No HAZMAT Allowed on the Ambassador Bridge

The Michigan Department of Transportation has decided that public safety would not be enhanced by allowing corrosive and flammable materials to be transported over the Ambassador Bridge.

This is the latest development in an ongoing petition from the owner of the bridge, Matty Maroun, who has been trying since 2008 to allow hazardous materials to cross his bridge.

Hazmat loads are currently carried across the Detroit River by a ferry, 30 to 50 loads a day.

Metro Delivery: Chillin’

We hear that the Great Lakes are 62% iced over so far. This is fantastic news for us, as soon we’ll be able to drive straight across the lakes and avoid the toll roads, bridges and tunnels.

Satellite picture from Space Science And Engineering Center- University of Wisconsin – Madison

Hours of Service Waived for Propane Trucks

Because of shortages in heating fuel, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has waived hours of service rules for propane trucks.

Basic Federal Hours of Service essentially dictate that drivers of large trucks or commercial drivers going long distances can’t drive more than 11 hours without a 10 hour break to rest. These rules are frequently, willfully disobeyed by thousands of companies across the U.S. to keep profit margins high and worker payout low.

The rules exist, obviously, to protect public safety. Have you ever driven in traffic for nine or ten hours straight? Were you operating at top capacity in the ninth hour?

For crucial deliveries that can’t wait for breaks, alternatives do exist; you can have team drivers with a sleeper berth in the truck, so one driver can sleep while another drives. You can relay drivers by having them stationed 10 hours apart. Those alternatives, however, do give you a higher cost for workers.

Here at Metro Delivery, when we see that we have a long distance delivery, and the driver isn’t going to be able to make it back to Metro safely in one shift, we do generally build in a charge that allows us to get the driver a motel for the night and a stipend for meals. That loses us some potential clients who are looking for the cheapest possible delivery, but that’s never been our niche in the market anyway; our niche is doing crucial deliveries correctly and safely.

Strangely, considering National unemployment statistics, the argument is made that there just plain aren’t enough drivers to cover the business in an emergency situation like this, and so we have no choice but to allow drivers of propane trucks to drive nineteen hour days on the same icy, windy, snowy roads you drive to get your kids to school. This is not a good argument. If there are worker shortages, more workers need to be found and trained- and employed. Yes, there’s a cost for that. There could be costs to this suspension of rules, too-

Polar Vortex Assaults Metro Delivery

Now that it’s a balmy, tropical 19 degrees outside, we’re all lounging around in our swimsuits here at Metro. Last week’s “Polar Vortex” was some of the most punishing weather that  we’ve ever experienced here in the frozen North, with Detroit at the lowest temperature ever recorded (since 1870 when they started keeping records). It was negative 14 degrees on January 6 and 7, and let’s not discuss “wind chill” because it just makes us feel like we have a really bad latitude.

Also, Snow. Drifting up to four feet in some areas. Look at the back door into our building on Monday. That’s a fine welcome to work:

…As a Courier company specializing in medical specimen delivery, we don’t have the option of huddling at home in a tub of cocoa like we’d like to.

If we don’t make our rounds, people could have serious health repercussions. So we all showed up. and slogged on through, even though some of the diesel engines went into hibernation:

…The Metro Team did FANTASTIC work during these extreme conditions. Everybody pulled together and made it through, despite the kind of adversity that reduces lesser humans to weepy puddles of nervous mush. We’re a lucky, lucky company to have such dedicated, terrific coworkers.

Ah, Canada.

Metro Delivery uses the Courier Complete and Fleet Complete Software for online ordering and tracking made by Complete Innovations, who are located just Northeast of Toronto, in Markham, Ontario.

So every once in a while we get to visit them, talk over technical issues, and see what life is like in a FOREIGN COUNTRY. It’s a strange and wonderful place, Canada.

to tell you the truth, the Tunnel to Windsor makes us feel a little claustrophobic.

The first thing we notice is the complete lack of potholes. The second thing we notice are literally thousands of giant wind turbines. It’s very futuristic.

We stopped for lunch, and they gave us a nourishing dish called “Poutine,” consisting of cheese curds and gravy served over french fries. We got a version with pulled pork, but with the mayo on the side so that it’d be low-calorie.

in Mississauga, we found a couple of buildings that had just eaten Poutine for lunch.

We had our meetings, and the following morning found ourselves on the shores of Lake Ontario, which is one of the few Great Lakes we don’t see here in Michigan. Look, is that a Canada Goose Crossing sign?

ARE THOSE ACTUAL CANADA GEESE? How Exotic !

For breakfast we had Eggs Benedict, made with peameal Bacon. Our cardiologist is glad we don’t go to Canada more often.

On the way back, we took the Ambassador Bridge back into Detroit. Home at last. Immediately, we hit a pothole.

So You Think YOU Spend a Lot on Gasoline?

Representatives of Metro Delivery have been meeting with the Clean Energy Coalition, an excellent Michigan Org dedicated to the reduction of fossil fuel use, and the promotion of clean energy sources.

They’re doing terrific work- please check out their website and then send them money- and they analyzed our fuel consumption, which was fascinating.

We’re unsurprised to find out that our Vans and Trucks are NOT SO ECONOMICAL, and partially as a result of their report, we just bought a couple more cars. There’s not so much we can do with a car when our customers want us to carry 7 pallets of pig iron from Lansing to Livonia, but we do a lot of small, high-sensitivity deliveries too, like crucial medical specimens and the desperately-needed industrial doohickeys and thingamawidgets that keep the wheels of commerce rolling across the Great State of Michigan.

We are looking at alternate fuel sources, but in the meantime, we’d just like to share a couple statistics with you that we found interesting.

1. Last year, we traveled 1,568,104 miles. No wonder we feel tired sometimes.

2. We used 85,879 gallons of gas, which amounts to almost 2000 BARRELS of petroleum, at an average cost of $3.66 per gallon.

3. That cost us $314,137. Yes, that’s significantly more than a quarter of a million bucks- just on gas.

So, be quiet already about how much it costs to fill up your Ford Fiesta.

We are looking at alternative-fueled vehicles. We’re NOT happy that we apparently emitted 1,062 tons of greenhouse gas last year- oh, how mortifying- excuse US- and we hope to do better in the very near future.

Some of us have been biking to work, for what it’s worth.

Welcome to the Adorable Foci Twins

Look with delight upon Metro’s most recent vehicle acquisitions: #146 and #147, the Twin Foci  (that’s the proper plural of Focus. We had to call our old Jr. High School Latin teacher to be sure).

Small, zippy, manuverable, and ready to carry your important packages hither and yon.

If your important packages are a little larger, those liftgate straight trucks you see just behind the Foci Twins are ready to go, too- but for smaller medical, industrial, interoffice etc. deliveries, these Twins are going to be a lot easier to park in downtown Detroit or Ann Arbor, and a LOT better for the conservation of our precious natural resources than their big brothers are.

NEW SIGNAGE FINALLY UP

Yes, admittedly, we moved to our new 6241 Jackson-spacious-warehouse-featuring-loading-dock-and-all-mod-cons back in May. How time does fly!

BUT LOOK! Now you can find us even without being able to read addresses. New sign by SIGNBYTES!

You can visit us in the building right behind the Van Winkle Mattress Warehouse, when we’re not out driving around Southeast Michigan -and beyond.

Pictures are in from the 4TH OF JULY

Once again, Metro joined in the parade through downtown Ann Arbor and  delivered 1000 red-white-and-blue balls to the people of Ann Arbor- Delivered Same Day, on July the 4th.

We’d like to thank the Jaycees for sponsoring this terrific event, as always!

Metro’s Ready for the 4th of July Parade!

We’ll see you downtown Ann Arbor for the

Ann Arbor Jaycees 4th of July Parade 2013