Fleet technology news and briefs for the week of May 23rd. Shell expanding its telematics offerings Shell Telematics uses a Geotab device in the vehicle to capture data for reporting driver behavior and vehicle performance. The cloud-based Geotab platform works with all vehicle classes and “there are so many different use cases,” said Tim Murray, sales director at Shell Fleet Solutions. The primary use cases are saving fuel and improving safety and operational efficiency, he noted. Shell Telematics gives fleets dedicated account managers to tailor the fuel card and telematics offerings to their needs. The account managers stay with customers for the life of the contract, Murray said. As fleets transition to alternative sources of energy, such as electric or hydrogen-powered vehicles, “we are able to work with those folks and link in those pieces,” he said. Shell Telematics comes with a dashboard for fleet managers that has various exception reports. It also has a driver app that gives access to notifications and performance metrics for unsafe driving and idling behaviors, and for additional fleet management tools. A unique report that is available from Shell Telematics combines fuel card and telematics data to calculate CO2 emissions. As fleets reduce fuel consumption the calculator shows the amount of carbon avoidance, he said. MiX Telematics releases stand-alone driver tracking app The company says the new app is a cost-effective alternative to a hard-wired onboard computer, which is ideal for fleet customers that run sub-contractor vehicles, leased vehicles, company cars, short-term rentals or grey fleets. “We are seeing high interest among our fleet customers for simpler telematics solutions that don’t require hardware to start and that fleets can grow into,” said Charles Tasker, chief operating officer at MiX Telematics. Werner Enterprises integrates with Navistar to reduce repair time “With a comprehensive, easy-to-use interface, Navistar I360’s communications and fleet management platform provides dual benefits for our professional drivers and Werner associates, enabling faster, more efficient support across the organization,” said Werner’s Chief Information Officer Daragh Mahon. The API integration with Navistar launched in March 2021. Werner is able to send trucks to certified OEMs with the parts inventory to quickly get vehicles back on the road and gain warranty coverage on the repairs. “Werner is finding creative ways to leverage available data from our systems to automate back office processes and improve the driver experience,” said Navistar’s Director of Customer Aftermarket Technology Brian Mulshine. The integration will save 10 minutes per repair event and reduce data entry. Werner’s call center team is able to address repair events in an average of two calls compared to a previous average of 12 calls per event. Werner’s professional drivers are getting back on the road faster with a reduction in dwell time of 30%, the company said. DAT network adds FourKites visibility DAT said the new visibility features from FourKites will help freight brokers improve customer service and strengthen relationships with carriers by reducing the need for check-calls and ETA management. It will also enable carriers to quickly integrate tracking through their ELD or other applications. DAT customers will have insight into the status of their loads from dock-to-dock, including predictive ETAs and wait-time information at more than 1 million shipper docks across North America. Trucks on the FourKites platform will be identifiable to shippers and freight brokers in the DAT network for DAT customers to have access to the largest pool of “trackable” capacity on the spot market, the company said. Digital freight broker shares technology The company said the new platform addresses capability gaps for freight brokerages, 3PLs, and freight forwarders. ZUUM offers digital freight-matching capabilities to shippers and carriers but is sharing its technology with external brokerages that could be considered competitors. "Prior to launching, we have rigorously tested this with our own brokerage and have seen our top freight brokers cover over 30 shipments in a single day,” said Mustafa Azizi, CEO of ZUUM Transportation. “This product is empowering brokers to focus on strengthening relationships with their partners." The ZUUM platform also comes with digital tools for customer service, carrier management, pricing, performance monitoring, automated billing and invoicing and other back-office functions associated with an enterprise transportation management software (TMS) system. BoxLock makes strategic hires amid rapid growth Coyne most recently served as senior vice president of strategic development at Quick International (now Kuehne + Nagel), a highly-specialized logistics and freight forwarding company serving the life sciences, clinical trials, aviation, and other industries. Coyne’s background includes 19 years as a senior investment banking executive. Over the course of his career, Coyne has advised clients in completing over 140 mergers and acquisitions and with capital raising transactions that exceed $54 billion in value. Kelley joined BoxLock in 2020 as Chief Commercial Officer to drive BoxLock’s B2B go-to-market efforts. He has 20 years of experience in supply chain and logistics, software, finance and strategic partnerships. Kelley most recently served as CEO of Bell Creek Partners where he provided strategic consulting services to technology founders and private equity firms on supply chain and logistics software solutions. Kelley previously led Corporate Development at Omnitracs and founded a digital-freight matching business. BoxLock provides intelligent supply chain access control systems that are used by healthcare, aviation, operations and logistics companies to secure and transfer assets in the first, middle and final mile of their 24/7 supply chains. The technology includes secure and rugged smart locks that combine integrated barcode scanners and real-time connectivity with a suite of cloud-based access control, audit log and inventory management tools. https://ift.tt/2ytPsnD
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A bill most recently introduced in 2019 that would mandate speed limiters on all trucks manufactured after 1992 has been reintroduced in the U.S. House of Representatives. Rep. Lucy McBath (D-Georgia) and Rep. John Katko (R-New York) introduced the Cullum Owings Large Truck Safe Operating Speed Act on May 25. The bill, if made law, would require all new commercial motor vehicles to be equipped with speed limiters, require existing speed-limiting technologies already installed in commercial motor vehicles manufactured after 1992 to be used while in operation, and require that the maximum safe operating speed of commercial motor vehicles not exceed 65 miles per hour, or 70 miles per hour with certain safety technologies, such as an adaptive cruise control system and an automatic emergency braking system. [Related: Speed limiter debate reignited with new administration] The bill is named for 22-year-old Atlanta resident Cullum Owings, who was killed in a car-truck collision in 2002 while returning to college. The legislation was long championed by former Georgia Sen. Johnny Isakson and is endorsed by the Truckload Carriers Association, the Trucking Alliance, AAA, the Institute for Safer Trucking, Road Safe America (founded by Cullum Owings' father) and the Safe Operating Speed Alliance. “The safety and security of our families, our friends, and our loved ones is always of the utmost priority,” McBath said. “The Owings family has done so much to protect other children like Cullum, and I want to thank them for all they have done. No family in America should ever have to experience the same pain of losing a loved one so needlessly. This is an important, bipartisan step to make our roadways safer, protect drivers, and stop these heartbreaking crashes from happening.” [Related: Senate bill to mandate a 65 mph speed limit a 'terrible idea'] https://ift.tt/2ytPsnD Trucking orgs unite call proposed truck mileage tax 'shortsighted inequitable discriminatory'5/26/2021 During the Senate Finance Committee’s hearing last week, Senator Cornyn (R-TX) asked the Committee to consider a truck-only Vehicle Miles Traveled (VMT) tax as means of financial support for a comprehensive infrastructure package. Last Tuesday marked at least the second time the "Cornyn Tax" – as it come to be known – was floated by the Lone Star State lawmaker, having previously floated the idea in 2019 to support a five-year highway bill. In theory, the tax could motor carriers to pay 25-cents for every mile driven. The mileage would be tracked via government-mandated devices that report the data back to the IRS. The idea was immediately lambasted by trucking stakeholders, including Texas Trucking Association President and CEO John D. Esparza. Tuesday, the American Trucking Associations (ATA) and Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) penned a joint letter to Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden and Ranking Member Mike Crapo, expressing their collective and "vehement opposition to any truck-only funding scheme that singles out truckers for the purposes of filling the nation’s infrastructure funding gap." "Placing a disproportionate burden on the backs of truckers to avoid Highway Trust Fund insolvency is shortsighted, inequitable, discriminatory against the industry, and deeply concerning to the millions of essential workers in trucking who have kept our nation fed, clothed, and with access to medicine throughout the COVID-19 pandemic," read the letter co-signed by OOIDA President and CEO Todd Spencer and ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. The two agencies, which represent a combined nearly 200,000 industry stakeholders, noted that should the Committee pursue the Cornyn Tax proposal, "know that it will encounter an intractable wall of opposition from our industry and from the many economic sectors which we serve. Doing so will not only alienate some of the strongest champions and natural allies of user-funded infrastructure investment, but it will also wreck the possibility of achieving the broad stakeholder support needed to advance the legislative process." Both ATA and OOIDA took particular exception to Cornyn's notion that passenger cars "subsidize" road use by heavy trucks, and that implementing a VMT would level the playing field. "While trucks account for only four percent of vehicles on the road and nine percent of all vehicle miles traveled nationally, we currently pay nearly half the entire [Highway Trust Fund] federal user-fee tab," the latter read. "A typical 5-axle truck pays $4,454 in annual federal diesel and heavy- vehicle use taxes alone, whereas a car pays $93 in annual federal gas taxes on average. In other words, trucks already pay 48 times more in federal highway user fees than do cars – on top of the other roadway taxes, business taxes, and income taxes that motor carriers pay." A report compiled by the American Transportation Research Institute found that costs associated with implementing a VMT tax could far exceed any revenue gains. ATRI found that replacing the fuel tax with a VMT tax, which would be assessed on 272 million private vehicles, could result in collection costs of more than $20 billion annually – about 300 times higher than the federal fuel tax. Hardware costs alone (mostly attributable to providing motorists with a GPS-enabled device) could have an initial price tag of $13.6 billion and require ongoing replacement. Telecommunications costs would be approximately $13 billion annually, and account administration would be an additional $4.3 billion each year, ATRI estimated. ATA and OOIDA also pointed out that Cornyn's idea that mileage could be tracked via onboard devise likely isn't even legal. "The concept of using electronic logging devices (ELD) to track and report truck miles traveled, as some have suggested, is untenable, as federal law prohibits government agencies from using ELDs for any purpose other than Hours of Service compliance," the agencies wrote. "Additionally, many erroneously assume that all trucks have ELDs, when the reality is that only 28% of commercial motor vehicles are legally required to be equipped with the device." The letter closes urging lawmakers to "consider the impact that a truck-only VMT would have on the members of our industry, our supply chain, and the American consumer," noting that trucking industry stakeholders have "often said that we’re willing to pay more to ensure the nation’s roads and bridges have the funding certainty they need to carry our economy forward, but segregating commercial vehicles from all other road users with a new, punitive tax system represents a red line that we will not cross." https://ift.tt/2ytPsnD Trucking news and briefs for Wednesday, May 26, 2021: ATRI outlines research priorities for 2021 ATRI’s Research Advisory Committee selected research topics that examine workforce, infrastructure, legal and operational issues, which align with multiple top concerns identified in ATRI’s annual Top Industry Issues survey. Additionally, given the heightened attention on electric vehicles, two of the top priority studies will examine specific trucking impacts arising from increased deployment of electric trucks. Specifically, the 2021 ATRI Top Research Priorities are: Understanding how to best integrate 18-20-year-olds into the trucking industry. This research will utilize a case-study approach to document best practices for recruiting, training and retaining younger individuals into trucking careers. Charging infrastructure considerations for electric trucks. From examining power demand scenarios to availability of grid connectivity and vehicle charging requirements, this research will be a trucking industry-focused assessment that identifies the electrical infrastructure issues associated with deploying electric trucks. Marijuana and other drugs: Impacts of decriminalization on the trucking industry. As more states move to decriminalize marijuana and other drugs, this study would update ATRI’s 2019 report by examining roadway safety and workforce impacts in those states changing their controlled substance laws. Quantifying the impacts of driver-facing cameras on fleets and drivers. This analysis will focus on safety, litigation and workforce impacts from deployment of driver-facing cameras. Understanding the environmental impacts of zero-emission trucks. This research will be a comparative environmental impact study of the full lifecycle – manufacturing, operations and disposal – of electric versus diesel Class 8 trucks. Freight volumes slowed in April while rates hit record high, ACT reports Tim Denoyer, ACT Research’s Vice President and Senior Analyst said the volume decrease followed a five-month high in March, which was due in part to poor weather in February. “Some of the strength was make-up for the polar vortex-impacted February level, but this slower growth also likely reflects ongoing supply constraints and the deepening semiconductor shortage,” Denoyer said. “And with both driver and equipment capacity in short supply, we are witnessing the strongest rate environment in survey history, even with a bit slower volumes.” He added that pent-up demand is still building, and the freight volume outlook remains positive. “This should keep the market tight, but we expect the rebalancing trend to continue in the medium-term,” he added. “The risks are that substitution back to service spending gradually cools the freight volume environment and that the eventual end of extended unemployment insurance helps driver availability improve.” The ACT For-Hire Trucking Index is a monthly survey of for-hire trucking fleets. ACT Research converts responses into diffusion indexes, where the neutral or flat activity level is 50. Barr-Nunn recognized by customer The honor confirms Barr-Nunn’s commitment to providing reliable service, a steadfast safety record and customer satisfaction, the fleet says. "Gap, Inc. is an excellent organization and to be recognized as its 2020 National Carrier of the Year points to the effectiveness of our entire team," said Rene Beacom, president of Barr-Nunn. "We strive to deliver superior service, safety and value, and I would like to thank not only our partners at Gap for recognizing us for accomplishing this but most importantly, all of those in our company, especially our exceptional drivers, who made it happen." https://ift.tt/2ytPsnD Motor carriers with aging telematics devices using 3G CDMA chipsets on tractors or trailers will need to plan an extra maintenance event for each of these assets, and time is running out. Beginning next February, all wireless networks will begin widespread 3G network shutdowns ahead of flipping off the switch completely in December 2022. Rather than merely replace 3G devices with new 4G or 5G hardware, some carriers will give each asset a pitstop service. A pit crew doesn’t just change tires, after all. They also fill the fuel tank and makes mechanical adjustments. While doing a 4G upgrade, fleets may want their technology pit crew to add new cameras, sensors and other features to get more value from the costs incurred from bringing the assets in for maintenance. The technology pit crew could be a third party. Velociti, for instance, has been working with fleets for more than 25 years to deploy, repair and replace technologies in the field at its own locations and deploying technicians to dealerships, service centers and fleet facilities. “What we are hearing from customers is ‘we want to push the envelope with the digital transformation of our fleet,’” said Deryk Powell, president of Velociti. When planning a technology upgrade, fleets want to reduce the time spent testing and integrating different systems. Events of the past year have accelerated the need for fleets to “shorten, streamline, organize and mitigate risk” from technology projects, he noted. The time was right for Velocity to open an 85,000 sq. ft. Innovation Lab next to its Kansas City, Missouri, headquarters. Large technology companies often have labs but use them mostly as product showrooms. That’s not the case with Velociti, who designed its Lab to be a “technology playground” for technology partners and customers, Powell said, to more rapidly design and test hardware and software prior to deployment. Fleets that come to the Lab meet with a team of experts from Velociti to identify the right pieces of technology and test them in the Lab to ensure functionality before deploying across the enterprise. Some fleets are working with Velociti and its Lab to prove and validate the concept of a “smart connected trailer" by using telematics systems that connect with a variety of sensors for doors, cargo, brakes and lights, as well as integrate with automatic tire inflation systems. Other fleets are working with Velociti’s Lab to validate a use case for autonomous forklifts and trucks, he said. An LTL carrier seeking to prove the concept of using autonomous forklifts itself (at its own facilities) would run the risk of disrupting operations. Velociti has been running tests on autonomous forklifts and collecting data for the past 18 months, Powell said, and the data collected has been used to improve algorithms for the autonomous systems. The Lab gives fleets and their technology suppliers a place where hardware and software can be configured and tested in a low-risk environment to learn lessons without impacting operations. Another advantage for using the Lab to test and validate technologies, said Powell, is that Velociti can perfect the installation process for different makes and models of trailers and tractors, saving time and labor costs during the deployment. Overall, the main reason fleets are coming to the Innovation Lab is to create a technology plan that can be tested and refined to ensure that deployment is done as quickly and efficiently as possible, which helps fleets get a faster acceptance of new technology by employees and customers, he said. https://ift.tt/2ytPsnD When the COVID-19 pandemic first hit the United States, millions of individuals lost their jobs. Specifically, many women were stuck at home coordinating elderly parent medical issues, additional home-school activities for their children, and more. One year later, many great strides have been made to bring back jobs in a variety of industries traditionally filled by a predominantly male labor pool, but may now offer great opportunities to women. Industries like trucking, transportation, automotive, and aerospace have traditionally offered careers filled predominantly by men. However, sectors that have traditionally offered a larger amount of jobs for women, such as hospitality, travel, and catering, have been hit hard by the pandemic. It is time women consider industries like trucking and transportation to advance their careers, especially since these industries are vastly different from just a few years ago. Currently, there remains a large shortage of drivers in the trucking industry, and women could help reduce this driver shortage. As a result, more companies are looking to hire women to fill these roles. According to a 2019 report by the American Trucking Association (ATA), the industry was short roughly 60,000 drivers in 2018, nearly a 20% increase from the previous year estimate of just over 50,000. The ATA warns that if current trends hold, the shortage could swell to over 160,000 by 2028. Driver opportunities abound for women, in addition to a plethora of other career potentials. New growth opportunities for gender-diversity The transportation industry has shed its previous perception that the industry was filled with old men driving dirty trucks. The trucks are now state-of-the-art in many cases, and the companies that oversee a multitude of operations are brimming with careers in fields such as finance, asset management, procurement, legal, technology, data, and analytics. Women in particular are playing a leading role in shaping the technology that is used to advance the current transportation industry. Technology, finance, data analytics opportunities The opportunity to build a professional career leveraging my expertise in data and analytics was exactly what I hoped for, but I did not initially think I would find it in the transportation industry. Forward-thinking companies in the industry see the value in this form of gender-diverse skillset, where my ongoing analysis reporting and statistical modeling helps the company provide specific analytic reports for our clients and bank partners. This allows us to examine cost metrics and to establish an optimal fleet modernization strategy. I initially began my career within the consumer goods sector, but I quickly realized my skillsets were better suited for a B2B industry, such as transportation. In this industry, advanced business intelligence and data analytics are leveraged to assist large enterprise-level companies in making decisions to improve their bottom line. A growing number of companies in the trucking and transportation industry recognize the unique skillsets that women offer. Organizations like Women In Trucking also have been instrumental in advocating for women to learn more about potential career opportunities in the trucking and transportation industries. “The mission of Women In Trucking is simply to increase the ranks of women working in the industry,” said Ellen Voie, CAE, PDC for the Women in Trucking Association, Inc. “Companies who recognize the importance of gender diversity have proven to experience greater net returns, but more importantly, they make a focused effort to attract, retain and promote women.” America’s economy needs the transportation system more than ever today. As more gender-diverse career opportunities appear inside transportation companies, these organizations will discover more potential for growth through the advancement and empowerment of a more gender-balanced workforce. Jackie Jacobs is Senior Fleet Transaction Analyst and Project Manager for Fleet Advantage, a leading innovator in truck fleet business analytics, equipment financing and lifecycle cost management. https://ift.tt/2ytPsnD Trucking news and briefs for Monday, May 24, 2021: North Carolina piloting in-cab traffic alerts for truckers NCDOT is partnering with Drivewyze parent company Intelligent Imaging Systems, a Canada-based company that provides innovative connected-truck technology. The in-truck messaging provides real-time alerts of urgent road conditions. NCDOT says the alerts will help truck drivers react more quickly before encountering stopped traffic or major slowdowns. “We strive to let people know of unexpected traffic conditions," said Kevin Lacy, the State Traffic Engineer at NCDOT. “We're excited to be working with an industry partner that is using new technology. Truck drivers will be able to get advance warning of a major roadway incident before they see it on one of our dynamic message signs." The department is contracting with Intelligent Imaging Systems to provide this service to truck drivers traveling through North Carolina. The first-in-the nation pilot will cover all 182 miles of Interstate 95 and the rural portions of Interstate 40 outside the Triangle, the Triad and Asheville. The new alerts will have messages such as “Sudden Slowdown Ahead" and “Congestion Ahead" about 2 or 3 miles before commercial truck drivers encounter the slowed traffic or incident. Information will be in real time via INRIX, a leader in transportation analytics and connected vehicle services. These alerts will complement other notifications subscribed trucks already receive through the Drivewyze notification service. Shippers conditions hit record low in March FTR forecasts conditions for shippers will improve in the coming months, but the SCI will remain negative into 2022. “While May and June are expected to be the worst months for shippers as rate increases in truck and rail hit their peak for the year, it is possible that the tight conditions could persist for longer,” said Todd Tranausky, vice president of rail and intermodal at FTR. “Capacity is expected to remain a constraining factor for transportation through the end of 2021 as truck and rail each struggle to regain employees lost during the pandemic. Strong consumer and industrial demand means freight volumes will remain strong at the same time, setting up a challenged market for shippers over the next few months.” The Shippers Conditions Index tracks the changes representing four major conditions in the U.S. full-load freight market: demand, freight rates, fleet capacity and fuel price. The individual metrics are combined into a single index that tracks the market conditions that influence the shippers’ freight transport environment. Werner receives first T680 Next Gen The T680 Next Gen on-highway flagship improves on the previous generation truck’s fuel efficiency, performance and aerodynamic styling. “We are a company built by a driver for drivers, and our drivers are passionate about the Kenworth T680s that have served as an integral part of our fleet for many years,” said Scott Reed, Werner senior vice president of equipment purchasing and maintenance. “The T680 Next Gen’s excellent comfort, styling and performance is highly anticipated among our drivers, and we are all eager to see the new model join our fleet.” The Kenworth T680 Next Gen provides drivers with the new customizable 15-inch digital display, next generation Kenworth SmartWheel, additional advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS), forward lighting with signature LED headlamps, comfortable cab and sleeper, and a sleek aerodynamic design. The trucks are available in day cab, 40-inch, 52-inch and 76-inch-sleeper configurations and are standard with the proprietary Paccar Powertrain featuring the 2021 Paccar MX-13 engine, Paccar TX-12 automated transmission and Paccar DX-40 drive axle. https://ift.tt/2ytPsnD A round up of trucking's people news and headline makers for the week of May 23. After serving nearly 40 years in the transportation industry, Kenan Advantage Group (CCJ Top 250, No. 16) President and CEO Bruce Blaise has made the decision to retire to spend more time with his family. Effective June 1, 2021, Charlie DeLacey, current chief financial officer (CFO), will become chief executive officer (CEO), and Grant Mitchell, current chief operating officer (COO), will take on the additional responsibilities of president. Blaise said planning for the transition has been in place for several years, "and these two talented leaders are well poised to take KAG to the next level of growth and success." DeLacey has served as CFO since 2018 and has been with the company since 2011. He's a member of the board of directors for National Tank Truck Carriers and serves on various committees for the American Trucking Associations and also serves on the boards of various community organizations. Mitchell has served as COO of KAG since 2018. He joined KAG in 2013 as a result of the acquisition of RTL-Westcan Group of Companies in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. His professional affiliations include serving on the boards of the Canadian Trucking Alliance, Ontario Trucking Association, Alberta Motor Transport Association, and Fleet Resolutions Insurance LTD (chairman). Mitchell is also involved with civic organizations in his community. Werner's Leathers named Chairman of the Board CL Werner, who had served as chairman of the board until his term ended at the 2021 annual meeting of stockholders, was named chairman emeritus. “Werner Enterprises was a company built by a driver, for drivers, and I’m honored to continue CL’s legacy," said Leathers. "One of the reasons the company has remained successful is because of CL’s respect for professional drivers. We couldn’t keep America moving without them, and he understands their importance. His integrity and his ability to connect with our drivers is why he is admired by so many." Roadmaster gets new president As president of Roadmaster Group, whose subsidiary companies operate a fleet of 500 tractors and 1800 trailers, Thompson oversees all aspects of RMG companies including the operations, purchasing, safety, recruiting, shop, information technology, and equipment utilization departments. https://ift.tt/2ytPsnD Elephants or goldfish? Shippers and carriers both say “we have long memories” when the power dynamics change in freight markets. When capacity gets tight, however, it is carriers who most resemble goldfish. They tend to have short memories and behave opportunistically, according to research by the MIT Center for Technology & Logistics (MIT CTL). In November 2020 an MIT CTL research team published a paper based on analysis of a large dataset of freight transactions. One conclusion was that strong shipper-carrier relationships in a soft market are not predictive of how carriers will perform in the next tight cycle. Shippers that worked hard to maintain relationships when the market turned soft around 4Q 2018 and continued through 1Q 2020, might have expected that carriers would show more loyalty when the market tightened in the second half of 2020. Capacity is now as tight as it’s ever been, according to a recent report by CCJ. Isolating behaviors Graduate assistant and PhD candidate Angela Acocella led the research and isolated the strength of shipper-carrier relationships to a single variable — the load acceptance ratio of carriers. [Related: March was possibly the ‘strongest freight market ever’ for carriers] Shipper contracts generally do not require that carriers accept all load offers. They only set agreements for lanes and pricing. When markets tighten, carriers tend to reject a greater percentage of load offers for pre-negotiated contract rates. The study looked for evidence that carriers would reciprocate loyalty to shippers in the next tight period, in terms of load acceptance rates, after they were paid comparatively high freight rates in soft freight markets. The MIT CTL paper cites a body of research that shows for-hire truckload carriers, on average, accept about 72% of load offers from shippers for contracted lanes, and that shippers fulfill 6% of their loads using spot capacity when contract carriers reject loads. The average rates in the spot market generally exceed contract prices by 23 to 35%. Researchers used statistical models to find the degree by which shippers and primary carriers held to their freight contracts when market conditions changed from soft to tight. The analysis showed that favorable soft market behaviors of shippers did not significantly impact the load acceptance rate by carriers during tight market periods. The average weekly load acceptance rate when the freight market went from soft to tight around Q3 of 2017, for example, was 81.9%. The acceptance rate fell to 68.5% when the market changed from tight to soft around Q4 of 2018. Meanwhile, the average weekly cost per load increased between these periods from $1,156 to $1,420. Looking beyond price Additionally, carriers responded with higher acceptance rates for loads that had reduced delays at pickup and delivery locations, which helps carriers boost profits and retain drivers. The MIT CTL study did not have data from 2020, but Acocella told CCJ that she expects that results, for load acceptance rates and other variables, would be “what typically happens during hot markets,” with some anomalies expected due to the COVID-19 pandemic. [Related: Top 5 bidding strategies to improve freight opportunities] For the past year, most shippers have been trying to ensure their rates stay competitive by “updating their rates more frequently, doing more mini bids, and making sure they were changing behaviors to follow the market,” she said. Larger shippers tend to be better insulated from the impacts of the market and maintain better carrier relationships since they can offer carriers more volume and consistency, Acocella noted. As a top performing Walmart carrier, Baylor Trucking was able to expand its relationship in 2020 by 58.5% in terms of load count across Walmart’s dry, refrigerated and consolidated freight networks. Baylor Trucking has been recognized as a Carrier of the Year by Walmart four times, and in 2021 received its second consecutive award as Diversity Carrier of the Year. This award category recognizes a top-performing third party logistics carrier that is a woman, minority or veteran-owned company. Baylor Trucking held fast to contracted rates and lane commitments despite an unprecedented surge in demand for the company’s services during the COVID-19 pandemic, said Cari Baylor, president of the Milan, Ind.-based fleet. “We were able to grow our relationship with Walmart when America needed us most,” Baylor said. “We always want to do the right thing. For us this means honoring our lane and rate commitments with customers and making sure that our professional drivers always know we are there to support them.” [Related: ELD outage at Baylor Trucking raises industry questions for compliance, legal liability] Going forward, Acocella said that shippers will want price concessions from carriers when they negotiate future contracts, since 2020 and 2021 have blown their transportation budgets out of proportion. This comes with tradeoffs, however. “Shippers trying to cut down on their budget from the 2020 timeframe might go for lower priced options, and maybe not see the performance they are expecting to see,” she said. A broker’s perspective “[Carriers] have to want to work with you. It has to be easy to do business,” said Justin Frees, chief capacity officer of Arrive Logistics, a fast-growing freight broker based in Austin, Texas. “If it is not seamless, easy and efficient they can go somewhere else.” Arrive Logistics recently added a new Carrier EDGE online freight portal with “book it now” capabilities that enable its core carriers to instantly book freight. Carriers also have the option to use a “Make an Offer” feature to submit an alternative, preferred rate completely online. The company also has book it now features through integrations with the major freight marketplaces. “We are trying to bring together a platform that makes it easier and more efficient for everyone to do business with us,” said Michael Senftleber, chief technology officer at Arrive. Arrive also recently integrated with Triumph Pay’s payment processing platform. Any carrier that wants to use a Quick Pay option to receive a two-day payment for a 2% fee can do so through Triumph Pay’s platform, along with having visibility to receivables from other shippers and freight brokers they do business with. “This is another place for us to meet carriers where they are,” Frees said of the Triumph Pay integration. Editor’s note: Click here to download the MIT CTL paper authored by Angela Acocella, “Elephants or goldfish?: An empirical analysis of carrier reciprocity in dynamic freight markets.” https://ift.tt/2ytPsnD Not all electric trucks will fall behind their internal combustion counterparts because of long charge times. Some will deliver impressive gains so long as they don’t stray beyond their range and require a trip to the charger during the work day. However, where they are losing, according to the California Air Resources Board, is in the more critical race to lower emissions. Data released recently by CARB indicate that low carbon fuels, like renewable diesel and biodiesel, are actually rendering the best reductions in transportation-related sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. While federal and state policies continue to lavish praise and plenty of funds on all-electric technologies, biodiesel and renewable diesel are out-performing ethanol along with electrified cars, trucks and buses by a 3:1 margin according to the Diesel Technology Forum. “When it comes to tackling the climate challenge, these new findings [from CARB] underscore the large and significant role that low carbon biobased diesel fuels are playing in California today and should also inform current and future climate and transportation policy considerations at the national and regional levels outside of California,” said DTF Executive Director Allen Schaeffer. National Biodiesel Board“Cumulatively, over the period of 2011-2020, California’s consumption of biodiesel and renewable diesel fuels accounted for 43 percent (over 32 million tons) of all greenhouse gas eliminated from the transportation sector, while battery-electric transportation options accounted for only 13 percent (10 million tons),” Schaeffer continued. While some may argue that greater numbers of diesel-powered trucks easily account for the disparity, keep in mind that EVs are only as green as their power sources. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, roughly 60% of the power generated in the U.S. last year was derived from fossil fuel sources like coal, petroleum, natural gas and other gasses. Twenty percent was sourced from nuclear and the remaining 20% from renewable sources. As additional electric trucks and vans plug into fossil-fuel power sources, emissions from these power plants rise. Not only that, but power plants work hard to provide the energy needed to produce high-energy density lithium-ion batteries used in power-hungry EVs. However, the well-to-wheels concept of measuring emissions and sizing up carbon footprints isn’t something you can expect to find in an EV brochure or in government policy that favors EV proliferation. Renewable fuels score well in their well-to-wheels profile because they’re produced from plant and animal matter. Optimus Technologies produces the Vector System which enables fleets to run on 100% biodiesel sourced from soybean plants. Greater concentrations of biodiesel result in lower emissions. Optimus Technologies CEO Colin Huwyler likened B100 from Renewable Energy Group to a form of solar energy since the soybean plants used to produce the fuel grow through photosynthesis which, as kids in elementary school are taught, is powered by the sun. “People tend to have a harder time grasping that a 100% biodiesel truck could offer lower carbon than a 100% electric vehicle,” Huwyler told CCJ. “But when you take a step back and you look at where the carbon comes from, you're still using a fossil fuel-based product to power the vehicle. It's just powering it in a slightly different manner. And so with biodiesel, it's basically a solar truck. It's just a different form of solar energy.” Schaeffer applauded the growing use of biobased diesel fuels which CARB estimates has grown from about 16 million gallons in 2011 to nearly 1 billion gallons in 2020. “The use of ready-to-go biobased diesel fuel is a proven and cost-effective way to reduce greenhouse gas emissions now, without acquiring new vehicles or waiting for new supporting fuel infrastructure that may still take many years to reach market availability,” he said. “All diesel engines, old and new, can operate on blends of biodiesel or 100 percent renewable diesel fuel. “These are fuels that are capable of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by at least 50 percent and in the case of renewable diesel fuel, emissions may be reduced by upwards of 80 percent, according to research commissioned by the South Coast Air Quality Management District and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District,” Schaeffer continued. “With a fleet of more than 1 million diesel commercial vehicles on the road in California, there is even greater opportunity for additional short term climate benefits with the uptake of biobased diesel fuel.” Neste, the world's largest producer of renewable diesel, announced today that they've been testing renewable gasoline and are considering the low carbon fuel for worldwide distribution. The Finland based company states that with renewable gasoline "greenhouse gas emissions can be reduced by up to 65% over the fuel’s life cycle when compared to fossil fuels. The aim for Neste is to improve this figure, to eventually achieve up to 90% emission reduction with the fuel use. This would mean that greenhouse gas emission over the life cycle of the fuel would be equivalent to those from an electric vehicle." That's a very promising well to wheels outlook for internal combustion. Why would anyone professing a passion for cleaner emissions not embrace such news? EVs will undoubtedly play a bigger role on the commercial vehicle front particularly as technology improves. But in the meantime, upholding these vehicles as superior and seemingly flawless solutions that need no help from ICE to take on emissions and reduce the nation's carbon footprint will do more harm than good. https://ift.tt/2ytPsnD |
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April 2023
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