CCJ 1119

NOVEMBER 2019

AN EXTRA SET OF EYES Technology helps drivers stay safe

THE PERFECT MATCH

page 44

Find the top loads for your trucks page 51

CCJ's Five Flashiest Fleets let their trucks do the talking

ATA MC&E ROUNDUP

All the big news from San Diego page 56

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COVER STORY

JOURNAL

Telling stories visually

Since 1978, Commercial Carrier Journal has recognized excellence in fleet graphics design and execution. The five top vote-getters in this year’s Five Flashiest Fleets competition successfully relate the company’s purpose, tell a story, champion a cause or promote a strong corporate brand image.

LEADING NEWS, TRUCKING MARKET CONDITIONS AND INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

Cover design by David Watson

FEATURES

44

Safety first

Take rates on collision mitigation systems are increasing, and for good reason: They’re effective at reducing crashes. More fleets are stepping up to learn about and incorporate the latest technologies from various OEMs and manufacturers that can keep trucks on the highway and out of harm’s way.

8

51

The perfect match

Traditionally, only businesses with significant IT resources and density in their freight networks considered investing in software to optimally match freight with capacity. Recent developments have leveled the playing field, as companies of all sizes now have affordable options to make better load-planning decisions.

56

ATA MC&E Roundup

CCJ rounds up the biggest news and product announcements made at the American Trucking Associations’ annual Management Conference & Exhibition held last month in San Diego.

37

Innovators: DHL

The global logistics provider opens a U.S. Innovation Center to foster ideas and demonstrate technology that has the potential for significant productivity and efficiency gains.

News Report: Plan to overhaul CSA faces major hurdles … Martinez set to leave FMCSA …

Coalition pens letter to Congress opposing four trucking mandates … New California laws get tougher on emissions … Tanker group wants to add pulsating brake lights on all tanker trailers … FMCSA grants HOS relief to truckers that serve emergency responders … FMCSA considering exempting truckers, fleets from Washington state’s break laws … FMCSA formalizes background checks for hazmat CDL enforcement … Speeding, seatbelt use are top Operation Safe Driver Week violations …

California’s law creates tough choices for O-Os

12 InBrief

COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL

| NOVEMBER 2019 3

DEPARTMENTS

ccjdigital.com

technology

facebook.com/CCJMagazine @CCJnow linkedin.com/ccjmagazine

Editorial

18 19 20

30

Shell to overhaul Starship rig with improved aerodynamics, powertrain

31

Amazon orders 100,000 electric vans from Rivian

31

Navistar putting millions into Texas truck plant

32

20 InBrief 22 22

Editor: Jason Cannon Senior Editor: Aaron Huff Associate Editor: Tom Quimby Managing Editor: Dean Smallwood News Editor: Matt Cole Contributing Editors: Todd Dills, James Jaillet

Israeli company Ottopia brings teleoperations to trucking 3Dtracking boosts dispatching, routing module Descartes Analytics uses Microsoft Power BI Omnitracs CEO explains mobile evolution strategy

editorial@ccjdigital.com

Design & Production

Art Director: David Watson Graphic Designer: Kenneth Stubbs Quality Assurance: Timothy Smith Advertising Production Manager: Leah Boyd production@ccjdigital.com

Corporate

Wabco offers rear blind spot detection for trailers Tech firm wants camera system to replace mirrors

34

26 Test Drive:

Stay Metrics explains why drivers leave within 90 days

34 InBrief 35 Teletrac Navman survey: 24% of

Volvo Dynamic Steering

28 InFocus:

fleets still use paper logs

Winter diesel additives

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ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

6

Upfront Editor Jason Cannon’s column

64 Preventable or Not? John Doe was driving slowly on a narrow city street when a four-wheeler approached on his left and started weaving, prompting Doe to steer to his right and causing his trailer to hit a low bridge. Was this a preventable accident?

59 Products Tires, coolants, detail light, more 4

COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL

| NOVEMBER 2019

63 Ad Index

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Commercial Carrier Journal (ISSN 1533-7502) is published monthly by Randall-Reilly Publishing Co. LLC, 3200 Rice Mine Road N.E., Tuscaloosa, AL 35406. Single copy price U.S., $6; Canada/ Mexico, $9; Foreign, $12. Subscription rates, payable in U.S. dollars, $48 per year (in Canada $78 U.S. currency). For subscription information/inquiries, please email commercialcarrierjournal@omeda.com. Customer service: 1-800-517-4979. Periodicals Postage-Paid at Tuscaloosa, AL, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTERS: Send all UAA to CFS. (See DMM 507.1.5.2); NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: send address corrections to Commercial Carrier Journal, PO Box 2029, Tuscaloosa, AL 35403. Unsolicited letters, manuscripts, stories, materials or photographs cannot be returned except where the sender provides a postagepaid, addressed, stamped envelope. Address all mail to Commercial Carrier Journal Editorial Dept., P.O. Box 3187, Tuscaloosa, AL 35403. All advertisers for Commercial Carrier Journal are accepted and published by Randall-Reilly Publishing Co. LLC on the representation that the advertiser and/or advertising agency are authorized to publish the entire contents and subject matter thereof. The advertiser and/or advertising agency will defend, indemnify and hold Randall-Reilly Publishing Co. LLC harmless from and against any loss, expenses or other liability resulting from any claims or suits for libel violations of right of privacy or publicity, plagiarisms, copyright or trademark, infringement and any other claims or suits that may arise out of publication of such advertisement. Copyright Š 2019, Randall-Reilly Publishing Co. LLC All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited.

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UPFRONT

Virtual training day Gamification climbing from truck cabs into repair bays

BY JASON CANNON

T

rucking has a talent problem, but it’s not one unique to the highway. Some fleets can’t find and keep drivers, while others can’t find and keep technicians.

Parents have spent the last few generations emphasizing the importance of a college education, and colleges have turned out recent graduates – loaded with debt and various directionless degrees – in record numbers.

“What we’re experiencing is a skilled workforce shortage,” said Ken Calhoun, Altec service fleet optimization manager.

“We’ve created the idea that people that make things or repair things … or deliver things are somehow less-than. Members of the lower classes.”

Calhoun is a champion for the return of the blue-collar employee and their importance, and he bristles at the idea that trade schools are simply soft landing spots for students not smart enough for a bachelor’s degree.

“The complexity of the equipment we deal with today demands talent,” he said. “It demands skill.”

But commercial transportation has an image problem — the perception that its jobs are hard, manual and dirty. About 13,000 students complete technical training each year, while needs in the service department hover around 30,000 bodies — 4,300 new positions that are created, and the need to replace 25,000 who leave the industry.

“When somebody leaves, they take their knowledge with them,” said Matt Johnston, division head of commercial solutions for Design Interactive. Johnston joined Calhoun at last month’s American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition in San Diego for a discussion about the potential for Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality (AR/VR) in maintenance training.

New technicians enter the industry unfamiliar with parts and sensors, and their access to mentors is limited. There are literally thousands of fault codes to diagnose and learn, new technologies move quickly, and veteran technicians don’t have time to fix trucks and conduct training. These are realities.

Enter AR/VR. Gamification strategies already have been deployed in driver training efforts and are beginning to filter into the service bay. AR/VR empowers people to learn and train anywhere at any time and now is more accessible than

During a beta test with an unnamed fleet, technicians with no experience using AR/VR in training used Design Interactive’s platform to align collision mitigation sensors.

ever. It’s ubiquitous and, at a few hundred dollars per headset, relatively inexpensive.

The Technology and Maintenance Council is looking to soon launch an app-based game based on its SuperTech competition, which will serve as an informal introduction to many of the complexities of trucking technical work.

From a training perspective, AR/VR can be used to not only standardize training but also make it portable. No longer would a product expert be required to deliver hands-on training to a constantly rotating crowd of faces. They would be involved in developing the AR/VR content, which could be emailed or downloaded to anyone who needs it whenever and wherever they want it.

Take, for example, diagnosing the 13 types of tire wear. Wear patterns are required for hands-on training, and 2D pictures are insufficient. There’s cost associated with traveling to the tires or having them shipped to a facility. Suppliers face challenges in scheduling training when not all of a given workforce can break free, requiring additional follow-up or subsequent visits.

AR could replace all those tires with virtual copies that could be distributed electronically to all would-be trainees.

Johnston said that during a beta test with an unnamed fleet, technicians with no experience using AR/VR in training used the platform to learn how to align collision mitigation sensors.

He said after the initial training, each technician successfully completed the actual task manually, and 90% said they would recommend virtual training as a viable method for learning.

Calhoun said TMC also is looking into using AR/VR as a potential delivery vehicle for its Recommended Practices. Can you imagine a day where rather than flipping through a TMC bulletin for proper brake chamber maintenance, you upload it to your VR headset and are walked through the process that was developed through TMC’s study group experts?

That’s the kind of cutting-edge technology that will attract bright tech-savvy talent to this industry in droves and keep standardized training in-house regardless of turnover.

JASON CANNON is Editor of Commercial Carrier Journal. E-mail jasoncannon@randallreilly.com.

6

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| november 2019

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LEADING NEWS, TRUCKING MARKET CONDITIONS AND INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

Report: Plan to overhaul CSA faces major hurdles

T

he Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s plan to rework its Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) safety scoring program is sound, but potential major challenges could impede the agency’s ability to implement its plan to shore up CSA’s ability to assess carriers’ safety performance accurately.

DOT OIG’s report said potential Those are the conclusions of a report issued by major challenges could impede the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office FMCSA’s ability to implement its of Inspector General (OIG), which on Sept. 27 plan to shore up CSA. announced it had completed its congressionally required review of FMCSA’s corrective action plan for the CSA program. DOT OIG began its review in October 2018, following the agency’s unveiling of its reform plan in June 2018.

DOT OIG said that while FMCSA’s approach could address industry-wide concerns about CSA’s ability to gauge carriers’ safety risk accurately, the plan lacks details in how the agency will implement the reforms and how they will improve key areas of concern, such as transparency in how it scores motor carriers and the data that underpins those scores.

As part of its planned overhaul, FMCSA seeks to replace the existing CSA Safety Measurement System (SMS) with a new scoring system. It would be based on an Item Response Theory (IRT) method intended to account for variables better than the previous scoring system. FMCSA also said it is considering adding an absolute scoring system to CSA instead of relying on relative scores that compare motor carriers to their peers.

Congress, via the December 2015-passed FAST Act highway bill, required FMCSA to pull SMS rankings from public view. It also called for the National Academies of Science to study the CSA program and offer recommendations to the agency about how it could resolve concerns about the accuracy of carriers’ safety ratings. FMCSA’s corrective action plan was based on recommendations made by NAS in 2017.

While DOT OIG agreed that FMCSA’s plan “mostly addresses” CSA’s deficiencies, it said the reforms “lack implementation details for improving SMS transparency and its assessment of carrier safety rankings,” such as “costs, benchmarks and other implementation details.” DOT OIG also noted that FMCSA doesn’t plan to collect new data to feed CSA, which could limit the agency’s ability to implement the IRT methodology.

DOT OIG noted that FMCSA had planned to finish its small-scale IRT testing by Sept.

30 and that it would determine whether Scan the QR code with your smartphone or it can proceed with a visit ccjdigital.com/news/subscribe-to-newsletters to sign up for the CCJ Daily Report, a full-scale IRT model for daily e-mail newsletter filled with news, CSA by Sept. 30, 2020. analysis, blogs and market condition articles.

– James Jaillet 8

commercial carrier journal

| november 2019

Martinez set to leave FMCSA

R

ay Martinez, who

helmed the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration

Ray Martinez

for about 18 months, was set to leave the agency at the end of October, the U.S. Department of Transportation said. His final day was slated for Oct. 28. FMCSA Deputy Administrator Jim Mullen was expected to act as interim administrator.

A DOT spokesperson said Martinez had “long-held wishes” to move closer to family and that he was leaving FMCSA to move to Massachusetts to oversee a DOT construction project at the Volpe Center.

Since beginning his tenure at FMCSA in March 2018, Martinez most notably spearheaded an effort to overhaul federal hours of service regulations. He also made regular appearances at trucking trade shows and conferences to talk to industry personnel and provide updates on the agency’s regulatory work.

Upon assuming the role as FMCSA administrator, Martinez announced intentions to try to bridge the relationship between the industry and the agency.

Mullen has been DOT’s chief counsel since June 2018. Alan Hanson, current deputy administrator, will become DOT’s chief counsel.

– James Jaillet

JOURNAL NEWS

Coalition pens letter to Congress opposing four trucking mandates

T

he Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is leading a coalition of 31 trucking-related trade groups to oppose four trucking mandates that have been proposed in Congress — underride guards, speed limiters, automatic emergency braking systems and a liability insurance minimum increase.

“Unlike our coalition partners, supporters of these mandates know virtually nothing about trucking,” said Todd Spencer, president and chief executive officer for OOIDA. “The unfortunate reality is these mandates would likely decrease safety, not improve it, while imposing astronomically high costs on a wide variety of industries.”

The coalition detailed the problems it sees with the proposed mandates: • H.R. 1511/S. 665, the Stop Underrides Act: This bill would man-

date the installation of front, side and rear underride guards on all trailers with a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 10,000 pounds, as well as singleunit trucks with a GVWR greater than 10,000 pounds and a carriage that is more than 22 inches above the ground.

The group details practical problems with the proposal, including that lowboys and car haulers can’t be fitted with side or rear underride guards.

• S. 2033, the Cullum Owings Large Truck Safe Operating Speed Act of 2019: This bill would require all heavyduty trucks to be equipped with speed limiters set at 65 mph. The coalition said the bill would create unsafe speed differentials in 35 states.

• H.R. 3773, the Safe Roads Act: This bill would require new commercial trucks to be equipped with

The coalition believes side underride guards strong enough to achieve the wanted safety value would add weight and take away from load capacity.

automatic emergency braking systems.

The coalition said studies show it is not clear if the benefits of these systems outweigh the costs.

• H.R. 3781, the INSURANCE Act: This bill would increase the liability insurance minimum for trucking companies from $750,000 to more than $4.9 million. The coalition said the bill would impose significant costs on the industry and cited studies that indicate the currently liability minimum covers damages in all but 0.06% of crashes. – Matt Cole

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| november 2019 9 Page 1 of 1

JOURNAL NEWS

New California laws get tougher on emissions

T

wo bills signed into law last month by California Gov. Gavin Newsom will further crack down on heavy-duty diesel truck emissions in the state. One law establishes smog checks for trucks to register and/or operate in California, while the other is designed to accelerate the move to zeroemissions vehicles by pressing the state to phase out dieselpowered trucks by 2050.

The smog check law establishes a Heavy-Duty Vehicle Inspections and Maintenance Program to test the effectiveness of the control of emissions and oxides of nitrogen (NOx) and particulate matter. The law allows for the use of onboard diagnostics system data and test procedures to measure emissions-control effectiveness.

The new testing will be more in-depth than the current Periodic Smoke Inspection Program (PSIP) tests the state conducts, which measure smoke opacity levels in trucks owned by California-based fleets with two or more trucks.

The new law calls for the California Air Resources Board to sunset the PSIP once the new program is fully implemented. It also will apply to all diesel trucks weighing more than 14,000 pounds, including single-vehicle fleets.

Joe Rajkovacz, director of government affairs and communications for the Western States Trucking Association (WSTA), said his group is opposed to the emissions testing law because CARB “had already moved toward reducing opacity limits, and we weren’t objecting to that. This is not only redundant, but also costly.”

Another point of concern in the law, Rajkovacz said, is giving emissions testers access to engine conCalifornia’s smog check law trol module (ECM) allows for the use of onboard data. He said CARB diagnostics system data and has said it only wants test procedures to measure emissions data from emissions-control effectiveness. the ECM, but there is “certainly a lot of other data with it.”

Under the new law, CARB is tasked with implementing a pilot program to develop and test technologies to bring heavy-duty vehicles into the new inspection and maintenance program. Within two years after the completion of the pilot program, the program would be fully implemented.

The law also requires CARB to establish a way for outof-state truck owners to verify compliance with the standards before entering the state.

A $30 fee will be collected as part of the program for testing, which will be deposited into a new Truck Emission Check Fund. The new fund will be used for administrating the program.

Truck owners whose trucks fail the emissions test can be issued a $50 temporary permit for 60 days, allowing them to operate while working to become emissions-compliant.

Also, the new law bans the operation of trucks with an illuminated malfunction indicator light (MIL) and visible smoke exhaust, except during active regeneration.

– Matt Cole

Tanker group wants to add pulsating brake lights on all tanker trailers

A

trucking industry trade group representing tanker haulers is petitioning the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to allow the installation of a pulsating red or amber brake-activated light on the back of all tanker trailers to increase visibility when braking.

Current regulations require all exterior lamps to be steadyburning. FMCSA granted a similar exemption to tanker fleet Groendyke Transport in April, allowing the carrier to install an amber brake-activated pulsating light in the upper center on the 10

commercial carrier journal

back of its tanker trailers in addition to the steady-burning brake lights.

National Tank Truck Carriers wants the Groendyke exemption to apply to all tanker trailers while also allowing the option for a red pulsating light instead of amber. NTTC’s request also asks that FMCSA allow the pulsating light to be installed in either the upper center or an upper dual outboard position.

NTTC notes it is not seeking an exemption from current brake light requirements but rather an exemption to allow but not mandate tanker

| november 2019

National Tank Truck Carriers is petitioning FMCSA to allow pulsating brake lights to be installed on all tanker trailers.

trailers to be outfitted with additional brake-activated pulsating lighting.

– Matt Cole

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AB5 and the independent contractor

O

K folks, here is the deal. The independent contractor business model is basically extinct in the state of California as of Jan. 1, 2020.

On Sept. 18, the governor of California signed Assembly Bill 5 (“AB5”) into law. For those of you who do not read random state legislation to address your insomnia, AB5 was promoted as dealing with misclassification of employees in the “gig” economy. This is similar to descriptions of drivers employed by companies such as Uber and Lyft.

Governor Newsom says the new law “will help reduce worker misclassification – workers being wrongly classified as ‘independent contractors’ rather than employees, which erodes basic worker protections like the minimum wage, paid sick days and health insurance benefits.”

We all know that the road to hell is paved with good intentions, and while the bill may have been aimed at helping folks in the gig economy, it has a much broader impact. In fact, this bill will basically kill the independent contractor business model in the State of California.

How can that be? In passing the bill, the legislature adopted the test handed down by the California Supreme court last year in the Dynamex case. As a result, when the bill goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2020, companies will now be required to use the ABC test set forth in Dynamex to determine independent contractor status.

For those of you keeping score at home, for a person to be classified as an independent contractor the ABC test requires: 1. That the worker is free from the control and direction of the hiring entity in connection with the performance of the work and in fact; 2. That the workers perform work that is outside the usual course of the hiring entity’s business; and 3. That the worker is customarily engaged in an inde pendently established trade occupation, or business of the same nature as the work performed.

Now you don’t have to be a genius to understand that part “B” of the ABC test is basically an impossible standard for a carrier to meet. Carriers who use independent contractors to help haul freight are now going to be classified as employers. While this is bad news for carriers, it is music to the ears of unions.

For years, labor unions have wanted to be able to organize drivers at the various state ports. However, federal law prohibits independent contractors from joining unions. When the new law goes into effect, all those drivers will now be classified as employees – who are free to join a union. I wonder if anybody noticed.

Don’t get me wrong, I am an advocate for drivers and think they should be compensated fairly and treated well. I also understand that there are carriers out there who take advantage of the independent contractor model. However, it appears to me that by signing AB5 into law, the folks in California are punishing all carriers for the deeds of a few. This sounds like classic, “throwing the baby out with the bath water.”

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JOURNAL NEWS

INBRIEF 11/19 • Fleets and drivers now can register for user accounts in the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s Commercial Driver’s License Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, which creates a database of drivers who’ve failed or refused a drug test or have been cited for alcohol violations.

Fleets will be required to query the database when making new hires and once a year for existing drivers. Drivers will need an account for fleet queries. Accounts can be created at Clearinghouse.FMCSA.DOT.gov.

• The Wisconsin Department of Transportation warned trucking company owners of an email scam asking them to pay to file their U.S. Department of Transportation biennial update. WisDOT said companies and websites that want drivers to pay are not associated with USDOT or WisDOT and that filing can be done for free at fmcsa.dot.gov/registration/updating-your-registration. The scam emails also include threats of fines for failure to pay as well as links that lead to websites that are not connected with USDOT and WisDOT. • Roadrunner Transportation Systems (CCJ Top 250, No. 31) last month announced it would downsize its dry van business by over 50% due to a lack of profitability in the segment. The Downers Grove, Ill.-based company also said it would close five terminals and eliminate 450 positions — about 10% of the company’s workforce. Roadrunner said it expected to incur a one-time cost of between $12 million and $16 million in the restructure and that it planned to complete the process by yearend.

• Stevens Transport (No. 38) shuttered its Dallas-based oilfield tanker fleet effective Oct. 15. Stevens Tanker Division submitted a WARN notice to the Texas Workforce Commission on Sept. 26 stating it would be ceasing all operations at all 12 of its locations in Texas, Louisiana and Oklahoma. The WARN notice stated 586 employees would be laid off at nine Texas locations. Stevens Tanker Division hauled water and sand for oil and gas companies in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and New Mexico.

• Transport America, a subsidiary of St. Laurent, Quebec-based TFI International (No. 10), will pay a truck driver $22,500 to settle a lawsuit brought by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. The lawsuit, filed Aug. 20, alleged that the Eagan, Minn.-based fleet violated the Americans with Disabilities Act by requiring the trucker to pay a fee to have a service dog in his truck, even though the dog was required as a “reasonable accommodation” for the driver’s anxiety. The settlement stated that the company denied it violated the ADA and said the dog already was allowed to ride in the driver’s truck.

• Southern California-based logistics company Total Transportation Services Inc. announced plans to replace its entire 40-truck diesel-powered fleet with near-zero-emissions natural gas trucks. The trucks will be powered by Cummins Westport compressed natural gas (CNG) engines.

• The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation closed the northbound and southbound rest areas in Grantsville near mile marker 79 northeast of Harrisburg for about 18 months. PennDOT said the Oct. 16 closures are for major reconstruction of the rest stops, which are not expected to reopen until summer 2021.

• Kelby Bentley of FedEx Freight was named TMCSuperTech 2019 Grand Champion, placing first among 87 technicians competing in the final rounds of the Heavy-Duty Track. Joseph Paul of FedEx Freight placed first in the Trailer Track, Aaron Burdick of Clarke Power Services placed first in the Light and Medium Track, and Travis Cox of Lincoln Technical Institute placed first in the TMCFutureTech 2019 student competition.

The FedEx Freight team of Larry Coatney and Bentley placed first among companies designating as teams for the competition.

JOURNAL NEWS

FMCSA grants HOS relief to truckers that serve emergency responders

A

group representing truck drivers who haul equipment providing food and water services for federally contracted forest firefighters and similar emergency workers has been granted relief from certain hours of service provisions.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced in a notice published Oct. 1 in the Federal Register that it has granted a waiver to the National Mobile Shower and Catering Association (NMSCA) to allow its member companies’ drivers to extend the 14-hour on-duty period to up to 16 hours while still driving no more than 11 hours. The group also was granted a waiver allowing the drivers to use on-duty not-driving time to satisfy their

30-minute break requirement.

FMCSA said the group’s request stated the drivers rarely drive 11 hours in a shift, as the nature of firefighting support operations requires them to spend most of their shift in on-duty not-driving status.

Also, the group received a waiver for covered drivers to extend the electronic logging device exemption from eight days in a 30-day period to 12 days, allowing them to keep paper logs as long as they don’t work more than 12 days in a 30-day period that would require them to keep logs.

The waivers apply to NMSCA member drivers who are responding under a Resource Order issued by a federal agency directing firefighters and supporting personnel

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14

commercial carrier journal

| november 2019

NMSCA received an exemption from certain HOS provisions for drivers providing food and water services for federally contracted firefighters.

to respond to forest fires and similar emergencies.

While granting the above waivers, FMCSA also denied a request by the group to allow waiting time to extend the 16-hour on-duty window, as well as a request to extend the weekly limits for on-duty time from 60 hours on-duty in seven days to 80 hours.

In its request for HOS relief, NMSCA said drivers for about 30 companies would be covered by the exemptions.

– Matt Cole

2019-09-06 3:36 PM

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The savings indicated are typical values seen in field and laboratory test evaluations. They do not represent a guarantee that savings will be achieved.

Actual savings may be higher or lower than this calculation.

Rotella is a trademark of Shell Trademark Management B.V. © SOPUS Products 2019. All rights reserved. CS15192-02

JOURNAL NEWS

FMCSA considering exempting truckers, fleets from Washington state’s break laws

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The Washington Trucking Associations argues that the state’s meal and rest break rules are “additional to and more stringent that FMCSA’s rules.”

he Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is requesting public input on a petition from the Washington Trucking Associations to exempt carriers from the state’s meal and rest break rules.

WTA’s petition said Washington state law requires employers to provide employees with a meal break of at least 30 minutes for every five-hour work period and a 10-minute rest break for every four-hour work period.

The association argues that Washington’s meal and rest break rules – similar to California’s meal and rest break rules that FMCSA determined last year are preempted by federal hours of service regulations – “impose an unreasonable burden on interstate commerce.” Go to regulations.gov and search Docket No. FMCSA-2019-0128 to view comments.

In FMCSA's determination last December that federal HOS regulations preempt California’s meal and rest break rules, the agency said the 1996 Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (F4A) dictates that federal law supersedes state laws on regulating drivers’ work schedules.

While FMCSA’s determination is being challenged in court by the Teamsters and the State of California, a federal court in California earlier this year upheld FMCSA’s decision by throwing out a case against U.S. Xpress (CCJ Top 250, No. 15) brought by a group of drivers concerning the state’s meal and rest break rules.

– Matt Cole

Speeding, seatbelt use are top Operation Safe Driver Week violations

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peeding was the most-ticketed traffic offense CVSA selected speeding as committed by truck drivers during the Comthe emphasis of the blitz, mercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s annual Operation which led to 16,102 tickets and 21,001 warnings issued Safe Driver Week in July. to passenger car drivers.

During the weeklong crackdown on unsafe driving behaviors by both truckers and passenger car drivers held July 14-20, officers issued 46,752 tickets and 87,624 warnings for traffic violations, including speeding and failure to wear a seatbelt. CVSA selected speeding as the emphasis of the blitz, which resulted in 1,454 citations and 2,126 warnings issued to truck drivers.

Other top violations for truckers included failure to wear a seatbelt (954 tickets and 586 warnings), failure to obey a traffic control device (426 citations and 871 warnings), using a handheld phone/texting (249 tickets and 170 warnings) and improper lane change (92 citations and 194 warnings).

Officers also issued 6,170 citations and 27,163 warnings to truck drivers for mirror equipment violations, expired tags and nonworking lamps. – CCJ Staff 16

commercial carrier journal

| november 2019

FMCSA formalizes background checks for hazmat CDL endorsement

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he Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration last month finalized two rulemakings that FMCSA officially have been in place adopted rules that have been on since 2003 and the books since 2005 requiring 2003 and 2005 drivers to pass a that require TSA background check background checks on drivers who conducted by the are obtaining or U.S. Department renewing a hazmat CDL endorsement. of Homeland Security to obtain or renew a hazmat endorsement on their commercial driver’s license.

The final rule published Oct. 1 and effective Nov. 1 also includes provisions that state drivers with a valid transportation security card, or Transportation Worker Identification Card (TWIC), are exempt from the background check.

An interim final rule published in 2003 amended the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations to prohibit states from issuing, renewing, transferring or upgrading a CDL with a hazmat endorsement unless the Transportation Security Administration first conducted a background check and determined the applicant did not pose a security risk.

A 2005 interim final rule reduced the amount of notice states must provide drivers that a background check will be performed when they renew their hazmat endorsement. Under this rule, states must notify drivers at least 180 days (six months) before their CDL or hazmat endorsement expires that they must pass a background check.

– Matt Cole

JOURNAL NEWS

California’s law creates tough choices for O-Os

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alifornia in late September finalized a legislative package that could leave leased owner-operators with tough decisions if they want to continue working in the state.

Such truckers could be forced to switch carriers. Or they might choose to become an employee of a carrier or an independent owner-operator with authority, should they wish to continue working in California.

On the flip side, some observers see a possibility of the courts or the Legislature tempering the law before or after it takes effect Jan. 1.

As it stands now, “There will be a big decline in opportunities for owner-operators in California,” said Joe Rajkovacz, head of government affairs for the Western States Trucking Association. “You’re probably going to see an exit from the marketplace of motor carriers leasing owner-operators.”

Likewise, California Trucking Association’s Chris Shimoda said California Assembly Bill 5 “could put legitimate owner-operators out of business.”

A.B. 5 codifies use of the ABC test for determining whether a worker is an employee or a contractor. The test was validated as appropriate in California last year by the state’s Supreme Court in the case of Dynamex vs.

Superior Court.

Most difficult for trucking, the B-prong of the ABC test prevents employers from contracting with workers who perform the same work as the business itself. That effectively means carriers can no longer lease owner-operators and their equipment to haul freight under traditional independent contractor agreements.

Attorney Greg Feary, partner of the firm Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson and Feary, said owner-operators who work in California – especially those who live in the state – need to ask their carriers whether they will change their business model in light of the new law, and then make decisions accordingly.

Carriers could choose to wait on decisions in pending court cases at the federal 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which could rule that federal law supersedes California’s law. Such a ruling may offer relief from A.B. 5 and likely would mitigate its effects on owner-operator leasing.

In addition to waiting on rulings from the 9th Circuit on the issue, carriers also are holding out for potential changes to the law during the next legislative session, said Jason Geller, managing partner at the San Francisco office of the Fisher Phillips law firm. Companies are “not making any rash decisions immediately to reclassify drivers,” Geller said.

However, carriers are often risk-averse, Rajkovacz said,

A wait-and-see approach to the law could be a smart path for owner-operators initially, said San Francisco attorney Jason Geller.

and many could choose to cut ties with owner-operators to curb potential liability.

Another approach carriers may take to navigate the law is to establish brokerages separate from their trucking operations and funnel loads to owner-operators, said Feary.

However, those operators would need to be operating under their own authority, rather than leasing to a carrier.

That’s a challenging proposition for a leased operator, he said, given the rising costs of liability insurance for new independents and other hurdles when transitioning to operating with authority.

For out-of-state carriers that have independent contractor agreements with owner-operators who live in California or operate frequently in the state, said Feary, “the likelihood is nearly certain” that those carriers will need to comply with A.B. 5. “For out-of-state motor carriers with out-of-state owner-operators who only infrequently deliver into the state or pick up loads from the state, I think it’s much more of a question of whether A.B. 5 would even apply to them.”

There likely will be additional legislation next year to clarify or change the law, said Shimoda. However, it’s uncertain “whether or not trucking gets a fix that works to allow independent truckers to operate” as they do today, he said.

CTA will be working with legislators to try to find paths for legitimate owner-operators to continue to work in California, he said.

Courts might intervene and “interpret the law as it relates to interstate operations and affects its application to interstate trucking,” Feary said. “It’s so controversial and has so many opponents, this is one of those few laws that probably will be touched in some way, whether by the Legislature changing it next year, by a referendum in the 2020 election or by the courts — or maybe all of the above.”

– James Jaillet commercial carrier journal

| november 2019 17

PRODUCT REVIEWS, OEM & SUPPLIER NEWS AND EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT TRENDS

Bob Mainwaring makes his presentation in Barcelona, Spain, on Shell’s lubricants and innovations.

A second mission Shell to overhaul Starship rig with improved aerodynamics, drivetrain

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hell Lubricants’ Starship tractor-trailer, which achieved nearly 9 mpg while carrying roughly 20 tons of cargo last year during a cross-country trek, will be hitting the road again next year with some improvements gleaned from last year’s run.

Bob Mainwaring, Shell Lubricants’ technology manager for innovation and Starship technology lead, talked at the 2019 Shell Rimula Ultimate Stopover in Barcelona, Spain, about the success of last year’s Starship and announced some changes for next year’s version.

“There were things on Version One that we weren’t too happy with,” Mainwaring said when discussing changes he anticipates for next year’s Starship. “Some of the aerodynamic

bits could work better than they did, so we’re refining those.

We’re in discussion at the moment about the best combination of engine and transmission to use.”

The first version of Starship was developed from 2014 through 2018, Mainwaring said. Aerodynamic features were designed by AirFlow, while Cummins provided a prototype 6-cylinder X15 that was mated to an 18-speed Eaton automated manual transmission (AMT) with a custom-calibrated transmission electronic control unit (TECU).

“I think that’s been rather refined now, so the integration through its electronic control unit with the transmission system that we propose to use has gained refinement there,” Mainwaring said. “(There will be) modification to a more efficient transmission, which happens to be a lighter transmission as well, that will let us get more goods in for a lower truck WANT MORE EQUIPMENT NEWS? weight.”

WANT MORE EQUIPMENT NEWS? Adaptive cruise control proved to be a challenging goal that Scan the barcode to receive the CCJ Scan the barcode to sign up for the CCJ Equipment Weekly didn’t pan out as planned during last year’s 2,410-mile trip Equipment Weekly or go to ccjdigital.com/ e-mail newsletter or go to www.goo.gl/Ph9JK. made chiefly on Interstate 10 from San Diego to Jacksonville, news/subscribe-to-newsletters ikola Motor Co.’s hydrogen-electric Fla. semi-truck will take center stage early next year as the cornerstone of a three-day 18 commercial carrier journal | november 2019 a fleet’s recipe for failure: The expectation that a new hire should hit the shop event the company will use to showcase its

Nikola to showcase hydrogen tractor

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“You can imagine that the challenge of setting up things like adaptive cruise control – which some of these trucks have – on a truck that’s as novel as that was really rather ambitious for us,” Mainwaring said. “We didn’t make that work as well as we had hoped. So for 2020, we want that to be in place again.”

During his presentation on Shell lubricants and innovations at the historic Recinte Modernista de Sant Pau, Mainwaring recalled the success of last year’s Starship run and compared its performance to an average U.S. truck.

“There are roughly 2 million heavy-duty trucks in the U.S.,” Mainwaring said. “Typically, they’re loaded to 11¼ tons of cargo. Full capacity would be closer to 20 tons. They have an average fuel economy of 6.4 miles per U.S. gallon. By contrast, the Starship was loaded to almost 20 tons, and despite the fact that it was loaded to that level, it achieved almost 9 miles per gallon.”

Mainwaring also referred to Starship’s freight-ton efficiency metric, which is 178 ton-miles per gallon (19.9 tons of freight multiplied by 8.94 mpg), while the average U.S. truck, he said,

has a freight-ton efficiency of 72 ton-miles per gallon (11.25 tons of freight multiplied by 6.4 mpg).

“That’s almost 2½ times better,” Mainwaring said. “You can do that today with those technologies.”

Starship uses the following technologies to improve mpg while reducing CO2 emissions by up to 60%: roof-mounted solar panels to power interior accessories with the engine off; a 6×2 axle that lowered weight, reduced friction and improved fuel economy; aerodynamic improvements to lessen wind resistance; predictive cruise control and regenerative braking; low-viscosity full synthetic Shell lubricants to reduce friction; low-rolling-resistance single-wide tires; an active grille-cooling system that closes when cooling is not needed; and an ultra-low-RPM transmission.

The next Starship trip is set for the middle of next year and will run the same 2,410-mile route along I-10 from California to Florida. There’s no mpg target set, Mainwaring said, other than “to be better than before.”

– Tom Quimby

Amazon orders 100,000 electric vans from Rivian

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mazon has inked a deal with electric vehicle maker Rivian to buy 100,000 electric delivery vans. The online retailer’s $440 million purchase follows the company’s $700 million investment in Rivian in February and is expected to accelerate production, with the first vans rolling out in 2021.

Amazon said it plans to have 10,000 of the new electric vehicles on the road as early as 2022 and all 100,000 vehicles running by 2030, saving 4.4 million tons of carbon emissions per year by 2030.

Rivian would not comment on the van’s size and capabilities. During last year’s reveal, the company reported that the R1T would offer up to 400-plus miles of range. The vehicles will be produced at Rivian’s manufacturing plant in Normal, Ill. Amazon and Global Optimism crafted The Climate Pledge as a commitment to meet the emissions goals outlined by the 2016 Paris Accord 10 years early. Amazon was the first signatory of the pledge that calls for signatories to be net-zero carbon across their businesses by 2040, a decade

Amazon said it plans to have 10,000 of Rivian’s electric vehicles on the road as early as 2022 and all 100,000 vehicles running by 2030.

ahead of the Paris Accord’s goal of 2050.

“We’re done being in the middle of the herd on this issue,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive officer for Amazon.

“We’ve decided to use our size and scale to make a difference. If a company with as much physical infrastructure as Amazon – which delivers more than 10 billion items a year – can meet the Paris Agreement 10 years early, then any company

can. Large companies signing the climate pledge will send an important signal to the market that it’s time to invest in the products and services the signatories will need to meet their commitments.”

Last summer, Mercedes-Benz announced that Amazon would acquire 100 all-electric eVitos delivery vans for use in Germany.

– Tom Quimby

commercial carrier journal

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november 2019

19

INBRIEF • Daimler Trucks North America announced it would lay off a total of 900 employees at its Freightliner production facilities in Cleveland and Mount Holly, N.C. The company attributed the sluggish new truck market for the layoffs.

• Loop Energy, a provider of fuel-cell electric range extenders for medium- and heavy-duty transport applications, received a cash investment from Cummins Inc. Loop will supply Cummins with range extender systems for incorporation into demonstration trucks.

• Michelin North America increased prices up to 4.9% effective Dec. 1 for all North American Fleet Account customers for Michelin, BFGoodrich, Michelin Retread Technologies and Oliver brand products in the United States and Canada. The company also announced that its X Line Energy D tire, an ultra-low-rolling-resistance dual-drive line-haul tire in size 275/80R22.5 that initially was available exclusively for Daimler’s Freightliner Cascadia, now is available to the replacement market.

• Daimler Trucks & Buses announced that Contemporary Amperex Technology Co. will supply lithium-ion battery-cell modules for a wide range of its global electric trucks set for series production from 2021 onwards. The agreement encompasses the Mercedes-Benz eActros, Freightliner eCascadia and Freightliner eM2. Daimler will carry out the development of battery systems and battery pack assemblies.

• Truck-Lite Co., a provider of LED lighting, telematics, engine protection, safety and visibility systems, integrated Pressure Systems International’s automatic tire inflation and tire pressure monitoring system data into its Road Ready trailer telematics system. Truck-Lite also partnered with Stoughton Trailers to offer Road Ready on new trailer builds.

• Ryder opened new maintenance facilities in Saginaw, Texas, and Anchorage, Alaska, and redeveloped its facility in Schertz, Texas. The 28,000-square-foot Saginaw location near Fort Worth has 60 employees that serve nearly 100 area customers.

The Anchorage facility, which replaces a smaller location that served a longtime customer, also provides rental and leasing services. The Schertz facility near San Antonio was built on existing Ryder property and was expanded to improve operational efficiency and productivity.

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Navistar putting millions into Texas truck plant

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avistar last month announced that it would invest more than $250 million into building a new manufacturing facility in Texas for its International Trucks. Contingent on the Navistar’s new $250 million finalization of various incentive packages, the truck manufacturing new facility is expected to bring about 600 jobs facility is expected to bring about 600 jobs to the San to the San Antonio area.

Antonio area.

“Over the last five years, Navistar has made significant investments to improve our position in the market,” said Troy Clarke, the company’s chairman, president and chief executive officer. “This investment will create a benchmark assembly facility to improve quality, lower costs and provide capacity to support anticipated industry growth, as well as market share gains.”

The new manufacturing plant will build Class 6-8 vehicles and complement Navistar’s existing assembly manufacturing footprint, which includes truck plants in Springfield, Ohio, and Escobedo, Mexico. The new investment builds on Navistar’s recently announced plans to invest $125 million in its engine plant in Huntsville, Ala., to produce next-generation big-bore powertrains developed as part of its alliance with Traton.

“The new facility will have the flexibility to build Class 6-8 trucks incorporating the most advanced lean manufacturing practices, enabling lower conversion costs and an optimized supply chain,” said Persio Lisboa, chief operating officer for Navistar.

The company said the Texas site is located along Interstate 35, linking its southern U.S. and Mexico supply bases. Navistar plans to break ground on the property later this year and anticipates production to begin about two years later.

Also as part of its Investor’s Day, the company unveiled its 2020-24 Navistar 4.0 strategy to increase its EBITDA margins to 12% by 2024. Navistar 4.0 includes the following elements: • Grow market share and become the number-one choice of the customer through new product offerings and customer segmentation; • Implement a single platform strategy to optimize use of R&D resources and commonization of parts and tooling; • Increase modular design, resulting in customer benefits, speed to market and lower product costs; • Build a new truck assembly facility in San Antonio, reducing logistics and manufacturing costs; • Use the Traton alliance to provide procurement savings, more efficient R&D spending and new integrated powertrain offerings for customers. “Our savings from the global alliance with Traton are on track to yield $500 million in the first five years, with $200 million in annual savings by year five,” said Walter Borst, chief financial officer for Navistar; • Grow Aftersales revenues with an expanding distribution network, growing private label sales and e-commerce initiatives; and • Improve financial results, allowing the company to invest in growth initiatives, de-lever the balance sheet and fully fund its defined benefit pension plans by 2025.

– Jason Cannon

commercial carrier journal | november 2019

Be a hero to our heroes Throughout the month of November, every purchase of a Mobil Delvac diesel engine oil change at a participating TA Truck Service® location pays tribute to fallen and disabled service-members by providing $5 towards educational scholarships for their spouses and children through Folds of Honor.

TM

Get a

FREE

Folds of Honor hat* with your Mobil Delvac oil change in November and December.

Purchase a Mobil Delvac diesel engine oil change from November 1, 2019 to December 31, 2019 from a participating TA Truck Service location to receive this offer. * While supplies last.

Visit mobildelvac.com/promo for more information.

Mobil Delvac Gift with Purchase Offer is valid in the United States and D.C., excluding Hawaii and Massachusetts. Offer includes a limited-edition Folds of Honor hat to purchasers of a Mobil Delvac oil change between Nov. 1, 2019 and Dec. 31, 2019 (or until all gifts are awarded, whichever comes first) at participating TA Truck Service® sites located in the United States. Limit one (1) hat per customer and up to three (3) hats per household. Offer only available while supplies last.

Purchase is not tax deductible. In addition, ExxonMobil and TA will together donate $5.00 to the Folds of Honor Foundation, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization, for each Mobil Delvac oil change purchased at participating TA Sites in the U.S., excluding those sites in AL, HI, IL, MA, MS, and SC, between Nov. 1, 2019, and Nov. 30, 2019, up to a maximum of $50,000. For more information about the Charity visit www.foldsofhonor.org. Certain restrictions apply. Void where prohibited, restricted or taxed. For full terms and conditions, go to mobildelvac.com/promo.

© 2019 ExxonMobil. Mobil Delvac is a trademark or registered trademark of Exxon Mobil Corporation or one of its subsidiaries. Other trademarks shown are the property of their respective owners.

INBRIEF • Citgo Petroleum Corp., in co-branding efforts with Pilot Flying J Truck Care, announced that its Citgard 600 15W-40 and Citgard 700 Synthetic Blend 10W-30 lubricants now are available at all Pilot Flying J Truck Care locations. Through Nov. 30, Pilot Flying J is offering 2,500 points to myRewards members when they choose Citgard products for their oil change with Pilot Flying J Truck Care.

• Daimler’s Freightliner Cascadia 116inch BBC Day Cab now can be spec’d with the Cummins X12 engine and Eaton Cummins Endurant Transmission as part of an Integrated Power package.

Daimler said the broad ratings on the Cummins engine platforms provide Freightliner customers with additional powertrain choices that address performance, fuel efficiency and, when combined with the Endurant, weight savings.

• Phillips Connect Technologies partnered with Pressure Systems International to provide telematics offerings for P.S.I.’s Automatic Tire Inflation System and TireView products. The companies say the combined solution allows users to remotely pre-check lights and tires on a parked trailer or chassis, helping avoid the potential for dry runs before a tractor arrives and saving fuel and driver hours.

• The Volvo Group announced it reached one million connected customer assets in terms of delivered trucks, buses and construction equipment. The collected data is used to improve productivity by increasing vehicle and machine uptime, reducing emissions and noise and improving traffic and site safety.

• Spartan Motors purchased Royal Truck Body, a California-based designer, manufacturer and installer of service truck bodies and accessories. Terms were not announced. Royal joins Spartan’s Specialty Chassis and Vehicles business unit and will continue to go to market under the Royal Truck Body name.

• Prometeon Tyre Group teamed with GreenRoad, a provider of safety and performance monitoring systems, to enrich its ProServices fleet services portfolio by adding GreenRoad’s Pro Drive fleet management and telematics offering designed to help fleets improve driver behaviors through fuel-efficient driving and reduced safety-related incidents.

22

Wabco offers rear blind spot detection for trailers

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abco, a supplier of braking control systems and other advanced technologies designed to improve the safety, efficiency and connectivity of Wabco’s TailGuard monitors stationary and commercial vehicles, last month launched TailGuard in moving objects behind the North America. The rear blind spot detection system trailer to activate vehicle with active braking is designed for commercial trailers brakes to slow or stop the vehicle to prevent to help mitigate rearward collisions. Active braking impending collisions. is enabled when paired with Wabco’s Roll Stability Support (RSS) system on trailers.

TailGuard monitors stationary and moving objects behind the trailer – such as pedestrians, vehicles, cargo and infrastructure – to activate vehicle brakes to slow or stop the vehicle to prevent impending collisions. Sensors mounted to the trailer monitor an approximately 6-foot radius and activate if the brakes are not applied within two or more feet of the object.

TailGuard is part of Wabco’s Intelligent Trailer Program solutions that help trailer manufacturers differentiate their products by offering options to decrease running costs, reduce downtime and enhance safety for their fleet partners, said Jon Morrison, president for Wabco Americas.

“TailGuard expands blind spot monitoring to the rear of the tractor-trailer combination, in keeping with Wabco’s commitment to extend safety around the entire vehicle,” Morrison said. “We anticipate TailGuard will help drivers more safely maneuver their trailers, prevent unnecessary damage to their equipment and their surroundings and ultimately contribute to Wabco’s mission to save lives.”

– Dean Smallwood

Tech firm wants camera system to replace mirrors

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nother technology company that manufactures mirrorless rearview camera systems for trucks is petitioning the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to allow its system to be used in the United States. Vision Systems North America’s Smart-Vision Vision Systems North America is asking FMCSA system is designed to to allow carriers to operate trucks equipped with its replace traditional mirrors Smart-Vision high-definition camera monitoring system with high-definition cameras and interior displays. as an alternative to the two rearview mirrors required by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs).

FMCSA granted a similar request last year to Stoneridge for its MirrorEye system.

VSNA said its Smart-Vision system provides the same functionality and view as traditional mirrors but with high-definition cameras and interior displays. The system consists of multiple digital cameras mounted high on the exterior of trucks and enclosed in protective aerodynamic packaging. Each camera presents a high-definition image to the driver through a monitor mounted on each A-pillar in the cab.

The company said its system offers increased field-of-view when compared to conventional mirrors, enhanced vision in inclement weather and low-light conditions and a fail-safe design with independent video processing of multiple camera images.

– Matt Cole

commercial carrier journal | november 2019

TO AMERICA’S 3.5 MILLION TRUCK DRIVERS: THANK YOU. FOR YOUR COMMITMENT. DEDICATION. AND OF COURSE , YOUR DRIVE .

From the proud manufacturer of The Driver’s Truck.™

The World’s Best® ISO 9001:2000 © 2019 Kenworth Truck Company. A PACCAR company.

• Work Truck Solutions, a provider of technologies for commercial vehicle dealerships, released FrontLine, an online system designed for displaying and promoting the dealer’s commercial inventory online easily and prominently while catering to the way commercial buyers want to shop. The company said FrontLine is based on its research that shows that work trucks and vans that display both on-lot photos and body details gain more buyer interest and turn faster than vehicles missing these specifics.

locations in Clear Lake, Iowa. Both are parts and service locations located near Interstate 35.

• Pace Transportation announced that its Indianapolis location joined the Stoughton Trailer dealer network. Pace Indianapolis joins the Byron Center branch, which became a Stoughton dealer in July.

• BYD, a provider of commercial electric trucks,

announced Hudson County Motors as its authorized truck dealer for Northern New Jersey, including Bayonne, Elizabeth, Jersey City, Newark and Trenton.

• SAF-Holland, a manufacturer of trailer suspension and axle systems, truck suspensions, fifth wheels, landing gear and coupling products, named Kent Jones president-Americas, replacing Steffen Schewerda, who stepped down.

• BYD announced that Anheuser-Busch will be deploying its commercial electric trucks across California as part of the state’s Climate Investments program that uses cap-and-trade dollars to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The California Air Resources Board anticipates additional participation in the project statewide.

• Marangoni Tread North America announced that Pete’s Road Service of Fullerton, Calif., converted its retread operation to the Marangoni family of products.

• Las Cruces, N.M.-based Mesilla Valley Transportation (CCJ Top 250, No. 77) is installing Ex-Guard’s LT series grille guards on more than 1,300 of its trucks following an evaluation by its sister company, MVT Solutions, a provider of fuel economy testing and design and development services for the trucking industry. MVT Solutions said its evaluation determined that the Ex-Guard devices, which provide front end damage protection, have little to no negative impact on fuel efficiency.

• Design Interactive – a provider of augmented and virtual reality training offerings for fleet maintenance personnel, vendors and OEMs – announced a partnership with DiSTI, a provider of virtual maintenance training products. The companies say the partnership allows for the creation and distribution of desktop, augmented and virtual reality training from one source.

• TTN Fleet Solutions, a provider of breakdown and downtime event management services, announced that Mckinney Trailer Rentals, a Brea, Calif.-based provider of equipment rentals and leases in the Western United States and Texas, selected its Emergency Roadside Services (ERS) offering to provide overflow, night and weekend support to Mckinney’s internal maintenance team.

• Allstate Peterbilt opened two new dealership commercial carrier journal

|

november 2019

25

TEST DRIVE: VOLVO DYNAMIC STEERING

A little help from my steering wheel

BY JASON CANNON

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olvo Trucks North America recently took another step in driver assist systems by introducing Volvo Dynamic Steering (VDS) on its VNL and VNR tractors for the next model year.

The electrically assisted hydraulic steering system itself is fairly straightforward. An electric motor mounted on top of the hydraulic steering gear compensates for up to 9 lb.-ft. of torque in the steering column – the equivalent of having a third hand on the wheel – while also eliminating vibration and offering directional stability.

It makes driving a little easier and a lot more comfortable for the 82% of drivers who report suffering some kind of muscular strain on the road.

The system lessens the driver’s steering efforts by up to 85% at low speeds.

VDS is a passive steering system in that it does not steer the truck by itself.

It’s simply a layer of assistance for the driver. In the event of a system failure, the system reverts to its hydraulic system and works like it normally would without the VDS bolt-on.

I was able to take VDS for a couple of quick spins – one in a VNR and the other in a VNL sleeper – at Volvo’s Customer Center in Dublin, Va. Each truck was equipped with a switch to turn the system on and off for comparative driving, but production models won’t be selectable, and VDS always will be active.

The truck felt more nimble, and the steering lighter, through a series of aggressive low-speed S-turns with VDS turned on. Sawing on the wheel left and right without the system, the truck felt sluggish and heavy. Bringing the truck up to speed, the feel of the wheel 26

The Volvo Dynamic Steering system itself is fairly straightforward.

An electric motor is mounted on top of the hydraulic steering gear.

tightens up and offers a more traditional feel and response.

Sliding the front wheel off a soft shoulder, the VDS system filters most of the impact from slipping off the road out of the steering column, and it takes less physical input to steer the tractor back onto the road, practically eliminating overcorrection.

Lessening the impact of the drop off the road also is significant. The drop tends to jar the driver, causing them to lurch with the truck and put even more steering input into the incident, making a bad situation a little worse.

Of course, the cab still rocks from the dip, but VDS prevents much of that impact from transferring into the driver’s hands.

Over a patch of rumble strips, with VDS inactive, there’s a fist-numbing violent shake in the wheel as the truck skates across the bumps. With VDS enabled – over the same strips at the same 35 mph – the wheel barely moves.

A Return-to-Center feature enables

commercial carrier journal | november 2019

the steering wheel to automatically return to the center position when the truck is in motion, making it easier to reverse the vehicle and maneuver in tight areas.

A self-learning system, VDS can compensate for road crowning and crosswinds by recognizing when the driver is consistently holding the wheel with a left or right bias to offset it. The system will input steering torque in the needed direction, taking some strain off the driver. If you’re diving deep into a long curve – or fighting a strong flat-state crosswind – the system recognizes that the driver is having to offset those forces and does it for them.

Volvo’s Virginia-made tractor already is among the safest on the road.

When you add layers of new technology such as the Volvo Active Driver Assist (VADA) 2.0 platform and the new VDS option, it not only offers additional safety, it also makes for a more comfortable driving experience.

Keep drivers driving with free cargo sensors on dry vans.

Talk about efficiency With free cargo sensors, you know when your rented and leased trailers are loaded and unloaded so you can optimize utilization and minimize dormancy. It’s all about helping drivers find empty trailers quickly so your turn time improves. At XTRA Lease, we keep you on the move so you can stay in the lead. www.xtralease.com/sensors

in focus: WINTER DIESEL ADDITIVES

Running cold

In winter, know what’s in your diesel, what to add to it and when to add it

BY JASON CANNON

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he appearance of the pumps may not change, but the diesel fuel they dispense soon will undergo a seasonal shift. During winter at stores in cold-weather locations, Pilot Flying J, Love’s Travel Stops and TravelCenters of America all use cold-flow broad-spectrum additives to treat diesel fuel.

“With the exception of our cold-weather stores, we blend additive only when the weather warrants,” said Bryan Stickley, PFJ’s director of supply, mid-continent.

Frank Bradley, TravelCenters of America’s vice president of sales, ET products, said deicing elements also help minimize fuel filter freeze-ups.

While off-the-shelf products remain popular, more additive doesn’t necessarily equal better protection.

“Data typically shows that anything more than a triple treatment of cold flow into diesel fuel will have greatly diminished return on improving the cold filter-plugging point of diesel,” Stickley said. “Most improvement will be made in the first and second treatments.”

Steve Sikorsky, vice president of strategic accounts for Howes, said that because his company’s products don’t contain alcohols or solvents, overtreatment is not harmful to the diesel fuel system. “A high-quality fuel additive should be added to the tank on every fill-up,” he said.

Brent Bergevin, Love’s vice president of transportation, said additives with a specific target – such as an anti-gel or cetane boost – and fuel conditioners are fine as long as drivers are choosing one that meets their specific needs.

“Some additives are designed to help thaw out frozen fuel systems, and others 28

are designed to prevent the fuel from freezing and gelling in the first place,” added Homer Hogg, TravelCenters of America’s director of technical service.

“Is that fuel treated properly for cold weather? If not, you’ll want to treat the fuel in your tanks in order to avoid the paraffin wax in the fuel from clouding up and gelling. This will cause the fuel to clog filters and can eventually stop the fuel from flowing altogether.”

Since many additives disperse water from the fuel, check the water separator from time to time and drain water from the bowl, Sikorsky said. Bergevin recommends drivers drain filters and fuel tanks daily to get rid of condensation.

Adding too much of any additive is not advised, and Hogg said the key to avoiding over-conditioning the fuel is to understand the fuel that you’re buying.

“If the fuel you’re pumping into your tanks has not been properly treated, consider treating the fuel directly in the tanks on your truck,” he said. “Use the correct additive at the right time.”

Hogg said fuel additives can help with lubricity, but overdoing it can negatively impact fuel efficiency and could void engine warranties. He suggested checking with the engine manufacturer before treating fuel to help avoid any damage.

However, as long as the product is used as stated on its container, there’s little risk in causing exhaust and diesel particulate filter problems, Hogg said. Sikorsky recommended fleets and drivers use products that are “DPF-friendly, like all of Howes’ products.”

“The trick is to be sure you use the correct amount of treatment,” Hogg

commercial carrier journal | november 2019

Howes Winter Treat Plus contains the company’s wax crystal modifier made to reduce the size and shape of wax crystals so they won’t bind together and lead to vehicle failure during cold weather.

Howes said the additive is formulated for storage in temperatures down to -20 degrees Fahrenheit and has been tested safe and effective in ultra-low-sulfur diesel and diesel and biodiesel blends.

said. “Some additive containers include measuring scales on the bottle, which can be helpful. It’s also a good practice to keep a measuring container in your truck to ensure you are properly mixing the fuel in your tanks with the ratio requirements noted on the additive’s label.”

Winter diesel is often knocked for causing a reduction in miles per gallon, but Stickley said there is no measurable effect with diesel treated with cold-flow improvers that do not affect the diesel’s cetane.

“While all trucks and engines are different, we’ve seen trucks get slightly lower mpgs during winter months,” Bergevin said. “This could be from extreme cold weather and longer idling times that professional drivers endure.”

“Friction naturally increases in your engine, transmission and rear axles in cold climates,” Hogg added. “Cold air is dense, therefore making it more difficult for the vehicle to push through. Tire pressure will decrease, which can increase rolling resistance.”

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

Remote-control transportation

Israeli company Ottopia brings teleoperations to trucking

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ilitary aircraft, delivery drones and rockets are piloted from control centers located hundreds or even thousands of miles away from the scene. Trucks also can be operated remotely, and the technology that makes it all possible is ready, said Amit Rosenzweig, founder and chief executive officer for Ottopia.

Current laws require qualified drivers to be at the steering wheel when vehicles are on public roads, but the opportunity to “teleoperate” trucks on private roads and at private facilities is “right here, right now,” he said.

Rosenzweig spoke with CCJ from Israel where Ottopia is headquartered. The company has developed teleoperations technology that can be used by fleets to remotely control “everything that is nonautonomous equipment,” from forklifts to tractors and trucks, he said.

Rosenzweig founded Ottopia early last year after leaving the automotive industry, where he specialized in developing video compression technology. Prior to that, he spent 12 years in the Israeli defense force working on technology REMOTE TRUCKING: The technology that makes it all possible is ready.

TELEOPERATIONS: Companies can use it on private roads and at private facilities.

VIRTUAL OPS: Ottopia’s technology can remotely control forklifts, tractors and trucks.

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Instead of drivers operating vehicles to move equipment around at logistics facilities to get loaded or unloaded, Ottopia’s teleoperations technology could allow them to perform these functions in the office.

that intercepts enemy missiles. He also spent time at Microsoft, where he developed a cybersecurity product for enterprise customers.

“I know a lot about large, complex systems that must work at all times,” he said.

Easier trucking Some of the company’s first customers are in the forestry industry, where it often is safer for drivers to operate vehicles remotely because of hazardous mountain roads.

The company is interested in the trucking market, and its technology is easy to use, Rosenzweig said. Companies likely will not be using the technology to replace drivers, but rather to turn their drivers into remote operators, he said.

Reducing dwell time is one possible use case for Ottopia’s teleoperations technology.

Instead of drivers operating vehicles to move equipment around at logistics facilities to get loaded or unloaded, they could perform these functions in the office.

Since not all trucks at a logistics facility are moving at the same time, a company could have one driver operate multiple vehicles to load and unload them at docks.

Drivers then could be dispatched to vehicles when equipment is ready to leave the premises, he said.

november 2019

INTERESTED INTRUCKING TRUCKINGTECHNOLOGY? TECHNOLOGY? INTERESTED IN Go ccjdigital.com/news/subscribe-to-newsletters Scantothe barcode or go to www.goo.gl/Ph9JK to to subscribe to the CCJ Technology Weekly e-mail newsletter.

system One may of the show keythat benefits at midnight, of teleoperations the unit is is still a quarter-mile away from the it does unloading not require spot. Level 5 technology for autonomy, “We areRosenzweig very carefully said. watching Ratherhow thanit install is unloaded” to determine when equipment containers actually areexpensive available for pickup toon set realistic delivery appointa vehicle to make it fully ments, Prince said. “Our job as an intermodal provider is to make sure a great Ottopia number of little thingsautonomous, happen on time and correctly.” uses from six to eight cameras on a vehicle to Predicting trailer capacity get adrivers 360-degree When making deliveries, often view. lose productive time unloading or Amit Rosenzweig founded Off-the-shelf can load searching for empty trailers to takecameras to their next appointments.

Ifafter no Ottopia early last year be usedonsite, to lower thepersonnel cost, leaving empty trailers are available office may begin cold-calling the automotive industry, where he worked customers in the areahe tosaid. locate empty trailers. to develop technology to con- its trailer U.S. Xpress (CCJ TopThe 250,cameras No. 16)are equips fleet with SkyBitz’s compress video. nectedwith to cellular tracking system embedded cargomodems, sensors. One of the nation’s largest and Ottopia’s software truckload carriers, the Chattanooga, Tenn.-based company uses the inforthetrailers video from cameras andand secures thefor data mation it receives to compresses predict when will be unloaded ready transfer the office. manager of trailer management. pickup, said Aaron Wood, thetocompany’s companywith alsoU.S. has Xpress’ developed software and an exThe SkyBitz system isThe integrated custom transportation gateway that interfaces with thethat vehicle’s management system ternal and with ESRI’s mapping software WoodCAN uses bus to to remotely control the vehicle’s steering, braking and set up geofences for tracking arrivals, departures, turnaround times and systems.

To and control the steering, the vehicle must trailer inventories bythrottle customer location geographical planning regions. equipped steering, is starting to “The big thing thatbebites us andwith anyelectronic carrier is when wewhich have loaded trailbecome onhave heavy-duty ers going into markets whereavailable we do not loaded vehicles. freight out,” he said.

U.S. Xpress is managing trailer counts in each planning region to installation maintain the balanceFactory of capacity across its freight network. The company Ottopiaand has an aftermarket kit, but the Grail is to be also uses secondary carriers railroads to reposition its Holy trailers in its embedded in trucks at the factory, Rosenzweig said. To this end, the company network. recently to collaborate withhas thebeen world’s second-largest 1 supplier, In thebegan three years U.S. Xpress using the SkyBitzTier trailer tracking Denso, to ancount automotive-grade product can be 14,000 installed the facsystem, itsbuild trailer has gone from 17,000that to about byatincreasing tory by OEMs. efficiency and managing the available capacity in its network, Wood said.

For the user interface in thealso office, havetrailers a number of options, Ottopia With SkyBitz, U.S. Xpress canfleets identify at locations that have said.moved They could a steering wheelThese and pedals forcould a video game-style not for anuse extended period. events signal possibleconmesole, or they could cabindrivers and usetolife-size controls. chanical defects onrecreate trailersthe thatvehicle’s are causing not hook up.

The company already is intrailer negotiations several port operators U.S. Xpress also increases capacitywith by monitoring their use by as well as transportation logistics companies that third-party carriers andand shippers through interchange are interested in deploying technology, Rosenzagreements.

“We know whenthe one of our trailers starts weig said.Wood said. The system tracks where trailers moving,” priceup varies volume, but generally if a areThe picked and depends droppedon and how many miles they truck already electronic the cost to implemoved so thehas company cansteering, bill carriers for the authormentorthe system could be ized nonauthorized useunder of its$1,000, trailers.he said.

AARON HUFF is Senior Editor of Commercial Carrier Journal.

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

Obstacle detection 3Dtracking boosts system for big trucks dispatching, ear View routing RSafety debut-module

3

ed its Dtracking RVS-125anSensestat nounced Wireless enObstacle hancements Detection to the System dispatching designed module to in warn its telematics truck ser- Rear3Dtracking said View Safety’s RVSupdated drivers vice platform, of potential with 125the Sensestat Wireless module gives fleet Detection obstacles new toolsbehind to help fleet Obstacle managers the System is designed their managers vehicle optimize with for for framework easy installation planning and aroutes detection by defining range real-on heavy-duty trucks, no need tothe install of world up to operating 8 feet. The costs withmonitoring progress of excess cabling. system on a vehicle-by-vehicle is engidispatched orders. neered basis, resulting to provide in multhe tivehicle driverplanning. both audible and visual warning indicators For eachtodispatch, avoid backing the platform accidents. maps and displays theECU optimal route, taking The wireless is engineered to beinto consideration requirements such as waterproof andtravel includes multiple antenna installation distance, planned options. stops, A user time, canfuel connect consumpto ation Sensestat-equipped and vehicle capacities. trailer by – Aaron pressing Huff the monitor’s sync button.

– Aaron Huff

Descartes scale Analytics In-motion uses Microsoft weighs each axle Power BIdelliance Scale

A D

buted escartes a truck Systems scale The initial launch of engineered Group,toaweigh proDescartes Analytics each videraxle of products and printthat a can be used with receipt help unite without logistics requir- the company’s ing businesses a driverintocomstop. The Transportation Alliance merce, announced AxleWeigh In Management, MacroPoint, The Alliance Motion the availability Truck Scale of is Datamyne, Aljex AxleWeigh In built Descartes to weigh Analytics, individu- and Telematics, Motion Truck and al anaxles advanced by driving analysis over Routing Scale is preconMobile offerings. figured for easy the andscale reporting at 3 mph offerreinstallation and gardless ing designed of truck to enlength can be installed or able configuration. customers to leverage the on wealth a gravelof data within Designed the company’s for easy product lineup. elimidriveway, nating the Power need use, Descartes a driver stops Analytics at uses Microsoft for ramps. the BI with controller Descartes’ and standard integration, enters data models, his truck’s dashboards I.D. and reporting number, templates.and Thethe offering controller benefits will calculate from Power the gross, BI’s analytics tare andand netreporting values. The capabilities scale features and factory-calibrated enables customersload to gain cellsgreater and a insight preprogrammed into their operations. indicator.

– Aaron Huff

commercial commercialcarrier carrierjournal journal| |september november 2018 2019

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technology

Omnitracs CEO explains mobile evolution strategy

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few years ago, Microsoft Windows Mobile was still the main platform for in-cab devices in the transportation industry. The migration to Android began slowly, but the pace accelerated when the electronic logging device mandate brought new competition to the market.

Tens of thousands of “WinMo” devices still are used by fleets.

Ray Greer, chief executive for Omnitracs, estimates the company has 400,000 devices in the field that use the Windows Mobile CE operating system. Those devices are the MCP platform, which the company developed when it was a business unit of Qualcomm, and the IVG device that replaced the MCP from 2016 onward.

Omnitracs now has about 13,000 customers after it added between

1,000 and 2,000 within the last year, Greer said during an interview with CCJ at last month’s American Trucking Associations MC&E conference in San Diego.

Omnitracs’ first-generation IVG platform was shipped with Windows CE but was designed to be updated to Android without removing it from the cab. The MCP devices cannot be updated to Android and will need to be replaced within the next two years, Greer said, since Microsoft will no longer support Windows CE. Omnitracs customers will begin migrating to the company’s new Android-based Omnitracs One platform in January using their existing IVG devices or any hardware they choose.

“Over time, we are becoming hardware-agnostic, although we’ll

Ray Greer

always have a device in the cab when necessary,” Greer said.

Omnitracs One has been in development as a cloud-native platform for more than a year. With a large customer base, “there is no reason why Omnitracs can’t become the

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Data intelligence Besides rolling out a new platform, Omnitracs has been focusing on data mining at locations where its customers make pickups and deliveries. By looking at time-lapsed data, patterns emerge to identify points where trucks are stacked up on a map. These points indicate entry gates or docks for loading and unloading.

The purpose of mining locations is to gather anonymous data to improve navigation and routing. A geofence can be set automatically to capture arrivals and departures and to track wait times.

Omnitracs also has been able to differentiate wait times and other location data by the type of operation — truckload, expedite and less-thantruckload, Greer said. Omnitracs now has data intelligence on one million locations, and Greer expects to eventually surpass two million locations.

intelligence is freight matching.

“We are quite interested in partnering with the non-asset community,” Greer said. Omnitracs could add “revenue per hour” and other data intelligence to loads from freight brokers to present to carriers for decision making.

– Aaron Huff

AD

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Automating driver workflow Last March, Omnitracs acquired Blue Dot Solutions and since has integrated the driver workflow engine developed

by Blue Dot into Omnitracs One. The automated workflow software will serve up the company’s products, from electronic logs to navigation and messaging, in sequence to drivers exactly when needed.

“The whole point is to automate a driver’s life as they go through their day,” Greer said. “We are trying to eliminate app fatigue that all these drivers are feeling. We’ve got to make their lives simple.”

The platform’s initial release will have applications that Omnitracs developed internally, but it will be open to third-party app developers as early as mid-2021. “It’s a major transformation for us,” Greer said.

With the data intelligence, drivers could have visibility of wait times at stops on their routes, he said, and fleets will have predictive models for arrival times as well as advance visibility of revenue per hour on loads to make planning decisions.

Another area of opportunity for data

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technology

INBRIEF • Idelic, a Software-as-a-Service transportation safety data and analytics company, closed on an $8 million Series A financing round led by Origin Ventures. Idelic’s Safety Suite is designed to integrate all fleet systems into a single safety and risk data management platform, giving fleet managers added visibility into driver behavior and safety operations. Idelic’s Driver Watch List uses advanced proprietary machine learning technologies to help predict drivers who are most at risk for accidents.

• Transflo rolled out Transflo Engage, a product designed to provide fleets the ability to measure driver satisfaction directly from within the Transflo Mobile+ app by incorporating People Element’s employee engagement platform, an intuitive technology used by human resources professionals to create, automate and deliver custom surveys via mobile devices.

• Carrier Logistics Inc., a provider of freight management software for less-than-truckload fleets, selected Integrated Systems Corp. to provide a private, secure cloud-hosting option for its customers, along with making several other cybersecurity upgrades. CLI also announced that Billerica, Mass.-based AMA Transportation Co. Inc. implemented its Facts system to help modernize business processes and improve productivity for planning, operations, dispatch and documentation, including eliminating paper processes.

• Vnomics Corp., provider of onboard fuel optimization offerings that combine real-time driver coaching and fuel efficiency insights, announced it received a sixth patent for its True Fuel optimization system. The latest patent covers the company’s approach for determining how much fuel is wasted if truck specifications are not set up properly for a fleet’s requirements.

• Rogers, a Canadian technology and media company, announced a reciprocal agreement with AT&T to extend LTE-M coverage for Internet of Things (IoT) customers of both companies throughout Canada and the United States. Rogers IoT customers now will have the ability to roam on the AT&T LTE-M network while in the United States, and AT&T customers will be able to roam across the Rogers LTE-M network in Canada.

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Stay Metrics explains why drivers leave within 90 days

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tay Metrics, a provider of driver retention tools for motor carriers, last month released new research that identifies the top reasons why drivers leave their carriers within the first 90 days.

According to the Stay Days Table, an index by Stay Metrics that tracks driver retention across a broad Only 64.9% of drivers hired in the first quarter of 2019 range of motor carriers, only lasted 90 days, according to Stay Metrics’ Stay Days Table, an index that tracks driver retention across a broad range 64.9% of drivers hired in the of motor carriers. first quarter of 2019 lasted 90 days.

“We want everyone to know how to increase the success rate for retaining drivers in the first 90 days and beyond,” said Tim Hindes, co-founder and chief executive officer for Stay Metrics. “The goal of our latest research project was to give motor carriers a list of five things they should be watching out for when bringing on new drivers.”

Stay Metrics analyzed response data and text feedback from surveys completed by drivers during their first 90 days on the job. The company administers driver survey products for motor carriers as a neutral third party and sends out a First Impressions Survey shortly after orientation to gain insight into what drivers are thinking at the start. An Early Driver Experiences Survey follows several weeks later.

Researchers compared responses for both surveys to determine whether or not drivers had remained with their carriers at the 90-day mark. Survey questions then were ranked according to the strength of their correlations to turnover.

Four of the top five questions center on transparency: • My recruiter accurately described what it would be like to drive for this carrier.

• My recruiter accurately explained how much my settlement would be.

• My recruiter accurately explained what kind of runs I would make.

• In orientation, I accurately learned how much settlement I would receive.

“Drivers need to know in advance what they can realistically expect will happen during their first days and weeks on the job,” Hindes said. “Transparency is your friend. The more you share in advance, the better.”

According to Stay Metrics, the fifth question is one of the most important indicators for determining if a driver is at-risk of leaving: “I would recommend this carrier to another driver.” The question is based on the Net Promotor Score (NPS) that measures company loyalty.

Researchers also performed a word cloud analysis of survey text responses to determine what influenced drivers to increase or decrease their overall opinion of a carrier. Findings show that key words focused on the same topics – work, pay and drivers – as the top questions. This observation suggests that the same things that sway drivers to like a carrier are the same things that, if done poorly, sway them to dislike a carrier.

– Aaron Huff

november 2019

technology

INBRIEF

Teletrac Navman survey: 24% of fleets still use paper logs

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eletrac Navman recently shared results from its 3rd Annual Telematics Benchmark Report: U.S. Edition based on survey data from transportation organizations.

The survey of about 500 participants found that Teletrac Navman’s Driver Post-Trip Report appears on electronic logging device (ELD) adoption at presthe in-cab tablet at the end of ent is consistent with 2018, despite the rapidly each trip, showing how many approaching automatic onboard recording device warnings or violations the (AOBRD) transition deadline: driver received on specific driving behaviors such as • While 66% use ELDs to track hours of service speeding or harsh braking.

(HOS), 24% admitted to still using paper logs and 19% still using AOBRDS. • ELDs continue to be fleets’ top compliance concern (58%), but the percentage is down significantly from 2018 (74%).

• Nearly a third (29%) report there is no driver concern around ELDs. Other findings show that most fleets do not have a data-driven approach to running their businesses. While 86% of fleets in the United States use telematics, only 23% said they use data analytics to guide their strategic decision-making.

Another major survey theme indicates that telematics technology is underutilized, with 55% saying they have reduced fuel costs. On average, companies surveyed use only three of the 12 most-common telematics features to measure general vehicle status metrics, such as vehicle and equipment location (74%), HOS (66%) and speed (61%). Fewer use metrics that denote a positive bottomline impact, such as idling (37%) and fuel usage (30%).

Among the positive results the survey identified from fleets’ use of telematics is reduction in safety incidents due to increased driver performance insight: • 42% have seen fewer safety incidents since using telematics to monitor driver behavior.

• More than a quarter cite driver monitoring (32%), speed prevention (26%) and preventing driver fatigue/exhaustion (30%) as top telematics-related safety benefits.

• 28% implement driver warning/alerting technology to further boost driver safety.

• 57% reward safe driving, with the biggest benefit of this practice being reduced safety incidents and violations (58%).

The survey also looked at nontechnical challenges of fleets and found that talent retention was a major business priority amid the driver shortage. To retain drivers: • Three of the top five driver tactics are monetary: increased pay (47%), driver appreciation programs (33%) and performance-based bonuses (30%).

• A majority of surveyed fleets (58%) plan to add drivers and equipment operators in the next year.

“This year’s survey results reveal there’s a big difference between being a techcompliant organization and a tech-driven one,” said Sid Nair, senior director of transport and compliance for Teletrac Navman. “Putting ELDs in vehicles is not a silver bullet and, ultimately, won’t help fleets solve their business challenges as the transportation and logistics industry becomes ever more competitive.”

– Aaron Huff

• Project44, a provider of freight visibility offerings, added truckload tendering to its Advanced Visibility Platform to help automate the full shipment lifecycle.

Shippers and logistics providers can request truckload shipment quotes directly from their transportation management software, enterprise resource planning or other system. After viewing quotes, they can tender a shipment to carriers without needing to login to a separate interface.

• Drivewyze added mountain corridor safety alerts that provide drivers with in-cab alerts of upcoming runaway ramps and safe locations to pull over for brake inspections, as well as prompts to gear low while showing suggested maximum speeds down steep grades.

• TGI and PressurePro, providers of intelligent asset tracking and tire performance management systems, announced their intent to integrate their technologies through wireless connectivity between their systems, allowing fleets immediate access to tire condition reports for all trailers powered or not. The companies plan to add trailer health reports through TGI’s Solar Satellite devices.

• Orbcomm, a provider of Machine-to-Machine (M2M) and Internet of Things (IoT) products, announced that Bangor, Mainebased Pottle’s Transportation selected its latest trailer monitoring offering for managing its dry van fleet with continuous real-time location and load/unload status updates. Orbcomm’s end-to-end telematics offering provides wireless connectivity through its solar-powered hardware and integrated Cloud-based analytics platform.

• BlackBerry Radar announced that its asset tracking and visibility system was deployed by Matson Logistics across its entire fleet of domestic intermodal containers, providing Matson with near-real-time location, motion, mileage, temperature, humidity, door open/close status and utilized cube space, all on an intuitive online dashboard.

• Fr8Hub, a digital broker focused on cross-border shipping, announced that Sherwood Food Distributors, a U.S.-based meat distributor, selected its digital freight marketplace to help move loads out of Laredo, Texas, by matching cross-border shipments throughout the United States and Mexico with carriers and drivers.

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RECOGNIZE TRUE INNOVATION. SUBMIT YOUR NOMINATION TODAY! Each month, CCJ editors select and recognize a for-hire or private fleet for solving common problems with out-of-the-box solutions.

As an Innovator: • You become part of a select group of people who convene each year in Key Largo, FL to network and discuss new ideas, challenges and solutions.

• You are honored with a full article in Commercial Carrier Journal magazine for your innovation.

Visit CCJINNOVATORS.COM to submit your nomination.

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DHL Bonn, Germany

DHL Supply Chain moving quickly to digitize transportation, contract logistics

BY AARON HUFF

F

ifty years ago in September 1969, three business partners in San Francisco (Dalsey, Hillblom and Lynn) had an idea to send cargo paperwork to Honolulu by plane before containers arrived by ship. They started a niche service, DHL, that expanded rapidly by allowing the processing of cargo to begin before its arrival.

More recently, business growth for global logistics provider Deutsche Post DHL Group has been driven by globalization and e-commerce, which represents 90% of all retail growth. Overall, the DHL Group has 550,000 employees worldwide. In the Americas, the company operates four business units: DHL Supply Chain, DHL Global Forwarding, DHL Express and DHL eCommerce Solutions.

For its next wave of growth, DHL Group is fueling the digitalization of the supply chain. A study by global consulting group McKenzie predicts that digital innovation will account for two-thirds of revenue and three-fourths of profit growth for supply chain companies. Since 2012, digital innovation in supply chain logistics has been the biggest focus of venture capital with an estimated $30 billion in investments made in startups, said Matthias Heutger, the company’s global head of innovation.

“The industry is hotter than ever,” he said.

Digital supply chain DHL Supply Chain is the largest third-party contract logistics provider (3PL) in North America with 485 warehousing and logistics sites in operation for its diverse base of 284 customers.

In North America, the business unit has a dedicated fleet of more than 2,000 power units and 3,000 trailers and also sources capacity from carriers. Using its own fleet and external capacity for transportation solutions account for 20% of the unit’s overall rev-

enue, said Scott Sureddin, chief executive for DHL Supply Chain.

In September, DHL Supply Chain announced a new partnership with Convoy to be the first 3PL to integrate Convoy’s digital freight network of carriers and pricing information into a supply chain application. DHL also announced a partnership with Turvo to add its real-time collaborative logistics platform to provide all parties in freight transactions shared visibility to take action on the same information at the same time.

Convoy’s digital freight network and the Turvo platform are being integrated with MySupplyChain, DHL’s proprietary end-to-end visibility and business intelligence platform, to give its customers a single web-based portal for accessing all order and supply chain information from warehousing to final delivery.

The MySupplyChain platform makes it easy for customers to access track-andtrace information and product inventory and view operational performance reporting and analytics. They also can contact customer service and retrieve documents.

By using the technology via a secure website, app or APIs that integrate directly with their office systems, customers have real-time visibility of an order from when it is picked at a warehouse through the final delivery, said Mike Kreider, vice president of IT Americas.

The global logistics provider opens a U.S. Innovation Center to foster ideas and demonstrate technology that has the potential for significant productivity and efficiency gains.

commercial carrier journal | november 2019

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At the DHL Innovation Center, employees can interact and engage with customers, technology partners, academics and company associates to demonstrate and discuss solutions to supply chain challenges.

Robotics automation Another new advancement in DHL Supply Chain’s digitization strategy is the expansion of robotics process automation (RPA) into everyday operations. RPA describes software algorithms that work as self-learning “bots” that are programmed to perform tasks across multiple applications, just like humans.

DHL Supply Chain has been using RPA for a couple years to automate repetitive tasks such as collecting documents for proof of delivery, scheduling loads, event tracking, reducing manual error and increasing speed. To date, in North America the company has offset over 5,000 hours of manual work with RPA and globally has saved more than 31,200 hours per year during pilot projects.

“Before RPA, many basic day-to-day tasks would need to wait to be completed until capacity allowed,” said Jim Monkmeyer, president, transportation, DHL Supply Chain, North America. “Now they are done quickly and with a high level of accuracy, freeing our employees to spend Matthias Heutger, global head of innovation for DHL, said venture capital investment in supply chain and logistics startups has reached $30 billion since 2012.

“The industry is hotter than ever,” he said.

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less time doing busy work and more time doing the strategic value-added work they enjoy.”

Besides using software automation tools, DHL Supply chain is using mechanical robots in its warehouses to solve labor challenges. One of the most recent technologies being used in its warehouses began in 2015 by using Google Smart glasses for order picking. Warehouse workers using the glasses have shown a 14% to 20% increase in productivity and up to a 15% decrease in training time.

The Innovation Center On Sept. 12, the company held a grand opening of a newly constructed DHL Innovation Center in Rosemont, Ill. DHL expects 5,000 supply chain professionals will visit the new facility yearly to discuss ideas and watch demonstrations of technology that has the potential for significant productivity and efficiency gains.

The state-of-the-art 28,000 square-foot facility is organized into three areas: a workshop, a showroom and networking space. In each, DHL employees can interact and engage with customers, technology partners, academics and company associates to demonstrate and discuss solutions to supply chain challenges.

The company has established a process for

commercial carrier journal | november 2019

determining which technologies it will showcase in the Innovation Center in advance of deploying them to select customers as proof-of-concepts before scaling out.

The process starts with DHL creating a report every other year called the Logistics Trend Radar. The report, now in its fourth year, looks at trends that company leaders believe will impact the industry in the next five to 10 years.

The report gives DHL a structured way to understand societal and technology trends in its business environment by ranking them according to their predicted impact and time horizon. Each year, the company picks two or three of the topics and does a separate “deep dive” trend report.

Topics in the deep-dive report become DHL’s near-term strategic roadmap for investments and partnerships. Technology solutions that it finds to be workable are showcased in its Innovation Center to engage with customers and build use cases, Heutger said.

As an example, the company’s investment in artificial intelligence (AI) for robotics started with a deep-dive trend report in 2016. A use case was developed for a real-time shipment weight and dimensioning technology that is three to four times less costly than laser scanning.

That technology now is being used on a limited basis in DHL facilities and is in the process of being scaled out. A DHL Global Forwarding facility near Chicago is beginning to use the technology to scan freight as it is pulled from inbound containers and trailers to have accurate invoicing and customs processing.

The new Innovation Center was built for the company’s operations in the Americas and joins two nearly identical facilities in Cologne, Germany, and Singapore for the company’s European and Asian operations, respectively.

CCJ INNOVATORS profiles carriers and fleets that have found innovative ways to overcome trucking’s challenges. If you know a carrier that has displayed innovation, contact Jason Cannon at jasoncannon@randallreilly.com.

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CCJ highlights 2019’s Five Flashiest Fleets

H

ow a company’s trucks and trailers look can say a lot about the company as a whole. Wellplanned and innovative fleet graphics largely project a positive image, while dirty and blank trailer sides, on the other hand, are wasted opportunities to tell a story.

Trucks and trailers are a carrier’s most visible – and most mobile – means of promotion and are a blank slate for showcasing a company’s heritage, values and strengths.

For fleets willing to invest the time and money, creating fleet graphics that relay a message can help connect them with customers, their community and worthy causes.

Since 1978, Commercial Carrier Journal has recognized excellence in fleet graphics design and execution.

The judges for this year’s Five Flashiest Fleets competition included an 11-person panel from the editorial, art design and marketing staffs of CCJ and fellow Randall-Reilly publications Overdrive, Successful Dealer, Truckers News and Trucks, Parts, Service.

Each judge ranked their top five out of 37 submitted entries, and scores were weighted to determine a final ranking. The five submissions this year successfully relate the company’s purpose, tell a story, champion a cause or promote a strong corporate brand image.

More than two peas in these pods CARRIER: Peapod, Chicago

GRAPHICS DESIGNER: Signature Graphics Inc. Founded in 1989, Peapod is America’s leading online grocer with nearly 50 million orders delivered to-date

“Fresh products ordered online and delivered to homes …

with a sense of humor,” said Trans Asset Sourcing & Design Manager Andrew Shook.

WHY WE LIKED IT: “I appreciate the simplicity of the design

thanks to its fleet of 500 trucks. Peapod’s trucks serve as a roll-

on this one. I’m especially drawn to the pictures of the different

ing billboard for the company’s services, and their pun-heavy

produce on the side of the truck. It creates a sense of freshness that

slogans show the company’s lighter side.

goes with the clean design.” – David Watson, CCJ Art Director

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Anchors aweigh

CARRIER: Gulf Relay, Clinton, Miss.

GRAPHICS DESIGNER: Gulf Relay LLC An asset-based integrator, Gulf Relay prides itself

WHY WE LIKED IT: “You won’t mistake Gulf Relay’s trucks

on the equipment the company puts on the road. With an aver-

and trailers for any other company’s. Their graphics are simple

age tractor and trailer age of 1.5 years, the company equips its

and bold, making them easily recognizable even at highway

drivers with “home away from home” comforts on the inside and

speeds. Their slogan, ‘Anchoring The Way,’ is catchy, makes

– on more than 80% of its 800 trucks and trailers – a style on the

sense and is easy to remember. Combined, the graphics, slogan

outside that drives home three of the company’s core values:

and choices of color and type font make Gulf Relay’s distinc-

“Creativity, quality and dependability,” said CEO Douglas

tive. They stand out from the crowd.” – David Hollis, Truckers News Editor

Hindman.

A salute to service providers CARRIER: Contract Transport Services,

Green Bay, Wis. GRAPHICS DESIGNER: Brand Outcomes Contract Transport Services began in 1985 as a single-truck operation doing cartage work for paper mills in

ers, emergency medical technicians and farmers.”

CTS backs up that visual presence by making monetary donations annually for miles completed by wrapped trucks to charitable organizations representing those groups.

WHY WE LIKED IT: “Trucking and patriotism have long

the Green Bay area. It’s now grown into a 131-asset outfit with

been intertwined, with the industry employing a much higher

a strong focus on its customers and community. President

percentage of military veterans than the general workforce.

Curt Reitz said his company’s vision is “to recognize people

CTS’ trucks drive that point home, with their eye-grabbing

who do the right things,” and “we proudly show our commit-

graphics paying ode not only to branches of the U.S.

ment and support to the thousands of men and women who

military like the Army, Navy and Air Force, but also to first

serve this great country visually by utilizing truck wraps within

responders like firefighters, police and EMS.” – Jason Can-

our fleet depicting branches of the military, police, firefight-

non, CCJ Editor commercial carrier journal

| november 2019 41

SPECIAL REPORT | CCJ’S FIVE FLASHIEST FLEETS

And the band played on CARRIER: Lamar Consolidated Independent School District, Rosenberg, Texas GRAPHICS DESIGNER: Clubhouse Trailer Co. Lamar Consolidated Independent School District is a public school district within the Houston/Sugar Land–Metropolitan Area. With nearly 27,000 students enrolled, it is the fastest-growing district in Fort Bend County and in 2013 received the highest possible academic rating (Met Standard) from the Texas Education Agency. LCISD uses its fleet of five branded trailers to support its marching bands while also promoting the schools.

“These trailers are designed to display the unique spirit and pride of our individual high school band departments while also showcasing our school district as a whole,” said Director of Transportation Mike Jones.

WHY WE LIKED IT: “The trailer graphics for each of Lamar Consolidated Independent School District’s five high school marching bands scream school pride. The intricate details in the graphics bring the schools’ mascots to life. There is no missing these trailers going down the road, just as there is no mistaking which school each represents.”

– Matt Cole, CCJ News Editor

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SPECIAL REPORT | CCJ’S FIVE FLASHIEST FLEETS

Green with envy

CARRIER: Bowerman Trucking Inc., Searcy, Ark. GRAPHICS DESIGNER: Bowerman Trucking Inc.

Jimmy Ray Bowerman founded Bowerman Trucking in 2000 as an owner-operator of a hot-shot rig. In February 2005, the company was granted operating authority and today is putting some of the hottestlooking trucks on the road. Sixty of Bowerman’s 65 trucks are branded in the company’s signature green, black and red along with 45 of its 130 trailers. CEO Matt Bowerman said the goal of his fleet’s graphics is to emulate “an attractive, modern and bold brand [and] image.”

“One that instills an unparalleled sense of pride in the drivers of the trucks and trailers and an equal sense of envy in drivers not yet driving them,” he said.

WHY WE LIKED IT: “From its bright green tractors to its pulsating trailer graphics, Bowerman Transportation stands out. By creating a visual complement to its slogan ‘Your transportation lifeline,’ Bowerman has developed a unique, immediately recognizable trademark. The Arkansas carrier has created an identifiable brand that will help differentiate the fleet for years to come.”

– Lucas Deal, Trucks, Parts, Service Editor commercial carrier journal

| november 2019 43

Bendix’s Wingman Advanced collision mitigation provides interventions, whether or not cruise control is active, by alerting the driver and applying the brakes automatically to help decelerate the vehicle when the system senses a rear-end collision may be imminent.

Collision mitigation systems becoming standard spec

BY TOM QUIMBY

T

ake rates on collision mitigation features are increasing, and for good reason: They’re effective at reducing crashes.

No fleet wants to end up in a headline heralding the next record-setting lawsuit. Avoiding that means stepping up to learn about and incorporate the latest technologies that can keep trucks on the highway and out of harm’s way.

Various OEMs and manufacturers offer collision mitigation technologies designed to help keep the roads safer for everyone.

Bendix collision mitigation Bendix Wingman Fusion has become standard equipment on many commercial trucks in North America. “Some fleets were early adopters, and it’s getting into the mainstream now, so the take-rate is near 100%,” said TJ Thomas, director of marketing and customer solutions for the controls group at Bendix.

Wingman Fusion offers enhanced collision mitigation, lane departure warning, stationary vehicle braking and overspeed alert and action. This combination typically enables the system to assess a situation faster and react earlier, alerting the driver and decreasing the vehicle’s speed by up 44

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| november 2019

to 40% more than Bendix Wingman Advanced while also reducing instances of false alerts and false interventions.

At speeds above 15 mph, collision mitigation features on Wingman Fusion will alert the driver up to 3.5 seconds prior to an anticipated impact with a large stationary object and then automatically apply the brakes if the driver doesn’t react fast enough. The technology also will work on vehicles in front of a truck by applying the brakes as needed to help prevent a potential collision.

Thomas said Wingman Fusion gets results. “Typically, fleets report a 70% reduction in the number of rear-end accidents, and another 70% reduction in the severity of the remaining rear-end accidents as a result of using the system,” he said.

Richard Buyer, vice president of engineering and R&D for Bendix, said Wingman Fusion, like other advanced collision mitigation technologies, operates with radar, cameras and various sensors that all work together to provide split-second redundancies that can determine preemptive actions more effectively to avoid collisions.

“The system is extremely reliable from the standpoint of not having false activations,” Buyer said. “Not having braking inter-

EQUIPMENT: COLLISION MITIGATION SYSTEMS ventions when the system is not supposed to intervene because you have two sensors looking at the situation and then determining, ‘Yes, I need to brake.’ And then braking properly, but not braking when it’s not supposed to. With systems like these, if you get a lot of erroneous things that are happening, people tend to start turning them off. If they weren’t happy with the systems, they wouldn’t be re-ordering them.”

Kenworth has offered Wingman Fusion as standard on its T680 on-highway flagship for three years. It also is available as an option for the vocational T880, traditional long-hood W990 and medium-duty T270 and T370 conventionals.

Mack made Wingman Fusion standard on its Anthem trucks in 2017. “We have heard several stories, including instances where cars have pulled in front of truck drivers and hit their brakes,” said Roy Horton, director of product strategy for Mack.

“This caused the truck to react before the truck driver could.

These are the times the truck drivers really realize the value of the system.”

Bendix Wingman Fusion also is standard on International’s LT Series, RH Series and LoneStar. Wabco collision mitigation features also are offered on International trucks.

“Data indicates that both accident frequency and severity is reduced from the use of collision mitigation systems,” said Steve Gilligan, vice president of product marketing for Navistar. “The customer need for safer and more intelligent vehicles has driven the requirements of manufacturers to provide those features.”

Peterbilt has made the Bendix Wingman Fusion system with enhanced collision mitigation and adaptive cruise control standard on its Model 579.

“Features include enhanced braking on stationary vehicles, throttle and brake controls that help a driver maintain following distance when cruise is enabled, road sign recognition with overspeed alerts, and the ability to integrate with Bendix SafetyDirect for event video capture,” said Darryl Oster, assistant chief engineer for Peterbilt.

Daimler’s Detroit Assurance Another collision mitigation system supported by both camera and radar is the Detroit Assurance 5.0 suite of safety systems available for the Freightliner Cascadia spec’d with Detroit engines. Features include Active Brake Assist (ABA), Full Braking on Moving Pedestrian, Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Tailgate Warning and Active Lane Assist, which includes Lane Departure Protection, Lane Keep Assist (LKA) and Side Guard Assist.

Brian Daniels, manager of Detroit Powertrain and Component Product Marketing for Daimler Trucks North America, said ABA 5.0 is always on, detecting distances to objects ahead in its path, calculating speed and determining if a warning or braking action is necessary.

As part of what Daimler calls the Detroit Assurance 5.0 safety suite, Freightliner Trucks come standard with adaptive cruise control with stop-and-go capability.

ABA 5.0 also features full braking on stationary and moving objects. “The camera and radar signals are fused together for greater object recognition, which allows for enhanced braking capabilities,” Daniels said.

Fleets are embracing Detroit Assurance’s safety features, he said. “Fleets are also thinking about collision mitigation systems as recruitment tools, as they contribute to not only driver safety and the safety of other drivers on the road, but also help reduce driver fatigue and provide a more comfortable driver experience.”

Full Braking on Moving Pedestrian works when the signal from the radar and camera system detects a moving pedestrian who is about to cross the truck’s path. Audible and visual warnings occur with simultaneous partial braking, followed by full braking if the driver does not react. Active Lane Assist can be optioned with Lane Departure Protection, which activates automatically at speeds above 37 mph.

The camera system detects the reflective paint and raised reflectors in lane markers, Daniels said. If the truck crosses those markers without the driver using a turn signal, a Lane Departure Warning (LDW) – also standard with Detroit Assurance 5.0 – will be issued first. An audible warning is sent through the corresponding speaker on the side of the truck that crosses the lane marker, along with a visual warning on the instrument panel.

If the truck continues to veer out of its lane, it will be actively steered back into its lane.

Once ACC is enabled, LKA uses micro-steering movements to keep the Cascadia centered in its lane. If an object is detected in the truck’s blind spot, Side Guard Assist will warn the driver not to change lanes or make a right turn that might result in a collision with an object or person.

Mack talks weather Conditions on the road are anything but easy. Weather events, rough roads, dust storms and even insects can make running down the road less than ideal for a driver. But what about a commercial carrier journal

| november 2019 45

EQUIPMENT: COLLISION MITIGATION SYSTEMS

Wabco’s lineup of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS), available on Navistar’s International truck models, includes autonomous emergency braking, lane keep assist, lane departure warning and urban turning assist technologies.

high-tech collision mitigation system with cameras and various sensors? According to Horton, Bendix Wingman Fusion has been holding up fine on Mack trucks.

“The fact that the Bendix Wingman Fusion system uses two sensors – the radar sensor in the bumper and the camera in the windshield – enables the system to operate in a variety of weather conditions, since it does not rely on data from one source but is able to look at input from both sources to control the system,” Horton said.

Wingman Fusion is calibrated at the factory, so there’s no need for an adjustment unless a component is damaged. The system’s camera is mounted to the windshield, and in case the windshield has to be replaced, dealers are provided with calibration instructions.

Bendix recommends during a pre-trip inspection to make sure that sensors and cameras are free of any obstructions such as snow or mud. Lower-visibility driving conditions experienced during snow or rain events also can impede the system.

“These are Level 1 driver assistance systems,” Buyer said.

“They’re not magic. If you are in a zero-visibility situation, this system will have reduced capability even though the radar part of it can penetrate some of these conditions, but you as a driver should be driving smart.”

Currently, only electronic stability control is required on Class 7 and 8 trucks. Does Mack see a change coming when additional safety technologies will be required?

“We don’t want to speculate on what may or may not be required by law, but we believe Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) like Bendix Wingman Fusion bring many safety benefits to drivers, which is why we made it standard on our Anthem model,” Horton said.

Navistar’s collision mitigation Navistar uses both Bendix and Wabco collision mitigation technologies.

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Wingman Advanced and Wabco OnGuard Active use radar to monitor objects in front of the vehicle and apply the vehicle brakes if necessary, Gilligan said. Bendix BlindSpotter, available with Bendix Wingman Fusion, uses radar to provide side object detection and alert the driver if an object is detected. Meritor Wabco OnLaneAlert is a lane departure system that warns the operator when unintentional lane drifting is detected.

When it comes to periodic maintenance such as recalibration, the brakes themselves are more of a concern, Gilligan said. “The system itself does not call out the need for periodic updates to calibrations unless there is a need to realign the sensors,” he said.

Peterbilt collision mitigation The camera- and radar-based Bendix Wingman Fusion system, standard on Peterbilt’s Model 579, provides more redundancies over prior systems, which increases overall effectiveness, including battles with inclement weather, Oster said.

“There may have been some challenges in the past with snow or ice packing on the radars, but with the newer systems that incorporate both camera and radar technology together, functionality has greatly improved in these conditions,” he said.

Periodic maintenance on the ADAS components, such as calibration, is basically nil, Oster said. “The only maintenance requirement is recalibrating the camera in the case of a windshield repair,” he said. “The cameras are designed to be mounted in the path of the windshield wiper arm so that it is clear in rainy or fogged situations. However, an overly dirty windshield can impact the effectiveness of the camera.”

Peterbilt offers Bendix’s Wingman Fusion on its Model 579 tractor. The system gathers input from its integrated nextgeneration radar and video to create a highly detailed and accurate data picture.

Volvo Active Driver Assist Volvo Active Driver Assist (VADA) uses radar sensors and cameras to identify and detect objects that pose a collision threat.

Bendix manufactures the VADA components.

The radar sensors detect up to 500 feet, alerting the driver to slow down or stop, while lane departure warning uses the windshield-mounted camera to track road markings, said Ashraf Makki, product marketing manager of connectivity for Volvo.

“While severe weather, like snow, impacts everything on the road, we’ve made our products durable and are continuing to improve these functionalities in severe weather.”

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EQUIPMENT: COLLISION MITIGATION SYSTEMS Volvo Active Driver Assist (VADA) 2.0, a comprehensive collision mitigation system, is standard on new VNR, VNL and VNX models. The system integrates radar and camera capabilities to help drivers maintain a safe following distance through alerts and emergency braking.

Some maintenance is recommended. The windshield-mounted camera requires calibration on a three- to six-month basis depending on the truck’s application, said Makki, who expects that other ADAS features such as automatic emergency braking (AEB) eventually will be mandated.

Depending on design, electric vehicles can offer quicker torque vectoring courtesy of direct drive motors, which can translate to faster and more precise wheel responses. “The VADA system will need to be tuned differently to accommodate the VNR Electric and will take additional testing to ensure the software is compatible, meaning the electronic control module is able to communicate with the camera and radar sensors,” Makki said.

ZF’s OnTraX Lane Keeping Assist (LKA) uses a forward-facing camera to find lane markings. If the tractor begins to drift out of its lane without the turn signal activated, the system offers a series of light counter-steering nudges to inch the truck back into the appropriate lane.

truck is too close to the edges of its lane. When the truck drifts, the system gently nudges the vehicle back into its intended lane.

With the lane change assist function, the driver is warned if a vehicle is in the blind spot when attempting to change lanes.

Once the turn signal is engaged, the system uses short-range radar on the sides of the truck to “see” any vehicles in the blind spot. If a vehicle is sensed, the steering wheel delivers a haptic vibration to alert the driver but does not take over steering.

“We know from studies that the average cost of lane departure accidents is roughly $53,000 and that 32% of accidents are unintentional lane departure,” Williams said. “With that data, fleets ZF OnTraX certainly have a vested interest in OnTraX.” ZF has big plans to soon launch its OnTraX LKA system with a ADAS sensors are designed to be calibrated for the life of major OE, said Dan Williams, the company’s director of ADAS the vehicle, but Williams said things such as accidents or other and autonomy. The system uses a front camera to see when the unforeseen circumstances could require a recalibration.

ZF has seen safety system requirements increase on trucks in Europe and thinks the same could unfold for U.S. trucks.

“NHTSA (National Highway Traffic Safety Administration) will continue to conduct research and to evaluate realworld performance of these systems through track testing and field operational testing,” Williams said. “The Memorandum of Understanding with light vehicle manufacturers state that AEB will be installed on virtually all light vehicles by 2022 but still leaves a question mark on heavy vehicles for an AEB mandate.”

ADAS systems on electric trucks could prove to be more advantageous, K-1350 Wheel Grabber K-1380 Disc Brake Hub Handler K-1360 Clutch Brake Cutter he said. “Electric propulsion could offer some control advantages. It really see all of our tools at depends on how the systems are configwww.kienediesel.com DIESEL ACCESSORIES, INC. ured for production.”

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New AI developments level the playing field for optimization tech

BY AARON HUFF

W

hether you’re a shipper, a freight broker or a motor carrier, freight matching is the linchpin of business profitability. Even minor mistakes can trigger costly outcomes, given the value of underutilized time and the expense of labor, fuel and equipment.

Traditionally, only businesses with significant IT resources and density in their freight networks considered investing in advanced software systems to optimally match freight with capacity.

Recent developments have leveled the playing field, as companies of all sizes now have affordable options to tap the power of machine learning and cloud computing to make better load-planning decisions.

Truckload moves Transportation management software (TMS) always has been the foundation of freight-matching technology for companies in a supply chain, starting with shippers and third-party logistics providers (3PLs).

When Roxanne Thomas joined Woodridge, Ill.-based Gerber Plumbing last year as a transportation manager, the company wasn’t using a TMS to plan its roughly 25 truckload shipments of plumbing fixtures per day. Those loads for customers across the United States were being sent from three – and soon to be four – distribution centers.

Gerber’s load planners were using spreadsheets and homegrown tools to build truckload, less-than-truckload and parcel shipments for those loads. But the low-tech tools lacked the capability to evaluate different cost-saving scenarios, Thomas said.

In some instances, it might be more costly to ship two orders on a truckload with two delivery stops than to ship the orders separately via LTL. Those types of calculations were difficult to do manually, she said.

In January, Thomas led the implementation of a cloudbased system from 3Gtms to automate Gerber’s load-planning

Less-than-truckload carriers such as Industry, Calif.-based Frontline Freight use Carrier Logistics’ Facts software to automate pickup-and-delivery dispatch activity.

process. The 3Gtms system receives orders directly from Gerber’s Oracle ERP software and has algorithms to determine optimal shipments that consolidate truckloads and fulfill orders by the promised delivery date, The 3Gtms TMS system has algorithms to determine which generally is within optimal loads that will two weeks of the order. consolidate truckloads Since using 3Gtms, Gerand fulfill orders by the scheduled delivery date. ber has reduced its transportation spend on LTL and parcel carriers significantly by doing “everything possible to optimize into truckload,” she said.

The 3Gtms system also is designed for 3PLs of all sizes to manage transportation planning for shipper customers.

Optimization for carriers Motor carriers are using new cloud-based TMS systems with new built-in optimization tools to make better freight-matching decisions. Some of these systems have machine-learning technology.

Optym’s Axele system is a web-based TMS for small to medium-sized truckload carriers. Axele builds on Optym’s footprint in the less-than-truckload sector.

The company saw an opportunity to bring its optimization technology to smaller fleets to help them keep up with commercial carrier journal

|

november 2019

51

TECHNOLOGY: DISPATCH OPTIMIZATION necessarily a dollar value, digital brokers who are Orban said. A load that “making it harder [for gets a driver home for the carriers] to make any weekend may have a lower money,” said Ronda Lewis, cost value than a load that chief revenue officer for does not.

Optym.

The optimal recomThe Axele TMS can mendations for loads and evaluate and identitractors are fed directly into fy the most profitable the load-planning screens spot-market loads for of Trimble’s TMS systems. carriers, Lewis said. The Users also get recommensystem integrates with dations for the second-, load boards to find freight third- and fourthcombinations that best options, and will create the Optym’s Axele TMS can evaluate and identify the more, with scores that best profitability per most profitable loads for carriers in the spot market. show the reasons why. day. It accounts for rates, hours By showing the next-best recof service and other variables and ommendations, users can account for human factors. A load integrates with electronic logging devices (ELDs). planner may choose to go with the optimal solution for the McLeod Software recently developed a new predictive easiest choices and use the recommendations to simplify the scoring system for its fleet customers to evaluate orders in more complex decisions. the LoadMaster TMS platform. McLeod partnered with a “We order [the recommendations], so we show them Birmingham, Ala.-based data science company to develop which one we would like them to pick, but we also have the system that scores each load on a 5-star scale. all the other options right below it,” said Keith Mader, vice The TopOrder system is designed to give carriers a simple president of analytics for Trimble Transportation. way to evaluate “forward profitability,” or the yield of orders, Choosing a suboptimal recommendation may be neceswhich is the profit per hour: (revenue – cost)/time for every sary to “help or address how you treat drivers,” Mader said, order or lane. because drivers may have individual load and route preferThe product will be rolled out in phases. The first release, ences that the model can take into consideration. available now, gives users a dashboard for evaluating an orTo use the new product, Trimble customers need to have a der’s profitability based on a carrier’s historical lane activity. modern TMS version and pay for a license. Installation takes Through the dashboard, users can change the rate and the as little as one hour, Orban said. starting and ending markets for a load to see the impacts on its star ranking. If a user selects Birmingham to Arkansas, the dashboard will show the next likely moves for the carrier The speed of logistics from Arkansas to other markets. It also will show the profit In addition to investing in new TMS technology, many for the current and next move based on the rate. transportation and logistics companies are making signifiFuture developments will provide information on how cant investments in digital apps that use machine learning to carriers can increase a load’s ranking, said Jonathan May, stay better connected with their business partners. director of business intelligence for McLeod Software.

McLeod’s Top Match module for its PowerBroker TMS In September, Trimble announced a new Dispatch Advisystem used by nonasset transportation and logistics compasor product designed to give fleets using its enterprise TMS nies features a machine-learning algorithm that predicts the platforms – TMW Suite, TruckMate or Innovative – a way to inoptimal and best-chance carriers for load offers. Data inputs stantly see the best options for matching their loads with trucks. used by the Top Match algorithm include a carrier’s lane history, The first version of Dispatch Advisor optimally matches loads load board integration and margin data. with a single origin and destination to a tractor with one or more In February 2018, Landstar rolled out a Maximizer app drivers, said Chris Orban, vice president of data science. that currently is getting about 500 load searches per day The algorithm finds the minimum-cost combination of from drivers. The app gives drivers trip-planning informaloads and trucks by using a cost matrix of time, distance, tion to help them maximize revenue by showing the highdeadhead miles and other variables, where “cost” is not est-paying loads out of origin and destination points.

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Thomas Fansler, chief technology and data officer for Trimble, said Dispatch Advisor is an example of how the company is developing products across its business units.

Maximizer’s search engine looks at everything on Landstar’s load board and sends back the best revenue combinations, said Rocco Davanzo, executive vice president of capacity development for Landstar Transportation Logistics.

A driver in Dallas who searches for loads may discover that while loads to Chicago may not offer the best outbound rate from his current location, the rate selection out of Chicago is much better than at other destinations from Dallas, Davanzo said.

Drivers already may know which freight markets to avoid based on past experience, but the app trumps experience and intuition by keeping users up-to-date with rate fluctuations.

The app does not give drivers a “Book it Now” option for loads. They have to call Landstar agents, but all loads listed in the search have a one-touch dial feature. “I still think verbal dispatch is important,” Davanzo said.

Transplace, a provider of transportation management services and logistics technology, recently began using machine learning for capacity matching, said Jim French, the company’s chief technology officer.

McLeod Software’s TopOrder gives users a dashboard for evaluating the profitability of an order based on their carrier’s historical lane activity.

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When freight is moving from point A to B, Transplace load planners are able to look in advance for next-load opportunities from point B back to A or to another point C destination, he said.

The application uses machine learning to identify high-probability outcomes for carriers making a delivery in a certain area to find outbound freight. “A large number of variables are influencing the outcome,” French said.

Machine learning helps keep the freight-matching algorithm up-to-date through a constant feedback loop while incorporating weather events. “We are actively tracking risk to better identify loads facing weather events well in advance,” he said.

Optimizing P&D routes For LTL carriers, load optimization is not a freight- and capacity-matching problem. It is a time management problem.

Fleets that provide local pickup and delivery have more work than can be accomplished, given the time drivers have to complete their routes and return to a terminal to make the cutoff for linehaul operations, said Ben Wiesen, president for Carrier Logistics Inc. (CLI), a TMS provider that focuses on the last-mile LTL segment.

CLI’s Facts software has functionality for LTL carriers to effectively manage appointments for residential and commercial customers by scheduling pickups and deliveries for optimal time slots.

Wiesen said CLI is using a mixture of data mining and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies “to try and help carriers better plan the appointments.” In some cases, LTL carriers allow the customer to pick whatever times they want.

“What we are finding is that savvy LTL carriers are beginning to develop strategies,” he said. “Some are further along than others.”

Software can guide the appointment process to find the ideal time to make a pickup or delivery based on historical data and the probability for “where trucks have been and when,” Wiesen said.

Algorithms also can find the average time it takes to service each ZIP code by time of day. That information feeds a scoring system that fleets can use to proactively offer a customer an appointment time that would maximize operational efficiency.

At any level in the supply chain, from shippers to 3PLs and carriers, machine learning is changing the load-planning process by delivering instant freight-matching recommendations.

“We think machine learning and AI are the most important trend in the supply chain since the Internet and open connectivity,” French said. “They are what give us the next leap forward.”

©2019 FleetPride, Inc. All marks used herein are the property of their respective owners.

All Makes, All Models – Ready for the Road Ahead™

Find your nearest FleetPride location: 800-967-6206 • FleetPride.com

THE FOLLOWING IS A ROUNDUP OF NEWS AND PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENTS MADE AT THE AMERICAN TRUCKING ASSOCIATIONS’ ANNUAL MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE & EXHIBITION HELD LAST MONTH IN SAN DIEGO.

BY JASON CANNON, AARON HUFF AND JEFF CRISSEY

FMCSA TO EVALUATE ADAS Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator Ray

ATA PRESIDENT DECLARES WAR ON NUCLEAR VERDICTS

Martinez announced the debut of a project that

During this year’s “state of the industry”

will evaluate and promote advanced driver as-

address, ATA President Chris Spear

sistance systems (ADAS) such as lane-keep assist

declared war on plaintiff attorneys and

and automatic braking. The two-year project will be funded through the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Intelligent Transportation Systems Joint Program Office. The program will lean on the expertise found in the membership of the Technology and Maintenance Council (TMC).

Martinez said that with the assistance of the American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), FMCSA will develop outreach and education material to share with fleets and drivers.

nuclear verdicts. “I’m sick of playing Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administrator Ray Martinez said he hopes the two-year project will boost adoption rates of ADAS and encourage more innovation.

defense while trial lawyers buy jets and yachts at the expense of trucking jobs,” he said. “It’s time to go on the offensive and tell our story to policymakers.”

Spear said ATA will make tort reform a “tier one” priority at the state and federal level. “We will use our Call on Washington visits and new Independent

Contractor Ambassadors Program to set the record straight.”

DRIVER SHORTAGE REMAINS TOP TRUCKLOAD CONCERN

LYTX: PENNSYLVANIA ROADS STILL RISKY FOR TRUCKERS

The driver shortage retained the

According to recent analysis by Lytx

top spot in ATRI’s annual Top

of event data from November 2018

Industry Issues survey for the fourth

to August 2019, the two riskiest road

consecutive year. Bob Costello,

segments in the United States are

ATA’s chief economist and senior

Pennsylvania Route 309 at the inter-

vice president, cited the average

section with Pennsylvania Route 145

age of 35 for driver trainees and low

and East Rock Road, and Route 309

participation by women.

east of West Emaus Avenue.

Driver compensation made its debut on the list as the No. 3 overall concern and No. 1 among driver respondents. Also appearing for the first time is detention/delay at cus-

ATA said the driver shortage reached an all-time high of 60,800 at the end of 2018 and that the trendline forecasts a shortage of 160,000 drivers by 2028.

ATA President Chris Spear said the organization will be asking its members for donations to the group’s Litigation Center to advance its efforts.

Lytx said this year is the second in a row Pennsylvania’s Route 309 has been part of the riskiest roads in the country.

Two other Pennsylvania road segments landed in Lytx’s top five: Interstate 84, intersection with Pennsylvania Route 435 (Dunmore); and I-81, intersection with Pennsylvania Route 309 and East Northampton Street (Wilkes-Barre Township). All four road segments are near

tomer facilities at No. 4, reflecting

interchanges or on-/off-ramps, where sudden lane changes

growing concern over delays that create cascading impacts for drivers’

and rapid changes in driving speed tend to amplify risk.

hours of service, compensation and ability to find safe truck parking.

ATRI’s survey of more than 2,000 respondents included a 51% response rate from carriers and 35% from drivers.

56

commercial carrier journal

| november 2019

These and other insights were presented by Lytx as part of its second annual “State of the Data.” Lytx provides machine vision and AI-powered video telematics systems.

SPECIAL REPORT | ATA MC&E

VOLVO, MACK ANNOUNCE GEOTAB ELD INTEGRATION

MESILLA VALLEY DEPLOYING FLOWBELOW AEROSLIDER

Volvo and Mack

FlowBelow announced that Mesilla Valley

Trucks announced

Transportation (CCJ Top 250, No. 77) selected

a partnership with

its Trailer AeroSlider system for fleetwide instal-

Geotab to provide an

lation. The patented aerodynamic system is

integrated elec-

engineered to address aerodynamic drag cre-

tronic logging device (ELD) for Volvo- and Mack-powered trucks model years 2015 and newer. The companies said the integrated Geotab

Mack’s advanced HE+ efficiency package includes the MP 8HE engine, mDrive automated manual transmission and aerodynamic enhancements.

ated by the trailer’s wheels and suspension and

MVT will implement FlowBelow’s Stage 1 AeroSlider on all new trailers effective immediately, with plans to implement Stage 2 in 2020.

to complement and provide additional fuel savings when used with side skirts.

Rather than attaching to the trailer body, Trailer AeroSlider is mounted directly to and travels with the sliding trailer suspension. The system consists of wheel covers, fairings positioned between and behind the wheels and aerodynamic mudflaps behind them.

way to monitor and record hours of service

OMNITRACS, SKYBITZ TO INTEGRATE TRACTOR-TRAILER DEVICES

compliance information, including records of

Omnitracs, a provider of fleet management systems, an-

duty status (RODS) and driver vehicle inspec-

nounced a technology partnership with SkyBitz, a provider

tion reports (DVIR).

of Internet of Things-based telematics for trailer assets, to

Drive offers an easy

Mack also announced that its Anthem tractor will be available with an extended chassis

provide their mutual customers with integrated offerings for tractor-trailer devices.

fairing option designed to direct air more

SkyBitz also announced a new cargo sensor and

smoothly around the rear axles to improve

camera product designed to provide fleet customers

fuel efficiency by up to 0.5%. The fairings

with accurate data on the capacity filled or remaining in

can be combined with Mack’s advanced HE+

their trailers, as well as images of the cargo inside.

Henry Popplewell, president of SkyBitz, said his company’s Omnitracs partnership will expedite fleet management technology development.

efficiency package.

PANA-PACIFIC TO SELL TRIMBLE VIDEO INTELLIGENCE WESTERN EXPRESS PLANS TO IMPLEMENT ADAS FLEETWIDE

Trimble announced that Pana-Pacific, a provider of

Western Express

Trimble video equipment for use with a subscription

(CCJ Top 250,

to Trimble’s Video Intelligence offering. Through the

No. 46) expanded

collaboration, Pana-Pacific will market both two- and fourchannel digital video recorders (DVRs) and a variety of

its partnership with E-Smart, a developer of fleet safety technology products designed to enhance vehicle safety. The Nash-

technology to the commercial trucking industry, will sell

Nashville, Tenn.based Western Express will deploy 3,000 E-Smart units to manage truck speeds and help protect drivers.

cameras to the OEM heavy-duty truck dealer network.

Trimble’s Video Intelligence uses forward-, side- and

rear-facing cameras installed on vehicles and allows fleets to record video evidence in the event of an accident and enhance coaching opportunities with company drivers.

ville, Tenn.-based fleet plans to deploy 3,000

SPIREON UPDATES ‘SMART TRAILER’ TECH

E-Smart units across the country.

Spireon introduced the company’s new Intelligent Trailer

E-Smart’s advanced driver assistance

Management (ITM) portfolio of “smart trailer” technology.

system (ADAS) software/firmware is

The ITM portfolio consists of Spireon’s FleetLocate fleet

designed to manage the maximum speed

and asset intelligence system, which consists of telematics

a vehicle can attain for any posted speed

technology and the web-based NSpire user portal.

limit. The system uses geofencing to also

Trimble’s Video Intelligence provides 360-degree video evidence and enhanced coaching opportunities with company drivers.

FleetLocate collects over one billion data events per

help protect drivers from high-risk loca-

month from Spireon’s fleet customers and translates it

tions such as low bridges by restricting

into business intelligence, said Roni Taylor, senior vice

speed as the truck nears the bridge.

president of strategy and business development.

Roni Taylor, senior vice president of strategy and business development for Spireon, said ITM is the company’s next generation of “rich data.”

commercial carrier journal

| november 2019 57

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Anti-fatigue headband

SmartCap’s LifeBand wearable technology is designed to prevent microsleeps by providing accurate fatigue measurements in real time to drivers. The headgear can be worn under a cap and uses electroencephalography (EEG) technology to help provide early, accurate detection of fatigue risk. LifeBand connects via Bluetooth to a display within the cabin, where the Life App provides real-time fatigue measurements to empower drivers to manage their alertness proactively.

SmartCap Technologies, www.smartcaptech.com, 480-246-1293

Articulating detail light

Snap-on’s LED 300 Lumen Articulating Detail Light is supported by an 18-inch neck for numerous angle adjustments and added visibility in tight workspaces. The flexible over-mold format helps provide a comfortable grip during lengthy work, and when a job requires both hands, magnets at the base can be used to adhere the light to any metal surface.

The rear clip is designed for looping the neck around and locking it into place for a four-hour run time at its highest setting and 20 hours at its lowest.

Snap-on, www.snapon.com, 877-762-7664

Regional drive tire

Yokohama’s 715R open shoulder regional drive tire is SmartWay-verified for low rolling resistance and is available in size 11R22.5, with three more sizes – 295/75R22.5, 285/75R24.5 and 11R24.5 – set to arrive in early 2020. Longer wear is facilitated by a deep 26/32-inch tread depth and an advanced tread design featuring strategically placed tie bars that help control block movement and minimize heel/toe wear. Sturdy, open shoulder blocks are spaced to help maximize traction and minimize the retention of foreign objects. The company’s proprietary compound is cut- and chip-resistant, while a 16-ply construction and an H load rating both enhance load capacity.

Antifreeze/coolant

Old World Industries’ Peak Antifreeze + Coolant is designed with a proprietary formula that combines scale-fighting and organic acid corrosion inhibitors that provide a minimum of 10 years/300,000 miles of maximum cooling system performance. Its universal formula is engineered to be compatible for use with any type of antifreeze/coolant, with an amber-yellow color that won’t change the color of the coolant already in the system.

Yokohama Tire Corp., www.yokohamatruck.com,

Old World Industries,

800-722-9888

www.peakauto.com, 800-323-5440 commercial carrier journal | november 2019

59

PRODUCTS

Wireless object detection sensor system

Thin-profile intermodal TRU Carrier Transicold’s Vector 1550 domestic intermodal refrigeration system features a thin profile, enabling greater capacity utilization within a standard 53-foot North American intermodal container. The unit reduces total weight and is built to allow a container to accommodate an extra row of pallets, resulting in cube loads similar to 53-foot over-the-road trailers. The company’s E-Drive technology uses a high-output generator direct-coupled to a diesel engine to power the all-electric refrigeration system. Using intelligent controls, the system is designed to turn individual components on and off automatically, running only what it needs precisely when needed, allowing components such as the compressor and fan to run fewer hours and last longer.

Rear View Safety’s RVS-125 SenseStat Wireless Object Detection Sensor System is designed to provide both active and passive safety for larger vehicles. The proprietary technology uses a scanning algorithm that reads four separate sensors, displaying the actual distance to the one that is closest to the object, while also providing aural alerts. The system’s wireless electronic control unit is waterproof and includes multiple antenna installation options with a detection range of up to 8 feet. With built-in stop-line adjustment, users can adjust the stopping distance away from the actual bumper to any desired distance. Tractor-trailer rigs can connect to any SenseStat-equipped trailer by pressing the monitor’s sync button. The RVS-125 also can work with backup camera systems.

Rear View Safety, www.rearviewsafety.com, 866-653-5036

Heavy-duty engine, driveline oils Petro-Canada’s Duron Advanced 5W-30 is a fully synthetic formulation approved

by Cummins and Detroit Diesel and is designed to meet and exceed API FA-4 requirements. The Duron Advanced line offers durable low-viscosity high-performing synthetic and synthetic-blend oils designed for emerging and future fuel-efficient engines. The oils are formulated for enhanced fuel economy, durability, engine protection and shear stability.

The company’s Traxon Synthetic 75W-85 expands its existing Traxon Synthetic range, providing fleet owners and operators with enhanced efficiency and long-lasting driveline protection. The low-viscosity hypoid gear oil is formulated to provide year-round easier startups and improved cold weather shifting.

Carrier Transicold, www.transicold.carrier.com,

Petro-Canada Lubricants Inc., https://lubricants.petro-canada.com,

800-227-7437

866-335-3369

Text-to-speech system

Purkeys’ Aware Audio Interrupter System is designed to read text-based messages and features a solid-state amplifier engineered to strengthen voice quality and amplitude, helping messages be heard more clearly over ambient highway noise.

The audio interface management system integrates with a vehicle’s existing speaker array and is made to automatically silence all competing audio signals and reroute messages from mobile phones and telematics devices through the speakers without the driver having to turn the radio on, turn the volume down or take their hands off the wheel. It is built for easy installation and uses plug-and-play technology, and an optional mobile phone microphone connection is available for hands-free use.

Purkeys, www.purkeys.net, 800-219-1269

60

commercial carrier journal | november 2019

PRODUCTS

Asset-tracking devices Phillips’ EZTrac and EZTrac Plus asset-tracking devices are engineered to provide instantaneous 24/7 visibility of a trailer or chassis fleet via nationwide 4G cellular LTE networks with minimal installation time.

EZTrac is a rugged real-time asset tracker and concealed theft recovery device that plugs into an ABS harness, and it can be powered by either the AUX (ABS) or brake circuit. EZTrac Plus is designed to perform with or without power due to its six-month rechargeable internal battery. It offers multiple sensor connectivity through Bluetooth or a Phillips-branded smart harness.

Diesel lubricity additive

Hot Shot’s Secret’s LX4 Lubricity Extreme is formulated for use in either low-lubricity ultra-low-sulfur diesel or gasoline to help restore the fuel’s lubricity and prevent wear and scarring of fuel system components, including the injectors, fuel pump and upper cylinders. LX4 is developed without alcohol or harmful solvents and is designed to be safe for particulate filters and easy to use.

Hot Shot’s Secret, www.hotshotsecret.com, 800-341-6516

Phillips Connect Technologies, www.phillipsind.com, 800-423-4512

Trailer tire

Bridgestone’s Firestone FT492 single- and tandem-axle trailer tire for long- and regional-haul service is SmartWay-verified and California Air Resources Board-compliant and features a fuel-efficient tread design for low rolling resistance. The tire offers a wide tread footprint to promote even wear and retreadability and is designed to be paired with a Bandag retread to help extend the casing’s life. Thick sidewall ribs help fight curb damage and protect the casing, while the company’s NanoPro-Tech polymer technology reduces energy loss. The FT492 initially is available in size 295/75R22.5, with sizes 11R22.5, 11R22.4, 285/75R24.5 and 255/70R22.5 available soon.

Bridgestone Americas Inc., www.bridgestoneamericas.com, 615-937-1000 commercial carrier journal | november 2019

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PREVENTABLE or NOT? Low bridge a bummer for Doe

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commercial carrier journal | november 2019

ith an empty trailer in tow and no backhaul available, tractortrailer driver John Doe was homeward bound, attempting to exit beautiful downtown Philadelphia, which as usual was proving to be a painfully slow process. Working his way down a narrow all-too-familiar stretch of city street at less than 10 mph, Doe constantly scanned his mirrors for any trouble.

Streaming his favorite bluegrass music and munching Gummy Bears helped him stay alert, and the sun was shining, so at least the weather wasn’t a problem. Suddenly, a gray 1970 Mercury Cougar with loud duals, a rear-axle lift kit and gold-toned wheels materialized in Doe’s left-side mirror.

Driven by Joey J. Burperelli Jr., who enthusiastically had just consumed an entire six-pack of Red Bull in world-record time, the roaring Cougar came abreast of Doe’s tractor, then suddenly weaved, encroaching on Doe’s right lane. Instinctively, Doe himself moved further John Doe was driving slowly on a to the right to avoid trouble, which unfortunately was just narrow city street when a fourin time to clip the steel supwheeler approached on his left and started weaving, prompting port girder of a low bridge, Doe to steer to his right and causing taking a hefty chunk out of his trailer to hit a low bridge. Was his trailer roof and inspiring this a preventable accident? his safety director to send a warning letter for a preventable accident.

Doe promptly contested, arguing that Burperelli’s wild ride forced him to take evasive action, so the National Safety Council was asked to rule on the case. NSC upheld the “preventable” decision, noting that Doe should have sounded his horn and hit the brakes instead of slamming his trailer into a low bridge support in broad daylight.

Major League Baseball trademarks and copyrights are used with permission of Major League Baseball Properties, Inc. Visit MLB.com. Š2019 Hankook Tire America Corp.

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