgefield, County Durham, in June 2009.

The firm was fined £10,000 and ordered to pay EA costs of £1,875, while driver Nigel Draper was fined £300 plus £330 costs.

The Environmental Damage Regulations 2009 now force polluters to prevent and remedy environmental damage they have caused - the "polluter pays" principle.

Serious damage

However, the government says the rules are mainly used for the most serious cases of damage only.

The principle is that if you or your business carry out an activity that causes environmental damage, you will have to remedy that.

If there is a risk of harm from your business activities, you must prevent such damage occurring.

Under the regulations, environmental damage is:

? serious damage to surface or ground water;

? contamination of land where there is a significant risk to human health;

? serious damage to EU-protected natural habitats and species or damage to - sites of special scientific interest (SSSIs) or areas of special scientific interest (ASSIs) in Northern Ireland.

The legislation affects hauliers involved in sectors such as manufacturing, construction and demolition, waste management and forestry.

Liam Northfield, FTA media relations manager, says: "Broadly speaking, good transport operators will always be aware of their environmental obligations when it comes to disposing of waste, whether they are general operators or disposal companies.

"We are happy with the current legislation as it does not penalise responsible companies and we would not be in favour of any sort of legislative relaxation."

If a haulage firm has threatened to cause, or has caused, environmental damage it must:

-take steps to prevent the damage (or further damage) occurring;

-inform the EA or other authorities who will say what the company must do to prevent and/or remedy the damage;

-if the EA has to remedy the damage, the firm will have to pay the costs.

In England and Wales, the EA, Natural England, local councils and Environment Secretary are responsible for administering and enforcing the regulations, depending on the type of damage involved.

Responsible bodies

In Northern Ireland, the body responsible is the Northern Ireland Environment Agency (NIEA), while in Scotland, the Scottish Environment Protection Agency, Marine Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage look after the regulations.

If you don't comply with the law, you can be prosecuted, fined and/or imprisoned.

Nick Deal, Road Haulage Association manager for logistics development, adds: "Most of the offences are spillages and companies should have systems in place to deal with these. The principle is the polluter pays, I don't have any issue with that and although the fines can be pretty big, they are there to restore the land."

ENVIRONMENT CIVIL SANCTION ORDERS

New rules allowing environmental regulators in England and Wales to impose civil sanctions on a business committing certain types of environmental offence came into force in England in April 2010 and in Wales three months later.

Environment Civil Sanction Orders are intended as an alternative to prosecution and the criminal penalties of fines and imprisonment.

The government believes the sanctions will make environmental law enforcement more proportionate and reflect the fact that most offences committed by businesses are unintentional.

Civil sanctions will initially cover offences relating to harm to water or wildlife, drainage and waste management.

Regulators can use the legislation to clamp down on businesses committing certain environmental offences.

Sanctions include:

? Compliance notices - written notices to take steps to ensure that an offence does not continue or recur.

? Restoration notices - written notices to restore harm caused by non-compliance.

? Enforcement undertakings - voluntary agreement by business to take corrective action to make up for non-compliance.

? A fixed monetary penalty - a low-level penalty for minor offences fixed at £100 for an individual and £300 for a company.

? A variable monetary penalty - a monetary penalty for more serious offences with a maximum of £250,000.

? A stop notice - written notice to stop an activity which is causing harm.

Environmental regulators with the civil powers - EA and Natural England - will still be able to use civil or traditional criminal punishments at their discretion.

In most cases the regulator will issue a notice of intent to impose the sanction.

The offender can appeal against a civil sanction to an independent tribunal, and subject to the appeal, the offender must pay the penalty.

Legal action will be taken against anyone not paying monetary penalties and anyone not complying with restoration notices or stop notices will usually be prosecuted.

In some cases, the regulator may recover costs of investigation or legal advice. It is important operators admit their mistakes immediately as failure to do so can lead to a heavier fine.

LEGISLATION

? 1990 Environment Protection Act

? Water Resources Act 1991

Environment Civil Sanction Orders

Environmental Permitting (England and Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2010

Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations 2009

Environmental Damage (Prevention and Remediation) (Wales) Regulations 2009

Environmental Liability (Prevention and Remediation) Regulations (Northern Ireland) 2009

Environmental Liability (Scotland) Regulations 2009

Environmental Liability (Prevention and Remediation) (Scotland) Regulations 2008

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Discovering Essential Things Regarding European Haulage

European haulage is something a lot of people don't understand. Haulage is a worldwide industry that is committed to transporting load or goods via railway or road systems. Usually, it involves transport of ores, coals, and waste on land. It's also known as drayage or cartage. The term can also be used to describe charges imposed upon hauling cargo on lorries, trucks, or carts. People handling haulage are known as haulage contractors, private carriers, or common carriers. Hauliers or haulage companies are equipped with a set of machinery to carry a huge amount of goods. A typical haulier has a warehouse stock, industrial machinery or equipment, a reliable number of pallets, and construction materials.

Today, the haulage industry has changed as technology has. European haulage industry has to prove itself to clients and consumers. As a matter of fact, it did prove itself to the European market and is still flourishing. Transport of goods and products is extremely important in business. It is usually through this type of delivery that goods are sent right to the recipient. Suppliers generally send load or freight to manufacturers through private shipping or haulage. Haulage contractors are expected to handle the job with reliability or they will eventually lose their clients. Reliability entails on-time delivery and aside from having goods delivered on schedule, the goods must also be delivered safely without any signs of damage.

Back in the day, clients would just have to wait until the goods arrive, but now they can keep track of their cargo through advanced tracking systems. For instance, some hauliers support global positioning system so that businessmen can monitor where their goods are. GPS tracking system has been convenient for both consumers and hauliers and it is used all over the world. It allows both parties to keep track of the items, packages, and goods being transported from the moment they arrive at the warehouse to the moment they are delivered to their proper destination. With this kind of system, the delivery personnel can also be monitored.

Haulage companies do employ safety regulations when handling and transporting hazardous materials. They go through such precautionary measures to keep their workers safe and to reduce possibilities of accidents. Safe transport also ensures that the goods are transported with utmost care. Hazardous materials or chemicals must be held secured inside delivery trucks to avoid possible leakages or spills. Clients or consumers may file charges against a haulier if goods are damaged due to negligence and imprudence.
Hauliers in Europe ensure that they meet client demands and expectations. Hence, they are willing to accept feedbacks from consumers. See if you can check client feedbacks regarding haulage services.

Commercial centers in Europe may choose between full-load and part-load haulage services. There are an impressive number of available groupage services for people who opt for the latter. You can have a private truck or single truck to deliver just your goods or you can opt for your goods to be transported with the other goods. Some hauliers may offer 24-hour or economy delivery depending on the budget of the consumer.

Road haulage is an important aspect of shipment in Europe and it is an essential facet of groupage services. Door to door distribution generally relies upon road transport. Cargos may be shipped via cargo planes or ships but once they reach the ports, haulage trucks come into play. Delivery trucks may face challenges along the road, like bad weather or heavy traffic, but they should be able to carry out on-time delivery.

Much of Europe is a wide piece of land, so road haulage became much of a reliable option for transport of goods. Then again, haulage is also an important aspect of cargo delivery in UK which is detached from mainland Europe. Both Europe and UK combine advanced monitoring technology and reliable roadway and railway system to support their steadfast haulage industry.

Jo is an author and publisher for 'Sims Worldwide Logistics' ( http://www.simsworldwide.com ), an establishment stationed in Stockport, South Manchester, which offers storage and distribution solutions in addition to road haulage to a broad variety of local, regional, international and national customers. If you are seeking a European haulage company which gives quality service with a progressive point of view and a guarantee to quality which is founded on years of traditional values then you should take a look at Sims Worldwide Logistics.

How Will CPC Transport Training Increase Your Bottom Line

If you own or operate a haulage or coach hire provider then you'll need to be aware about the latest European union laws to control your organization, the Drivers Certificate Of Professional Competence or driver CPC. This happens to be a regulation that requires a basic qualification for first time staff and for current drivers to engage in 35 hours of training over a period of five-years. You do not in fact get a formal certification at the conclusion of the training as you merely have to attend to accomplish it, however it is still a pre-requisite to abide by legal requirements. Safety and health are featured highly in the programs, as you might expect yet, more surprisingly you will also end up being examined on your understanding of safe and efficient driving and also facets of customer care for instance first aid and courteous driving.

There are advantages and disadvantages to the lack of a formal training curriculum obviously. One significant benefit is the fact that, as a company operator, you'll be able to train the employees with your own company needs and objectives in mind - provided that the primary matters are all dealt with. The problem with this to this, nonetheless, is you need to be certain to make sure that all of the appropriate facets of the directive are taken care of, and in the best ratio. Make sure you don't buy training which you don't need and find yourself wasting cash.

That's why it is vital that you work closely along with your coaching company to make sure that the classes they may be delivering are well suited for your enterprise. There are actually lots of advantages to be obtained by organizations, if they put their drivers through the right coaching, like energy cost savings and a reduction in car or truck wear and tear and one recent boss assessment saw 87% of businesses discovering a benefit in improvements in superior road safety.

Most businesses offer continuous training for staff and see the advantages of Drivers CPC training, that it enables companies to supply drivers the same individual skills development. If your business already provides on-going training then you are at an advantage, and you may even customize your present programs to cover the prerequisites of the CPC driver training directives. It may also be feasible, with only a little more effort to supply formal certification such as NVQ's for your drivers.

Coach operators have had to stick to this legislation for quite a while now, and several have in fact developed a good group of in-house training courses and blueprints for success. In recent months, this sector has seen a huge rise in standards of professionalism and quality, as well as cost efficient.

CPC Transport Training is an essential part of becoming a qualified coach driver. If you would like to find out more about CPC Courses In Scotland and then contact Whytes Transport Training.

If You've Been Laid Off, Or Might Be, Then Start a Small Business Now

The best time to start a small business is probably during a recession because the big boys are laying off people, and are less able to service would-be clients, whereas a new small business has almost no overheads to speak of, and can either take business away from the big guys, or get sub-contracted jobs from them.

And other big advantage is that a new and very small company has over the big guys is that if you make a mistake then it won't cost very much, whereas just imagine the cost involved in having to recall tens of thousands of cars, or appliances or whatever.

So if you've been laid off, or are already unemployed then this might be exactly the right time to start up a small business, and you might well have almost everything that's needed, and will only have to invest the smallest amount of cash to get things rolling.

And don't be overly concerned that the present economic climate means that it's not the right time to start something, because economic turn-downs most likely offer more pluses than minuses to those that want to start up something small but lucrative, and 92% of existing entrepreneurs say that they started their businesses without ever considering the economic climate.

When you first start out you'll more than likely be a one man or woman band, or be doing it with a family member or friend, and you won't be burdened by, enormous marketing fees and things like HR costs, and what's more, you'll be able to adapt to market changes much faster than the big boys.

There are a zillion businesses that you could start up, and which one you choose will depend on your talents, your available time and having the start up money involved, if any is needed.

It's highly preferable that you enjoy the thing that you're going to spend a lot of time doing, and hobbies are therefore always great things to turn into money making ventures.

Stamp collecting, coin collecting, antiques and first edition books or comics, are obvious ideas that spring to mind but there are there as many ideas as there are hobbies.

If you don't have a specialist hobby, or don't think you could make any meaningful money from the one you have, then the next requirement is that the business be based on something that you do well, or have a particular affinity for.

Nine Ideas For Small Businesses That Require Almost No Investment

1) Animals

If you like animals, then either having them in your home whilst the owner is away, or visiting the owners house to feed and walk them etc. can be very lucrative and the start up cost is next to zero, and should require nothing more than placing ads in local newspapers, or on trees.

* The NAPPS (National Association of Professional Pet Sitters) says that in-home pet-care is one of the fastest growing industries in North America today.

2) Computer Repair

If you know how to repair computers then it's a sure-fire way to make money, because most people have no idea what to do when their computer won't start, they get a virus or can't get onto the Internet. There's hardly any profit in selling software, and not much more in selling hardware and the real profit is in repair which you can do at home or at the customer's house.

3) Selling On eBay

Related to #2 above is selling on eBay and it's good for people that feel comfortable working on computers, but you also need to have a good feel for market prices and to be able to spot a great deal and to be able to buy it fast. Lots of people now work full time on eBay and make a very good living from it.

4) Auto Repair

What happens during a recession is that people either hold onto their cars for longer than they normally would or they buy a used car, both of which are good news for somebody that knows how to fix cars.

If you're an enthusiast then you most likely have a lot of tools already, but it's likely that you'll need to buy more, and having a place to make the repairs will obviously need to be taken into consideration as your neighbors won't take kindly to changing their street into an auto repair shop.

5) Yard maintenance, Landscaping And Snow Clearing

Depending on the time of year and where you live, it's obviously possible to make money from mowing peoples' lawns and even real gardening and landscaping if you have a flare for it, and clearing snow in the winter is hard work but pays well, and none of the forgoing involve any real start up costs.

6) Heating, Air Conditioning And Appliance Repair

I've lumped the above three things together because someone that's good and doing one of them can probably do all of them and they're all good money makers. When a person's freezer or fridge breaks down and it's full of defrosting food then the owner is not going to quibble too much about the price of a quick repair, and the same goes for either a heating or air conditioning failure if the temperature is rising or dropping fast outside.

7) House Cleaning

Cleaning other people's houses might not sound like fun but where there's muck there's money, and it's no longer just the rich that hire somebody to clean once a week or month. Most people seem to have less and less free time rather than more and more, and if you really clean well, then you'll have a fast growing business and will most likely soon be hiring help.

8) Light Haulage

What I'm talking about here is not a moving company, but a business that transports things that won't fit into a regular car or that people don't want to put into their cars, like yard waste, trash or compost etc.

A simple ad in the local newspaper and maybe at the supermarket will soon get people calling you and the money's good, but you'll need a suitable vehicle and a cell phone.

9) A Local Delivery Service

Similar to #8 but for clean things that will fit into a local car, and quite a few people have been making good money from this recently, especially if you're willing to pick things up during regular shop hours and drop them off when people get home from work.

How you should handle the tax side of things is beyond the scope of this article, but it goes without saying that most of the money from all of the above ideas will be cash, and you should be able to make at least reasonable money from all them.

What's more, they would all be better that sitting at home unemployed, and they all offer the freedom of doing things in your own time, and not when you're told to do them.

[http://get-financial-help.org] is one of a small network of sites, and each has one interesting and very popular articles related to personal finance. The author has always been interested in economics and his love and enthusiasm of the subject come through strongly in his articles.

The Best and Worst Transport Contracts

There are good transport contracts, and bad transport contracts - learn more about the main differences between them!

The Best and Worst Transport Contracts

If you are working in the haulage industry, whether you are an owner operator or a salaried employee, you'll know enough about transport contracts to know that no two jobs are the same. You'll have had jobs where everything went right, and loads that you simply couldn't wait to be rid of.

Sometimes it is hard to foresee which one will turn out to be unpleasant until you've signed on the dotted line - other times, the signs are there from the outset that there is going to be trouble! Of course, there are also the dream jobs where a company treats you right, pays you well, and you have a straightforward, stress free drive to your destination and back.

But while it may not always be possible to know whether a job will be heaven or hell before you take it, there are a few common characteristics of good and bad transport jobs...

A Good Job Means...

You'll be working with a decent company that takes care of its drivers, issues professional transport contracts, pays a decent wage and legally complies with all the necessary industry regulations. If they are providing the vehicle, it will be well maintained. They will give you clear instructions, communicate with you in a coherent fashion, and the loading and unloading process will be nice and smooth. There's nothing worse than wasting time sitting around waiting to load or unload!

On a good job, you'll have a secure load that isn't fragile, and that is evenly weighted so that it doesn't cause problems with your vehicle's handling. An ideal job will give you plenty of opportunities to pick up backloads for your return journey, and might even have one of these built into the contract. Another final little perk is to be given a scenic route to drive through - spending your whole day on the road is made more enjoyable if you've got some decent scenery to look at along the way!

A Bad Job Means...

Above all else, if you've got an unpleasant job it is usually because your employer isn't up to scratch. Their transport contracts will be filled with small print that is seemingly designed to make your life a nightmare. If they provide a vehicle, it'll be poorly maintained and potentially dangerous to drive. They will be difficult to deal with, and there will be endless delays and huge amounts of paperwork every step of the way.

You'll be dispatched to the middle of nowhere with unclear instructions and no chance of picking up a backload on your way back, and the load you've got will be poorly secured and liable to shift around and break along the way. If you are sent abroad on a nightmare job, you'll be sent somewhere with overzealous police and complicated regulations to comply with. The entire job will be time consuming hassle from start to finish, and to cap it all off, they will be late paying you once you do finally finish your work!

Every haulage worker will have to deal with good jobs and bad jobs - but if you learn to recognise the signs of good transport contracts, you'll have a much better chance of picking up the right kind of jobs!

Lyall Cresswell is the Managing Director of Haulage Exchange, the leading online trade network for the road transport industry across the UK and Europe. It provides services and transport contracts to buy and sell road transport and freight exchange in the domestic and international markets.

Cutting Carbon Emissions Through Haulage Loads

This may seem an unlikely article for me to write at first. Working in the road transport industry, many people assume it is automatically impossible to have a green conscience. This isn't surprising, given that my job depending on hundreds of haulage vehicles dragging loads up and down the country, producing all those environment damaging carbon emissions along the way. Actually, the truth is that my job allows me to be both a green advocate and a road haulage representative while still helping me claim a salary. No, I haven't invented a device that changes exhaust emissions into pure oxygen - it's simply thanks to the nature of freight exchanges.

It works like this: under normal circumstances, drivers or companies manage their own loads with their customers, make their delivery and then return home to the depot for the next load. Environmentally and on a human level, this isn't efficient. The driver is, in effect, only being paid for the outbound journey, and in these times when the price of fuel seems to be rising on an almost daily basis, this is financially crippling. Now consider a freight exchange - a network of suppliers and drivers/companies who distribute their loads between them meaning that the return journey can contain another job. This means the trip is paid for (both ways) and therefore the haulage company is not operating at a loss (even for a minute) and profits can rise.

All well and good, but this still isn't looking particularly environmentally friendly is it? Wait, I'm getting to that.

Now, if this return load is being distributed back to someone who is already out on the road, it won't be given to a driver for whom that would be the sole purpose of the trip. This means that there are less wasted journeys (every mile involved has a delivery attached) and therefore less unnecessary carbon emissions all over the place. Better still, if this collaboration for efficiency continues across the industry, then less trucks will be required to shift all the work, and we may even see the decommissioning of these carbon-emitting behemoths. The environment will surely jump for joy.

Unlike most environmentally friendly solutions which require an element of self sacrifice, the freight exchange actually creates benefits across the board: the haulage companies/owner operators make more money, the roads get less congested and the environment becomes less polluted. Everybody wins - and for that reason, we have seen impressive pick up for our online freight exchange for the 7.5tonne and above market: Haulage Exchange.

I can't say whether our customer base is growing for monitory or environmental reasons (or both), but whichever it is, the gradual migration to us and other freight exchanges is great news for the environment. And if our drivers save themselves significant money as well, then all the better.

Luke Humble is the Website manager for The Transport Exchange Group. Their website for the 7.5 tonne and over market, Haulage Exchange, is one of the UK's leading independent and fastest growing freight exchanges.The exchanges are neutral, actively managed and with strict quality control to ensure smooth running.