Carter Express Inc. plans to add about 60 new jobs, bringing its payroll to about 100 people, after it builds and moves into a new, $6 million, 150,000-square-foot facility in Vandalia, OH.

Carter Express, which is part of Indiana-based Carter Logistics, purchased 24 acres of land from Vandalia in its 200-acre Stonequarry Crossings development, located between Peters Pike and Airport Access Road.

The new facility will feature a two-story office building and a distribution center and will open in May 2012.

The FMCSA’s Proposed Hours-of-Service (HOS) Rule, first published in December 2010, will introduce several new changes to current HOS standards. The goal is safety. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood explained, “A fatigued driver has no place behind the wheel of a large commercial truck. We are committed to an hours-of-service rule that will help create an environment where commercial truck drivers are rested, alert and focused on safety while on the job.”

These new regulations would set the driver’s workday at 14 hours, with stipulations for a break totaling 1 hour, meaning that drivers will have 13 work hours to complete their 10 to 11 hours of driving time. Limits would also be placed on consecutive driving hours: after a block of 7 hours, drivers would be required to take a half hour break before heading back onto the road.

Drivers would get some leeway in the form of an option to extend their work shift to 16 hours twice in a week. The FMCSA is also redefining the term “on duty” to give drivers the ability to mark a portion of their parked time as off duty hours.

For more information on the new HOS , click here:

http://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/rules-regulations/topics/hos-proposed/hos-proposed.aspx

Growing logistics companies are coping with these changes by focusing on finding experienced and safe drivers. In this new landscape the drivers are more valuable than hard assets. The few logistics companies who have been successfully growing their capacity attribute much of that success to having a driver-focused culture: recruiting safe and experienced drivers, providing the opportunity to drive new equipment, and offering competitive compensation and lifestyle programs. The benefits of this type of culture reflect in reduced driver turnover and increased driver safety.

Low turnover and a strong safety program are important corporate and social goals for any successful logistics company, but this also helps improve a logistics company’s bottom line by reducing costs, contributing to keeping more trucks seated with drivers, lowering insurance and claims costs, and improving customer service.

This partnership will allow us to help suppliers and OEMs identify the root cause
of quality problems, minimize defects, improve quality, increase efficiency, and
reduce costs associated with quality issues.

Effective December 5th, Stratosphere Quality is available at selected Carter
Logistics facilities to help catch quality issues before they reach your customer’s
dock. Our partnership with Stratosphere Quality is just one more way that Carter
Logistics promises to deliver value.

For all questions concerning Stratosphere Quality services and our relationship,
please contact James Mayer at 800-738-7705 ext. 1359 or by email at
james.mayer@carter-logistics.com.