First Name | Ron |
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Last Name | Faulkner |
Email Address | ron@faulknertrucking.com |
Affiliation | Faulkner Trucking Inc |
Subject | Comments 4/21/14 Amendments |
Comment | Faulkner Trucking is against any modification in the current regulations for 1 to 3 truck companies. The original regulations provided for an extended time frame to allow these companies an opportunity to comply. All other company’s accepted the added financial burden and spent the necessary capital to comply with the knowledge that the 1 to 3 truck companies were also being compelled to comply. The extended time frame has created an unlevel playing which has squeezed margins for compliant companies. Noncompliant companies with a lower cost operation have been able keep lower freight rates in place for far too long. At Faulkner Trucking we have complied with the regulations since day 1. The cost of compliance has been steep. First we retrofitted 10 early to get an additional 10 trucks in compliance. The cost was $150,000 for the retrofits. These retrofits reduced fuel mileage, damaged several motors and required extra maintenance. The reduced fuel mileage amounted to $11,000 per vehicle. The required extra maintenance caused the trucks additional time which decreased the annual truck revenue by $10,000 per year. The 3 damaged motors caused by sub par engineering of the retrofits Cost $15,000 per motor. Secondly the company spent $608,000 for new trucks and $650,000 for compliant used trucks. To achieve compliance until 1/1/17 the company had to be refinanced over 10 years. The extra refinancing burden on the company puts Faulkner Trucking “at risk” of closing doors its “any day” for the next 10 years simply because we complied with the current regulations. Faulkner Trucking employs around 60 people whose life would be disrupted by this type of event. Many of our employees are older workers that would find it impossible to find the same type of job. For the ARB to grant extensions would be unfair to the companies that invested in compliance. The small operators knew that they had extended time to comply and are now trying to have the rules changed for their gain at the expense of the companies who have put their entire company’s on the line to comply. |
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Date and Time Comment Was Submitted | 2014-04-18 10:44:15 |
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