the green agenda has been alive and well since al gore started pimping it like a $2 whore. most of the green agenda is a farce, just ridiculous. the emissions policies for diesel engines comes to mind first. the mileage drop from the common-rail cummins trucks at my uncle's company to the 6.7L emissions was drastic. the average drop in economy was 7 miles per gallon, even worse when you factor in the DPF burn. he also has a crane that is emissions compliant. typically, the crane crew runs at a high idle for most of the day. the old crane was not by any frame of site good on fuel economy, but the new one is completely ridiculous. every 2 days on the site, they have to halt crane work and let the DPF burn out for 45 minutes, screaming at about 2k rpm.
the trucking industry is also getting bent over here. we had 3 non-DPF trucks, all hauling similar loads. they would get around 4 mpg, which considering the fact that hauling a combine is like hauling a large wall, was pretty good. the newer trucks get similar mileage overall, but the DPF burns affect the towing power and during that time, they get abysmal mileage. couple that with the increased complexity of the motors, and you've got a whole lot of trouble really fast. the cat twin-turbo ACERT motors are well know for being break happy piles. the mercedes motors are a nightmare to work on, and Detroits pretty much require a laptop there in the stall to diagnose petty crap like a sensor malfunction. haven't heard too much myself on the cummins motors.
the labor cost in maintaining the new emissions compliant trucks is nothing short of staggering compared to the older ones. now i know some will say "why does this suck so hard" well here's the answer. there are many fleet companies that make enough to cover the costs of maintaining their trucks, but the back bone of the trucking industry remains the owner-operator segment. having spent most of my life helping my father work on the truck and haul, i saw the end of the owner-operator coming. we only ran older trucks, nothing after 2000. 3 trucks that had a million miles each. the maintenance costs where high, but manageable. i have a friend that works in a truck repair shop, he's talked at length about the cost of the new motors, and the cost to the company to train him. a third to half more than we spent doing the same maintenance. when you're talking about a $12,000 engine overhaul, that turns into roughly $18,000 depending on the parts and labor costs to the shop, and the training the mechanic has under his belt. it all gets passed down to the owner-operator that is already suffering high fuel cost. truck based shipping is a huge part of the economy, and its all going down the drain.
not to mention the farming segment that is suffering high fuel and machinery costs. about $300,000 for a combine. $300,000. that's worth more than the land i'm on right now. so, farmers either make great friends with the banker, keep fixing things on older machines, lease, or bow out and rent their land. the bank should be obvious, i knew a man that had a fleet of earth moving equipment. if the bank didn't get a check every week, they took ownership of those machines. can you imagine having a 3 million dollar balancing act? the sad thing is that its not uncommon.
fixing the old machines sounds great, and if you're mechanically inclined, it is....for a while. until a serious problem arises and the machine has to be in the shop for 3 weeks. if that is your only tractor and you have work to do, you're up a creek. when you get the bill, pretty much just have to open the checkbook and close your eyes. i know a few people that are competent enough, and well equipped enough, to pull a motor that has seen its last rev, but not many can work on the modern transmissions and motors. i've worked on these machines since i was 5, i know the 50 series deeres like the back of the hand they mangled, but i would still not touch the main hydro pump, pull a motor, or even worse, pull the rotor.
leasing is what my father and i did as a living for a number of years. for the customer, its great. for the leasing company, its a logistical and monetary hell. we would get machines into the yard that needed half of the separator replaced. the main office would have to contact the customer, we would record all parts numbers, make a requisition order and send it to the main office. the field service rep would get called in, observe the damage, and talk to the customer as well. that's one machine. we had 260 machines, 5 trucks, an FSR in each state, an office staff of 20, and 5 yard laborers. i'm sure its obvious where things go sideways.
sadly, the old timers that love farming to their core are getting hit hardest. bowing out of the game and renting your land out to a large farming company is the only option. the large farming companies can easily run into the 10's of thousands of acres, much of it rented from people who couldn't make farming work anymore. so now, the farming companies are getting their own repair fleets and not to mention the 10's of millions of dollars in machinery. they provide employment to many, but its like walmart on a much scarier scale.
the green agenda has trickled down deep into the core of this country already, its reflected everywhere. i may not agree with many of the political views on this forum, but i do believe that something has to change in the very near future, or this country will go to hell in a hand basket. the bi-partisan politics that have taken over are responsible for much of the troubles we have, it is not a new thing, it has been this way for many years. when you have 2 parties always pointing at each other and crying foul, nothing gets done. party line voting kills any vote, the majority will always win. the paper clipped addendum's attached to many laws get through scott free, and we end up looking at the mess we call our legislative branch.
most of the time i stay well and truly out of the way on politics here, but i needed to state things as i see them.
Pete
