CCJ Innovators profiles carriers and fleets that have found innovative ways to overcome trucking’s challenges. If you know a carrier that has displayed innovation, contact CCJ Chief Editor Jason Cannon at [email protected] or 800-633-5953. Charlie Deull, part of the family that owns and operates the Broadway show-related freight carrier Clark Transfer, experienced the COVID-19 pandemic as an existential business threat. He watched as, quite literally overnight, the entirety of the touring-theater business came an abrupt halt, sidelining a then around 100-unit fleet made up entirely of leased owner-operators. With around 20% of those 100 trucks helmed by teams, Clark Transfer's roughly 125 total contracted owner-operators were often dedicated to touring shows for months, even years at a time. The company then owned a fleet of 340 or so trailers “custom-designed for entertainment” industry hauling, Deull said. “In the span of about 36 hours” in 2020, then, “all the shows unloaded into about 225 of our trailers. Work stopped,” and life hung in the balance for the entire company and the businesses it supports. Clark shifted to hauling general freight to an extent, but continued to compensate “those doing general freight like they were doing show work,” Deull said, borrowing money and, ultimately, running losses through it all. “We lost a bunch of money until show business started back up.” A lot of their leased owner-operator core, too, moved on to other things. When Broadway began to return in earnest the fleet was essentially half its pre-pandemic size, and efforts to recruit were stymied by a mixture of a booming spot market and the reality that Clark’s business, though above-average in owner-op compensation, is below average when it comes to home time and other creature comforts given the touring nature of its freight. “While we will always get somebody home when they say they need to be” for the most part, Deull said, “it can’t be every week.” Two months, 10 days advance notice, “we can do that.” But it’s just “not compatible with every week, every two weeks. That’s not how touring shows work.” The company did not want to shift to a powered-equipment-purchasing operation and hire company drivers, as “we for years have believed that the people who made this all happen are amazing owner-operators,” Deull said. Clark, rather, adjusted its leased-owner compensation structure to provide a backstop it believed would add a measure of income security that would be particularly attractive to business owners whose memory of the pandemic was fresh. The move was an innovation few carriers in trucking have been willing or able to make. “We started an actual guarantee program,” Deull said, a model that among leased owner-operators is very uncommon indeed. CCJ sister publication Overdrive’s last owner-op compensation survey found just 4% of leased owners reported any kind of guaranteed backstop in their leasing fleet’s compensation structure, though minimum weekly and monthly, sometimes annual salary, guarantee programs are increasingly common for company driver compensation. In terms of recruiting and orienting new owner-operators to the business, the family behind Clark Transfer prides itself on being above-board, with an intent in a perfect world to “under-promise and over-deliver” when it comes to compensation. Owner-operators too often, Deull said, “have been lied to at so many places before. My mother had three rules growing up – never lie, do what you say you’re going to do, and never be late.” The minimum-guarantee structure – $3,500 weekly for solo operations, $5,000 for teams – Deull said is a “way of putting our money where our mouths are” when it comes to the promise of revenue achievable leased to the company. The company’s average leased solo owner grosses between $175,000 and $200,000 annually on just 80,000 or so miles, an average team $225,000-$300,000 on just 110,000 miles, the company states in a document that fully spells out the program for leased owners. Whether an owner qualifies for the minimum guarantee is based on a calculation for owners at the end of every quarter to arrive at the owner’s average weekly settlement for that quarter. First, the number of days worked is divided by seven to come up with the number of weeks worked that quarter – total revenue for the quarter is then divided by the weeks figure to compute the average. If that number is less than 3,500 (5,000 for teams), Clark pledges to make up the difference for all weeks. Given the big return since late Fall 2021 of Broadway touring business, though, Deull said in early May when we talked about the program, for leased owners who’ve been fully integrated into the company’s operation for some time the minimum guarantee had not applied for a single one. Yet where it had come into play was among newly leased owners, compensating their very first weeks with the company as they get their footing within the system. Previously, “in a normal cycle,” Deull said, it wouldn’t be before the third weekly settlement check that revenue would even begin to reflect over-the-road realities. Now, for the first four weeks of a leased owner or team’s time at Clark, the guarantee applies no matter what. This has been “extremely popular” among owners, he added, since making that switch in late Spring/early Summer retroactive to the beginning of the year. The change, too, is “actually costing us money,” Deull said. “It’s expensive, but worth it” for the commitment it shows to building the foundation of the business partnership. "We are getting strong traction now on recruiting." With the structural change in the guarantee, Clark this year has temporarily instituted quarterly bonuses for all leased owners that amount to $10,000 annually per operator – a way to better share, Deull felt, with operators the fruits of Broadway freight’s return. Another new, more structural commitment, too, though, is a change in fuel-surcharge compensation. Clark’s surcharge paid to its contractors is tied to miles run and based on $1.40/gallon at 6 mpg. As fuel costs rise, operators averaging lower fuel mileage may ultimately pay well more than $1.40 out of pocket for fuel. The company now pledges that no one, regardless of fuel mileage, will pay out more than $1.60/gallon. As with the minimum revenue guarantee, “we’ll do the math at the end of the quarter and make sure,” Deull said. “This one will cost us some money,” too. “We will end up paying something to the lower-efficiency operators, but we’re not concerned from an equity standpoint,” given there are plenty of incentives still in place for all to work toward better efficiency to keep and make more money. The surcharge is also set to be paid not just on loaded miles, but all dispatched miles, whether bobtail, empty and/or loaded. Those two structural changes have delivered an uptick in new owners reaching the company and, if Deull’s right, will better cement relationships with those new owners for the long term. “After losing half the fleet,” he said, “we feel like we’ve got a pipeline” of committed owner-operators incoming “that’s in good stead. It’s hard to put a finger on any one piece of this that’s starting to work or will work, whether it’s conditions in general freight, whether we’re reaching people better, or whether it’s this combination of new things” aimed at better backstopping revenue to mitigate unforeseen circumstances. One thing’s certain in his view: “The group of programs collectively” do in fact better “communicate our attitude – a belief in the importance of the owner-operator” to the present and future of Clark Transfer. The CCJ Innovators program is brought to you by Comdata, Freightliner Trucks, Omnitracs and Valvoline. https://ift.tt/jSIP8OV
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People have a lot of advice for drivers and fleets when it comes to what they need to do to improve fuel economy. One of the classics is telling drivers to slow down. It is true, in theory, that if you drive more slowly you will get better fuel economy, but how that plays out in the real world doesn't always make sense. Consider this example: by driving slower the driver bumps up against his mandated 36-hour rest, but he is 25 miles short of his delivery location. Driving 2 mph faster would have gotten him to his destination within his legal hours of driving. In general, drivers are unhappy about going slower because going slower means driving fewer miles, and for drivers who are paid by the mile that means less money. Fleets aren’t necessarily thrilled with lower speeds either because their overhead is nearly the same, but their revenue may be less because of fewer deliveries. That is not to say that I don’t think speed should be a factor when it comes to fuel economy. I just don't think we can assume that trucks aren’t efficient when they are going 70 mph. In fact, higher speed can equal higher fuel savings and a faster ROI for things like aerodynamic devices. A device that saves 5 gallons per 1,000 miles at 60 mph may save 6 gallons/1,000 miles at 70 mph. The truck uses more fuel at 70 so, yes, it is best to drive slowly. But if you are committed to that speed, you will also see higher fuel savings from aerodynamics and a faster ROI. I think some fleets are reluctant to spec fuel economy technologies because there is a tradeoff in other areas. Those of us who preach the fuel economy gospel must ensure we are framing fuel efficiency technologies correctly. We need to let fleets know the benefits of the technology, but we also need to let them know what the tradeoffs are. This allows them to make better decisions and likely will result in them being happier with the technology in which they invested because they will have a realistic understanding of what they are trading. In some cases, the tradeoff will be worth it; in others it won’t be. There are, however, certain things that will have less of an impact on operations while still saving fuel. Aerodynamic mud flaps and upgraded axle oil are two that come to mind. Both of those items not only save fuel, but they also have a positive impact on maintenance. The caveat about aerodynamic mud flaps is that you must choose the right ones, because some lower quality brands have created issues for some fleets. We all know that trailer skirts reduce drag, thereby improving fuel economy. But they may not be right for fleets that operate in tight delivery zones where the truck bottoms out and the skirts can be damaged. The cost of repairing or replacing the skirt could wipe out any fuel savings the skirt provided. The answer is not necessarily to abandon skirts all together. It could be that the right solution is a shorter skirt or the use of a device that goes under the front of the bogie. The tractor-trailer gap is another area with tradeoffs. The larger the gap between the tractor and trailer, the more fuel you use. However, gap devices can create problems when backing up or turning, as the devices and can get damaged. Ride is also affected by the position of the fifth wheel. Drivers prefer a fifth wheel set further back for better ride and that is a consideration that should be considered with the driver shortage. Another reason for keeping the fifth wheel back is for weight distribution over the axles. The bottom line is that not every fleet will see the fuel economy savings that a manufacturer says their product offers. One device might work great for one fleet but is not a good fit for another. Each device needs to be evaluated based on the fleet’s unique operating characteristics. Fleets should consider engaging the services of a fuel economy consultant who understands both the operational needs of fleet and the benefits and limitation of specific devices given the fleet’s duty cycle. This helps motor carriers make smart decisions that make sense for them. https://ift.tt/7lVuUpi During the first five years of his marriage, Rob Hatchett and his wife attended an annual marriage retreat where they received assignments to have conversations about a given topic, like money. The same principle goes for driver pay, said Hatchett, president of Fleet Intel, a tool that helps carriers analyze and compare driver pay, benefits and other offerings. In a TCA webinar titled “Is Raising Pay the Way to Boost Recruiting,” Hatchett’s top takeaway for carriers is to have regular conversations about driver pay packages, but more frequently than his annual marriage retreat. Hatchett, who has worked in driver recruiting for almost a decade, recommends carriers have a sit-down meeting among departments at least every six months to review market conditions, retention rates and other factors that contribute to driver pay rates. “I like to treat driver pay like going to the dentist. There are a lot of things in life that we're told we need to have: a six-month checkup, the dentist being one of those … After we do that two or three times, we start thinking, ‘Why am I even going to the dentist. Every time I go it's good, and they're not finding anything.’ It's very easy to stop going to the dentist,” he said. "I personally had that happen two weeks ago. I hadn't been in two years … and I had a cap fall off. When you don't do regular checkups, you're just waiting for something bad to happen. “I would encourage any carrier out there to put a calendar invite on the calendar for anybody involved every six months … It gives us a chance and a healthy environment to go, ‘We may need to make some tweaks,’ because if we don't have these checkups, we're just waiting for somebody to get upset, or we're waiting for us to get behind, and all of a sudden we're behind the market, and we hadn't even talked about it in two years.” There are multiple areas he suggests spending time discussing – not just pay alone but the whole picture from benefits and home time to predictability, labor (loading, tarping, etc.) and work/life balance. And all of this culminates in a single question: do drivers value the job the carrier is offering? “You have to consider the whole package because pay may get them through the door but may not be enough to keep them,” Hatchett said. He said drivers are looking beyond the pay rate as a number to whether it’s predictable. The same goes for home time, he said, because drivers want predictability so they can plan for things like doctor appointments and family engagements. A carrier can increase its pay rate, but if that work-life balance isn’t there, retention may suffer despite high recruitment. But pay is often the biggest piece of the puzzle, Hatchett said, and money conversations tend to be awkward. “I'll never forget the first fight with my wife was over money. I went and bought a whole life insurance policy. I thought that was a good planning technique for my wife and I, and I found out after I purchased that that she did not think that was a good financial planning technique for us. Neither of us were right or wrong. We obviously just had a difference of opinion, and it was awkward,” he said. “That very thing can happen in trucking companies, especially as we're talking about driver pay, where we get into this group wins or that group wins versus being able to come together and collectively make a decision on something we have different opinions on.” Opinions coming from different directionsThe recruiting department has an opinion because it wants the most attractive package possible to get people in the door; the safety department has an opinion and maybe wants to incentivize drivers with additional pay to operate more safely; but the sales team has an opinion too because it has to compete to get the freight business that brings in the pay to begin with; the operations team wants a say because it’s in charge of retaining those drivers and may want to incentivize the drivers who remain with the company the longest or have the best utilization rates; and then you have the C-suite preaching profits. “These different opinions are not right or wrong … but we have to be able to communicate and come up with a good decision, especially when the market is moving so much,” Hatchett said. “If the market is just staying the same, we can just create one pay package, and we're done. But as the market is moving, we're having to have these conversations on a regular basis.” He said carriers have to keep up with the market to remain competitive among other carriers and attractive to drivers. And the market has been volatile in recent years with the Covid-19 pandemic and the residual effects. After the initial shockwaves of Covid that sent people scurrying from the public, the economy started moving again but in a different way as consumer practices changed to reflect stay-at-home orders, resulting in more ecommerce, which increased the demand for truckload capacity and drivers. During that time, Hatchett said carriers approached pay in three different ways: the 10-cent leap in which some carriers opted to do a big pay increase because they were confident in the demand for capacity; the 2-cent shuffle for the carriers who maybe weren’t as confident in the market; and the carriers that held firm with their pay rates. Many carriers also have begun implementing guaranteed rates. But now, the market is turning. In recent months, demand for capacity has lessened, market rates have declined, and the pipeline for driver talent has increased exponentially, Hatchett said. “The industry as a whole has raised pay. It's been very well documented,” he said. “Well, we've raised pay enough that I think people outside our industry have started valuing our industry more.” And while he declined to make any predictions about the future of the market, he said all these factors are coming into play to change driver pay packages. In addition to the supply and demand of drivers, other factors he said to keep in mind include availability of driver trainers, retention, supply and demand of freight, the utilization rates of a carrier’s assets, other carriers’ pay rates and equipment availability as supply chain issues continue to affect production of new trucks and replacement parts to repair broken down trucks. It's like a game of chess, he said, with all these moving parts ultimately affecting driver pay. With the market constantly moving, Hatchett said it’s important to consider not only the number your carrier is putting out there and how it balances between recruitment and retention but also how it’s presenting that number. According to a survey by Professional Driver Agency and Conversion Interactive Agency, owner of Fleet Intel, 55% of drivers want the pay rate in job postings to be presented as guaranteed weekly pay while 26% preferred per-mile. Hatchett said COVID resulted in a big shift from CPM to a guaranteed pay rate, though CPM remains prevalent and relevant. “Be careful because if you guaranteed a rate a few months ago, now rates are going down and utilization is going down, but you still have to meet that guaranteed pay rate somehow,” he said. “A lot of times, if rates go up, it’s harder to hire; if rates go down, it’s easier to hire.” And in the past few months, Hatchett said it has been a little easier to hire compared to the past few years. That means carriers can look at changing that pay rate guarantee and maybe get rid of some bonuses, as many carriers have recently been moving away from sign-on bonuses, although he said they can still be effective in recruiting. As opposed to sign-on bonuses, Hatchett said overall drivers are more concerned with base pay and the driver package as a whole. “The better the overall package," he said, "maybe you don’t have to pay as much.” https://ift.tt/7lVuUpi Trucking news and briefs for Wednesday, Aug. 31, 2022: Diesel prices surge back above $5/gal national averageFollowing nine consecutive weeks of decreases that saw diesel prices fall an average of 90 cents nationwide, the U.S.’ national average for a gallon of on-highway diesel jumped by 20.6 cents during the week ending Aug. 29, according to the Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration. Diesel’s national average is now back above $5 at $5.12 per gallon. The increase was seen across the country with all regions seeing a rise in prices, but the most dramatic increase was observed in the Midwest, which is home to BP’s Whiting, Indiana, refinery that has been shut down since Aug. 24 due to a fire. Prices increased by 28.2 cents in the Midwest – the largest increase across the country – followed by a 20.2-cent increase in the Gulf Coast region. The U.S.’ most expensive diesel can be found in California at $6.20 per gallon, followed by the West Coast less California at $5.30 per gallon. The cheapest fuel is in the Gulf Coast region at $4.82 per gallon, followed by the Rocky Mountain region at $4.97 per gallon. Prices in other regions, according to EIA, are:
ProMiles’ numbers during the same week saw fuel prices increase by 2 cents, bringing its national average to $5.01 per gallon. According to ProMiles’ Fuel Surcharge Index, the most expensive diesel can be found in California at $6.27 per gallon, and the cheapest can be found in the Gulf Coast region at $4.65 per gallon. Cummins, Buhler Industries ink hydrogen dealCummins Inc. and Buhler Industries, a tractor manufacturer under the Versatile brand, announced plans to integrate the Cummins 15-liter hydrogen engine in Versatile’s equipment. The two companies have been partners since 1967, when Versatile began using Cummins engines exclusively in all its four-wheel drive tractors. This engine is built on Cummins’ new fuel-agnostic platform, where below the head gasket each fuel type’s engine has largely similar components, and above the head gasket, each has different components for different fuel types. Wabash expands footprint with new dealer partnershipsWabash has announced it has added two dealers to its North American dealer network. Two of the largest dealers in the Northeast, Bergey’s Truck Centers and Allegiance Trucks, will be full line dealers of Wabash parts, services and equipment, including dry and refrigerated van trailers, dry and refrigerated truck bodies and platform trailers. “By further developing our dealer relationships, Wabash can build off of our brands to grow our footprint and further connect our products and services to improve the operations of our customers,” said Kevin Page, Wabash’s senior vice president, customer value creation. Based in Stamford, Conn., Allegiance Trucks is one of the fastest growing commercial truck dealers in the country with more than 41 locations in nine states. Allegiance Trucks offers new and used medium- to heavy-duty trucks, parts and services. Allegiance Trucks will be representing Wabash in Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island as well as parts of New York and New Jersey. Bergey's is a family-owned company operating 15 truck centers and eight truck parts locations across Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware and New Jersey, as well as a heavy-duty parts warehouse in Telford, Pennsylvania. In addition, Bergey’s also operates 10 automotive dealership locations, extending their commercial offerings to include automotive and light duty pick-up trucks and vans. Arrive Logistics expands into San AntonioDigital brokerage and 3PL Arrive Logistics announced earlier this month its expansion to San Antonio. The company's new office opened July 11 to an initial cohort of employees, with room to accommodate 350 employees in the Alamo City. The San Antonio office opening is a continuation of Arrive's strategic expansion goals, fueled by more than $300 million in funds raised in 2021. To support its growth and better serve its customers, carriers and employees, Arrive is on track to hire 2,200 employees for the 2022 and 2023 calendar years, nearly doubling its size, and plans to open an additional office in Tampa in the coming months. "While our business continues to grow at a rapid pace, our focus remains on hiring talented people and providing them with the learning and development tools needed to build a career at Arrive and in the logistics industry," said J-Ann Tio, Chief Strategy Officer. "Arrive is a people-first organization and it's imperative that our collaborative, energetic and driven culture is representative across all our locations.” Arrive's San Antonio location, a 27,000 square foot office space, features a modern open office layout and room for expansive training facilities, similar in design and functionality to the company's 120,000-plus square foot headquarters in Austin. The office space is designed to create a collaborative and productive work environment for employees. https://ift.tt/7lVuUpi For at least the time being, California’s AB 5 independent contractor classification law is in effect for the trucking industry after Judge Roger Benitez of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California lifted on Monday the trucking industry’s injunction that had been in place since January 2020. According to a law alert from transportation legal firm Scopelitis, Gavin, Light, Hanson and Feary, Benitez lifted the injunction, which had been reversed by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in April 2021. The case was eventually elevated to the U.S. Supreme Court, with the injunction remaining in place until the conclusion of the legal battle, and SCOTUS officially declined to hear the case earlier this summer. For now, AB 5 and its ABC test for determining independent contractor status is effective for the trucking industry. Any motor carrier now using leased owner-operators in the state risks being in violation of the law, unless the law's business-to-business exemption is appropriately satisfied. However, according to the Scopelitis brief, the California Trucking Association has “indicated that it intends to file a new motion for preliminary injunction under the [Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act of 1994] preemption standard set forth by the Ninth Circuit and on Dormant Commerce Clause grounds.” Greg Feary, president of Scopelitis, said CTA will now have to argue to the district court based on the 9th Circuit's own standard rather than the U.S. Supreme Court's standard for FAAAA preemption. "The 9th Circuit said that AB 5 is a generally applicable law and that because it affects the carrier’s relationship with its workforce and not with its customers, it does not freeze into place a particular price, route or service that a carrier would otherwise not provide," Feary said. "Therefore, it is not significantly related to rates, routes or services," thus not being preempted by FAAAA. "Now, CTA has to say, 'No, while dealing with [carriers'] workforce, it also impacts services and prices and, potentially, routes that would have to be provided to customers,'" Feary added. Scopelitis' alert also noted that the judge’s earlier ruling denying the Dormant Commerce Clause challenge, for which CTA sought reconsideration, was vacated, so CTA will be filing a new lawsuit on the same grounds -- that the ABC test negatively impacts interstate commerce and thus violates the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution. Another area Feary said CTA will likely use in its argument going forward is that the business-to-business exemption in AB 5 "would be difficult to apply to trucking for regulatory conflict reasons." The International Brotherhood of Teamsters argued in the case that the B2B exemption “permits motor carriers to contract with truly independent owner-operators without necessarily creating an employment relationship,” but the merits of that argument were not considered in court because the 9th Circuit said it did not need to address the issue in determining whether FAAAA preempts AB 5. The law's B2B exemption, however, is narrow in scope and requires businesses to meet 12 criteria to operate under the exemption. CTA has previously contended that one of the prerequisites -- that an owner-operator “advertises and holds itself out to the public as available to supply the same or similar services” it offers to carriers -- cannot be realistically met given exclusivity in lease arrangements, a point also addressed in previous reporting referenced in CTA's supplemental filing. Additionally, Scopelitis said the court will consider the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association's motion to intervene in the case. Feary said the judge was "notably concerned with the state's position that intervention was not appropriate at this stage in the case, despite the fact that the Teamsters had already intervened in the case." CTA's new motion is expected to be filed in the coming weeks, and briefs on the new motion for an injunction will take place this fall, Scopelitis said. [Related: Three California-headquartered small fleets take stock of AB 5 contractor law] https://ift.tt/7lVuUpi Technology news and briefs for the week of Aug. 28, 2022: Trailer Bridge now available on MasterMind platformFull-service logistics provider Trailer Bridge Inc. has partnered with Mastery Logistics Systems to consolidate its technologies and service offerings to the MasterMind TMS platform to increase visibility into customers’ freight movement and efficiency in its operations. Trailer Bridge pushed out the new software to its 12 logistics branches across the U.S. and is currently working with Mastery to further develop the platform for its ocean business, targeting a late 2023 launch. The new technology is part of the company's overall growth goals as it works to expand services to better serve today's shipper. Trailer Bridge recently expanded its logistics operations, opening additional offices in the Western U.S. and rapidly growing its team of logistics experts. It also added an international division solely focused on handling the movement of freight around the world as well as teams focused on intermodal movements and less-than-truckload freight. Swyft now available on EasyPostMulti-carrier shipping API provider EasyPost now offers scalable, last-mile delivery solutions from Swyft to shippers in major cities across the U.S. and Canada on its platform. Swyft offers customers next-day shipping, competitive pricing and easy integration with a 98% on-time delivery rate across its network of professional couriers. “Swyft provides shippers with a real solution to meet rising customer expectations, and we are thrilled to add them to our growing list of expert carriers,” said Richard Metzler, EasyPost vice president of carrier partnerships. “They will be a great asset to our customers who need reliable and affordable next-day delivery.” GroundCloud launches advanced CSP manager platformSaaS-based logistics software company GroundCloud has launched a more advanced version of its flagship CSP manager platform called GroundCloud Pro designed to help final-mile delivery contractors optimize and automate their operations to improve their bottom lines. The advanced version offers optimization analytics, payroll automation, detailed vehicle maintenance, asset tracking and additional new modules to help drive efficiency and profitability. Its RouteStats module provides dashboards for contractors to quickly understand the state of their business operations and identify areas of operating inefficiency and helps owners avoid over or under scheduling of assets and labor. It also helps delivery contractors simplify their payroll with automated timekeeping and payroll reports in which users can create custom payment structures for their teams that can be sent directly to their payroll processor, eliminating manual spreadsheets and payroll consultant fees. Payroll automation, enhanced vehicle and maintenance tracking, fleet-wide messaging, timekeeping and scheduling are all integrated in one portal, reducing time wasted hopping between apps and paying different vendors. GroundCloud’s goal is to make users a profit of $5 for each dollar spent on GroundCloud Pro. The company is offering a free trial to new and current users through 2023. Platform Science adds new financial executivesPlatform Science, a connected vehicle platform that makes it easier for fleets to develop, deploy, and manage mobile devices and applications, has made multiple additions to its executive management team. Greg Ivancich has joined the company as chief financial officer and Gerald Choung as chief revenue officer. These additions are part of the company’s growth strategy as it onboards more fleet customers across the country. Ivancich came to Platform Science from private investment firm Saban Capital Group, where he served as CFO, and Choung was previously chief revenue officer of ActiveState, a SaaS company that provides secure open-source language solutions for enterprise customers. These appointments follow the recent additions of Chas Wurster as chief technology officer, overseeing all aspects of product development, engineering and IT, and Heather Ramírez as chief people officer, responsible for leading the people operations, recruiting and office management teams. https://ift.tt/598pdvi Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022: Kentucky emergency HOS waiver extended through SeptemberAs a result of ongoing emergency conditions in Kentucky due to torrential rain causing severe flooding, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has extended an emergency declaration suspending certain hours of service regulations for relief haulers through the end of September. Motor carriers and drivers providing direct assistance to the severe weather and flooding emergency in Kentucky are exempt from 49 Code of Federal Regulations 395.3, or maximum driving time limits. Direct assistance does not include routine commercial deliveries, including mixed loads with a nominal quantity of qualifying emergency relief added to obtain the benefits of the emergency declaration, FMCSA noted. The declaration is effective through Sept. 30, or until the emergency ends, whichever is sooner. Saia opens new Illinois terminalSaia Inc. (CCJ Top 250, No. 20) announced Monday that Saia LTL Freight has opened a new terminal in Franklin Park, Illinois. The terminal will be the carrier’s fifth location in the Chicagoland area and the third facility it has opened in the state just this year. “As the demand for shipping in Chicago, a major freight market for us, continues to grow, we’ll be able to support it,” said Saia Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer Ray Ramu. “We are focused on expanding our presence in the area by multiplying our operations through increased doors, manpower, and equipment - all to better serve our customers.” The new terminal is the largest facility Saia has opened to date this year. With 100 employees, substantial investments were made to modernize the terminal, which will support the local economy through jobs and by providing transportation services to hundreds of shippers operating throughout the customer-dense region. Beyond this opening, there are additional terminals slated to open across the Midwest through the year end, Saia noted. ITS Logistics announces new veterans programITS Logistics announced its Veterans Trucking Program, established to reward veterans for their service by counting the years of their military career towards their starting pay as a driver. For veterans with a CDL, 100% of a veteran’s time in the military (up to 20 years) will count towards their overall driving tenure and commensurate pay level. More than 13% of the ITS truck driving workforce are military veterans who are being paid for their experience, the company said. “Veterans are part of the culture at ITS Logistics for countless great reasons, including their logistics and operational experience in moving equipment and materials across military bases, unfamiliar foreign locales, and even active war zones,” said Ryan Martin, President of Asset Operations. “These veterans have situational awareness, mental endurance, self-discipline and are extremely dependable drivers. It’s an honor for us to provide this incentive to use their military skills to serve ITS customers.” On Sept. 2, the ITS Logistics Veterans’ Trucking Program will be highlighted at the Wreaths Across America Mobile Education Exhibit, where the new “Thank You Veterans” wrapped truck and trailer will be unveiled. The Wreaths Across America Exhibit will be on display outside Greater Nevada Field, where there will also be post-game fireworks sponsored by ITS Logistics. https://ift.tt/598pdvi Til Friday Trucking, led by Michelle Hefner out of Maiden, North Carolina, puts all its chips on a simple bet, an honest day's work for an honest day's pay. The Small Fleet Champ semi-finalist operates five trucks with four drivers, only runs local, has operators home every night and weekend, and guarantees minimum daily pay to every driver who shows up ready to work, whether they run or not. Perhaps the secret to Hefner's success lies right there in the name. "People remember the name," said Hefner. "We don’t get paid til Friday, and we own our own company, so we're only gonna work til Friday." In a trucking industry that so often demands work-life balance be sacrificed at the altar of productivity opportunity, Hefner and Til Friday hold the line against weekend work, driver detention, repair bills, and virtually every other irritant in the business with a well-thought-out model that's seen the fleet grow from two to five trucks in the last four years. Hefner pays her two company drivers and two owner-operators on percentage, and prides herself on providing transparency with her rates. "These guys come from always feeling like they're getting hoodwinked," she said. "There's no law that says they’re allowed to see what the actual rates are, so I’m up front, and if they ever have questions I'm happy to sit down and show it to them." Til Friday mostly runs packing materials, with a big contract from a manufacturer of paper products for companies like Chick-Fil-A and Instameal, but Hefner also works the load boards for spot freight to keep her drivers busy between contract loads. If ever she has no work for a driver, that driver gets $100 for the day, no questions asked. "If I can’t find you anything to do, if there's no freight for you to run tomorrow but you’re willing and available to run it and it's my fault you’re not running, you're still going to make $100," she said. While Til Friday mostly works with one large client with that contract, another customer, ICC Boxes, also feeds Hefner and company freight in a standing agreement to haul a "kind of shuttle run" load five days a week, she said. Sometimes, ICC needs another load sent, and Hefner finds the capacity to get it done. Hefner's biggest client echoed ICC's appreciation for the company. "I enjoy working with Til Friday," said Tawana Thomas, the plant manager at Commercial Plastics Recycling. "They all are like family and the service is excellent. If I plan a week in advance or need a last-minute trip or drop, Michelle and her crew make it happen. It’s nice to not worry about things. There are a million things going on, and I don’t need another problem." Hefner also prides herself on having cultivated relationships with brokers for spot freight and some other shippers as well, all who know her work and prefer her, which has helped to drive profitability. "A lot of people can’t stand brokers, but find the right ones, treat them right, keep them updated on shipments, and they'll love you and call you every single time," she said.
Further, Hefner places a high priority on making sure her operators have a chance for predictable shifts. "These guys wanna be home, they have families," Hefner said. "I deliver on that promise. We don’t work on the weekend unless something spectacular happens," and even in those cases, operators get advance notice and have some flexibility there. The name of the game at the carrier is, and always has been, Til Friday. Hefner prides herself on that. While the name and philosophy might make for good recruiting material, Hefner said she's truly not in the business of recruiting drivers, and that all of her operators have thus far been people she knows personally. Her husband, a high school friend, and a few others, all of whom got in on referrals, make up her small fleet. Further down the family line, Hefner's son owns a diesel repair shop, A & S Truck Repair in nearby Lincolnton, where all her trucks, company and otherwise, get top priority. "We work on our own equipment," she said, but the son's shop handles a good deal of the work, too. "We split the shop with him, and even with the owner-ops, we drop everything to help them with their equipment when something happens. We know as truck owners, with one major breakdown, you can lose everything." That's where the fleet's five trucks for four drivers comes in handy. "We have a spare truck not just for us, but if our owner-operator's truck is down he can still keep making money." Jeremy Godwin, owner of H&R Transport, a small fleet peer in that area who hauls dry van and bulk tanker commodities, called Til Friday a "sister company," and said the Hefners have been helpful toward his venture every step of the way. "They’re good to do business with, we run loads for them and they help me out with loads sometimes," said Godwin. "You couldn’t ask for a better couple." H&R uses the Hefners' diesel repair shop as well, and Godwin seconded the claims about Til Friday's work environment. "They have a tendency to get drivers and keep drivers," he said. "They run two or three trips a day and can be done by two or three o'clock and make their money." Another selling point for operators is the hassle-free nature of the more-local hauling they do, where Hefner said they don't have a need to use logging devices, but timesheets. Hefner's playful naming scheme extends to the trucks, with a '97 Mack she calls "Clifford the Big Red Dog" and two Freightliners called "Snoopy" and "Underdog." Hefner credits her success thus far to taking things slow and easy and only betting on people she knows well among drivers, customers and even fellow fleets. "We have a relationship with a bigger fleet up the road which we've actually got a dedicated run for them -- every day a short 20 miles," she said. From the neighboring, larger fleet, too, "we've been really fortunate" with regard to the soaring prices for used equipment by picking up some trailers and even a truck, "Underdog," she said. In an industry so often obsessed with growth at any cost, Hefner has a good handle on maintaining and building the relationships that have treated her well, also with a tireless dedication to maintaining her standards. As far as future growth goes for the business, "we weren’t really looking to grow" in past and "we’re not going to grow fast" in future, she said. In fact, her recent-years growth came after owner-operator friends came to admire her operation and were "begging" to lease on. Overall, she said, she's extremely slow to hire as she hopes to maintain quality across the board by going on "gut" instinct about new trucks and drivers. "We’re really particular about who we’ll let work for us, who we’ll let represent Til Friday," she said. "Our drivers are the face. ... If they’re late or lay out or don’t secure their load, it looks bad on us." She looks forward to celebrating her 30th wedding anniversary with her husband, one of the company drivers, this year, but until then, catch her with her nose to the grindstone booking loads, but only til Friday comes. https://ift.tt/598pdvi Three female fleet leaders and three female company drivers were appointed Monday to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Women of Trucking Advisory Board (WOTAB). The 16-member, all-female group will coordinate with trucking companies, nonprofit organizations, and trucking associations to support women in trucking. The Board will provide recommendations to the FMCSA Administrator and the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, as well as tackle many issues, including evaluating barriers and trends that impact women in trucking across the country and ways to support women pursuing careers in trucking; identifying opportunities to expand roles for women and increase the number of women in the trucking industry; advising on policies that provide education, training, mentorship, or outreach to women in the trucking industry; and reviewing opportunities to enhance safety, training, mentorship, and education for women in the trucking industry. Fleet leadership joining the board include Laura Duryea, Boyle Transportation's manager of recruiting, retention, and driver development; Soledad Munoz Smith, vice president of operations at Munoz Trucking, a minority family-owned 133-truck business in El Paso, Texas; and Amazon's Director of Transportation Marie Druckenmiller. Company drivers include Emily Plummer from Prime Inc., where she also serves as a driver trainer; Kellylynn McLaughlin, of Schneider National, where she too is driver trainer; and J.B. Hunt Intermodal Driver and mentor Marquita Jones. [Related: Female employment in transportation on the rise] "America needs truck drivers like never before, yet women – half the American people – have long been underestimated and underrepresented behind the wheel and in jobs across this sector," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. "Getting to know women in trucking, I have heard about their passion for the job as well as the challenges they face, and this experienced Women in Trucking Advisory Board will help us address these issues directly." Members represent 11 states and a mix of small, medium, and large trucking companies, independent owner-operators, non-profit organizations, trucking associations and higher education institutions. Collectively, WOTAB members have more than 80 years of driving experience with trucks, motorcoaches, and ports and more than 275 years in trucking and other modes of transportation. WOTAB’s launch was mandated by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and is part of the Biden-Harris Trucking Action Plan that is focused on improving job quality and recruiting more people into the truck driving profession. Recruiting and supporting women in transportation is a key priority for the Biden-Harris Administration. “Women are significantly underrepresented in the trucking industry, holding only 24% of all transportation jobs,” said FMCSA Deputy Administrator Robin Hutcheson. “We anticipate many great ideas from the advisory board that will help expand equity and safely provide access to careers in trucking for women across the industry.” https://ift.tt/598pdvi This year I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve heard the term “fake it ‘til you make it” applied to new technology efforts in interviews and in the news. If you haven’t heard the term before, apparently it originated from California’s Silicon Valley business start-up culture where there is a tremendous need to win capital investment long before the company vision is achieved. While the need to win investment dollars occurs everywhere, the term originated there. This business environment – one that stresses an overwhelming need to win over investors while in parallel developing a new product – is also not new. I recall living through the dot-com bubble and sitting through endless marketing pitches where any challenge was countered with the promise that it would be easily solved in the next revision of the software. I’m sure even Edison and Ford had a few moments where they had to press the vision to secure some funding before the product had fully materialized. Sometimes the vision is never achieved before investors sour. Sometimes companies run afoul of regulations and laws. Sometimes the engineering miracles don’t happen as expected. Other times, the vision is achieved and home runs are made. The process of predicting which projects will ultimately succeed and which will fail is at its heart gambling. The last few years have demonstrated how little control companies have over their own fate. So, we go to marketing events, truck shows, private showings, etc. The media get invited to ride-and-drives and special company demonstrations. Much is written about great new ideas, planned launch dates and especially how much customer market share they will capture. Over time, we mostly tend to forget the promises and just monitor visible progress toward the vision. No one really goes back to compare the promises to the realities – with perhaps one notable exception. Elon Musk’s statements in 2017 at the reveal of the Tesla Semi truck promised production in 2019. That keeps surfacing in the media. We seem hyper focused on anything about Tesla and anything Musk says. A few years ago, I was involved in a national math competition for high schoolers. NACFE helped prepare the background for the competition and provided information for the teams. I was amazed reading the submissions by how much influence Elon Musk and Tesla had on the young competitors. It was like anything he said was immediately given credibility and no other sources of fact were needed. I virtually attended that 2017 Tesla Semi reveal and NACFE’s executive director, Mike Roeth, was there in person. We authored a short analysis of the vision, the claims and the promises. Now, almost five years after that 2017 reveal, the trucking industry still is riding on every comment from Tesla executives and Musk. In the meantime, traditional OEMs like Daimler, Volvo, Paccar, Navistar and new start-ups like Nikola have put trucks into production and have them running with fleets. Visionaries are not new to trucking. My first exposure to an industry “truck show” was in the early 1980’s — the International Truck Show held in California. Many things have changed in trucking since then, but a constant at nearly every truck show is what’s called the “show truck” or “concept truck.” These tend to be show pieces for truck manufacturers asking “what if we did this?” The trucks are sometimes nearly ready to go into production. Other times they are never intended to go into production, rather are just test beds for soliciting feedback and sometimes, I think, just to scare the competition into reacting and spending their own research and development money. These concept trucks need to show well, so almost no expense is spared to make sure they will impress viewers. Teams work long hours right up to the last minute, sometimes finishing work at the show itself. Sometimes you get to see under the hood, in the cab and in the sleeper. Other times you don’t even get to open a door or hood. When viewing is restricted, it often is because something didn’t get done to management’s satisfaction. I learned over the years that the right application of a motivated team and enough money can make miracles happen in the last weeks before an event. The concept trucks that are on track to actually be produced always come with public statements estimating a production launch date. Depending on how mature the testing has been, those announcements can be precise like “May 1 this year,” or vaguer such as “next year.” Sometimes these dates are accurate, but other times they are more like guidelines. A lot can happen between when a show truck first gets presented to the public and when the truck gets into production. Distinguishing between the hype and the promise is tough. In the end, the technology either works in the field or it doesn’t. The ones that don’t disappear quickly. Reality is a hard but effective proving ground for visions and promises. Optimism always will be a part of promoting technology by those with a vested interest in the technologies. When optimism crosses the line into charlatanism, hopefully the regulators, media and public catch it through the legal system and the court of public opinion. But there can be a fine line separating the two and it can be very hard to spot. I have been an invited lecturer at senior engineering project classes. One of my consistent messages is that engineering is inescapably tied to marketing. You have to sell the project, the team and yourself constantly to help bring the vision into reality. Making something out of nothing is not easy. I am thrilled there are so many start-up vehicle and system manufacturers now entering the trucking space. I have always felt good competition makes you and your team better. I am impressed at how the traditional OEMs have pivoted to address the new technologies and compete with the start-ups. I’m impressed that some of the start-ups are starting to put production level trucks in customers’ hands. The future is what we make of it. Earlier this year, I presented a graphic from CALSTART from last December talking about how many zero emission Class 2B-8 trucks there were in the U.S. There were 1,215. But that is so yesterday. Nikola alone is producing 50 trucks a quarter. Daimler, Volvo, Paccar, Navistar and a raft of start-ups are starting to deliver real numbers. The American Transportation Research Institute recently published their annual Operational Cost of Trucking 2022 report and in it they found that 3.9% of the fleets they interviewed had battery electric trucks. Wow. If I can mis-quote Winston Churchill, "This is perhaps the end of the beginning for zero-emissions vehicles." https://ift.tt/4sBVc57 |
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April 2023
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