CCJ 0219

FEBRUARY APRIL 2018 2019

NEED A TRUCK?

Do the math before buying or leasing page 40

Today's technology offers new insights for remote assets, freight ADDING ADDITIVES? Know what you're putting in your oil before you pour page 27

ENSURING INSPECTIONS BUSINESS SOLUTIONS FOR TRUCKING PROFESSIONALS

How to make sure your drivers check your trucks page 35

Chris Bader DRIVER

Stephen Sperbeck GENERAL MANAGER

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Editorial

18 19 19 20 21 22

Trucking keeps the economy moving Utility offers standard aerodynamic trailer tail Levandowski has new autonomous tech firm Updated Cascadia features basic autonomy

28 29 29

Editor: Jeff Crissey Senior Editor: Aaron Huff Equipment Editor: Jason Cannon Managing Editor: Dean Smallwood Senior Editor: James Jaillet News Editor: Matt Cole Contributing Editor: Todd Dills

Anatomy of a breakdown

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CarriersEdge course helps drivers avoid slips, trips, falls

Design & Production

Kuebix rolls out FleetMax freight matching platform

30 InBrief 32 Luma adding hazmat training to online platform

ZF sensors add in-cab hearing, vision abilities Peterbilt debuts medium-duty 220EV

22 InBrief 24 Continental touts robot urban delivery concept

24

Line of Shell Rotella greases introduced

26 Test Drive:

Freightliner's electric lineup

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McLeod Software offers new ERP tools for fleets, brokers

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PRODUCT REVIEWS, OEM & SUPPLIER NEWS AND EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT TRENDS

BY JASON CANNON

Trucking keeps the economy moving Look no further than Mississippi to see industry’s impact

A

widely known dig across the Southeast is “Thank God for Mississippi.” It’s an unfair remark about the state’s statistical standings near the bottom across many important metrics such as education, healthcare and income.

While those are certainly three areas of opportunity for The Magnolia State, that shot infers that Mississippi lacks sophistication and relevance on a national scale, which simply isn’t true.

For one, Mississippi serves an important role in trucking. According to World’s Top Exports, the state shipped $11.2 billion worth of goods worldwide in 2017. More than 20 percent of that figure, $2.3 billion, was petroleum oils.

The Mississippi Development Authority ranks the state’s divided four-lane highway system No. 8 in the United States, and the state is home to distribution and warehousing operations for the likes of Dollar General, Cat and Lowe’s, among many others.

Trucking is the dominant shipping mode in the Gulf Coast corridor, and the Mississippi Department of Transportation projects growth from 61 percent of total freight in 2011 to 65 percent in 2040.

Paccar’s MX Engine plant in Columbus is a 450,000-square-foot facility that produces THE MAGNOLIA STATE: Mississippi has sophistication and relevance on a national scale.

TRUCKING BUSINESSES: Paccar, Yokohama and Continental all have a presence in the state.

NATIONAL FLEETS: Several dozen trucking companies also call Mississippi home.

18

commercial carrier journal

| february 2019

Paccar’s 450,000-square-foot MX Engine plant in Columbus, Miss., produces about 150 MX engines per day. The plant employs about 600.

about 150 MX engines per day. That breaks down to a split of about 10 to 12 percent MX11 and nearly 90 percent MX13.

In the nearly eight years since Paccar opened its state-of-the-art Columbus Engine Plant, employees have cranked out more than 175,000 MX engines.

Penetration rates for the MX in Peterbilt and Kenworth tractors hover just under 50 percent, so this plant’s significance grows a little more every year.

Paccar, which employs about 600 in Columbus, competes for employees in and around the area with the likes of Yokohama, which has a commercial truck tire plant 15 miles away in West Point.

Yokohama’s roughly 1-million-square-foot factory, constructed on more than 500 acres of land, was a $300 million investment that brought nearly 700 jobs to a town whose total population doesn’t crack 11,000 people.

WANT MORE EQUIPMENT NEWS? Scan the barcode to sign up for the CCJ Equipment Weekly e-mail newsletter or go to www.goo.gl/Ph9JK.

a fleet’s Westrecipe Point for wasfailure: selected Theafter expectation an exhaustive that a new yearlong hire should searchhitinthe 2012 shop that floor included withsite a level locations of expertise in 3,000 comparable countiestoacross employees the United with several States,years andofthe seniority; facility now a lack manufactures of a mentoring about program; 3,000 tires and aper management day. team that doesn’t understand In November, today’sContinental generation. opened its new Employee Training Center in On average, Clinton. it costsPart more of than a $1.45 $8,000 billion to find investment and hire a technician.forHaving the Continental a person dedicated manufacturing to onboarding site that employee currently – ingraining underthem development in your culture in the–state, is critical. the training center is the first finished “Does that structure kid not know in Continental’s what he’s doing, long-term or does he just do it different growththan strategy the way in Mississippi you do it?” Arrants and willsaid.

New technicians support often recruitment closely follow anda retention manufacturer’s for the recommendation company’s or procedure commercial — thevehicle textbook tireway. plant.

However, in the By“real the time world” the–tire where plantspeed opens and later uptime this are of moreyear emphasis and officially than process starts–production the perception in 2020, may be that the new around employee 400 employees is slow orwill lacking be hired, skill.and Baptizingabout new hires 2,500injobs “your willway” be created is an ongoing by 2028.part of their careerLet’s development take a step andback an important and justpart lookofat reducing turnover, the three Arrants companies said. listed above: Paccar, Tabbed asYokohama the “participation and Continental. trophy” generation, All three Mildo lennials have business gotten aaround bum rapthe in the globe workplace, with revenues Arrants said, addinginthat theitbillions takes a willingness — three massive of the employer trucking to learn how toindustry manage the companies group. right there in little “They only ol’want Mississippi. two basic things,” he said. “They want a clean, safe work environment, but more Thenthan you anything have the else, several theydozen want to truckfeel like they’re part of the family. They’re ingvery companies talented,that andcall theyMississippi are loyal, but home, they expect a few things from you.” along with large national carriers with Unlike the generations before them, terminals most Millennials there. value personal time more than money and as such may beMississippi’s unmotivated story by overtime is not dissimilar pay, Arrants to said. Incentives such as compensation others time that in can lieu of beovertime told nationwide. pay mayWalmart become an increasingly important benefit in and attracting Amazonyoung – with talent, a combined he said. workforce Competition among fleets for new of nearly technician 2.9 million talent is–fierce, are the and topsimply two showing up at a career day isn’t going private to cutemployers it, Arrantsinsaid. the United States, and trucking “Recruit is in their thelifeblood. beginningUPS [of the andschool FexExyear], also not are the in the end, top ” he10. said. “Don’t wait Allfor told, a career the American fair whereTrucking you’ll beAssociations one of 45 others. estimates Go tothere the school are about 3.5 when school million professional starts.” truck drivers in the United States, and the total number of people Getting employed involved inearlier the industry in the student’s tops 8.7 million. education also helps Those shape aretheir staggering potential numbers career path, thatArrants reflect just said.how vital Thetrucking deeper you is tocan theimbed economy, your whether operationyou’re in a local holdtechnical ing a steering program, wheel, theamore package likelyscanner that school or anwill assembly produce tool in theMississippi, skillset you Tennessee need, and the or more anywhere likelyelse you’ll inbe the able United to hang States. on to its graduates.

JASON CANNON is Equipment Editor of Commercial Carrier Journal. E-mail jcannon@randallreilly.com or call (205) 248-1175.

Nikola to showcase Utility offers standard hydrogen tractor aerodynamic trailer tail

U N

tility ikolaTrailer’s Motor Co.’s hydrogen-electric Utility Aero-will take center stage early semi-truck dynamic weighs next year Tail as the cornerstone of a three-day 25 pounds and is will use to showcase its event the company available as and a factoUtility’s UAT is capabilities technologies. engineered de- in ry-installed standard “Nikola World” is set for mid-Aprilto2019 ploy automatically specification Phoenix, the on citythe that serves as the when the company’s doors company’s dryThe vansfirst two headquarters. days, April and are closed and16 fold when they and refrigerated trail- forback 17, are invitation-only Nikola reservation are open. ers with rear swingmedia and holders, suppliers, investors. The doors to help final day, Aprilreduce 18, will be open to the public. fuel and aerodynamic drag.

Ause pre-production version of the company’s The UAT is made of a Two UV-protected hydrogen-electric Nikola will share day thermoplastic composite and is comprised one with the unveiling of a 2.3-megawatt of two full-height side hydrogen station and thefairings Nikola and NZTone 4X4. full-width roof drives fairing.

The side fairings Demonstration and hydrogen filling are to the doors.

The will connected take place the nextrear day.swing On April 18, the roof is designed not interfere publicfairing is invited to see thetozero-emissions with lighting. truckslock androds NZTor inrear action.

– Jason Cannon Registration to the free event will open online Dec. 3.

– Jason Cannon

Levandowski has new Self-driving truck autonomous tech firm

maker expanding utonomous

A T

uSimple, technology a self-driving systems provider, engineer has been Anthotesting its Level 4 Class 8 autonomous ny Levandowski trucks in Arizona for more than a year and has started recentlyabegan new hauling freight for-profit Anthony Levandowski was at the center with company, commercial Prontocarriers in the state. of a court battle between AI,Earlier aimedthis at year, TuSimple expanded its ride-sharing provider testing automating facilities comin Tucson from 6,800 to Uber, which oversaw 50,000 mercialsquare trucks. feet, and Otto, next and year,Google’s the comself-driving venture, pany Levandowski plans to grow said its footprint further.

To Waymo. support Pronto AI its development will be program, TuSimple projects offering ititswill first create 500 jobs across a variety of Level fields 2 autonomous ranging from product, engineering CoPilot, to autonoto mous the commercial truck driving trucking and office industry. management.

The Pronto Tucson AIexpansion will focushas onamastering projected total Level economic 2 autonomy impact instead of $1.1 of chasing billion over down theother next five technologies years. in the hopes of creating greater The company levels of also autonomy, plans toLevandowski expand its U.S. autonomous said. CoPilotfleet offers to 200 driver trucks assist in features 2019. TuSimple designed said tothat improve with 500 safety, trucks emissions worldwide, and it comfort, will havehethe said. world’s largest autonomous truck fleet.

––Jason JasonCannon Cannon

commercial commercialcarrier carrierjournal journal| |february october 2019 2018

19 21

Updated Cascadia features Level 2 autonomy

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aimler Trucks North America announced updates to its flagship truck at last month’s 2019 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The 2020 Freightliner Cascadia is equipped for Level 2 automation, which means the truck, manned by a driver, can accelerate, decelerate and steer independently.

The new truck delivers a 35 percent improvement in fuel efficiency when compared to 2007’s first-generation Cascadia, DTNA said. Thanks to some automation technology, Daimler says the truck also will be safer.

The tractor in part stems from groundwork laid by Daimler in 2015 when it unveiled its semi-autonomous Level 3 Inspiration concept truck. The 2020 Cascadia will enter series production this summer.

Advanced technology The tractor leans heavily on the Detroit Assurance safety system platform, standard on all Cascadia models, and the Detroit powertrain. The truck uses Detroit Assurance 5.0 Adaptive Cruise Control and Active Lane Assist features to enable automated driving at all speed ranges.

Active Brake Assist 5.0 merges camera and radar technology. When it detects moving and stationary objects in the truck’s path, it fully brakes to avoid or mitigate a collision.

Active Lane Assist – the system that enables automated steering – consists of Lane Keep Assist and Lane Departure Protection. When Adaptive Cruise Control is enabled to automatically maintain following distance, Lane Keep Assist supports the driver by using small steering movements to keep the truck centered in its lane. With Lane Departure Protection, if the truck drifts without the turn signal engaged, the system will steer the tractor back into its lane and give the driver audible and visual warnings.

Optional Side Guard Assist detects ob20

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Improved aerodynamics and other features make the new Cascadia more fuel-efficient than prior models.

jects, including pedestrians and cyclists, in the passenger-side blind spot and the full 53-foot trailer length and delivers audible and visual warnings.

A new maintenance system uses feedback from the truck to determine optimized maintenance intervals.

An optional 12-inch digital driver display offers vehicle diagnostics and can be paired with a 10-inch panel in the B-panel that can house third-party apps.

A multimedia interface allows drivers to connect a smartphone to the display.

Aerodynamics and powertrain Aerodynamic enhancements include a standard A-pillar deflector and an optimized roof fairing deflector to improve airflow. New tow hook covers reduce the volume of air entering the front of the truck.

The optional Aerodynamic Height Control electronically lowers suspension height automatically by an inch at 55 mph to optimize airflow over and under the truck. Optional chassis skirts and side extenders help reduce drag.

Cascadia’s new Intelligent Powertrain Management 6, an enhanced predictive cruise control, uses the truck’s kinetic energy to automatically adjust braking power while also making transmission and engine adjustments that save fuel and reduce component wear.

Limited-time exclusive availability of Michelin’s X Line D+ Energy tires, devel-

| february 2019

oped with DTNA, helps reduce rolling resistance in 6×4 applications.

What’s coming Daimler’s next step for heavy-duty truck autonomy is the “highly automated driving” of Level 4, said Martin Daum, chief executive officer of Daimler Trucks & Buses. Daum said it’s the natural next step after Level 2 because it increases efficiency and productivity and cuts costs per mile significantly.

Under Level 4, no driver attention is required for safety. In special situations, the vehicle is able to safely abort the trip, such as by parking itself, if the driver does not retake control. In Level 5, no human intervention is required.

Daimler plans to skip Level 3 because “there are no corresponding benefits to compensate for the technology costs,” Daum said. Under Level 3, the driver can turn attention away from driving tasks but must be prepared to intervene when called upon by the vehicle to do so.

Daimler also plans to reassess its work on truck platooning. The company said test results have shown that fuel savings, even in perfect platooning conditions, are less than expected.

Those savings further diminish when the platoon disconnects and the trucks must accelerate to reconnect.

“The technology we would have to put in does not quantify the savings,” Daum said.

– Jason Cannon

ZF sensors add in-cab hearing, vision abilities

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n display at ZF’s booth at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas were two new products in the company’s sensor portfolio that officials believe could have immediate use cases for the trucking industry.

ZF’s new Interior Observation System is designed to address the increasing needs at higher levels of autonomous operation where the driver has more freedom to move around the cab.

IOS includes a driver-facing wide-angle camera that creates a three-dimensional map of the cab interior that can collect real-time information on the size, position and posture of the driver and passengers.

The system’s driver monitoring can determine if the driver is wearing the seatbelt, if his hands are on the steering wheel and if his head is facing the road.

In an emergency situation, the system can incorporate vehicle safety systems to lessen the impact of a collision.

ZF also is adding “ears” to its sensor capabilities with the introduction of Sound.AI, an omnidirectional microphone mounted outside the cab to analyze siren signals to determine what kind of emergency vehicle is approaching and from which direction. The system display also can provide the driver with important

information, including instructions such as “pull over to the right” or “move to an emergency lane.”

“Whatever the weather or lighting conditions are, our environmental recognition systems are designed to work

with the level of precision and redundancy required for safe highly automated and autonomous driving,” said Torsten Gollewski, head of advanced engineering for ZF. – Jeff Crissey

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ZF’s Sound.AI sensor is an omnidirectional microphone that listens for, locates and identifies emergency vehicles on the road. commercial carrier journal Untitled-12 1

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february 2019

21 2/27/18 9:43 AM

INBRIEF

Peterbilt debuts medium-duty 220EV

• Kenworth and Toyota revealed more details on their hydrogen fuel-cell electric-powered T680 project. The configuration requires 12 kW of battery power and is capable of a 300-mile range with a refueling time of roughly 30 minutes. The companies began testing the technology at Southern California ports in 2017, and in September they announced a broader partnership with Shell and the state of California to further explore the drivetrain.

They hope to deploy 10 units this year.

• Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations and Bridgestone Canada Inc. increased prices 4 percent on all Firestone brand truck and bus radial tires effective Feb. 1.

• Kenworth’s new long-hood conventional W990 is now available for order. The W990 is available in day cab, 40-inch flat top and both 52- and 76-inch mid-roof sleeper configurations. It is standard with the truck maker’s TruckTech+ remote diagnostics system and Paccar’s MX13 engine rated up to 510 hp and 1,850 lb.-ft. of torque; 12-speed automated transmission; and 40K tandem rear axles.

• Meritor announced it has 22 electrification programs with global OEMs through its Blue Horizon technology brand that are expected to put at least 130 fully electric medium- and heavy-duty trucks on the road through 2020.

• Marangoni Tread North America is expanding it tread manufacturing plant in Madison, Tenn., to meet demand from independent retreaders with continuing strong business. The new line will make XP Extreme Performance wide-base Ringtreads measuring up to 500mm widths.

• BestDrive, a Continental commercial tire dealer and ContiTread retreader, opened four new facilitles in Oklahoma City; Longview, Texas; Marietta, Georgia; and Idaho Falls, Idaho. BestDrive now has 28 locations in 15 states.

• Continental inaugurated its 323,000-square-foot research laboratory for dandelion rubber in Anklam, Germany.

The tire maker plans to study the extraction process of natural rubber from Russian dandelions as an alternative raw material source to tropical rubber trees.

• Utility Trailer Manufacturing Co.'s plant in Glade Spring, Va., built its 100,000th dry van, a 4000D-X Composite TBR.

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t the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Peterbilt Motors Co. continued its rollout of its electric vehicle lineup with the Peterbilt 220EV, a zero-emissions battery-powered version of its Model 220 medium-duty cabover aimed at city delivery and urban applications.

The 220EV is the third electric model introduced by Peterbilt, joining the 520EV refuse truck announced in 2017 and last year’s 579EV regional-haul tractor. The company plans to put six 220EV units in service later this year as part of a customer field test, with a goal of 30 to 40 Peterbilt electric vehicles on the road by the end of 2019.

“We now have refuse, regional haul and local pickup and delivery covered,” said Jason Skoog, Peterbilt’s general manager. “We think those three applications are going to have the most immediate and near-term payback for our customers from an ROI perspective.”

The 220EV is a collaborative effort among Peterbilt, Meritor and TransPower, a company that specializes in battery-vehicle integration for the medium- and heavy-duty markets.

Like its 520EV and 579EV electric siblings, the 220EV uses TransPower battery packs but adds the Meritor Blue Horizon eAxle introduced at last year’s ACT Expo. The drive axle has 2.67:1 starting gear and 1:1 final gear ratios.

The eAxle’s motor is mounted inside the axle itself, eliminating The medium-duty 220EV is Peterbilt’s third electric vehicle and is the need for a chassis aimed at inner-city and local pickup-and-delivery applications. mount and driveline and opening up space between the frame rails for mounting battery components.

The 220EV is equipped with a two-stage 1-kW onboard charger. A standard 220-volt AC connection can charge the batteries in 11 to 13 hours, and a high-voltage DC fast charger can reduce charge time to between one and three hours.

The two TransPower battery packs provide 148 kWh and a 100-mile operating range.

The 220EV weighs about 2,000 pounds more than the Model 220 diesel cabover.

With customer field trials ramping up this year and continuing, Peterbilt is taking an intentionally deliberate approach to vehicle electrification with ongoing validation testing at the Paccar Technical Center to ensure its electric vehicles meet Peterbilt standards and customer expectations.

“We have customers in a lot of applications that have different needs, from performance to green image,” said Scott Newhouse, Peterbilt’s chief engineer. “The different technologies we bring to our trucks, including electrification, are all to support that, support how they want to position themselves in the industry, to support their customers’ needs as well as their profitability.”

– Jeff Crissey

| february 2019

Continental touts robot urban delivery concept

C

ontinental joined the fray of autonomous and robotic concepts at the 2019 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas with the Continental Urban Mobility Experience (CUbE), a last-mile driverless vehicle that can be used to stage and deploy delivery robots capable of delivering packages all the way to the consumer’s front doorstep.

Unlike four-wheeled robotic package delivery concepts, Continental’s solution employs Anybotic’s quadruped robots that can navigate over and around obstacles on sidewalks, walk up front-porch steps and even ring the customer’s doorbell.

“With the help of robot delivery, Continental’s vision for seamless mobility can extend right to your doorstep,” said Ralph Lauxmann, head of systems and technology for Continental’s Chassis & Safety division. “Our vision of cascaded robot delivery leverages a driverless vehicle to carry delivery robots, creating an efficient transport team. Both are electrified, both are autonomous, and in principle, both can be based on the same scalable technology portfolio. These synergies create an exciting potential for holistic delivery concepts using similar solutions for different platforms. Beyond this technology foundation, it’s reasonable to expect a whole value chain to develop in this area.”

Continental believes the concept will be important as the

The Continental Urban Mobility Experience (CUbE) combines a robot-taxi with package delivery robots.

growth in e-commerce continues and delivery costs per hour rise. The CUbE doubles as a robo-taxi to move people around urban centers when not being used for delivery applications to reduce idle times.

“There will be peaks in demand for driverless vehicles during the day,” said Jeremy McClain, director of systems and technology for Continental North America. “To make use of driverless vehicles outside those peak ‘rush’ hours is where robot-delivery comes in. We see great potential in our automotive technology to support robotics companies in developing autonomous delivery robots as an additional use case for driverless vehicles.”

– Jeff Crissey

Line of Shell Rotella greases introduced

S

hell Rotella has introduced a line of heavy-duty greases for trucks, tractors and construction equipment.

Shell Rotella HD Grease is a premium multipurpose grease for on- and off-road vehicle applications. It contains the company’s latest additives formulated to provide excellent high-temperature oxidation performance, corrosion resistance and extreme-pressure and anti-wear protection. The grease is suitable for disc-brake-equipped wheel bearings operating at high temperatures and under load.

Shell Rotella SD Grease is a high-performance high-temperature grease formulated with molybdenum disulfide lubricant. It is designed for lubrication of vehicles and equipment in demanding applications that are subjected to high shock loads with rap24

commercial carrier journal

id starts and stops, impacting chassis points, sliding pins, trailer hitches and axle splines.

Shell Rotella MP Grease is designed for multipurpose lubrication of on- and off-road vehicles and equipment for general chassis, springs, pivot points and lowspeed bearings, though not disc-brake wheel bearings. The grease is based on a blend of high-viscosity-index mineral oils and a lithium hydroxystreate soap thickener that contains extreme-pressure and other additives formulated to enhance performance.

Shell Rotella ET Grease is a lithium-complex grease based on high-viscosity mineral oils and polymers to facilitate improved adhesion and retention on exposed surfaces such as fifth-wheel plate pivots, wheel bearings, springs, trailers and open pivot joints. The extremely tacky water-re-

| february 2019

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BEST B DE DEFENSE ...is a good offense.

TEST DRIVE: FREIGHTLINER'S ELECTRIC LINEUP

Trucks look like diesels, but don’t run like them

BY JASON CANNON

T

here’s little debate that we’re heading toward trucking electrification. What’s up in the air is how we’ll get there and just how far that road will take us. Freightliner’s eCascadia – the electric version of the company’s long-haul flagship – boasts a range of 250 miles, so we know we can go at least that far right now.

But considering the average long-haul trucker will cover 550 miles in a day, the immediate prospect of an electric Class 8 seems as limited as its range. That’s why, in the interim, Daimler Trucks North America has honed its immediate attention to medium duty, where the truck is lighter and has a short duty cycle, so the need to add heavy, expensive battery packs diminishes.

DTNA in late December handed over its first medium-duty eM2 – the first vehicle in the Freightliner Electric Innovation Fleet – to Penske Truck Leasing. The two companies collaborated over nine months to bring the technology to market.

I was able to take an eM2 for a brief 1.3-mile loop around the Las Vegas Motor Speedway during last month’s 2019 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The eM2 features up to three battery packs and a range of about 230 miles. My demonstration unit was outfitted with only one pack, dropping its range to around 50 miles.

If not for the cool blue light glowing in the grille and blue cab marker lights, Freightliner’s eM2 and eCascadia look mostly like their diesel counterparts.

The eM2 boasts an impressive amount of torque and throttle response. There’s no lag waiting for the turbo to spool up; just sink your foot a little deeper to the floorboard, and you’ll take off.

The in-cab experience is … well … let’s just call it “unique.”

That’s not a commentary on the truck’s comfort or drivability; it’s a testament of the quietness of the Daimler driveline. The absence of engine clatter is notable, so much so that before I put my foot on the throttle, I had to ask if the truck was on.

To the driver’s lower left is an ignition in the exact place where it should be. But instead of turning the engine over, it simply turns the truck on. A push-button transmission selector is mounted to the right of the steering wheel.

There’s an air brake button on the dash in the expected place.

Funny story about the air brakes: The electric compressor kicked in during the drive, and I lifted off the accelerator because I thought I’d run over something. You rarely notice things 26

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| february 2019

Roger Nielsen, DTNA president and CEO, hands the key for the Freightliner eM2 to Brian Hard, president and CEO of Penske Truck Leasing.

like that during the course of a normal day because a compressor comes on dozens of times, but with no other noises in the eM2 to drown it out, it’s noticeable.

Even as the eCascadia launches from a stop, there’s barely a faint hum coming from the truck. Most of the noise comes from the tires, but you easily can have a conversation at normal levels as it whizzes by. That’s going to make fit and finish for electric truck OEMs, and storage for drivers, critical. You’re going to hear those pliers in the door pocket, and you’re going to hear that visor vibrating against the headliner.

I think many assume that trucking electrification is complex, and considering its mid-mount electric motor and conventional driveline, I’m sure the engineering brainpower it takes to calculate putting all the pieces together is fairly complicated. But for the guy in the driver’s seat, it feels and drives like any truck.

There remain many complex questions that need a lot of complex answers. Freightliner’s eCascadia needs 550 kWh of electricity, about the same level of juice needed for 32 all-electric Smart cars, and the eM2 needs 325 kWh. How do you build an infrastructure to support something like that?

Last year, DTNA formed the Freightliner Electric Vehicle Council composed of 30 customers, including Penske, to further drive its sustainable transportation program. The council will help determine electric infrastructure needs, resale value and total ownership cost.

As the first step in its infrastructure deployment, Penske is installing 20 high-power charging stations at five of its California locations. The company also will put nine more eM2s and 10 eCascadias into service in California and the Pacific Northwest within its logistics, leasing and rental fleets.

in focus: ENGINE OIL TREATMENTS

Are additives worth adding?

Use treatments only if they improve oil’s capabilities, experts say

BY JASON CANNON

D

iesel engine oil additives are popular add-on layers of protection, but many of their cornerstone benefits already are engineered into base lubricants.

Brian Humphrey, OEM technical liaison for Petro-Canada Lubricants, says oil additives can make up between 10 and 20 percent of a heavy-duty lubricant that has been validated to engine OEM-approved standards.

“Adding additional [aftermarket] additives to an engine oil could unbalance the additive system, resulting in detrimental side effects and potentially invalidating the engine manufacturer’s warranty,” Humphrey says.

Erik Bjornstad, technical sales director for Bell Performance, says before selecting or adding a supplemental additive, it’s important to understand the level of protection already provided by the engine’s standard oil “to avoid getting suckered into buying something that you don’t really need.”

Oil replenishment Bjornstad says current-generation advanced oils already contain viscosity modifiers, antioxidants, dispersants, acid neutralizers, anti-wear agents and detergents.

“Over the life of the oil, some of these get used up,” he says. “Part of the reason to change the oil is that the oil has lost the protective aspect of whatever the given additive component was imparting to it, so you need to replenish that by changing out the old oil for fresh oil with a fresh set of additives. The value for using an oil additive would be whether it contains these kind of components that would be replenished, improving or extending the

protecting of the oil.”

Dan Arcy, global OEM technical manager for Shell Lubricants, says the company spends “millions and millions of dollars” on oil formulation, development and testing. Shell Rotella doesn’t recommend adding off-the-shelf additives to its products, he says.

“We don’t test [engine oil] with any other additives in them other than the ones we put in that we have designed specifically for our products,” Arcy says.

“Once you add something else to it, I can’t tell you what’s going to happen. [But] when it comes to supplemental additives, I always say it’s a customer’s choice.”

For fleets in the market for supplemental options, Bjornstad suggests seeking additives that improve the oil’s key abilities to protect in the areas where it’s already engineered to provide protection.

“Petroleum chemists and automotive engineers are really smart people who know what is and is not needed,” he says.

“Oil already comes with additives in it to do certain things, so the consumer should piggyback off that knowledge and lean toward oil additives to provide extra improvement in those areas.”

Balancing act Humphrey says an engine oil’s additive package is a careful balancing act, with chemicals combined in specific quantities to create a properly formulated lubricant.

The indiscriminate addition of off-theshelf products could be disruptive to the formulation’s properties.

“The balance of the formulation is critical,” he says. “More is not always better, and each individual additive can affect the oil and therefore the engine’s performance.”

Hot Shot’s Secret’s Two-Step Oil System Treatment is formulated to provide improved power and compression, reduced lifter and valve noise, reduced engine wear and increased fuel economy.

When evaluating an oil additive, Bjornstad suggests looking closely at what it claims to do and determine if it contains the kind of components that would fulfill those claims.

“Something that is simply a viscosity modifier or an oil thickener isn’t going to do anything worthwhile that a driver would want to spend money on,” he says.

“The driver should be most concerned with enhancing the protective properties of the oil that it already contains additives to assist with.”

Additives also are not a suitable replacement for regular maintenance and shouldn’t be viewed as a fix for problems such as heavy smoke or high oil consumption rates, both indicators of larger engine issues.

“If the engine is using an excessive amount of oil, they would not want to use an oil additive to bring that back into line,” Bjornstad says. “Doing so would be a bad idea because the oil consumption has increased due to a mechanical issue in the engine. No oil additive is going to fix that.”

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27

technology MAKING THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENTS WORK FOR YOUR FLEET BY AARON HUFF

Anatomy of a breakdown

How one company manages all the ‘touch points’

I

n the early 2000s when he was vice president of safety for Quality Distribution (CCJ Top 250, No. 35), Jeff St. Pierre suspected that towing and recovery companies were taking advantage of him.

It was not unusual to be stuck with a $70,000 bill for getting a semi-trailer with hazardous cargo removed from an accident scene. “I didn’t know any better,” St. Pierre said. “That would make me so mad. I would swear to get even.”

Everything changed the day someone came to his office in Tampa, Fla., and offered to manage the company’s towing and recovery events. With this new business relationship, Quality’s expenses were cut in half.

In 2005, St. Pierre changed jobs and brought the vendor relationship with him to Medina, Ohio-based Panther Expedited Services as its vice president of risk.

But the value from the vendor relationship started to decline, and St. Pierre looked elsewhere to replicate the service.

His search turned up empty, so in 2009, he started his own company, the Tow ASKING FOR MORE: Fleets were seeking emergency mobile repairs and scheduled maintenance.

DOING IT ALL: TTN Fleet Solutions emerged as a full-service maintenance management company.

NEW SOFTWARE: The company and its customers will better understand the fleet maintenance lifecycle.

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During a breakdown event, a truck driver typically will call a fleet between three and five times.

Jeff St. Pierre, Truck Network. president of The business started with TTN Fleet Solua meeting in Orlando, Fla., tions, discusses the company’s where St. Pierre presented history and a plan to the owners of the future with CCJ nation’s 10 largest tow truck during a visit and recovery service compato TTN’s headquarters in nies. He proposed a network Argyle, Texas. to offer fleets the lowest prices and best service quality.

The towing companies initially rejected the idea, he said. They wanted to be the ones who decided where to broker jobs that fell outside their own territories.

“I know a guy,” was their preferred business model, St. Pierre said. “I’m the best there is,” other owners told him. “You should just trust me.”

After further discussions, St. Pierre reached an agreement with the tow truck operators to establish a process for identifying the best providers and the right prices in each market and to hold each vendor accountable for execution.

Expanding service options As TTN expanded its network of service providers, its fleet customers began asking the company to provide more than just towing services and to add emergency mobile repairs and scheduled maintenance.

TTN Fleet Solutions emerged as a full-service maintenance management company and now has 65,000 mobile service providers in its network. About 3,200 of these providers do 90 percent of the work, St. Pierre said.

In 2018, TTN experienced 40 percent growth and hit $85 million in revenues. One of its largest fleet customers is Salt Lake City-based C.R. England (No. 22).

february 2019

Obstacle detection CarriersEdge course INTERESTED IN TRUCKING TECHNOLOGY? INTERESTED IN TRUCKING TECHNOLOGY? helps avoid Scan or go to system fordrivers big trucks Scanthe thebarcode barcode or togowww.goo.gl/Ph9JK to www.goo.gl/Ph9JK to subscribe CCJCCJ Technology Weekly e-maile-mail newsletter. subscribetotothethe Technology Weekly newsletter. ear Viewslips, trips, falls

R C

Safety debut-arriersEdge, a provider of ed its RVS-125 training for the trucking Sensestat Wireless industry, introduced “Fall Prosystem “Because may show we have thataatgreat midnight, relationship the unitwith is still TTN, a quarter-mile we have expanded away fromour serviceObstacle opDetection tection for Drivthe tions unloading from towing spot. into more areas of road services assistance,” said Arron Smithart, System designed ers,” an online the“We refrigerated are very carefully carrier’swatching directorhow of road it is unloaded” service andtooutsourced determine when maintenance. “This to warn truckcourse designed Rear View Safety’s RVSexpansion actually in service indelivery our outside truck and trailer drivers of potential containers areoptions availablehas forgiven pickupustoflexibility set realistic appointto help drivers 125 Sensestat Wireless Obstacle Detection repair footprint and hasjob also a positive provider impact on our costsure per amile ments, Prince said.

“Our ashad an intermodal is to make greatand driverobstacles behind reduce injuries System is designed satisfaction. ” things happen on time and correctly.” their vehicle with number of little caused by for slips, Three easy installation Another large TTN customer is Michelin. TTN provides a white-label 24/7 call center a detection range half-hour trips, falls from on heavy-duty trucks, modules use with no need to install service for Michelin’s OnCall 2.0 emergency road services program. of up to 8 feet.

The and Predicting trailer capacity heights text, images, excess cabling.

TTNmaking also offers recoverydrivers of trucks abandoned by drivers. can arrange When deliveries, often lose productive timeTTN unloading or for aban-system is engirepetitive-mointeractive doned trucks be moved to to a secure cleaned and prepped forIfthe to to provide searching for to empty trailers take tolocation, their next load appointments. nonext driverneered tion stress. exercises andwarning real-life save fleets the cost bringing trucksoffice backpersonnel to their own terminals. the driver both The audible and visual empty trailers are of available onsite, may begin cold-calling course examples.

Fleets also engaged TTNempty to sendtrailers. a mobile service out to remove snow from theindicators toaddresses avoid backing customers inhave the area to locate safeaccidents. roofs trailers(CCJ and to dispatch power-only trucks to deliver and loads that other-The wireless ECUand is engineered to be U.S.ofXpress Top 250, No. 16) equips its trailer fleet trailers with SkyBitz’s entry exit wise would be sidelined during breakdowns. waterproof and includes multiple antenna tracking system embedded with cargo sensors. One of the nation’s largest from a vehicle, use of ladders “We excel at the weird, ” St. Pierre said. installation options.

A user can connect to truckload carriers, the Chattanooga, Tenn.-based company uses the inforand how to inspect, don and a Sensestat-equipped trailer by pressing the mation it receives to predict when trailers will be unloaded and ready for remove fall-protection ‘Right now’ maintenance monitor’s sync button.

–– Aaron pickup, said Aaron Wood, the company’s manager of trailer management. equipment.

AaronHuff Huff In The 2016,SkyBitz Jim Coffren was a TTN customer.

As vice president of transportation maintenance for Kansas system is integrated with U.S. Xpress’ custom City, Kan.-based Riverside Transport its sistersoftware company Transco management system and with ESRI’sand mapping that WoodLines uses in to Russellville, Kuebix rolls out Ark., wasfor using TTN’sarrivals, call center service forturnaround emergency times road calls. set upCoffren geofences tracking departures, and FleetMax freight Thatinventories same year, he TTNlocation as vice president of operations and moved to Texas to trailer byjoined customer and geographical planning regions. matching platform work at the nearisDallas.

Coffren focused on product “The big company’s thing that Argyle bites usheadquarters and any carrier when we have is loaded traillliance Scale deuebix, a provider of development strategy withwe an do understanding of thefreight challenges maintenance ers going intoand markets where not have loaded out,”fleet he said. buted a trucktransportation scale managedepartments with finding timecounts to work equipment.

U.S. Xpresshave is managing trailer in on each planning region to engineered toment weigh software, debuted FleetTTN now a “right now” solution forfreight fleet maintenance, Coffren said, with a 911maintain theoffers balance of capacity across its network. The company each axle andMax, printaadigital freight matching like call for emergency roadside events well as integrated scheduled also usescenter secondary carriers and railroads to as reposition its trailers in its maintenance receipt without platform requir-designed to help services. network.

Thethe company has developed technology and processes to manage the 56ing a driver toshippers stop. The to reduce empty In three years U.S. Xpressproprietary has been using the SkyBitz trailer tracking “touch points” it has identified in the lifecycle ofto roadside serviceby events.

The workflowAlliance for AxleWeigh miles, work In on continuous system, its trailer count has gone from 17,000 about 14,000 increasing The additional Alliance these touchand points is customized to eachcapacity customer on howWood they operate Motion Truck moves Scale and is realize efficiency managing the available inbased its network, said. and make AxleWeigh In decisions for authorizing service, Pierre said.trailers at locations that have built to weighrevenue individuby leveraging Kuebix’s With SkyBitz, U.S. Xpress alsoSt. can identify Motion Truck is developing new software that will enable the company and its customers al axles by driving community over of Scale TMSisusers, notTTN moved for an extended period.features These events could signal possible mepreconfigured for easy to better understand the fleetthat maintenance lifecycle, said. Its the scale at 3 both mph shippers reand carriers, chanical defects on trailers are causing driversCoffren to not hook up.Fleet Assist software installation and willU.S. help its customers optimally design their internal and outsourced maintenance netgardless of truck to match lengthfreight with a fleet’s Xpress also increases trailer capacity by monitoring their use by can be installed work to achieve the best structure. or configuration. backhaul via itsontrailer assets. third-party carriers andcost shippers through interchange a gravel The TTN call Fleet certain features of the Designed forShippers easy anddriveway, carriers set agreements.

“Wecenter knowuses when oneAssist, of ourand trailers starts eliminating the need software be integrated fleets’ existing centers and repair use, a driver stops their own at opportunity parammoving,”can Wood said. The with system tracks wherecall trailers for ramps. networks.

TTN’s call center will dispatch trucks that need repairs to the controllereters, and such as equipment type, are picked up and dropped and how many miles they the fleet’s shops or basedfor on the authortype of work andenters his truck’s locations I.D. and payment goals, moved sointernal the company canvendors bill carriers parts needed in accordance with service level agreements. number, andthen the controller Kuebix matches will calculate available the ized or nonauthorized use of itsits trailers. gross, tare and capacity net values. to demand The scale and features presfactory-calibrated ents itload to shippers cells andtoa accept prepro-or AARON HUFF is Senior Editor of Commercial Carrier Journal.

E-mail ahuff@ccjmagazine.com or call (801) 754-4296. grammed indicator. decline.

––Aaron Aaron Huff Huff

In-motion scale weighs each axle

A K

commercial commercialcarrier carrierjournal journal| |september february 2019 2018

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technology

SPONSORED INFORMATION

INBRIEF

Who is Brady and what did he violate?

M

y Netflix addiction began when my friends told me I needed to watch the series “An Innocent Man.” I suspect my friends wanted me to watch it because they know I like documentaries and they also knew that my wife and I both grew up in Ada, Oklahoma, and lived there during the time of the murders.

While we are watching the series, the narrator makes several references to potential Brady violations in the prosecution of the defendants. Eventually my wife turned to me to ask, “Who is Brady and what is a Brady violation?”

Brady v. Maryland is a landmark United States Supreme Court case that involved John Leo Brady and William Boblit, who were charged with murder. Both men were convicted and sentenced to death. However, Brady admitted to being involved but claimed that Boblit did the actual killing. This was confirmed by the written confession of Boblit where he said he committed the act himself. The prosecution withheld this statement.

In this case the Court held that in a criminal proceeding the prosecution must turn over all exculpatory evidence to the defense. Exculpatory evidence is evidence that may serve to exonerate the defendant. The Court held that failure to turn over such evidence violates the due process clause of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. In short, this decision resulted in a pretrial discovery rule requiring the prosecution to turn over all exculpatory evidence. Failure to do results in what is commonly referred to as a Brady violation.

Unfortunately, Brady violations often do not come to light until after the trial. If the defendant loses at trial and feels that evidence may have been withheld, this can be brought up on appeal. Then the defense must prove that the suppressed evidence was so important that it would have changed the outcome of the trial. It is difficult to prove this claim.

Failure to disclose exculpatory evidence may lead to dismissal of the case, reversal of conviction on appeal, or an order for a new trial.

To make sure they receive all exculpatory evidence, it has become common practice for defense counsel to request pretrial “Brady disclosure” from the prosecution.

This helps ensure that the defendants receive a fair trial and sets the framework for an appeal should the prosecution violate Brady.

• Stoneridge Inc. announced that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration granted its exemption application to allow its MirrorEye Camera Monitor System to be installed as an alternative to conventional rear-vision mirrors currently required on U.S. commercial motor vehicles.

The five-year exemption granted in late December allows MirrorEye-equipped trucks to operate in tandem with an integrated system of cameras and digital displays.

• Lytx announced a partnership with Nationwide to offer its DriveCam safety program to long-haul trucking companies.

The insurance provider will offer fleets a three-month paid subscription to Lytx DriveCam and the Lytx Fleet Tracking program enhancement.

• Trucker Tools, a provider of shipment visibility, carrier capacity management and predictive freight-matching applications, announced the integration of its Smart Capacity platform with Tailwind Transportation Software’s Pro and Enterprise subscription tiers. Tailwind’s web-based transportation management software platform is available by monthly subscription for freight brokers and small fleets.

• Geotab, a provider of Internet of Things and connected transportation products, announced a collaboration with LeasePlan USA. LeasePlan will leverage Geotab’s offerings to help its fleet manager customers monitor leased vehicle performance and driver behavior in real time.

• Stay Metrics, a provider of evidence-based driver feedback, engagement, training and retention products, announced that Plattsmouth, Neb.-based tank carrier Liquid Trucking Companies is using its systems to improve driver retention. Liquid Trucking operates a fleet of more than 150 tractors and 280 tanker trailers with a specialty in agricultural, food grade and hazardous materials shipments.

• I.D. Systems, a provider of wireless fleet management systems, announced that Avis Budget agreed to purchase and deploy an additional 75,000 of its units for its rental vehicle fleet.

• Rolling Strong, a provider of driver wellness programs, announced that Highway Transport, a Knoxville, Tenn.-based bulk hauler of specialty chemicals, selected its mobile appbased gamification experience to promote driver awareness of meeting wellness objectives and making better lifestyle choices.

• Fleetsoft, a provider of fleet maintenance and inventory management software, announced an integration with Navistar’s OnCommand Connection to provide its customers in the school bus industry with OnCommand Connection’s real-time insights into vehicle health and maintenance to reduce costs and improve uptime.

• Fleetline, a provider of spray suppression products, redesigned its FleetlineProducts.com website to create a more user- and mobile-friendly browsing experience with a fresh look that allows for easy navigation and access to product information. Visitors also can download a product catalog and locate an area dealer.

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technology

Luma gamifies hazmat training for online platform

L

uma, a learning and instructional design company that provides driver orientation training to carriers,

released a game-based interactive module for hazardous materials training.

The company uses an E2A (engagement, efficiency and authenticity) instructional learning model to create short, individual training modules it calls eNuggets.

The Interactive Emergency Guide-

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book is the latest in Luma’s Drive First collection of more than 100 eNuggets that cover various topics for driver orientation training.

Engagement: Luma’s research shows that drivers prefer different types of content and not just video. Seventy percent of drivers ask for a mixture of content and specifically rate content that looks or functions like a game the highest.

The company said its new hazmat training keeps content entertaining and fun by letting drivers read about and be tested on the different types of hazmat classifications. It also has a game element that lets drivers see how fast they can match the correct classifications for select examples of materials.

Efficiency: Luma said it created a way to condense hazmat training information and get it to drivers when and where they need it. A driver can search for emergency response information and get the information instantly on any device instead of scrolling through 400 pages of the Hazardous Emergency Response Guidebook.

Authenticity: Luma provides both a print version of its hazmat training for drivers who prefer a hard copy and an interactive version for those who want to search and find information through their smart device.

– Aaron Huff

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technology

McLeod Software offers new ERP tools for fleets, brokers

M

cLeod Software announced the latest versions of LoadMaster and PowerBroker with new enterprise resource planning functionality for truckload carriers, less-than-truckload carriers, brokers and third-party logistics providers.

Detention management: LoadMaster Version 18.2 for motor carriers has an improved Detention Management Module that automatically warns a customer of potential detention problems before they happen. This module better displays and tracks detention, bills the customer and pays the driver.

By tracking driver detention at every location, carriers can evaluate loads based on expected detention at either end.

The module also is available for PowerBroker, the ERP system for freight brokers and 3PLs, allowing users to capture arrival and departure data and effectively calculate, bill, collect for and pay drivers for detention events.

Digital freight matching: PowerBroker Version 18.2 allows users to combine two or more carrier search methods into one comprehensive search using an Integrated Carrier Search profile.

The results provide a list of carriers sorted with search weights set by the user, with the higher-ranked carriers more likely to be the best candidates for the load.

Waterfall Tendering provides users with an automated way to cover freight by using prioritized and qualified carrier search results to automatically send a load offer to carriers that match a specific load. Each carrier that receives the load offer has a fixed amount of time to respond before the offer expires and the load is offered to the next carriers in the priority list.

A Capacity Creator product for brokers uses an integration with a Carrier Relationship Platform developed by Parade.

The product takes emails sent by carriers about their available tractors and turns them into structured data about available trucks for brokerage planning purposes.

Inside the Capacity Creator website, available orders sent from PowerBroker are matched with this structured data about available tractors. Automated load-matching emails are provided to the carrier or to the PowerBroker carrier salesperson.

Enhanced integrations: Samsara offers a dash camera as part of a fleet management and data platform that combines real-time GPS tracking, electronic logging devices, wireless sensors, video and mobile applications. Samsara now integrate driver’s hours-of-service information and GPS position data into LoadMaster.

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february 2019

Waterfall Tendering provides an automated way to cover freight by using prioritized and qualified carrier search results to automatically send a load offer to carriers that match a specific load.

LoadMaster Version 18.2 for motor carriers has an improved Detention Management Module that automatically warns a customer of potential detention problems before they happen.

McLeod has also enhanced its interface with Blue Tree mobile communications to retrieve and import vehicle speed, direction, ignition status and hub readings to LoadMaster.

PowerBroker users can set up a brokerage tracking interface with project44. Carrier tracking on individual shipments is available via project44’s ELD or driver cell phone tracking.

Process automation: The company has enhanced its Rendition Billing, Access Administration, FlowLogix and Logix Anywhere business process automation tools used to develop mobile solutions.

DocumentPower has new reporting and analysis tools for managing and monitoring process performance.

The Rapid Alert Notification System in LoadMaster or PowerBroker can be used to trigger the execution of FlowLogix workflows, causing any preset event or alert condition the system detects to be the initiator of business process automation.

FlowLogix workflows can be initiated with a simple click of a “Magic Button,” created by customers using McLeod’s Field Marshal, from any LoadMaster or PowerBroker screen.

An all-new Robotic Process Automation, part of the FlowLogix Designer toolset, allows for automating repetitive data-driven activities across applications, portals and websites.

– Aaron Huff

technology

in focus: DRIVER VEHICLE INSPECTION REPORTS

Active walkarounds Technology augments the driver’s role in maintenance

BY AARON HUFF

P

re- and post-trip inspections are supposed to be routine, like clockwork.

The reality is that drivers may not be doing them at all and could be pencilwhipping the required forms.

Electronic driver vehicle inspection reports may not be the answer. Drivers can just as easily “button-push” electronic forms without leaving the vehicle. Or can they?

A number of technology companies have reporting features that ensure inspections are completed properly while notifying fleet maintenance instantly of any items that need repair.

Tracking an inspection Zonar’s EVIR (electronic vehicle inspection report) system uses a tablet to read RFID tags placed in zones around a vehicle. The driver must scan each tag to ensure the inspection is completed outside the vehicle. EVIR also tracks the time drivers spend in each zone.

When drivers return the EVIR tablet to its in-cab cradle, the system sends the inspection data to Zonar’s Ground Traffic Control fleet management portal. Any defects noted in the EVIRs are emailed directly to mechanics who can update the repair status through GTC. Zonar is developing a new EVIR version for use with a broad range of mobile devices, such as the Samsung Tab 5 and smartphones, says Fred Fakkema, vice president of compliance.

Verizon Connect’s DVIR application tracks the driver’s movement around the vehicle and inspection time by using the GPS from mobile devices. Alerts can be sent to managers if inspections are not completed properly, says Jason Walton, marketing manager.

However, for DVIR products, tracking driver movements is more the exception than the rule.

ERoad, a truck telematics and electronic logging device provider, uses an in-cab device that is tethered to the vehicle. This approach eliminates Bluetooth connectivity issues and prevents breakage in the workflow between recording hours of service and conducting pre- and post-trip inspections, says Scott McCollister, senior product manager.

EBE Technologies has electronic DVIR forms in its Connect Mobile Capture app used by fleets for a variety of driver workflow functions. EBE also can use DVIR data captured by ELDs and third-party applications.

“From our perspective, collecting the data is not as important as what you do with the data,” says Cindy Nelson, vice president of marketing and the company’s Business Solutions group.

EBE’s cloud-based workflow software feeds data into fleet maintenance systems to initiate repair orders. It also can compare DVIR forms received from drivers with dispatch data to identify any missed pre- or post-trip inspections based on driver load assignments, Nelson says.

Custom inspections All companies that offer DVIR applications say inspection checklists can be customized to match fleet-specific needs.

With Omnitracs’ DVIR application, drivers can enter comments for each defect and the overall inspection. The carrier can configure whether the comments are required or optional.

Omnitracs also can switch the DVIR forms automatically between U.S. and Canadian inspections based on the

The ruggedized Zonar Connect tablet is built on the Android mobile operating system and allows fleet managers to oversee compliance, safety and efficiency.

vehicle’s location, says Kam Roshan, lead product manager.

Trimble offers multiple DVIR product options, from a basic application intended only for regulatory compliance to an enhanced application integrated with maintenance systems to provide an end-to-end process and data sharing.

“The more advanced version enables issues found during the inspection to automatically be sent to the maintenance application so that repairs can be planned and scheduled,” says Eric Witty, vice president of product.

Trimble also offers a forms-based product for customers who want to capture data for their own custom applications, Witty says.

Photos are another useful method for capturing defects found during inspections. Drivers can attach pictures of items using tablets and smartphones.

“One key benefit we’ve seen customers gravitate toward is the ability to take a photo and associate it with a defect,” says Rahul Chhabria, director of product marketing for KeepTruckin, an ELD provider. “This is important in situations where the defect was minor at the time but became major while driving.”

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Fleets needing equipment should weigh benefits of both options

BY JASON CANNON

F

or fleets in search of trucks and trailers long term, there are two basic ways to acquire them: buying and leasing.

Depending on various business conditions – including the company’s maintenance infrastructure and cash position – either can be advantageous for multiple reasons, but determining the best path isn’t always easy or obvious.

A survey conducted last year by the National Private Truck Council showed that 52 percent of fleets lease at least some Class 8 equipment, a figure that has climbed each of the last three years, from just over 30 percent in 2014 and 2015 to almost 40 percent in 2016 and 45 percent in 2017.

The decision of whether to buy or lease equipment isn’t always about “having to do one or the other,” says Jim Lager, senior vice

EDITOR’S NOTE: THE FOLLOWING STORY IS PART TWO OF A THREE-PART SERIES ON “OUT-OF-WARRANTY TRUCKS.” JANUARY’S INSTALLMENT COVERED TRUCK AUCTIONS. MARCH’S COVERAGE WILL ADDRESS OVER-THE-AIR ENGINE UPDATES. 40

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It benefits both parties to address business issues along the lease agreement’s milestones versus at the end.

The used truck market is fickle, with units gaining or losing several thousand dollars in value in just a few years, or anytime the market becomes saturated with units of a similar specification.

president of sales for Penske Truck Leasing. Lager says it’s more about weighing and balancing the benefits of truck ownership or entering into a lease agreement.

Financial considerations Leasing provides financial flexibility in that it doesn’t require the same upfront cash commitment as buying.

“Instead of tying up millions of dollars in a rapidly depreciating asset … you put that to work somewhere else in your business,” Lager says. “You let us own the truck and depreciating

assets. You let us maintain them and keep them running for you.”

Steve Zaborowski, senior vice president for Xtra Lease, says most companies have capital needs pulling them in multiple directions and that leasing allows fleets to add equipment while still investing in those other avenues.

“Leasing gives you the flexibility to match up with shipper logistics contracts,” he says.

Todd Berger, director of national accounts for Paccar Leasing Co., says “a lot of [the decision to lease] is freeing up capital for appreciating assets, whether it’s manufacturing or real estate.

Do you put your capital into depreciable assets, or do you put your capital into something that’s going to help you drive more revenue within your business?”

Leasing also keeps companies off the truck title, a move that also allows lessees to keep associated debt off their books.

“You don’t have the debt on your balance sheet, and you don’t have the asset on your balance sheet,” says Bill McMenamin, Navistar’s president of financial services and treasurer. “What you would disclose on your financial statement is that you have leases and the future lease payments under the lease.”

A lease payment in almost every case will be considerably higher than a note, but unlike a financed payment, a full-service lease will include all costs associated with keeping the truck on the road.

“You stroke a check for [the truck payment] on the first of the month … and you ball a tire a day later on the road,” Lager says.

“You stroke a credit card this time for a thousand dollars for a tire that should have cost you a couple hundred bucks. If you’re under a full-service lease, you’ve already paid for it in the lease payment. You’re not paying again for those types of things. Or when it’s time for the licensing to come due. It’s all those things.”

Berger says next-generation company owners often are more open to leasing because they either see the tax and accounting benefits or recognize all the expenses associated with acquiring a depreciable unit and building the infrastructure to support it.

“It’s changed significantly with time, and people realize the truck has got to be a means to an end,” he says. “It’s got to be commercial carrier journal

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EQUIPMENT: BUYING VS. LEASING

Lease-to-own options Terminal rental adjustment clause lease: The TRAC lease often is referred to as the lease-purchase. The lessee retains the right to ownership at the lease’s end. That’s fully secured with the payment of a residual value, often a percentage of the new truck’s purchase price, 10 to 25 percent being common.

Modified TRAC lease: Like a basic TRAC lease, a residual value is agreed to at the lease’s end, but with potential variations at that end for shared responsibility for the residual.

Zero TRAC lease: This option is structured without a residual at the lease’s end, when the fleet or driver technically purchases the truck for its fair market value, but the leasing company refunds that amount, already paid in prior lease payments.

Advantages include little to no cash outlay at the lease’s end.

Fair market value lease: This kind of lease, though rare, offers the fleet or driver the exclusive first option to purchase the truck for its current fair market value or walk away from the deal by returning the truck subject to inspection and certain return conditions and potential mileage restrictions.

something we can spec, we can use and then we can turn in.”

Recent tax changes favor lease agreements, an advantage previously sided with buyers. Joe Gallick, senior vice president of national account sales for NationaLease, says companies in a strong cash position often favor purchasing in order to take advantage of accelerated depreciation, which reduces their taxable income.

“Typically, those companies either have a maintenance core competency, or they have a partnership on the maintenance side, and they feel strong enough about it to be able to manage that,” he says.

However, recent tax reform now allows for 100 percent bonus depreciation of company assets at a 21 percent corporate tax rate.

Prior to the 2017 tax change, that equipment was written off at a higher tax rate, 35 percent. The end result is a smaller tax benefit for buying an asset.

“If they could not get a tax benefit from depreciation … leasing may be an option for them, because the lessor would get that tax benefit and pass that benefit down to the lessee in the form of a lower payment,” McMenamin says.

Asset disposal Owning a truck and trailer means eventually disposing of them, and the used unit’s residual value can be an important tool in investing in new ones.

But the used truck market is fickle. Units gain or lose 42

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several thousand dollars in value in just a few years, or anytime the market becomes saturated with units of a similar specification.

“If you buy that trailer, you’re stuck with that asset,” Zaborowski says. “You’re at the mercy at whatever the market is if you decide to sell those trailers off.”

Berger says the financial implications of leasing – no money down versus 10 percent – often are met with the ongoing concern of residual values at the term’s end.

“Today’s trucks are becoming obsolete quicker than they ever have before,” Lager adds. “All the technological changes and advancements make that truck less desirable quicker than it used to.”

For fleets willing to roll the dice on owning and selling units, the upside payoff can be big. Fleets that opt to lease miss out on a hot used market, but they also insulate themselves from valuation instability.

“At the end [of the lease term], I just get to turn in the truck,” McMenamin says. “As long as I turn in the truck according to terms and conditions, that’s all I have to do. As compared to if you own the truck – and then you want to swap out the truck for a new truck at the end of that period – you now have to sell the truck. It has to be part of a trade package, and I have the upside and downside risk of the equipment value. Some fleets like to lock in and know what their costs will be upon exit.”

Business conditions are changing constantly – freight rates fluctuate, and customers come and go – which can leave fleets scrambling to find more equipment or looking to shed a surplus.

“Most [carriers] don’t really get very long-term contracts from shippers,” Zaborowski says. “So length of contract is certainly a big driver for a lot of our customers.”

Berger says lease accounts are reviewed annually, and if an uptick in business pushes a company over the annual mileage agreed to in the lease, those terms can be amended without significant penalty.

Xtra Lease provides over-the-road trailers for rent or leasing.

The company offers trailer tracking, emergency roadside and pickup-and-delivery services.

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EQUIPMENT: BUYING VS. LEASING “If you wait until the end, you’re incurring additional maintenance, and you’re risking the resale value of the equipment based upon your exceeding the manufacturer’s extended maintenance warranties,” he says. “It behooves both parties to regularly look at, assess and make the adjustments as needed.”

Paccar Leasing provides Kenworth and Peterbilt vehicles to leasing and rental customers. PacLease offers customized full-service lease, rental and contract maintenance programs designed to meet a fleet’s specific needs.

“We don’t try and make money on a mileage variance,” says Jason Leon, group director of product management for Ryder ChoiceLease. “We just try to get it right at the end of its term.”

Conversely, if a fleet loses a customer and finds they have more equipment than business, a leasing agent could aid fleets in taking those units back and moving them to other customers who have seen increased business.

“This happened in 2008 and 2009 considerably,” Berger says.

“There’s a lot of flexibility mid-term. If we have a customer and that operation changes, we can adapt and redeploy.”

Leon says Ryder would work with a customer to put those units back to work, including entering them into the company’s COOP peer-to-peer asset sharing platform. COOP allows the original lessee to generate revenue from underutilized vehicles by renting them to fleets in need of extra capacity.

“We understand the fluidity of customer relationship contracts,” Leon says. “We wouldn’t just force them to pay.”

Gallick says it benefits both parties to address business issues along the lease agreement’s milestones versus at the end.

Ryder provides fleet management solutions, supply chain management and logistics for businesses of all sizes with a large fleet of rental trucks of all classes.

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Maintenance Full-service leasing allows fleets to lean on specialized maintenance expertise that otherwise may not be accessible and to focus on what they do best: moving freight.

According to the NPTC survey, 57 percent of respondents indicated they were entered into a full-service lease agreement.

“It’s a turnkey total-operation-of-the-vehicle decision,” Lager says. “Buying a truck from a dealer – and later repairing it there – is transactional. Every dealership you pull into is different, with different ownership and processes. Each repair is a new transaction.”

A leasing company provides consistency across its network, he says. “You don’t have to negotiate each repair with us. It’s all part of the package that comes with a full-service lease.”

Leon says smaller applications driving limited miles, returning to base daily and having a dedicated maintenance partner are most likely to be drawn to an ownership model.

“You’re in your hometown, and you probably have a really good relationship with your dealer,” he says. “I can see how that world sees that example as something they should own instead of lease.”

However, by considering a unit’s total cost of ownership – adding up every little thing that keeps a truck on the road – leasing can make a lot of sense for any application.

“Total cost of ownership is really the big driver, and it’s the number-one reason people buy versus lease,” Leon says. But when adding things such as washing, loaner assets, tolls, licensing, preventive maintenance and managing vehicle delivery – all things covered under a full-service lease – the benefits gap can narrow substantially, he says. “They’re just so many things that [fleets] don’t put value to.”

A fixed-rate lease also can eliminate maintenance-related expense forecasting since those costs are baked into the monthly payment. “[A full-service lease] takes out that element of the customer having to have an internal shop or schedule multiple providers,” Gallick says. “When you buy your truck, you’ve got to set all these up.”

However, lease terms will help define the truck’s maintenance cycle, which is why the case for truck ownership is strongest among operations that handle all their own maintenance in-house.

All maintenance is bundled into the rate over a full-service lease term’s duration. Since the lessor owns the truck, they’ll

EQUIPMENT: BUYING VS. LEASING want to ensure it’s maintained to their standard.

“We want to be part of all that,” Lager says, noting Penske sets a preventive maintenance schedule based on the truck’s duty cycle. “We’re going to want to touch that truck at least every 90 days, but our goal is to only touch the truck when it’s due for preventive maintenance.”

Lager says since the maintenance expense’s exposure is on the lessor, there’s less incentive for fleets to turn trucks over quickly.

Leasing agencies work with the customer to determine truck specifications and lease terms. “[Fleets] need the use of that asset,” he says. “They don’t necessarily want the truck. They want what the truck can do for them.

In most cases, they let us tailor that lease in terms of the length of term and unit inspection. They let us tell them what works best, and in some cases, that’s a shorter-term lease, and in some cases, it’s a longer-term. To them, they’re getting a consistent payment, a consistent expense – all that variability, we take that out of the equation – and they have use of the truck.”

For smaller fleets, a major downtime event can be catastrophic, but leasing a truck from a large company opens up all its accumulated experience.

“We tend to see events occurring well in advance because of the size of our fleet,” Lager says. “We knew the 2012s were going to be a tough model year to maintain. They were going to have a lot of issues, and we started working with customers to get them out of those trucks.”

Lessees also have exclusive access to the lessor’s maintenance network, which in some cases is expansive.

“They don’t pull in and get in line behind other repairs,” Lager says. “They pull in and get service work.”

Access to repair facilities, Lager says, has become a big deal as truck issues become harder to pinpoint. “[Fleets] can’t hire the technicians, they can’t train the technicians,” he says. “The software to diagnose to do anything to trucks today is very expensive.”

Access to equipment Leasing can unlock a network of trucks for fleets in the event of unplanned downtime.

“You think ‘I’m going to buy a truck, and I’m going to have it 100 percent of the time,’ and that’s not true,” Lager says. “Availability is probably more like 80 percent when you own a truck.”

Lager says availability rates for lease customers exceed 90 percent because when a truck goes down, a substitute is provided by the lessor.

“What the customer ends up with is more uptime, better availability,” he says. “If you’re in an ownership model, that’s a lot harder to accomplish many times.”

With truck and trailer order backlogs nearly full through the rest of this year, a lease is many fleets’ only option to acquire a

Penske’s product lines include commercial and consumer truck rentals, full-service truck leasing and maintenance, logistics solutions and used trucks.

truck quickly unless they already have one on order or can pull one directly off the dealership lot.

The NPTC survey showed leased fleets were five times more likely to use leasing for trailer acquisition.

“Trailer orders have been through the roof,” Zaborowski says. “We have thousands of trailers available every month that are coming off the line this year. If you wanted to buy, you’re going to be waiting a long, long time for that, and your freight may disappear with the tight capacity that we have out there today.”

Fleets also can use leasing to validate new equipment and technology without having to invest in the infrastructure to support it. Zaborowski says Xtra Lease went standard with air disc brakes last year.

“If you’re a fleet, and you want to understand how air disc brakes perform before making an investment in your own spec, you can lease,” he says. “It gives you the ability to sort of experiment with it without you having to take the risk with investment dollars.”

NationaLease is one of the largest full-service truck leasing organizations, comprised of more than 150 independent businesses with more than 900 locations across North America.

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New developments in trailer telematics are giving carriers and their shipper customers greater visibility of cargo while improving operating efficiencies.

Trailer telematics paving the way to greater visibility, control of remote assets

BY AARON HUFF

Five new developments in trailer telematics are giving carriers and their shipper customers greater visibility of cargo while improving operating efficiencies.

1. A look inside Tri-State Motor Transport, part of the Roadmaster Group, provides specialized and secure transport of high-value

A

family tree for the Internet of Things in the trucking industry was planted long before the term was invented.

For more than 20 years, fleets have been using the granddaddy of IoT, telematics, to stay connected with their vehicles and drivers. The electronic logging device mandate accelerated IoT for those two areas, and now attention is turning to the trailer.

Trailer telematics has become one of IoT’s fastest-growing branches. Subscriptions are expected to increase by more than 16 percent each year through 2022, according to a study

by C.J. Driscoll and Associates, a telematics research and consulting firm.

Every year, shippers will spend $800 billion on transportation and logistics for goods worth an estimated $14 trillion.

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Phoenix-based Tri-State Motor Transport uses the Omnitracs TT210 trailer tracking system for its van trailers and the Spireon FleetLocate FL Flex system for its flatbed trailer fleet.

TECHNOLOGY: TRAILER OPTIMIZATION loads with a fleet of more than 400 team drivers and 2,000 van and flatbed trailers.

The Phoenix-based company uses the Omnitracs TT210 trailer tracking system for its van trailers and Spireon’s FleetLocate FL Flex system for its flatbed fleet.

The Omnitracs system meets tracking requirements for a large customer, the Department of Defense, says Frank Larance, TSMT’s director of information technology and asset utilization.

The Omnitracs system provides the fleet with door sensors that detect open/closed status. TSMT pairs door status with dispatch data to alert fleet managers and customers automatically if doors are opened at unauthorized locations.

The fleet uses the Omnitracs and Spireon systems mostly to improve efficiencies and notify customers if trailers are detained while loading or unloading.

“We want to get the assets back in our system for a variety of reasons,” Larance says. “The last thing we want to do is bill you for it.”

While TSMT presently does not use sensors to detect the presence of cargo, Larance is interested in new sensors that have imaging and laser technology to determine loaded and unloaded status. He also sees value in the technology for taking pictures to share with customers and identify maintenance needs.

“I would love to see inside of a trailer,” Larance says.

2. The smart trailer Cargo sensors are one of many new developments in trailer telematics that fit a “smart trailer” concept where a hub, or gateway, gathers the status of cargo and trailer components.

Spireon’s IntelliScan cargo sensor for its FleetLocate FL Flex platform uses optical imaging and laser time of flight to detect cargo accurately.

Spireon’s FleetLocate trailer management system captures data at the trailer level such as automated yard checks and translates it into actionable business intelligence that helps fleets increase trailer productivity and efficiencies while reducing waste and costs.

SkyBitz’s lineup of fleet tracking management technology allows users to optimize trailer pools with up-to-date location, drop date and empty or loaded status reporting.

“It’s like having an eye in the trailer,” says Reza Hemmati, Spireon’s vice president of fleet and asset intelligence product management.

Spireon also is developing new dashboards for fleet managers to have maintenance and operational metrics from the integrations it has with tire pressure monitoring and automatic inflation systems, as well as trailer components such as lights and brakes.

“The biggest focus is to get more information off the trailer,” Hemmati says.

SkyBitz is updating its cargo sensor with imaging technology and algorithms to detect loaded capacity, says Henry Popplewell, president of the company.

Other smart trailer capabilities from SkyBitz include reporting alerts from PSI, Meritor and Bendix systems that measure tire pressure, axle temperature and brake wear.

“We ramp up reporting frequencies to look at the big picture of the fleet versus being dependent on drivers” for reporting trailer and cargo conditions, Popplewell says.

Looking ahead, predictive analytics will identify failure points for brakes, axles and lights in advance, he says.

I.D. Systems’ LV Series telematics and analytics product platform has an optional vision sensor that detects cargo and measures loaded levels. The sensor uses a high-definition camera and an image recognition processor.

Door and cargo-area environmental sensors also are available, along with sensors that monitor tire pressure and anti-lock brak- Pegagus TransTech’s Transflo Mobile+ provides informaing system lights. tion on mapping of trailer BlackBerry takes a locations, load routes, road different approach with hazards, forecasted weather conditions and fuel system its Radar platform. Rather optimization. than place wireless sensors commercial carrier journal

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TECHNOLOGY: TRAILER OPTIMIZATION

BlackBerry’s Radar tracking system provides analytics that can allow a fleet to manage trailer utilization, maintenance and more.

in and around a trailer, Radar uses a self-contained device with seven internal sensors that capture location, mileage, temperature, humidity, barometric pressure and cargo and door status.

Radar’s infrared cargo sensors and a learning algorithm report a trailer’s loaded status in increments of 10 percentage points. The unit installs inside a trailer’s door, and the cargo sensor automatically takes a reading when the door closes.

The mobile device records location and sensor data in five-minute increments. The data record is transmitted wirelessly to the cloud-based system in intervals that preserve battery life for up to eight years, says Kate Rahn, vice president of Radar sales for Blackberry.

3. Data logging Monitoring cargo status during transit and at exchange points has become critical for high-value and perishable shipments.

Since April 2017, shippers and carriers have had to comply with the Food Safety Modernization Act. Shippers and brokers are asking carriers to document compliance with their load instructions. Shipments are more susceptible to cargo claims if temperatures and other records do not measure up.

The Digi SafeTemps platform includes the company’s wireless Data Logger sensors, a gateway device and available smartphone apps.

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Digi’s SmartSense subscription-based IoT platform uses the company’s wireless Data Logger sensors that are the size of casino chips and can be placed in direct contact with cargo to maintain an accurate record.

The batteries for the Data Logger sensors last between three and five years and are “very affordable,” says Ron Konezny, president and chief executive for Digi.

The wireless Digi gateway device attaches to a trailer, a warehouse, a dock door or any other exchange point in a supply chain, reads the sensor data and sends it to the cloud-based platform.

SmartSense monitors temperature, shock, humidity and cargo vibration while giving carriers other common features provided by trailer telematics, such as location tracking and door sensors.

The Digi sensors and gateway allow temperature and other cargo data to be monitored, logged and retrieved, Konezny says.

During transit, temperature and other cargo data can be interrogated by an app via a Bluetooth connection and fed to the gateway. The data transmission takes place using Bluetooth, Wi-Fi and cellular networks.

RaceTrac is installing SmartSense in its convenience stores, trucks and distribution centers to have complete visibility of cargo conditions. Haagen-Dazs ice cream uses Data Logger sensors to track the condition and chain of custody of its products on trucks, trains, boats and airplanes.

Verizon Connect recently announced a new device for tracking trailers and other powered and nonpowered assets. The device provides near-real-time location alerts to changes in the asset’s temperature, tilt, vibration, shock, humidity, light and pressure.

With secure wireless data encryption, settings for the device can be configured over the air. The device can be recharged via USB and has a low-power processor for extended battery life.

Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Covenant Transportation Group uses Orbcomm’s telematics platform for its refrigerated trailers and Spireon’s system for its dry van trailers.

TECHNOLOGY: TRAILER OPTIMIZATION

Orbcomm’s CargoWatch trailer tracking application is designed to optimize logistics for transportation service providers operating dry van and mixed dry van/refrigerated fleets. The telematics application uses the company’s trailer tracking devices to deliver visible fleet status and exception reporting to help maximize fleet optimization and improve ROI.

4. Remote control Carriers with refrigerated operations no longer have to rely on drivers to check and monitor refrigerated units to protect against cargo claims.

“It does not take much to lose a load with a missed (temperature) setting,” says Scott Flerl, director of equipment procurement for Covenant Transportation Group (CCJ Top 250, No. 38).

The Chattanooga, Tenn.-based company uses Orbcomm’s telematics platform for its refrigerated trailers. The platform has remote control features for refrigerated units that allow managers in the office to set temperatures and turn units on and off.

“Before that, we relied on the driver to tell us if something goes wrong,” Flerl says.

Orbcomm offers a portfolio of trailer tracking and monitoring products for all types of equipment — dry van, refrigerated, tanker and intermodal chassis.

By bringing the different systems together, fleets with multiple equipment types across geographies can have all their data in a single dashboard and platform.

CTG uses Spireon for its dry van trailers and decided to build a trailer management system that gives managers “one place to do everything,” Flerl says. The system marries trailer and dispatch information to alert users if a refrigerated trailer’s temperature setting does not match the customer’s order.

Users are alerted to other exceptions captured by the Orbcomm platform, such as refrigerated units running low on fuel or not performing correctly.

telematics platform to provide its customers with instant shipment visibility.

“It’s a really great product,” says Justin Neal, vice president of performance and analytics for the Oakbrook, Ill.-based fleet.

“We love it.”

The SkyBitz units are mounted under the chassis of tank trailers. Tracking data from SkyBitz is integrated with Heniff’s back-office systems to give shippers visibility through the fleet’s Freight Portal platform.

Web-based and mobile-friendly, Freight Portal provides customers with shipment ETAs and automatic notifications when detention events occur, Neal says.

Trailer telematics have made Heniff “a lot more efficient,” he says. During the past six months, the fleet has installed SkyBitz in the trailers of two companies it has acquired and plans to have about 3,000 trailers equipped.

CTG has seen efficiency gains from managing trailer pools at customer sites. Prior to using modern trailer telematics systems with frequent tracking updates, the company was sending drivers out for yard checks.

“With geofencing, you don’t have to do that,” Flerl says.

“You know when you are short and when you have too many (trailers).”

Trailer pool information helps CTG when buying and selling equipment, allowing management to identify locations where it can pull trailers. On a larger scale, management can control trailer pools to ensure that assets are positioned strategically throughout its network.

“Now we can attack (network imbalance) before it gets out of hand,” Flerl says. “We can be far more proactive instead of reactive.”

CTG’s driver mobile app shows drivers a Google Map of the locations of assigned trailers in drop yards within 30 feet of accuracy. The app saves time and frustration for drivers while boosting trailer utilization.

The app is updated immediately with dispatch information to prevent scenarios where drivers are “driving around looking for something that is not there,” Flerl says.

5. Precision tracking Modern trailer telematics systems report location and other data in a near-real-time frequency without sacrificing battery life.

Liquid bulk hauler Heniff Transportation uses SkyBitz’s trailer

MiX Telematics’ Asset Manager can track trailers and shipping containers to simplify managing assets and billing. commercial carrier journal

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Cleanup towels

New Pig’s Oily Water Cleanup Towels in Vac-Pack absorbent cloths are made to allow water to pass through during outdoor cleanups and oily tool wipedowns, capturing oils, fuels and hydrocarbons.

Packaged in convenient and space-saving vacuum packs, the towels are suited for use in outdoor, wet and rainy conditions to clean up and wipe down oily tools and where oil has collected in cracks and crevices. The towels are constructed from lightweight material that conforms to irregular surfaces and are durable enough to scrub concrete, rocks and asphalt. They also can be wrung out after use to reduce waste or for fuels blending or incineration.

New Pig Corp., www.newpig.com, 800-468-4647

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PRODUCTS

All-position retread Bridgestone’s Bandag BRSS onand off-road all-position retread has a deep 20/32-inch tread engineered for extended wear life on multiple surfaces; a specialized compound formulated to resist chipping and cutting; and an optimized tread design that discourages stone retention. It is available in widths of 190, 200, 210, 220, 230 and 240 mm.

Bridgestone Americas, www.bandag.com, 844-748-7323

Interior trailer lamp

Optronics’ ILL38CMB Corner-Mount Interior LED Trailer Lamp is designed to attach to both the ceiling and the wall to relocate a vehicle’s interior lighting source away from the high-traffic central core while reducing shadows and dark areas. The low-profile multivolt lamp is compatible with both 12- and 24-volt electrical systems and has a passive infrared sensor that can be programmed to trigger only when needed. It is engineered for both refrigerated and dry van environments and has an operational range of between -4 and 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

Optronics Inc., www.optronicsinc.com, 800-364-5483

Pure sine wave inverter

PowerDrive’s 1,000-Watt Pure Sine Wave Inverter is designed to provide clean, continuous power for sensitive electronics such as tablets, TVs and laptops. The inverter is engineered to produce a smooth consistent wave while providing power equivalent to that located in a home, with no lines on screens or interruption in sound quality. The Bluetooth-enabled inverter pairs with the PowerDrive app, allowing users to customize settings; check the inverter for battery voltage, output power and product temperature; and power the inverter on and off remotely.

Charging ports include a standard USB 2.4-amp port and a USB-C 3.0-amp (15-watt PD) port.

DAS Companies, www.dasinc.com, 800-233-7009

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Portable containers

Coldtainer’s standalone portable containers are designed to be used for precise temperature control when not using insulated vans or trucks. Available in front-opening or top-loading models in a range of capacities and with numerous cooling, freezing and heating options, Coldtainers can use AC or DC battery, shore and solar power sources on vehicles and at facilities. Equipped with vibration-resistant refrigeration units, the containers are made from durable molded polyethylene and food-grade materials and are easy to clean. They feature an integrated battery monitor and a user-friendly digital display to view temperature and status and for precise temperature set point control. They also record temperatures and have a mobile Bluetooth capability for downloading data to meet recordkeeping requirements.

Coldtainer USA, www.coldtainerusa. com, 877-757-5974

Heavy-duty stud tire chains Kinedyne’s Grip Link Tire Chain family now includes 7- and 8-millimeter heavy-duty stud tire chains designed for off-road use. Built to provide strength and durability, the chains come with 14 traction-enhancing cross-links and tensioning cams engineered for quick, secure tightening; single models have four cams, while dual-triple models have eight, with four on the outside and four inside. The chains come in reusable easyto-carry pails, and each package includes the company’s T-Wrench cam tensioning tool. Repair kits and chain repair pliers are available.

Kinedyne, www.kinedyne.com, 800-848-6057 commercial carrier journal | february 2019

53

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COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL

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FEBRUARY 2019

3/21/13 9:

3/21/

AD INDEX CCJ Innovators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ccjinnovators.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36 CCJ Symposium . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ccjsymposium.com/register . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .39 Direct Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . directequipmentsupply.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 Drivers Legal Plan . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . driverslegalplan.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30, 31 Drivewyze . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . drivewyze.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13 Eberspaecher . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . eberspaecher-na.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .21 EZ Oil Drain. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ezoildrain.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32 Great American Trucking Show . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . truckshow.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14 Howes Lubricator . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . howeslube.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .25 Instructional Technologies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . instructiontech.net . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .56 International . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . internationaltrucks.com/lt-series. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IFC-1 IPA Tools . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ipatools.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .52 Isuzu Truck . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . isuzucv.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2 LKQ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . lkqheavytruck.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .51 Minimizer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . minimizer.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .15 Noregon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . noregon.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .23 NTEA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . worktruckshow.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33 O’Reilly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . firstcallonline.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .9 Penske . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . gopenske.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . IBC Peterbilt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . peterbilt.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .BC PrePass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . prepass.com/ccj . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17 Promiles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . promiles.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .53 Renewable Energy Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . regi.com. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .7 TMC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . tmcannual.trucking.org. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16 Veeboards . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . veeboards.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54 Verizon Connect. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . verizonconnect.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .5 Wheel-Check . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . wheel-check.com . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .54

MORE Prospect Data | Market Share Data | New Prospects RigDig® has been helping truck equipment dealers increase their targeting and prospecting effectiveness with data insights on 1 million+ active trucking entities for nearly ten years: • Arming sales teams with invaluable prospect/client equipment data • Providing up-to-date market share data for your AOR • Identifying new prospect companies in your territories • Assessing growth trends/emerging markets • Guiding strategic planning

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To find out how Randall-Reilly’s RigDig® can power your marketing efforts, call us at (800) 633-5953, ext. 1132 to schedule a demo.

commercial carrier journal | february 2019

55

PREVENTABLE or NOT?

Pickup panic-stops into Doe’s path

L

ight rain pattered gently against the cab as John Doe drove his tractor-trailer northward along a stretch of rural two-lane highway. The speed limit was posted at 55 mph. At high noon, while cruising at 50 mph in sparse traffic, something caught Doe’s eye: a compact car that was starting to enter the southbound lane from the side of the road.

At that instant, a fast-moving southA pickup trying to evade a bound pickup truck came around a car that had pulled in front curve, about 100 yards behind the car. of it spun out of control Suddenly aware that a nearly stationary on a wet road and into automobile was blocking the lane, the the path of John Doe’s pickup’s driver attempted a panic stop. tractor-trailer. Was this a That attempt was dramatically unsucpreventable accident? cessful, resulting in the pickup totally losing traction on the wet asphalt.

Out of control, the pickup suddenly swapped lanes and slid directly into the path of Doe’s tractor!!! According to a witness, there was nothing further Doe could have done to avoid striking the pickup. Specifically, the witness said Doe immediately applied his brakes and spun the steering wheel full right. But alas, Doe’s tractor-trailer also began to slide and was smashed, to the tune of an estimated $5,000 in front-end damages.

While Doe’s local review board judged him guiltless, the corporate safety director was not convinced. So the matter was sent to the National Safety Council’s Accident Review Committee for a final ruling. After considering the statement from the witness, NSC ruled the incident nonpreventable.

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commercial carrier journal | february 2019

© 2019 Penske. All Rights Reserved.

Our connected fleet solutions and customizable online tools like Fleet Insight™ give you real-time data about your operations. With access to cost, scheduling and maintenance information on demand, you’ll save time and improve performance. It’s how we deliver confidence. Learn more at gopenske.com.

Introducing the Model 579 UltraLoft™, with a lightweight integral cab-sleeper design that takes the Model 579 to new levels of driver comfort and performance. The distinctive exterior features a bold, sculpted roofline and aerodynamic enhancements for increased fuel economy. The new interior offers best-in-class headroom, bunk space and storage. The standard PACCAR Powertrain, including the PACCAR MX-13 engine and the advanced PACCAR Automated Transmission, maximizes fuel efficiency and drivability, making the Model 579 UltraLoft the driver’s truck of choice.

For more information, stop by your nearest Peterbilt dealer or visit Peterbilt.com.

CLASS PAYS