As the transportation industry barrels toward 2024, carriers are at a critical juncture. Inflation is still high, continuing to drive up costs. Recession worries continue to consume financial experts’ discussions. Savvy financial strategies for 2024 could mean the difference between growth and stagnation. Here's an in-depth look at five strategies to help transportation businesses stay ahead of the curve. Tackling debt: The strategic advantage of loan buyoutsBad loans can be a significant roadblock for carriers looking to expand or streamline their operations. Merchant cash advance loans appeal to companies as a quick fix to get out of bad loans, but then the company realizes that the rates and fees associated with those loans are costing them more than they expected and often put them in a worse position. Loan buyouts can offer an escape from unfavorable terms and create an opportunity to reset your financial trajectory. This strategy is akin to refinancing but focuses on tailoring the terms to better suit your current and future financial landscape. In addition to high interest rates, companies considering a buyout should evaluate their loans for other issues, such as poor customer service or excessive fees. A forward-thinking financial advisor can facilitate a buyout, ensuring your new loan aligns with your business objectives and market conditions. Bank relationships: The risk of restructuringThe 2023 economic turbulence may cause banks to reevaluate their client relationships in 2024, particularly for smaller carriers. Larger banking institutions may reconsider their client portfolios, leading to quality businesses being dropped in favor of larger or more secure accounts. This re-evaluation can leave carriers without crucial lines of credit or working capital loans. In such a scenario, having a knowledgeable financial advisor is indispensable. In addition, communication with the right individuals at the bank to keep the bank informed of business operations can help save the bank relationship and help avoid the risk of restructuring. Strong financial partners can guide you through alternative financing options, ensuring that your operations don't grind to a halt due to a sudden withdrawal of bank support. Economic downturn: Proactive financial restructuringWith talk of a potential—even mild—recession in 2024, the need for proactive financial restructuring becomes more urgent. Determining where your company can clean up its finances involves strategic collaboration between your financial advisor, CFO and accounting team. Together, they can assess and reorganize your financials to mitigate risks associated with an economic downturn. Restructuring could involve revising budget allocations, cutting non-essential expenditures and identifying new revenue streams. The goal is to create a robust financial structure that can endure market volatility and preserve liquidity. Maintaining cash flow: The delicate balance of lendingIn this climate, some carriers may fear a lack of cash flow moving into 2024 but are hesitant to take out any new loans. However, preparing for troubling times is an excellent opportunity to review potential new loans with a financial advisor. If the financial advisor has a customer-centric approach, their advice about financing can make a significant impact. A lending company should be willing to work with you through prosperous times and downturns. Factoring: A vital cash flow catalystCash flow is the lifeblood of the transportation industry, and factoring offers a quick transfusion. It's a powerful tool that converts your unpaid invoices into immediate capital. Factoring is especially important for smaller carriers that operate on tight margins and can’t wait for the next payment cycle to fund their needs. Involving a financial expert can help unlock the full potential of factoring. Have your advisor analyze your invoices and financial business model to optimize the use of factoring services. By fully utilizing factoring, you can ensure that there's always cash on hand for fuel, maintenance and other critical expenses to keep your fleet moving. As we navigate the uncertain economic waters leading up to 2024, transportation businesses must employ various financial tactics to ensure resilience. From leveraging factoring for immediate cash flow to restructuring finances in anticipation of a recession, the industry must be proactive. With the right financial partners and strategies, carriers can position themselves to survive the challenges ahead and emerge stronger and more competitive than ever. https://ift.tt/pBlc8mJ
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As of mid-last year, 867 zero-emission heavy trucks have been deployed across the U.S., according to CALSTART's third update to its comprehensive market report, Zeroing in on Zero-Emission Trucks (ZET), which focuses on the steadily increasing adoption of zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty trucks throughout the country. The noteworthy increase in ZET adoption since the previous version of this report in May 2023 is due in part to the increased availability of models from all OEMs. According to CALSTART, there are now more than 160 ZET models available in the U.S. from more than 40 OEMs. [Related: California backs off drayage diesel ban – for now] The zero-emission medium-duty truck market has the most options with 73 models available, followed by heavy-duty trucks with 32 and cargo vans with 23 models. The cargo van segment, however, represents more than 80% of all ZET deployments. "My biggest takeaway from the latest update is just how quickly this market is growing," Jessie Lund, CALSTART’s deputy director of truck technology told Clean Trucking. "Especially considering the data only covers the first half of 2023, it's encouraging to see the 'hockey stick' exponential growth. Deployments have increased by an order of magnitude since the first iteration of this report (January 2022) – and all that in spite of a global pandemic, supply chain challenges and economic volatility. This tells me that the market, while still relatively small compared to the overall truck market, has some serious momentum." Approximately 14,400 ZE cargo vans have been deployed in the U.S., 11,835 of which were deployed in the first half of 2023 — a 461% increase in deployments from CALSTART"s previous report. Following cargo vans with regard to total ZET deployments are yard tractors (1,134), HD trucks (867), medium-duty step vans (843), medium-duty trucks (442) and refuse trucks (48). [Related: Analysis: California not ready for its own EV mandates] Heavy-duty trucks were the only other segment to see its first-half 2023 deployment numbers more than double from the previous report, boasting a 250% increase. These trucks have primarily been deployed in urban/regional or drayage duty cycles, and California continues to lead in heavy ZET deployments due to ambitious targets, initiatives and incentives that support reducing emissions from the heavy vehicle segment. California, however, with approximately 3,075 ZETs deployed to date, accounts for less than one-fifth of total U.S. ZET deployments. The fact that ZETs have already been deployed in every state, while surprising Lund said, speaks to a strong market for battery-electric trucks. "I don't want to call out any particular states, but I definitely didn't expect to see ZETs operating in all these states – especially not at the volumes that they are," she said. "It's telling that even states with no ZET mandates or incentives have seen ZETs put on the road within their borders. I think this speaks to the fact that fleets can see the writing on the wall. They know that ZETs are the future, and they see a path to more business, or at least maintaining business, because their customers are increasingly demanding their goods be hauled by ZETs." Regulations and incentives continue to be primary drivers of ZET adoption. States that had adopted the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) regulation as of June 2023 account for 38% of all ZET deployments, despite making up just 25% of all truck registrations. CALSTART expects the trend of ZET deployments to continue to rise on the heels of more state and federal regulatory pressure and the availability of incentives and grants. In researching the trends driving ZET growth, Lund said CALSTART was pleasantly surprised to see the sheer scale of investment going into charging infrastructure, specifically for trucks. "Based on conversations with CALSTART members, we had a general sense going into this update that the industry had made a lot of headway here, but again, it's encouraging to see the number of new projects coming online to support this transition – especially around shared and public charging, which is vital to ensuring the transition is equitable and doesn't leave behind smaller fleets," she said. Lund said she was also pleased with the number of state and utility incentive programs available to support ZET deployments. While certain states like California and New York tend to get a lot of call-outs for their incentive programs in the press and at industry events, "there are a significant number of lesser-known, many of them newer, funding pots that fleets can draw on," Lund said. https://ift.tt/pBlc8mJ More than 5,600 fatalities involving heavy trucks occurred in 2021 with 52% of large truck occupant deaths occurring in crashes in which their vehicles rolled over, according to data from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. A 2020 NHTSA study also found that 28% of fatal crashes were speeding-related. Drivewyze, which provides safety technology solutions for fleets, offers safety alerts via ELD, telematics devices, tablets and smartphones that have been proven to mitigate rollover- and speed-related accidents, among others. Drivewyze previously provided these alerts as part of a bundle with its paid services, but the company has wanted to offer it at no cost as a standalone service to any and every commercial driver “to try and do our part to improve highway safety,” said Drivewyze CEO Brian Heath. The company recently rolled out Drivewyze Free – the standalone free version that provides alerts and advisories based on data derived from Drivewyze and its partners, which include state departments of transportation, over 125 telematics providers and industry partners one.network, HAAS and INRIX. Martin Murtland, Drivewyze vice president of product, said these alerts have shown to have a positive impact on driver behavior. When a driver receives a sudden slowdown alert, he said Drivewyze data shows that 70% of drivers slow down an average of 11 miles per hour, and there has been a 10% to 16% reduction in hard braking events as a result. Others provided are the low bridge alert, which Murtland said has eliminated bridge strikes for Drivewyze users, and the high rollover alert. The data shows that Drivewyze high rollover alerts have resulted in reduced speed by an average of 7.3 miles per hour for those going more than 5 miles per hour over the posted speed limit. “I remember I was at a conference sitting beside a law enforcement officer from Omaha who said there’s this really bad corner that, every time there's rain or the wind picks up, there's inevitably a roll over crash at that area, but never once has there been (one involving) a Drivewyze truck,” Murtland said. “So really what we want is every truck to have that zero incident on a rollover event.” Heath said the company strives to have Drivewyze Free widely adopted by drivers and fleets of all sizes, adding that he knows it can reach millions. “Our mission is zero crashes, zero fatalities,” he said. “We want to reach every truck driver and every fleet out there … so that folks can get access to these essential alerts and advisories, and then we can move the needle on highway safety.” These alerts and advisories come from two pools of information: Drivewyze sponsored data and state agency sponsored data. Drivewyze sponsored data includes heads-up warnings for high-rollover risk areas, low bridges, mountain alerts (steep grade ahead; chain-up/brake check stations; and runaway ramps) and rest area information that includes truck parking availability. State agencies that participate in the Drivewyze Smart Roadways program sponsor exclusive alerts along specific traffic corridors. Participating DOTs include New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Georgia, Delaware, Connecticut, Ohio, Texas, Arkansas and Virginia. In addition, the Pennsylvania Turnpike, Colorado State Police and Wyoming Highway Patrol are participating. Additional transportation agencies will be added in the future. Depending on the agency, alerts can include sudden slowdown, in which drivers receive real-time alerts when approaching areas with stationary traffic; unexpected slowdown, in which drivers receive real-time alerts when approaching areas with heavier than expected traffic; active work zones and lane closures; service vehicles; virtual signs, in which state DOTs can create messaging for truck drivers on upcoming road closures, detours, reminders to wear seatbelts, etc.; and emergency alerts. “The important thing is we can impact driver behavior. If you can give a driver heads up to an upcoming potentially risky area, then that driver has time to react to prepare,” Heath said. “There's a high correlation between hard braking events and crashes, so if you can give the driver time to react, then then there's going to be a reduction in speed, there's going to be a reduction in hard braking events and that corollary impact on a reduced crash rate.” Drivewyze Free also includes access to the Drivewyze Hub, a dashboard for fleet managers to gather visibility on the effectiveness of the alerts that are being provided to their drivers, as well as insights and on-demand reports regarding other parts of their operations. Heath said additional features and alerts will be added on a regular basis. Drivers and fleets can enroll for the free service on the Drivewyze website. https://ift.tt/pBlc8mJ Trucking news and briefs for Wednesday, Jan. 10, 2024: TCA names Fleet Safety Awards division winnersThe Truckload Carriers Association, along with presenting sponsor Great West Casualty Company and supporting sponsor Assured Partners, announced this week the 18 division winners in the 48th annual TCA Fleet Safety Awards competition. These yearly awards recognize truckload carriers that exhibit an exceptional dedication to safety by achieving the lowest accident frequency ratios per million miles within six mileage-based divisions. “The submissions for this year’s Fleet Safety Awards were quite impressive, and we are proud of our members who invest in safety technology and training to enhance safety on our nation’s roads” said TCA President Jim Ward. “I look forward to sharing the success of these 18 carriers in March at TCA’s Annual Convention. The 18 division winners are now invited to compete for one of two grand prizes – one for carriers with a total annual mileage of less than 25 million miles, and one for carriers with more than 25 million annual miles. Grand prize winners will be announced at Truckload 2024 in Nashville, set for March 23-26 at the Gaylord Opryland. All winners will also receive recognition at TCA’s 2024 Safety & Security Meeting on June 2-5 in Indianapolis. The 2023 TCA Fleet Safety Award division winners are: Division I winners (less than 5 million miles) Division II winners (5-14.99 million miles)
Division III winners (15-24.99 million miles)
Division IV winners (25-49.99 million miles)
Division V winners (50-99.99 million miles)
Division VI winners (100 million or more miles) Cummins investing $580M in North Carolina engine plantCummins Inc. this week announced a $580 million project at its Rocky Mount, North Carolina, engine plant to drive economic and job growth in the Nash County community. Cummins has received approval for tax incentives to help move the project forward and the incentives received from the Nash County Commissioners office will support the continued investment within the area, the company said. The investment is set to generate approximately 80 additional new jobs, fostering both short-term employment opportunities and long-term job stability. As Cummins continues towards its Destination Zero Strategy and its plan to achieve zero emissions across its products, the investment will involve installing new equipment for the future of manufacturing and upgrading the assembly line for next generation products. “We are excited to be driving continued growth within Nash County and creating jobs that rely on high caliber technology for the future,” said Steve Pinkston, Cummins’ Rocky Mount Engine Plant Manager. “Cummins is focused on Destination Zero and getting there as quickly as possible. We need engagement from federal, state, and local governments like Nash County to achieve our goals and we are grateful for their support. When we receive engagement from local partners like this, it helps us move faster toward a more sustainable future.” With a rich history of production for more than 40 years and producing over 5 million engines at RMEP, this milestone investment reaffirms Cummins' dedication to the region's economic vitality and sustaining its impactful presence for the foreseeable future, the company said. Currently, there are 2,000 employees contributing to the success and growth of Cummins at the RMEP facility. Atlantic Logistics names new LTL managerAtlantic Logistics has named Hollie Green its Manager of LTL Services. She will oversee the third-party logistics (3PL) company’s LTL shipping services for customers and carriers. Green will also be responsible for the growth and development of the newly expanded business division, planning and managing support staff, daily operations, and customer relations. Her expertise includes more than 22 years of LTL and transportation industry knowledge as an account executive and manager. “I'm excited to begin this new chapter of my career with Atlantic Logistics,” said Green. “Rob Hooper Jr., CEO, and the team here have really grown the business over the last few years, and I'm thrilled to help that trend continue.” Metro Supply Chain acquires Canadian 3PL SCIMetro Supply Chain, a strategic supply chain solutions partner to some of the world's fastest growing and most reputable organizations, has entered into an agreement to acquire SCI Group, a leading Canadian third-party logistics company, from Canada Post Corporation and Purolator Holdings Ltd. This transaction is expected to close in the first quarter of 2024, subject to customary closing conditions, including the receipt of regulatory approvals. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. "We are thrilled about the prospect of acquiring SCI," said Chiko Nanji, Metro Supply Chain founder and group chairman. "There is an excellent strategic fit between SCI and our existing operations and culture, and we are excited about the future as a combined entity. This acquisition will strengthen our position as a true champion in strategic contract logistics services." The combined entity, with deep Canadian roots and a shared focus on customers, will be ideally positioned to compete in the global supply chain sector. Headquartered in Québec, with significant regional support offices in the Greater Toronto Area and operations across Canada, the United States and United Kingdom, the combined entity will create a diversified supply chain solutions provider. Chris Galindo, President and CEO of SCI, will remain with the combined entity, ensuring the continuity of SCI's commitment to excellence. https://ift.tt/VOMKZHz The Department of Labor on Wednesday, Jan. 10, will finalize a rule that rolls back a Trump-era rule offering guidance on determining employee or independent contractor classification under the Fair Labor Standards Act. Early reactions from trucking associations and labor groups generally split when it comes to favor or furor over the change. The rollback has been in the works since the Biden Administration took office in 2021. The Trump Administration’s DOL, as one of its final acts in January 2021, published a rule that included a test to determine if a worker was independent or an employee that relied on five factors, but put greater emphasis on two “core factors” -- the nature and degree of the worker’s control over the work and the worker’s opportunity for profit or loss. Other “non-core factors” included the amount of skill required for the work; the degree of permanence of the working relationship between the worker and the potential employer; and whether the work is part of an integrated unit of production. The effective date of the rule was March 8, 2021, but on March 4 of that year, the Biden DOL delayed the effective date, then on May 6 withdrew the rule completely. A lawsuit challenging the department’s delay and withdrawal, however, led the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas to issue a decision vacating the delay and withdrawal, allowing the Trump-era rule to take effect. Backtracking, the DOL in October of 2022 issued a notice of proposed rulemaking to rescind and replace the 2021 rule. The department said it “believed that the 2021 IC Rule did not fully comport with the FLSA’s text and purpose as interpreted by courts and departed from decades of case law applying the economic reality test.” The final rule publishing Wednesday will take effect 60 days after its publication in the Federal Register, on March 10. [Related: Biden DOL a step closer to rolling back Trump-era worker classification rule] Instead of using the “core factors” that were part of the 2021 IC rule, the new rule returns to a “totality-of-the-circumstances analysis” that considers the worker’s “economic reality” through six factors weighted equally, DOL said. “The department believes this rule is more grounded in the ultimate inquiry of whether a worker is in business for themself or is economically dependent on the employer for work. Workers, employers and independent businesses should benefit from affirmative regulatory guidance from the department further developing the concept of economic dependence.” The department said in its final rule that, as a general matter, most employees, labor unions and worker advocacy groups expressed support for the proposal to rescind the Trump-era rule. By contrast, commenters who identified as independent contractors and business entities were generally opposed to the proposal, “criticizing the department’s proposed economic reality test as ambiguous and biased against independent contracting.” The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association's own comments filed to the 2022 proposal noted it was "difficult to determine the full implications” of the proposal and what it would mean for truck drivers and owner-operators. At the same time, the association said, “we support the department’s stated approach that seeks to examine all aspects of a working relationship and makes clear that no one factor is dispositive. We also support the department’s stated intent to follow decades-long practices for classification under the FLSA,” which has allowed owner-operators to work as independent contractors. In new comments issued Tuesday, OOIDA President Todd Spencer said "truckers are tired of the endless parade of classification rules that do not listen to their concerns." The "constantly changing landscape," he added, "has created uncertainty that makes it more difficult for them to operate their businesses. We are still reviewing all the details in the final rule, and it is too soon to know what the exact effect of this final rule would be." Spencer did, however, continue to lean toward the group's original position that it has "concerns that some details contained in the rule may disregard specifics of the trucking industry and could lead to the reclassification of independent contractors as employees. With that said, we support the department’s stated intent to follow decades-long practices for classification under the Fair Labor Standards Act, as well as its rejection of the ABC Test as signed into law in California with AB5." Spencer concluded that any rule related to classification "must allow for owner-operator relationships to be examined on a case-by-case basis. This approach has historically allowed owner-operators to work as independent contractors and generally protected workers from misclassification. As we continue to review the final rule and engage with the department and Congress about this rulemaking, we will fight to protect the rights of small-business truckers, owner-operators and all of America’s hard-working truckers.” The American Trucking Associations sharply criticized the DOL over the final rule. “I can think of nothing more un-American than for the government to extinguish the freedom of individuals to choose work arrangements that suit their needs and fulfill their ambitions,” said ATA President and CEO Chris Spear. “More than 350,000 truckers choose to work as independent contractors because of the economic opportunity it creates and the flexibility it provides, enabling them to run their own business and choose their own hours and routes.” Spear noted trucking “has used independent contractors since the inception of interstate trucking. … It's unfortunate that the Administration has chosen to replace a clear and straightforward standard with a tangled mess that weakens our supply chain and undermines the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of truckers across the country.” Dave Heller, vice president of safety and government affairs with the Truckload Carriers Association, said the "truckload industry has and will continue to support the IC model which has proven itself to be critical to the standard mode of freight delivery this nation uses to support its economy." He added that "jeopardizing the freedoms of those businesspeople that have chosen to become entrepreneurs stand[s] against the American dream that this country was founded upon and endangers a business model that continues to thrive for a nation that needs them." Heller concluded that "TCA will continue to work with all stakeholders to defeat this anti-industry rule." DOL has maintained throughout the rulemaking process that it does not believe the new rule will “result in widespread reclassification of workers,” noting that for workers who are properly classified as independent contractors, the department “does not, for the most part, anticipate that the guidance provided in this rule will result in these workers being reclassified as employees.” [Related: AB 5's latest: Why interstate trucking should be exempt] The six economic reality factors the rule will enshrine in regulation for independent contractor/employee determinations are as follows: Opportunity for profit or loss depending on managerial skill. Does the worker hold true opportunity for profit or loss based on managerial skill (including initiative or business acumen or judgment)? Does that opportunity affect the worker's economic success or failure in performing the work? If a worker has no opportunity for a profit or loss, then this factor suggests the worker is an employee. Investments by the worker and the potential employer. This factor considers whether any investments by a worker are capital or entrepreneurial in nature. Costs to a worker of tools and equipment to perform a specific job, costs of workers’ labor, and costs that the potential employer imposes unilaterally on the worker, for example, are not evidence of capital or entrepreneurial investment and indicate employee status. Investments that are capital or entrepreneurial in nature, rather, and thus indicate independent contractor status generally support an independent business and serve a business-like function, such as increasing the worker's ability to do different types of or more work, reducing costs, or extending market reach. DOL said the focus of this factor should be comparing the investments of a worker and employer to determine whether the worker is making similar types of investments as the potential employer, even if on a smaller scale, to suggest that the worker is operating independently. Degree of permanence of the work relationship. This factor weighs in favor of the worker being an employee when the work relationship is indefinite in duration, continuous, or exclusive of work for other employers. It weighs in favor of the worker being an independent contractor when the work relationship is definite in duration, non-exclusive, project-based, or sporadic based on the worker being in business for him- or herself and marketing their services or labor to multiple entities. Nature and degree of control. To what extent does the potential employer control the performance of the work and the economic aspects of the working relationship? Facts relevant to control include whether the potential employer sets the worker's schedule, supervises the performance of the work, or explicitly limits the worker's ability to work for others. Extent to which the work performed is an integral part of the potential employer's business. Is the work performed an integral part of the potential employer's business? This factor weighs in favor of the worker being an employee when the work performed is critical, necessary or central to the potential employer's principal business, and it weighs in favor of the worker being an independent contractor when the work they perform is not critical, necessary or central to the potential employer's principal business. Skill and initiative. Finally, this factor considers whether the worker uses specialized skills to perform the work and whether those skills contribute to business-like initiative. [Related: Trucking groups, owner-ops generally opposed to Biden DOL's contractor rule changes] https://ift.tt/VOMKZHz President Joe Biden on Monday renominated Julie Su to serve as U.S. labor secretary, despite her confirmation being mired in the Senate for nearly a year. Su has served as DOL Acting Secretary since March 2023 and was nominated in February 2023 by President Biden to assume the role of Secretary. In his nomination of Su last year Biden called Su "a tested and experienced leader, who will continue to build a stronger, more resilient, and more inclusive economy that provides Americans a fair return for their work and an equal chance to get ahead." Su's nomination last year was unpopular among trucking stakeholders, mostly due to her role in passing California's AB 5 independent contractor legislation as California's labor commissioner, then as secretary for the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency. Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA) last June wrote a letter to President Biden asking him to "withdraw the nomination of Ms. Julie Su to lead the U.S. Department of Labor." This week, rather than reverse course, the Biden doubled down by including Su's name on a list of nominees sent to the Senate. [Related: DOL nominee Su not calling for AB 5 on national level] https://ift.tt/VOMKZHz Kodiak Robotics, a developer of self-driving truck technology, introduced Tuesday at the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show (CES) in Las Vegas, its first driverless-ready semi-truck designed for scaled deployment. The introduction of Kodiak’s sixth-generation truck follows the recently announced opening of a truckport to launch and land autonomous trucks, in partnership with Pilot, as well as recent partnership announcements with CCJ Top 250 fleets C.R. England (No. 26), Werner (No. 13) and Forward Air (No. 34), among others. Kodiak’s sixth-generation truck includes redundancy across all safety-critical functions, including a redundant braking system and redundant steering, redundant power, and Kodiak’s custom-designed high-integrity Actuation Control Engine (ACE) system. The Kodiak Driver, Kodiak’s vehicle-agnostic self-driving system, is redundant, driverless-ready hardware platform, and is designed to be safer than a human driver. The truck features twice the GPU processor cores, 1.6-times greater processing speed, 3-times more memory, and 2.75-times greater bandwidth to run software processes compared to Kodiak’s first-generation truck. With this launch, Kodiak’s driverless truck design is now feature-complete across both hardware and software. This sixth-generation truck will be used for Kodiak’s driverless operations between Dallas and Houston this year. “We’re the first and only company to have developed a feature complete driverless semi-truck with the level of automotive-grade safety redundancy necessary to deploy on public roads,” said Kodiak CEO and Founder Don Burnette, adding his company has logged 2.5 million miles, successfully demonstrating "that our self-driving trucks can withstand the harsh environment of long-haul trucking from both a platform integrity and a software perspective." Gen6: Safety-critical redundancyBraking. While traditional trucks feature redundant braking systems, Kodiak is taking it one step further in the interest of safety. Kodiak’s pneumatic braking system consists of three individual brake actuators simultaneously controlled by Kodiak’s proprietary software. Should any of the braking actuators fail, the backup systems can prevent loss of control and bring the truck to a safe stop. Steering. The dual-redundant steering system includes two redundant ZFactuators controlled by Kodiak’s safety system. Based on Kodiak’s safety analysis, should the primary steering actuator experience any type of failure, the steering system seamlessly switches to the secondary actuator to maintain full control without compromising vehicle dynamics and move the vehicle into a safe state. ACE System. Like Kodiak’s fourth-generation and fifth-generation trucks, the sixth-generation truck includes the Kodiak ACE, a proprietary, custom-designed, high-integrity safety computer. The ACE is responsible for ensuring that the Kodiak Driver can guide the truck to a safe “fallback” out of the flow of traffic in the unlikely event of a critical system failure. Power. The sixth-generation truck includes a redundant power system, which powers the computers, sensors, actuators and all other electrical systems. The power system is split into two fully isolated subsystems that ensure all safety systems can execute a safe fallback should either fail. Upgrades, additions and new featuresThe sixth-generation Kodiak truck includes an array of upgrades that enhance its safety, functionality and performance. Kodiak’s proprietary SensorPods, which house the sensors and are pre-calibrated, pre-built for fast and easy repairs, have been enhanced to include two upgraded higher-resolution LiDAR sensors, which are now automotive-grade; and two additional side radar sensors to improve long range object detection. In total, the Kodiak driverless-ready truck features 12 cameras, four LiDAR sensors, and six radar sensors. To process the increased sensor data, the Kodiak Driver relies on NVIDIA GPUs for high-performance compute. Also new to the SensorPods are top-mounted, extra-bright hazard lights that are designed to comply with the autonomous trucking industry’s application for an exemption to Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Regulation392.22, which requires traditional truck drivers to place warning devices on a roadway after a breakdown. Since driverless trucks can’t place road flares or other devices along the roadway, these lights will be used to alert other drivers to the presence of a truck on the side of the road, pending Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration approval. Kodiak’s sixth-generation truck is also equipped with microphones, which are designed to detect and identify the presence of emergency vehicles and other suspicious sounds that could represent a hazard. Lastly, the sixth-generation truck includes redundant LTE communications links, allowing it to establish highly reliable communications with Kodiak’s redundant command centers in Lancaster, Texas, and Mountain View, California. Future enhancementsKodiak will continue to iterate on its sixth-generation truck over the fleet's operational lifetime, incorporating improvements and additional features as it works with partners to develop and deploy new capabilities. For example, later in 2024 Kodiak will integrate a next-generation AmbarellaCV3-AD AI domain control system-on-chip (SoC) to continuously improve the truck’s sensor and machine learning capabilities, while transitioning to a high-volume SoC solution that also provides high AI efficiency and performance. https://ift.tt/VOMKZHz The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and Gatik, a developer of autonomous middle mile B2B logistics, are expanding their integration of tire intelligence technology into an autonomous driving system, the two companies announced Tuesday at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at the Las Vegas Convention Center. Gatik's autonomous fleet is comprised of Class 3–7 box trucks. Gatik expects to equip a number of its U.S. and Canada-based trucks this year with Goodyear Endurance RSA tires with Goodyear SightLine technology, the company's comprehensive tire intelligence solution. [Related: Gatik, Cummins announce partnership on autonomous middle-mile] "Being the vehicle's only contact point to the road, the tire can play a pivotal role in enabling the vehicle to react like a driver would," said Chris Helsel, Goodyear's senior vice president of Global Operations and Chief Technology Officer. "Gatik is revolutionizing the autonomous technology space, and by providing real-time insights through intelligent tire data, we can support Gatik's autonomous driving system to become even more safe, reliable and efficient." Through extensive on-road testing in a wide variety of challenging real-world driving scenarios, tire intelligence data regarding road conditions and tire health have helped Gatik advance its AV controllers with insights about accurate cornering and braking stiffness, rolling resistance and tire load. This data, which is communicated between Goodyear SightLine technology and Gatik's autonomous driving system through a real-time feedback loop, has enabled Gatik to yield numerous performance enhancements, including the ability to adapt swiftly and safely to a variety of road conditions, even when the mass or payload of the truck varies by delivery. Gatik CEO and Co-founder Gautam Narang said the real-time data derived from intelligent tire technology not only enhances the safety and predictability of our autonomous vehicles, but also enables his company to maintain high levels of efficiency, reliability and delivery uptime throughout our operations. The companies have partnered to conduct ongoing, rigorous testing at Goodyear's San Angelo, Texas, Proving Grounds. Goodyear and Gatik have future plans to incorporate Goodyear's advanced predictive road condition monitoring solution into Gatik's autonomous driving system. This integration will enable Gatik to strategically plan its operations, ensuring a consistent and reliable movement of goods for Gatik's diverse customer base, encompassing the nation's largest grocers, retailers, distributors, e-commerce platforms and CPG companies. https://ift.tt/VOMKZHz Trucking news and briefs for Tuesday, Jan. 9, 2024: FMCSA proposes increase to UCR feesThe Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is proposing to increase registration fees that participating states collect from motor carriers, brokers, freight forwarders and leasing companies for the Unified Carrier Registration (UCR) Plan and Agreement for the 2025 registration year and subsequent years. The fees for the 2025 registration year would be increased above the fees for the 2024 registration year by an average of 25% overall, with varying increases between $9 and $9,000 per entity, depending on the applicable fee bracket. The proposal is based upon a recommendation from the UCR Plan. The UCR Plan provides fee adjustment recommendations to the Secretary of Transportation when revenue collections result in a shortfall or surplus from the amount authorized by statute. The fee adjustments are required by federal statute. The proposed increase for 2025 follows UCR decreases for the last two registration years. The fees for the 2023 registration year were decreased by an average of 31.2% from the 2022 fees, and the fees for the 2024 registration year were decreased by an average of 8.9% from the 2023 fees. Both fee adjustment recommendations submitted by the UCR Plan, and particularly the 2023 recommendation (for 2024 registration year fees), anticipated a need to increase fees in or around the 2025 fee registration year because the funds from excess collections that required the 2 years of fee reductions, would be largely utilized. FMCSA noted that the proposed fees for 2025 are still less than the fees that were in effect in registration years 2019-2022. FMCSA will accept public comment on the proposed increase for 30 days beginning Tuesday, Jan. 9 at www.regulations.gov by searching Docket No. FMCSA-2023-0268. Improperly assembled steering gears prompt Mack, Volvo recallsMack Trucks is recalling approximately 284 trucks in which the steering gear assemblies may have been incorrectly assembled, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documents. Volvo is also recalling a single truck for the same issue. Mack’s recall includes model year 2024 Anthem, Pinnacle and TerraPro trucks in which the steering gear assemblies may have been assembled with fewer recirculating balls than are required, which may result in a loss of steering control. The single Volvo truck recalled is a 2020 VNL. Dealers will inspect and replace the defective gears as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed Feb. 23. Owners can contact Mack customer service at 800-866-1177 with recall number SC0457. NHTSA’s recall number is 23V-899. Volvo Trucks customer service: 800-528-6586 with recall number RVXX2316. NHTSA’s recall number is 23V-900. The two manufacturers also are recalling a handful of trucks for an issue related to the axle spindles, according to NHTSA documents. Mack’s recall affects five model year 2024 Granite units, Volvo’s just one model year ’24 VNL. In the affected units, the bearing journals may not be fully seated in the steering knuckle assembly, preventing the proper installation of the wheel end hub assembly. An improperly installed wheel end hub assembly can leak oil, causing the axle spindles to loosen or fracture and increasing the risk of a crash, the recalls said. Dealers will inspect and replace the steering knuckle assembly as necessary, free of charge. Owner notification letters are expected to be mailed Feb. 8. Using the Volvo/Mack customer service numbers above, owners can reference recall number RVXX2315 for the Volvo. NHTSA’s recall number is 23V-886. Reference recall number SC0456 for the Macks. NHTSA’s recall number is 23V-887. AVIA announces new chair for board of directorsThe Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association (AVIA) announced Monday that Aurora Innovation’s Melissa Wade will serve as the chair of the trade association’s Board of Directors. AVIA is the unified voice of the autonomous vehicle (AV) industry, working with lawmakers, regulators, and the public to realize the technology’s safety, mobility, and economic benefits. As chair, Wade will play a pivotal role in advancing AVIA’s cross-industry goals of increased road safety, enhanced accessibility, and optimized supply chains. "Serving as Board Chair feels like a full circle moment after nearly a decade working on autonomous vehicle policy,” said Wade. “I'm honored to have the support of AVIA's members, and I look forward to sharing the benefits of autonomous vehicles with new audiences as we advocate for safer roads and a stronger supply chain." “Melissa is a widely respected leader in the autonomous vehicle industry and brings incredible enthusiasm for AVs and the many benefits they will bring,” said Jeff Farrah, CEO of AVIA. “Melissa’s deep experience in transportation policy will be critical in advancing public policy to realize the vision of autonomous vehicles.” [Related: Will autonomous trucks displace drivers? Congress holds hearing on impacts] https://ift.tt/VOMKZHz Birmingham, Alabama-based Buddy Moore Trucking has been acquired by PS Logistics (CCJTop 250, No. 29), one of the largest privately held transportation and logistics companies in the U.S. Since 2016, PS Logistics has acquired more than two dozen trucking operations and five non-asset logistics operations across the country, and three in the last six months. Buddy Moore Trucking, founded in 1999, operated for nearly 25 years as a family-owned business and grew to include a 130-truck flatbed division, 120-truck dedicated van division and a non-asset logistics division. The transaction enhances PS Logistics’ flatbed, dedicated dry van, and brokerage operations, and it diversifies its modal and service offerings in the Southeastern United States. PS Logistics Chief Executive Officer and Co-founder Scott Smith said BMT complements PS Logistics' "asset-right" operating model with expanded flatbed and dedicated dry van capacity, diversified geography and new end markets. “We are very proud to welcome Buddy Moore Trucking to the PS Logistics family,” said Smith. “I have personally known the Moore family for decades and have tremendous respect for them and the company they’ve built over the last 24 years." Buddy Moore Trucking will operate as a stand-alone division of PS Logistics and continue to be managed by Buck Moore, BMT president and CEO. “PS Logistics will be a great partner for our business,” said Buck Moore. "Over the years, I’ve witnessed how well they execute acquisitions and deliver value to their customers, drivers, and employees, and I look forward to what we will achieve together now that Buddy Moore Trucking has access to a larger freight network, additional capital, and wider array of customer solutions. Our family is very pleased that this transaction will continue to honor the legacy of Buddy Moore in this industry.” PS Logistics on July 17 acquired Action Dedicated LLC and Action Dedicated II LLC, two subsidiaries of Action Resources LLC that specialize in dedicated transportation in the Southeastern United States. A week later it acquired Rinaudo Enterprises Inc. and Ringo Specialized Hauling Inc., a privately owned interstate trucking and brokerage company that provides specialized transportation services for high-value industrial equipment across the southeast and midwest. https://ift.tt/JqbwZPY |
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April 2023
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