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Started By
Message
Poor US roads mean FedEx is going through tires twice as fast
Posted on 2/5/17 at 12:01 am
Posted on 2/5/17 at 12:01 am
quote:
The decaying state of the United States roadway system can be costly for drivers. For companies where vehicles are central to the business model, it’s no trivial concern. Speaking before a hearing in Washington DC earlier this week, FedEx CEO Fred Smith spoke about the need for improving the nation’s roadways, and reported that his company is using twice as many tires as it did two decades ago because of the state of the the country’s infrastructure.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee convened a hearing on February 1st called “Building a 21st Century Infrastructure for America”, which aimed to examine the challenges facing the country’s roads, bridges, and seaways in the coming years. Chairman Bill Shuster of Pennsylvania outlined that the growth of the US population in the coming decades will put a huge strain on existing infrastructure, which is already in disrepair.
The present state of the US Interstate System, he noted, “is in desperate need of updating,” and that “substandard roads result in drivers’ paying $67 billion, or $324 per motorist, annually in vehicle repairs and operating costs.” With a fleet of vehicles that numbers in the tens of thousands (he cites a worldwide fleet of 150,000 ground vehicles), that’s represents a major investment.
“We’ve allowed the highway system to atrophy for lack of maintenance,” he reported, noting that as a result, productivity has suffered. When talking about ways to fix US Interstate Highway funding, he dropped an eye-opening anecdote: FexEx replaces the tires on their vehicles twice as much as they did twenty years ago:
“All of us know what it’s like to buy a tire for our car. Over the past twenty years, our over the road vehicle tire utilization has been cut in half. So we’re using almost 100% more tires to produce the same milage of transportation. Why is that? Because the road infrastructure has so many potholes in it it’s tearing up tires faster than was the case before.
LINK
In Baton Rouge, they are probably going through tires four times as fast as before.
This post was edited on 2/5/17 at 12:08 am
13
Posted on 2/5/17 at 12:04 am to Street Hawk
So we're using twice the tires yet tires have tripled in price. Nice.
Posted on 2/5/17 at 12:23 am to northshorebamaman
At least they don't have to pay the really expensive part of shipping said tires...amirite?
Posted on 2/5/17 at 12:27 am to Street Hawk
Maybe tire quality has dropped?
Posted on 2/5/17 at 12:43 am to Street Hawk
I drive as an owner/operator. Driving in southern California literally eats tires. I normally only have to replace my steer tires once a year when I was just driving in Arizona/Nevada. But with I-10 from Indio to Banning, US60 in Riverside, and US91 heading into Los Angeles on my route now, I have to replace them every six months. Chunks of my tires come off. The bumps rattle the truck so hard I've had the windshield spider from stress.
It's reached a point where fellow truck drivers now shift a lane to the left to avoid the destroyed right lanes. Passenger cars raise hell that we're in the way in the left lanes (anywhere from a 4-6 lane highway), but it's flat unsafe to get batted around like that. There are times my electrical power has gone out when I've hit a bump/pothole too hard, temporarily shutting the truck off while going 60 mph due to loosening the electrical harnesses. No power steering, no brakes, and no engine response in a 30-40 ton machine...That'll tighten your anus.
It's reached a point where fellow truck drivers now shift a lane to the left to avoid the destroyed right lanes. Passenger cars raise hell that we're in the way in the left lanes (anywhere from a 4-6 lane highway), but it's flat unsafe to get batted around like that. There are times my electrical power has gone out when I've hit a bump/pothole too hard, temporarily shutting the truck off while going 60 mph due to loosening the electrical harnesses. No power steering, no brakes, and no engine response in a 30-40 ton machine...That'll tighten your anus.
Posted on 2/5/17 at 12:50 am to The Quiet One
What town, in your opinion, has the best Lot Lizards?
Posted on 2/5/17 at 12:56 am to Street Hawk
edited due to contractually obligated drivers providing data online
This post was edited on 2/5/17 at 12:59 am
Posted on 2/5/17 at 1:16 am to Street Hawk
Bad roads are job creators! 
Posted on 2/5/17 at 1:18 am to Street Hawk
When I first moved to ATL over 10 yrs ago I remember remarking on how well they kept up their city streets. Over the last 10 yrs the city streets here in ATL have become one maze of dodging tire popping pothole after another, even in the tax wealthy neighborhoods of Buckhead Dunwoody etc.
A few years ago a friend blew out a tire after driving over one of those elevated metal plates they sometimes place over too large potholes. She wrote the mayors office and the city police head office and the city streets Dept (whatever that is) demanding a refund on the cost of replacing the tire. We all laughed at her saying "There she goes again! That will never work!" Etc.
Well she worded it pretty well (as a tax payer and voter blah blah blah) and she attached a photo of the metal plate, her blown tire (before changing it) with a copy of the receipt for the new tire. And we were all amazed when she reported back that the city sent her a check for the exact amount of the replacement.
You never know.
A few years ago a friend blew out a tire after driving over one of those elevated metal plates they sometimes place over too large potholes. She wrote the mayors office and the city police head office and the city streets Dept (whatever that is) demanding a refund on the cost of replacing the tire. We all laughed at her saying "There she goes again! That will never work!" Etc.
Well she worded it pretty well (as a tax payer and voter blah blah blah) and she attached a photo of the metal plate, her blown tire (before changing it) with a copy of the receipt for the new tire. And we were all amazed when she reported back that the city sent her a check for the exact amount of the replacement.
You never know.
Posted on 2/5/17 at 7:13 am to SamuelClemens
Maybe FedEx drivers are taking corners twice as fast now than 20 years ago?
Posted on 2/5/17 at 7:19 am to Street Hawk
quote:
So we’re using almost 100% more tires to produce the same milage of transportation.
Just a little factoid for this gentleman that I read in Reader's Digest a few years back - one 80,000 pound semi does as much damage to one mile of roadway as 6,200 automobiles do.
Maybe he needs to ask for higher taxes on the vehicles doing the most damage to remedy the situation.
Posted on 2/5/17 at 7:22 am to Street Hawk
Coming from someone who lives in lakeview I don't want to hear shite about your "bad roads".
Posted on 2/5/17 at 7:28 am to Homesick Tiger
quote:
Just a little factoid for this gentleman that I read in Reader's Digest a few years back - one 80,000 pound semi does as much damage to one mile of roadway as 6,200 automobiles do.
Maybe he needs to ask for higher taxes on the vehicles doing the most damage to remedy the situation.
Was going to say the same thing. FedEx put in a hub near my parent's in Louisville and it's no concidence the roads they travel most frequently in that area have gotten worse. And it's on roads that have no business holding frequent semi traffic.
Of course no one wants to do anything about it because that would mean pointing the finger at FedEx and the city doesn't want any of that.
Posted on 2/5/17 at 7:38 am to Street Hawk
Solar roadways brah!
Posted on 2/5/17 at 7:39 am to Street Hawk
quote:
Poor US roads mean FedEx is going through tires twice as fast
Maybe they should switch to the hard compound.
Posted on 2/5/17 at 7:41 am to Homesick Tiger
quote:
Maybe he needs to ask for higher taxes on the vehicles doing the most damage to remedy the situation.
Big trucks already pay way more in roads and use taxes. In fact, the last time I researched it the road and use tax burden on semis was disproportionately higher than their wear and tear impact.
Posted on 2/5/17 at 7:49 am to Street Hawk
Roads I use most often are in good shape. The parts of I30 that are't between LR and DAL are being worked on.
Thankfully I do not have to go into DAL so I do not know how their streets are. FW is mostly OK in the parts that anybody would care about.
Thankfully I do not have to go into DAL so I do not know how their streets are. FW is mostly OK in the parts that anybody would care about.
Posted on 2/5/17 at 8:21 am to Homesick Tiger
quote:
Maybe he needs to ask for higher taxes on the vehicles doing the most damage to remedy the situation.
Guess what? Semis pay,almost entirely,for the upkeep of roads in this country,and lucky you,you get to use the roads almost for free.
Posted on 2/5/17 at 11:52 am to auggie
This just isnt true. Semi trucks pay more per vehicle, but property and sales taxes pay the bulk of local roads.
Posted on 2/5/17 at 11:57 am to Street Hawk
Louisiana used to have the worst roads. It took years, but a lot of states have caught up to Louisiana.
Trump's infrastructure plan needs to include a lot of asphalt and concrete.
Trump's infrastructure plan needs to include a lot of asphalt and concrete.
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