Industry Partnerships Collaborate to Boost Driver Visibility and Safety

February 8, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Industry groups have banded together in efforts to boost trucking safety through a new design challenge, dubbed the ‘Truck of the Future.’

Together for Safer Roads, along with PepsiCo Inc., Republic Services, and Anheuser-Busch InBev are working together to find the most efficient and cost-effective methods of ending big-rig involved crashes. The groups say non-commercial vehicle drivers and passengers are particularly at risk in regards to visibility issues while on the road with heavy-duty trucks.

The timing of this new design challenge comes in honor of the World Day of Remembrance for Road Traffic Victims.

According to safety experts from large fleets gathered by Together for Safer Roads, one of the biggest issues currently at hand for road safety is that of driver visibility. TSR is a global NGO that aims to work with community stakeholders, government officials, and businesses on fleet safety management efforts, technology initiatives, and local projects that will help to prevent traffic crashes and deaths.

TSR also began in alignment with the UN’s Decade of Road Safety and is collaborating with TSR members around the globe. Partners also include groups like AT&T, CalAmp, Geotab, Lyft, Marsh, and Samsara.

“This project is our call to arms regarding an under-appreciated aspect of road safety,” said David Braunstein, president of TSR. “After all, drivers cannot react to what they cannot see or sense. We must make meaningful progress towards the 2030 agenda, and bringing together these influential partners is part of our unique contribution.”

The team effort is looking for startups dedicating efforts to commercially-viable new technology to partner with, and the participating groups say this is the key to finally improving overall driver visibility on roads worldwide.

“There are many interventions that can address driver visibility issues–improved cab designs, collision avoidance systems, and better infrastructure, to name a few,” said PepsiCo’s vice president of global environment, health, and safety, Cormac Gilligan. “PepsiCo is pleased to be a part of a collective solution.”

The group has also partnered with other organizations such as the NYC Department of Citywide Administration Services, UPS Inc., and advisors from prominent truck safety research agencies.

The main goal of the effort is TSR’s intention to reaffirm the groups’ Stockholm Declaration commitment, along with their commitment to the United Nations’ Decade of Action for Road Safety plan, which will continue through 2030.

“At AB InBev, we believe that multi-stakeholder approaches are key to tackling road safety effectively,” said AV InBev global director of safety, Joshua Girard. “The inclusion of our technology incubator in this unique initiative allows us to solve big business challenges with innovation and creativity, all while contributing to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals, and [while] fostering safe communities globally.”

Donald Slager, CEO of Republic Services, agrees, explaining that the company is right to be urging for further innovation within the trucking market and safety initiatives.

“We’re the seventh-largest vocational fleet in the nation,” Slager said. “When you get [to that point], those benefits accrue in large ways because we’ve got 16,000 trucks on the street every day.”

Republic is also consistently looking toward newer technology in order to find ways to keep drivers as safe as possible, according to the company’s vice president of safety, Jim Olson.

“Republic Services operates one of the nation’s largest fleets, and safety is our number one priority,” Olson explained further. “We are constantly evaluating new technologies to help our drivers stay safe behind the wheel. Over the last decade, there have been significant advances in video and sensor technology. We are excited to be part of the core focus team for the Truck of the Future project and the potential for fleet innovation.”

For the TSR project, the chosen innovative solution provider is set to be announced during a virtual pitch day in December. This innovative solution will be implemented throughout international markets, along with that of the United States, throughout 2021.

The overarching goal of all of these initiatives, according to group members, is for the participants to be able to create steady, lasting, and scalable changes within domestic and international road safety.

As Gas Tax Revenue Plummets Across the Country, Diesel Revenue Brought by Truckers Adds Some Stability

February 3, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

When states across the country implemented shelter-in-place mandates to try and curb the effects of the pandemic, traffic numbers throughout the nation’s roadways plummeted–except for those of truck drivers.

Truckers, who stepped up during 2020 to deliver our essential supplies, food, and medical resources, also helped keep state transportation department revenue with their regular diesel purchases.

Still, the drop in fuel tax revenue from non-commercial drivers was expected as fewer and fewer people were taking to the roads, according to the Institute on Taxation And Economic Policy’s research director, Carl Davis.

“Especially in the spring, it’s clear that driving just cratered,” said Davis. “Folks are paying a lot less in fuel taxes.”

States typically rely heavily on gasoline tax revenue, but the revenue generated by truckers’ purchases of diesel did help lessen the blow, even while more people than ever were staying home and not filling their tanks.

Unfortunately, the loss in revenue was heavy–$16 billion estimated to have been lost for state transportation departments throughout the year of 2020, according to The American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials.

“It’s been an incredibly hard time, these last five to six months, for state DOTs and transit agencies, because the revenue isn’t coming in the way that they had planned for it to come in at the beginning of the year,” said Jim Tymon, Executive Director of AASHTO.

Specifically, gas sales dropped to around 228.2 million gallons per day in the month April (as compared to April 2019’s 368.5 million gallons). Sales didn’t drop quite as significantly for ultra-low-sulfur diesel, which showed numbers of around 143.5 million gallons per day (as compared to April 2019’s 159.5 million gallons per day), according to data provided by the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

EIA’s data also shows that April 2020’s gasoline sales were the lowest recorded since 1983–when the group first started collecting this kind of data.

“As we watch traffic patterns, the percentage decrease in trucks [is] significantly less than the percentage decrease in passenger vehicles over the course of COVID,” said Luke Reiner, Director of Wyoming DOT.

Indiana DOT’s spokesman said he saw this first hand, as both truck and passenger vehicle traffic numbers decreased heavily in the beginning of the pandemic, but truck traffic began to increase again much more quickly. Within 20 days, he said, truck traffic numbers had risen back to their typical level of around 27 million vehicle miles traveled daily.

Finally, truck traffic levels ended up becoming around 5% higher than normal numbers by early September 2020 in the state. This increase in Indiana’s monthly diesel revenue came out to around $1.5 million above the state’s normal revenue income.

However, while truck driver traffic has been on the incline, passenger vehicle traffic has not seen such improvement throughout Indiana. Non-commercial vehicle traffic dropped to around 55% below regular baseline levels of the average daily vehicle miles traveled per passenger vehicle, and was still down 8% from normal by September.

INDOT’s revenue for 2020 is estimated to have dropped by around 15%, according to Manning–a loss of about $145 million.

“It does seem to give some sort of indication that people are heavily reliant on trucks to move goods,” said Oregon DOT’s assistant director for revenue, finance, and compliance, Travis Brouwer. “Typically, we find that trucking activity is fairly cyclical of the economy. You would expect in a major downturn that we see today that people would be putting off major purchases. We just have not seen the economy translate into less trucking activity.”

According to Brouwer, Oregon saw driving levels that were down between 40 and 50% this year as compared to years prior. At the end of August, the state saw a 10% drop in driving levels from regular numbers, and a drop of 33% in the number of gallons of fuel sold in April 2020 as compared to previous years.

Additionally, according to Daniel Porter, ODOT’s chief economist, only 100.6 million gallons of taxable gasoline and diesel were sold throughout Oregon in April 2020, as compared to 149.8 million gallons sold in April of 2019. With Oregon Driver and Motor Vehicle Services offices closing for a number of months during the pandemic, the organization has seen an additional further drop in overall revenue.

New Program Launched Urging Truckers to Join Fight Against Human Trafficking

February 2, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

A new campaign out of Florida will help truckers become involved in efforts to fight human trafficking throughout the country.

The Highway Heroes campaign, launched in late October by the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles along with Attorney General Ashley Moody, has a goal of recruiting at least 500,000 truck drivers for this initiative.

According to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Advisory Committee on Human Trafficking, around 25 million people are forced into commercial sex acts or other forms of labor each year. Ways to identify victims of human trafficking include a person’s particularly anxious behavior, appearance of malnourishment, or lack of control in regards to money and legal identification documents.

“Truck drivers play an important role in our fight to end human trafficking,” Moody said. “By spending so much time on the road, visiting truck stops, and communicating with each other regularly, these drivers create a powerful network that can be called upon to spot and report suspected human trafficking.” Moody is currently serving as the chair of the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking.

Because there are more than 500,000 licensed commercial truck drivers in the state of Florida, around 500,000 letters detailing the program and explaining human trafficking have been sent out to truckers. The letters also direct readers to training resources on the Highway Heroes website. The campaign itself has been dedicated to providing outreach materials to truckers as well as creating a brand new webpage with resources regarding ways to identify human trafficking and how to report potential crimes.

The training resources listed on the Highway Heroes website is provided by Truckers Against Trafficking, a national organization that works to help trucking industry members learn about how best to fight human trafficking. Every Florida CDL holder is able to become a TAT-trained driver through the campaign.

“We are receiving requests for more materials from Florida’s professional drivers and an outpouring of positive comments about their being a part of the solution to this heinous crime,”said Kylla Lanier, Deputy Director for TAT. Lanier hopes that the efforts made in Florida will inspire other states to pursue similar endeavors in order to help end human trafficking across the country.

A digital media campaign for Highway Heroes has also been launched across Florida and will serve messages to commercial truck drivers throughout the state about the realities of human trafficking and how they can make a difference. This digital effort will continue through the month of January, which is National Slavery and Human Trafficking Prevention Month.

These actions are especially important in Florida, which currently ranks third in the United States in number of calls to the National Human Trafficking Hotline, according to the Statewide Council on Human Trafficking. The letter mailed to truckers for the Highway Heroes campaign emphasizes the fact that because there are 12,000 highway miles in the state of Florida, truckers have a vital role to play in these efforts.

“Truck drivers serve as the eyes and ears on our roads–ensuring everyone stays safe,” said Ken Armstrong, President of the Florida Trucking Association. “The members of FTA have made it a priority to train their professional drivers to spot and report human trafficking, with almost 1 million drivers having already received the training nationally. We encourage all Florida commercial truck drivers to become a certified Trucker Against Trafficking.”

Last year, a final rule was passed by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration permanently banning commercial truck drivers who have been convicted of human trafficking from working in the industry–especially truckers who used a truck to commit a trafficking-involved crime.

Additionally, earlier this year, Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao boosted the need to combat human trafficking at the federal level when she challenged trucking industry members to make a commitment to take actions that would help fight trafficking–asking for 100 pledges within 100 days, which was far exceeded by industry representatives in that time frame.

To view the letter sent out to Florida truckers, or to find more information regarding Truckers Against Trafficking and the Highway Heroes campaign, click here.

Vendors Rush to Update ELD Software When HOS Rules Change

February 2, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Electronic logging device manufacturers have been working quickly and diligently to ensure their technology aligns with the changes recently made to hours-of-service regulations–specifically, the rules affecting the number of operating hours a truck driver is allowed to work.

In addition, ELD software changes have been made to boost a commercial drivers’ ability to take advantage of the added flexibility that came with the new HOS regulations. After the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration published its final rules in mid-May, ELD vendors had to finish and install all necessary software changes before the September effective date–even beginning to make updates as early as the spring.

“I think it went just about as smooth as you could expect, since there wasn’t any grace period in this regulation.” said National Oilwell Varco transportation compliance manager, James Victory, of the software updates. He noted that NOV’s ELD supplier helped the company in its preparation for the HOS changes. “They just went live with it on [September 29th]. This was an anomaly as far as regulations go, because they were less restrictive instead of more restrictive. So, it wasn’t a big problem adapting to that.”

With the new hours-of-service revisions, a driver can operate for eight hours of driving time with just a 30-minute rest period, as opposed to having eight hours of on-duty time with an off-duty time requirement. “On-duty, not driving” periods now qualify as rest breaks. Additionally, drivers are now able to split their required sleeper berth time by dividing the 10-hour requirement into either an eight- and two-hour period or a seven- and three-hour period.

The new regulations also allow for an extension of the maximum on-duty time period and distance limit under the shorthaul exception, and allow drivers to extend the 11-hour driving limit and 14-hour driving window in adverse or challenging driving conditions by up to two hours.

“It was a tight timeline,” said Teletrac Navman’s safety and compliance product manager, Oswaldo Flores. Teletrac Navman provides its ELDS to companies like National Oilwell Varco. “Fortunately for us and for the industry as a whole, there weren’t many changes” [between the time of the proposed changes and the final rule].

Things looked a little different for Trimble Transportation, though, whose vice president of product management, Glenn Williams, said that once the regulation updates were announced, “our teams worked diligently to deliver software code that accounted for these changes.”

Williams noted that due to his team’s quick work, the company’s software updates became available to its customers in August.

“Since any new rule like this can impact a driver’s workflow, we made a consistent effort to educate customers on what these changes entailed,” Williams explained.

The bulk of software updates during this time were made over-the-air, according to Trimble and many other software vendors. For those who wanted to manually update their ELDs, Trimble created a code for USB sticks.

“To ensure a smooth transition, the new rules were already in the latest version of the software and ready to be activated,” said Verizon Connect’s head of compliance products, Ray Sweeney. “We had teams all over the world on standby at midnight to make sure that the switchover went smoothly and the software was working to the new rules.”

Vendors said the overall appearance of their software didn’t typically change much with these updates, so many users didn’t notice the changes that were made.

“The majority of the work is hidden beneath the surface in the rules engine that is constantly monitoring activity,” said Sweeney.

Software updates for Samsara Fleet Management included “updating our cloud dashboard so that fleet managers would be able to see what drivers’ logs looked like under the rules,” according to the company’s director of product management, Sean McGee.

Over-the-air updates for ELDs are meant to be as user-friendly as possible, said Zonar Systems’ vice president of safety and compliance, Fred Fakkema, who said the user accepting an update is similar to someone allowing an update on his or her smartphone.

Still, the timing of the update is vital, especially considering time zone differences.

“The time was 12:01 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, which was 9:01 here on the West Coast,” said Fakkema. “A lot of trucks aren’t moving at that time, so you can get the update done, and when the driver comes into work, the update is there once they log on.”

Samsara also sent an update over-the-air, which was convenient for drivers because “when they logged in on September 29th, they would see their clocks reflect the new rules without them having to do anything,” McGee explained.

Illinois Legislature Sends Bill to Governor’s Desk to Help Injury Victims Get Justice Sooner / End Delays

January 29, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Insurance companies seem to have a reputation. You may have heard the phrase, “delay, delay, delay, don’t pay.” Well, legislators in Springfield are trying to change that. We’ve all experienced interruptions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Court houses have shut down as well and only relatively recently have cases been back on the court call for mostly remote video link proceedings. This reality has put a lot of injury victims in an unfair holding pattern when it comes to legitimate, meritorious claims. With some Illinois county courts already being among a few of the busiest in the nation, this has made an already frustrating process for plaintiffs an even more difficult one.

People who have been injured because of no fault of their own may not be able to work or earn a living in addition to other financial hardships they may have experienced because of their loss. All this, and we haven’t even begun to discuss their injuries and medical appointments. Corporations and insurance companies don’t often have to deal with similar monetary burdens when a claim arises against them. With few exceptions, they keep operating and generating revenue. The current system seems allows them the benefit of delaying payment on legitimate claims.

In an effort to remedy this situation the Illinois House and Senate passed a bill early in January of 2021, that if Governor Pritzker signs, would add 9% per year prejudgment interest to wrongful death and personal injury verdicts. Currently, the law allows post-judgment interest after a verdict. According to court statistics, the overwhelming majority of cases settle before trial. This bill would only apply to approximately 3% of cases that result in a judge or jury determining if the hurt party bringing the lawsuit had a valid or meritorious case.

Some may argue that this law is unfair to companies that have a right to dispute the value of claims and the government shouldn’t try to speed up payments by making them settle more quickly or face a penalty. However, Illinois is quite late to the game when it comes to this type of law. 46 of 50 states already have some form of a prejudgment interest law on their books. In reality, the law helps to reduce unreasonable delays for legitimate claims. If a case goes to trial and the person who brought the lawsuit loses, of course, no interest will be assessed. An injury or wrongful death claim will still need to be proven in court for this change to apply. Additionally, the passage of this bill won’t make companies pay the full amount of interest if the claim that started before the law takes effect. Instead, yearly interest will start to accrue after the bill becomes law for those cases.

In reality, when it comes to legitimate claims, insurance companies and corporations don’t stand to lose much of anything at all by having to pay interest on cases where they delay settlement. Whereas injury victims with meritorious claims will likely be treated more fairly by having their cases resolves sooner. Moreover, the public will benefit from a court system that is less bogged down by such a large case load. This change could benefit everyone.

Trucking Awards Given to Influential Industry Members at Virtual Conference

January 19, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

“All of you watching today should be proud of what you have done to showcase our industry, and proud of how you adapted to a national crisis,” said ATA chief operating officer and executive vice president of industry affairs, Elisabeth Barna, at ATA’s Management Conference and Exhibition.

At the conference, which was held virtually this year to align with COVID-19 safety measures, Barna announced the winners of the 2020 American Trucking Associations’ Mike Russell Trucking Image Awards, which honor those demonstrating excellence within the trucking industry and upholding its commitment to safety, professionalism, and essentiality in all aspects of the sector.

The winners of this year’s Trucking Image Awards were J&M Tank Lines, the Nebraska Trucking Association, and Old Dominion Freight Line’s professional driver, Rhonda Hartman.

“This year has certainly been a challenging year, but a year where we have seen the trucking industry gain incredible momentum in the way we are perceived,” said Barna.

The Mike Russell Trucking Image Award, named for a former ATA vice president of public affairs, was first awarded in 2007 and became sponsored by HireRight in 2014.

Award recipient J&M Tank Lines was rewarded in particular for its efforts to widely promote the trucking industry throughout the community and on social media, while also aiming to boost its drivers’ morale and offer accurate and up-to-date health and safety information as much as possible during the era of COVID-19.

“This company has a robust social media presence and is always pumping up their workforce, and gets their drivers involved in everything they do,” Barna explained.

As for the Nebraska Trucking Association, the group also worked to boost the trucking industry throughout social media. Additionally, NTA made sure to provide meals to the drivers hauling essential goods and resources during 2020, and partnered with the Nebraska Chamber of Commerce to recognize truck drivers as essential workers throughout the state.

“Every day, they were supporting and promoting the trucking industry in a new way,” said Barna of NTA. NTA is an ATA federation leader, as well.

Third award recipient, Rhonda Hartman, is an America’s Road Team Captain and has aimed to increase the public’s knowledge of the importance of trucking in our day-to-day lives. Hartman has been trucking for more than 37 years and participated in 2020’s convoy which paid respects to the centennial anniversary of Louisa Swain casting her ballot as the first female to vote in the United States. Hartman has also worked diligently to boost recruitment efforts for women in the trucking industry and has logged almost 3 million accident-free miles in her career.

Also during the conference, president of Triple G Express and ATA chairman, Randy Guillot, received ATA’s 2020 Highway to Victory Award. This recognition comes from as desire to honor Guillot’s outstanding efforts for trucking industry advocacy.

Guillot testified twice before congressional committees–virtually, of course–while also leading the trucking sector in winning tort reform in Louisiana, according to vice president of legislative affairs for ATA, Catherine Evans.

“His efforts to effectively communicate our industry’s priorities will no doubt serve us well,” said Evans when presenting the award to Guillot. “His passion for tort reform on punching back at the trial bar has been equally impressive. In particular, he has been relentless in coordinating with state and local officials to combat the scourge of self-serving litigation that has plagued our industry in recent years.”

The efforts of all truckers in the industry have not gone unnoticed, and that very sentiment was made abundantly clear at the virtual conference. The goal of industry workers to take advantage of the current widespread focus on truck drivers during this time has helped to boost public perception regarding the importance of a truck driver’s work. Industry representatives even joined Chao at an April White House ceremony to have their hard work commended.

“During COVID-19, the American people have gained a much greater appreciation for the trucking industry’s vital role in keeping our supply chain open,” said Elaine Chao, Transportation Secretary. “Without [truck drivers], food, medical equipment, and essential supplies can’t get to where they need to go.”