FMCSA Pushes for More Driver-Assist Tech, AAA Says it is Still Unsafe

October 10, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Earlier this month, the most-discussed topic at the day-long Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration safety summit was the implementation of driver-assist technology throughout the trucking industry. Experts have been considering these innovations as being prevalent ways to decrease the number of truck-involved crashes.

“Nothing contributes greater to highway safety than the person behind the wheel,” said J.B. Hunt Transport senior vice president of safety, security, and driver personnel, Greer Woodruff. “But, I have seen drivers that have years of safe driving have a momentary lapse for a circumstance that unfolds, and this [technology] has saved them. They have been very thankful to have had these systems on their vehicles.”

Woodruff also noted that driver-assist systems are able to help carriers navigate the “increasing headwinds” of modern challenges, including everything from distracted driving to traffic congestion to the growing number of vehicle miles typically traveled.

Currently, FMCSA is suggesting voluntary use of these systems by fleets and independent owner-operators. This technology includes adaptive cruise control, automatic emergency braking, blind spot warning systems, forward collision warning systems, and forward-facing camera systems.

Integration of these technologies has now reached around 45-50% of the market, according to Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems vice president of engineering and R&D, Richard Beyer.

“These systems help the driver to reduce the stress and improve the safety,” he explained. “But it’s still based on good, solid driving practices [and] drivers staying alert and being part of the solution.”

However, two tests by AAA over the last two years have shown that partially-automated driving systems do not always work as expected, and the company has recommended that vehicle manufacturers limit the use of this technology.

AAA researchers tested the systems of five different manufacturers over a distance of 4,000 miles, and cited an issue every eight miles, on average.

“AAA has repeatedly found that active driving assistance systems do not perform consistently, especially in real-world scenarios,” said AAA’s director of automotive engineering, Greg Brannon. “Automakers need to work toward more dependable technology, including improving lane-keeping assistance.”

The majority of problems encountered by researchers involved systems meant to keep vehicles in their respective lanes; however, testing showed that many vehicles failed to detect simulated broken-down cars in their path of travel. According to the study, the test vehicles hit the out-of-commission vehicles around two-thirds of the time, traveling at an average speed of 25 miles per hour.

This recent second round of testing showed little difference from similar testing by AAA of four other vehicles in 2018. Additionally, the systems that combine braking, steering, and acceleration control continued to stop working altogether without much notice to the driver.

“When we’re talking about advanced driver-assistance systems, it really is going back to the capabilities of the driver,” said Daimler Trucks North America executive manager of advanced safety systems and autonomous driving, Ritchie Huang. “What we’re building is just supplementary to them.”

Chris Spear, President of American Trucking Associations, said the main priority for ATA is highway safety, and suggested that regulators should work toward creating an environment in which these kinds of technological innovations can explore their potential.

“I think you’ve got to stick with innovation, because it’s, quite frankly, moving 10 times faster than the government,” said Spear. “Just get out of the way. Let innovation take care of it.”

Still, AAA’s Brannon said the most recent testing on automated driving systems within personal vehicles show that systems have not been improving drastically, even though they are being implemented into mainstream models more often.

He also explained that those who first purchased the systems were typically early technology adopters, but now, more and more less tech-savvy people are operating these kinds of vehicles.

“People are really less familiar and less likely to really engage in understanding how the systems work,” Brannon said. “They just assume they do work. That could be a really dangerous assumption.”

Additionally, people easily begin to rely too heavily on the technology when frequently operating vehicles that have it in place, and Brannon said this is extremely dangerous when the systems fail in any way. AAA also explained that during real-road tests, all systems had difficulties ensuring that the vehicles remained in their lanes, and often caused the car to move too close to guardrails and other vehicles.

The issues with this current technology could, in fact, delay the adoption of entirely-autonomous vehicles, Brannon noted, because now, drivers who have operated a vehicle with the technology in place may have trouble trusting them.

New ELD Hacking Warning from FBI

October 9, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Electronic logging device data is still at risk of being hacked, as told in a recent cautionary notice released by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

In the warning, the FBI said cyber criminals can obtain business information through vulnerabilities within ELDs, although hackers have not yet found an easy way to break into that type of data.

“Although the ELD mandate seeks to provide safety and efficiency benefits, it does not contain cybersecurity requirements for manufacturers or suppliers of ELDs, and there is no requirement for third-party validation or testing prior to the ELD self-certification process,” said the FBI last month in its Private Industry Notification.

The notification had no mention of any specific recent attempts to hack into and ELD data.

“Industry and academic research into a selection of self-certified ELDs found the sample of devices did little to nothing to follow cybersecurity best practices and were vulnerable to compromise,” said the warning. “The sample included ELDs that could be purchased off the shelf at superstores and ELDs supplied by well-known companies.”

American Trucking Association’s Fleet CyWatch program also released information aligning with this cautionary notice. The program provides ATA members with internet crime and cyber attack information regarding the trucking industry.

Ross Froat, ATA’s director of technology and engineering policy, said these vulnerabilities have, thus far, only been noticed due to current testing and research efforts.

“There have not been any cyber crime reports of trucks or their technology applications, especially by way of an ELD,” he explained. “The FBI notification is for informational awareness from their industry activities.”

The FBI did iterate this in its warning, saying that the notice was “in furtherance of public-private partnerships.”

For this purpose, “the FBI routinely advises private industry of various cyber threat indicators observed during the course of our investigations,” said the agency. “This data is provided in order to help systems administrators guard against the actions of persistent cyber actors.”

Trucking companies utilizing ELDs should, according to the notice, reduce their risk for any cyber attack by following ELD safety guidelines. “This includes asking the ELD’s supplier specific questions, some of which are identified in this [notification],” said the warning.

As of mid-December, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has mandated the use of ELDs in commercial trucks, so that driver hours can be logged electronically.

Although some studies show that ELDS are easy targets for cyber attacks, this is more likely to be the case on less-secure ELDs, especially those that rely on older technology.

“It’s important to know industry-accepted ELDs are secure,” said Froat. “ELDs’ primary role is to record hours of service and have mandated cybersecurity protocols. They just need to follow these protocols and enhance themselves with industry-recognized best practices.”

According to Froat, this warning should not be surprising to any members of ATA. “We’re happy that the FBI private industry notification was released, but this activity shouldn’t be new to our members. Through ATA Fleet CyWatch and the Technology & Maintenance Council’s cybersecurity task forces and conferences, ATA has been very engaged in improving the industry’s cybersecurity posture.”

The FBI’s notice explained that a sample of ELDs were not adhering to the safety protocol that is in a trucking company’s best interest. ELDs send inspection reports directly to FMCSA and must connect to a vehicle’s electronic control module to track location, data, time, hours of operation, vehicle miles, user identification, vehicle identification, and motor carrier identification information.

If an ELD has more advanced telematics functions that are connected to shipment tracking and dispatching, a successful cyber attacker could easily navigate the company’s overarching network after gaining access, said the notice.

“Cyber criminals interested in stealing data such as personal information, business and financial records, location history and vehicle tracking, or other proprietary data such as lists of customers and cargo can use vulnerabilities in ELDs as a way in to access trucking companies’ enterprise networks and databases,” it continued.

After this access, a hacker could potentially install malware and prevent the ELD and the vehicle from operating properly until a ransom is paid. Signs of this activity can include unusual file sharing and unusual traffic on a company’s network, which can be detected by creating a network baseline, implementing a method of monitoring network traffic, and restricting user and device access to only what is necessary for a specific job.

Sensing Technology Becomes More Common Among Braking Systems

October 8, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Sensors have become an integral part in both proper brake monitoring and advanced driver assistance systems, and integrating these two aspects of modern trucking can boost component longevity, decrease vehicle downtime, and create easier maintenance, according to industry manufacturers.

The marrying of these two aspects is crucial for progressive development of ADAS–the foundation of autonomous driving and truck platooning technology.

Truck platooning is when multiple trucks travel together, with one typically following the other closely. In these circumstances, “you want to know what the brake health is on all the vehicles,” said Meritor director of brake engineering, Joe Kay.

This means fleet operators must always know exactly how a brake is functioning, and temperature, wear, and stroke sensors can detect an issue on any of the 10 wheel ends of a tractor-trailer and send an alert.

“Sensing is a key component of the future of our industry,” said fleet maintenance executive and consultant Brett Wacker. “In the absence of the human, you have to have the ability to know whether things are working or not working.”

Camera, radar, and lidar sensors are used on a vehicle to implement accurate overall perceptions and to detect object speed and vector. Once those sensors are in place, braking system tech can work in tandem with them.

Haldex vice president of research and development, Brian Marshall, explained that the difficulties of developing effective ADAS lies in the ability for sensors to detect everything around a vehicle “and plan accordingly, whether for brake actuation on automatic emergency braking or for autonomous vehicle development.”

For example, if a roadway is slick from rain, ADAS should be able to detect that and increase the vehicle’s following distance, said Marshall. “That has to be determined by an integrated approach where the brake system can openly communicate and provide data from the wheel end up to the controller.”

For SAE International, automated driving capabilities have been sectioned into six levels–from zero to five.

“There’s a lot of talk about getting to Level 4 and Level 5,” said Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems director of marketing and customer solutions for controls, TJ Thomas. Presently, he said, ADAS for commercial vehicles is at Level 1, and nearly at Level 2.

Bendix has been collaborating on upgraded features for its driver assist product that will be “enabled by the current level of technology–the current radars, the current cameras,” explained Thomas. “As we learn more about them over time, we can enable new features.”

ZF North America’s Julian Plenchette explained that with sensors, brake actuation can be improved “to automatically reproduce the comfort and finesse of the human-actuated braking.” ZF has a modular braking system platform called mBSP, which simulates driver brake actuation with the utilization of a “digital foot brake valve.”

This platform gives trucks the ability to have adaptive cruise control, which includes “Stop & Go,” a feature that allows a truck to “safely reduce speed down to [zero] miles per hour when following another target and maintaining [zero] miles per hour until the vehicle detects that it is safe to increase speed once again,” explained Plenchette.

Electronic stability control also uses sensors, and can detect wheel speed differences and mass transfers in order to notice any possible instability or loss of control.

ZF North America’s Patrick Kealy also explained that brake pad and axle monitoring sensors on trailers can also work with a ZF Intelligent Anti-Lock Braking System so that information can be sent throughout the trailer from the sensors. This system can decrease connectivity costs between a fleet management system and a trailer, and with Wabco’s TrailerCast, this telematics device can communicate with iABS and its sensors. Then, data is sent to the fleet’s management system from the device over a 4G network.

One instance of iABS connecting to brake pad and axle monitor sensors is that of Hendrickson’s MAXX22T trailer air disc brake, which connects to brake pad-wear sensors and communicates with iABS for brake pad status updates. Then, iABS is paired with TrailerCast and can send trailer mileage, ABS faults, and brake system status reports straight to a fleet.

Levinson and Stefani Donates to Equal Justice America’s Fellowship Program

October 8, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

In firm news, Levinson and Stefani has recently made a donation to Equal Justice America’s summer fellowship program–an effort to provide stipends to law students who work, typically for free, in summer jobs at legal assistance organizations.

“Law students have numerous opportunities through law school to work and learn the profession,” said Jay Stefani, the firm’s managing partner. “Legal aid agencies, unfortunately, can’t compete with private firms in terms of pay–and law students have bills to pay. Places like EJA allow interested students to earn a stipend while volunteering their time helping others.”

For Stefani, specifically, this program hits close to home as he participated in a similar program to be able to work at Legal Aid Chicago (then called the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago) following his second year of law school. The firm’s donation is also specifically for students at Depaul Law School, Stefani’s alma mater.

“At Legal Aid Chicago, I learned invaluable lessons in terms of helping others and understanding the importance of being an advocate for my clients,” Stefani explained. “Without a stipend, I literally could not have afforded that experience.”

Stefani said the desire to donate to this program comes from the firm’s motivation to help people, and that while the firm focuses on bringing help to the injured, they “want to make sure to support legal assistance organizations that help people in so many other ways.” Additionally, the ability for these programs to carry on aiding students pursuing these jobs is vital in continuing the cycle of helping others throughout the legal profession.

“I think a lot of people go to law school because they realize the power and access lawyers have–and how that allows them to help others in profound ways,” said Stefani. “Unfortunately, the financial reality of law school–loans, needing to pay living expenses during those school years–often prevents those same people from pursuing their dreams. Organizations like EJA help remove the financial barrier.”

Additionally, Stefani explained that he empathizes with law students struggling to afford costs of living while studying, as well as with the feeling of unfairness that can accompany seeing more-privileged students being able to accept unpaid internships without a second thought.

“As someone who worked and paid my own way through college and law school, I am keenly aware of making decisions based on income and not necessarily on personal goals,” he explained. “I know full well that there are law students from lower-income backgrounds who have a strong desire to give back to their communities. Unfortunately, the financial burden of law school, and the student loan payments that come afterward, hinders many of them from being able to follow through on that dream.”

Equal Justice America, whose main objective is to help students and lawyers work for legal aid programs throughout the United States, has sponsored fellowships for more than 4,500 law students, given over $11,500,000 in grants, and helped provide more than 1,600,000 hours of free legal service.

Supply Chain Issues During Pandemic Become Focus of Lawmakers

October 7, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Lawmakers have been calling for manufacturing environment boosts regarding supply chain products and equipment in an effort to decrease any potential difficulties among supply chains hindered by COVID-19.

Last month, policymakers iterated the need for a safer and more efficient manner of goods production throughout the freight sector at a House Ways and Means hearing.

Oregon Representative and chairman of the trade matters subcommittee, Earl Blumenauer said he plans to move forward a bipartisan trade and manufacturing policy effort that will aim to create more reliable supply chains.

“In the conversations that have been developing around the topic of re-examining supply chains and the relationship between trade and manufacturing at home, there has been a lot of excitement regarding tax incentives, ‘Buy American’ policies, or applying additional tariffs,” said Blumenauer at the hearing. “In our examination, let us not fixate on one particular tool to the exclusion of others.”

The key, he explained, will be a collaborative effort to create the best possible changes and upgrades.

“Meaningful solutions will require us to work together, to be thoughtful, strategic, and creative. They will require our best tools and ideas to work in concert, likely across different policy areas. Without prejudging what those specific tools may be, I am confident that trade policy is an important part of the answer.”

Throughout the pandemic, particular instances of supply chain disruptions have proven to be catastrophic–especially those of Personal Protective Equipment. PPE supply chains have been unable to meet the demand brought about by the coronavirus, especially with July’s spike in nationwide cases. Since then, the country has seen major PPE shortages, as well as shortages of important drugs like Remdesivir.

Although the Trump Administration often turns a blind eye to the shortage of supplies like these, many members of the administration, as well as congressional Democrats and Republicans, have been working to relocate some of these PPE supply chains to the U.S. This effort would require an increase in domestic production, and would align with calls to return manufacturing efforts to the country–a major focus of the Trump Administration’s economic plan.

“This pandemic has shown us how important it is for us to be medically independent and to have supply chains that are reliable and flexible, no matter how they are structured,” said Rep. Vern Buchanan of Florida. “If we want stronger and more resilient supply chains here, then this must be the best place in the world to do business. The pandemic has showcased the urgency for having vital medical products like PPE and pharmaceuticals available quickly and reliable. We cannot rely on our adversaries, like China.”

To combat the virus, the United States quickly leaned on foreign manufacturers for PPE and for masks in general. Because of China’s own outbreaks, its factories could not operate a full capacity and many American companies and factories began breaking from their usual inventory to produce face shields and masks.

Tax-writing Finance Committee chairman Chuck Grassley explained the need for large changes in how the country has operated its supply chains thus far. “We cannot allow our supply chains to rely so heavily on China,” he said, “and I look forward to working with my colleagues, on both sides of the aisle, to discuss how we can diversify our supply chains and increase our domestic manufacturing capacity.”

Other experts have studied how the pandemic has affected pricing changes within the marketplace, especially as delivery drivers and essential workers have been working overtime to meet demands.

Carnegie Mellon University professor of engineering and public policy, Erica Fuchs, discussed with House lawmakers the ways in which manufacturing could get the improvement it needs through specific infrastructure investments.

“By infrastructure, I mean not just roads, bridges, transit networks, water systems, and dams, but also [the] energy, communications, manufacturing, and data infrastructure necessary for all of those,” she explained. “In the same way that we need to build domestically the products that global markets want and only we can make, our infrastructure investments need to be for the infrastructure and the future.”

She also noted that transit infrastructure needs new designs that will allow for safe and easy implementation of smart city systems and driverless vehicles, as well as enable the necessary data infrastructure for better security and privacy.

$250 Million to Fund Illinois Infrastructure, Including a Port in Cairo, Says Pritzker

October 6, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Governor J.B. Pritzker, along with the Illinois Department of Transportation, has announced the second of a total of six $250 million grants for local transportation projects.

The Rebuild Illinois capital plan–the largest infrastructure program in Illinois and the first one in almost a decade–will have funds allocated toward counties, townships, and municipalities with important transportation needs. The grant will boost investment into the state’s transit systems and bring safer overall infrastructure.

$40 million of the funds will help build a port in Cairo, which is considered a helpful location in regards to the movement of goods, as it is situated at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

This particular funding, which was announced this month, will add to a public-private partnership working to create a new inland port. $4 million was released immediately to the Alexander-Cairo Port District to fund site preparation work, in addition to permitting and engineering costs.

“For too long, Illinois has relied on legacy infrastructure investments without tending to them properly to maintain our status as a transportation hub for the nation,” said Pritzker. “Rather than build on our storied history and strong foundation, our critical infrastructure has been allowed to deteriorate. Thanks to dedicated funding in the bipartisan Rebuild Illinois plan, we’re investing in our roads and bridges and cementing our leadership position as a global transportation powerhouse.”

The American Road and Transportation Builders Association notes that 9% of Illinois’ bridges are currently considered to be structurally deficient.

These funds are part of a $1.5 billion grant spread out over the course of three years to support statewide projects. Some of these projects include bridge and road improvements, storm sewer and bike path installations, upgrades to traffic signals, and sidewalk replacements.

All projects are chosen and managed with local IDOT supervision and guidance.

“In Illinois, we don’t have just state or local roads and bridges, but one system of transportation that stretches across all modes and involves multiple partners working together,” said Omer Osman, Acting Transportation Secretary. “This funding through Rebuild Illinois means our cities, neighborhoods, and rural areas have the resources they need during this uncertain time, but also enhances quality of life, encourages additional investment, and improves safety for years to come.”

The Cairo port-funding investment, as well as the local infrastructure grants, come from the $45 billion Rebuild Illinois infrastructure improvement effort initiated in 2019, which plans to fund upgrades and improvements to state roads, bridges, parks, education, transit, historic sites, and clean water infrastructure.

The program is also meant to bring more job opportunities to the state as well as boost overall economic growth.

IDOT is also investing $21.3 billion into road and bridge improvement projects over the next six years through the FY2021-26 Proposed Highway Improvement Program. This is the second multiyear plan that will have as prominent an impact as Rebuild Illinois. $4.7 billion of those funds will be dedicated to local transportation system improvements.

The Proposed Highway Improvement program has outlined an effort that will improve 3,356 miles of roadway throughout the state and 8.4 million square feet of bridge deck.

In May of this year, Rebuild Illinois secured funding for Fast-Track Public Infrastructure Grants, which will work to reboot important public works projects that were paused or abandoned due to insufficient funding. These grants will also help experienced workers return to these projects and begin working once again.

Through this program, Pritzker and the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity announced that $25 million would be allocated to support these projects.

“We recognize the unique challenge and burdens that COVID-19 is placing on us all, and we are taking steps to provide relief to businesses and communities,” said Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity director, Erin Guthrie. “Through the Fast-Track Public Infrastructure Grants program, the administration will provide a much-needed boost for workers across the state as well as the critical infrastructure projects our state depends on.”