London Transit Refuses to Renew Uber’s License

December 19, 2019 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

LONDON – On November 25th, London’s transit authority announced its refusal to renew Uber’s operating license.

This shutdown comes after London transport officials have scrutinized the tech company more closely than ever, following concerns about imposter drivers and overall passenger security.

According to Transport for London, there has been “a pattern of failures” that placed passengers and their safety at risk, which is a main reason it decided not to extend Uber’s license. Uber has had a tough relationship with London transport, and the regulator finally decided to let the license expire on November 25th after it found unauthorized drivers were carrying out thousands of rides.

“At this stage, TfL can’t be confident that Uber has the robust processes in place to prevent another serious safety breach in the future,” said London Mayor Sadiq Khan in a statement.

Back in 2017, Transport for London had already once revoked Uber’s license before, but had its decision overturned when Uber appealed it and was granted a 15-month license. TfL decided to extend it by another two months, but with an additional 20 conditions.

Regarding the most recent choice to fully revoke Uber’s operation throughout London, TfL said it came to the conclusion after Uber’s systems “seem to have been comparatively easily manipulated” by drivers.

“While we recognize Uber has made improvements, it is unacceptable that Uber has allowed passengers to get into minicabs with drivers who are potentially unlicensed and uninsured,” said TfL’s director of licensing and regulation, Helen Chapman. “We cannot be confident that similar issues won’t happen again in [the] future.”

A recent change to Uber’s operating system made for one of these major issues, when it allowed unvetted and unauthorized drivers to upload their own photos to other existing drivers’ accounts.

Because of this, at least 14,000 Uber trips took place where these imposter drivers–who would appear to be the driver that was actually booked–were able to pick up passengers on uninsured trips.

Some of these drivers were not only uninsured, but also unlicensed. According to TfL, it had previously revoked the driver’s license of one of these particular unauthorized Uber drivers.

Additionally, Transport for London also found another serious breach, in which dismissed or suspended drivers were able to make a new account on the app and pick up passengers once again.

Uber has fired back, saying that because TfL found the company fit to operate in its most recent license renewal, its current decision is “extraordinary and wrong.”

“We understand we’re held to a high bar, as we should be. But this TfL decision is just wrong,” said Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi over Twitter. “Over the last two years, we have fundamentally changed how we operate in London. We have come very far–and we will keep going, for the millions of drivers and riders who rely on us.”

Uber has 21 days from the license expiration to file an appeal, which the company says it intends to do. During the appeals process, it can continue to operate as usual.

In hopes of making changes for the better, Uber said on top of continuing to audit each of its London drivers–which it has been doing over the last two months–it plans to launch a “facial matching process” across its verification system, which is currently powered by Microsoft. This will work by requiring drivers to take selfies periodically for the system to compare with their account photos. They will also have to actively prove their identity by smiling, blinking, and/or turning their head.

If the appeal is denied, it will be an enormous setback for the company, which underwent a $1.15 billion loss last quarter. Shares fell by more than 5% in premarket trading, and Khosrowshahi forecast that Uber wouldn’t turn a profit until 2021.

“If Uber ultimately was not able to operate in London, it will be a ‘seismic blow’ to the company’s European operations,” said Dan Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities. He added that it “could have a major ripple impact across other European cities,” and that imposter driver problem is not limited to Europe. He said investors should be aware.

For instance, American safety advocates have been criticizing Uber for having less-thorough background checks on its drivers than traditional taxi companies have, as Uber doesn’t check its drivers’ fingerprints.

This isn’t the only instance where regulators have the upper hand over the rideshare company.

On top of California’s recent legislation which required companies to treat rideshare drivers as employees rather than as independent contractors (making Uber provide health and other benefits on top of insurance for its drivers), New York has enacted a minimum wage for Uber drivers (which the company meets by raising prices for customers), and New Jersey’s labor department has claimed Uber misclassified drivers as independent contractors and recently sought over $640 million from the company.

Convoy Trucking Proving the Industry Must Adapt

December 18, 2019 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

2019 has been a tough one for the trucking industry. Through continuous storylines covering the driver shortage to serious concerns regarding the overall business prospects for trucking companies, the industry has truly been struggling. Despite all the noise, there have been several companies who have been able to cut through the tension and make a name for themselves. Recently, it was announced that Convoy, an on-demand digital trucking platform, has raised $400 million in funding, which will help it escalate its business model and bring it to market. What exactly is a digital trucking platform? For starters, Convoy’s intention is to cut shipping costs by creating a streamlined alternative to the large amount of wasted space that occurs in most long-haul trucks. The goal is to digitally connect shippers with trucking companies. Think Uber for truck drivers; something we have already seen in the market with Uber Freight.

While the news of Convoy’s new round of funding may not appear monumental, it really is a sign that the industry could seriously pivot within the next decade. For instance, back in August of 2019, The New York Times wrote a piece about Convoy’s emergence within the industry and had the opportunity to speak with Silpa Paul, a commercial vehicle analyst for Frost and Sullivan, a prominent research company specializing in consulting for companies. In that piece, The New York Times stated that “Ms. Paul estimated that services like Convoy’s were expected to grow rapidly, from posting $210 million in broker fees in North America in 2017 to $6.7 billion in 2025.” Further, Paul had determined that the streamlined efficiency would likely not bear on a loss of trucking jobs, because there was already such a severe shortage, as announced by the American Trucking Association. For an industry struggling as much as the trucking industry is, companies finding the potential to garner billions of dollars certainly provides a few bright spots.

Moving forward, Convoy understands that although it has produced the necessary funding to evolve its business model and become a national brand for many shippers, it also faces competition from the likes of Uber Freight. That’s why it is fascinating to see where this brand goes next. According to Tech Crunch, “the company launched in 2019 an automated reloads feature that allows truckers to book multiple loads at a time. It also added Convoy Go, which allows drivers to bring their truck cab and hook up to a trailer pre-filled with cargo.” These advancements are really where we will see how profitable and transformative these digital freight shipping apps will be. While long-haul freight is likely to be where the money is for Convoy, the reality is that there are drivers throughout the industry looking to independently move freight. Allowing for drivers to bring their truck cabs to pre-filled cargo shipments truly changes how the industry functions.

Changing Industry May Bring More Challenges than Previously Believed

There is much to be said about Convoy’s business model and how it; coupled with Uber Freight, will have a tremendous impact on the industry as a whole. Unfortunately, it seems to go unnoticed that some of Convoy’s investors happen to singlehandedly turn the industry on its head already. Currently, Jeff Bezos serves as a primary investor for the company, being that both Amazon and Convoy are located in the same city and largely have the ability to overlap their business models; it’s a genius move by the billionaire. Unfortunately, we have already written about how Amazon is threatening the industry by bringing its shipping and delivery in-house to save on costs. With Class 8 tractors now on the roads for the company, a start-up with the ability to handle the “spot market” with the click of a button seriously threatens small companies. Sure, there is already a driver shortage and Convoy argues that it won’t be taking jobs, but rather rendering shipping more efficient by ensuring that freight is carrying up to its capacity. The issue is that there are many small trucking companies throughout the United States and a majority of their business relies on the “spot market” to turn a profit. In 2019, the spot market has been down. Some may argue that these new apps will help alleviate this issue; however, the long-term ramifications due to who actually has a “say” within companies such as Convoy may present far more issues for the industry and its ability to support small and medium size trucking companies in the next decade.

FMCSA Plans to Delay Implementation of Entry-Level Driver Training Rule

December 17, 2019 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The Entry-Level Driver Training rule, which was originally set to be implemented on February 7th, 2020, will now be delayed another two years.

The ELDT will eventually mandate that commercial driver applicants finish a particular section of training (required in 49 CFR part 380) before obtaining a Class A or B commercial driver’s license, an upgrade to a class B or Class A CDL, or adding a hazardous materials (H), passenger (P), or school bus (S) endorsement.

This rule comes in response to the “Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act,” or MAP-21, a federal transportation reauthorization bill which plans to aid the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration in reducing crashes and injuries that involve large trucks and buses.

These changes are meant to further standardize driver training, as well as ensure school districts are complying with federal laws to keep students, staff, and other drivers safer on the road.

In a recent announcement of extension at the National Association of State Directors of Pupil Transportation Services conference, FMCSA Administrator Larry Minor explained that the new intended deadline to comply with MAP-21 regulations is now February 7th, 2022.

The official notice is “in the pipeline,” according to an anonymous DOT official. “The whole thing is going to be delayed. It’s mostly due to the failure of the states aligning their systems with the federal system.”

The formal announcement of the delay is expected by mid-December.

The delay is “disappointing,” says vice president of training program development for Instruction Technologies Inc., Laura McMillan. “Our reaction is that, my goodness, the industry has been waiting for standards and a professional-level curriculum for over 20 years. If this industry wants to raise the professional image of truck driving, it begins with how we educate new drivers and prepare them for the field.”

However, Don Lefeve, Commercial Vehicle Training Association President, remains optimistic.

“We do believe, based on conversations, that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety has a grasp of the problem, and we’re hopeful that they can implement it before the two-year delay period,” he said. “But we’re very disappointed that this is not going to be rolled out on time…There are still a lot of substandard programs that will remain in existence (until then).”

As of now, the ELDT has general training guidelines in place, but doesn’t quite specify how exactly to train drivers or even the number of training hours required. The overall intention is to standardize these topics at a national level in order to increase road safety.

The original implementation outline explained that ELDT would create a baseline for training requirements for new Class A and Class B CDL license holders, but changes would not apply to existing drivers. Any driver who was not changing their license or adding an endorsement, and who had completed training before February 7th, 2020, would be grandfathered into the rule and would not need to meet MAP-21 training baselines. After February 7th, new trainees would have needed to comply with the ELDT requirements.

Instructional Technologies Inc.’s McMillan, who has been working on an ELDT curriculum subcommittee, says the current system problems are not limited to the state’s individual regulations.

“The reality is that the training provider registry is not even available,” she explained. “It’s interesting that federal regulators would characterize that this is a state problem and that the states can’t comply when the federal system is not up and available. There seems to be a lack of ownership for this entire issue.”

McMillan also says schools and carriers were supposed to be able to self-certify by October 1st, but that registry, which was set to be the first aspect of completion for the required curriculum, is still not up and running.

Director of safety policy for American Trucking Associations, Dan Horvath, said he is not particularly surprised by any of this.

“We felt that to not delay the whole thing, to at least go forward with the requirements for training the driver [was something that] needed to go through,” he said. “We felt [that] that’s the whole point of the ELDT rule to begin with. We understand that the verification process on the back end would be a nuisance, but not enough to delay the whole rule. However, having said that, we did see that the majority of the comments on the delay were [saying] to delay the whole thing.”

Out of the 1,200 comments made on the rule over the summer, the majority of those who weighed in–comprised of people from state trucking associations, state police, state departments of motor vehicles, and school officials–wanted a delay of full compliance until 2022.

For example, the Minnesota Trucking Association said the rule should be postponed until all systems “from top to bottom” can fully comply with implementation.

“The MTA believes that partial implementation increases the odds for errors and unintentional non-compliance,” said the association. “Motor carriers are concerned that despite their best efforts to comply, state and federal information technology systems will miss information and place the carrier at risk.”

Growing Carriers Finally Switch to TMS Software

December 16, 2019 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Smaller trucking companies that are growing steadily are beginning to notice when they should start taking advantage of new management software.

For example, PVG Trucking out of North Carolina used simple Excel spreadsheets to organize its business for around eight years, and finally switched its management methods to an electronic transportation management system after its fleet grew to 28 trucks.

“It slowly became very cumbersome to keep track of all the different loads and accounting things and dispatches,” CEO Daniel Gusev said. “Consolidating everything into one software that did everything from invoicing to paying settlements and dispatching definitely saved time and manpower.”

The difficulty, however, is choosing the right system for your fleet, evaluating it properly, and putting it into place.

Because of this, a trucking company needs to have a solid strategic plan for its future growth as well as for its potential return on investment. Then, it can decide if and when implementing a new management system should happen.

“For smaller, emerging fleets, I think the two biggest challenges are cost and fear of change,” said director of sales and marketing for Transport Pro, Kelly Frederick. “If the fleet is not doing consistent volume and they don’t know what business looks like from one day to the next, cost can quickly become a barrier to entry.”

According to Gusev, who had his system supplied from Frederick, PVG slowly began utilizing the system, first implementing it into their dispatching methods and then into handling invoices.

The bottom line, though, is that it becomes more and more challenging to successfully operate an expanding trucking company with basic tools.

“It’s just obvious when you’re not meeting your customers’ needs [due to] a technological barrier,” said Ben Wiesen, president of Carrier Logistics. He said shippers will also tell carriers when a lack of technology is hindering business.

The move from simple methods to new technology often occurs once a company reaches from around 30 to 50 trucks in its fleet, according to senior director of product management for Trimble Transportation, Jay Delaney. However, “we’re seeing fleets of smaller size starting to make that jump,” he explained.

Delaney also said that smaller fleets that are seeing expansion are usually accustomed to handling business via phone call, but once contracts, mergers, and acquisitions start coming through, they consider bringing in management software.

“They can’t do it all on sticky notes and Excel spreadsheets,” said Rick Halbrooks, vice president of McLeod Software sales and marketing. “They can’t do it using Big Chief notepads.”

Additionally, as fleets grow and carriers look seriously into TMS implementations, they also need to think about the benefits of cost reductions. These savings that come from an increase in efficiency can be put right back into the company with more trucks, newer facilities, or lower and more competitive rates for customers.

But to make cost reductions possible, those seeking TMS choices for the first time should find some guidance. The capital investment involved with adopting one of these systems can be a struggle, but some vendors say finding a subscription-based service can alleviate some of those challenges.

Fully understanding how a system works can be extremely difficult “until you actually get in there and look at the screen and follow a transaction through its life cycle,” said Carrier Logistics’ Wiesen. “It’s easy to get very confused by the product offerings.”

Because of this, finding a reliable source to which a carrier can direct important questions is vital, according to Wiesen. A company should separate questions regarding what software does specifically, and evaluate every individual answer, he said. He also suggested a carrier hire a consultant to help with this analysis.

Many vendors say carriers should first look into the largest business aspects which they aim to manage with the software, regarding everything from dispatching to increased asset utilization.

The main goal should be to make sure “the higher-value areas are going to improve and automate,” said senior vice president of industry strategy for Descartes, Brian Hodgson. “There are a ton of a capabilities.”

One capability includes the configurability of assigning loads to specific drivers based on commodity or destination.

“Those are standard configurables in many TMS [systems],” said Hodgson. Customization, however, “can take you down a path…that’s expensive to implement from a software provider’s standpoint.”

All in all, once a carrier learns the ways a TMS automates tasks, operations staff will start to think differently about how they work.

“You can be more proactive,” said Trimble Transportation’s Delaney. ”When a driver is running three hours late, you can see that in the system and you can make an adjustment to save that load.”

He says this change in workers’ thinking will change overall behavior and maximize business potential.

Truck Driver Fitness Concerns are Now More Prevalent than Ever

December 12, 2019 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The Traditional trucker dish fries and gravy in Carnarvon Western Australia

Truck drivers in today’s industry often find themselves easily gaining weight, likely due to few opportunities to exercise and find healthy food options while sitting behind the wheel for hours on end.

Because of this, the obesity rates of truckers have been at least two times higher than those of the general population for the last nine years, according to the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health’s 2010 study.

Truckers who face obesity are also at a much higher risk of multiple health issues, including diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension, to name a few.

In response, a wellness movement has been increasing in momentum and is working toward improving truck driver health. The biggest obstacle, however, is educating and motivating drivers to strive for a healthier lifestyle, even while working.

Longhaul trucker Siphiwe Baleka, who has struggled with extreme weight gain himself, now owns a company called Fitness Trucking–a program which offers resources on driver health, as well as its own fitness regimes.

Baleka had been physically fit during his entire young adult life, and was even a world-class swimmer in his college years. The health risks of the industry took their toll on him, though, and he gained over 10% of his body weight within the first two months of his trucking career.

“It didn’t take a rocket scientist to see I could be 100 pounds overweight in three years; I didn’t want to end up like that.” Baleka said.

During his struggle, he attempted many different fitness plans, and when nothing worked, he began researching and developing his own methods–thus leading to what Fitness Trucking is today. Currently, the company’s most popular plan is its 13 Week Program.

“We teach the drivers how to turn their fat-burning system on before they start their [shifts] by doing a workout that is 15 minutes or less,” he explained. “[The workout] doesn’t require any equipment [and] can be done in the shower, inside or outside of the truck, or anywhere with two feet of space.”

In regards to food, drivers in the program maintain a nutrition log, but according to Baleka, drivers do not need to completely change their diets.

“We’ll show a driver how to keep eating at the truck stops and fast-food places, but make strategic and effective changes and substitutions to lose weight.”

The program lasts for 13 weeks of coaching until drivers are able to internalize the system’s values and develop lasting new health habits.

The program also offers the 4 Minute Fit technique, a method based on data showing that it only takes four minutes to get your natural fat-burning system working.

“[The objective] is to instill in the driver the habit of turning their metabolism on before they start driving and keeping it on while driving,” said Baleka. Then, after drivers’ metabolism is going strong, they need to eat protein every three hours.

In addition to online resources like this, truck stops are also currently working to provide better nutrition and movement options for the truckers who visit.

For example, TravelCenters of America has implemented its StayFit program for about a decade. The program offers 61 indoor fitness rooms, 171 walking-trail maps, and medical facilities at 24 locations, as well as basketball courts, beanbag toss games, and horseshoe pits. These resources are in place across 260 different locations.

“The drivers who are active love them. Some organize walks, some ride bikes, others use our facilities on a regular basis,” said Tom Liukus, senior vice president of marketing at TA. The company also marks 77 of its packaged goods with StayFit’s label.

Some on-site restaurants at truck stops have also been offering healthier items, and Love’s Travel Stops & Country Stores has been providing fresh fruit at its 500-plus stores in response to the movement.

“There is no question that drivers are looking for healthier choices and things they can take in the truck and eat easily,” said Whit Harson, senior manager of Love’s category management and deli. Love’s also offers fresh salads and protein-heavy to-go items now, as well.

“Not only is health and fitness an achievable goal for the truck driver population as a whole, we know exactly what to do and how to transform the industry already,” said Fitness Trucking’s Baleka. “We have to change the values of the drivers or increase how much they value their health and staying fit.”

NTSB Issues Safety Recommendations After Fatal Uber Automated Vehicle Crash

December 11, 2019 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The idea of self-driving vehicles has been in the works for many years, and has recently come into full fruition, with multiple manufacturing companies jumping on the futuristic trend.

However, federal regulators are now being pressured by the National Transportation Safety Board to put in place a new review process for automated test vehicles after an Uber automated test vehicle hit and killed a pedestrian.

Last year, the NTSB released its preliminary report regarding its investigation of the fatal crash, which occurred in Tempe, Arizona between a modified 2017 Volvo XC90–which was occupied by a single vehicle operator but was running on its computer-controlled self-driving system–and a pedestrian in March 2018.

While the vehicle operator wasn’t hurt, the 49-year-old female pedestrian suffered fatal injuries.

According to the report, the pedestrian was wearing dark-colored clothing, didn’t look toward the vehicle until the moment before the impact took place, and crossed the road in an area without direct lighting. The pedestrian was also pushing a bicycle that did not have side reflectors, although it did have a front and rear reflectors that were positioned perpendicular to the oncoming vehicle’s path. She also didn’t use the nearby crosswalk, but rather entered the road from a brick median. Additionally, the pedestrian’s post-accident toxicology test showed both methamphetamine and marijuana in her system.

As for the test vehicle, the report said Uber had equipped it with an in-development self-driving system that was comprised of forward- and side-facing cameras, radars, navigation sensors, Light Detection and Ranging, and a data storage unit. It was also factory-equipped with Volvo Cars’ driver assistance functions, such as collision avoidance with automatic emergency braking, driver alertness detection, and road sign information. These functions are only disabled when the test vehicle is in computer control mode.

The data from the self-driving system showed that the car’s vehicle operator intervened by grabbing the steering wheel less than a second before the impact, which occurred at 39 mph. The operator also began braking less than a second after the impact.

At 1.3 seconds before the impact, the self-driving system did determine emergency braking was needed, but these maneuvers are not enabled when the vehicle is being computer-controlled. The vehicle operator is expected to take action at the point, as to reduce the possibility for erratic vehicle movement. The system also does not alert the operator of the need for emergency braking.

During this month’s board meeting, which was held in order to determine the probable cause of the crash, the NTSB said an Uber division’s “inadequate safety culture” is what allowed the fatal collision to take place.

The NTSB found that the immediate cause of the collision was the Uber ATG operator’s failure to monitor the road and the automated driving system closely enough–which it says was due to the her being distracted during the trip by her cell phone.

The NTSB also says Uber ATG held inadequate safety and risk assessment procedures, had a lack of adequate mechanisms for addressing vehicle operators’ automation complacency, and gave an overall lack of oversight of its vehicle operators in general.

Here are the investigation’s findings:

-The automated driving system was able to detect the pedestrian a full 5.6 seconds before impact. The system did continue to track the pedestrian up until the crash, but was never able to accurately determine what the object crossing the road was, or what its path would most likely be.

-If the vehicle operator had been paying close attention, she would likely have had enough time to effectively react to the pedestrian and either mitigate the impact or avoid the crash completely.

-Uber ATG managers rarely actively monitored the behavior of their vehicle operators, although they had the opportunity to do so. This oversight was made worse by Uber’s decision not to include a second operator in the vehicle during this testing.

-Uber ATG added a safety management system, among other updates, to address the present deficiencies.

The NTSB made six total recommendations to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, the American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators, Uber ATG, and the state of Arizona–including that NHTSA requires developmental automated driving system test operators to submit safety self-assessment plans before they can begin operating on public roads. NHTSA will have to review these plans thoroughly to make sure all necessary safety precautions and standards are met.