U.S. Representatives Dusty Johnson (R-South Dakota) and Jim Costa (D-California) on Tuesday introduced the Safer Highways and Increased Performance for Interstate Trucking (SHIP IT) Act, a bill that seeks improvements in safety and shipping capacity for trucking companies; provides recruitment and retention incentives for drivers; and includes flexibility during times of emergencies or black swan events. The bill calls for a temporary $7,500 text credit for eligible truck drivers who logged at least 1,900 hours of on-duty time and whose adjusted gross income for the taxable year does not exceed $135,000 jointly; $112,500 as head of household; or $90,000 individually. New drivers – defined as someone "who did not drive a commercial truck in the course of a trade or business during the preceding taxable year" – are eligible for a $10,000 tax credit. “Americans experienced a slew of freight disruptions during and after the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Johnson. “Last year we addressed ocean shipping reform, and it’s clear that updates are needed for other parts of the supply chain. The SHIP IT Act will bridge gaps, keep costs down for consumers, and make it easier for shippers to move products across the U.S.” The SHIP IT Act also unlocks Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act grants for tuition, fees and other costs of entry-level driver training provided by a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration-registered trainer. The grant could be extended to include other education and training costs, including the cost of course materials, supplies, technology, and fees for graduation, licensure or certification. Citing disruptions in the trucking supply chain that drive costs and create uncertainty for consumers and producers, Costa said, "we need to recruit, train, and retain truck drivers to keep our supply chain moving, while also updating best practices to improve trucking to fit our modern economy. That is why we introduced this bipartisan legislation to strengthen the workforce and make it easier to move products across the country.” To improve parking, the bill authorizes grants to states and private agencies for projects that include new or expanded truck parking. It also proposes to streamline the CDL process, making it easier for states and third parties to administer CDL tests. https://ift.tt/ZCwFks3
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Technology news and briefs for the week of Jan. 22, 2022: New AI dashcam hits marketGeoSpace Labs has launched a new AI dashcam with advanced computer vision algorithms that instantly detect unsafe driving and alert drivers in real time. GeoSpace's event intelligence technology analyzes every video within seconds to determine the context and severity to help fleets prevent accidents and reduce risk. The company says it can help reduce accidents by up to 30%. Key features of the dashcam, which is aimed at smaller fleets and independent operators, include industrial-grade reliability, clear HD video resolution and a wide field of view for more coverage; up to 104 hours of camera storage; and a built-in Quick Capture feature button to instantly initiate an automatic video upload to safety departments. Microsoft Connected Fleets adds Wejo to ecosystemWejo Group Limited (NASDAQ: WEJO), a provider of cloud and software solutions for connected, electric and autonomous vehicle data, has adopted the Microsoft Connected Fleets reference architecture. Microsoft Connected Fleets reference architecture enables an ecosystem of partners that address the fleet management market by simplifying specialized analytics and value extraction from vehicle data and streamlining integration with business systems. The reference architecture enhances and will streamline access to Wejo’s connected vehicle data (CVD). Wejo’s CVD is delivered in near real-time, directly from its OEM partners. ISVs, SIs, and fleet managers will benefit by accessing Wejo’s CVD more efficiently, facilitating faster integrations with customer-specific requirements, enabling integration of fleet management functions with business applications for field services, simplifying the delivery of advanced analytics, accelerating time-to-insights and delivering fleet management capabilities without needing to retrofit hardware. NMFC Book goes 100% digitalThe National Motor Freight Traffic Association’s National Motor Freight Classification (NMFC) Book will be available in print form for the final time in 2023. Going forward, the information contained in the book will be available exclusively from ClassIT: the online version originally released in 2006. The decision to provide classification information exclusively in digital form is part of NMFTA’s digitizing and sustainability initiatives. “Over the last several years, members have been making the shift to online classification, as today we host over 7,000 users of ClassIT versus just under 700 printed books that are distributed throughout the year,” said NMFTA Executive Director Debbie Sparks. “ClassIT has more functionality than the book, and as an organization, one of our strategic endeavors is to help digitize the industry, and this can be another way we will accomplish that.” Users will have the benefit of robust search capabilities, including the ability to access historic classification files and search for multiple terms and definitions, as well as trademarked names. ClassIT also offers numerous calculators not found in the book that assist in determining not only density, but also the applicable provisions where necessary. Current subscribers of the book will receive promotional pricing through Dec. 31, 2023. Trucker Path launches new in-app marketplaceTrucker Path has rolled out its new in-app marketplace, featuring discounts and special offers on products and services specifically for drivers. The offerings in the marketplace are available and easily accessible by all members of the Trucker Path community. “The new Trucker Path marketplace was developed to provide easy access to discounts from leading providers who offer products that not only help truckers go about their business more efficiently, but also help them with life’s essentials and comforts,” said Trucker Path Chief Marketing Officer Chris Oliver. For the initial launch, the Trucker Path marketplace features a set of offerings from trusted partners to coincide with this time of year, including healthcare and tax-related services. That list includes telehealth services (with the first two months free); discount prescription cards; major medical insurance; dental and vision coverage; life insurance; accident medical coverage; accounting services; and tax preparation. Additional services and products will continue to be added to the Trucker Path marketplace in the future. Xos offers mobile fleet management applicationXos, Inc., a technology company that provides fleet services and software solutions and manufactures Class 5 through Class 8 battery-electric commercial vehicles, has launched its mobile fleet management application. Xosphere Go. Is for customers and authorized Xos dealers to manage their Xos vehicle and chargers on the go. It is available to all owners of Xos battery-electric vehicles and is free to download on iOS and Android devices. Xosphere is Xos’s proprietary fleet management software purpose-built to minimize the total cost of ownership of electric fleets. It combines Xos’s proprietary hardware and software into a seamless, intuitive platform. With Xosphere, fleet managers are able to monitor the real-time health and performance of their fleet, measure and minimize their fleet’s total energy cost, and access service and support directly in the platform. All owners of Xos vehicles and chargers receive complimentary access to Xosphere and can leverage basic functionalities such as making service requests, receiving service updates, accessing the knowledge center and receiving online support. A paid subscription of Xosphere includes all the benefits from the complimentary version as well additional benefits, such as access to full-service history, telematics like GPS and state-of-charge signals, vehicle and charger performance reports, and access to the Xosphere Go mobile application. Schneider expands use of Relay Payments Transportation provider Schneider is expanding the use of Relay Payments to its entire fleet, consisting of 10,000-plus power units and 12,000-plus drivers following a pilot program in which it tested the fintech company’s lumper payment solution. "With Relay, our drivers were able to improve productivity and data accuracy for lumper transactions. We're always interested in new technology that boosts efficiency and improves our drivers' workflow," said Lee Whipp, Schneider senior director of purchasing. "Relay has reduced friction for both our drivers and back-office teams, and we've found the software is easy to use." Schneider's operations and customer service teams also realized gains from using Relay. Drivers began paying warehouse fees directly from their cab, reducing time on the phone to authorize fleet checks or cash payments. The digital, contactless payment process saved drivers significant time with each delivery. Additionally, Schneider's finance team received instantaneous e-receipts, allowing them to guarantee reimbursement and improve customer billing. Co-founders of Relay, launched in 2019 to modernize payments for the supply chain, logistics and trucking industries, saw how drivers spent hours at warehouses waiting on approvals for cash or fleet check authorizations to pay lumpers and introduced this entirely digital, secure and contactless payment process to solve for this. Today, 300,000-plus carriers and drivers use Relay to transact. https://ift.tt/ZCwFks3 Driving can be challenging enough. Driving with a weak cell phone signal is even worse. With all the functions a cell phone provides like voice calls, texting, traffic alerts, fleet telematics, mobile hot spotting and more, missing out on a reliable signal isn’t much of an option. That’s where cell a phone booster can help. We recently tested SureCall’s Fusion2Go OTR booster here in Northwest Florida where signals can vary widely from great to absolute dead air. The result? SureCall did an impressive job of keeping us up and running among the trees, though getting there was a bit of a challenge. SureCall promotes easy installation and it certainly can be given the right conditions. In this case, the Fusion2Go OTR kit includes an antenna mount that easily clamps onto the steel support bar of a truck’s side mirror. But that’s it. If your truck’s mirror is supported by one large arm, as is the case with newer model trucks from icons like Freightliner and Kenworth, then you’re going to have to come up with another mount. For that matter, that’s also the case for other trucks, including pickups, that do not have a side mirror support bar. For my 2014 Toyota Tundra, I made a no-drill antenna mount behind the cab that was compatible with my hard tonneau. It turned out fine but it did take some planning and a few trips to the hardware store to pull it off. Though taller is better when it comes to signal reception, I didn’t want to mount the antenna above the cab where it would be buffeted by wind while traveling down the road and stress the mount. Thankfully, SureCall offers 16- and 32-inch antenna height options. I went with the 16-inch option and dropped it down another 3 ½ inches by omitting the spring. I could always add the extra height if needed which hasn’t been the case so far. If you’re going to mount the SureCall antenna through something that’s not grounded to the chassis, which is the case for my tonneau, just be sure to run a separate ground wire from the antenna mount to the chassis and test it for continuity to ensure a solid connection. Don’t worry about extra weight. The antenna is surprisingly light at about 15 ounces and measures only 9 inches tall with a 2 ½-inch diameter. However, if you want to reduce weight you can opt for an aluminum mount instead of the steel one that comes with the kit. SureCall uses the typical 3/8-inch 24 thread count common to CB antenna mounts so you can always choose another spring and mount if you like. Included with the kit is a small tube of Loctite 243 thread-lock adhesive. After mounting the antenna, I ran the antenna’s coax under the truck and secured it along the frame rail before running it through a rubber grommet on the floor about 10 inches in front of the right front seat. The small diameter of the cable (comparable to CB coax RG58) allows for an unnoticeable run under the carpet to beneath the right front seat. In addition to the 10-foot long cable that comes attached to the antenna, SureCall includes a 5-foot extension for longer runs. I had to use both cables given a lengthy run from the bed to the front of the cab. The kit also includes additional coax connectors for additional configurations. The amplifier only measures 4x5-x1 inches, which makes it fairly easy to conceal. After attaching the external antenna, I installed the amp under the right front seat. Another cable for a smaller antenna inside the cab (or multi-device patch antenna as SureCall calls it) attaches to the other side of the amplifier. The cable’s 10-foot length and the antenna’s small profile allows for installation nearly anywhere in the cab. Just keep in mind that the closer the patch antenna is to a phone, the better. Given that, I chose not to use the Velcro mount so that the antenna can be freely moved around inside the cab if necessary. An easy power connection to the amp comes courtesy of a 12-foot long power cable, which simply plugs into a cigarette lighter outlet. A switch on the plug makes it easy to turn the amp on and off. Signal boostCell phone boosters are required to be registered with your carrier prior to use. Some carriers, including Verizon, offer an online form that’s fairly easy to fill out. Others may require a phone call with a representative to verify compatibility. SureCall is advertised to work with all carriers and all devices.After that, it’s time to flick the switch and see what happens. I tried out my phone first and saw the signal jump from to two bars to three. After I placed the phone on top of the patch antenna (it’s about the size of three stacked credit cards), I got four bars, which is unheard of locally. Excited about my newfound power, I ran inside and recruited another phone user in our family to give it a try. Same results. Both phones held steady at three bars when held about three feet away from the inside antenna and went up to four when placed on the patch. Not bad! To get a better idea of signal quality, I activated my iPhone’s in-field service app by dialing *3001#12345*. Just know that once you dial that number, you may get different options depending on your carrier. With StraightTalk, a page pops up titled All Metrics. From there, I choose Serving Cell Info under the header RAT (Radio Access Technology). A long list of metrics pops up that mean absolutely nothing to me save for RSRP (Reference Signal Receive Power). RSRP indicates signal strength with negative numbers that, according to longtime wireless experts at Digi International, typically range from a good strength of -44dBm (decibel-milliwatts) to a horrendous -140dBm. In the case of the latter, you may be better off with two Dixie cups and a string. Without SureCall, our cell phones at the house usually range between -100 and -123dBm. Not so good. With the booster on, our best rating was -58dBm, a noticeable improvement. As everyone knows, while out driving cell phone strength can get noticeably better and worse. It’s a constant see-saw leaving most people familiar with areas that offer great coverage and those that don’t. Here in Northwest Florida, we still have dead zones though not nearly as bad as they once were. After driving around for about 75 miles, we consistently saw signal boosts of one and two bars in some areas that offered one or, in the case of State 20 just west of Bruce, nothing at all. The best RSRP boost was an impressive 45dBM. Our best RSRP value remained at -58dBm. Keep in mind that we’re not running the taller 32-inch antenna extension which could mean even better gains. However, there’s no need for me to run the taller mast at this point. Since I use my phone’s mobile hotspot frequently to access the web while on the road, I gave my laptop a performance check using the booster. Playing high resolution video is usually a good indicator. In this case, I had no hiccups. Everything came through crystal clear. SureCall suggests making a phone call in an area where you’ve typically run into signal problems. With the booster on, we didn’t run into any phone or streaming issues in areas where we’ve frequently had connectivity problems. SureCall offers support through its website, a toll-free number and an email address. Using the toll-free number, I got through right away to a helpful agent who submitted my question to tech support Monday morning regarding the availability of other antenna mounts. I’ll keep you posted. In the meantime, I’m enjoying a more reliable signal among the trees. https://ift.tt/Cv3da1F Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023: J.B. Hunt awarding $8.8M in bonusesJ.B. Hunt Transport Services (CCJ Top 250, No. 3) announced that for the second consecutive year, its subsidiary J.B. Hunt Transport will award appreciation bonuses to full-time company drivers and full-time hourly maintenance and office employees. The total amount awarded will exceed $8.8 million. “Our people are our difference makers, and the employees receiving these appreciation bonuses have been essential in helping deliver value for our customers over the past year,” said Shelley Simpson, president of J.B. Hunt. “We want to recognize their continued drive and commitment to excellence and say thank you for contributing to the company’s success.” To be eligible for the bonus, employees must have been hired on or before Jan. 1, 2022, be a full-time employee, and be employed on the payment date. In April 2022, J.B. Hunt awarded more than $900,000 in safe driver bonuses as part of its Million Mile safety recognition program. Paccar issues recall of electric Peterbilt 579EV, Kenworth T680E trucksPaccar is recalling approximately 46 model year 2022-2023 Peterbilt 579EV and 2023 Kenworth T680E trucks due to incorrect software in the battery-electric heavy-duty electronic stability control program that may underestimate the mass of the vehicle. As a result, the trucks may not comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 136, "Electronic Stability Control Systems on Heavy Vehicles." According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documents, “an incorrect estimate of the vehicle mass can reduce the performance of the stability control system and increase the risk of a crash.” Dealers will update the software, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed March 17. Owners can contact Paccar’s customer service at 1-425-828-5888 (Kenworth) and 1-940-591-4220 (Peterbilt). Paccar’s numbers for this recall are 23PBA and 23KWA. NHTSA’s recall number is 23V-007. Walmart expanding Fleet Development ProgramWalmart recently announced it is expanding a program that allows employees working in stores, distribution centers, fulfillment centers, and transportation offices to become drivers. Last year, the company launched its Walmart Private Fleet Development Program, which saw supply chain associates in the Dallas, Texas, and Dover, Delaware, areas earn their CDLs over a 12-week program to become drivers for Walmart. The company is now expanding that program so that Walmart employees working in stores, distribution centers, fulfillment centers and transportation offices in participating locations will be able to take advantage of this incredible program. Through this expanded pilot program, employees within a 50-mile radius of a participating transportation office will be eligible to apply to the Associate-to-Driver program. Then, after they complete the 12-week training course and earn their CDLs, they have a driving job ready to step into. Drivers in Walmart's private fleet can make up to $110,000 in their first year with the company, the company says, in addition to the suite of benefits the company offers. Drivers who have been with Walmart longer can earn more, based on factors like tenure and location, according to a statement from the company. Walmart has some 13,000 drivers. "The Associate-to-Driver program allows participants to learn driving from the best of the best – our current Walmart driving instructors," said Fernando Cortes, Walmart's senior vice president for transportation in a statement on the company's website. "Our fleet is continually recognized for its commitment to safety. In fact, the American Trucking Associations has awarded Walmart the Safest Fleet in the Over 250 Million Mile Division for six consecutive years. By training our new drivers in this program from day one, we can help guide them to approach all parts of the job focusing on the values of safety, courtesy, and pride so that we will never disappoint our fleet, customers or families.” https://ift.tt/Cv3da1F Insurance providers charge premiums based on expected losses, and they expect commercial fleets to be at higher risk for loss. Tech company Idelic’s mission has always been to help commercial fleets produce better insurance outcomes by predicting and mitigating risk, reducing preventable crashes and lowering losses. But that has traditionally been difficult for fleets in the standard insurance market. “They had to reduce and lower accident frequency, lower losses and then go back and hopefully convince their insurer to give them better outcomes,” said Hayden Cardiff, Idelic founder and chief innovation officer. “We started to see that it took several years – four to five years of consistent lower loss history – before the insurance providers would switch over from, ‘Hey, this could be an anomaly’ to ‘No, this is actually a trend. Let me give you better rates for it.’” Because that delay presents a big challenge for Idelic customers, Idelic decided to branch into the insurance sector itself. Idelic has launched a tech-driven managing general agent (MGA), Idelic Insurance Agency LLC, focused on providing commercial fleets with customized insurance coverage and pricing that is reflective of risk improvement resulting from use of the Idelic Program. The idea behind the new offering is fleets can use Idelic’s Safety Suite and Driver Safety Playbook to lower losses and, in turn, receive lower renewals based on the results. The Idelic Program is made up of two primary components: driver performance management platform Safety Suite, which first aggregates driver risk data and identifies high-risk drivers using proprietary machine learning models; and the Driver Safety Playbook, a guide to engaging drivers through coaching and step-by-step professional development plans created in collaboration with insurers and trucking’s safest fleets. The Idelic Program has a proven impact of a 20% reduction in preventable crashes within the first year of use by providing insight into driver data. “Compared to traditional insurance companies, the amount of information Idelic has is like comparing a 90s flip phone to a modern smartphone,” said Michael Gramm, Idelic Insurance Agency’s senior vice president of insurance. “They’re both cellphones, but there’s a world of difference in terms of what they can do for the user.” Gramm said, in a traditional sense, fleets would spend a ton of time compiling their data and working with their insurance provider to package that data in a way that would be well received by the underwriting community. "Commercial auto fleet insurance is inherently complex with a multitude of nuances from fleet to fleet. The process of evaluating risks has traditionally relied on underwriter experience and judgment, but insurers are increasingly looking for a more data-driven way to evaluate risks. Idelic Insurance Agency will do just that,” Gramm said in a news release. "By working closely with fleets that choose to use the Idelic Program, we can better leverage critical driver behavior data to quote policies that reflect their reduced crash risk." Some traditional insurance companies may offer tech solutions to help drivers lower their premiums, but the point of sale will always be insurance, he said. Idelic’s core business has been and will continue to be selling the Safety Suite platform on a subscription basis, directly to fleets. Gramm said that is what sets Idelic Insurance Agency apart, and the company is taking part in leading an industry-wide transition as tech-based companies that provide solutions like AI dashcams and telematics move into the insurance space or partner with an existing insurer. “We are seeing an absolute evolution happening across the insurance industry where insurance is going from a repair and replace model post-accident to the idea that insurance companies have such a vast understanding of risk across different classes of business – in our case the commercial transportation space – that we have the ability to help predict future risk and partner with our customers to prevent that risk, and then still cover losses that happen outside of what we're able to predict or prevent,” Gramm said. “We're really seeing that change the landscape dramatically, both in personal insurance and commercial insurance, where we have this evolution of partnership rather than just paying for losses after they happen.” Cardiff said Idelic considered partnering with an existing insurer as a data provider but ultimately chose to partner as an MGA with Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co., so it could have a stronger hand in the process and be able to better guide customers in managing risk. “It really comes down to the fact that insurance carriers have heartburn working with newer companies who've never been on the insurance side. It's also a little bit of a challenge to ingest new data that they've never seen before and be able to quickly turn that around into actionable underwriting insight,” Cardiff said. “For us, it was a little bit of a challenge to get the movement as quickly as we would have liked for our customers within the traditional insurance market, so we found a way to be able to provide that value as quickly as possible for our customers, and it was through the MGA.” He said the amount of data available to fleets is like drinking from a firehose, and fleets aren’t always capable of encompassing that information and harnessing it to their benefit. But harnessing that data to improve driver coaching, compliance and safety management, among other things, in a uniform way is what will save them in the event of a nuclear verdict-producing accident. Using the Idelic program, Cardiff said, will help the company understand how to better underwrite fleets for those cases. Because of the rise in nuclear verdicts, insurance costs and availability are plaguing the trucking industry, landing insurance on the American Transportation Research Institute’s Top 10 list of motor carrier executive concerns. Cardiff said current Idelic customers have been able to predict more than 60% of preventable crashes with drivers who are at the top of their Driver Watch List, an Idelic feature that scores drivers based on analysis of over 40 billion miles of driver behavior and over 215,000 accidents. “When you pair that level of proactive and predictive insight into this programmatic approach on how to coach … now being able to tie in that proactive and predictive pricing from an insurance perspective, the best fleets are going to be the ones who win in the end,” he said. “They're going to win because normally they're having to pay for fleets who are above average in their losses. So they are typically overpriced, and now better fleets, who select a program like Idelic, can get better credit for that.” https://ift.tt/Cv3da1F A New Year gives us all collectively an opportunity for some introspection and self-improvement. Maybe we decide to give Dry January a try or set new financial goals. Congratulations to those who have remained steadfast with their New Year’s resolutions as we approach the second month of 2023. For many in the industry, the New Year also brings about uncertainty. Will inflation continue to rise? Will fuel costs stabilize and parts become more accessible? Will our companies be able to hire enough drivers and technicians? Will any of the experts agree on whether or not we are heading into a recession? Two things are certain to continue in the new year: talking heads will continue to add noise about where the economy is heading, and the trucking industry will continue to move 80% of the goods in this country. So, how can TCA members work together in the new year to cut through the noise and speculation to get actionable ideas to work on some New Year’s resolutions for our businesses? Consider taking a look at TCA’s Profitability Program (TPP) and giving your company a tune up. The revamped TCA Profitability Program has successfully brought carrier members together to benchmark their performance based on their actual operating ratios and key performance indicators (KPIs) for more than 20 years. TPP groups are segmented into non-competitive company groups with similar operating concerns, challenges and opportunities, allowing for accurate comparison and open discussion. Each of the 120 carriers involved in the program receive a monthly Composite Report highlighting KPIs and giving actionable takeaways and ideas to try in their companies. Participants are encouraged to share best practices, link data to actions and forecast and set operating goals. This isn’t a one-time New Year’s resolution kind of fix, but one that is continuous and long term. Taking the program a step further, our TPP Best Practice Groups meet within their groups bi-annually to have more focused discussions and deepen the relationships between the participants. These meetings are all about peer-to-peer networking and an open exchange of ideas. Building the TPP program has been a major focus for TCA over the course of my chairmanship. We have hired a new facilitator and are currently accepting new applicants to Best Practice Groups. We are also rejuvenating our TPP Seminar Series, with four seminars focused on maintenance and operations currently being scheduled for May and June of this year. These one-day seminars will provide a great opportunity to look under the hood of the composite, make new connections and hear the latest trends being gleaned from the program. Prior to speaking at a previous TPP Seminar held in early December, current TPP member and Cargo Transporters’ COO Jerry Sigmon, Jr., shared his though on the meetings. “This is a great opportunity for anyone who has ever wondered if joining the TPP would benefit their organization. Here is the chance to get all your questions answered. One intangible benefit that should not be overlooked is the networking these groups provide.” So, is your company ready for a year-round tune up that will pay dividends for your business? If so, please find out more here and learn about TPP, or you can reach out to TPP Managing Director Jack Porter at mailto:[email protected]. https://ift.tt/Cv3da1F Penske Truck Leasing is excited about renewable diesel and it’s easy to see why. The Pennsylvania-based global trucking giant is seeing impressive performance gains, lower maintenance costs and reduced emissions in California where all 32 of their locations are now fueling up Penske trucks with renewable diesel following a recent supplier agreement with Shell. Switching to the biofuel, which is produced from plant and animal matter, has led to less maintenance expense, according to Penske’s vice president of energy and fuel supply Josh Tippin, thanks largely to the fuel’s cleaner burn. While Tippin can’t nail down an exact cost savings since Penske’s trucks fuel over the road outside of California where renewable diesel is mostly unavailable, he did say that “we agree with the majority of the studies that are showing around a two cent per mile maintenance when compared to traditional diesel.” Tippin said the fuel’s cleaner burn has reduced diesel particulate filter maintenance and is “causing a reduction in that maintenance cost.” [Related: Fuel groups argue that Biden decarbonization blueprint undoes trucking's emissions reduction efforts] Higher cetane values, which the Department of Energy reports at being 70 or higher versus 45 to 55 in traditional diesel, also deliver greater power. “Absolutely,” Tippin said. “Renewable diesel’s anywhere from 10, 20, to 30 cetane number higher than traditional diesel, depending on where you're getting it from, and that automatically is going to improve your ignition, your power off the start. Anytime you have that big, big boost—and those are pretty large percentage gains--you're going to have a much better power output.” Increased power from renewable diesel plus the absence of aromatics has proven popular with fleets Tippin said. Penske is still testing renewable diesel with OEMs to get a clearer picture of fuel economy impact, but so far they like what they see. “With traditional diesel you will see degradation over time because of the buildup of coking in the engine,” Tippin said. “With this being a cleaner product in the engine, you're not seeing that same rate of degradation that you would see with traditional diesel. So improved is probably not the right, but it's better than [conventional diesel].” Emissions have dropped as well. “We have our own ESG group in-house and we have our own environmental group in-house and it's a constant discussion that we have around what claims can be made and stated,” Tippin explained. “I will say that the claims that are out there today, depending on the feedstock, show a GHG well-to-wheel reduction from 60 to 85%. And that's well-to-wheel accounting, which has its own set of accounting methodology for the GHG reduction, but I think we would agree with all those numbers.” While renewable diesel is mostly confined to California where the fuel is subsidized and often priced below traditional diesel, Tippin is encouraged by a growing number of renewable fuel producers including Shell, which is building a renewable diesel plant in Convent, Louisiana according to The Houston Chronicle. Renewable diesel and biodiesel climbed to a 21% share of all diesel fuel sold in California in 2020, according to a recent report from the California Air Resources Board. Both fuels accounted for 44% of the state’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits in 2020. Credits acquired by renewable fuel producers and fleets using those fuels are sold to other entities required by the state to offset their emissions. It’s big business with more than 25 million LCFS credits transacted in 2021 – a value of $4.7 billion, according to Pacific Gas & Electric. Heavy-duty trucking is one of the most difficult segments to decarbonize, leading lawmakers to require and incentivize the production and use of renewable diesel and biodiesel. For instance, the Inflation Reduction Act supports additional production of biofuels including renewable diesel. “As supply increases we expect the cost to react in a positive way,” Tippin said. “I don't know when we get to the parity piece but I know with all of these refineries coming out in 2023 that the amount of production is set to double even triple the amount of renewable diesel which will have an impact on a lot of different factors in the economics of the product.” In the meantime, Tippin said other fleets shouldn’t hesitate to try the fuel when possible. “Penske is the fleet of fleets and we're a huge proponent of renewable diesel,” he said. “We're our own maintenance company and our maintenance people are fond of this product. So that in itself is the stamp of approval for anybody looking to get into it. If the fleet of fleets is all about it, then I don't see a reason why you shouldn't be as well.” https://ift.tt/Cv3da1F Trucking news and briefs for Monday, Jan. 23, 2023: Knight-Swift receives first electric Kenworth T680EKnight-Swift Transportation (CCJ Top 250, No. 5) recently became the first major U.S fleet to take delivery of a zero-emissions Kenworth T680E Class 8 battery-electric vehicle. The Kenworth T680E will operate at the Knight Port Services terminal in Southern California. The fleet worked on the T680E’s procurement and purchase of a supporting Paccar 120 kW electric vehicle charging station with Inland Kenworth – Phoenix. The Kenworth T680E is designed for pickup and delivery, regional haul and drayage applications, and is available as a day cab as either a tractor or straight truck. The T680E has an 82,000 lb. gross vehicle weight rating and an estimated 150-mile operating range, depending on the application. The Kenworth “Driving To Zero Emissions” program also features the Class 7 K370E and Class 6 K270E battery electric vehicles, and Paccar charging stations. Both the K270E and K370E are for pickup and delivery and short regional haul operations. The electric powertrain is available with high-density battery packs of 141 kWh, 209 kWh and 282 kWh that deliver up to 100-, 150- and 200-mile range, respectively. Paccar Parts distributes electric vehicle (EV) charging stations that maximize coverage over a full range of Kenworth electric vehicles, with output power from 20 kW to 350 kW. EV chargers can be purchased from Kenworth dealers. Proposed legislation would allow under-21 drivers to work portsUnder current federal law, picking up freight from a port is considered interstate transportation, even if the freight stays within the state where the port is located. This, of course, means 18- to 21-year-old truck drivers cannot pick up freight from ports, even though they are allowed to operate in intrastate commerce. A new bill introduced in the U.S. House by Rep. Brian Mast (R-Florida) would change that federal law so that freight moved from a port to another location within the same state is considered intrastate commerce rather than interstate. Dubbed the Ceasing Age-Based (CAB) Trucking Restrictions Act, Mast said the bill would eliminate “logistical hurdles in order to maximize the labor force in the United States and address a contributing factor of the supply chain crisis.” The text of the bill states that “the transportation of goods from a port of entry and another place within the same state as part of trade, traffic, or transportation originating outside such state or the United States by commercial motor vehicle shall not be considered interstate transportation for purposes of requirements relating to commercial driver’s licenses.” The bill was introduced in the House on Jan. 10 and currently has 19 Republican co-sponsors. It has been referred to the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, where it would need to be passed before moving to the full House floor. Yellow driving academies hit graduation milestoneIn its effort to help train the next generation of professional truck drivers, Yellow Corporation (CCJ Top 250, No. 6) announced it graduated more than 1,000 CDL apprentices from its network of driving academies in 2022. While expanding its Driving Academy program to 21 locations across 16 states, Yellow set the 1,000-graduate goal in early 2022. On Dec. 22, the graduation of six student drivers from Yellow’s South Bend, Indiana, Driving Academy officially surpassed 1,000 graduates for the year. “This is an enormous accomplishment for our company that involved hard work and tremendous dedication from our students, instructors and safety trainers across the country,” said Darren Hawkins, CEO of Yellow. “Operating our own academies not only ensures that we have the most qualified and skilled drivers on the road, it also helps address a shortage of professional drivers across the nation.” To help increase the number of truck drivers amid a nationwide driver shortage, Yellow has partnered with the U.S. Department of Labor to sponsor paid apprenticeship programs, such as the Driving Academies, where students are trained and mentored in the classroom and on the road by seasoned industry professionals and certified instructors. Yellow’s Driving Academies are tuition-free for all participants, and student apprentices are paid an hourly wage for their work throughout the program. Weber Logistics appoints new VP of TransportationWeber Logistics has promoted Gary Kendle from Senior Director of Transportation to VP of Transportation. Kendle succeeds Jerry Critchfield, who is retiring after decades of leadership in Weber Logistics’ Transportation division. Kendle will be responsible for Weber’s full breadth of transportation operations. He has more than 28 years of operations experience in multi-mode transportation including small parcel, LTL, FTL, drayage, intermodal, first and final mile. He has previously held senior leadership roles at Pacifica Logistics Group, NEXT Trucking, ADP Express, Performance Team, and Maersk. “We’re excited to have Gary’s proven successful leadership as part of our growing team,” said Weber CEO Bob Lilja. “He looks forward to working closely with all of our clients to design solutions to meet and exceed their growing transportation needs.” Women in Trucking announces new leadershipThe Women in Trucking Association recently announced Jennifer Hedrick is the incoming president and chief executive officer of the association. She will work closely with WIT’s board of directors and staff to oversee initiatives that support WIT’s mission to encourage the employment of women in the trucking industry, promote their accomplishments and minimize obstacles faced by them. Hedrick will formally take on full leadership responsibilities on March 16. She assumes the role from Ellen Voie, who has been president and CEO since she founded WIT in 2007. “Through WIT’s mission we have created a community of 8,000 members to advance gender diversity in a male-populated industry,” said Voie. “I’m thrilled to have an association executive like Jennifer Hedrick who will continue to advance the critical mission of the association I started 16 years ago.” Hedrick has 17 years of association leadership experience and is an accredited executive by the American Society of Association Executives. For five years she led the National Industrial Transportation League focusing on issues across highway, rail and ocean freight transportation. In that role, she advocated on behalf of members to create efficiencies throughout the commercial freight transportation network. Initially, Hedrick will focus on becoming familiar with the members and key stakeholders of the association. According to Rachel Christensen, WIT chair and vice president of operations for J.B. Hunt Transport, Hedrick has already begun collaborating with WIT’s board of directors on future opportunities for the association during a strategy meeting in Dallas recently. “With Jennifer’s leadership, WIT will continue its central mission to advance the importance of gender diversity in transportation,” said Christensen. https://ift.tt/Cv3da1F Julie Van de Kamp said she thinks she may have been the first woman vice president at U.S. Xpress (CCJ Top 250, No. 19) to take maternity leave. Van de Kamp, who was promoted this month from senior vice president of customer experience to president of the company’s dedicated division, said she thinks her experience as a woman is what ultimately helped her move into her new role – one that in the past has been majority held by men. She is one of 25% of executives (director, vice president, senior vice president and C-suite) who identify as female at USX – a company that is known for its diversity initiatives and that was recently recognized as a 2022 CCJ Innovator for its diversification strategy that included innovations aimed at non-English speaking applicants. Van de Kamp, who worked her way up from a role in pricing that she started right out of college in 2007, is helping pave the way for other women – including 11% drivers and 43% office/shop team members – at the company as an executive sponsor of its Women in the Workplace Employee Resource Group. Her advice to women in general is to work hard, let your work speak for itself and be authentic in doing it. “I think I spent a little bit of time in the beginning of my career trying to overcompensate for being a woman and for being young because I was very often the only woman and the youngest person in the room,” she said. “So I tried to be especially professional, and as I got further in my career and became more authentic, I think more of my strengths and talents and the warmer side of me that I had kept hidden a bit has been a huge asset for me and has hopefully been an asset for the teams that I’ve managed and worked with and those who I work for.” Van de Kamp said she took her experiences as a woman and mother and used those to her benefit in her career, and U.S. Xpress saw the value in that, illustrated by her advancement over the years. Following her role in pricing, she worked within network management and brokerage and has been responsible for business development, the customer experience group and the sales team. In her new role, she is responsible for leading operations for the dedicated division, which services some of the nation’s largest retailers. While she recognizes many women face stereotypical challenges, her experience has been different, she said. Taking maternity leave, for example, was a non-issue. “I'm a working mom, but I think everyone faces times when they're like, ‘Why are you going home with your sick kid instead of your husband if you're going to have this job?’ But I think that stereotype goes just as far the other way. If a man is like, ‘I need to be home with my sick kid,’ they're like, ‘Well, why isn't your wife or the kid’s mom doing it?’ So I do think there are different experiences,” she said. “My experience has really been that occasionally I do have a different viewpoint because I have different life experiences, and I think women's brains do often work differently. I also think some of that has to do with my personality profile, whether as a woman or a man.” She has taken her experience as a mother and applied it to her job: spending more time on things that matter because there isn’t time to spend on things that don’t. She said she has matured and grown more as a person having kids and juggling work and life. “I understand what's important and get that viewpoint as a parent more than I think anything I could have learned necessarily at work,” she said. And it seems to have served her well. Van de Kamp won Supply and Demand Chain Executive's Women in Supply Chain Award in 2021 and was named a Top Woman to Watch in Transportation by Women in Trucking in 2020. At 22, when she started at USX, she said she didn’t have a plan for her career. But she eventually had the opportunity to create a career plan and a personal development plan to determine what she wanted to do longer term, which she said has served as a huge impetus to moving her career forward. Now she’s mentoring women at USX in the same regard, helping them identify their career goals because “having it documented really helps create at least awareness if not accountability.” The women’s group, which was the first of five other employee resource groups at USX, was not in place when Van de Kamp came on board 15 years ago. The program, which functions alongside a veterans group, faith-based group, multicultural group and PRIDE group (LGBTQ+ initiatives), was launched just under two years ago. “It has been probably the most rewarding thing I've done in my career, if I'm being honest: maybe not professionally rewarding but personally rewarding,” Van de Kamp said. “It's a really great group of women and men in our organization talking about how we empower, engage and energize women in our organization and show that the face of a trucking company, or an employee here, or someone working in transportation isn't always what you're used to seeing – that it can be someone like me or the other women in the group.” She said the group plans to give focus in the future to recruitment efforts in addition to supporting existing women employees at USX in advancing their skills and leadership potential. That could look like partnering with local schools to attract young women to the transportation industry, she said. “I think it's also the competing for talent. Here in Chattanooga, Tennessee, we've got some other big Fortune 500 companies in our own backyard, and people may not always consider transportation as an industry that they'd want to explore,” said Brad Carmony, vice president of brand communications at USX. “So I think giving the tools and resources and illustrating to candidates that we support you, whether you're a female, or you're black, you're Latino, or you're gay, or you're trans or whatever, it makes us a more inclusive, accepting work environment that is competing for talent against really top-notch organizations.” Van de Kamp grew up around the transportation industry, which led her to work at a few trucking companies while in college, but she said she wasn’t sure she wanted to maintain a career in the industry when she started out. But she fell in love with the trucking industry as she grew to understand its contribution to the American economy and the many different problems that need to be solved daily. “Transportation is pretty traditional; let's just be honest about that. It's not the most forward-thinking always in every situation. I'll travel, and I'll go see our customers, and I'll go to conferences, and there aren't that many women that look like me; there are a lot of middle-aged men, frankly,” Van de Kamp said. “I think seeing that need for women within our organization who might be battling a little bit of a different career path, or juggling different things between their personal lives and work, or thinking through how it feels to travel differently as a woman than it might feel as a man … I think having a place that fosters an inclusive environment to support each other was really important.” https://ift.tt/9Fno4u1 Trucking news and briefs for Friday, Jan. 20, 2023: Refinery shutdown prompts eight-state hours of service waiverThe unanticipated shutdown of the Suncor refinery in Colorado, severe winter storms and high demand for gasoline, diesel and jet fuel have prompted the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to declare a regional emergency, waiving certain hours of service rules for carriers providing direct support to the emergency. The Suncor refinery was shut down following a fire that broke out on Christmas Eve and injured two workers. According to the company, the fire was put out in a timely manner, but the refinery will likely be down until March after the completion of maintenance. FMCSA said its regional emergency declaration “addresses the emergency conditions creating a need for immediate transportation of gasoline, diesel and jet fuel and provides necessary relief.” Drivers hauling those fuels in Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Texas, Utah and Wyoming are exempt from Part 395.3 (maximum driving time) of the hours of service regulations through Feb. 15, or until the end of the emergency, whichever is earlier. Aggregates hauler John D. Adams Trucking acquiredArmour Excavating, a provider of excavating, cedar clearing, and aggregate delivery services, announced it has acquired John D. Adams Trucking (JDAT), an aggregate delivery trucking company based in Kerrville, Texas. “In looking for a potential acquirer of my business, Armour Excavating checked all the boxes for me,” said John “JD” Adams, Founder of JDAT. “They have an intense focus on customer satisfaction, are loyal to their employees, and they operate some of the newest and best maintained equipment. I look forward to remaining involved in the business and helping Armour Excavating grow in the Kerrville area.” According to FMCSA records, Armour, also based in Kerrville, operates six trucks, and JDAT operates four trucks. “We are really excited to be combining the operations of JDAT with Armour Excavating,” said Armour owner Stephen Day. “It is a real win-win situation for our combined customers and employees. JD has always had a reputation for running a high-quality business and delivering on his promises.” Nikola launches first hydrogen fuel cell truck mobile fuelerNikola Corporation announced that it has developed an innovative, heavy-duty, 700 bar (10,000 psi) hydrogen mobile fueler capable of direct fueling hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs). Nikola's mobile fueler program includes its own mobile fuelers, as well as a number of third-party mobile fuelers, which will provide Nikola's customers with a variety of flexible fueling options. "Nikola has spent the greater part of two years developing a flexible mobile fueling solution which cools and compresses hydrogen to rapidly fill 700 bar FCEV heavy-duty trucks," said Nikola Corporation President and CEO Michael Lohscheller. "Coupled with Nikola's hydrogen tube trailer, with a capacity of 960 kg, Nikola's mobile fueler can refuel customer trucks back-to-back. This will deliver flexible hydrogen fueling solutions for our customers starting in 2023 and will complement Nikola's permanent hydrogen fueling stations which are being developed." Nikola's first mobile fueler has completed commissioning and testing and has been released for market operation. Nikola has additional hydrogen mobile fuelers being commissioned in Q1 2023. Nikola also recently announced that it has received a California Air Resources Board (CARB) Zero-Emission Powertrain Executive Order that is a requirement for the Nikola Tre FCEV to be eligible for CARB's Hybrid and Zero Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP) program. Upon final HVIP approval, purchasers of the Nikola Tre FCEV in 2023 may be able to qualify for California's state-based incentive valued at $240,000 per truck; $270,000 per truck for drayage fleets; or up to $288,000 per truck for fleets with 10 trucks or less, performing drayage operations, and located within a disadvantaged community area. Eligible non-drayage fleets may secure up to 30 HVIP vouchers, and drayage fleets may secure up to 50 vouchers. In addition to the funding provided by HVIP, purchasers of Nikola's Tre FCEVs will also qualify for an additional $40,000 clean commercial vehicle tax credit in 2023 from the federal government due to the passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. Navistar names new head of strategy, transformationTobias Glitterstam has been named Senior Vice President, Chief Strategy and Transformation Officer at Navistar. This new role will report to Mathias Carlbaum, President and CEO. As a member of Navistar's executive leadership team, Glitterstam will be tasked with strategy implementation, and he will accelerate sustainability efforts. He will also lead corporate strategy, communications, and government relations, along with a newly established team for mobility solutions. Mobility solutions will capture market opportunities in the future of zero-emissions transportation, with an immediate priority on charging solutions. The team will emphasize Navistar's position within transportation, as well as define the company's role in the autonomous ecosystem. "Tobias has led market expansion and strategic business growth initiatives with companies across North America,” Carlbaum said. “His background in green energy, sustainable commercial transportation and logistics solutions makes him well-suited to guide the Navistar team in implementing our strategy and furthering our progress on our journey to accelerate the impact of sustainable mobility.” Most recently, Glitterstam served as Vice President and Head of the Americas Region for Business Sweden and the Swedish Trade Commissioner to the U.S. He consulted enterprises on new markets and segments, strategic innovation, market partnerships, and mergers and acquisitions. In addition, he steered government affairs, investment programs and business promotion efforts, in areas such as Smart Cities, Industry 4.0, future transportation and sustainability. Volvo invests in autonomous trucking tech firmVolvo Group Venture Capital AB announced it has invested in Waabi Innovation, a Canadian founded company developing autonomous trucking technology. “The company Waabi is using advanced artificial intelligence technology to test, assess skills, and ultimately teach a virtual driver to maneuver safely and efficiently in a commercial-ready autonomous trucking solution,” said says Martin Witt, President of Volvo Group Venture Capital. “We are impressed by what they have accomplished and see that Volvo Group can add considerable strategic value to the development of their business. We are currently exploring ways to cooperate,” Volvo Group said it sees that fully autonomous trucking is key to provide additional capacity, better safety and improved efficiency but also support drivers in tiresome routes. “Partnerships and investments are key to commercializing autonomous transport solutions at scale. We welcome Volvo Group’s decision to invest in companies like Waabi who are building the new transport ecosystem,” says Nils Jaeger, President of Volvo Autonomous Solutions. Waabi is developing next-generation artificial intelligence technology to solve autonomy at scale. The company recently unveiled the Waabi Driver, its core autonomous trucking tech, designed for large-scale commercialization and safe deployment. Ascend CEO named Georgia Titan 100Michael McLary, President and CEO of Ascend (CCJ Top 250, No. 143), has been named a 2023 Georgia Titan 100 by Titan CEO. This is the second consecutive year McLary has been named to the Titan 100. The Titan 100 program recognizes Georgia’s Top 100 CEOs and C-level executives. Collectively the 2023 Georgia Titan 100 and their companies employ upwards of 118,000 individuals and generate more than $36 billion dollars in annual revenues. This year’s honorees will be published in a limited-edition Titan 100 book and profiled exclusively online. They will be honored at an awards ceremony on April 27. “I am truly honored to be included in such a distinguished list as the Titan 100,” said McLary. “However, being included is a credit to the hard-working and dedicated team members at Ascend.” https://ift.tt/2ovNjDh |
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