With apps giving drivers fits and providing no real-time visibility of their assets and loads, Walmart’s supply chain leaders knew it was a time for a change. Carol Nixon, who after driving for Walmart for roughly nine years, recalled using three out-sourced driver workflow apps that missed the mark. “Some of the other programs we used before were so not compatible with what we needed to do. It was frustrating. You’d spend more time messing with it and having to pull over to get it right,” said Nixon who as driver since 1990 has seen her share of paper and computer-based workflow systems. Time lost on the road to app issues kept adding up to less pay for drivers and less than ideal delivery times. “That’s frustrating as a driver,” Nixon continued. “We're paid by the mile, we're paid by the piece, work by the hour—whatever we're doing, if you pull over and have to keep messing with it, you're losing money.” Scott Donahue, Walmart’s vice president of supply chain product, said the world's largest retailer had tried and failed to find an outside vendor to create an app that would reduce driver interface while helping drivers more effectively manage things like scheduling deliveries, dealing with trip cancellations, handling timesheets and communicating safely and quickly with managers, store associates and family. As driver surveys rolled in, Donahue watched the fleet's Net Promotor Score (NPS) plunge. NPS is a proprietary performance measurement from Bain & Company that relies on survey questions where participants choose numerical values of 0 to 10 for responses. Donahue said NPS has become “our sort of obsession with end-user experience with our drivers.” Surveys go out to drivers daily at different times “because a driver may feel differently at the beginning of their day and then at the end of their day,” Donahue explained. NPS results for their past driver apps continued to fall short. “Technically, 100 is perfect in NPS, however anything above an 80 is considered world class,” Donahue said. “It's not uncommon for products of this type [driver workflow apps], including some of our prior products, to be in the 20s or teens and it can also go negative as well.” Donahue said driver surveys for their last third-party app resulted in a Net Promotor Score in the teens. “The app took a long time to load and even when it did load, it had incorrect information and it didn't have the functionality they needed,” he said. “It caused a lot of frustration and that frustration is friction for our drivers, and that's not conducive to being world class. It also didn't provide us the data visibility we needed. Our goal is knowing what we own and where we own it in near real time and the prior system didn't allow us to do that and finally we wanted to enhance our store communication.” A home run at lastRecognizing that the data was pointing to a needed change, Donahue, who leads a team of 250 product managers and more than 1,200 software development engineers, set his team on developing Walmart’s first in-house produced driver app.Following successful pilots at local and regional levels, Walmart rolled out its NTransit driver workflow app last June to its entire private fleet of 13,000-plus drivers. The app, loaded in a tablet that's mounted in the cab, uses telematics-focused Platform Science as its operating system. Nearly nine months in, Nixon and the vast majority of Walmart’s drivers are very pleased with the results. “Our Net Promotor Score improved to greater than 90,” said Donahue who added that out of all the company’s work-related tech tools, NTransit is the “highest rated product in all of Walmart.” A strong Net Promoter Score of 90 has not only translated to improved driver retention, Donahue said it’s also proven to be a real plus for recruiting. “Utilizing technology that's purpose built specifically with our driver in mind is a big selling point, especially for drivers that have come from companies that are low tech or no tech,” Donahue said. “And as it turns out, the transportation industry as a whole is pretty low tech and that can be frustrating for people, especially when the tech doesn't work or it's been underinvested, so for sure that is a selling point [for recruiting].” Prior to launching NTransit, Walmart enjoyed one of the lowest turnover rates in the nation with drivers typically leaving only to retire, Donahue said. While Walmart does not share retention rates externally, Donahue credited NTransit for "a continued reduction in our already low turnover rate." Also following NTransit's deployment, dwell times have dropped 13%, product deliveries are more timely, communication has greatly improved and they have near real-time data on their equipment and products. By keeping a closer eye on equipment, Donahue said Walmart has seen "increased precision of the notifications sent to the stores with the estimated driver arrival time." Walmart has plans to roll out NTransit to third-party carriers. “NTransit is one of those microservices specifically for our private fleet drivers, and quite frankly for our external third parties as well,” Donahue said. “Our intention is to build these commercial-ready products for internal use and to help remove friction from some of our third-party service providers too.” Donahue said working with Platform Science helped enable a smooth product launch and fast updates following deployment. NTransit in actionNixon is a big believer in NTransit. As soon as she steps foot into the cab, she’s confident that her day will be efficiently planned and that she can concentrate more on driving and not having to stop and wrestle with tech issues and make phone calls to sort things out.After logging into NTransit, her day clearly unfolds on the tablet letting her know about her moves for the day. “It gives it to you in the order that the planner has put it in for you so there's not going to be any mistake of going to the wrong place because it's right there in your system. I love it,” Nixon said. “If you do a really correct, ETD, which is your estimated time of departure to your last load, they keep you moving so you could have eight different moves on there and NTransit keeps it all in order of how you need to do it. Everything is very seamless and painless. It's very painless. You don't have to do any phone calls. I mean, it's right there.” Stores win too since they can anticipate load arrival times and effectively plan labor around truck deliveries. As Nixon nears her destination, a geofence alert goes out to a store associate to give them another heads-up on her arrival. Once Nixon is there, she presses a button on the tablet to confirm that she’s at the store. “They know you're there, but as soon as you hit ‘arrive,’ it's going to the person that's going to be opening that back door for you. They know you're there. And that helps us tremendously because we get paid for everything that we do and [with NTransit] we're really efficient.” Once the truck’s unloaded, Nixon gets back in the truck and enters her estimated time of departure again because “you want to be accurate for when you’re going to be at your very last stop so you can have another move. And then it'll say ‘Return to my day’ or ‘Open Navigo’ for your next stop. So you open Navigo and boom, right there is your next stop.” If there’s anything that comes up along the way that interferes with her travel time, Nixon uses the app to communicate the issue, which helps drive efficiency and get her paid. “If I'm out on the road and I need to attend a meeting or anything like that, I pull over to a safe place, go into my app and I can hit a plus button and add if I was at a meeting for an hour, or any Walmart-approved event or anything like that, or if I have a breakdown, I literally put in my time and I'm paid,” Nixon said. “Just like that you hit send and you're paid. It's a super simple system that I would say anybody can use.” Nixon said Walmart continues to listen to drivers to make improvements. That includes an audio-based messaging system that allows drivers to stay focused on driving while keeping up with vital communications from work and home. Being able to listen to messages has helped Nixon to keep better track of her day and avoid time lost on the road like when heading to a load that’s been cancelled. “We didn't used to be able to play our messages so if somebody puts me on a load and then they change their mind, I couldn't play that before,” Nixon said. “I don't stop unless I need to use the restroom or take a quick break or something, so I might drive for six or seven hours and you can get a lot of [text and voice] messages in that timeframe and it could be a message from your family saying, ‘I really need her to call me because she's not answering her phone.’” Donahue said audio messages lower the need for cellphone use and are in-coming only “and that's intentional. We want to be very judicious about inundating our drivers with features that would potentially distract them on the road.” After having to wrestle with piles of paperwork for years, one of the features Nixon likes best about NTransit is the ability to quickly and easily record her logs without lifting a pencil. “When I started in 1990, if you would've told me that I was going to be using a tablet to do my logs, I would've thought you were crazy,” she said. https://ift.tt/YvMrs3u
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The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration on Thursday at the Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Kentucky, provided updates on three initiatives it’s working on -- an ongoing study into driver compensation, likewise detention time, and the CDL Drug & Alcohol Clearinghouse. FMCSA Research Division Chief Jon Mueller said the agency is in the early stages of a new three-year study into detention time and its impacts on safety. FMCSA has previously studied detention several times, and the current study is the second phase of a study that began in 2014. One notable change with the new phase of the study is that FMCSA is redefining “detention time.” In previous studies, detention time has been considered to begin two hours after arrival at a facility. Moving forward, the agency will calculate detention as the total dwell time minus the combination of loading/unloading and active dwell time. FMCSA said active dwell time is time spent completing tasks associated with loading/unloading, including preparing bills of lading, vehicle inspection, load securement, etc. And, of course, loading/unloading time is time spent at a shipping or receiving facility while cargo is actively loaded or unloaded. Detention will then be any time spent at a shipping or receiving facility not associated with active dwell or loading/unloading. The new detention study is expected to be completed and a final report published by July 2025. Nicole Michel, a program manager with FMCSA’s Office of Research and Registration, said the Transportation Research Board (TRB) within the National Academy of Sciences is heading up the Congressionally-required study into the impacts of various methods of driver compensation on safety and driver retention in the industry. Because TRB is conducting the study, Michel noted that FMCSA is not directly involved in conducting the study in order to “protect the integrity of the study,” she said. [Related: An argument for an hourly pay standard for truckers] To date, there have been three TRB meetings on the study, two of which have been public. The public meetings so far have been “important to lay the groundwork to understand the landscape of the problem,” Michel said, and to make sure the committee members understand the various regulations, how drivers are compensated and more. The compensation study is set to conclude in July 2024, but it could be extended if more research is required. When the study is completed, TRB will issue a formal report to Congress that could include policy or legislative recommendations to various agencies throughout the government to address any issues that are found during the research. FMCSA Associate Administrator Tom Keane said both studies represent “win-win opportunities” for the trucking industry, as they can “improve working conditions, break down barriers, improve flow” and more, while also being good for safety. Keane noted, however, that “FMCSA’s regulatory authority is limited to solve both of these issues,” but the hope is that both reports “will raise visibility of these micromarket failures.” [Related: Overtime pay for employee drivers: Market benefits and drawbacks] Clearinghouse updateFinally, Bryan Price, Chief of FMCSA’s Drug and Alcohol Programs Division, gave an update of the CDL Drug and Alcohol Clearinghouse, which as of January has been in full effect for three years. After three years, there have been nearly 200,000 drug and alcohol violations reported to the Clearinghouse. Out of the more than 175,000 drivers with at least one violation reported to the Clearinghouse since January 2020, only around 49,500 of those are in non-prohibited status and cleared to return to driving. Price noted there are more than 95,000 drivers who haven’t started the official return-to-duty process. Price said FMCSA is looking to do more to educate the industry on the RTD process to get drivers back on the road legally. He also added that the number of drivers who are reported to the Clearinghouse for a “refusal to test” has been climbing, and a number of drivers reported for a refusal just didn’t understand the rule. “We’re trying to do as much as we can to educate the industry about what a refusal to test is,” Price said. “If a driver has a refusal reported, it’s the same consequence as testing positive.” Price said he’s seen many reports in which drivers were selected for a random drug test and left the testing facility too early, resulting in a refusal to test report. That driver then has to go through the full return-to-duty process. Price also issued a reminder that, beginning Nov. 18, 2024, the “Clearinghouse II” rule will take effect, which will bring state licensing agencies into the fold. After that rule takes effect, if a driver has a drug or alcohol violation reported to the Clearinghouse, their home state will be required to downgrade their license, effectively suspending their CDL privileges until they complete the RTD process. [Related: Fit or Unfit? FMCSA keying in issues with 'Conditional' rating limbo] https://ift.tt/YvMrs3u The Biden administration on Friday cleared the way for California to require that half of all heavy trucks sold in the state to be fully electric by 2035, and the state becomes the world’s first government to require zero-emission trucks. California needed approval from the White House because its rule exceeds federal requirements. "Last year, California became one of the first jurisdictions in the world with a real plan to end tailpipe emissions for cars. Now, thanks to the Biden administration, we’re getting more zero-emission heavy duty trucks on the roads, expanding our world-leading efforts to cut air pollution and protect public health," said California Governor Gavin Newsome. "We’re leading the charge to get dirty trucks and buses – the most polluting vehicles – off our streets, and other states and countries are lining up to follow our lead around the world.” California will require truck manufacturers to accelerate sales of zero emission vehicles in California, setting increasing ZEV manufacturing standards starting from 2024 through 2035 that Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Washington and Vermont are also likely to adopt. Together, California and those states represent 22% of the national truck market. The Environmental Protection Agency Friday approved two Clean Air Act waivers for California’s heavy duty truck regulations, including the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) rule, which requires 100% heavy-duty vehicles in California wherever feasible by 2045. The ACT rule requires truck manufacturers to increase new truck sales to 55% (Class 2b-3), 75% (Class 4-8), and 40% of semi-tractor sales to be zero-emissions by 2035. The California Air Resources Board (CARB) in 2022 approved one of the world’s first regulations requiring 100% of new car sales in California to be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) by 2035. Nearly 19% of cars sold in the state in last year were ZEVs, but fewer than 2% of all heavy trucks sold last year were electric. The Truck and Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA) President Jed Mandel said Friday that while he and his agency's member companies support the nationwide implementation of more stringent emission standards, and are committed to transitioning the commercial trucking industry to zero-emission technologies, "we remain concerned that limiting manufacturers’ leadtime to produce compliant vehicles will present significant challenges." Recognizing CARB’s right to regulate air quality, Mandel said that "adequate leadtime, regulatory stability and the necessary zero-emission recharging and refueling infrastructure are imperative for manufacturers to develop, build, and sell the customer-acceptable, effective products capable of meeting CARB’s zero-emission vehicle sales mandates. We are committed to continuing our work with EPA, CARB, and other stakeholders to develop workable regulations that will achieve a zero-emission future.” In a statement provided to CCJ, Navistar said it continues to invest in technologies that will drive toward a zero-emission future, including the development of compliant products for both U.S. EPA and CARB and "remains committed to working with the U.S. EPA and CARB to deliver real-world emissions reductions which includes offerings of both our low-emission conventional and our electrified powertrain options to meet various application needs and customer demand." https://ift.tt/8b72YT4 A chipset coming to market could be the answer to commercial truck backup camera challenges3/30/2023 Gideon Kedem has traveled around the world, and in many countries – India, for example – he said heavy-duty commercial trucks are manned by two drivers: one who can jump out of the cab to guide the other driver as they back into those tight spots. In the U.S. however, manpower is an issue. With the driver shortage, it’s hard enough to fill a cab with one driver, much less two. That leaves the sole driver to climb out of his truck and walk the 53 feet to check for clearance. With an aging driver population and supply chain issues placing pressures on efficiency, this extra step also poses injury risks and time loss. That’s where the backup camera comes in. While standard on every newly manufactured car in the U.S. since 2018, they are only a luxury in the heavy-duty space. That’s because of the magnitude of challenges that come with installing one on such a large vehicle, said Kedem, senior vice president and head of automotive business at Valens Semiconductor, a provider of semiconductor products for the transmission of uncompressed ultra-high-definition multimedia data. Valens recently released its VA600R chipset designed to overcome those rear-view visibility challenges in the tractor trailer. “There are, in the market, wireless solutions. If you use wireless, you can solve this challenge of crossing from the trailer to the tractor, but wireless is not very reliable – much more exposed for electromagnetic interference,” Kedem said. “You cannot afford that while the truck is backing in, suddenly there's a glitch, no picture, at exactly the same time where a small kid is running behind the truck. So reliability is an issue.” Kedem is referring to the EMI environment where electromagnetic disturbance can interfere with the connection, whether that’s wireless or via a connected jumper cable. To overcome this, the Valens VA600R chip transmits data at a low frequency, helping keep the signal strong across the link, and also incorporates unique Digital Signal Processing (DSP) that enables resilient signal distribution. [Related: Developers make headway on wireless backup cameras] Because tractors and trailers are separate units, creating that space for electromagnetic interference, a rearview camera needs to bridge the gap over existing cable infrastructure to maintain the ability to attach and detach the trailer. Using the truck’s standard jumper cable and simple UTP cable, the VA600R maintains a high-speed, high-bandwidth link capacity that's enough to provide a video link from the back of the trailer to the cabin up front. “Today, when you are connecting a trailer to a tractor, there are some standard cables already implemented on all trucks and trailers. But they have different functions, and you don't really have an available cable to transmit the video,” Kedem said. “We took the power cable, which is giving power to the trailer – giving the trailer the ability to have lighting around it, the blinker signals, the braking system; all those signals need power to come from the engine to the back of the trailer. So we are crossing this bridge here over a standard power cable. This is very challenging technology. It's a very unstable link; very noisy, so we're actually the only one who is able to deliver video over power.” The other challenge, he said, is vehicle length. Increasing the distance data must travel increases the signal attenuation and the effects of EMI. The unique DSP, coupled with the low frequency, enables the VA600R to distribute high-speed, error-free data over distances of up to 131 feet/40 meters, while still maintaining a strong signal throughout the link without the use of expensive repeaters. “If you combine all of this together, what we are giving is a cost-effective solution, using a very low-cost harness and reliable link because of our fine digital file to deliver a very strong noise-cancellation mechanism, basically securing error-free link and accessing the operational flexibility for the fleets,” Kedem said. One of the challenges, too, is that the owner of the tractor often isn’t the owner of the trailer, so the connection factor is a problem when it comes time to drop and hook. Kedem said you can use a dedicated cable, but that becomes expensive, and also not every tractor and trailer is going to be equipped with connectors for those dedicated cables unless the tractor and trailer is owned by the same company that could afford to install a dedicated cable across all assets. Valens’ use of the power cable skirts that issue. “The fact that we are using connectivity over power is enabling mix and match. The trailer can disconnect from one truck to move to another tractor; you just connect the standard cables with the power and plug and play and you have the rearview system working,” he said. “If you were installing it with a dedicated separate cable, you wouldn't have this operational flexibility.” Kedem said Stoneridge will be the first customer to receive the chip in the second quarter of this year, and he expects the company to take it into production toward the end of the year to be available to OEMs next year. https://ift.tt/8b72YT4 Citing "egregious falsehoods and baseless insults," Yellow (CCJ Top 250, No. 6) Senior Vice President Trucker Relations Bryan Reifsnyder, in a letter sent Thursday to John Murphy, National Freight Director International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), laid bare that the carrier intends to move forward with its network consolidation plans, painting the union representing more than 22,000 Yellow employees as an obstacle that to-date has acted in "bad faith." Yellow last week met with union leadership to discuss the proposed change of operations, which would consolidate its YRC Freight, New Penn and Holland linehaul network and terminal operations as part of the Overland Park, Kansas-based carrier's efforts to create a "super regional carrier." Based on discussions with more than 100 local unions and with Freight Division leadership over the course of several months, Reifsnyder said he thought the purpose of the meeting would be to iron out several remaining issues prior to a scheduled hearing next week. "Unfortunately, rather than discuss any additional modifications and clarifications to the proposed change, the Teamsters chose gamesmanship and saber rattling," Reifsnyder wrote in his letter, a copy of which was obtained by CCJ, "using the hour-long meeting as a photo op and a platform to try and derail the change and launch a public campaign to spread misinformation about the One Yellow transformation." Yellow is in the second phase of its One Yellow strategy to improve efficiency, speed, choice and value for its customers. Phases 2 and 3 of One Yellow, which include aligning operations in the Northeast, Midwest, Southeast and Central regions, are set to take place this year. Phase 1, integrating the linehaul networks of YRC Freight and Reddaway in the Western region to support both regional and long-haul services, was completed last year with union approval. In a memo to union members Wednesday, Murphy said Yellow's proposal seeks to "force road drivers to work on the dock, to modify and merge seniority lists, and to alter established dispatch and work rules. The proposal violated various agreed upon local union agreements concerning the use and protection of 'dock-only' workers," and the changes violate National Master Freight Agreement. Reifsnyder contends that the plan does not violate the agreement and cited "Yellow’s contractual right to complete its One Yellow merger" in his communication to Murphy Thursday, adding "that it is incredible for you to even make that suggestion because the change scheduled for hearing next week was crafted based on IBT feedback. As you well know, the change simply builds on an existing agreement that has an outstanding track record of success over the course of the fifteen years it has been in operation, and merging seniority lists (where applicable) significantly increases follow-the-work opportunities." The union last week canceled the hearing next week; another sticking point for Reifsnyder. "The IBT has sought unilaterally to cancel that hearing without justification – again, to derail this change," he wrote. "The change was mailed to the local unions and scheduled for a hearing, all in complete compliance with Article 8, Section 6 of our contract. The Union has no right – contractual or otherwise – to unilaterally cancel that hearing." IBT said in a statement last week that Yellow sought to ram changes through without a vote from union membership, but Yellow claims that was never the case and last week called on the IBT to allow employees to vote on its proposed changes and "let employees make their own decisions about Yellow’s continued modernization efforts and their future job security." "Though Yellow disagrees that such a vote is required, we readily agreed to submit the change to a vote," Reifsnyder wrote Thursday. Murphy himself, in his memo to members Wednesday, noted that there is no agreement on the part of (Teamsters National Freight Industry Negotiating Committee) to put Yellow’s proposed change of operations out to a membership vote. Rather than a vote, Murphy said, Yellow's proposed changes would constitute a complete rewrite of agreements between the union and the carrier. "It was communicated to the company that due to the significant contractual changes it seeks, the appropriate way for Yellow to pursue such changes would be to reopen the current agreement; engage in legitimate, transparent, and full bargaining with TNFINC; and, ultimately, if a new tentative agreement is reached, submit such a TA for membership ratification. These steps would be in accordance with Article XII of the Teamsters Constitution," he said. "It goes without saying the Teamsters Union would have its own demands in the event bargaining were to occur." https://ift.tt/8b72YT4 Register now for this critical webinar on April 20 Over the three day-long Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s International Roadcheck commercial motor vehicle inspection and enforcement initiative last year, CVSA-certified inspectors conducted 59,026 inspections and placed 12,456 commercial motor vehicles out of service nationwide. This year’s enforcement blitz will take place May 16-18, and in this webinar on April 20 at 1:00 p.m. Central — sponsored by Mann+Hummel — we will discuss the top OOS violations (namely brakes, lights and tires), and what drivers and the shop should be doing to catch these faults before enforcement officers do. During Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s (CVSA) International Roadcheck commercial motor vehicle inspection and enforcement initiative last May, certified inspectors conducted 59,026 inspections and placed 12,456 (21.1%) commercial motor vehicles and 3,714 drivers (6.2%) out of service: each high-watermarks since the world re-emerged from the pandemic. The number of overall inspections was much lower in 2021 (23,135), yet inspectors still removed 21.8% vehicles from the road and 5.2% of drivers. This year's campaign is set for May 16-18, with special emphasis on on anti-lock braking systems (ABS) and cargo securement. Brakes, lights, tires and cargo securement routinely make up the Top 5 vehicle out of service causes while hours of service/logs and problems with licensure are the top causes for driver violations. CCJ, in partnership with Mann+Hummel, will bring together experts from some of trucking's safest fleets to discuss maintenance tips and practices that make roadside inspections easier, and we'll hear directly from CVSA on the trends it sees during inspections and where fleets most often go wrong. This complimentary hour-long webinar, which will include a live Q&A with the panelists, will be held Thursday, April 20 at 1PM Central Time. Carriers can register here. A recorded on-demand version will be made available to all registrants so those interested in the topic but unavailable the day and time of the live webinar are still encouraged to register. Registrants will hear from: Jeremy Disbrow, CVSA roadside inspection specialistJeremy joined CVSA in January with 25 years of experience as a police officer and paramedic. Prior to joining CVSA, he served as an Arizona state trooper for 20 years, with an extensive focus on commercial motor vehicle safety, enforcement, outreach and training. Jeremy was Arizona’s MCSAP training coordinator for seven years, where he developed statewide training curriculum and instructed more than 5,000 hours of courses throughout the U.S. He served as the CVSA chairman for CVSA North American Cargo Securement Harmonization Forum, as well as vice president of CVSA’s Region IV membership. Jeremy was a certified master instructor where he instructed NAS Part A, NAS Part B, passenger-carrier vehicle, instructor development, master instructor development, electronic logging devices and electronic monitoring and mapping technology courses.Mike Jeffress, Maverick Transportation vice president of maintenanceMike joined Maverick in 1986 as an entry-level technician when Maverick operated less than 50 units. He was inducted into the Nashville Auto Diesel College's Hall of Fame in 2002, was awarded the Technology and Maintenance Council's (TMC) Silver Spark Plug award in 2003, and was presented with CCJ’s Career Leadership Award in 2010. He is the past General Chairman of TMC, General Chairman of the Arkansas State Maintenance Council and a member of the Professional Technician Development Committee.Randy Obermeyer, OnLine Transport vice president of safety & maintenanceRandy has spent more than 30 years in the trucking industry and today oversees maintenance for a 200-truck fleet that services customers in dedicated truckload, expedited freight, brokerage, warehousing and distribution services. He is the 2023-2024 Immediate Past General Chairman & Treasurer Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC). He was awarded TMC’s Silver Spark Plug in 2018 and serves Trucker Buddy International as a member of its Board.Jon Debusk, Bowerman Trucking director of maintenanceJon is director of maintenance for Arkansas based over the road trucking company Bowerman Trucking, a company that specializes in truckload dry van freight and operates around 125 trucks and 275 trailers.https://ift.tt/8YyT5ON Senators Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.) and Mark Kelly (D-Ariz.) and Representatives Mike Bost (R-Ill.) and Angie Craig (D-Minn.) on Wednesday re-introduced the Truck Parking Safety Improvement Act – legislation that would authorize $755 million in competitive grant funding to expand commercial truck parking capacity across the country. Originally introduced to the House in 2021, the same bill was introduced during the prior legislative session and unanimously passed the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure before lawmakers adjourned in January. "The lack of safe and accessible truck parking places an enormous and costly burden on our nation's truck drivers as they work to deliver for the American people. Given the chronic nature of this issue and its national scope, it is imperative Congress takes action to provide dedicated funding to expand commercial truck parking capacity,” said American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear. There exits only one parking spot for every 11 trucks on the road, and Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) President Todd Spencer noted that "when truck drivers don’t have a designated place to park, they end up parking on the side of the road, near exit ramps, or elsewhere. This isn’t safe for the driver and it’s not safe for others on the road." Nearly half (45%) of respondents to CCJ's most recent What Drivers Want survey – a poll of more than 800 leased owner-operators and company drivers – said finding parking was their biggest problem as a driver that’s not related to their current employer/leasing fleet, ranking it ahead traffic delays (32%) and detention (15%). "There should be laws that require shippers to allow parking before and after loading and unloading," said company driver Randall Marvin, "and access to bathroom, not porta potty." A U.S. Department of Transportation report found 98% of drivers regularly experience problems finding safe parking and roughly 70% of drivers have been forced to violate federal hours-of-service rules because of this common scenario. Truck drivers often park whenever they find a safe and legal space, surrendering an average of 56 minutes of drive time per day, according to the American Transportation Research Institute. The time spent looking for available truck parking costs the average driver about $5,500 in direct lost compensation — or a 12% cut in annual pay. "When you are tired, there’s always parking issues when you get ready to try to park at night," added company driver James Williams. Ellen Voie, Founder of the Women In Trucking Association, added that a lack of viable parking is especially problematic for recruiting and retaining female drivers. “The top reason female commercial drivers leave the industry is because they are concerned about their personal safety,” she said. “Parking areas need to be safe and available for breaks when needed." With more than 5,000 Interstate truckstops and travel centers providing 90% of the truck parking capacity in the U.S., truckstops and travel centers play a key role in addressing any state concerns over truck parking capacity and allowing grant recipients to partner with private truck parking providers to expand truck parking capacity nationwide – and allowing grant recipients to harness the collective expertise that private travel centers can provide – affords an opportunity to maximize federal funds and increase truck parking capacity along freight corridors where it may be needed, said Lisa Mullings, NATSO President and CEO. https://ift.tt/8YyT5ON Similar to when you’re spec’ing a truck, having more power in a CB radio can come in handy, or at least that’s the idea when you plunk down extra cash to get extra power. To that end, we tested President Electronics' McKinley USA 40 channel AM and single sideband (SSB) radio to see if extra transmission strength would pay off. The McKinley, named for U.S. President William McKinley, offers four watts on the AM side and 12 watts on SSB. At $189 on Amazon, it costs $50 more than the President Johnson II, which offers the same key features without SSB. So why pay $50 more for SSB? In short, “the advantage of SSB is its narrow bandwidth and higher power efficiency than the other voice modes,” according to radio experts at hamradioschool.com. It turns out that SSB uses half of AM’s bandwidth to transmit so I’d say that’s definitely more efficient. Plus, with three times the power of AM, it sounds like a great option to have where comms may fall short in rural areas like ours in Northwest Florida. [Related: Review of Cobra's new AM/FM CB radios] SSB is divided into two modes on a CB: upper sideband (USB) and lower sideband (LSB). With a 40-channel CB, because each channel gets USB and LSB modes, you end up with 120 channels. Not bad. Again, sounds pretty advantageous like signing up for 120 channels on cable versus 40. Well, maybe not that exciting. This is CB after all where almost anyone can join the party, except in the case of SSB where the price to admission is higher. AM-only CB radios have long dominated the market, and that’s where the first advantage of SSB comes in; there’s just not a lot of these radios out there, which increases the odds for more privacy and getting past annoying users since AM-only listeners cannot typically understand what’s being said on SSB channels and they certainly can’t transmit on SSB. SSB radios use the same antennas as AM-only CBs. The only difference is that SSB radios feature USB and LSB modes along with a clarifier that is used to more finely tune an incoming voice on the receiving end so they sound less like an alien and more like a human being. More on that later. Plenty of features on the McKinleyLet’s start with this. If you’re into smaller, more modern, high-tech CBs, then you’ll be impressed with the McKinley. If you’ve always gravitated towards classic and large CBs like the legendary SSB-equipped Cobra 148GTL, then you probably won’t be sold on the McKinley. Being raised around CBs and Heathkit projects, I’ve long been a fan of just about any radio. Just like a ’69 Chevy Nova SS with a nitrous injected 350 from the 80s or a computer-heavy and amazingly fast Ram TRX of today, both older and contemporary technology can be equally compelling for different reasons. But … being more accustomed to knobs than buttons, I was admittedly concerned when I first pulled the McKinley out of its box. It wasn’t just the five buttons but multi-functioning knobs as well. Case in point: the clarifier is divided into coarse and fine tuners (outer and inner knobs mounted together), while volume, squelch and auto squelch nest together on the same spot. This would take some getting used to, and it did. But once I figured out the logic behind the knob and button options, I became a fan. First, you can touch a labeled button to gain access to things like transmission mode (AM/USB/LSB); weather (seven channels total); noise blanker, automatic noise limiter and hi-cut (select all to reduce more noise); instant access to channel 9 and 19; and the function key. A short or long press of the function key gains access to other functions labeled above and below those buttons like PA, weather alert setting, channel scanning, dual watch channel mode and channel lock to keep the rig set on one channel only. There’s also access to VOX (a separate VOX jack is on the back of the CB to allow for headset use), memory channel selection, mic gain, RF gain and talk back. Pushing the channel button opens up options that allow for LCD color changes (orange, green or blue, my favorite), LCD dimmer, color contrast, audio tone adjustment, key beep (the radio will beep every time you touch a button unless you turn it off), roger beep and automatic SWR. [Related: Cobra talks single sideband, new product launch and more power] President has definitely hit a home run with automatic SWR (Standing Wave Ratio). In this case, I used that feature to better match the radio to President’s 28-inch magnet mount that I perched on top of my 2014 Toyota Tundra. This was the first time I’ve used an automatic SWR feature, and it was super easy. It’s not like I’ll be throwing out my old and trusty Dosy PM-1000-TS, but wow … I’m a big fan of President’s automatic SWR. After selecting the channel you’d like to check, press the channel button until the letters SWR appear on screen. A moment later, the radio will switch to SWR mode with all CB chatter gone. What you’ll hear then is anywhere from a long beep with 10 on the screen (10 in this case means an outstanding 1.0:1 SWR) or series of beeps with a higher number showing. The longer the delay between beeps, the higher the SWR. A reading of 1.0 to 2.1 is ideal. The lower the better. When I first accessed SWR, 17 was showing on screen (again, this would be a 1.7 SWR), and I could clearly hear a series of beeps. I turned up the volume to hear the beeping better and opened the sunroof so I could more clearly those beeps while adjusting the height of the antenna whip to improve SWR. Though hearing the beeps is helpful, even touching the antenna will impact SWR, so you’ll still need to check the numbers after making adjustments. In this case, I lowered the antenna to gain better SWR at 1.2. Now it was ready for SSB testing. Is SSB worth the extra $50?After setting out from the house, the first stop was about a mile away. One of my sons rode along with me to help and serve as an extra pair of eyes and ears while my other son stayed behind with my classic Uniden Pro 810e AM/SSB base station. We keyed up first on AM on Channel 35, which given the close range delivered clear audio. Next, we switched to USB. My sons had never heard SSB transmissions before so they were both pretty amused by the helium-sounding voices that had to be tuned with the clarifiers to make better sense of the conversation. I think voice quality was an improvement on SSB, but it required tuning, which is not an easy or advisable thing to do when you’re driving down the road. Both of my sons thought AM sounded better on that first stop. I was really eager to see if SSB would pay off at our 2.5-mile stop. That’s where CB communication in our area can get pretty rough given all the trees and structures. My son’s AM signal was coming in at around 3 lbs. on the RF meter, which isn’t all that great considering noisy signal pileup. When we switched to USB and LSB, it didn’t make a big difference. In fact, it was more of an issue since we had to fine tune the incoming signals with the clarifier. At one point, while talking on LSB my son kidded around and said, “Take me to your leader.” On the receiving end, he sounded just like an alien from an old SciFi movie. Who knows? Maybe that’s where Hollywood got those early alien voices. With eight more watts of transmission power over AM, I was hoping to see that RF signal creep up a bit and for voices to come through a little louder and prouder, but that didn’t happen. The test did get more interesting though when I drove out farther to a spot along the highway about three miles away. In this case, LSB walked away the winner over AM and USB for delivering a clearer transmission. It wasn’t by much, but it did sound better. Nonetheless, without seeing dramatic results, this may help explain why there aren't a lot of SSB radios on the market. President offers only the McKinley in SSB; Uniden's Bearcat 980 is their only SSB model; and Cobra no longer offers SSB on any of their radios. I wouldn’t get the McKinley thinking that SSB is going to give you a big leg up over standard AM. Having SSB does give you a little more on-air privacy and a wee bit of extra power, according to my Dosy watt meter anyway. You’ve also got a chance to hear more conversations, which was the case for us this week. My son and I had landed on a transmission on channel 30 that we couldn’t understand on the AM side, but when I turned to USB and used the clarifier, it came through loud and clear. We had to laugh though since neither one of us are fluent in Spanish! Ultimately, I'm a fan of SSB but then again I've always liked to have more technology that can provide an additional edge. I was the guy in the 80s who recorded music on chrome and metal bias cassette tapes, and though I thought Dolby B and C were cool and interesting noise limiting technologies to have on your tape deck, I didn't think they made a huge difference. SSB can make an interesting difference at times for those that are really into two-way communication. It would be even more interesting if clarifiers could be automated to eliminate tuning back and forth so that users could keep their eyes on the road instead of hunting for a knob. This isn't a deal killer. Just saying that after over 50 years, SSB still has room for improvement and if they want to reel in the next generation of buyers like my two sons, then CB manufacturers need to get back to the drawing board. https://ift.tt/8YyT5ON The state of Connecticut's Class 8-only vehicle miles tax, called the Highway Use Fee, took effect on January 1 of this year with the first reports due at the end of January, and already fleets, owner-operators, and state representatives have voiced confusion and anger on numerous aspects of the new tax. The HUF requires any carrier who operates a combination truck in Classes 8-13 (as defined by the Federal Highway Administration) and weighing 26,000 lbs. or more (aside from some milk haulers) to pay between 2.5 and 17.5 cents per mile traveled on any road in Connecticut. Carriers that do operate eligible vehicles, no matter what state or states they're registered in, must register with Connecticut's Department of Revenue Services (DRS) and file monthly reports to pay the applicable tax. On February 28, the first tax bill, covering the month of January, came due. By early March, House Republicans had already proposed a bill to strike down the tax by July 1. In Connecticut's upper house, a Democrat introduced a bill to exempt trucks transporting agricultural commodities and machinery. Dave Palumbo, owner of 100-truck dry bulk hauler Palumbo Trucking, told the state legislators he'd paid around $5,000 in HUF for January alone. [Related: Trucking groups sound off as Connecticut truck VMT tax signed into law] Interviewed more recently, he estimated his company was looking at a total outlay of "$150,000 to $170,000 for the cost of the tax and the overhead, plus the employee I had to hire to calculate it and cover all the mileages every day and compute the tax." Furthermore, Palumbo called the tax "discriminatory" in how it targets not just trucks, but specifically combination units Class 8 and above in the FHWA classification system. "Are tractor-trailers the only ones doing damage to the road? What about triaxle dump trucks or cement mixers? They can weigh 75,000 pounds," he said. The tax also puts Palumbo's fleet, almost entirely FHWA Class 8 tractor/dump trailer combos, in long-term jeopardy, as he's already reporting losing customers to competitors with Class 7 trucks and lower. "I have a customer right now that I'm going to lose" as he's getting outbid "by a considerable amount" from a competitor running straight tri-axle dump trucks. Not only does the tax put Palumbo at up to a 10-cent-per-mile disadvantage to competitors, it's "very, very difficult" to navigate and calculate, with carriers recording their miles and weights, he said. With the level of complexity and competitive disadvantage, Palumbo doubts carriers will be lining up to pay the new tax. "You're supposed to file and register with the state, but if you're not registered with the state itself, who is going to stop you" from simply refusing to file? he asked. "Who is going to audit it? Are they going to hire more state employees? That was the big question that arose when I was at the capital. We're basically on the honor system." One Connecticut-based owner-operator said he's simply not registered and wouldn't pay the tax. This operator had gone to lengths to register the truck out of state and avoid loads with pickups in Connecticut to maintain deniability. Another Connecticut owner-operator, Joe Bielucki, took the opposite approach and likely overpaid in January. "The confusing part of the 10-cent tax is they say on the website it goes by gross weight, not gross registered weight, the weight of the vehicle at the time it's passing through the state," he said. Rather than get into the nitty gritty with Connecticut's reporting system, Bielucki said he'd rather just pay up. "My argument is this -- I'm paying for the full 80,000 lbs. both ways. Some people are going to say 'this guy is an idiot,' but I've been audited by every agency for payroll, fuel tax federal and state, and the highway administration, and when they start to audit this, how are you going to prove your exact weight on every day you say you're traveling through Connecticut?" he asked. "What if they call you in for an audit? "I don't mind being the crazy guy in the room. I just can't believe they're going to leave that much money on the table." He added that he'd already budgeted in a full 10 cents per mile into his rates during the last round of negotiations with his biggest customer. [Related: Holding the line: Owner-op's playbook to push back on cheap freight] We reached out to Connecticut's DRS, who confirmed that bobtailing semis, as long as they're under 26,000 pounds, are not eligible for the tax, and that the DRS will not ask for scale tickets or documentations of weight. "I've heard three carriers in particular say 'screw it, how are they going to catch me and if they do, I'll worry about it then,'" said Palumbo. "There's a lot of unanswered questions. I don't think it was thought through long and hard enough," he said of the tax. On the same day Connecticut House Republicans proposed striking down the tax, Governor Ned Lamont spoke about reducing state income taxes to fight inflation. “We still have some lingering inflation, we still have issues to deal with, still have the high cost of energy. I like to think that an extra 20 or 30 bucks in your paycheck starting January 1 of next year will make a real difference," said Lamont at a press conference, according to the CT Mirror. But Palumbo said that, for sure, the HUF would result in increased prices for his customers. "I’m gonna pass it on to the end user." he said. "Every taxpayer in Connecticut is going to pay this." His concrete powder-hauling business counts the state of Connecticut, with its many infrastructure projects, as a customer. The mirror cited Lamont's office as saying that for January, nearly "90% of the first-month mileage reports and 76% of the revenues came from out-of-state truckers," and that "$4.3 million in first-month revenues -- $3.3 million from out-of-state carriers and $1 million from in-state -- was well below the projections calculated by the legislature’s Office of Fiscal Analysis." Connecticut's DRS spokesperson projected on Tuesday that they expect HUF to raise $45 million in 2023, making January's numbers slightly above expectations. The spokesperson did not comment on how the agency would enforce the tax. For Palumbo, the prospect of having to lay off employees or even close up shop has crossed his mind as the tax burden sets in. "I gotta be honest, I don't know where it's gonna go," he said of his business. "I haven't gotten this out to all my customers yet. If these customers just can't afford it, then I can't do any business. Where do you draw a line in the sand?" https://ift.tt/8YyT5ON What do drivers want? Find out with this comprehensive research from the editors at CCJ. Download to access insights on driver pay, why they switch fleets, family life/home time and more. This is one of three installments in CCJ's What Drivers Want series. Two other articles in the series are "The truck and equipment specs drivers prefer" and "Pay and respect top influences on why drivers leave a carrier". You can download the full results of our What Drivers Want report here. The American Trucking Associations estimates the average age of over-the-road truck drivers is 46; however, the results of CCJ's most recent What Drivers Want survey – a poll of more than 800 leased owner-operators and company drivers – suggests a 46-year-old driver might be the spring chicken among his or her peer group. Nearly 70% of survey respondents had more than 20 years of experience (69%). No other experience group (16-20 years, 11-15 years, 6-10 years and 5 years or less) reached 10%. This translated to an average age of 60 years old among survey respondents, a mean age of 58 and a mode of 62. Drivers 55 and older ranked saving for retirement their no. 2 concern. Topping the list at 25% each was paying bills each month and health. Retirement savings was the no. 3 concern for the 35-54 age group, but the youngest group (up to 34 years old) assigned it no priority to the tune of 0%. From 2020 through 2022, 52% of respondents said their fleet had raised pay at least twice, which solves a money now problem. The money later problem, retirement, still looms large. Nearly a quarter of all respondents (23%) to CCJ's most recent What Drivers Want survey of company drivers and leased owner-operators said they would raise pay if they were in charge of a fleet and could do one thing to attract and retain drivers. Another 18% said they would guarantee pay, loads or mileage to make take-home pay more predictable. Rounding out the top three with 14% was offering "excellent" health benefits and a 401(k). "We need to go back to employer-provided pensions," suggested company driver William Kolar. Among company drivers, just 42% said their employer offered some kind of retirement program, and 85% of leased drivers said the same. Almost 30% of driver respondents (28%) said they are not saving for retirement. Company drivers (25%, no) are doing marginally better at preparing for retirement than leased drivers (35%, no). "I don’t have the word retire in my vocabulary, and I don’t save money," said 53-year-old leased owner-operator Mark Howell. "I borrow as much as they will give me, then create equity and cash flow. There is no reason to use the word retirement if you have a lifestyle that is as fun as possible doing whatever you want. Retirement is not fun-sounding at all. It’s a depressing word for people that are slaves and don’t know it." Only 23% of respondents plan to retire by the time they turn 67 years old, fewer than the number that plan to drive as long as their health holds out (26%) and drivers who haven't decided (32%). Only 8% plan to retire this calendar year. Interestingly enough, the oldest respondent group (drivers 55 years and older) plan to drive the longest, with 13% claiming they plan to drive until the age of 70. "At 70 I would consider driving part time," Kolar said. Download CCJ's 2022-2023 What Drivers Want survey results here. Among the drivers who don't plan on retiring anytime soon, 34% said it's because they need the money. The good news is 37% said they're not looking to retire because they like their job, and another 28% said it's because they simply don't want to not be working. "Retire," asked 65-year-old company driver Cliff Sees. "What would I do with my time?" After 39 years OTR, 58-year-old leased owner-operator Scott Erickson said he still loves his job and would drive for as long as he's healthy. "I look forward to the next day on the road," he said. "My truck is a recreational vehicle that pays me to drive it, and I’m getting paid to be on a permanent vacation," Howell added. Nearly two-thirds of all respondents (63%) to CCJ's most recent What Drivers Want survey said they haven't saved enough money to retire. Another 15% said they didn't know. Alarmingly, 58% of the oldest respondent group said they don't have the money saved for retirement. In some cases, drivers might have had retirement funds at one time or another but used it to reinvest in their business. "(I had a) 401(k), but I used it to buy a truck," said 63-year-old leased owner-operator Orion Sebastian. In other cases, divers too face market swings, financial misfortune, family emergencies and day-to-day life like everyone else. "Raising three kids, putting them through college so they would have a better life, owning a home, and being an owner-operator and responsible for every breakdown has prevented us from building a comfortable retirement," said 67-year-old leased owner-operator Lawrence Sigwald. Why do fleets struggle to recruit and retain drivers? Actual drivers weigh-in. What drivers want: truck and equipment specs https://ift.tt/OB8G5ld |
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April 2023
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