Commercial Carrier Journal, March 2020 by Richard Street

MARCH 2020

THE RIGHT TIME TO BUY AND SELL Carriers seeking cheap capacity page 58

CAREER LEADERSHIP AWARD

MIKE HASINEC Penske’s maintenance expert has influenced many of his company’s projects and personnel

DIFFERENT DIESELS

Consider biodiesel,renewable fuels page 62

BUSINESS SOLUTIONS FOR TRUCKING PROFESSIONALS

TRUCKLOAD TURNOVER Drivers looking for longer loads page 60

CLOGGED DPF COSTING YOU FUEL ECONOMY? Ash from your engine oil is likely to blame

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MARCH 2020 | VOL 177 | NO. 3

COVER STORY

JOURNAL

Innovative inspiration

Mike Hasinec has spent the better part of his life looking for a house, but for the last 41 years, he’s known exactly where his professional home has been. Now Penske’s vice president of maintenance, Hasinec has been involved in or birthed many of the company’s prominent maintenance initiatives, which has led to him becoming the 44th person to receive CCJ’s Technology & Maintenance Career Leadership Award for lifetime achievement in fleet maintenance

LEADING NEWS, TRUCKING MARKET CONDITIONS AND INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

Cover design by Richard Street

FEATURES

Acquisitions ramp up

Market conditions over the past 18 months have made the trucking industry a hotbed for acquisitions, with larger carriers snapping up smaller carriers for cheap capacity and as part of the industry’s ongoing infight for available truck drivers.

Why all the turnover?

Could the “Amazon Effect” explain the recent spike in driver turnover? Traditionally, turnover goes down when freight demand is relatively soft, as it was in 2019, but it has been rising counterintuitively. According to several barometers, average lengthof-haul for truckload shipments has been sliding for at least a decade.

Renewable and biodiesel

While praised for instantly dropping emissions and improving cetane levels, another incentive that may draw fleets to renewable and biodiesel is the expected rise in ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) prices this year brought on by mandated maritime use. But there could be some ways around it, especially for fleets operating in incentive-rich California.

Innovators: Roadmaster

The Glendale, Ariz.-based carrier diversifies its customer base and addresses driver turnover with a salary structure and new equipment.

News Roadcheck inspection blitz set for early May … FMCSA looks to update truck crash study … FMCSA delays entry-level driver training rule for two years … Global supply chain faces ‘severe disruptions’ from coronavirus … New Jersey punts on ABC contractor test — for now … FMCSA grants two, denies three hours of service relief requests … Supreme Court won’t hear OOIDA’s case against Pennsylvania tolls … U.S. highway conditions worsening, Annual Highway Report finds … New York wants to crack down on overweight, overheight trucks … Volvo fleet customers NFI, Dependable Highway Express participate in LIGHTS project

10 InBrief COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL

| MARCH 2020 3

DEPARTMENTS

ccjdigital.com

technology

Diesel injection tech designed to reduce particles

Comvoy connects buyers with work trucks, vans

Volvo expands plant in Huntsville, Ala.

Nikola launches electric pickup

Goodyear offers predictive tire analytics for optimum downtime

Werner kicks off electric truck test

Milan-MaxxForce case goes back to court

New tech speeds evidence collection after truck accidents

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

editorial@ccjdigital.com

AscendTMS adds reserved parking via TruckPark

Dana selects Transplace to manage network

Luma adds entry-level driver training for CDL schools, carriers

38 InBrief 39 Transflo adds Surfsight video

Mack opens Virginia MD production facility

28 Walkaround:

Samsara rolls out real-time Compliance Dashboard

technology to platform

Mack MD Series

30 Test Drive: Ford powertrains

32 InFocus: Wheel bearing adjustments

34 Severe Service

39 40

FMCSA allows mirrorless camera system on trucks Omnitracs hosts annual user conference

42 InFocus: ELD compliance ALSO IN THIS ISSUE

Upfront Editor Jason Cannon’s column

72 Preventable or Not? Straight truck driver John Doe didn’t see a small car that had parked illegally behind him while he was distracted, and when he backed his truck up, he hit the vehicle. Was this a preventable accident?

EV charger, wheel-end monitor, LED inspection headlamp, more 4

COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL

| MARCH 2020

linkedin.com/ccjmagazine

Editorial

26 InBrief

66 Products

facebook.com/CCJMagazine @CCJnow

71 Ad Index

Design & Production Art Director: Richard Street Quality Assurance: Timothy Smith Advertising Production Manager: Leah Boyd production@ccjdigital.com

Corporate Chairman Emeritus: Mike Reilly President/CEO: Brent Reilly Executive Vice President and General Manager, Equipment: Prescott Shibles Senior Vice President and General Manager, Recruiting: Scott Miller Executive Vice President, Internal Consulting Services: Nick Reid Senior Vice President, Audience: Linda Longton Senior Vice President, Acquisitions and Business Development: Robert Lake Senior Vice President, Marketing: Julie Arsenault

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UPFRONT

Not all on the same self-driving team Wild West approach to autonomy regulation isn’t working BY JASON CANNON

f you want to truly hamstring something in the transportation industry, let the government regulate it. Governmental overreach via the EPA, FMCSA, DOT or a host of other made-for-acronym agencies can complicate otherwise fundamentally simple processes. But in the case of autonomy, a Wild West approach to governmental oversight is slowing down the evolution of a bubbling technology. The industry buzzword two and three years ago, autonomy has been mostly supplanted by electrification as trend du jour. The current case for commercial viability of electrification is about on-par with that of autonomy, but electrification has one advantage in the race to be the next big thing: It doesn’t need the stamp of approval from nearly four dozen government agencies. The U.S. Department of Transportation in January released its “Preparing for the Future of Transportation: Automated Vehicles 4.0,” an update of its comprehensive effort to define federal regulatory roles and identify the legislative needs that will smooth the path for implementing autonomous technologies across various transportation modes. Something like 4.0 could go a long way in standardizing how this space evolves, which is something “self-driving” tech has lacked since its inception. Dozens of local, state and federal statutes drafted in an attempt to create a framework for the safe testing of autonomous trucks, according to a report released in January by the American Transportation Research Institute, ultimately impede the creation of a universal autonomous truck network. Thirty-seven states, along with the District of Columbia, have enacted legislation or issued executive orders regarding autonomous vehicles. Eight states currently authorize only testing, while 11 states plus D.C. authorize full deployment. Countless cities either have authorized or plan to

take part in some kind of autonomous test with rules and regulations of their own. “Our industry needs states to collaborate on seamless policies and regulations,” said Jeff Reed, Skyline Transportation president and chair of the American Trucking Associations’ Automated Truck Subcommittee. “We need more proactive federal guidance on [autonomous truck] development. Government activities at all levels must be dynamic enough to address the constantly evolving technology landscape.” Even government rules that support autonomous truck development are often too rigid to facilitate meaningful outcomes, ATRI noted. Of the 19 states that allow testing or full deployment of automated vehicles, only 12 allow testing or deployment without a human operator in the vehicle. Regulations that require constant control of the vehicle by both drivers and onboard engineers, ATRI said, make real-world assessment of the technology difficult if not impossible. DOT’s 4.0 is a nice guide that does little to actually enact the kind of unilateral decision-making needed to marshal in five or more standards for autonomous driving across 50 states. The regulatory “patchwork of state laws in interstate commerce,” ATRI wrote, pigeonholes the potential use cases for autonomous technologies into “local and regional operations in locations with favorable regulatory frameworks.” This approach also will create problems if and when drivers can apply for an autonomous vehicle exemption on a license, since states can determine how training and testing requirements are implemented but the actual endorsement is established federally. The path to long-term viability of autonomous tech doesn’t lead through 50 states with various regulations and allowances. There needs to be a common standard just like every Wild West border town needed a sheriff.

The path doesn’t lead through 50 states with various regulations.

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

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| march 2020

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LEADING NEWS, TRUCKING MARKET CONDITIONS AND INDUSTRY ANALYSIS

Roadcheck inspection blitz set for early May

he Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s annual International Roadcheck inspection blitz will be held May 5-7. During the 72-hour ramp-up in enforcement, inspectors will focus on driver requirements, including commercial driver’s licenses, medical cards, seatbelts, records of duty status and electronic logging device compliance. The inspection spree usually takes place the first week in June, but CVSA said it moved it up a month to May “when the weather may be more favorable for some jurisdictions.” The focus of the inspections will be on driver qualifications, but inspectors still will be conducting mostly full 37-point North American Standard Level I inspections during the three-day blitz. During the vehicle portion of the inspection, law enforcement will be checking brake systems, cargo securement, driveline components, exhaust systems, frames, fuel systems, lights, steering, suspensions, tires and more. If no critical violations are found, inspectors will apply a CVSA decal to the truck, indicating it has passed a decal-eligible inspection conducted by a CVSA-certified inspector.

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance will focus its annual International Roadcheck inspection blitz May 5-7 on driver requirements.

Last year, more than 12,000 trucks and 2,700 drivers were placed out-of-service during 2019’s Roadcheck. Last year’s top OOS violations for drivers were hours of service (1,179 OOS violations, 37.2% of the total), wrong class license (714, 22.5%) – CCJ Staff and false logs (467, 14.7%).

FMCSA looks to update truck crash causation study

n an effort to revise a nearly 20-year-old study on the causes of large truck crashes, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is requesting information about how to collect crash data most effectively for an updated study. The agency conducted a large truck crash causation study from 2001 to 2003 that gave insight into the factors that contribute to crashes involving at least one commercial vehicle. The results found that driver-related action or inaction was the critical reason for crashes assigned to large trucks. FMCSA said that with changes in technology, vehicle safety, driver behavior and roadway design since the original study was conducted, it is looking to update its findings. The agency Scan the QR code with your smartphone or visit ccjdigital.com/news/subscribe-tonewsletters to sign up for the CCJ Daily Report, a daily e-mail newsletter filled with news, analysis, blogs and market condition articles.

commercial carrier journal

| march 2020

FMCSA said that with changes in technology since the original large truck crash causation study was conducted, it is looking to update its findings.

said the new study will help it identify factors that are contributing to the recent growth in fatal large truck crashes and in both injury and property damage-only crashes. The results from the study are intended to help inform technology developers for autonomous vehicles regarding the kinds of driver behaviors to address. – CCJ Staff

JOURNAL NEWS

FMCSA delays entry-level driver training rule two years

he Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in late January announced it was delaying the implementation of a federal rule establishing training standards for entry-level truck drivers. The Entry-Level Driver Training (ELDT) rule, initially set to take effect Feb. 7, 2020, now will take effect Feb. 7, 2022. FMCSA said the delay is needed to further build out the needed IT infrastructure. “Following a careful review of the public comments regarding the entrylevel training rule, FMCSA is extending the rule’s implementation for two years,” the agency said. “This extension is reflective of the agency’s continued efforts to develop a secure and effective electronic trainer provider registry for the new rule. The agency remains committed to making the implementation of the rule as efficient and effective as possible.” The rule was finalized in early 2017, providing a three-year window before it took effect to allow FMCSA, trainers, fleets and states time to implement the necessary systems and procedures. The rule only applies to commercial driver’s license applicants who receive their licenses after the rule’s effective date. Required training in the rule – both classroom and behind-the-wheel driving – includes basic vehicle operation, vehicle control systems and dashboard instruments, pre- and post-trip inspections, backing and docking, distracted driving, roadside inspections, hours of service, driver-whistleblower protections and procedures and more. The rule requires training to be completed by an FMCSA-approved provider from the Training Provider Registry established by the rule, which remains at this date a work in progress. For fleets to provide training to entry-level drivers, they must be in the registry and comply with the rule’s required curriculum. Don Lefeve, head of the Commercial

FMCSA announced it is delaying its entry-level driver training rule for two years to give the agency more time to develop its Training Provider Registry.

Vehicle Training Association, said the group is frustrated by the delay, noting that the rule is already years late on the statutory deadline set in 2012 by Congress, which called for the rule to be made final within three years. “The ball has been dropped,” Lefeve said. “(But) I feel like the leadership of FMCSA understands the significance of it, and I feel like they have a plan for moving forward.” Tim Blum, executive director for the Professional Truck Driver Institute (PTDI), said training providers, including fleets, should use the extra time to ensure their programs comply with the rule. “I look at this as an opportunity for the schools to get ready,” Blum said. “A lot don’t understand it, and a lot don’t even know about it. This is a period we can help people.” The program’s linchpin will be the registry, which requires any CDL training organization to self-certify that its program is compliant with the rule. “We suspected a few years ago that ‘we’re not sure [the government] is going to pull that (the registry) off,’ ” said Laura McMillan, vice president of training for Instructional Technologies Inc. (ITI).

McMillan said that since that time, she’d heard much about the difficulties the government had experienced putting all the technical pieces together, particularly as they relate to state agencies that are primary in the licensing process. With FMCSA’s 2019 proposal to delay two technical portions of the rule that essentially limited governments’ ability to enforce it, “they received a lot of comments [from state agencies] that requested a full delay,” McMillan said. She echoed Blum about schools’ preparations, which her organization supports with its online-training modules that can fulfill the theory portions of the testing when the rule comes into play in 2022. The ELDT rule mandates a professional certification for any entry-level CDL driver, McMillan said. “In our conversations with clients and others in the industry, though they don’t necessarily like the idea of new rules and regulations, everyone can agree that’s really the right thing to do,” she said. To view public comments on the rule’s delay, go to Regulations.gov and search Docket No. FMCSA-2007-27748. – CCJ Staff commercial carrier journal

| march 2020 9

SPONSORED INFORMATION

JURY AWARDS $1 BILLION DOLLAR VERDICT

his headline sure got my attention. As a lawyer who defends CDL drivers and motor carriers, I am accustomed to seeing headlines regarding the latest “nuclear” verdict for accidents. I see the headlines and read the articles but, to be honest, have become somewhat numb to the size of the verdicts. It is increasingly rare for a verdict to truly shock me, but earlier this week, one did. I was drinking my morning coffee and reviewing some legal websites when I came across a headline proclaiming a jury had just awarded more than $1 billion to the survivor and families of victims in a fatal DUI crash. Needless to say, I went straight to the article to see what facts would support such a verdict and how they came up with that amount for damages. While the case did not involve a CDL driver, the case did have horrible facts. A driver, Morsette (who had a blood alcohol concentration of 0.295, which is more than three times the legal limit) was speeding in the wrong direction and slammed head-on into a vehicle driven by Ms. Monson and carrying two of Monson’s friends. Monson was the only person from her vehicle to survive the crash but she suffered a traumatic brain injury. Morsette, who had a previous DUI conviction, pleaded guilty to two counts of vehicular homicide and one count of criminal vehicular injury and was sentenced to 25 years in prison. In the civil lawsuit that followed, the jury awarded $295 million in punitive damages to Monson and each of the families of the two other victims. In addition, the jury awarded compensatory damages of $170 million to Monson and $36 million to each of the families of the other two victims. Punitive damages are awarded as punishment while compensatory damages are awarded to cover losses. The total punitive damage award was $885 million dollars and compensatory damages equaled $242 million. The punitive damages awarded, according the attorney for one of the victim’s family, were representative of Morsette’s blood alcohol concentration on the night of the accident. In addition, Monson’s attorney stated that the verdict illustrated “how we in North Dakota value people’s lives and value the ability to live life in a healthy way.” If my math is correct, the total amount awarded by the jury totals 1,147,000,000. When I see an award like this I immediately think of three things; (a) the jury is clearly sending a message, (b) this amount is uncollectable; and (c) how did they calculate the damages? The first two are pretty straightforward. The jury clearly wanted to further prevent DUIs and thought the award would help accomplish that goal. It is also possible Morsette does not have the money to pay over $1 billion in damages. Though I may be wrong, I would suspect that Morsette may be what we attorneys refer to as judgment proof. This means that it does not matter if the verdict is $1 million, $1 billion, or $1 trillion dollars – he does not have the money to pay. I hope this is not the case and that Monson and the families of the other two victims receive compensation. Next month, I will cover the factors involved in calculating damages.

JOURNAL NEWS

INBRIEF 3/20 • Three U.S. senators from the Northeast – Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Ed Markey (D-Mass.) – called on the makers of smartphone navigation apps such as Google, Apple and Waze to add more data and “commonsense info on highway height, weight and other restrictions” to help prevent incidents involving trucks striking low bridges on prohibited routes. • McKee Foods Transportation, the private fleet of the maker of Little Debbie and other snack foods, petitioned the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to extend a waiver allowing its team drivers to split their sleeper berth time into two periods totaling 10 hours as long as neither period is shorter than three hours. FMCSA first granted the waiver in 2015, and it is set to expire March 27. To view comments, go to Regulations.gov and Search Docket No. FMCSA-2014-0071-0023. • The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration approved Nuro’s exemption petition to test driverless electric vehicles on public roads. Nuro said its last-mile autonomous package delivery vehicles will enhance consumer convenience, cut congestion, improve road safety and reduce fuel use. • ChargePoint, a provider of an electric vehicle (EV) charging network, and NATSO, which represents America’s travel plazas and truckstops, partnered to create the National Highway Charging Collaborative to help extend EV charging nationwide. Over the next decade, the Collaborative will leverage $1 billion in capital to deploy charging at more than 4,000 travel plazas and fuel stops to not only enable long-distance electric travel along major routes but also provide more access to charging in rural communities. • XPO Logistics (CCJ Top 250, No. 6) in late January announced that it was exploring the sale or spinoff of up to four of its business units: North American Transportation, European Transportation, European Supply Chain and North America/Asia-Pacific Supply Chain. XPO said it didn’t intend to sell or spin off its North American less-than-truckload business that it acquired from Con-way Freight in 2015. • Downers Grove, Ill.-based Roadrunner Transportation Systems (CCJ Top 250, No. 122) announced the sale of its Prime Distribution Services warehousing subsidiary to Minneapolis-based broker C.H. Robinson for $225 million. PDS, based in Plainfield, Ind., provides warehousing and retail fulfillment and employs about 270 people across five locations. C.H. Robinson said it would integrate PDS into its existing Navisphere division. • Dupré Logistics (CCJ Top 250, No. 122), a transportation and logistics provider, and Hoyer Group, a provider of international logistics, entered into a joint venture agreement to create Hoyer Bulk, which will provide seamless North American supply chain offerings. Dupré, based in Lafayette, La., holds a 51% share of Houston-based Hoyer Bulk. • Bolt Express, a provider of time-critical transportation services, acquired expedite services provider Premium Transportation Logistics to support its customers’ shipping needs and improve fleet utilization; terms were not announced. Both companies are based in Toledo, Ohio. • Alabama Motor Express, an Atlanta-based trucking and third-party logistics company, acquired substantially all assets of refrigerated hauler Powell Transport Solutions and its affiliates. The deal, terms of which were not released, adds 35 refrigerated trailers to AMX’s fleet.

commercial carrier journal

| march 2020

JOURNAL NEWS

Global supply chain faces ‘severe disruptions’ from coronavirus

he deadly coronavirus outbreak that began in Wuhan, China, in December could have a significant impact on freight volume entering the United States from China. The extent of the virus’ impact on the supply chain is still unknown, but experts say the normally soft first quarter for Chinese imports to the United States will be even softer this year. As of Feb. 19, the virus had killed more than 2,000 people, all but six of them in mainland China. Wuhan, in China’s Hubei Province, is a major industrial and transportation hub in central China along the Yangtze River. According to a report from DHL’s Resilience360, Wuhan is a hub for high-technology industries, including chip fabrication plants that make flash memory used in smartphones and computers. The city also is known as China’s “motor city,” the report states, due to a large manufacturing presence of domestic and foreign car makers and global auto parts suppliers. The pneumonia-like coronavirus began to spread in December, prompting the World Health Organization to declare the virus outbreak a global health 12

commercial carrier journal

emergency on Jan. 30. The United States followed suit the next day by declaring its own public health emergency. DHL’s report said that “severe disruptions to inbound and outbound air cargo shipments, trucking and rail cargo services, as well as heavy port congestions for vessels along the Yangtze River near Wuhan, will likely persist as the coronavirus crisis unfolds.” One bit of silver lining for shippers, and in turn U.S. trucking companies that distribute imported freight from China through ports, is that the Wuhan lockdown began at the start of the Lunar New Year celebration, which is normally a weeklong holiday for Chinese citizens and businesses when all manufacturing is shut down anyway. The normal holiday period was scheduled Jan. 24-30, and that was extended through Feb. 2 for most of China. It was extended through Feb. 9 for some larger municipalities and provinces and through Feb. 13 for Hubei Province, including Wuhan. Neel Jones Shah, executive vice president and global head of airfreight for Flexport, said it’s unknown how many workers will come back to work

| march 2020

Experts say the normally soft first quarter for Chinese imports to the United States will be even softer this year due to the coronavirus outbreak.

from their hometowns once Chinese factories reopen for production. After a typical Lunar New Year holiday, about 10% to 15% of workers don’t return for various reasons, Shah said. With the virus outbreak, more workers could decide to stay home in a safer environment, further delaying production from getting back up to speed at factories, he said. Paul Sanfield, director of media relations for the Port of Los Angeles, said it will “take several weeks for Chinese factories to ramp up production and begin getting cargo on vessels bound for the U.S.” “We expect to see a slowdown in cargo the first several months of 2020 on the import side,” Sanfield said. As for exports, it depends on if agriculture exports from the first phase of the new China trade deal take hold, he said. “Coronavirus could have an impact on that, as well,” Sanfield said. The Port of Los Angeles expects softer freight volumes in the first quarter due to both the virus outbreak and the ongoing U.S.China trade talks, he said. – Matt Cole

JOURNAL NEWS

THE COMPLIANCE PARTNER FOR THOSE WHO AIM HIGHER

New Jersey’s independent contractor classification legislation imposes penalties on companies for intentional misclassification of employees.

New Jersey punts on ABC contractor test — for now

ew Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy on Jan. 20 signed into law a package of bills aimed at shoring up state protocols around the independent contractor classification of workers across industries. The package didn’t include State Senate Bill 4204, which would have codified an independent contractor classification test like the one in California’s Assembly Bill 5. The principal sponsor of S. 4204, State Senate leader Stephen Sweeney, said he expected to reintroduce the ABC test bill in the State Legislature’s next session. The bill’s failure in New Jersey followed news from California in January that A.B. 5’s ABC test, problematic for traditionally leased owner-operators based in the state or leased to companies domiciled there, will not apply to trucking pending federal court challenges from the California Trucking Association and owner-operators that argue federal law preempts the state rule’s application to trucking. New Jersey’s new independent contractor classification legislation imposes various penalties on companies for intentional misclassification of employees and empowers the state with a variety of new punitive measures for doing so. – CCJ Staff

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JOURNAL NEWS

FMCSA grants two, denies three HOS relief requests

he Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration announced decisions on five requests for relief from various provisions in the hours of service regulations. Of the requests, FMCSA granted two and denied three. The agency granted separate requests from the National Waste & Recycling Association and Kimble Recycling & Disposal that will allow their short-haul drivers operating under the short-haul exemption to extend their day beyond 12 hours. NWRA members’ drivers and Kimble drivers in the waste and recycling industry now will be allowed to return to their work-reporting location within 14 hours of coming on duty rather than the 12 hours required by the regulations. FMCSA said it granted the requests because it did not allow for additional driving time, and drivers still would be limited by the weekly 60- or 70-hour limits. The requests are in line with FMCSA’s proposed hours of service changes, which would extend the shorthaul exemption on-duty time from 12 hours to 14. FMCSA denied a joint request from the American Bakers Association and

International Dairy Foods Association that would have exempted baked goods and milk delivery drivers from maximum driving time limits during natural disaster emergency situations. The agency said the groups did not provide an analysis of the potential safety impacts of the requested exemption or countermeasures for ensuring the exemption wouldn’t negatively impact safety. Another exemption request denial was handed out to North Shore Environmental Construction, which petitioned FMCSA for a break from the 14-hour rule for drivers responding to environmental emergencies. The company requested that its drivers be allowed to operate up to 4½ hours beyond the 14th hour of coming on-duty. FMCSA said in its denial that “there is no basis for granting an exemption that would allow an individual to drive after the 18th hour after coming on duty when there is no mandatory offduty time included within the 18-hour period.” The agency added that North Shore essentially asked to extend the on-duty period by 4½ hours in exchange for a three-hour reduction in the driving time limit.

Kimble Recycling & Disposal drivers now will be allowed to return to their workreporting location within 14 hours of coming on duty rather than 12 hours.

Another joint request, filed by Wolfe House Movers and Wolfe House Movers of Indiana, was denied after the companies requested an exemption from the “60 hours in seven days” rule for their drivers transporting steel beams and dollies to and from various jobsites for lifting and moving buildings. The companies asked to allow their drivers to operate up to 70 hours in six days because they do not operate on Sundays for religious reasons. FMCSA said it denied the request because the companies did not demonstrate how their drivers would maintain the same level of safety as operating 60 hours in six days. – CCJ Staff

Supreme Court won’t hear OOIDA’s case against Pa. tolls

he Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association’s legal challenge of the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission’s toll increases ended in late January when the U.S. Supreme Court announced its decision to not hear OOIDA’s lawsuit. OOIDA argued that PTC’s “excessive” toll hikes “place an undue burden on interstate commerce while improperly diverting toll revenue to other projects unrelated to the turnpike.” Last April, a Pennsylvania judge dismissed the lawsuit, leading to OOIDA’s Supreme Court appeal. “By not hearing the case, the Court 14

commercial carrier journal

has essentially ensured that all highway users will be ATMs to fund everything under the sun, and from here on out, that is exactly what will happen in other states,” said Lewie Pugh, OOIDA vice president. “We are dumbfounded that the highest court in the country thinks it’s OK for states to place the burden of solving their own bad decisions upon motorists and truckers by way of excessive tolls. It’s literally highway robbery.” PTC said it’s pleased with the decision but added that the lawsuit helped bring the turnpike’s funding issues to the attention of state leaders. “It is of paramount importance to keep leaders

| march 2020

OOIDA argued that the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission’s “excessive” toll hikes “place an undue burden on interstate commerce.”

focused on the future funding of all transportation needs in the Commonwealth,” said Mark Compton, PTC chief executive officer. – CCJ Staff

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JOURNAL NEWS

U.S. highways decaying, Annual Highway Report finds

fter decades of incremental progress in several key categories, the nation’s highway conditions are deteriorating, especially in a group of problem-plagued states struggling to repair deficient bridges, maintain Interstate pavement and reduce urban traffic congestion, according to the Reason Foundation’s Annual Highway Report. “This year we see some improvement on structurally deficient bridges, but pavement conditions on rural and urban highways are declining,” said Baruch Feigenbaum, lead author of the Annual Highway Report and assistant director of transportation for the Reason Foundation. “The rise in traffic fatalities is worrying, and we aren’t making needed progress on traffic congestion in our major cities.” The 24th Annual Highway Report, based on data that states submitted to the federal government, ranks each state’s highway system in 13 categories, including traffic fatalities, pavement condition, congestion, spending per mile, administrative costs and more. This year’s report uses state-submitted highway data from 2016, the most recent year with complete figures currently available, along with traffic congestion and bridge data from 2017. North Dakota ranks first in overall performance and costeffectiveness rankings for the second year in a row. North Dakota’s rural and urban Interstate pavement conditions both rank in the top 10, and the state has kept its per-mile costs down. Virginia jumps 25 spots in the rankings, from 27th overall in the previous report into second place. Missouri, Maine and Kentucky round out the top five states. The state highway systems in New Jersey (50th), Alaska (49th), Rhode Island (48th), Hawaii (47th), Massachusetts (46th) and New York (45th) rank at the bottom. Despite spending more money per mile than any other state, New Jersey has the worst urban traffic congestion and among the worst urban Interstate pavement conditions in the country. The study finds pavement conditions on both urban and rural Interstates are deteriorating, with the percentage of urban Interstate mileage in poor condition increasing in 29 of 50 states. One-third, 33%, of the nation’s urban Interstate mileage in poor condition is concentrated in five states: California, Delaware, Hawaii, Louisiana and New York. Also, the percentage of rural arterial principal roads in poor condition hit the worst levels since 2000. Similarly, the study’s three traffic fatality categories – overall, urban and rural – all show more fatalities in 2016 than in any year since 2007. The most positive news in this year’s report is on bridges, where 39 states lowered the percentage of bridges deemed structurally deficient. However, 18% or more of bridges 16

commercial carrier journal

| march 2020

Traffic congestion remains about the same from the previous report, with Americans spending an average of 35 hours a year stuck in traffic.

remain structurally deficient in five states: Iowa, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota and West Virginia. Traffic congestion remains about the same from the previous report, with Americans spending an average of 35 hours a year stuck in traffic. Drivers in New Jersey, New York, California, Georgia and Massachusetts experience the longest delays due to urban traffic congestion in their metropolitan regions. The report finds states disbursed about $139 billion for state-controlled highways and arterials in 2016, a 4% decrease from approximately $145 billion spent in 2015, even though 21 states made overall progress in 2016. “Examining the 10-year average of state overall performance data indicates that the national system performance problems are largely concentrated in the bottom 10 states,” Feigenbaum said. “Towards the bottom of the rankings, you have highlypopulated states like last-place New Jersey, along with Massachusetts, New York, and California to a lesser extent, that are spending a lot per mile but often failing to keep up with traffic congestion and road maintenance.” New Jersey, Florida, Massachusetts, New York and Connecticut spent the most on their highways on a per-mile basis, with each state spending more than $200,000 per mile of highway it controls. In contrast, Missouri, which ranks third overall in performance and cost-effectiveness, did so while spending just $23,534 per mile of highway it controls. Massachusetts ranks low in the overall rankings but shows the nation’s lowest traffic fatality rate, while South Carolina reports the highest. – CCJ Staff

JOURNAL NEWS

N.Y. seeks crackdown on overweight, overheight trucks

ew York Gov. Andrew Cuomo introduced as part of his 2021 budget proposal a measure that increases penalties on truckers entering restricted parkways near New York City. The proposed fines/penalties by weight class include: New York Gov. • Less than 10,000 pounds: First viola- Andrew Cuomo wants to increase tion – $250 and/or 15 days in jail; penalties on second violation within 18 months truckers entering restricted – $500 and/or 45 days in jail; third parkways near violation within 18 months – $750 New York City. and/or 90 days in jail. • Between 10,000 and 26,000 pounds: First violation – $1,000 and/or 15 days in jail; second violation within 18 months – $1,500 and/or 45 days in jail; third violation within 18 months – $2,500 and/or 90 days in jail. • Over 26,000 pounds: First violation – $5,000 and/or 15 days in jail; second violation within 18 months – $7,500 and/or 45 days in jail; third violation within 18 months – $10,000 and/or 90 days in jail. Also, violations by vehicles exceeding 26,000 pounds could include a one-year registration suspension. • New fines/penalties for overheight vehicles: First offense – $5,000 and/or 30 days in jail; second offense – $7,500 and/or 60 days in jail. Kenda Hems, president for the Trucking Association of New York, said she hopes that between now and April 1 when a final state budget is due, the organization can work with the governor and legislators to create what she called “a more reasonable fine structure.” Hems said much of the problem can be traced to two issues — out-of-state drivers unfamiliar with the parkways and their truck restrictions, and drivers using GPS units or apps that don’t show trucking-related information and not paying attention to parkway signs. Meanwhile, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio last month created a special police task force to crack down on overweight trucks on the aged Brooklyn-Queens Expressway (BQE), part of I-278. The BQE, originally built in the 1940s to handle 47,000 vehicles a day, now is an essential daily route for more than 153,000 vehicles, including some 15,000 trucks. In his executive order, de Blasio said “outside consultants hired by the New York City Department of Transportation concluded in 2016 that if the BQE is not reconstructed by 2026, weight restrictions may need to be added to the structure, including diverting all truck traffic to local roads.” – David Hollis

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JOURNAL NEWS

Volvo flips switch on LIGHTS e-truck project in California

olvo Trucks North America (VTNA) has has turned on the LIGHTS. Announced just more than a year ago, the Low Impact Green Heavy Transport Solution (LIGHTS) partnership teamed together VTNA fleet customers NFI (CCJ Top 250, No. 28) and Dependable Highway Express (No. 125) in the deployment of electric VNR trucks at their California port operations — part of an effort to demonstrate the ability of battery-electric vehicles (EVs) to improve freight and warehouse efficiencies, reduce emissions and improve air quality. California Air Resources Board (CARB) board member Barbara Riordan, speaking at last month’s LIGHTS Innovation Showcase at Volvo Trucks’ TEC Equipment dealership in Fontana, Calif., said that “90% of Californians still breathe unhealthy air during some time of the year.” CARB provided more than $44 million in funding for the LIGHTS initiative, which, all-in, is a more than $90 million project. Other stakeholders in the project – 15 partners altogether – are California’s South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) and several transportation and electrical charging infrastructure participants. “Partnership is the new leadership,” said Martin Lundstedt, president and chief executive officer for Volvo Group. Paraphrasing President Truman, Lundstedt said “It’s amazing what you can do when you don’t care who gets the credit.” Lundstedt said 40% of all imports pass through California’s ports, making the Golden State a logical launching point for the LIGHTS initiative. The first five LIGHTS trucks have been ordered and delivered. The 113-inch BBC electric VNR models being used in the test are based on technologies currently in use in the North American Volvo VNR and the European Volvo FE Electric tractor and leverage some of the 18

commercial carrier journal

company’s experience in electric buses. VTNA President Peter Voorhoeve said deploying those units in real-world operations was vital for the company as Volvo seeks to glean mountains of data from the units to refine its technologies before limited commercial production ramps up later this year. “One of the conditions for us is we don’t want a pilot,” Voorhoeve said. “We don’t want a showcase. We want a commercial solution. LIGHTS is an accelerator of this development.” “We are moving into the second phase of electrification, into adoption,” added Lars Stenqvist, chief technology officer for Volvo Group. Stenqvist said the LIGHTS project also will help Volvo define the lifecycle and range of the truck’s batteries, adding the project will go through two generations of batteries before entering production by the end of 2020. “The speed of battery development will be decisive for the update of electric vehicles,” he said, adding that Volvo is “ready to scale production of electric trucks when demand starts to grow.” The VNRs slated to tool around the Port of Los Angeles feature centermounted dual electric motors with a 2-speed gearbox. Behind that is a mostly conventional driveline. Four packs of batteries, each weighing about 1,150 pounds, supply onboard power. The charging port is mounted on the driver’s side. The battery system is designed like a shelf, allowing packs to be slid in and out for service.

Infrastructure Nearly 60 chargers have been deployed as part of the LIGHTS project, with both light- and heavy-duty capabilities. Locally, the installation of the truck charging infrastructure was handled by Greenlots, a member of the Shell Group and a provider of EV charging and energy management solutions. The heavy-duty

| march 2020

Volvo Group President and CEO Martin Lundstedt speaks at last month’s LIGHTS Innovation Showcase.

fleet charging stations are the first of four installations by Greenlots at warehouses across Southern California. Greenlots installed two fully operational ABB 50kW DC fast chargers at TEC Equipment’s Fontana dealership and plans to install an additional 150kW DC fast charger in the next month. All the charging equipment for the project is connected to Greenlots’ SKY EV Charging Network Software, which enables management of Volvo’s fleet and charging stations while balancing grid demand. Balancing the load demand on the electric grid will be increasingly important as more EVs are put on the road. Idine Ghoreishian, senior manager for Greenlots, forecasted that 508 million EVs will hit the road by 2040. The growing number of EVs will add more than 2,000TWh of electricity demand globally, he said. Katie Sloan, director of eMobility for Southern California Edison, said public utilities often provide funding opportunities and incentives toward electrification and also can help with rate analysis, help customers understand the costs associated with electrification, provide third-party checks on vendor claims and review plans for solar and battery storage. Sales and service Initial sales of the electric VNR will kick off in California, mostly within the footprint of the LIGHTS project. TEC Equipment will serve as a fully certified maintenance hub for the Volvo VNR Electric project trucks in the South

JOURNAL NEWS Coast Air Basin. The company also will lease 15 Volvo VNR Electric trucks to interested customers for real-world trials as part of the overall project and offer an uptime support team for assistance with parts and service. With fewer mechanical parts and maintenance needs that to-date are not clearly defined within a duty cycle, the electric truck represents a fundamental shift in business for truck dealers and their OEMs. “Our mindset needs to change a little with these products,” said Brett Pope, director of electric vehicles for VTNA. Dealers and their OEM likely would work with customers to address electric infrastructure needs, taking on a consultive role before the truck order is ever placed. “On the product side, we have to train our product managers,” Pope said. “We have to understand what we are offering on this truck. When it comes time to

order the truck, and once we’re ready for delivery, we have to have new driver training.” Inventing a market for electric trucks also means building out an aftermarket support platform for them, and Volvo plans to lean heavily on the training and workshop support programs already integrated within its dealer network. “All we have to do is put in the new content,” said Jeff Zody, aftermarket project manager for VTNA. Zody said the LIGHTS program also will help refine parts inventory strategies as TEC Equipment learns which parts are most subject to failure and need to be regularly stocked locally. Technicians also will need specific training for electric trucks, “and safety is the driving influence of this,” Zody said. The evolution of technical know-how also means the changing of job descriptions and responsibilities in the service bay. “Your everyday technician is pretty

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much going to have to start becoming a computer person,” said Kenny Melancon, a diesel instructor with San Bernardino Valley College. Melancon, in partnership with TEC Equipment and VTNA, will use the LIGHTS initiative to craft a curriculum for electric truck technicians. San Bernardino Valley College currently is working with high school sophomores, juniors and seniors to familiarize them with terminology on electric vehicles — part of a dual enrollment program where students earn college credits while working on their high school diploma. “We’re not dealing with a 12-volt battery anymore,” said John Frala, a professor with Rio Hondo College, which also has developed an electric vehicle curriculum in partnership with TEC Equipment. “We’re dealing with, sometimes, up to 800 volts.” Frala said his program is full through January 2021. – Jason Cannon

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commercial carrier journal

| march 2020 19

PRODUCT REVIEWS, OEM & SUPPLIER NEWS AND EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT TRENDS

From left, Sandia Lab researchers Nathan Harry, Christopher Nilsen, Drummond Biles and Charles Mueller show a patented ducted fuel injection (DFI) module.

Goodbye, soot Diesel injection tech designed to reduce particles

prominent science magazine whose storied archives include articles from Albert Einstein recently wrote about new diesel technology that has been shown to reduce soot drastically. The December edition of Scientific American featured a story on a patented ducted fuel injection (DFI) system that has demonstrated soot particle reduction rates of 50% to 100%. Combustion scientist Charles Mueller, who works at Sandia National Laboratories, has patented his Bunsen burner-like technology that has attracted support from Ford, Caterpillar, Toyota and Georgia Tech.

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commercial carrier journal

| march 2020

Mueller’s device introduces more air into diesel injectors, which makes for a more thorough burn and thus produces less soot. His idea hails from the Bunsen burner. “He saw that by equipping diesel fuel injectors with tiny Bunsen burner-chimney equivalents – small metal tubes installed a short distance from the injector nozzle hole and aligned with the fuel stream – fuel and air could be more fully premixed to enable that even, soot-free blue-flame burning,” wrote Scientific American staff editor Steven Ashley. “And it could happen at the lower temperatures required for anti-NOx dilution.” In a Sandia Lab News story titled “Diesel Engine Revolution,” Mueller explained how oxygenated, renewable diesel fuels used in a DFI system could lower emissions further and lead to a reduction of heavy and costly aftertreatment exhaust components. “Using oxygenated fuels with DFI lowers emissions more than DFI with conventional diesel fuel, perhaps enough to enable a less-expensive engine system because less exhaust aftertreatment would be required,” Mueller said. “On a modern

on-highway truck, aftertreatment amounts to about $12,000 in initial and operating costs over the life of the vehicle. Reducing even a fraction of those costs is a big deal, given the large number of these vehicles and their importance to the economy.” Conventional diesel engine injectors produce three to 10 times more fuel than required for combustion, Mueller said. “When you have that much excess fuel at high temperature, you tend to produce a lot of soot,” he said. “Installing the ducts enables us to closely approach what we call ‘leaner lifted-flame combustion’ – diesel combustion that doesn’t form soot – because the local mixtures contain less excess fuel.” Ford and Caterpillar both have signed cooperative research and development agreements with Sandia to help advance DFI technology. But Ashley said as far as the push for new green technology is concerned, the diesel engine has a lot of job security. “Green replacements – based on electrochemical batteries and hydrogen fuel cells, for example – do not yet have the juice to replace diesel as a critical power source in the global economy,” he said. “Diesel engines are robust, durable, fuel-efficient and, crucially, can provide the big torque needed to move big things. Most of the hundreds of millions of medium and large long-haul trucks on highways today run on diesel — as do majorities of the world’s trains, ships, off-road vehicles and heavy machinery, not to mention many electricity generators, domestic pickup trucks and European passenger cars.” – Tom Quimby

Comvoy connects buyers with work trucks, vans

hopping for a new or used commercial vehicle can get complicated fast given all the possibilities for upfits and vehicle options. Kathryn Schifferle set out to make it easier with Comvoy, an online work truck and van marketplace designed to take the edge off the vehicle shopping experience for both buyers and sellers alike. “There are millions of businesses that need to use work trucks every single day,” said Schifferle, Comvoy’s chief executive officer and founder. “These are hard-working people who lose money when they don’t have – or don’t even know where to begin to find – the exact vehicle they need. We built this marketplace to be the one-stop shop for all things work truck. Search results on Comvoy are never skewed around paid placements or sponsored products. This marketplace is built around what buyers need and is about helping them get it. Period.” Schifferle draws on plenty of experience in the work truck industry, including lessons learned from her other website, Work Truck Solutions. The results are an inviting buyer-centric site that’s user-friendly from the start. Shopping begins by simply clicking on one of 21 vocations or by vehicle body type, brand or upfit manufacturer. Schifferle’s knack for taming and organizing an ever-expanding pile of work truck resources extends to helpful articles and videos. She referenced the Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) system, which was started in the 1930s as a much-needed approach for categorizing various industries while employing a common nomenclature. Modeling that SIC approach brings valued clarity in arranging Comvoy’s 140,000plus commercial vehicle listings offered through over 800 dealers. “We really focus on, of course, the SIC code categories, and you’ll see a few if you drill into those,” Schifferle said. “Each one

Comvoy aims to quickly connect buyers with work trucks and vans from over 800 dealers across the country.

of them has a landing page and walks the shopper through the kinds of vehicles they’ll be interested in.” Body types are featured on the bottom of the page in a lineup of easy-to-see outlines based on vehicles they represent. Vehicle selections can be parsed by brand, model, year, cab type, drivetrain, rear wheels, fuel type, engine type, color, GVWR, class, wheelbase, body options and cab to axle. Comvoy should not be confused with Work Truck Solutions, which is geared toward helping dealers and upfitters connect with buyers by enhancing their databases and websites with more relevant and helpful information and tools surrounding work truck and van selection. “We are a solution that dealers use to run their business,” Schifferle said of Work Truck Solutions. “Our platform allows them to display and manage their inventory on their own website and also manage their salespeople and their customers and all of that. The one thing that we did not do for them up until now was bring them buyers, bring them leads. That’s why with Comvoy, there’s been dancing in the street. We’re very, very excited.” While creating Comvoy, Schifferle kept ease-of-use and cost in mind. “I think really one of the other big decisions that we made in coming out to help the market was that we decided that we just wanted to get buyers directly to what they’re looking for fast and fair and not do any, what I would call, pay to play,” she said. – Tom Quimby commercial carrier journal

| march 2020 21

Navistar hints at coming integrated powertrain

avistar last month officially broke ground on a planned $125 million expansion of its engine manufacturing plant in Huntsville, Ala., where the company builds its heavyduty International A26 engine — and where, once the expansion is complete in 2023, it plans to build its new International Integrated Powertrain. Details on the powertrain package are still under wraps, but Navistar plans to leverage the resources of its partner Traton Group – the global trucks branch of Volkswagen that owns about 17% of the truck maker – to develop the integrated powertrain offering. International currently is the only North American truck maker that doesn’t offer a proprietary integrated powertrain. The International LT on-highway tractor comes standard with the company’s 12.4-liter A26 engine paired with Eaton’s 12-speed transmission. International LT buyers also can opt for the Cummins-Eaton integrated powertrain package. The company plans to change that, however, with the groundbreaking at the Huntsville engine plant representing the company’s first steps toward that goal, said Mark Hernandez, head of manufacturing for Navistar. “It makes sense, with

Navistar builds its heavy-duty International A26 engine at a manufacturing plant in Huntsville, Ala.

the people we have here, the dedicated workers, to bring this powertrain here,” Hernandez said. Once complete, the expansion will create a facility of more than 400,000 square feet, with Navistar already having acquired 50 acres adjacent to the current 30-acre parcel on which to build the expansion. It will add an estimated additional 145 jobs to the plant that already employs 130 people. From the Huntsville plant, the A26 engine is shipped to International truck plants in Springfield, Ohio, and Monterrey, Mexico, to be installed in the company’s LT and RH trucks and tractors. Presumably, the new integrated powertrain offering also would be shipped from Huntsville to other plants for – James Jaillet installation.

Nikola launches electric pickup

ikola Motor Co., the builder of a hydrogen-electric Class 8 tractor, last month launched its new electric pickup truck, the Nikola Badger, which features an estimated range of up to 600 miles. The company said the pickup delivers 980 ft.-lbs. of torque, 906 peak horsepower and 455 continuous horsepower with a towing capacity of more than 8,000 pounds. Nikola said the truck is designed to handle what a construction company could throw at it and features a 15-kilowatt power outlet for tools, lights and compressors. The truck will be available with a fuel-cell electric (FCEV)/battery-electric (BEV) hybrid or battery electriconly powertrain. The company said it can operate in FCEV/battery-blend or BEV mode-only at the touch of a button. The Badger can drive 300 miles in BEV mode for those who do not have 22

commercial carrier journal

The Nikola Badger electric pickup truck will be built in conjunction with an unnamed OEM using its certified parts and manufacturing facilities.

access to hydrogen. “Nikola has billions worth of technology in our semi-truck program, so why not build it into a pickup truck?” said Trevor Milton, chief executive officer for Nikola. “I have been working on this pickup program for years and believe the market is now ready for something that can handle a full day’s worth of work without running out of energy.

| march 2020

This electric truck can be used for work, weekend getaways, towing, off-roading or to hit the ski slopes without performance loss. No other electric pickup can operate in these temperatures and conditions.” A limited number of reservations are available this year. The Badger is set to make its first appearance at Nikola World 2020, which is expected in – Jason Cannon September.

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Goodyear offers predictive tire analytics for optimum uptime

t its 2020 North America Customer Conference last month in Aurora, Colo., Goodyear launched Complete Tire Management to help commercial fleets keep trucks moving and maximize tire life. The suite of products and services enables companies to focus on their fleet management and business operations while Goodyear monitors their tires and provides actionable and insightful information to activate tire service where needed. The suite lineup includes GoodDave Beasley, vice president of commercial tires for Goodyear, introduced year’s TPMS Plus, Tire Optix, CheckPoint and Complete Tire Management at last month’s 2020 Goodyear North America Tire Ready. Customer Conference at the Gaylord Rockies Resort & Convention Center in “There are multiple ways you can see savings Aurora, Colo. from monitoring and managing tires effectively,” said Johnny McIntosh, director of integrated solutions and tire detect critical tire data – such as tire pressure, tread depth and wear – that can be transmitted wirelessly to a smartphone app. management for Goodyear. Technicians can photograph tire anomalies and upload the TPMS Plus is an on-vehicle active monitoring system that images. Detailed inspection results are paired with real-time evaluates tire conditions in real time using Goodyear’s fleetalerts. specific algorithms. TPMS Plus helps fleets identify critical “In 2019 alone, this tool inspected more than two million issues such as tire air leaks and high temperatures while tires, helping fleets to optimize their tire performance,” Beasley providing predictive tire maintenance analytics to help reduce said. “Some exciting new features have been added to Tire Optire-related roadside breakdowns. tix, and we believe there is a potential for it to be used beyond “Once a potential issue is detected, Goodyear Fleet HQ commercial fleets.” routes the driver to the nearest Goodyear service network CheckPoint is a drive-over reader device that provides autolocation or dispatches roadside assistance to perform prevenmated inspections of tire pressure and tread depth. Positioned tive maintenance, helping the driver avoid a costly breakat a fleet yard entrance, the in-ground device scans passing down,” said Dave Beasley, vice president of North America trucks and triggers alerts to fleet maintenance if there are any Commercial for Goodyear. “Best of All, TPMS Plus collects immediate tire concerns that require attention. and stores this information in Goodyear’s unique analytics “As a vehicle passes over it, we have a series of optical senplatform so fleets can then monitor and manage tire perforsors and lasers that capture tread depth, pressure and load,” mance over time.” McIntosh said. “This makes sense for high-volume fleet yards. TPMS Plus’ ability to analyze tire conditions more closely Think about a distribution center where you’ve got hundreds leads to predictive intelligence that can improve truck uptime. of vehicles going in and out.” “We’ve built some predictive capabilities around pressure, Rounding out Goodyear’s suite of Complete Tire Manageand we’re building some around thermal issues as well,” McInment is Tire Ready, a tire subscription program customtosh said. “So we can do things like note that you have a slow leak. It’s nothing that you’ve got to deal with right now, but you designed to meet an individual fleet’s specific needs. Goodyear and its dealer network will manage and optimize the tire’s need to fix it in the next three days, or you’re going to have a entire lifecycle, from new tire choices to retreads, monitoring, bad day. We’ve been refining this for half a decade with our service, analytics and more. The all-encompassing solution is R&D group here in North America and in Europe. It’s more designed to allow fleets to focus on their core business while than just TPMS. It’s not just putting something into the cab. Goodyear takes care of their tires. All this data is going up to that cloud platform, allowing us to “Goodyear Complete Tire Management combines best-inmake some smart choices for fleets.” class tire monitoring, insights and service capabilities to offer a Tire Optix, introduced by Goodyear in 2018, is a handheld complete solution for fleets,” Beasley said. tool engineered to allow technicians to quickly and accurately – Tom Quimby 24

commercial carrier journal

| march 2020

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INBRIEF • Traton, Volkswagen’s global truck unit, offered to buy Navistar International Corp. for $35 a share in cash, or about $2.9 billion. Traton already owns 17% of Navistar International through a deal that closed in 2017 when Volkswagen paid $256 million. • Meritor Inc. acquired all the outstanding common shares of Transportation Power Inc. (TransPower), a provider of integrated drive systems, full electric truck systems and energy-storage subsystems to manufacturers of trucks, school buses, refuse vehicles and terminal tractors. Terms were not disclosed. • Minimizer, a Blooming Prairie, Minn.based provider of tractor-trailer parts and accessories, acquired Premier Manufacturing, a provider of couplings/pintle hitches, drawbar eyes/lunette eyes, hinge assemblies, front end assemblies, dolly jacks and other accessories. The companies said the acquisition, terms of which were not announced, will help fast-track their growth strategies to expand their product lines and support their expansion. Premier products will continue to be sold under the Premier brand, and the company will remain in Tualatin, Ore. • Spartan Motors announced the sale of its Emergency Response (ER) segment to REV Group Inc. for about $55 million in cash. Spartan said the sale will allow it to focus on accelerating growth and profitability in its commercial, fleet, delivery and specialty vehicle markets and that proceeds initially will be used to pay down debt and support working capital requirements. • Peterbilt entered into an agreement for Meritor to be the nonexclusive supplier of electric powertrains for its heavyduty Model 579EV and Model 520EV battery-electric vehicles. Kenworth also will collaborate with Meritor on electric powertrain development for its Class 8 T680E battery-electric truck. • CIMC, a manufacturer of intermodal chassis, is creating full manufacturing capabilities at its facilities in South Gate, Calif., and Emporia, Va., each with the capacity to produce 100 chassis per shift initially, with plans to hire 275 more workers. The company also announced a name change to CIE Manufacturing.

commercial carrier journal

Werner kicks off electric truck test

erner Enterprises (CCJ Top 250, No. 11) recently kicked off its first electric-powered truck Werner’s 2019 Peterbilt pilot program. The Omaha, Neb.-based carrier took Model 579EV is running possession of a 2019 Peterbilt Model 579EV Class 8 for a year on a dedicated account in Southern electric truck in January and plans to run for a year on California. a dedicated account in Southern California. Werner’s first electric-powered truck is the result of a partnership with Peterbilt, Meritor and TransPower, a San Diego-based company that specializes in battery-vehicle integration for the medium- and heavy-duty markets. The truck is 100% electric, releases zero emissions and requires a five- to 10-hour charge time. It is the first fully collision-mitigated TransPower truck and can haul up to 80,000 pounds. The truck is operating in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Funding for the tractor was provided via an award from California Climate Investments, the state’s climate change-fighting cap-and-trade program that creates financial incentives for industries to invest in clean technologies and develop innovative ways to reduce pollution. Derek Leathers, president and chief executive officer for Werner, said his company was “committed to finding alternative ways to keep our trucks environmentally– CCJ Staff friendly while using renewable energy.”

Milan-MaxxForce case goes back to court

he Tennessee Supreme Court will hear an appeal in a case between Tennessee-based Milan Express (CCJ Top 250, No. 206) and Navistar, the maker of International Trucks and MaxxForce engines, over alleged MaxxForce defects. A jury in 2017 awarded In August 2019, an appellate court tossed a decision Milan Express $30.8 that required Navistar to pay Milan $30.8 million in dammillion in damages. An appellate court tossed ages. Milan appealed to the state’s highest court, which that decision last announced Jan. 16 it would hear the case. August, and the Milan, The fleet of roughly 400 trucks, based in Milan, Tenn., Tenn.-fleet appealed. purchased 243 International ProStar tractors equipped with MaxxForce engines in 2011 and 2012. A jury in 2017 sided with Milan, awarding the carrier $10.8 million for compensatory damages related to engine repairs and $20 million in punitive damages. A judge recently approved Navistar’s separate $135 million class action settlement that will be paid out to owners of certain International trucks equipped with model-year 2011-14 MaxxForce 11- or 13-liter engines. Owners of affected trucks can choose to receive up to $2,500 in cash, up to a $10,000 rebate on a new Navistar truck with proof of ownership/lease or up to $15,000 in repayment for repair costs for each affected truck they owned or leased. – CCJ Staff

| march 2020

INBRIEF

Mack opens Virginia MD production facility

• The Endurant 12-speed automated transmission, the first product from the Eaton-Cummins joint venture, was named standard equipment on International’s LT Series, regional RH Series and heavy-duty LoneStar trucks, adding coverage for International’s A26 engine and RH Series. The Endurant was made available as an option on LoneStar and LT trucks spec’d with Cummins’ X15 engine last May.

ack Trucks on Jan. 30 cut the ribbon on a new production facility in Salem, Va., that the company will use to build its new medium-duty truck lineup. Mack’s Roanoke Valley Operations (RVO) – a 280,000-square-foot facility, representing an investment of $13 million in Roanoke County – will employ upwards of 250 people and is charged with birthing Mack’s new Class 6 MD6 and Class 7 MD7 trucks. Jonathan Randall, senior vice president of North American sales and marketing for Mack Trucks, said the official unveiling of RVO and the company’s expanded lineup caps a process that started two years ago. Gov. Ralph Northam has approved a $700,000 grant from the Commonwealth’s Opportunity Fund for the project. Mack’s investment will be used for equipment, tooling and building enhancements. Martin Weissburg, president of Mack Trucks, cited the local pool of potential employees as an attraction to the area. “We’re excited about being part of this community,” Weissburg said. James Chenier, senior vice president of strategy and business development for Mack, said another draw is RVO’s strategic position along Interstate 81 between Mack’s headquarters in Greensboro, N.C. (115 miles), and its truck production site in Allentown, Pa. (375 miles). It’s also less than an hour from sister company Volvo

Mack’s Roanoke Valley Operations is a 280,000-square-foot facility and represents an investment of $13 million in Roanoke County, Va.

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam and Mack president Martin Weissburg unveil the Mack bulldog that will feature prominently in the company’s new Salem production facility.

Trucks North America’s New River Valley truck production site. The operation is expected to have an annual impact of $364 million across the region. The Class 6 MD6 and Class 7 MD7 unlock new over-the-road segments for Mack since the truck maker’s departure from the medium-duty segment in 2003. The MD lineup targets dry van and refrigerated applications, as well as stake/ flatbed, dump and tank truck vocations. The Mack MD6 has a gross vehicle weight rating (GVWR) of 25,995 pounds, and the MD7 model has a GVWR of 33,000 pounds. The exterior is stylized similarly to Mack’s on-highway Anthem. The trucks will be equipped with Cummins’ 6.7 liter engine, making 300 hp and 660 lb.-ft. of torque, and matched with an Allison 2500HS transmission and Meritor axles. Available in a 4×2 configuration and in eight wheelbase lengths, both models will feature a sharp wheel cut for urban maneuverability and a short 103-inch bumper-to-back-of-cab (BBC). Production is set to begin this summer, and the company now is taking orders. – Jason Cannon

• Waymo, the autonomous vehicle division of Google parent company Alphabet, in late January began mapping interstates in Texas and New Mexico in a lead-up to testing its self-driving semis. The company’s Chrysler Pacificas were trailed by its big rigs, which weren’t loaded with freight and had a driver on board, in and around El Paso, Dallas, Houston and other cities. • Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. is launching three new sizes for its Fuel Max RTD (Regional Traction Drive) tire line. By the second quarter, the tire will be available in sizes 225/70R19.5 (Load Range G), 245/70R19.5 (Load Range H) and 295/75R22.5 (Load Range G). The line currently is available in OE sizes 11R22.5 (Load Ranges G and H) and 255/70R22.5 (Load Range H). • Reyco Granning’s suspension products now feature an upgraded coating designed for improved resistance to corrosion, chipping, scratching and gravel damage. The coating can be recoated with most topcoats or used as a finished coat. • Mahle Aftermarket partnered with Grant Brothers Sales of Canada to provide its portfolio of aftermarket thermal management products, diagnostics and spare parts to all major Canadian markets. • Rowe Truck Equipment, based in Otterbein, Ind., joined the Vipar Heavy Duty network. Rowe offers critical parts delivery, roadside service, truck and trailer repair and shop services to fleet, owner-operator and independent service facility customers in north central and northeastern Indiana. • Stertil-Koni, a provider of heavy-duty truck and bus lifts, unveiled a new fullcolor product catalog available in both print and digital formats.

commercial carrier journal

| march 2020 27

WALKAROUND: MACK MD SERIES

Diving back into the medium-duty pool BY JASON CANNON

ack Trucks’ new MD Series medium-duty units are new for 2020, but the Class 6 and 7 market is far from unchartered waters for the company. Mack exited the segment in the early 2000s shortly after the debut of the Mack Freedom — more reborn Renault than Born Ready Mack. The Freedom concluded Mack’s 20-plus-year run with its medium duty Mid-Liner, and shelving the model in 2003 put Mack all-in on Class 8. Seventeen years later, a shortening length of haul and the endless quest for qualified drivers has pulled Mack back into the medium-duty pool, and they’re jumping in with both feet. Jonathan Randall, senior vice president of North American sales and marketing for Mack Trucks, said the company’s dealer network has been pushing for a return to medium duty for years, and market stabilization and growth in the segment created a perfect storm of opportunity. “It’s traditionally a pretty steady 90,000 to 100,000 trucks in the U.S. and Canada,” Randall said, noting annual medium-duty sales seldom swing as wildly as Class 8. Re-entry into the segment targets a customer base that includes dry van and refrigerated applications and stake/ flatbed, dump and tank truck vocations — segments that aren’t necessarily into trucking. “There are P&D folks, these are private fleets, these are people whose core business isn’t necessarily trucking,” Randall said. “They use trucks to move things, but they’re not trucking companies by trade.” 28

commercial carrier journal

Randall said getting back into medium duty enables the truck maker to become a single-source solution provider to all its traditional long-haul customers who also use lighterduty vehicles to supplement their businesses. Mack’s medium-duty Class 7 MD7 model has a GVWR of 33,000 The Class 7 pounds, and the Class 6 MD6 has a GVWR of 25,995 pounds. The grille and many of the body cues are shared with the truck MD7 model has maker’s on-highway Anthem. a gross vehicle weight rating an industry standard of 80,000 psi. (GVWR) of 33,000 pounds. The Class The MD cab features a 103-inch BBC, 6 MD6 has a GVWR of 25,995 pounds a clear back-of-cab, an air-suspended and won’t require a commercial driver’s license. Both trucks are exempt from the cab and a standard rear window. Roy Horton, director of product strategy Federal Excise Tax (FET), shaving 12% for Mack, said the air-suspended cab off the acquisition cost. improves both driver comfort and The MDs are Mack’s first all-new vehicle durability. A reduced step-up truck models since Anthem’s 2017 height helps improve ergonomics, while debut. They’re also the first Macks multiple grab handles and a short hood outside of refuse models to offer a nonwith better downward visibility both Mack powertrain. Both MD models are increase safety. equipped with a Cummins B6.7 liter The grille and many of the body cues engine, making up to 300 hp and 660 are shared with the Anthem, and plenty lb.-ft. of torque, and are matched with of other hints of Mack’s on-highway an Allison 2500HS transmission and products are obvious inside, such as Meritor axles. An Allison 2500RDS a wraparound dash with ergonomic conis available for applications needing a trols, a tilt telescopic steering column power-takeoff. with a flat-bottomed steering wheel, The trucks’ chassis are durable yet power windows and door locks, cruise lightweight (7mm thickness for the control and a driver air-ride seat. MD6 and 8mm thickness for the MD7) Base models get a spring suspenand are constructed to an industry-stansion, but Mack’s Maxlite air suspension dard 34-inch width using 120,000-psi is available. The wheels are a standard steel frame rails — quite a bump from

| march 2020

Both MD models are equipped with a Cummins B6.7 liter engine, making up to 300 hp and 660 lb.-ft. of torque, and are matched with an Allison 2500HS transmission and Meritor axles.

The trucks’ chassis are durable yet lightweight (7mm thickness for the MD6 and 8mm thickness for the MD7) and are constructed to an industry-standard 34-inch width using 120,000-psi steel frame rails.

Plenty of hints of Mack’s on-highway products are obvious inside, such as a wraparound dash with ergonomic controls and a tilt telescopic steering column with a flat-bottomed steering wheel.

22.5 inches, but 19.5-inch wheels are available. Horton said the use of so many interior elements from its long-haul truck, including door panels, gives the MD models an unexpected side benefit “of a very quiet cab.” An optional two-passenger bench seat allows fleets to deploy crews of three, and a flip-up bottom grants

access to a large bin for storage. “It’s a very simple design,” Horton said. “But it’s something that the customers in the medium-duty market see a ton of value in — just having a place they can put items out of the way and won’t be rolling around all over the floor.” The MD models are available in a 4×2 configuration with eight wheelbase

lengths that will support typical bodies from 10 to 26 feet. Uptime support is provided through Geotab’s Go Rugged solution with access through Mack’s Uptime Center, Mack OneCall and Asist. The MD Model will be built in Mack’s new 280,000 square-foot Roanoke Valley Operations (RVO) facility in Virginia.

TEST DRIVE: FORD POWERTRAINS

This 2020 Ford F-250 Lariat was parked at the crest of a 6% hill climb during a media event near Phoenix. The work came easy for the 7.3 V8 and 10-speed TorqShift.

Options abound with Ford’s 2020 lineup BY TOM QUIMBY

ard work just got a little easier thanks to Ford’s new powertrain lineup for model year

2020. Ford’s new 7.3-liter V8 gas engine and its new 3rd-generation 6.7-liter Powerstroke diesel are not only exciting to drive, they’re also delivering premium capabilities across several vehicle classes. But what’s power without grace? Enter Ford’s all-new heavy-duty 10-speed TorqShift transmission available in the 2020 F-250 Super Duty all the way through the new F-600 chassis cab. At the same size as the TorqShift 6-speed and only four pounds more, the new electronically controlled 10-speed offers selectable drive modes and a live drive power-takeoff provision with 300 lb.-ft. of torque with diesel. Whether bolted to the new 430-hp 7.3-liter gasoline engine or 475-hp 6.7-liter Power Stroke diesel, the 30

commercial carrier journal

10-speed TorqShift turned uphill towing weighs in at 617 pounds, the fit and on a roughly 6% grade into smooth, trim 7.3-liter muscles in at 587.4 pounds powerful and efficient work at Ford’s while delivering 350 hp and 468 lb.-ft. recent media event near Phoenix. of torque. That’s 45 more horses and 112 But it’s the new 7.3-liter V8 – nickmore lb.-ft. than its predecessor. Numnamed Godzilla – that’s bers for Super Duty pickups below getting a lot of 14,000 pounds GVWR attention. Ford’s have the 7.3 maxing first pushrod out at 430 horses and 475 lb.-ft. of torque. V8 since the “We’re remid-’90s ally proud of the is lighter, faster, more 7.3-liter,” said compact Mike Pruitt, and more Ford Super Duty chief engineer, versatile than the Triton V10 it’s while standing in front of an F-450 dump truck replacing. The numbers equipped with an don’t lie. While iron block stump Ford’s new 7.3-liter pushrod V8 the retired V10 puller. engine can be paired with its new 10-speed heavy-duty TorqShift which ended for The Windtransmission on Super Duty pickups. model year 2019 sor-produced

| march 2020

The 2020 Ford F-450 Super Duty with the new 3rd-generation 6.7-liter Power Stroke diesel delivers 475 hp and 1,050 lb.-ft. of torque.

445-cubic-inch V8 was designed from the ground up, Pruitt said. It’s not only lighter and more powerful than the outgoing V10, it also has fewer parts, such as 16 valves and one cam versus 32 valves and four cams found in the V10. “We’ve put a lot of thought into the engine about making it bulletproof ‘keepit-simple,’ so we went back to a cam-andblock design,” Pruitt said. “It’s a much smaller, compact engine with fewer parts. We wanted that commonality between ourselves as well as the medium-duty truck and keeping that simplification for maintenance purposes, which is very important to the fleet business.” Ford has stepped up oil management in the 7.3. A variable displacement oil pump reduces friction and cuts parasitic losses, while piston-cooling oil jets help tackle the heat. Increased efficiency keeps coming, as oil change intervals in the new 7.3 get an impressive leg up from 7,500 miles to 10,000 miles over the outgoing V10. “It has an oil minder, so it will monitor the usage, but it will go up to 10,000 miles between oil changes,” said Patrick Hurtrich, Ford’s gas V8 engine supervisor. “That’s a big advantage to fleet customers.” The 7.3’s four-bolt main cast-iron

block is capped by aluminum high-flow heads with port fuel injection. During a recent cross-country trip, a 2020 F-250 I drove with the new 7.3 and a 3.55 rear axle averaged 15.5 mpg. Gear changes for the 10-speed TorqShift were remarkably smooth and got the Lariat crew cab up to speed fast. A vertical display within the tachometer indicates current gear. The new 7.3-liter costs roughly $2,045 over the 6.2-liter gas V8, which still comes standard in 2020 F-250 and F-350 pickups and the F-350 chassis cab. If you plan on towing and hauling regularly, consider the 475-hp 3rd-gen 6.7-liter Power Stroke diesel. Ford’s most powerful oil burner yet offers 1,050 lb.-ft. of torque. When passing a slow driver on an Arizona highway, the F-250 I was in had zero lag. The 6.7 responded like no other factory-produced diesel I’ve driven and blasted us safely ahead in amazing time. Such power doesn’t come cheap, though. Expect to shell out roughly $10,500 more over the 6.2 for the privilege. That investment can pay off more quickly if you do more hauling and towing. David Ives, Ford’s diesel technical leader, said that with no load, a Ford diesel pickup typically offers 20% improved fuel economy over an unloaded

Ford gas truck. But that gap can grow up to 40% when towing. “For diesel, when you put the load on, it gets more efficient thermally,” Ives said. “It just gets better. It gets happier to pull. A gas engine, the more you load them, the less happier they get, because you’ve got to turn the enrichment on to keep the manifolds cool.” Increasing enrichment means operating with a less efficient air-fuel ratio. In addition, gas engines that max out at half the torque of a diesel engine will have to downshift more often and run at higher rpms to keep that load moving at an acceptable speed. The timing also may have to be retarded to prevent knocking, Ives said. “You grind through all that math and find out that your payback period if you’re towing with diesel — the amount of miles you have to drive it before it pays back is one-fifth versus running them around empty,” he said. “So the payback period, if you’re towing, may be 50,000 miles. You can justify that cost, because you’re probably going to keep the truck for 150,000 miles or so.” Ford’s F-350, F-450 and F-550 chassis cabs for model year 2020 can be optioned with audible lane departure warning and pre-collision assist with automatic emergency braking and forward collision warning. An auxiliary camera input is available for greater visibility while in reverse. For added safety, automatic high beams come standard, while fog lamps are optional on XL and XLT trims and standard on Lariat. Other driver assist features for 2020 include the FordPass Connect 4G Wi-Fi modem and Sync, which is standard on XL, while Sync 3 comes standard on XLT and Lariat. Sync connectivity bypasses the need for buying navigation services. Other changes for 2020 Ford chassis cabs include a new grille, new headlamps and a new front bumper with a different airflow bumperette.

commercial carrier journal

| march 2020 31

in focus: WHEEL BEARING ADJUSTMENTS

Not playing around Proper wheel end play the difference in bearing life and loose wheels BY JASON CANNON

he wheel end is the heart of the axle, and its margin for error in setting end play – how loosely or tightly the bearings sit inside the hub – is thinner than a sheet of paper. The Technology & Maintenance Council’s Recommended Practice 618B suggests .001 to .005 of one inch in end play, with a goal of getting as close to either number as possible. A sheet of paper is roughly .004 inch. Among the benefits of manually adjusting wheel bearings is the confidence of knowing the wheel end is within TMC’s recommended specification, “assuming the technician concludes the installation with a dial indicator to confirm end play,” said Vincent Purvis, wheel end product manager for Stemco. Properly checking end play requires removing the hubcap or axle, but Homer Hogg, director of Technical Service for TravelCenters of America, said that might not make the most sense every time you raise the wheel end. “But you can certainly spin the assembly and check for roughness,” Hogg said. “You can also try to push in on the top of the wheel to see if there is any movement.” Hogg said an experienced technician should know how to tap the assembly in the right locations and hear and feel a loose wheel bearing, “but remember that the best way to check it is with a dial indicator.” Timken said that attempting to set preload (eliminating axial clearance) in a traditional wheel end depends on the quality of all the components and the technician getting it correct every time. However, preadjusted wheel ends can offer a more predictable and middleground consistency – neither too tight 32

commercial carrier journal

A leaking wheel

seal could lead nor too loose – and since to progressive they only need to be damage of the torqued to a manufacspindle and wheel hub, turer’s specification, it’s brake imbalance less likely they are adjusted and poor brake incorrectly. performance. Preadjusted wheel end systems are intended to be re-torque the retaining nut.” locked down and secured based on the It can be difficult to tell if a wheel tolerance stackups of components inside bearing is out of adjustment without the system. Purvis said this stackup measuring wheel end play, Purvis said. commonly puts the wheel end into preHowever, some leading indicators load, which is not measurable when the are excessive wheel end temperature, wheel end is installed on the axle. uneven tire wear or the tire not spinning “While this inherently isn’t an issue, freely. the technician won’t have a measurable Hogg said another strong indicator is end play measurement to record,” he when the ABS dashboard light comes on said. or goes off while depressing the service There are several reasons to consider brakes. “A loose front wheel bearing installing a preassembled hub and bearcan cause vehicle handling issues and a ing assembly, according to Hogg. distinct humming noise in the cab of the “The component manufacturer will truck,” he said. often offer an extended warranty,” he Another warning sign is a leaking said. “It involves less labor for a techniwheel seal. Hogg said these warning cian to just remove the damaged assemsigns could lead to progressive dambly and install a new one. Little risk of age of the spindle and wheel hub, brake contamination, [and] many vehicles toimbalance and poor brake performance. day have aluminum hubs, which should Ignoring the warning signs ultimately only be serviced if you have the ability to could result in a wheel and hub assemheat the hub and chill the races.” bly separating from the vehicle while Purvis said to check the bearing fluid it is in motion. Inaction also can cause for contamination and metal flacking the wheel seal to fail, causing the fluid during each preventive maintenance to leak out and resulting in a fire on the inspection, given that the hub being wheel end. inspected offers easy access to the fluid. Reuse of preset systems and comThe wheel end should be raised off ponents in the field assumes all comthe ground to check for noisy or loose bearings and fluid condition, Hogg said. ponents are suitable for reuse, and “The outside bearing should be removed Purvis said that components worn out of specification may not be discernible and inspected, if possible, based on the “and present the risk of tightening down hub design,” he said. “The overwhelma wheel end outside of recommended ing benefit of an annual inspection is end-play specifications.” to readjust the end play or to simply

| march 2020

EQUIPMENT TEST DRIVE: MACK ELECTRIC LR

Nothing wasteful about this e-refuse truck BY JASON CANNON

hen Mack’s LR model was launched in 2015, it was touted as an upgrade replacement for the TerraPro LEU, and barely four years later, the company’s flagship refuse truck got a trendy upgrade of its own. An all-electric LR was unveiled last May, kicking off a long-term validation collaboration with the New York City Department of Sanitation (DSNY) – the largest sanitation department in the world with 6,000-plus trucks collecting more than 12,000 tons of refuse and recyclables daily. Roy Horton, director of product strategy for Mack, said the truck maker honed in on the refuse segment for its electrification plans – while seemingly the rest of the industry focuses on long-haul – because it’s a closed-loop application with predetermined routes that have lower range requirements. “[These considerations] really help facilitate the kind of research and

The Mack LR Electric demonstrator is the first 72,000-lb. GVW BEV collection truck in the country.

development that needs to happen in order to get new technology to the market quickly,” Horton said. The Mack LR Electric demonstrator – the nation’s first 72,000-lb. GVW BEV collection truck – will be based from DSNY’s Brooklyn North 1 garage and tested on local collection routes. Several vehicle performance metrics will be evaluated by DSNY over the course of the test – which will get underway this spring – including

Electrical interfaces Harting’s Han ES Press HMC (High Mating Cycles) series of electrical interfaces are engineered for quick installation without tools and are robust enough to be connected and disconnected multiple times. The contact inserts are equipped with a pretensioned cage clamp that is triggered by an actuator, and a screwdriver is needed to release the connection. The interface is made to fit standard housing sizes 6B to 24B. Contacts and grounding elements feature a surface coating designed for harsh high-vibration environments and to resist abrasion. Harting North America, www.harting.com, 877-741-1500

commercial carrier journal

| march 2020

operating range, payload capacity, regenerative braking performance and the overall functionality of a fully electric vehicle in refuse operations. DSNY Deputy Commissioner Rocky DiRico said the truck’s initial route will be about 18 miles, but the real test, he added, is evaluating how the equipment will handle stopping and starting an average of every 40 feet over an 8-hour shift. The truck will split time between a combination of routes and being racked on DSNY’s dynamometer, which will put the system through even more simulated tests. “We can put that truck on the dynamometer, spin those wheels and simulate a route,” DiRico said. “So we can actually do it in a controlled environment.” DiRico said the incorporation of electric trucks will help DSNY achieve its goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2035 and becoming carbon-neutral by 2050.

EQUIPMENT

Quick-spin impressions The truck is a basically a one-of-itskind rolling science experiment – a similar unit slotted to solid waste collection agency Republic Services is still being built – so my drive was limited to Mack’s test track in Allentown, Pa. However, it only takes several laps around the three-quarter-mile track to log the kind of distance a refuse truck would travel in a given day. At a distance, if not for the decals signaling its zero-emissions drivetrain, it’s not obvious that this truck isn’t an everyday production model. The truck’s copper-colored Bulldog hood ornament signifies it’s an electric vehicle. Unlike traditional LR models, you won’t find Mack’s MP7 engine, featuring up to 355 horsepower and 1,280 lb.-ft. of torque, under the cab. What you do get is a powertrain consisting of two 130-kW motors that deliver a combined 496 peak horsepower and 4,051 lb.-ft. of torque available from zero rpm. It’s matched to a two-speed Mack Powershift transmission and a Mack-proprietary 52,000-lb. rear axle. All accessories, including the body hydraulics, are electrically driven through 12-, 24- and 600-volt circuits. The truck’s four NMC lithium-ion batteries are charged via a 50kW SAE J1772-compliant charging system, and DiRico said DSNY will charge its demonstration truck via a Charge Point Level 3 charger. An onboard regenerative brake helps pump energy back into the batteries, which will come in handy considering the brake pedal in this application gets more use than the accelerator. The regenerative brake has three modes – automatic, high and low – that provide varying degrees of braking power, but the harder the stop, the more electric current that’s pumped back into the batteries. On

Two 130-kW motors, delivering a combined 496 peak horsepower and 4,051 lb.-ft. of torque, are matched to a two-speed Mack Powershift transmission.

The truck’s four NMC lithium-ion batteries are charged via a 50kW SAE J1772-compliant charging system.

automatic, it only engages when the service brakes are applied but does provide additional stopping power. When switched to either low and high, the driver simply can lift off the throttle, and the regenerative brake will engage on its own. The service brakes are needed only to fully stop or hold the truck. Since there’s no noise from the powertrain, you hear every bump on the road and squeak in the cab. Those same noises are there in the diesel unit but are drowned out by the MP7’s white noise. Electrification already has started its filtration into trucking through regional and pickup-and-delivery

The truck’s copper-colored Bulldog hood ornament signifies it’s an electric vehicle.

segments, and refuse collection makes sense as the next logical step. There’s a lot riding on Mack’s test program with New York, but if the electric LR can make it there, it can make it anywhere.

Power connectors TE Connectivity’s Deutsch DTSK Power Connectors are designed for a variety of rugged applications. The heavy-duty single-pole thermoplastic connectors accept size Ø8mm contacts that are rated up to 125 amps and are engineered to withstand harsh conditions. They can be used inline or mounted as passthrough connectors with the addition of an optional flange. Designed with ease of use and simplicity in mind, the sealed connectors feature latch-style mating and an integrated secondary lock. Individual wire seals with a rear protective cover help protect the connections from dirt, dust and water ingress. TE Industrial & Commercial Transportation, www.te.com/ict, 800-522-6752

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

technology Virtual witness New tech speeds evidence collection after truck accidents BY AARON HUFF

hough statistics show truck drivers are at fault in only about 25% of all truck-involved crashes, motor carriers and their drivers are never safe from litigation. It’s not unusual for carriers to pay $100,000 or more to settle non-serious accidents, even fender-benders, said accident investigator Kevin McClain. If a fatality occurs in a crash, the settlements often can run more than $3 million, he said. McClain remembers one accident case he worked that had no physical damage to the passenger vehicle or truck. That didn’t stop the plaintiff ’s attorney from asking $3 million to settle a case that ultimately went to trial. Cases like this show that motor carriers and insurance providers can’t afford to leave anything to chance when investigating accidents at the scene. “Carriers have a bullseye on their back,” McClain said. “The

Kevin McClain’s firm, McClain Investigations, conducts accident investigations on behalf of motor carriers and insurance brokers.

INTERESTED IN TRUCKING TECHNOLOGY? Go to ccjdigital.com/news/subscribe-to-newsletters to subscribe to the CCJ Technology Weekly e-mail newsletter. 36

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| march 2020

scales are never level for them.” Lawsuits can surface at any time, even a year or two after an accident occurs. Waiting to investigate an accident is a losing cause, since witnesses disappear and the driver involved probably will be working for a different company before long.

Accident investigators across the country can use the Readi Response app to be notified of cases to investigate.

Turning the tech tables McClain became a truck crash investigator in 1993. Most people in his profession work for attorneys of personal injury firms. He started his career on that end, where he learned how to put together cases against trucking companies. This proved to be valuable experience for his own company, McClain Investigations, which evolved to work for the defense and conduct accident investigations on behalf of motor carriers and insurance brokers. He also has developed a technology platform to speed accident investigations. McClain began working on the idea when Uber released its ridesharing app. “Why couldn’t we do something in the investigative world that would connect investigators through a mobile app to respond to crashes and incidents for our clients?” he said. McClain wanted motor carriers and insurance brokers to have a detailed report from the scene of the accident location within hours to make critical decisions on what to do next. After working with software developers, he recently launched Readi Response (www.readiresponse.com), a

technology

“Carriers have a bullseye on their back. The scales are never level for them.”

“This agreement with TruckPark allows the dispatcher to make the reservation for the driver while he or she is driving,” said Bert Goo, executive vice president of partnerships and channel marketing for AscendTMS.

– Kevin McClain, accident investigator cloud-based platform. Drivers and fleet managers can use the website or mobile app to initiate an accident alert. A fleet can send GPS location data to Readi Response, which uses the data to set a geofence around the accident scene and initiate an electronic search for eyewitnesses. The software can monitor social media posts and comments, tweets and even YouTube videos posted in the vicinity to find, corroborate and authenticate evidence and witnesses, he said. Motor carriers also can send any of their evidence they have collected, such as video event data, to McClain Investigations through the platform. Working for fleets Similar to how the Uber app works for drivers to locate work, accident investigators across the country can use the Readi Response app to be notified of cases to investigate. McClain has developed a network of more than 800 investigators who all have more than 10 years of experience. “We want highly skilled investigators interviewing witnesses,” he said. “Then, when we have to go to trial or deposition, we know that our clients are getting highly skilled investigators going out to handle cases.” When investigators arrive onsite, they immediately begin documenting as much information as possible before the critical evidence, information and witnesses disappear. “By doing this, now the carriers are in a proactive position,” McClain said.

AscendTMS adds reserved parking via TruckPark

An integrated truck parking reservation feature now is available within the AscendTMS transportation management system to allow users to reserve truck parking within the dispatch process. AscendTMS will integrate with TruckPark, a digital platform for truck parking reservations, to provide users access to thousands of secure parking spaces. The dispatcher will see forward-looking parking spaces that are available based on the driver’s current hours of service and speed. A reservation can be made with a single click, and the driver is notified automatically by SMS text or an electronic logging device text message. – Aaron Huff

Dana selects Transplace to manage network Transplace, a provider of managed transportation technology and services, announced that it was selected by Dana Inc. to manage its entire North American transportation network. Dana said it selected Transplace based on its logistics technology, transportation network and deep mobility industry expertise. Transplace said its efficient and effective network designs will enable cross-customer shipment collaboration using artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities and that its transportation management system (TMS) will provide Dana with real-time shipment tracking and business intelligence, allowing for the discovery of additional opportunities for cost savings throughout Dana’s entire supply chain. Dana’s product lineup supports the commercial truck, passenger vehicle and off-highway markets, as well as industrial and stationary equipment applications. – Dean Smallwood commercial carrier journal

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INBRIEF • Transplace, a provider of transportation management services and logistics technology systems, acquired Lanehub, a cloud-based platform and community that encourages shipper-carrier collaboration by automatically identifying and connecting companies with complementary freight lanes to help save on shipping expenses; terms were not released. The companies say their customers will have added access to transportation technology and strategic management. • GPS Insight, a provider of fleet software, acquired ServiceBridge, a field service management software company for small businesses and franchises. GPS Insight said the acquisition, terms of which were not announced, further broadens the scope of its software portfolio. • MiX Telematics, a provider of Softwareas-a-Service fleet management systems, added live streaming to its MiX Vision in-cab video system that delivers driverand road-facing footage. Fleet managers using MiX Fleet Manager can simultaneously live-stream from up to eight high-definition cameras equipped with an LTE modem. Also, National Oilwell Varco, a provider of services for the oil and gas industry, is implementing MiX’s system across its light-duty fleet. • DriverReach released an automated email marketing drip campaign tool for its mobile-enabled applicant tracking system for hiring commercial driver’s license holders. The Cadence tool is designed to create impactful conversations with potential drivers and provide fleet users with reports that show click-through rates, opens and other engagement metrics for specific emails. • Transport Pro introduced an e-signature tool designed to allow brokers to share electronic rate confirmations with carriers with a single click. Broker users can send carriers an email containing a link to a rate confirmation. Drivers can sign the confirmation from their phones, and the documents then are sent to the dispatcher and filed with the load in Transport Pro. • Fontaine Modification offers installation of Samsara hardware, including vehicle gateways, asset gateways, AI dashcams and environmental monitors, to help fleets access real-time data. The Samsara hardware can be installed at any of Fontaine’s nine U.S. locations.

commercial carrier journal

Luma adds entry-level driver training for CDL schools, carriers

uma Brighter Learning, an instructional design Luma’s ELDT eNugget and learning company, announced an Entry-Level Solution uses various Driver Training (ELDT) eNugget Solution for commedia to cover required training topics. Drivers mercial driver’s license schools and motor carriers. also can learn in their Luma’s ELDT eNugget Solution is a digital on-denative language. mand collection of training modules that CDL schools and motor carriers can use to maximize training efficiency and outcomes for drivers inside and outside the classroom. Gina Anderson, chief executive for Luma, said the ELDT eNugget Solution presents training content by topic in a question-and-answer format for drivers. The learner first views specific questions for each topic to self-assess their knowledge. “If somebody already knows the content, the question we ask in adult learning theory is ‘Do you have to be forced to go through it?’ The answer is no,” Anderson said. When a driver clicks on a question, the answer is delivered in a Luma eNugget — a short learning module with various media that includes text, images, audio, simulations and video. The media covers all learning modalities and caters to the learning preferences of professional truck drivers. The Luma ELDT eNuggets engage drivers in a game-like learning environment where they can earn points for completing modules. Drivers take assessments to test their knowledge and skills to prepare for the final exam. All Luma eNuggets also – Aaron Huff give drivers the option to learn in their native language.

Samsara rolls out real-time Compliance Dashboard

Samsara’s Compliance

Dashboard amsara, which provides a video telematics platform aggregates driver with live streaming, introduced a new Compliance compliance data Dashboard designed to provide fleet managers with realinto an easy-to-read time visibility of hours of service violations, unidentified view, with “tiles” that answer critical driving and unassigned hours. questions for fleet The dashboard aggregates driver compliance data into managers. an easy-to-read view, with “tiles” that answer: • How many existing violations does my fleet have? The HOS Violations Tile gives an overview of the percentage of logs or hours in violation across the fleet for the past eight days. • How much unidentified driving time does my fleet have? The Unidentified Driving Tile shows how much driving time needs to be managed as well as visibility into how often driving time is going unassigned. • How much of my fleet’s unassigned driving has been managed? The Unassigned Segments Tile shows how well unassigned driving time is being managed for the previous eight days. • Which drivers have the most violations? The Driver with Violations Table shows which drivers have the most logs in violation within the past eight days. – Aaron Huff

| march 2020

technology

INBRIEF

Transflo adds Surfsight video technology to platform

ransflo, a provider of mobility, telematics and business process automation to the transportation industry, announced the Surfsight AI-12 Dual Facing Dashcam as part of its Mobile+ ecosystem of digital Integrated seamlessly and telematics offerings for truck fleets and drivers. with Transflo’s telematics Surfsight is designed to provide real-time video platform, the cloudvisibility and insight into fleet performance and chalconnected Surfsight dashcam uses frontlenging situations on the road, helping fleets reduce facing and cabin-facing risk and insurance claims while improving safety and cameras. productivity. Integrated seamlessly with Transflo’s telematics platform, the cloud-connected Surfsight dashcam uses front-facing and cabin-facing cameras. The camera uses built-in artificial intelligence to detect hazards on the road and infrared to recognize driver distractions in the vehicle. The driver is alerted automatically. Surfsight streams from vehicles to secure cloud-based servers, providing fleet managers with continuous access to video. Managers can review video of groups or individual vehicles via a customized, secure online dashboard using a web browser running on any type of device. Surfsight also provides access to on-demand video retrieval and review on the company’s cloud platform. “Increasingly, video is an important tool for improving safety and operational visibility,” said Doug Schrier, vice president of product and innovation for Transflo. “The Transflo Bundle+ platform is the ideal way to incorporate vehicle video and – Dean Smallwood telematics into your digital workflow.”

FMCSA allows mirrorless camera system on trucks

he Federal Motor Carrier Safety AdministraVision Systems North tion granted a petition by Vision Systems North America said its SmartVision system provides America to allow its mirrorless rearview camera the same functionality systems to be used on trucks. The company’s Smartand view as traditional Vision cameras are used as an alternative to the two mirrors but with highdefinition cameras and rearview mirrors required by the Federal Motor Carinterior displays. rier Safety Regulations. The system consists of digital cameras mounted high on the exterior, enclosed in protective aerodynamic packaging. Each camera presents a high-definition image 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 failsafe design with independent video processing of multiple camera images. In its decision to grant the waiver, FMCSA said the system eliminates blind spots on both sides of the truck and expands field-of-view by an estimated 25%. In a separate request, Robert Bosch and Mekra Lang North America asked FMCSA to allow fleets to use their Bosch Commercial Vehicle Digital Mirror System. To view comments, go to Regulations.gov and Search Docket No. FMCSA_FRDOC_0001-3166. – CCJ Staff

• Ryder System expanded its COOP by Ryder peer-to-peer truck sharing platform to the Dallas-Fort Worth market. COOP is designed to allow commercial vehicle owners to generate revenue by renting idle trucks and trailers to a network of trusted businesses. Fleet owners can list their vehicles on the digital platform, set vehicle availability for idle periods and, upon vehicle return, receive guaranteed payments from Ryder. • BlackBerry’s Radar technology now is integrated with Trimble’s TMW.Suite and TruckMate products to help fleets reduce costs and improve efficiency by applying data-based intelligence to asset monitoring and management. BlackBerry said fleet owners will be able to receive data on their trailers, chassis or containers’ location, route, door status and cargo load state integrated within the TMW.Suite or TruckMate TMS software, providing visibility into cargo assets from a single dashboard. • Geotab, a provider of fleet management offerings, announced an integration with Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems that will enable its telematics platform to support Bendix’s SafetyDirect web portal and video system, making SafetyDirect available to Geotab-equipped commercial vehicle users. • Teletrac Navman, a provider of telematics data, announced an integration with Fleetio, a provider of maintenance management software, for their mutual fleet customers to sync odometer readings automatically, keep their workflows up to date and have access to a streamlined dashboard that displays more data points on vehicle health in one place. • Tyson Foods rolled out a pilot program for MirrorEye’s camera-based monitoring system, deploying about 50 trucks that will evaluate the platform’s safety performance over the next several months. Tyson said it eventually will work with its drivers to remove traditional mirrors completely and start gathering information on MirrorEye’s potential aerodynamic and fuel efficiency improvements. • FourKites, a provider of real-time shipment location data and predictive analytics, announced that BDP International, a Philadelphia-based logistics and transportation services company, selected its platform to provide enhanced end-to-end supply chain visibility.

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| march 2020 39

technology

Omnitracs CEO shares plan to be hardware-agnostic in post-ELD era

leet management technology provider Omnitracs last year accelerate from the company spending $70 million annually on research and development. signed more than 1,100 new customers, grew 9% yearThe sunsetting of the 3G wireless network is another reason over-year and shipped more than 120,000 fleet management to accelerate migration to new hardware platforms. Greer devices across North America. estimates that two-thirds of Omnitracs’ devices in the field use While reaching new heights in 2019, it “wasn’t all a bed of 3G cellular, which he said is scheduled to sunset at the end of roses,” said Ray Greer, the company’s chief executive officer, at 2022. last month’s 2020 Omnitracs Outlook user conference in Las “We understand it, and it doesn’t mean it couldn’t be exVegas. tended, but it’s real,” he said. Greer addressed a service outage the As part of the migration to 4G, last company had in early November. ApRay Greer, CEO of Omnitracs, shared the December the company delivered an proximately 180,000 of Omnitracs’ legacy company’s strategy to enterprise-grade version of its Omnitracs MCP hardware devices became inoperaccelerate technology One platform, which now is deployed at able, leaving fleets and drivers without migration at the 2020 Omnitracs Outlook customers with a total of 15,000 vehicles. electronic logging and other critical busiuser conference. The platform was developed by hiring ness applications. Greer learned about the software developer Red Hat and through incident Nov. 2. the March 2019 acquisition of Blue Dot and integrating its The MCP devices were developed by Qualcomm before driver workflow application with Omnitracs One. selling its Omnitracs business unit to Vista Equity Partners in “We are continuing to look at mergers and acquisitions that November 2013. accelerate our strategy of migrating from monolithic devices The problem was determined to be an embedded chipset to true, agile cloud-enabled solutions,” Greer said. developed by Qualcomm and Sierra Wireless for the MCP He said Omnitracs is facilitating greater interoperability for devices. Those companies no longer support the chipset. “Anybody who knows anything about those chips are either dead or third-party applications with open APIs and that the Omnitracs One platform is “really geared to begin changing the way retired,” Greer said. we think about this industry.” On Nov. 6, Omnitracs sent an over-the-air firmware update to MCP units to restore operability. The learnings from the Location intelligence outage, Greer said, sparked an epiphany for the company to Another major initiative from Omnitracs involves leveraging speed the migration of customers to its new cloud-driven its large industry dataset. During a breakout session, Mic Yariv, technology platform. vice president and general manager of strategic initiatives, gave “There is a very natural tension between supporting, mainan update of new products under development. taining and sustaining old technology and innovating with Omnitracs has identified and geofenced 6.69 million shipnew technology,” he said. “Somewhere, as an industry, we have ping and receiving locations. Data scientists are aggregating to find a balance.” dwell times to predict how much time drivers are going to The new strategy for Omnitracs is to leverage the telematspend loading or unloading. “If we can accurately predict the ics systems that vehicle OEMs install at the factory, which end-to-end service time of a load, we can help the industry will eliminate the need for customers to purchase, install and move from mileage as a metric to time,” Yariv said. refresh mobile hardware devices. The plan is to create a website for fleet operators and a Fleets have been asking Omnitracs to workflow application for drivers to plan their trips. “We feel innovate at a faster pace, but its progress this is really important in a post-ELD world to really optimize has been slowed the past few years from investing 300 man-years to develop ELDs. the hours you have available for a driver,” she said. One product that is close to launch is real-time microGreer said customers will see innovation weather alerts that use data from road cameras, weather drones and microwave signals from cell towers to alert drivers AARON HUFF is Senior Editor of Commercial Carrier for impending conditions on their routes in the next 10 to 15 Journal. E-mail ahuff@ccjmagazine.com or call (385) 225-9472. minutes based on their speed and heading. 40

commercial carrier journal

| march 2020

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technology

in focus: ELD COMPLIANCE

At any given moment, an electronic logging device or other application on a mobile fleet management platform is susceptible to glitches or outages.

Blackout Fleet’s ELD outage raises industry questions about compliance, liability BY AARON HUFF

aylor Trucking has made significant investments in connected vehicle technology for driver safety and productivity and to provide its customers with shipment visibility, said Cari Baylor, president for the Milan, Ind.-based company. In January, when its telematics provider Omnitracs pushed out a firmware update to its electronic logging devices, the 215-truck fleet lost that connectivity, said Baylor, adding that during the week of Jan. 20, about 10% of the fleet was “blacked out.” On any given day that week, the company had about 15 to 20 ELD units out of service. “We would lose total contact with the unit,” she said. The impacts from the outage rippled throughout Baylor Trucking. One of the most immediate concerns was drivers calling in to ask how many hours they had remaining on their duty clocks and reverting to paper logbooks. Omnitracs worked to fix the issue. 42

commercial carrier journal

Baylor Trucking’s units needed to be routed to a service center or its home terminal to receive a software patch loaded manually from a flash drive, which restored the units to functionality. Omnitracs said it generally saw no indication of issues with its IVG devices in use by other fleets. “Pushing upgrades to our units is part of our standard business practice,” said Joe Ohr, vice president of customer support and technical operations for Omnitracs. “In some cases, there may be a fleet using older OS and older IVGs that could fail in the over-the-air upgrade process. In our most recent upgrade, the failure percentage was 0.006% and addressed directly once known issues were identified.” Omnitracs began selling the IVG platform to fleets in 2016. The first-generation IVG platform was shipped with Windows CE but was designed to be updated to Android without removing it from the cab.

| march 2020

However, the ELD outage that Baylor Trucking experienced raises broader questions about what fleets should do in the age of connected vehicle technology and the ELD mandate when they lose touch with devices — and what risks malfunctions present if trucks are involved in a crash. In recent years, several major providers have dealt with intermittent issues, including Omnitracs and Trimble. Likewise, app-based provider KeepTruckin, popular among small fleets and the owner-operator market, experienced downtime as a surge of new users came online when the ELD mandate took effect in late December 2017. When an ELD or other application on a mobile fleet management platform has glitches or outages, the downtime fleets experience causes driver frustrations and even legal worries. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s ELD registry currently lists 542 different ELD products from

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“I do not understand why FMCSA hasn’t allowed for a tool to correct some error.”

could have surmised dozens of vendors. that a driver has been Each product has on duty or driving for been self-certified by too long since the dethe vendor to comply vices were not updatwith the ELD rule, ing duty status while and many are from out of service. The vendors that offer fleet – Jeff Kaps, senior safety manager, Baylor Trucking only evidence a driver management platcould provide was a paper logbook and Baylor said. “It’s not just compliance.” forms with applications that go beyond notations made to the ELD record. Baylor said the most critical issue was compliance. “What are the chances [the inspecthat drivers’ paper logbooks might not FMCSA, in response to questions line up with the electronic records when tor] believes you if you just notate [the about ELD downtime, pointed to the ELD]?” she said. “We should have a the ELDs came back online, since the ELD FAQs section on its website. In the better process as an industry.” ELDs had not been recording moveevent of an ELD malfunction, the ELD Baylor said the current process of ments or changes in duty status while rule stipulates that drivers note the malnotating logs makes it possible for any out of service. function and provide a written notice In some instances, ELD units stopped driver with an out-of-service ELD to to their carrier within 24 hours, then run hot because motor carriers are not functioning while drivers were in drive reconstruct their logs for their current given an exemption to edit logs. As such, status, and the system kept them in line 24-hour period and previous seven days law enforcement cannot determine if a 3 for the outage’s duration. When one on a paper logbook or an e-logging app. driver using paper logbooks for up to particular unit functioned properly Drivers then must continue to maineight days with a nonfunctioning ELD tain paper logs until their ELD is up and again, it showed a driver had nearly 60 has been running legal. hours of continuous driving time during running. Drivers and carriers have eight Baylor would like to see a new the failure. days after the malfunction to return to requirement that ELD providers report FMCSA does not allow editing of using a compliant ELD, after which they to FMCSA when they experience an driving time, and fleets and drivers can be placed out-of-service. outage. The report would specify which only can add annotations to explain any One of Baylor Trucking’s chief condevices were affected, and then the discrepancies. cerns was the potential for a driver with agency would issue a statement that cerBaylor Trucking notated line 3 and a nonfunctioning ELD being involved in tain devices were exempt for the period other ELD records online, but in the an accident. Information the company they were out of service. event of an accident, “an attorney could would need in such an event – such As part of that exemption, FMCSA take me to the cleaners,” Baylor said. as location, duty status and vehicle could allow carriers to edit the drive line “It could be hard to prove what is really information – would be missing from and other duty status based on suphappening.” the moment the ELDs blacked out, and porting data. She believes this proposal Baylor said the only ways to ensure “I don’t have a great way to retrace it,” would better ensure that carriers have that its ELD record was accurate was Baylor said. accurate ELD records for the time periAnother concern with malfunctioning either to lose the driver’s hours while devices was that “we don’t get Cummins they waited for an ELD fix or to “require ods that devices were out of service. Since FMCSA requires motor carriers a professional driver to take a reset” engine diagnostics warning us about to retain logbook records for a miniperiod of 34 hours. mechanical issues, and we can’t get any mum of six months, any gaps or errors “There is no exemption for us,” she Bendix safety data, which is very imporin ELD data in this timeframe, especially said. “If we do not require a driver to tant,” she said. for line 3, is a potential liability. “There is take a reset, it looks like we are operBaylor Trucking uses Bendix’s full not a thing we can do about it,” said Jeff ating illegally. It puts us in a litigious safety suite that includes radar and Kaps, senior safety manager for Baylor situation.” cameras. Data from the systems feeds Trucking. “I do not understand why Baylor said she also was concerned driver scorecards and risk management FMCSA hasn’t allowed for a tool to corthat inspectors who viewed a driver’s applications. “When we lose connectivrect some error.” ELD, after the device came back online, ity, we lose the eyes and ears of a truck,” 44

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| march 2020

ROADMASTER GROUP Glendale, Ariz. for your hours of service to reenergize,” Wilbur said. “You’re just switching drivers and continuing to move that truck. The team format fits for high-security, hazardous and expedited. We do work for expedited even if it’s not hazardous shipments. It’s something that needs to get halfway across the country fast. Well, you can’t do that with a solo driver.” Tri-State, which covers the 48 contiguous states and Alaska, also makes runs to all Canadian provinces. In addition to team drivers, the company also relies on solo drivers and owner-operators.

EXPLOSIVE GROWTH Roadmaster’s driver-first credo leads to ammo hauler’s boom BY TOM QUIMBY

ince taking the helm at Roadmaster in 2011, John Wilbur, the company’s interim chief executive officer, has guided the company from $28 million in revenue to more than $150 million today. The journey toward literally explosive growth has meant implementing big changes to become more drivercentric and diversified. When Glendale, Ariz.-based Roadmaster Group acquired Tri-State Motor Transit Co. in 2016, Tri-State became the group’s largest division. At the time, Tri-State raked in upwards of 90% of its revenue transporting high-security loads such as ammunition, explosives and arms for the U.S. military. But Wilbur wasn’t comfortable having all of Tri-State’s eggs in one basket and set out to expand its reach — just as he had five years earlier with Secured Land Transport, which Roadmaster later folded into Tri-State. “Both operations were heavily dependent on the military, and we diversified the customer base significantly,” Wilbur said. “Almost all of our ammo competitors work exclusively for [the Department of Defense]. Most of our growth in the last eight years has come in the commercial sector.” Tri-State’s customers now include more mining and construction companies that rely on explosives. They’ve also expanded into hazardous waste, electronics and other high-value commodities. Roadmaster, a Daseke (CCJ Top 250, No. 19) company, proved once again its determination in driving even more company growth with the acquisition of an ammo competitor, R&R Trucking in Joplin, Mo., which also was incorporated into Tri-State. Of Roadmaster’s roughly 500 trucks, 400 are outfitted with team drivers, making expediting high-security loads easier. “We’re not sitting in a truck stop for eight hours on a load of explosives waiting

Pay overhaul leads the way While diversifying the customer base resulted in impressive revenue growth, another big change for the better at Roadmaster came with driver pay. “In January of 2012, we made the most impactful move that we’ve made in 8½ years,” Wilbur said. “We essentially threw away traditional mileage pay, which I believe is essentially the biggest systemic flaw in this industry, and we put in a hybrid salary structure.” No matter the miles, the hybrid model guarantees a weekly paycheck between roughly $1,200 and $1,500 depending on driver qualifications. Mileage bonuses follow. “When I started at SLT (Secured Land Transport), there was 160% turnover,” said Wilbur, who was a partner in a private equity firm prior to joining Roadmaster. “The first thing I ever did, because

The Glendale, Ariz.-based carrier diversifies its customer base and addresses driver turnover with a salary structure and new equipment.

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INNOVATORS drivers home when they’re supposed to get home. We’re just trying to shorten when they’re supposed to get home by instituting these regional relays.” Providing newer equipment also helps to improve driver satisfaction. “We turn our trucks usually at around four years or 500,000 miles, so nobody’s driving an old truck in our environment,” Wilbur said. “But also it goes to the trailers. We have a heavy investment in our trailer fleet and keeping that new Keep your eyes on the driver with a young age. It’s really almost as Roadmaster also has expanded its drivimportant as the truck itself, because if er-centric approach to include newer the trailer breaks down – it doesn’t really trucks, improved terminal facilities and matter which one breaks down – you’re regional relays to help get drivers more broken down.” home time. New truck safety features, improved “We’re a specialized hazardous carrier, fuel mileage and increased reliability so we’re not operating in the ‘general freight Amazon world’ like so many van provide extra elements of comfort. “I think a lot of the bells and whistles carriers are,” Wilbur said. “But the conand accessories that are on equipment cept’s the same in that we have facilities today are important to drivers,” Wilall around the country where we can do bur said. “And a lot of that can just be relays or handoffs. our safety-related equipment, like lane “We’re in the infancy stages of idenavoidance and collision detection and tifying opportunities for these regional all those things. But really it’s the ‘new’ relays,” he added. “We’ve two of them element and the fact that the trucks are up and running now. Unfortunately, higher miles-per-gallon and more relithe vast majority of our drivers are out able with less downtime. At the end of for quite a while, and they’re home the day, that’s what drivers want — they for a week or 10 days. We’ve always really don’t want to be broken down.” had a heightened focus on getting To further demonstrate its dedication to driver comfort, Roadmaster last year unveiled its Legacy Lodge at TriState’s headquarters in Joplin. A 10,000-squarefoot building that sat unused by Tri-State was renovated, with half of it The outdoor patio at the Legacy Lodge showcases the company’s historic 1947 White semi-truck and trailer that being transformed into a is used for parades. new training center and obviously the turnover was an issue, was I looked at driver pay.” The hybrid pay approach paid off. Turnover among the company’s owneroperator fleets is now under 10%, while turnover in its regular fleets is below 50%. “That stabilized everything,” Wilbur said. “It allowed us to go and chase down high-value freight and have the confidence that we could serve it. And we’ve won the game over the last 8½ years by capacity. We’ve just been able to throw capacity at high-value customers.” While the hybrid pay model gets most of the credit for tackling driver turnover, other factors have helped along the way.

commercial carrier journal

| march 2020

Roadmaster last year unveiled its Legacy Lodge at Tri-State Motor Transit’s headquarters in Joplin, Mo., to further demonstrate its dedication to driver comfort.

the other half dedicated to something akin to a country club. The lodge features a custom kitchen, a fitness center, theater rooms, a laundry center, hand-hewn beam chandeliers, polished metal ceilings, men’s and women’s locker rooms and a club room anchored with a 20-foot-high stone fireplace. There are areas for gaming, billiards, shuffleboard, darts, ping-pong, cornhole and even an old classic checkerboard table. The club room has two large overhead glass garage doors that open and connect to a 2,500-square-foot landscaped and lighted outdoor patio with a gas fire pit and barbecue island, which showcases the company’s historic 1947 White semi-truck and trailer that is used for parades. Tri-State drivers have been pleased. “The feedback has been fantastic — not just for our existing drivers who use it when they’re in that area, but also for our classes,” Wilbur said. “We hold a class almost every week. They’re training in the same building, so that’s their first impression of the investment we’re willing to make to support our drivers. Yes, we do have a commitment — to not necessarily build new lodges across the country, but to have top-drawer best-inclass driver facilities at every one of our terminals, and we’re kind of attacking those one at a time.” 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.

INNOVATIVE INSPIRATION Mike Hasinec’s influence can easily be found across many of Penske’s projects and his colleagues

BY JASON CANNON

ike Hasinec has spent the better part of his life looking for a house, but for the last 41 years, he’s known exactly where his professional home has been. One of three boys born to a working family in Laurence Harbor, N.J., Hasinec was active in school sports – namely track and football – and the Scouts, where his mother served as a den mother and his father a Webelo leader. “Because my parents worked, my brothers and I became pretty 50

commercial carrier journal

self-sufficient,” he said. “We learned to cook, iron, sew. We learned a lot of life skills.” But at the age of 13, with his father’s employer – a local newspaper where he managed distribution – embroiled in a strike, the Hasinecs packed up and headed south. “He just didn’t like the issues that occurred with his friends,” Mike recalled. “My dad literally quit his job with nothing lined up. We sold our house, and we moved to South Carolina.” Neither parent claims to have made

| march 2020

the decision with clairvoyance. “My parents actually had some friends that lived in New Jersey in our little neighborhood, and they had moved to South Carolina several years prior to us moving, and they talked about how much they liked it, the way of life,” he said. “My parents, just on a whim, said, ‘You know what? Sounds like a good place to move.’ ” Leaning on their fondness for scouting, the Hasinecs were avid campers, a life skill that would serve them well over the course of the 700-mile move,

COVER STORY | CAREER LEADERSHIP AWARD

I was always interested in automotive — really the design of cars, engines, things along those lines.

Mike Hasinec is the 44th recipient of CCJ’s Technology & Maintenance Career Leadership Award for lifetime achievement in fleet maintenance.

as they wound up living in their 19-foot travel trailer for several months while the family worked to get settled into new jobs. A freak knee injury during a softball game ended young Hasinec’s sports career, but the family began to settle in their new home in the Palmetto State, and by his teen years, Mike had developed an affinity for cars. “I was always somewhat mechanically inclined,” he said. “My youngest brother had a Volkswagen [and] over-revved the engine. We all know what happens when you over-rev the engine. I built my first

engine in my brother’s Volkswagen.” Hasinec was particularly drawn to hotrods, such as his brother’s 1966 Plymouth GTX, and got himself a 1969 Road Runner, “which required a lot of money to keep up,” he said. To raise funds, Hasinec joined his parents in the working world, but that wasn’t an unfamiliar place. “When my dad worked for the newspaper, my first job was delivering newspapers when I was like 10 years old,” he recalled. “Back in those days, you delivered house-to-house, and you literally collected the money from your customers by knocking on the door.” He joined his mother on the sewing line at Her Majesty Industries in Greenville. “I actually sewed on production, and I got a job in the warehouse where my dad worked at Woolworth,” he said. Those jobs were good to keep the Road Runner rolling, but Mike – a science and math whiz who finished two levels of algebra in one year – was setting his professional sights higher. After graduating from Mauldin High School in 1976, Hasinec enrolled at Greenville Technical College in the mechanical engineering program, taking classes at night while working during the day, hopeful to one day land a job with one of Detroit’s Big Three auto manufacturers. “That didn’t last very long,” he said of his engineering aspirations. “I didn’t like the teachers, and the hours were kind of getting to me.” About six months later, Hasinec transferred to the school’s diesel technology program. “I always liked being mechanical, and I thought this could be a field I would be interested in,” he said. “It was very closely related to the mechanical engineering piece, because I’d be working on heavy equipment. I was interested in engineering, because my whole life, I’ve just liked to fix things and understand

how they work. I never envisioned being a bridge-builder or a manufacturertype thing. I was always interested in automotive — really the design of cars, engines, things along those lines.” Mike credits his then-girlfriend, and now-wife Karen, for the quick and easy change of course in his career. “There was just something about my wife that motivated me to land on a kind of home life, and I figured the diesel class would be a much shorter period of time to accomplish versus the mechanical engineering piece,” he said. “I didn’t have the patience after I met my wife to wait four years, think about getting married and settling down.” SETTLING DOWN AND SETTLING IN Mike and Karen married in 1977 and had a son, Michael, the following year. During that time, Hasinec worked two jobs – a gas station at night and Greenville Builders Supply on weekends and nights – while balancing schoolwork during the day. He graduated the Heavy Equipment class at Greenville Technical College in 1978, and “then I got lucky and landed Hertz Truck Rental at that time.” On May 11, 1978, Hasinec started his career in trucking as a fueler, filling up, washing and detailing Hertz trucks. “I got very lucky, because our district service manager at the time allowed me to start working in the shop, just doing little odd jobs — fixing lights and doing some preventive maintenance,” he said. He steadily climbed his way to the shop floor, eventually progressing to technician and then to lead technician in charge of the second shift. In 1979, Hasinec was given an opportunity to work in a Greenville Hertz shop that serviced Coca-Cola, and he was taken under the wing of a man he calls his first mentor: Gus Hill. “Gus really was the shop foreman,

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COVER STORY | CAREER LEADERSHIP AWARD

As a young teen, Mike Hasinec was a junior varsity football player and also ran varsity track.

but he ended up turning over all the administrative duties to me, because he just didn’t like doing them,” Hasinec said. “That was my entry into management. At the time, I just didn’t know that. I learned a lot of back-office skills and things like that — to learn how to run the facility from a [profit-and-loss] standpoint, and inventory.” Meanwhile, the Hasinecs welcomed a daughter in January 1984 and had grown tired of living in various apartments. After spending the days in Coca-Cola’s truck shop as a now-Hertz-Penske employee, Hasinec picked up a night job working directly for Coca-Cola, loading trucks and driving a forklift in the same facility. “I did that for an entire year,” he said. “We were able to pay off credit card debt and save up some money to buy our first house.” The Hasinecs bought their first house in April 1984, but the family of four wasn’t able to enjoy it for long when

Mike was presented with an opportunity to help open a new Hertz-Penske shop as its maintenance supervisor in Lexington, Ky. “We moved, right after buying our first new house, four or five months later,” he recalled. Moving would be a recurring theme for the Hasinecs, as Mike methodically climbed his way toward the top of now-Penske’s maintenance division, but the opportunity to lead a new facility, including six technicians, was too good to pass up. In Lexington, Hasinec was able to flex some of the management and back-office muscle he’d learned in Greenville, but he also figured out that sometimes being the go-to guy comes with inconvenient repercussions. “In the winter of ’85, that January – my daughter’s first birthday – we ended up having a blizzard. We had no water and no power in our rental house, so I brought my wife and kids to the shop that Sunday so I could get all the vehicles started so they could go out on the road,” he recalled, noting that was also the first time he crossed paths with Roger Penske.

MOVIN’ ON, AGAIN AND AGAIN … In 1985, and with the Hasinecs wanting to get closer to family in South Carolina, they packed up for move No. 2, this time bound for Charlotte, N.C., where Mike had been named district service manager. “I had a large group,” he recalled. “Business was booming in Charlotte. We expanded to quite a few facilities and towns within a 100-mile radius.” In 1986, the Hasinecs bought their second family home, this time in Gastonia, but sticking around to enjoy that level of success would be short-lived again, as Mike’s ascent through the ranks at Penske led him to Jacksonville, Fla., in 1990 — the family’s third move in six years. “There was an opportunity to improve a low-performing location, and I saw this as a chance to kind of show myself,” he said. And show himself he did. After only three years in Jacksonville, Hasinec was named area maintenance manager, handling two states and upward of 50 locations and charged with oversight of maintenance procedures and policies. About 24 months later, Hasinec was given the opportunity to return to the Carolinas in the same capacity but in a larger territory that covered South Carolina, North Carolina and Virginia. “I jumped at the chance,” he said, noting the area finished first in corporate rankings for several consecutive years. By the turn of the millennium, Hasinec was asked by Ken McKibben, then Penske’s senior vice president of maintenance, to take on oversight of five states east of the Mississippi, all the western states and Mexico as field vice president of the western United States — which meant moving

If you work with people that you really love from a relationship standpoint, it’s kind of hard just to say ‘I’m going to toss that to the side.’

commercial carrier journal

“It was a very important account at the time,” Hasinec said. “We were one of the first fleets running the new Mack MH613 with the four-valve head, and we had issues with parts, so that’s why Roger came out and visited.”

| march 2020

COVER STORY | CAREER LEADERSHIP AWARD yet again, this time to St. Louis. “That was a very tough year, because my daughter was going to be a junior in high school,” he recalled as the family prepped for its fifth move. “I think most people can understand what that was like and that conversation.” Two-and-a-half years and 400,000 American Airlines miles later, McKibben moved Hasinec to Penske’s corporate office in Reading, Pa., to lead the company’s Six Sigma efforts, which led to another difficult conversation with his only daughter. “She just graduated from high school,” he recalled. “We literally were enrolling her in the University of Missouri when we decided to move again.” For the last 17 years, the Hasinecs have called Pennsylvania home, capping a streak of six moves around the United States and countless changes of address. “It’s the longest I’ve ever lived anywhere,” he said.

had a pretty serious conversation that probably shouldn’t have taken place.” Hasinec worked to make sure what home time he did have was quality time, and he also was able to sneak in stints as a youth baseball and basketball coach.

Mike in that latter category.” “It’s been the only real job that I’ve had my entire life,” Hasinec added, noting that in May he will have been with the company 42 years. “I grew up with the organization,” and growing up together has, he added, enabled him to “learn with the organization and grow with the organization. I’ve been very fortunate. I came in at a time we were expanding. We had lots of growth, acquisitions taking place.” More than four decades with the same company is almost unheard of, but Hasinec deflects much of the credit for his staying power to his colleagues because, he said, people such as Holly Gerke, Erich Pfahl and Eric Whiteash – with whom he has worked with for more than 15 years – have made it impossible to leave. “If you work with people that you really love from a relationship standpoint, it’s kind of hard just to say ‘I’m going to toss that to the side,’ ” he said. “And I learned by moving so much in my career that the grass isn’t always greener

I’ve never been afraid to roll up my sleeves, get engaged and get dirty. That’s what this business is all about.

THE COMPANY MAN AND THE FAMILY MAN Among all the moves, the Hasinecs spent several periods separated for long stretches of time. For example, while Hasinec was transitioning from area maintenance manager in Florida to a similar role in North Carolina, the family remained in Jacksonville for almost a year while Michael readied for high school graduation. “I was only going home every couple of months,” he said. And in those long times apart, the balancing act of being one of Penske’s rising stars and being a dad was a challenge. “Not having that daily activity with the kids, sometimes there’s a little bit of tension,” he said. “I remember coming home one time, and my son had let the grass grow as high as my knee, and we

Bouncing around the United States with kids in tow, he said, did have a positive impact on the family, although it wasn’t obvious at the time. “An unforeseen benefit is that, to this day, we’re a very close tight-knit family,” he said. “Both of my kids live 15 miles away.” Both also work for Penske. Michael, following a stint in the Army, now serves as technical development trainer, while Megan is vehicle maintenance coordinator. Hasinec was married at the age of 18 and started working for Penske at 19, and with the exception of part-time work he held down on nights and weekends, Penske – by way of acquiring Hertz – has been Hasinec’s only employer. “Some people grow with a company, and some people are a key reason for the company’s growth,” said Gregg Mangione, senior vice president of maintenance for Penske Truck Leasing. “I would put

Mike Hasinec was married at the age of 18 and started working for Penske (Hertz at the time) at 19.

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COVER STORY | CAREER LEADERSHIP AWARD

Now Penske’s vice president of maintenance, Mike Hasinec has been involved in or birthed many of the company’s prominent maintenance initiatives.

on the other side.” Still, 40-plus years with the same company doesn’t happen by luck or by love, and Hasinec said sometimes it just all comes down to rolling with the punches. “My dad was always a dedicated hard worker, and I feel like I’ve been the same for the Penske organization, so that’s definitely one attribute I brought from my father — how hard work can get you further ahead,” he said. “All any organization owes to you as an associate is an opportunity. What you do with that opportunity depends on one person — the person that you look at in the mirror each and every morning. “I’ve never been afraid to roll up my sleeves, get engaged and get dirty,” he continued. “That’s what this business is all about.” Now Penske’s vice president of maintenance, Hasinec has been involved in or birthed many of the company’s prominent maintenance initiatives, including technology projects such as ServiceNet and PartsNet, and “a lot of our internal proprietary systems to manage our facilities and service.” Penske’s internal technician 54

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certification program was born from an idea in 2005 and a year later was the first in the industry to become certified by the Automotive Service Excellence/National Automotive Technicians Education Foundation (ASE/NATEF). “Ever since, that program has just grown into something we just never fathomed,” Hasinec said. “Today, we have 1,500 technicians enrolled in the program. We’ve had folks go from Tech 3s to 2s to 1s, and in our world, Tech 1 is the most senior tenured associate — the folks that typically can do it all.” Hasinec also saw a need to develop an internal training organization that since has ballooned to 40-plus people and is overseen by Gerke, a longtime team member who helped develop the program. This past year, Penske increased the number of technical trainers in the field to 32 — two per area. “When you look at the organization that Holly now directs, we do our own videos, we have our own video-audio person, we write our own technical literature, we have an instructional designer so that when we develop courses, we have a desired outcome — how we’re going to measure that and maintain it,” Hasinec said. Hasinec’s fingerprints are on many Penske projects, but he noted two that stand out personally: the building of Penske’s Technology and Education Center (PTEC), and the development of a networkwide diesel particulate filter (DPF) distribution program. PTEC, a 7,400-square-foot facility in Reading, has become a hub for Penske’s training and serves as an in-house validation center for new tools and technologies before they are rolled out to the company’s managed service centers nationwide. Penske’s DPF centers – which now total four across the United States and Canada – facilitate a remanufacturing

| march 2020

program of sorts that allows the organization to have inventory on-hand for a DPF exchange when a truck comes in for regular service. With DPF-related expenses “going through the roof ” in 2014, Hasinec huddled with senior management to run a proof of concept to show that having DPFs on the shelves – basically a stocked part at its shops – would reduce expense and downtime. As part of a beta test, Hasinec worked with a local suppler to get DPFs with various nameplates to support 20 locations in the mid-Atlantic area. “We created our own little ‘milk run’ where we delivered DPFs to those 20 locations based upon PM scheduling, as well as when the DPF needed to be exchanged,” he said. Hasinec said that over the course of several months, the data showed the group’s execution rate was over 85%, and with results in-hand, the initiative moved into the pilot phase the next year, with Penske renting a facility and purchasing its own DPF cleaning equipment for the Northeast region. The project, he said, saved upward of $500 per unit. “When you did the simple math at the time with our fleet size, it was millions of dollars (in savings),” he said, adding the company then green-lit the opening of two more DPF centers with air, bake and aqueous cleaning capabilities. “Last year, we cleaned 37,000 DPFs,” he said. More than just cleaning the DPF internally – Penske remains the only company undertaking such a practice in-house – Mangione said Hasinec also has put in place methods to learn from what they see when the filter is removed, which has affected everything from how the company specs its trucks to idle time. Mangione said many of the innovations that Hasinec helped put in place with his team have positioned Penske as a marketplace leader in terms of technical

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COVER STORY | CAREER LEADERSHIP AWARD expertise. He lauded Mike for being “a couple steps ahead” of the industry in solving problems that all fleets share. A certified Six Sigma Black Belt, Hasinec served two terms on the ASE Board of Governors and holds numerous OEM certifications in engine, electrical, HVAC, powertrain and braking systems. He sits on numerous customer councils, including the product councils that developed Eaton’s Procision and Endurant transmissions and Cummins’ X12 engine. He currently sits on Daimler’s Electric Vehicle Council. A familiar face at TMC, Hasinec and Penske helped bring the first aftertreatment station to the SuperTech competition in 2017.

he was able to pass along his love of the outdoors to Karen, whom Hasinec said as recently as a few years ago would have defined camping as “a Hampton Inn versus a Marriott.”

service managers, area maintenance managers, even VPs. It is good to share. When you see people grow and become successful, there’s a lot of internal reward.” “He has shown incredible compassion for people,” said Gerke, who started her career as an administrative assistant before leading the company’s training program that she helped to install. “The one thing I love about Mike is he is caring, he’s incredibly fair [and] consistent. He knows his people very well.” Getting to know his people, Hasinec said, was a learned skill, and given the chance to go back earlier in his career, he said he would coach his younger self to be less headstrong. “Understanding what inspires people, understanding the diversity of people, understanding what motivates people differently,” he said. “I kind of learned that later in my career than I would have liked to. I wish I could have learned what I learned later in my career earlier on when it came to motivating and interacting with people and how to get them to all pull the rope in the same direction.”

When you see people grow and become successful, there’s a lot of internal reward.

AT HOME ON THE ROAD AND AT PENSKE That knee injury that derailed Mike’s sports career eventually took with it another favorite pastime: riding motorcycles. “I enjoyed getting on the open road, going on long trips. I probably averaged somewhere around 8,000 miles a year on my motorcycle,” he said, while noting he’d made it to just about every signature motorcycle show, including Daytona, Laconia and – the mother of them all – Sturgis. “In every one of those, I rode from Point A – in this case Pennsylvania – by myself. Getting on that bike gave me a release and the ability to clear my mind.” A couple of years ago, Mike replaced his motorcycles with a more kneereplacement-friendly travel-trailer — a throwback to his childhood and another tool that brings his tight-knit family a little closer together. “I bought a pickup truck, I bought a fifth wheel, and we wanted to have our grandkids to experience camping, so I bought a fairly large 33-foot fifth wheel [trailer],” he said. Along the way, 56

commercial carrier journal

“Six months later, we traded that in for a 40-footer that slept like 10 people,” he added, noting that since then, the family has upgraded again, this time to a motorhome. Among the perks of being in senior management, Hasinec said, is now getting to watch associates grow into their careers, just as Gus Hill, Ken McKibben and others were able to watch him. “There are people out there that, if you show them how to do things, are hungry for knowledge and information,” he said. “There’s people in this company who worked directly for me or indirectly with me as technicians who are now district

ABOUT THE CAREER LEADERSHIP AWARD Commercial Carrier Journal and Mike Hasinec thank Petro-Canada Lubricants, TA Truck Service and Utility Trailer Manufacturing Co. for their support of the Technology & Maintenance Career Leadership Award program. Hasinec is the 44th person to receive CCJ’s top honor for lifetime achievement in fleet maintenance. Safeway Stores’ E. Clair Hill was the first to be so honored in 1977. CCJ’s Technology & Maintenance Career Leadership Award honors a career of dedication to professionalism and excellence in fleet maintenance. Industry involvement, recognitions and awards and reputation among peers figure into the selection. Individuals who made significant contributions to the industry while directly engaged in truck fleet management are eligible even if they no longer work for a fleet operation. CCJ welcomes nominations for the 2021 Career Leadership Award. Contact Jason Cannon at jcannon@ccjmagazine.com.

| march 2020

HONORS

44th Annual

Technology & Maintenance Career Leadership Award Recipient

Visit ccjdigital.com to see what makes Mike a winner!

BUSINESS | TRUCKING ACQUISITIONS The increased activity around carrier acquisitions likely will continue until the economy heats up again, says Loop Capital’s Jeffrey Kauffman.

ACQUISITIONS

RAMP UP

Carriers seize on conditions for cheap capacity

BY AARON HUFF AND JAMES JAILLET arket conditions over the past 18 months have made the trucking industry a hotbed for acquisitions, with larger carriers snapping up smaller carriers for cheap capacity and as part of the industry’s ongoing in-fight for available truck drivers. “One thing we see when the market is weak is a pickup in M&A (mergers and acquisitions) activity,” said Jeffrey Kauffman of Loop Capital. “Carriers have an opportunity to pick up customers and pick up drivers at a discounted rate. Business values have dropped,” making acquisitions more reasonable and affordable, he said. Kauffman said acquisition activity is now noticeably higher than in 2017 and 2018, when the market was stronger and it was easier for smaller carriers to turn a profit. 58

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Those conditions since have pivoted, and softer trucking rates, combined with spiking insurance premiums, have left smaller carriers looking to sell — just as larger carriers are looking to buy. “With so many smaller companies being family-owned, they’re trying to get out while they can,” said Jordan Nelson, an analyst at KSM Transport Advisors. “Trucking is a fragmented industry,” he said, pointing to the tens of thousands of carriers that operate between one truck and 50 trucks. He expects the industry to continue consolidating while current economic conditions persist. But the biggest driver behind the ramp-up in acquisitions, Nelson said, “is access to more capacity” — drivers and trucks with customers already in place. “A lot of times when you are looking at companies, it is almost exclusively

| march 2020

because of drivers,” said Dennis Morgan, president for Baltimore-based Cowan Systems (CCJ Top 250, No. 57), a privately-held truckload carrier with 2,500 trucks. Cowan has made five acquisitions over the past decade, including the purchase of family-owned Carlisle Carrier Corp. last July. Likewise, carriers are looking to diversify into emerging industry sectors, Morgan said. Echoing Nelson’s point, proprietors of those smaller family-owned businesses operating in a trucking niche are looking to cash out and retire, Morgan said. On a macro level, the trucking industry has been responding to the consolidation taking place by its shipper customers, said John Larkin, operating partner for Clarendon Capital’s transportation and logistics investment arm. Large shippers, especially in consumer

BUSINESS | TRUCKING ACQUISITIONS

retail, are getting larger and tightening their group of core carriers to reduce administrative costs. Also, Larkin said, interest rates for equity and debt capital are as low as they’ve ever been. The liquid-bulk segment has been one of the hottest industry sectors in terms of acquisitions, Larkin said. Of note, Kenan Advantage (No. 17) has acquired a number of carriers to take the lead in the gasoline delivery business. Also, Heniff Transportation (No. 104) in December acquired another bulk transporter, Superior Bulk Logistics (No. 99). Also in the bulk sector, TransWood Carriers (No. 130), a roughly 800-truck fleet, acquired the 150-truck Kane Transport in December. Recent deals in dry van include Cowan’s purchase of Carlisle in July and Heartland Express (No. 49) buying Millis Transfer (No. 129) last August. Flatbed also has been a hot sector for acquisitions, Larkin said. And as fleets continue to try to find footing in final-mile delivery, acquisition activity has been consistent in that segment, Kauffman said. J.B. Hunt (No. 3) in January made another last-mile acquisition by purchasing RDI Last Mile. The onset of the electronic logging device mandate also has contributed to acquisition activity, said Steve Rush, owner and chief executive for Carbon Express, a 72-truck liquid-bulk hauler based in Wharton, N.J. Rush has been in trucking for 55 years. The state of the industry today reminds him of the early 1980s when deregulation caused unionized motor carriers to be usurped by non-union carriers that were adapting more quickly to market opportunities. Similarly, Rush believes carriers that have not responded to opportunities in the ELD era are most likely to either go out of business or be bought out. When Carbon Express switched to elogs more than a decade ago, it began

rating by the hour. “It caused us to realize we weren’t charging enough money,” he said. “We looked at some carriers to buy, who were smaller than us. When we looked, I realized they would be going out of business. They have not raised rates in the most volatile time since deregulation.

The industry is made up of so many scared poker players.” Rush said that when he has evaluated carriers for an acquisition, the most important attributes are the character of the management team, the safety record, driver retention and how long they have been on e-logs.

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WHY ALL THE BUSINESS | AMAZON EFFECT

TURNOVER? ‘Amazon Effect’ may explain why truckload drivers are seeking greener pastures, but not necessarily finding them at other fleets BY AARON HUFF

ould the “Amazon Effect” explain the recent spike in driver turnover? Traditionally, turnover goes down when freight demand is relatively soft, as it was in 2019, but it has been rising counterintuitively. The term “Amazon Effect” generally is used to describe the impact, and metamorphosis, of supply chains in response to the rising consumer expectations for delivery of goods they purchase online or in stores. To make same and next-day deliveries, shippers are changing their freight distribution models to shorten the distances between their warehouses and customers. The American Trucking Associations (ATA) reported driver turnover increased 9% during the third quarter of 2019 for large carriers, hitting an annualized rate of 96%. ATA defines large truckload fleets as those with more than $30 million in annual revenue. The third-quarter increase was the largest quarterly uptick recorded by ATA since the second quarter of 2016, and the 96% churn is the highest since the second quarter of 2018. Smaller carriers saw turnover increase 6% to hit a 73% annualized rate. 60

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Baylor Trucking was able to keep driver wages up in 2019 by purchasing more trailers for drop-and-hook operations to help maximize driver productivity, said Cari Baylor, president for the Milan, Ind.-based company.

Driver pay was supposed to be less of an issue when the trucking industry made significant increases to mileagebased pay rates in 2018. But while carriers maintained their rates in 2019, drivers are getting fewer miles. According to a recent survey of 62 truckload carriers, average annual miles for drivers fell from 124,244 in 2018 to 108,777 in 2019, an 11% decline. The survey was conducted by CarriersEdge, a provider of online driver training courses, in partnership with the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) for its Best Fleets to Drive For program. Carriers surveyed for the TCA program ranged from small operators with 14 trucks to megafleets

| march 2020

with more than 8,000 power units. According to several barometers, average length-of-haul (LOH) for truckload shipments has been sliding for at least a decade: • The average LOH for publicly traded truckload carriers was 574 miles in 2010 and 510 miles in 2019. • Data from FTR, a provider of freight transportation intelligence, shows the average length of haul for Class 8 tractor-trailers – measured in miles per freight ton – declined by 7.2% from 2010 to 2019. • The Commodity Flow Survey, released every five years by the U.S. Department of Transportation, shows the average shipment

BUSINESS | AMAZON EFFECT

distance for all trucks declined 17.2% from 2012 to 2017. Driver issues with pay New research by Stay Metrics, a provider of driver retention tools, shows that drivers were dissatisfied with pay in 2019, and the dissatisfaction was a top predictor of turnover. The company released an updated Stay Index on Jan. 27 with a Top 10 list of areas of opportunity for motor carriers to reduce turnover in 2020. The Stay Index uses a statistical tool that ranks each question in Stay Metrics’ Annual Driver Satisfaction Survey, which it administers for motor carriers. Top-ranked items have the lowest scores of driver satisfaction in areas that relate to their jobs and the highest measurements for questions that show drivers’ intent to leave their carriers. The topranked survey question in the updated Stay Index is “My compensation is fair for the amount of work I do.” Stay Metrics analyzed more than 15,800 surveys completed in 2019 by drivers who worked at 63 different carriers across diverse sectors in the industry that include dry van, tanker, intermodal, flatbed, reefer and expedited. Its research and analytics team interprets the dissatisfaction with pay as a byproduct of reduced miles. “Every carrier who I speak to saw their average length of haul decrease in 2019, along with driver productivity,” said Tim Hindes, chief executive officer for Stay Metrics. “This has been a perilous combination for retention. Drivers unsatisfied with their compensation are leaving carriers in search of more miles elsewhere, but they may not fully realize that every carrier is going through the same trough.” Hindes attributed some of the reduction in miles as intentional, as motor carriers are reengineering their freight networks to offer drivers more home time. But larger forces at work – the electronic logging device mandate and

Mark Murrell, president for Care-commerce’s explosive growth – are more to blame. E-commerce has created riersEdge, said that truckload carriers surveyed by TCA’s Best Fleets to Drive the need for shorter-distance models of For program have adjusted their pay freight distribution, he said. structures to compensate for nonStay Metrics also noted differences in driving time. Over the last two years, the the Stay Index by gender. Male drivers industry trend has been guaranteed pay appear to be more focused on pay fairprograms and salaries. ness than women drivers, who tend to “It’s getting to a point that there are focus more on the honesty and support not very many [carriers] that don’t have they receive from carriers. a guarantee of some The company prosort,” Murrell said. “It vides clients individual might be a full salary or reports that show their guaranteed ‘X’ number own top-ranked items of miles.” Some finalists from their anonymous for the TCA program driver responses to the are paying their drivAnnual Driver Satisfacers for detention at tion Survey. “Across shippers and receivers the board, results of starting after one hour, the latest Stay Index he said. show how critical it is Tim Hindes, CEO for Stay Despite average miles for motor carriers to be Metrics, said drivers have been leaving carriers per driver on the detransparent and to proin search of more miles cline, the average driver actively address trends elsewhere, but those miles income among the 62 impacting their driver are not coming back. carriers surveyed by the workforce,” Hindes said. Driver turnover in some sectors of the TCA program increased slightly. Total industry has been decreasing. Less-than- driver pay went up less than 1%, from $65,149 in 2018 to $65,405 in 2019, and truckload carriers saw a drop in driver the average real rate per mile (includturnover by 4% in the third quarter of ing detention pay and bonuses) was 2019, according to ATA. LTL carriers $0.6177, an increase of about 16% from hit an annualized rate of 9%, the lowest $0.5219 in 2018. level since the fourth quarter of 2017. Truck drivers who remember having LTL carriers for the most part have longer hauls and less time between benefited from e-commerce. loads may believe that the problems In 2019 and into 2020, some truckthey are experiencing now with fewer load carriers have found solutions to miles might be specific to their carrier, keep driver wages up despite their Hindes said. He recommends that carmileages going down. Baylor Truckriers be transparent with their drivers ing, a mid-size dry van and refrigerated and educate them that shorter hauls carrier, increased its trailer fleet by 150 are “more of an industry issue, and the units to “do more drop-and-hooks to chances of seeing those same miles keep drivers moving,” said Cari Baylor, they saw pre-ELD or pre-Amazon are president for the Milan, Ind.-based unlikely.” company. “We really focus on shippers Despite shipment distances going that allow us to do drop-and-hooks to maximize utilization so that driver miles down, a number of carriers have developed creative solutions to keep driver are not impacted. We are growing, not incomes afloat and are retaining them at shrinking, because we are able to take higher rates. advantage of those opportunities.” commercial carrier journal

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EQUIPMENT: RENEWABLE AND BIODIESEL

RENEWABLE

AND

BIODIESEL

Growing market could offset potential rise in diesel prices BY TOM QUIMBY

hile praised for instantly dropping emissions and improving cetane levels, another incentive that may draw fleets to renewable and biodiesel is the expected rise in ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) prices this year brought on by mandated maritime use. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) ruled that effective this January, vessels traveling in international waters have to reduce sulfur emissions by over 80%. Increased demands on ULSD used in on-highway diesel engines are expected to drive up prices. The North American Council for Freight Efficiency anticipates a 25- to 50-cent-per-gallon uptick in onhighway diesel prices this year owed to the IMO rule. But there could be some ways around it, especially for fleets operating in incentive-rich California. 62

commercial carrier journal

Des Moines, Iowa-based Ruan Transportation, which began using a blend of renewable and biodiesel early last year, sees its new fuel not only as a minimally intrusive solution for lowering emissions but also as a possible hedge against ultra-low-sulfur (ULSD) price increases brought on by international factors.

Des Moines, Iowa-based Ruan Transportation (CCJ Top 250, No. 32), which began using a blend of renewable and biodiesel from Renewable Energy Group early last year, sees its new fuel not only as a minimally intrusive solution for lowering emissions but also as a possible hedge against ULSD price increases brought on by international factors as well as IMO’s new low-sulfur requirement. “Everybody’s watching that, IMO 2020 is upon us, and I totally agree,” said Steve Larsen, Ruan’s director of procurement and fuel, when asked if renewable and biodiesel could help defray rising ULSD costs. “This is another way to help offset some of that demand with other stocks and things that aren’t as susceptible to the same geopolitical forces, as well as just demand ripples and waves.”

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Larsen said the variety of feedstocks that REG uses in its biofuels further helps to minimize market disruptions. Ruan uses REG Ultra Clean Diesel, which is blended with 80% renewable diesel and 20% biodiesel. “I can’t speak for everyone in the industry, but REG has been pretty strong with the ability to use a wide range of feedstocks so that you’re not tied into any one particular feedstock that could have a disruption in its own supply that could turn around and impact us and the end-consumers,” Larsen said. “That helps us to feel confident that the supply should be fairly steady. Granted, the demand for renewable diesel may outstrip supply in many cases. That feedstock supply gives us a lot more comfort than if it was a lot more limited.”

EQUIPMENT: RENEWABLE AND BIODIESEL Clean Diesel. Increased scarcity of renewable diesel brought on by growing demand makes it ideal to mix with biodiesel, which not only helps to fuel more trucks but also adds the benefits of biodiesel, which include greater lubricity and lower Increased scarcity of renewable diesel brought on by hydrocarbons, particugrowing demand makes it ideal to mix with biodiesel, which not only helps to fuel more trucks but also late matter and carbon adds the benefits of biodiesel, which include greater monoxide. lubricity and lower hydrocarbons, particulate matter However, a little over and carbon monoxide. four years ago, renewAccording to REG, combining renewable diesel received a big able diesel with biodiesel has proven to boost in California, which shows no be a winning combination for fleets and signs of stopping. In late 2015, the state fuel suppliers in California. announced that it would be fueling its “The economics have been better fleet with renewable diesel. Several cities for us and for drivers, we’ve heard no followed suit, though a few, including Beverly Hills and Oakland, had been us- complaints about performance, and it’s good for the environment,” said Abdul ing the fuel prior to the state’s adoption. Mardini, Fontana Truck Stop Center’s In the years following, the uptick in general manager. “Also, there’s a lot of demand for renewable diesel has condemand for renewable diesel in Califortinued, with major players such as Shell, nia. By blending it with 20% biodiesel, Phillips 66 and 76 getting into the mix. we can expand our supplies of RD.” Next Renewable Fuels announced last year that Shell would be purchasing renewable diesel from its new fuel plant, Satisfied with results While produced from the same animal which is scheduled to open in northern and plant feedstocks, processing is what Oregon in 2021. sets renewable and biodiesel apart. Phillips 66 announced in late 2018 Renewable diesel refinement includes hythat it had teamed with REG to build a large renewable diesel plant in Washing- drotreating, which is used in petroleumton State. Phillips also has plans to build based production. The process leads to lower emissions, higher cetane values and two renewable diesel a lower cloud point, which paves the way plants in Nevada. Longtime fuel retailer for a diesel pipeline winter specification. Renewable diesel users have praised the 76 has been offering fuel for overcoming gelling and phase renewable diesel at its separation issues common to biodiesel. pumps in northern Neste, the world’s largest producer of California. “76 Renewable Diesel renewable diesel, reports that its fuel can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up has a cetane of 70+, Unlike renewable diesel, biodiesel is not offered in a to 80% when compared to conventional which is higher than 100% solution. It is mixed with either conventional diesel. either CARB diesel or renewable diesel in blends that are limited to 20% Biodiesel, which frequently is con(40-52) or biodiesel biodiesel. Besides being combined together, renewable and biodiesel blends can be mixed with conventional fused with renewable diesel, is produced (~55),” 76 reports on its diesel in varying degrees. through transesterification, where the website.

Gaining popularity Renewable diesel is nothing new. When faced with increased oil embargos, Germany developed its own renewable diesel plants in World War II, which fueled its war efforts. Production costs are notably higher versus petroleum-based fuels, so historically, renewable diesel hasn’t been able to compete with conventional diesel unless, as noted during the past few years in California, it’s supported by government subsidies tied to emissions concerns. The Low Carbon Fuel Standard Program in the Golden State has made renewable and biodiesel increasingly popular there, where well-funded incentives have dropped prices on par with or even below conventional ULSD. “It’s a favorable price,” Larsen said. “A lot of that has to do with LCFS and the way California structures incentives and things like that.” Ruan has around 80 trucks running regularly on REG Ultra Clean Diesel in California’s Central Valley area. Another 50 or so trucks use it when they pass through. Trucks hail from a variety of manufacturers, with none having anything larger than a 13-liter engine. The trucks primarily run between dairy farms and processing plants. Ruan, which has a history of using a variety of alternative fuels and currently is pursuing electrification, was approached by REG to begin using Ultra

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EQUIPMENT: RENEWABLE AND BIODIESEL feedstock is reacted with methanol to produce fatty acid methyl esters. Increased lubricity, absent in ULSD and renewable diesel, is one of its benefits, in addition to lower emissions. However, unlike renewable diesel, biodiesel is not offered in a 100% solution. It is mixed with either conventional or renewable diesel in blends that are limited to 20% biodiesel. Besides being combined together, renewable and biodiesel blends can be mixed with conventional diesel in varying degrees. Some fleets prefer to use 100% renewable diesel, such as the city fleets in Beverly Hills and Oakland. Beverly Hills fleet manager Craig Crowder, who first started using Neste MY Renewable Diesel in 2013, reported that the fuel has brought about better performance, reduced maintenance and fewer emissions when compared to conventional diesel. “After switching to Neste MY, we noticed that our fuel systems were very

commercial carrier journal

clean, even cleaner than they had been while using ULSD,” Crowder said. “Our DPFs (diesel particulate filters) were performing better, and annual maintenance was simple and efficient. Our trucks had improved performance, better power and less smoke emission.” Richard Battersby, Oakland’s assistant director of public works, reported that renewable diesel has led to fewer emissions and fewer regeneration cycles. He’s also seen none of the gelling, tank lining issues and plugged filters common to biodiesel. Larsen said Ruan has not experienced any phase separation issues in its bulk tanks with blended REG Ultra Clean Diesel. “The biodiesel itself, the B20 portion, provides lubricity that helps throughout the engine,” Larsen said. “In terms of performance, we’ve not had any disruptions whatsoever to operations. I’ve also confirmed that there’s been no real issues at all tank-wise and things like that.

| march 2020

The main thing for a company considering a conversion — you shouldn’t really have any issues so long as your bulk tank has been well-maintained and fairly clean. You still want to watch for filter issues right at conversion, but really, it’s been great.” Larsen said Ruan’s use of REG Ultra Clean Diesel not only increases its green footprint but also can prove more attractive to shippers that are becoming more conscious of emissions. “The other thing to have fleets keep in mind is that shippers want to know that you’re a sustainably-minded fleet,” Larsen said. “You do what you can to help in that area, and I think this is just another way that’s easy to enter into that accomplishes that. Not only does that intrinsically help emissions, it also presents your company as somebody who just may be more appealing to shippers when they’re considering all the different fleets that they could choose to partner with.”

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EV fleet charging stations

ChargePoint’s CPF50 Level 2 Fleet Charging Stations are designed to provide electric vehicle fleet operators with efficient energy management by lowering both installation and electricity costs with advanced tools such as panel sharing and scheduled charging, access control for permission to use the charging station, and fast charging speeds to get vehicles back on the road faster, supplying up to 12 kilowatts (kW). The CPF50 works with all EVs with a universal J-1772 connector. ChargePoint, www.chargepoint.com, 866-480-2936

Anvil impact wrench

Milwaukee Tool’s M18 Fuel ½-inch Extendable Anvil Impact Wrench with One-Key is engineered to provide controlled torque output for fastening and up to 1,100 lb.-ft. of torque. Four customizable modes help prevent overtightening by delivering fastening torque outputs specific to the vehicle’s application. The tool also features the company’s PowerState Brushless Motor, RedLithium XC5.0 Battery Pack and RedLink Plus Intelligence Hardware and Software. The company’s One-Key tool management system allows users to customize, track and manage the tool’s use. Milwaukee Tool, www.milwaukeetool.com, 800-729-3878

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Weather Guard’s 1175-52-02 Heavy Duty Steel Truck Rack is rated to hold up to 1,700 pounds and is designed to accommodate three ladders side by side, maximizing space and capacity. Manufactured from steel and weighing 220 pounds, the steel rack is powder-coated in a durable matte black finish and is made from 2-inch swaged steel tubing welded with overlapping joints to help provide extra strength. It comes with adjustable front mounting legs and feet, rear handlebars, oversized hooks at the eight tiedown points and welded airfoil to help reduce wind noise. The rack is made to fit any truck bed length from 78 to 96 inches and can be installed with a true no-drill process and assembled on the ground prior to being lifted onto the truck for mounting. Weather Guard, www.weatherguard.com, 800-456-7865

commercial carrier journal

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Larson’s VPLHL-LEDC-75 LED Inspection Handlamp is built to handle wet locations and has no ballast for less weight. The waterproof, vaporproof handheld drop light produces 1,050 lumens of colored light – including blue, red, green, amber and white – and features a rubberized, insulated handle for a secure grip, a stainless-steel wire guard enclosure to help protect the light, an operating temperature of 55 degrees Fahrenheit and a solid-state LED bulb with no filament to resist damage from dropping and hard impacts. It comes with 75 feet of cable and can operate on voltages between 100V and 277V AC without modifications. A lowvoltage option operating on 11V or 25V AC/DC also is available. Larson Electronics, www.larsonelectronics.com, 877-464-9925

PRODUCTS

Heavy-duty fan

Snap-on’s 18-Volt Heavy-Duty Fan can be plugged in or used cordless. The fan’s three-speed BLDC motor is DC, 18-24 volts and 22 watts and comes with a dual-power-source 18-volt battery or a 110-volt AC charging port. The battery is built to last 12 hours on low setting, five hours on medium and three hours on high, with air speeds ranging from 1,500 rpm on low, 2,500 rpm on medium and 3,000 rpm on high. The indexable fan includes three 6½-inch propeller-style blades to help enhance airflow, two integrated 2.1 A USB ports, an oversized carrying handle and a control panel. Snap-on, www.snapon.com, 877-762-7664

Floor mats for medium-duty Petes

Minimizer’s custom molded floor mats now are available for Peterbilt’s mediumduty trucks. Four floor mat kits cover Model 337 and Model 348 trucks for model years 2010-20. The durable floor mats are laser-measured to facilitate an exact fit, and their tray system features a raised edge that keeps everything on the mat. Minimizer, www.minimizer.com, 800-248-3855

Synthetic diesel engine oil

Hot Shot’s Secret’s Green Diamond Fleet Full Synthetic Group III/Group IV Engine Oil now is available in a 10W-30 blend formulated for diesel engines that experience extreme temperatures, heavy loads, stop-and-go operations and high airborne particulates. The oil is suited for diesel-powered light-, medium- and heavy-duty trucks, as well as agriculture, construction and industrial equipment, RVs, drilling rigs and stationary engines. It is infused with a fully formulated CK-4 additive package and Hot Shot’s Secret FR3 Nano Technology that facilitates increased film strength for reduced shearing and friction, allowing for improved protection and longer drain intervals. The oil is designed to clean, lubricate and maintain engines and turbos for long-lasting protection, improved performance and fuel economy and longer oil drain intervals, as well as improved cold starting and reduced soot, noise and vibration. It also provides added oxidation and thermal stability to help prevent deposits and premature oil breakdown. Green Diamond Fleet 10W-30 is available in either a 1-gallon or 5-gallon container, as well as in bulk quantities. Hot Shot’s Secret, www.hotshotsecret.com, 800-341-6516 commercial carrier journal

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PRODUCTS

Bolt-circle wheel end

Marmon-Herrington’s wheel end for 11.25-inch (285mm) bolt-circle wheels on the company’s MT22 double-reduction planetary front-drive steer axle is designed for commonality between the front and rear tires. The wheel end has a 5G high-dynamic shock-load capability and is standard on all Marmon-Herrington AWD conversions and available for approved MT22 applications. Marmon-Herrington, www.marmon-herrington.com, 800-227-0727

Deposit control additive

Lucas Oil’s Diesel Deep Clean diesel fuel detergent and deposit control additive is designed to keep injectors clean, maintaining good flow and free of plugging, and to be effective against carbonaceous deposits and internal injector deposits. The proprietary cleaning formula helps eliminate forced regenerations by removing soot and other particulate matter while stopping exhaust backpressure. Lucas Oil Products, www.lucasoil.com, 800-342-2512

Expanded clutch portfolio

Eaton has expanded its Advantage Automated Series Clutch lineup for automated transmissions. The portfolio now includes the Eaton-Cummins Endurant, Eaton UltraShift Plus, Detroit DT12, Mack mDrive and Volvo I-Shift. The clutches feature a clutch bracket with a hardened steel pivot ring engineered to better sustain loads throughout the clutch’s life, with larger spring fingers for enhanced wear resistance. Eaton, www.eaton.com, 269-342-3000

commercial carrier journal

| march 2020

PRODUCTS

Truck and bus radial tires

Hankook’s latest truck and bus radial (TBR) tires, the regional-haul all-position all-season AH32 and long-haul drive-position widebase e3 WiDE DL12, offer wider contact patches, enabling a higher tread volume. The AH32 features the company’s Innovation Mixing System (IMS) that helps strengthen the bonding force between the compound materials (carbon black and rubber) to facilitate lower heat generation, as well as a tread pattern that combines two different zig-zag grooves to help protect against uneven wear, chips, cuts and tearing. The e3 WiDE DL12’s three-dimensional siping and semi-open-shoulder design offers the company’s Spiral-Coil Technology that works to stabilize the tire’s footprint and casing, while the combined structure of the rib and block pattern helps improve the tire’s integrity. The AH32 is offered in sizes 385/65R22.5 18PR and 425/65R22.5 20PR, and the e3 WiDE DL12 is offered in size 445/50R22.5 20PR DL12.

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Hankook Tire America Corp., www.hankooktire.com/us, 615-432-0700

Wheel-end monitor

SKF’s TraX Wheel End Monitor is built to be integrated with a heavy-duty vehicle’s existing telematics system or operated as a smart mobile device application. The sensor unit is installed on the wheels to monitor wheel-end vibration and temperature to detect any potential issues and is integrated with existing Truck-Lite Road Ready telematics systems via its SmartBridge Integrator (SBI) to notify fleet maintenance and the driver in advance via wireless communication of any problems. Commercial vehicle customers who are not using telematics providers may download and subscribe to the SKF TraX app to check wheel-end status and receive alerts on iOS-based mobile platforms.

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SKF, www.vsm.skf.com, 800-882-0008

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COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL

MARCH 2020

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commercial carrier journal

| march 2020

ow, what an awesome machine! Emitting a throaty roar, the V8powered 1984 Camaro accelerated away from the stop sign like a bullet, leaving John Doe’s straight truck shrouded in a cloud of burning rubber. Stifling a momentary twinge of jealousy, Doe consoled himself with the thought that his 1200 Harley Sportster could blow the stripes right off that hot rod, 10-4? Moments later, Doe’s thoughts turned from classic cars to the mundane task of offloading freight as he pulled into the super-busy Monica Memorial Mall, looking for … ah-hah! There was the Frisky Cat Pet Arcade on the next corner. Pulling into what appeared to be the last parking space in front of the store, Doe delivered six cartons of cat food, climbed back into his cab and took a moment to extract some snacks from his bag of survival rations. Next, he checked his mirrors, activated the four-way flashers, tapped the horn and proceeded to slowly back away from the pickup parked in front of him. Alas … WHUMP! Straight truck driver John Doe What the heck? Rushing to didn’t see a small car that had parked illegally behind him while the rear of his rig, Doe dishe was distracted, and when he covered that his hefty underbacked his truck up, he hit the ride guard had impacted, and vehicle. Was this a preventable crinkled, the glossy black hood accident? of Dr. Jason Swifty’s 12-cylinder illegally parked Mercedes-Benz convertible … which must have snuck up behind Doe while he was searching his gym bag for treats. Since Doe contested the preventable-accident warning letter from his safety director, the National Safety Council’s Accident Review Committee was asked to resolve the conflict. To Doe’s dismay, NSC ruled against him, noting that he should have asked someone to help him back up the rig in the crowded parking area. And the fact that the Mercedes-Benz was parked illegally was no excuse for slamming into it blindly.

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