New Custom Chassis in the Works for Autonomous Driving Vehicles

December 17, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Autonomous driving is dominating headlines in the trucking world, as more and more fleets turn to the innovative technology to boost potential safety numbers and mitigate traditional trucking challenges.

Some of the latest efforts in autonomous trucking come from Daimler Trucks North America, which is working to create a custom Class 8 chassis that will integrate SAE Level 4 driving support. This innovation is a collaboration with Waymo, a major autonomous technology company.

SAE Level 4 tech is a system of automated driving allowing a truck to self-drive without a driver needed in the cab as backup. Typically, automated driving systems allow for a truck to follow strict, specific safety protocol to avoid critical incidents and risks, without any input from a human.

More than 1,500 updates from Waymo Via (Waymo’s autonomous goods delivery unit) will be integrated into the Freightliner Cascadia Model, which will also obtain back up systems for its low-voltage power net, communication network, steering, and braking.

Daimler’s efforts come as a continuation of ideas discussed years ago, according to Bishop Consulting’s principal, Richard Bishop.

“While the specifics of Daimler’s announcement will surprise no one developing automated trucks, the timing shows the continuing momentum of this market,” he said. “Across the board, automated vehicle system developers agree that redundancy of key elements in the host truck platform are essential for safe deployment of automated trucking.”

This innovation also comes after Volvo Autonomous Solutions’ announcement regarding efforts being made around the North America autonomous Volvo VNL model–a collaboration with Aurora Innovation Inc. Aurora Driver autonomous technology was implemented into a Volvo Trucks long haul VNL model prototype.

A truck like this “can significantly contribute to enhancing safety in traffic, thanks to its redundancy of systems and a multitude of sensors,” said head of Daimler’s autonomous technology group, Peter Vaughan Schmidt. “It brings us much closer to our vision of accident-free driving.”

Daimler has also set forth an Autonomous Technology Group as an international organization for automated driving, a group that will work toward an overarching automated driving strategy and set of guidelines. To do so in a timely manner, the group will dive into operations network and infrastructure implementation, as well as the testing, research, development, and manufacturing of all necessary operations and technology needed to progress the AV movement forward.

The Freightliner chassis will include systems such as an additional, cybersecurity-protected communication network for certain devices; two electronic control units in both a primary and secondary system that will allow for peak brake performance in addition to system minimal risk maneuver execution abilities; and two servo motors within the steering system to allow for the backup servo motor to obtain the needed steering angle from the AV software and take action as necessary in the case of a hydraulic or electronic failure.

Additionally, the autonomous truck will require a low-voltage power net fit to meet the demands of ECU and sensor power usage–the power net developed at DTNA allows for regular critical system energy flow. Daimler will work also with Torc Robotics, a subsidiary of the company, in addition to Waymo, in order to allow for commercialization of this tech to be utilized along multiple routes.

Daimler believes that these innovations could not be coming at a more pressing time as the trucking industry continues to face a record-breaking truck driver shortage, worsened by so many drivers deciding to leave the industry due to poor work-life balance and a lack of benefits, comfort, and ease. The hope here is that automated technology will allow for a more intuitive commercial truck driving experience for operators, possibly incentivizing more–and younger–drivers to enter the industry.

The need for trucks in general is also on a steep incline, as the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics recently reported that the consumer demand for goods hauled by commercial trucks rose by 56% over the last 10 years–a number likely to double over the next two or three decades.

Driver Shortage Affects Winter Road Safety as States Search for Snowplow Drivers

December 16, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

“We want the traveling public to understand why it could take longer this season to clear highways during winter storms,” said Montana Department of Transportation maintenance administrator Jon Swartz.

MDOT is currently short of around 90 drivers able and willing to work as snowplow drivers–an issue affecting states across the country. In particular, Montana, Wyoming, Washington, and Pennsylvania are struggling to find snow plow drivers amidst the current ongoing driver shortage. Finding drivers for these positions is especially difficult as the jobs involve working in hazardous conditions, inclement weather, and strange shifts on top of the requirement for a commercial driver license.

Because of this, industry experts predict that many passenger drivers across the United States will wind up stuck or delayed on snowy roadways.

“Knowing [what’s really happening] helps motorists plan ahead and adjust–or even delay–travel plans,” noted Swartz.

This issue has become more prominent as winter storms have begun bringing in heavy amounts of snow to the Upper Great Lakes, with more snow likely to hit Colorado, Utah, Nebraska, Nevada, Iowa, and New Mexico–especially in higher elevations.

The shortage of snowplow operators has been made worse by so many drivers aging out or leaving the industry, a low unemployment rate, and boosted need for trucker and diesel mechanics throughout many different industries. Because of this, private companies have been working to offer incentives like bonuses and increased pay to remain competitive, whereas state agencies aren’t able to be quite so flexible when it comes to salaries and benefits.

“Everyone’s sort of competing for the same group of workers, and private companies can often offer higher salaries than the state government,” explained Washington State Department of Transportation spokeswoman, Barbara LaBoe.

Apparently, state COVID-19 vaccine mandates have exacerbated the issue, as more than 150 winter operations workers left the industry due to compliance opposition, LaBoe added.

Because the trucking industry is facing the largest shortage on record (of more than 80,000 drivers), any state looking for CDL-holding workers are competing with private trucking companies boosting incentives around pay, as well, in a scrambling effort to be able to meet the demands of consumers.

Because of this, many states are offering to pay for the CDL training of snowplow drivers, although new hires with a CDL in hand may still not be available to work as soon as this winter season. Many snowplow operators often work throughout the year in various highway maintenance gigs, with some seasonal drivers coming in to fill the winter shifts.

Various roads needing service in Washington after undergoing major snow storms–particularly, around mountain passes–are likely to be closed for significant amounts of time, LaBoe explained. However, as long as a storm is isolated or doesn’t last long, weather forecasts can help drivers work through them efficiently.

“If we have a series of storms over several days, or if it hits the whole state at once, [the shortage] is going to become more evident because we don’t have as deep a bench,” she said.

American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials’ director of the winter maintenance technical service program, Rick Nelson, noted that luckily, snowplow drivers have a strong sense of dedication to their work as they know how important it is to passenger driver, emergency responder, and commercial driver safety.

Bringing in new drivers “to be out there in the worst conditions” is still tricky, though, he added. “You try to recruit, get out there and beat the bushes and convince folks that jumping in a plow in the middle of the night at Christmastime is a good career choice.”

Some states are experiencing the snowplow driver shortage more than others, such as Pennsylvania, which is currently short of around 830 workers. However, state transportation workers are confident the drivers on hand will be able to keep the roads as clear as possible.

“Our goal is to keep roads safe and passable rather than completely free of ice and snow,” said Pennsylvania Department of Transportation spokeswoman, Alexis Campbell, who added that roads are routinely cleared as soon as there’s a break in snowfall.

AI Is Future of Trucking, Startup Founders Say

December 15, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Artificial intelligence continues to make waves across the industry, becoming a huge hope for trucking companies and the public alike when it comes to the future of roadway safety.

Now, AI Fleet, a trucking company startup based out of Austin, Texas, is prioritizing the utilization of artificial intelligence tech and bringing on drivers that it feels will be able to make a progressive difference in the industry as a whole.

“Our mission is to make truck driving better,” said AI Fleet’s CEO, Mark El Khoury. “That means better for the drivers, better for our customers, and better for the overall nation. Today, the driver shortage is really nothing but a symptom of how poorly-utilized drivers are.”

El Khoury co-founded AI Fleet last year after leaving a prominent role as a consultant within the trucking world; his new company focuses upon AI technology to boost efficiency and circumvent regular trucking industry challenges.

According to El Khoury, trucking has been focused upon customers and shippers since its beginnings–instead of prioritizing the drivers that push the industry forward. Because of this, the overall truck driver shortage has been as serious as ever, with more and more truckers making the decision to leave the industry for good.

“Our current drivers–overall in the U.S.–are unhappy that they’re not making enough money.” he explained. “Clearly, that’s the problem that we have to solve.”

AI Fleet’s software can choose hauls for truckers by taking into account what will bring in the most money for a driver and his or her company, in addition to considering what route will be best for the driver, specifically. Downtime is also shortened with this system as the technology can alert drivers of all aspects surrounding their next shipment even before they complete the current haul. This is possible through a variety of back-office efforts on top of automated shipment planning and acceptance.

“A driver journey starts when a driver is available,” said El Khoury. “They usually drive empty miles to pick up their load, but once they arrive to pick up their load, they usually have to wait for their appointment. Once they get to their appointment, [they] have to wait to get loaded.”

El Khoury noted that all of this waiting time points to efficiency shortcomings in the truck driver hauling process itself.

“After you’re loaded to drive to your destination…you have to wait to get unloaded, and then you have to wait to get assigned for [the] next load,” he continued. “Every time I said ‘wait’…is actually an inefficiency in the driver journey.”

These problems are ultimately avoidable, El Khoury said–all a company needs to do is implement and employ certain kinds of innovative technology.

“Where our technology comes into play–it’s helping us make better decisions by being able to review those billions of options and then assigning loads to drivers in a way to maximize driver utilization,” he explained.

This has been a largely vacant space in the trucking sector, El Khoury noted, saying that the AI Fleet team quickly concluded that the best way to become a major player in the industry would be to find a way for technology to truly benefit the everyday operations of a trucking company. Typically, these companies are not the best software consumers, so solely selling software products to fleets was not considered to be the most lucrative choice.

“We basically ended up starting a trucking company from scratch,” he said. “We use technology to replace a big chunk of our operations. Instead of helping humans do a better job as many trucking companies do, the AI technology is the brain behind making decisions.”

Additionally, AI Fleet wants to bring a strong focus to overall care for truck drivers, encouraging truckers to go home at least once a week and offering health care, paid time off, and a guaranteed salary. Nearly two-thirds of AI Fleet’s recent hires have been through referrals, El Khoury added.

“Trucking is not scalable today,” he said. “This driver utilization problem means that large trucking companies, at some point, say, “You know what? If we keep growing or [out] utilization is already low…it’s going to potentially get worse.”

Now, AI Fleet hopes to soon become the most prominent trucking company in the country.

“We are hoping to show that through a different business model and through technology, we can build a scale with trucking companies,” said El Khoury.

Amazon Finds Ways Around Strained Supply Chain, But is it Safe?

December 14, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

“There are structural advantages you have in redundancy if you’re Amazon,” said former Amazon leader who guided logistics software-focused teams, Jason Murray. “Amazon has its own transportation network, it has access to all the carriers. Multiple ships, multiple factories.”

Because of this, the major online retailer has been able to circumvent shipment difficulties that have left boxes and boxes of product inventory stuck at ports along the west coast–Los Angeles in particular–by chartering the Olive Bay and subsequently dispatching to a port north of Seattle (where the company’s base is located). Amazon has also docked at the Port of Houston, in addition to Everett, allowing the retailer to meet the demands of one of the biggest online shopping holiday seasons to date. In fact, according to Adobe, shoppers across the United States are projected to spend $207 billion among online retail options–a 10% increase from 2020.

To help keep these shipments moving smoothly and efficiently, Amazon brought on an additional 150,000 seasonal employees, offering sign-on bonuses of up to $3,000 and overall pay boosts. Costs for logistical moves–such as dispatching trucks that are only half-full–to meet demands during the ever-important holiday shopping season and an ongoing major boost in e-commerce will likely reach around $4 billion, enough to put many other companies out of business.

However, Amazon vans hauling cargo from hundreds of delivery depots, thousands of employees and contracted workers, Amazon-chartered ships bringing in products from Asian factories, and Amazon Air cargo jets making their way across the country will all be to thank if Amazon meets the high demands of customers across the country.

“Amazon had space on ships, and I couldn’t say no to anyone,” said home decor and lighting retailer David Knopfler of Lights.com. His comments come as one of thousands of sellers offering their products on Amazon’s website who previously refused to do so. The reason? These companies would need to share pricing and supplier information and data with Amazon, potentially allowing for future competition with the company. However, holiday season container shortages made it difficult for these merchants to refuse access to these shipment capabilities.

“It’s a one-stop-shop from Asia to Amazon,” said Goja’s CEO, Walter Gonzales. Goja sells a variety of products on Amazon’s site. “It reduces the gray areas where the shipping process might fail.”

Now, Goja has stocked up on 95% of the inventory it will need to fill holiday season orders, Gonzales noted.

In fact, Amazon has been booking cargo ship space in advance since around 2015 in an effort to make for a smooth-as-possible shipping process between its warehouse and Chinese factories, an irresistible offer for nearly any online seller.

“They basically went from zero containers a month a few years ago to over 10,000 containers a month,” said ocean freight consultant Steve Ferreira. “The thing is an 800-pound gorilla now.”

Still, bringing Amazon customers their holiday season orders efficiently and on-time has been trickier in the midst of a continuous labor shortage; job-hunt websites have been filled with Amazon warehouse gigs fit with incentives, benefits, and bonuses. Overtime opportunities are allowing employees to earn even more than their supervisors, although the pressure of current demand may not be worth the extra income.

“Amazon will stick to its guns and get things to customers,” said former Amazon Logistics executive, David Glick. “It’s going to be extensive, but in the long term, [it] builds customer trust.”

Regardless of efforts to keep customers happy during this time, Levinson and Stefani’s Ken Levinson wants to make sure Amazon–and any company hiring transportation workers right now–is bringing in the best candidates possible and keeping them trained and well-informed on all aspects of safety protocol. Safe driving is imperative, he said.

“It goes back to training,” he explained. “Just because someone may be in a rush to get things done, it’s not an excuse to let safety go to the wayside. Often, companies have unrealistic expirations based on their workers’ pay and delivery times that can create a huge incentive to be unsafe, and we can’t have that. We have to make sure they’re going to regulate themselves.”

He also hopes police offers are keeping a close eye on everyone hauling shipments over the holidays, especially given the inclement weather that comes with the winter season.

“Law enforcement needs to be diligent in making sure safety laws are adhered to, especially when it comes to speeding and driving in hazardous conditions,” Levinson said.

Cyberattacks Become Looming Threat to Public Safety, Industry Leaders Step In

December 13, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

When we think of safety in the transportation industry, we may overlook one very important factor in keeping transportation as safe as possible–cybersecurity.

After a recent cyberattack on a large petroleum pipeline, the U.S. House of Representatives’ transportation committee is pushing for boosted insight regarding such cybersecurity operations. Chairman Peter DeFazio of Oregon told stakeholders at a Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing that cybersecurity improvements are imperative, and increasing oversight throughout transportation network cybersecurity–particularly within rail, aviation, and transit–should be prioritized now.

“I understand [the Transportation Security Administration] intends to issue a security directive for passenger rail, high-risk freight rail, and the transit sector,” he said while members discussed TSA’s cybersecurity guidelines. “For those that care about the public’s safety and the nation’s economic and national security, these efforts–in both the public and private sectors–should not be controversial.”

This kind of security needs to be taken much more seriously, DeFazio added, noting that public safety relies on keeping these sectors secure.

“The public’s safety and the nation’s security depend on these systems,” he continued. “While no single change can prevent every cyberattack, we need to raise the bar significantly and make cyberattacks on our systems much more difficult to accomplish.”

Additionally, TSA should welcome further stakeholder and public input regarding the creation of any new pipeline cybersecurity regulations, noted Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials Subcommittee ranking member Representative Rick Crawford of Arkansas.

“We’re considering all of our options, including the most transparent option,” said deputy assistant administrator for policy, plans, and engagement at TSA, Victoria Newhouse, who added that this kind of input will help TSA to develop cybersecurity policies in the future. “As we have continued robust engagement, both at the classified and unclassified [levels], with all of our surface transportation stakeholders, in particular our pipeline, rail–freight rail, passenger rail–and aviation stakeholders, we’re considering all of those options.”

U.S. Department of Transportation agencies are also working together to find methods of avoiding cyberattacks like that of the Colonial Pipeline.

“We’ll continue to improve our existing systems to make them more secure, while they continue to operate, so that they resiliently support DOT’s operations and the American people,” said USDOT chief information officer Cordell Schachter. “We will also meet the challenge of continuously improving the cybersecurity of DOT information technology systems while keeping these systems available for use. We look forward to working with this committee, our agency partners, and the White House to strengthen and protect our infrastructure and systems.”

These collaborative efforts didn’t take long to bring actionable steps to fruition, as major freight and passenger railroads will now be required to report any cybersecurity breaches promptly and to regularly review their cyberattack vulnerability, as part of the Biden administration’s efforts to urge the private sector to further protect national infrastructure from hackers.

This new mandate was announced earlier this month by the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and will come into full effect on December 31st of this year.

“These new cybersecurity requirements and recommendations will help keep the traveling public safe and protect our critical infrastructure from evolving threats,” said Alejandro Mayorkas, Homeland Security Secretary. “DHS will continue working with our partners across every level of government and in the private sector to increase the resilience of our critical infrastructure nationwide.”

This new requirement will call for a designated cybersecurity coordinator for most railroads, who will need to conduct vulnerability assessments, create incident-response plans, and report any hacking-related incidents within 24 hours. Congress has given authority to the government to issue previous notice-and-comment period-bypassing directives for federal regulations. Additionally, TSA has recently required airport and airline operators to also designate a cybersecurity coordinator and report all cybersecurity incidents and issues to the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency.

“The federal government should be part of the solution,” said Commerce Committee Chairwoman Maria Cantwell of these new regulations, adding that there is still an economic threat looming with future potential cyberattacks. “We need to bring about critical infrastructure investments in technology that can help the electricity grid and companies secure their networks from these kinds of intrusions.”

Dock Efficiency Relies on Proper Planning; Safety Still Needs Prioritization

December 11, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The nation’s supply chain continues to face difficulties and delays, especially during the pandemic era boost in e-commerce on top of the demands of the holiday season.

Now, finding methods of improving efficiency and speed is imperative for warehouse companies, dock equipment managers, and the trucking industry.

“Efficiency is about clear, routine operations with reduced manual steps and communication with everyone that is working the dock area, including the transportation drivers,” said Blue Giant Equipment Corp.’s director of engineered solutions, Gerard Biasutto.

Delayed or missed deliveries, on top of driver annoyance, are common challenges for many fleets–especially given the current difficulties surrounding the truck driver shortage.

“I am frequently speaking with drivers about the growing delays at shippers’ docks,” said Grand Island Express’ director of operations, Deen Albert. “Although we are constantly reviewing and revising our delay [and] detention pay to our drivers, this is a growing frustration for drivers and is a threat to driver retention in our industry.”

Additionally, loading docs require regular maintenance, updates, and planning to keep productivity levels high.

“The loading dock is often an ignored place from a maintenance and equipment standpoint, but it is the first and last entry point for the product,” said director of marketing at Ideal Warehouse, Dirk Seis.

To keep less-than-truckload operations working smoothly and on time, the loading dock must keep hours of service open for as long as possible, noted the operations leader of productivity and efficiency at Averitt Express, Amos Rogan.

“Much like the airline industry, the customer expectation is for those flights to depart and arrive timely to make service,” he said. “LTL is the same in that we must hit our schedules to meet the expectations of our customers.”

Of course, proper communication is the most important part of keeping dock shipments moving as safe as possible, Rogan added.

“If you don’t have a good plan of how shipments are going to be processed, you will see dock associates not moving at their highest potential,” he said, adding that project planning includes mapping out routes so that cross-dock movement can take place smoothly. “Anyone working the dock will only be as good as the plan they are working with.”

Still, the biggest issue when it comes to delays at loading docks is typically understaffing.

“As a carrier, we can see that the staging areas are becoming more and more congested,” said Grant Island Express’ Albert. “In certain circumstances, this can be due to a lack of space, but in many circumstances, this is due to an inefficient or overloaded workflow. This creates a visual illustration directly to our drivers and adds to the delay concerns that are already mounting.”

Understanding a dock’s layout is also particularly important when it comes to timely deliveries and pickups.

“We measure our productivity in not only how many pounds per hour we move across the dock but also how many feet per shipment a dock associate travels,” noted Averitt’s Rogan. “If you are shipping trailers on one end of the dock and loading on the other, you’re wasting valuable time traveling back and forth for each shipment.”

Although the issues around potential delays and efficiency are causing further problems for the supply chain, Levinson and Stefani’s Ken Levinson doesn’t want carriers to jump the gun in onboarding new drivers to meet these demands, as safety training around this type of transportation is imperative.

“Everyone understands the pressures of getting trucks loaded, but we always need to keep safety in mind,” he said. “Like anything else, it may be busy and we may want to get things done quickly and get back home, but that doesn’t mean anything should be done unsafely.”

For companies bringing new transportation workers to the loading docks for the first time, Levinson urges that they prioritize safety training efforts as much as possible.

“This is a good time to reiterate protocols to make sure loads are safely sealed and that people are kept safe,” he said.