CoronaVirus Causes Cancellation of Trucking Events

May 6, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Because of COVID-19 concerns, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has decided to postpone its Truck Safety Summit.

After President Donald Trump announced in mid-March that he would be suspending all travel to the United States from Europe for 30 days, the FMCSA decided it would be delaying the summit, which was scheduled to be held on March 19th at the U.S. Department of Transportation headquarters in Washington.

“We will be following changes in the impact of COVID-19 and work to schedule a new date for the summit in the near future,” said FMCSA in the announcement.

The summit’s goal was for the agency to gain new insight into how to best improve the safety of motor carrier operations. Once the formal conference is finally held, stakeholders, motor carriers, truck drivers, federal and state agency partners, safety technology experts, and safety advocacy groups will have a chance to come together and have “an opportunity to share their ideas on improving truck safety.”

The summit also would have been a follow-up to the Transportation Research Board’s recent annual meeting, which took place in January. There, Jim Mullen, FMCSA Administrator, explained that he was urging the agency to implement new methods of reversing the large amount big-rig fatalities that had been occurring over the last four years.

Between 2017 and 2018, for example, deaths in crashes involving large trucks increased from 4,905 to 4,951. The issue of driver fatigue is a growing problem as well, as the National Transportation Safety Board has said it is making efforts to focus on the issue regarding fatigued drivers. The board also named decreasing fatigue-related accidents as one of the safety improvements on its ‘Most Wanted List’ of 2019-2020.

Hours-of-Service disagreements have also been a major issue in the industry, as stakeholders believe the relaxation of regulations will make it possible for drivers to work longer hours on less rest–bringing a possibility for more fatigued drivers and thus, more accidents.

These topics were all likely to be key discussion points at the summit.

“We are disappointed, but the safety of the attendees is of the utmost importance,” said the FMCSA on its website. “We look forward to setting a new date for the Summit.”

Another event cancelled due to coronavirus worries is 2020’s International Roadcheck, which was originally planned to take place between May 5th and 7th. The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance said the rescheduled date has yet to be determined.

“The alliance will monitor the status of the coronavirus pandemic and appropriately select the new dates when it’s safe and reasonable to do so,” said CVSA. “Once the rescheduled dates have been selected, CVSA will notify the commercial motor vehicle enforcement community, the motor carrier industry, the press, and the public.

This 73-hour Roadcheck was to be an amped-up version of the checks that have been running on schedule for the last 32 years. This year, the enforcement effort would focus on driver requirements.

According to CVSA, 944,794 violations out of last year’s 3.36 million inspections were in the category of driver requirements. Of those, nearly 200,000 citations were for out-of-service conditions, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s data.

Some of the most common requirement violations include: insurance and vehicle registration, proof of medical qualifications, detected substance use, failure to wear a seat belt, and giving a false record-of-duty status.

Because the Roadcheck has run smoothly for over three decades in a row, the decision to postpone was “thoroughly and thoughtfully discussed,” said Delaware State Police sergeant and CVSA president, John Samis.

“As we urgently respond to this time-sensitive crisis, we must remain diligent and committed to ensuring that the commercial motor vehicles and drivers providing essential goods and services to our communities are following motor carrier safety regulations,” Samis explained. “Safety doesn’t take a break. It is always our top priority.”

The CVSA still plans to monitor the COVID-19 outbreak closely, notify membership and industry stakeholders of the new Roadcheck dates, follow guidance from public health experts, and keep the public updated regarding future enforcement and safety campaigns.

“This experience is unprecedented in our modern society,” said Samis, “and we need to do all that we can to help stop the spread of this global pandemic.”

Musk Fights to Keep Tesla Operations Open as Shelter-in-Place Orders are Given

May 5, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Tesla must shut down its global operations epicenter–the famous Fremont factory–due to growing coronavirus concerns, despite Elon Musk’s call to keep business running as usual.

The electric car manufacturer had just released its millionth electric car off the assembly line when the Alameda County Sheriff’s Department deemed the factory not “essential,” and the plant’s employees were told they must adhere to the shelter-in-place mandate that was given on March 17th.

The Fremont Police Department and the Alameda County Public Health Department are responsible for enforcing this order at the plant. This demand will send 10,000 of the Fremont factory’s workers home.

“Tesla can maintain minimum basic operations per the Alameda County Health Order,” said the sheriff’s department.

The mandate’s effect on the factory came one day after Elon Musk severely downplayed the virus and its impact. Musk has been working to keep operations underway in any way possible.

“I’d like to be super clear that if you feel the slightest bit ill or even uncomfortable, please do not feel obligated to come to work,” said Musk in a staff email on March 16th. “I will personally be at work, but that’s just me.”

Musk planned to keep Tesla Inc’s factory and its other operations throughout California open for as long as he could, and the company’s head of human resources explained that Tesla’s manufacturing and energy infrastructure were considered crucial. Both said the factory would continue operations despite the stay-at-home order throughout the Bay Area.

“Tesla and our supplier network will continue operations that directly support factory production, vehicle deliveries, and service,” wrote the company’s North American HR chief, Valerie Capers Workman.

Musk even went so far as to Tweet in early March that “the coronavirus panic is dumb.” The company had, up until that point, said little about how it planned to handle concerns surrounding the virus, although other automakers throughout the country had made much quicker public decisions.

“My frank opinion remains that the harm from the coronavirus panic far exceeds that of the virus itself,” said Musk in his email. “If there is a massive redirection of medical resources out of proportion to the danger, it will result in less available care to those with critical medical needs, which does not serve the greater good.”

From this standpoint, plant manager Justin Kirkland also wrote to employees on March 16th, saying that they should report to work unless otherwise directed from the company. In another email, employees were told that they would need to use their vacation days if they decided to follow the shelter in place order, and, if they were to run out of those days, they would need to contact human resources.

Only businesses deemed essential are supposed to remain operating, such as grocery stores and pharmacies. However, there is currently no exemption for car manufacturers in regards to the orders that were issued on March 16th, and which took full effect after midnight the following day.

“Tesla can maintain minimum basic operations per the Alameda County Health Order,” said the sheriff’s department in a Tweet.

Businesses deemed nonessential–like Tesla–are still able to continue the “minimum necessary activities to maintain the value of the business’ inventory, ensure security, process payroll and employee benefits, or for related functions,” as well as the “minimum necessary activities to facilitate employees of the business being able to continue to work remotely from their residences.”

The order also states that social distancing, or the maintenance of a six-foot separation between individuals at all times–must also take place.

Tesla has not yet released its expected production and delivery numbers for the first quarter. In January, the company stated that its deliveries would most likely “comfortably” exceed 500,000 units for 2020. RBC Capital Markets analysts are now saying that they expect the company to deliver only around 365,000 cars, which would be a decrease from its 2019 total deliveries.

Additionally, Tesla shares fell 7.8% as of March 17th in New York, which eradicated their intraday trading gains for 2020. As of February 19th, Tesla stock was up 119% for the year.

Regardless, Musk continues to reiterate that his main concern is for the lack of medical supplies and care that could come from an unnecessary amount of panic around COVID-19.

“If we over-allocate medical resources to (the) corona(virus),” he Tweeted, “it will come at (the) expense of treating other illnesses.”

AV 4.0 Relies on Public and Stakeholder Opinions

May 5, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation officials are partnering with trucking industry stakeholders to develop the latest autonomous vehicles guidelines.

The DOT, along with the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, has been calling for public comments on the most recent federal guideline update regarding autonomous vehicle technology–AV 4.0.

Last month, the Federal Register published the DOT’s comment request after Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao first announced the initiative, officially titled “Ensuring American Leadership in Automated Vehicle Technologies” at CES 2020.

Public comments are due before April 2nd, and this summer will see further stakeholder work sessions to delve deeper into the future guidelines before they are finally published later in 2020.

“The U.S. DOT and OSTP see AV 4.0 as a method to ensure a consistent [U.S. government] approach to AV technologies and to ensure that the United States continues to lead AV technologies’ research, development, and integration,” said the Federal Register.

AV 4.0 aims to be a set of unifying principles throughout 38 different federal departments and agencies which gives state and local governments, industry representatives, and tech experts guidance regarding the operation of automated vehicles. The guidelines were originally built around government opportunities for collaboration, and AV tech growth boosting through administration efforts.

The initiative’s main aspiration was to prioritize safety, innovation, and consistent regulatory methods.

“While keeping safety as the approach–the priority for all of our engagements–we’ve been able to move this throughout the federal government so that all of the tools, assets, research, and grant-making dollars that are available, and enforcement authorities that are available throughout the federal government, can be at the hands of all our stakeholders that care about this,” said DOT deputy assistant secretary Finch Fulton.

According to Fulton, the upcoming national highway policy updates are an important way in which this technology can demonstrate its safety benefits throughout U.S. transit networks.

“Developments such as automated vehicles, drones, hyperloop, commercial space, and data initiatives can dramatically change the way people and goods are moved about the country and world,” Fulton explained. “Many of these technologies challenge the department in new or more sophisticated ways on methods to both prove and improve levels of safety, or in determining what mechanisms are best suited in the department for providing oversight.”

A main determining factor around AV regulation will be public opinion, according to Elaine Chao, Transportation Secretary.

“The real challenge is, as regulators, how do we address, how do we engage with emerging new technologies to address legitimate public concerns about safety, security, and privacy without hampering innovation? Because innovation is a trademark of who we are as Americans. That is our greatest export,” she said in February.

Currently, guidelines align with AV technology support initiatives and collaboration efforts by the Trump administration, including AV sector federal investments and research resources.

Back in January, Chao also announced the DOT’s standardized list of recommended ADAS terminology named “Clearing the Confusion” in collaboration with the National Safety Council, Consumer Reports, AAA, and J.D. Power–an initiative aiming to advance driver assistance systems.

“Currently, there is variance among manufacturers,” said Chao. “We want to make sure that drivers are aware that these systems are designed to ‘assist,’ not replace an engaged driver, which is still very important.”

Chao also explained her confidence behind AV tech’s potential to save thousands of lives, as 94% of crashes are a result of human error. She also noted that the tech could be particularly beneficial for those with transportation challenges needing more mobility options.

Still, congressional policymakers have not yet progressed on any autonomous tech legislation. According to Commerce Committee Chairman Roger Wicker (R-Miss.), new automated vehicle legislation directives were not likely to involve any provisions relative to trucks and buses. Additionally, the latest autonomous vehicle bill not to pass the Senate was related to vehicle regulations.

DOT’s DAS terminology list was announced two days after the American Transportation Research Institute demanded an autonomous vehicle technology policy for the trucking industry.

“Given that we intend for the policy document to be a living document and to be developed in an iterative fashion, subsequent opportunities to comment will also be provided periodically,” said the Federal Register.

America’s Truck Drivers Can’t Stay Home

April 30, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

When we think about the people in our communities who definitely can’t work from home, we most often think of emergency room doctors and nurses, and rightly so. However, there are many workers on the front lines in the fight against the spread of COVID-19 who may not be top of mind for most people, yet their contributions are vital to allowing people to get food and supplies in this critical time.

Whether you’re buying your food and essentials from a store or getting them delivered, those items most certainly spent part of their journey to your home on a truck driven by one of the over 3 million professional truck drivers in the United States. Since most the country is under some form of quarantine order or another, food, essentials, and medical supplies are nearly entirely moved only by professional drivers.

Some drivers regularly travel thousands of miles as part of a supply chain that keeps grocery store shelves fully stocked. If a driver were to get sick far from home at a time when there is no guarantee of testing, they may be left with few options and they even might get stranded. With so many businesses closed, many drivers will rely on truck stops and travel centers for rest, fuel, essentials, and supplies. In Some cases, these facilities may be the only ones available for drivers who are far from home.

The National Association of Truck Stop Operators (NATSO), a trade association based in Washington D.C. that represents the truck stop industry keeps a directory of stops and travel centers on their website to make it easier for drivers to locate facilities near them.

What if a driver gets sick?

Each trucking company is likely to have a different set of policies for its employees. In March, new Federal legislation was signed into law, called the Families First Coronavirus Response Act. The law requires employers with less than 500 workers to provide additional paid sick leave to their employees. Some of the provisions that require employers to provide additional paid leave to an employee situations where an employee has been advised by a health care provider to self-quarantine, or to someone is experiencing COVID-19 symptoms and is seeking diagnosis. There are also provisions requiring higher compensation rates for some employees. However, there are exceptions to these rules given to some smaller businesses whose viability would be jeopardized by enacting these provisions. These new rules are set to expire at the end of 2020.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has issued some guidelines to help delivery drivers stay safe while working. Some of these tips can also apply to long-haul truckers. Additionally, truck drivers should be diligent about taking all the precautions they can to prevent the spread of this virus.

You’re probably tired of hearing this, but wash your hands:

Hand sanitizer may be helpful to have in a bind. However, it doesn’t substitute for washing your hands with soap and water for at least 30 seconds. This may seem like overkill, but you should wash your hands every time you get fuel, use the washroom, or before you eat. Just think about how many people touch a fuel pump or use the bathroom every day. In fact, try to avoid things that multiple people come into contact with, like buffet style dining facilities or public computers.

Finally, if a driver does get sick – stop working. You should contact your company’s safety department as soon as you feel ill. Not only are you risking getting someone else sick if you keep working, but it’s also unsafe to operate a rig if you’re sick or fatigued.

Exxon to Reduce Methane Emissions

April 29, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

NEW YORK — In March, ExxonMobil detailed its plans for reducing the amount of methane released into the atmosphere by its operations. Currently, many governments are creating new regulations in regards to greenhouse gas emissions.

Exxon is hoping to be of influence to other companies and regulators regarding how they write rules of this kind. According to Exxon, its procedures have made a 20% decrease in methane emissions among some of the company’s American drilling operations since 2018.

“Our industry has developed high-tech advances to curb emissions, and we also hope this framework will be helpful for governments as they develop new regulations,” said Exxon’s CEO, Darren Woods.

The Obama Administration’s Environmental Protection Agency set new methane emission limits back in 2016, and called for total emissions numbers to decrease by half by 2025. Trump’s administration has been working toward relaxing these rules, and many oil and gas companies are working to fight that regression.

For this purpose, Exxon proposed its “model framework” for regulation of its emissions in all phases of production. Exxon’s plan also asks other companies to replace their energy infrastructure components within production sites that have a “high-leak potential,” to begin improving production technology, and to start conducting new research.

Still, some environmental advocates want Exxon to be more aggressive in its methods of combating global warming.

“The steps ExxonMobil has taken and the commitments the company announced are nowhere near sufficient to get us there,” said the Union of Concerned Scientists’ accountability campaign director, Kathy Mulvey. “We need to see much more ambitious and urgent actions taken by companies like ExxonMobil.”

Methane in the atmosphere can be more potent than carbon dioxide as a greenhouse gas by up to 86 times over a period of 20 years. When companies drill for oil, they find natural gas, whether it is wanted or not. During extraction, methane is released into the atmosphere–although scientists are still unsure of exactly how much.

With global warming threats so present, many major oil companies are under pressure from their investors to show how they will curtail the issue and adapt to new regulations.

“With the climate crisis upon us, companies can’t afford to ignore their contributions to climate change,” said senior director of the Environmental Defense Fund, Ben Ratner. “In at least one or two parts of [Exxon’s methane] framework, what they are recommending appeared to fall considerably short of what would be considered the best available operational practice and regulatory requirements.”

According to Ratner, Exxon’s framework involves implementing a program of leak detection and repair to fix gas leaks immediately. The company conducts these leak inspections at least once annually, but isn’t leading in this effort. Some other major oil companies have monthly inspections with sensors mounted on drones.

“The truth is, it needs to be much more,” he explained, “and we need to be driving to a world of continuous, real-time monitoring and rapid mitigation of this highly potent greenhouse gas. Once-a-year inspection is not a serious proposal for regulatory requirements that are up to the magnitude of the challenge.”

It is clearly in companies like Exxon’s best interest to meet these expectations. When new regulations are in the works, energy companies typically prefer to be ahead of the curve and collaborate in writing the rules that would control their operations. Increased regulation costs also have the potential to increase the costs of companies’ competitors, allowing companies with more expansive operations to grow their business advantages.

Exxon also believes that it would be preferable for an oil and gas operator to burn off (“flare”) natural gas if venting is needed, as opposed to releasing methane directly into the atmosphere. The company also suggests improving the combustion efficiency of these flares to avoid methane being accidentally released. Still, flaring releases carbon dioxide–which is less potent, but lasts longer within the atmosphere.

This flaring is a major issue, as U.S. gas flaring activity rose by 48% from 2017 to 2018, reaching 1.4 billion cubic feet per day. When natural gas prices fell, flaring amounts surged and pipeline capacity was constrained, causing many producers to pay to have it removed instead of selling it.

Now, Exxon assures that its efforts are aligned with solving these problems. The company’s subsidiary, XTO Energy, has expanded its methane emissions reduction efforts and officially signed onto the industry program Environmental Partnership.

“Our comprehensive initiative is underscored by a technology research and testing effort,” said XTO President, Sara Ortwein, “and includes personnel training, equipment phaseout, and facility design improvements.”

TuSimple Adds New Autonomous Trucking Routes with UPS

April 28, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Autonomous-driving technology company TuSimple has announced its expansion of autonomous truck service for the United Parcel Service.

The company will increase UPS’ autonomous trips to 20 per week and will also add a new route between Phoenix, Arizona, and El Paso, Texas–with 10 total weekly runs on its original route between Phoenix and Tucson and another 10 on the additional route.

For the Level 4 autonomous driving program, TuSimple is using retrofitted trucks that are able to drive themselves. Still, current regulations require a safety driver to be present in the cab to take over control of the vehicle if needed.

Eventually, TuSimple wants to completely eradicate the need for in-cab drivers and has a goal to demonstrate completely driverless operations by 2021.

TuSimple has been partnering with UPS since March of last year, when the companies launched a new ongoing pilot program. In August, UPS’ venture division, UPS Ventures, invested in the robotic trucking outfit.

Additionally, autonomous trucks achieve a fuel savings of 10% during UPS operations in comparison to traditional truck operation. TuSimple also announced research results in December from the University of California, San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering showing its autonomous technology’s reduction of heavy-duty truck fuel consumption.

TuSimple currently has 19 contracted customers and operates over 40 Peterbilt and International trucks with the company’s autonomous tech. UPS chief strategy and transformation officer, Scott Price, said that the company decided to partner with TuSimple in order to further explore the benefits of autonomous driving technology for UPS’ Global Smart Logistics Network, “which aims to improve network efficiencies, safety, and customer service.”

“TuSimple has been instrumental to this initiative,” Price explained, “so it was a logical next step for us to expand the test to additional routes within our North American Freight Forwarding lanes.”

According to the company, its technology can reduce overall shipping costs via tractor-trailers by 30%. It said the driving system has been showing its benefits already, and that UCSD’s research also found that automated driving operates more precisely on its throttle than a human driver, as the sensors can see further ahead. Therefore, the vehicle can stay efficient and avoid slow-moving traffic.

Some analysts say autonomous driving will first become commonplace among commercial operations, such as ride-hailing companies and TuSimple’s partnership with UPS. However, many disagree regarding how soon we will see this widespread commercialization.

“We are still far away from living in the world with a truck with no one in the cab driving on the highway,” said IHS Markit global heavy truck research director, Andrej Divis. “It’s not around the corner.”

However, senior research director at Gartner Inc., Michael Ramsey, said distribution centers, ports, and mines–contained areas without heavy traffic or pedestrians–will find large uses for this technology.

“I think we will eventually see a big impact on trucking and commercial vehicles,” said Ramsey.

In addition to UPS, TuSimple has been raising funds from Chinese tech company Sina, the operator of Weibo (China’s largest microblogging platform), and Nvidia, an American graphic processor manufacturer. The company currently has offices in both Beijing and Shanghai, where it develops technology around image-processing and advanced camera equipment.

The robotic trucking company currently employees around 105 engineers and drivers, and plans to hire hundreds more during the course of a few years.

TuSimple is aiming to transform the multi-billion-dollar trucking industry in the United States by reducing overall costs, carbon emissions, and by improving safety. Company officials are promising a true “depot-to-depot” driverless truck.

The company is excited to have UPS on board with these innovations.

“UPS has been a valued partner of ours since we officially started working together early last year,” said TuSimple chief product officer, Chuck Price. The program “shows the company’s commitment to innovation and exemplifies why UPS is considered a trailblazer when it comes to exploring and implementing cutting-edge technology.

Autonomous trucking has seen a lot of innovative action recently, as the focus on autonomous vehicle benefits becomes more and more prevalent. Alphabet Inc’s self-driving branch Waymo began testing self-driving trucks in Texas and New Mexico back in January, and just announced its first outside investment by Silver Lake Management LLC.

Swedish self-driving truck outfit, Einride, also announced it would be expanding into the states as well as hiring remote drivers in 2020.