California Dump Truck Owners Association (CDTOA) - California Construction Trucking Association (CCTA)

So 2012 is here, and I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and safe New Year. I am optimistic that as the year progresses, it will be a more profitable one than 2011 was for everyone.
Unfortunately, even though the weather has been beautiful here in the south, work has been spotty at best. It’s kind of funny how there is all this talk of deadly polluted air from the media, CARB and EPA, and yet this time of year we (and many around the world) can’t seem to get enough of our weather and our so-called dirty air. You almost have to be a moron to believe any of this propaganda coming from EPA and CARB today about particulate matter (PM) and extreme weather events. The only extreme I have seen is extremely nice weather and clean air!

Speaking of CARB, at last they finalized their regulations, and their reporting site is up and running. Everyone should report their power units to CARB by March 30, 2012. I actually have reported and was able to enter my information and download my verification sheet with no problems. Here is the website for reporting: www.arb.ca.gov/msprog/onrdiesel/reportinginfo.htm. Remember if the site has any problems, report them to CARB and then blog about them on our website. If you feel uncomfortable going on the CARB website, you can still call Sean Edgar at CleanFleets and, for a fee, they will report for you. They will also explain all your compliance options and things like engine control label conformance. It’s worth the investment if you feel a little overwhelmed. Sean’s office number is 916-718-7050.

Well, we have a new year and, to no one’s surprise, we need to monitor the developments (and numerous lawsuits) associated with CARB, EPA, AB32, and cap and trade to see what all these wonderful environmentalists’ social engineering plans will do to us next.

I read that it was a rather bad year for new laws here as just fewer than 800 of them were passed. For those of you with small children or grandchildren, we have a new law concerning child safety seats. If a child is younger than 8 years old or shorter than 4-feet-9-inches tall, they must be in a booster seat and ride in the back seat, or you will be subject to a $475 ticket. I would hate to see anyone get such a big ticket while taking the kids out in the car. There are a lot of other new laws but none that had such a high potential nanny-state fine as this one.

Now we have some fun facts about the “evil” oil companies we always hear are behind everything bad in our environment and country. It seems that although we have been told in recent years that the U.S. lacks enough refineries to keep up with the demand domestic demands for gas, diesel and jet fuel that was, well, just another lie too. Now we find out that the #1 product exported (by dollar value) from the U.S. in 2011 will likely be refined oil products.

According to U.S. Census and Energy Department statistics, exports of diesel, gasoline, and other refined petroleum products surged this year and have continued to grow even through November and December. Today, U.S. fuel exports are averaging between 2.8 and 2.9 million barrels a day, the highest ever. The oil companies produce much of the fuel we use as a country, and, in fact, they were so efficient at it that they were able to sell the additional fuels to markets in South America, Central America, and Europe. These exports are equivalent to about 1 billion barrels or 42 billion gallons per year. Remember this the next time prices at the pump go up and they blame it on a refinery going down for maintenance or a suspicious fire and its effects on supplies.

Well, in closing, I do hope to see many of you at the February board meeting in Sacramento. We always learn a lot and share some great fellowship during these meetings. I invite all members; just make sure you RSVP to the CCTA office (still trying to get used to the new name). This meeting, I’m sure, will provide a variety of interesting topics to discuss, from CARB regulations and lawsuits to prevailing wage issues to improvements to our broker bonding legislation. Come join us! Even non-members should come and get a taste of what we do for everyone today.

Fred Martin