Auto Industry

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.

Fall Brings Different Challenges to Illinois Drivers

November 4, 2019 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Fall in Chicagoland is an exciting time. The leaves begin to change, football seems to be on almost every day of the week, and it presents that brief period in the Midwest where its not too humid and there’s no sign of a snowstorm approaching. With that being said, there are some downsides that pose serious risks to drivers on the road. Not only does it get much darker outside, but potholes appear out of nowhere, and the roads are often slick. But one factor in particular may be overlooked for Cook County residents. As CBS 2 Chicago recently reported, Cook County experienced the most crashes involving deer in the entire state. Now, for many in the city this data may seem irrelevant as those residing in Chicago may not be commuting to surrounding suburbs. However, the reality is that Chicago has an incredibly diverse population and many large corporations that are headquartered in suburbs surrounding the city. And while some may believe that public transportation is the most common method of transportation for commuters, according to Money Crashers, it turns out that 77.6% of Chicago commuters drive cars, making them all the more likely to come across deer on the road.

In its report, CBS 2 stated that in 2018, “more than 40% of crashes involving deer occurred in October, November and December.” The obvious reason for these crash statistics is that deer mating season takes place during these months, making those dark, narrow roads in the suburbs all the more dangerous. On the other hand, it also comes down to a lack of awareness and knowledge of the dangers that driving at night and in certain parts of Cook County pose. 15,636 auto crashes took place in the state of Illinois in 2018, and eight of those were fatal. To place those numbers in comparison with other states, it’s important to note that Illinois does not even place in the top 10 for states where you are most likely to hit a deer on the road. For example, West Virginia, which has regularly taken the top spot for the state where drivers are most likely to be involved in a deer collision, had 25,176 collisions from June 2017 to July 2018. So why the sudden uptick in collisions for Illinois drivers? According to the Chicago Tribune, while rural areas in Illinois remain predominantly where the biggest risk of hitting these animals are, “deer are also seen in urban areas along highways . . . where deer have adapted to city and suburban environments.” This would certainly explain why Cook County ranks so high when it comes to collisions.

“Don’t Veer for Deer”

If worrying about colliding with deer on your morning and evening commutes isn’t enough to keep you motivated to stay alert of all the warning signs, keeping other drivers safe should. Although a deer may come out of nowhere and surprise you while driving, drivers have a responsibility to take reasonable precautions when driving where hazards like this are present. On top of the other dangers that Fall poses, the threat of deer in rural, and now urban areas, should force us to all be extra careful. As a way to prevent further injuries from occurring in a potential collision, CBS 2 was able to speak with Acting Illinois Transportation Secretary, Omer Osman. In discussing this issue Osman stated, “don’t veer for deer. While your first instinct when facing a deer in the headlights may be to swerve, doing so could cause you to lose control of the vehicle and increase the severity of a crash.” To further support these safety tips, the Illinois State Police has provided several tips for drivers in hopes of avoiding collisions:

Be aware of your surroundings and pay attention to deer crossing signs.
Scan the sides of the road for eye shine – the reflection of headlights in the eyes.
Slow down if you see deer. They travel in groups, so more are likely nearby.
Prepare for the unexpected. Deer can stop in the middle of the road or double back.
If a collision is inevitable, try to glance the vehicle off the deer and avoid swerving into the opposite lanes of traffic.

It goes without saying that as it gets darker outside, drivers need to take the necessary precautions to ensure their safety. In doing so, we all work to make the roads much safer.

As Labor Day Nears, Some Tips for Staying Safe and Avoiding the Dreaded Traffic

September 4, 2019 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Many throughout the United States will use the upcoming Labor Day Weekend to go on their last planned road trips and family outings prior to the holiday season. As we are all very much aware, Labor Day has a long history of being designated for such activities; one last opportunity to get out and enjoy the end of summer. However, with that excitement comes the downside of having to hit the road alongside what often seems like every other family in the city. As we would all like to believe that traveling over Labor Day Weekend will be a smooth and easy process, the reality is that Chicago has nearly three million residents and it will most certainly show this weekend. Not only will the traffic be far worse for those tempted to get out of the city and explore different parts of the region, but the drivers will be that much crazier and eager to get where they are going.

Similar to other summer holidays like Memorial Day and the Fourth of July, Labor Day has proven to be one of the riskiest times for a driver to be on the road. Ultimately, according to a survey of statistics available between 2011 and 2015, Value Penguin found Labor Day to be the second most dangerous holiday for drivers, with 308 fatal accidents per year. In comparison, the most dangerous holiday was found to be Memorial Day, which resulted in 312 accidents per year. To no one’s surprise, the cities that contributed the most to these alarming numbers were the likes of Houston and Los Angeles, where driving is essentially necessary anywhere you go. For a city like Chicago, where public transit is exceptional in terms of allowing residents to navigate downtown and the surrounding suburbs, this may not seem like as much of an issue; however, with so many people leaving and entering the city limits for their dose of late summer fun, the Illinois Tollway has stated that it now expects roughly 8 million vehicles to pass through the state freeway system, with around 2 million vehicles expected to be on the road on Friday. While those numbers seem almost comical, they present a harsh reality for those living in large metropolitan areas.

Patch Illinois recently wrote a piece on this same topic regarding the best and worst times to be on the roads for the upcoming weekend. The worst time to travel for drivers will be on Friday, August 30^th as most people use that day for travelling to their destinations and plan on doing so early in the morning. Unfortunately, the issue for those hoping to beat rush hour and leave early is that most people travelling are thinking of doing the exact same thing. To put it lightly, traffic will be bad, and it will cause some to drive dangerously. Fortunately, there are a variety of sources providing great tips on things drivers can do to make traveling during this time of the year much safer.

Staying Safe While Enjoying the Holiday

We all want to enjoy the extended weekend and while traffic certainly puts a damper on the experience, USA Today has provided several key tips that may help make your experience just a little better:

Staying Safe – USA states that “there are two major reasons for accidents on highways: losing concentration while driving and ignoring the risk of big trucks. While both factors are incredibly dangerous, the former poses even more risks to others on the roads. Many will be drinking and enjoying their extended weekend with family and friends, but it is necessary that you let others drive. Monitor yourself if you have been drinking and certainly don’t risk getting behind the wheel.
Getting Your Car in Shape – “A routine check of the engine, radiator and fluids will go a long way. Tires should be well inflated and wiper fluid should be replenished. Also, check that the steering wheel and brakes work properly.” Ensuring that your vehicle is running properly and is equipped with all the proper safety features and measures necessary to drive safely is essential. Not only will your drive be far more difficult if a mechanical issue occurs, but you become part of the problem when you are forced to pull over those three lanes of traffic in the middle of rush hour. Be sure to have your vehicle maintenance up to date and keep yourself going to your destination.
Avoiding the Madness – “The most important thing you can do is leave early. Take on the highways early Saturday morning or before rush hour on Friday. If you’re driving on Labor Day, follow the same rules. Most people will brave their return home in the early evening or late afternoon. Try getting to the highways before 4 p.m. or after 10 p.m. and you should be in much better shape.” Although we previously said that the traffic will be bad no matter what over the weekend, you really are putting yourself in a better situation as far as traffic and safety goes. City drivers are already notoriously “wild” in terms of following the laws of the road, the smaller number of drivers you can be around during one of the busiest traffic days of the year, the better.

Overall, we have a responsibility to keep ourselves and others safe, just like any other day of the year. Just know that there will be dangers out there and drivers will be incredibly eager to get to where they are going. Following these tips is just a start for making your Labor Day weekend that much better. Stay safe out there and enjoy the holiday!

Is The Truck Driver Shortage Making Our Roads Less Safe?

July 26, 2019 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

There aren’t enough truck drivers to fill the needs of the market. Back in 2015, the American Trucking Association, an industry advocacy group, published a report detailing the trucking and transport industry’s struggle to find enough drivers. The report found that the shortage reached 38,000 in 2014 and was expected to reach 48,000 by the end of 2015. By the end of 2018 the number jumped to 60,800, and it’s estimated to more than double over the next decade.

Why are there so few drivers?

There is more than one reason. There is an aging workforce. The industry is not attracting many women to enter the profession. Notably, there is a lack of qualified candidates for trucking companies to choose from.

Quality over quantity is the better way to go.

Professional truck drivers are held to a higher standard than other commuters. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSR) is a set of rules that apply to nearly everyone who operates a commercial motor vehicle. The FMCSR covers topics including driver qualifications, safety requirements, how many hours a driver can remain on duty, and the penalties for violating rules.

If a police officer pulls over a family car, there is no driver log inspection. A group of friends taking a cross country road trip will not be decommissioned for failing to show how many hours the current driver has been behind the wheel. Obtaining a commercial driver’s license (CDL) requires much more training than a regular driver’s license does. At a minimum, getting a CDL, requires getting a permit to train with a CDL holder and passing a skills test.

Behind all the news about a driver shortage, is a recent shift in how the United States tackles the issue itself. There has recently been a new focus on deregulating the trucking industry as the United States continues to find ways to make truck driving more alluring to newcomers. As we recently wrote, the FMCSA will likely be having its longstanding drive time rules deregulated as a way to not only place more money in the pockets of truck drivers, but to help drivers get to their destination much quicker. Unfortunately, it has been shown that acts such as this one actually do more harm than good. While it is great that drivers will be able to ship products at a quicker pace, it has actually been shown that leniency with these drive-time rules has a negative impact on overall crash-rates across the US.

While safety remains a serious concern, there are issues that must be addressed.

Trucking industry publication, Heavy Duty Trucking, recently wrote an article regarding the driver shortage. Within the piece, they were able to interview Bob Costello, the Chief Economist from the American Trucking Associations (ATA). In response to a recent report that Costello released regarding the driver shortage, he stated that “the shortage probably seems much worse to carriers because we’re only talking about the quantity of drivers and they [fleets] also have to be concerned with the quality of the drivers they hire.” And that alone is the crux of the issue at hand. At what point does the safety of drivers and those on the road take a back seat to ensure the industry does not falter as a whole?

There are options to delay the effects of the shortage.

While the government is now working to change the regulations revolving around drive-time for commercial drivers, this solution really doesn’t act as a solution at all. It places drivers at risk of increased fatigue instead. With that being said, Heavy Duty Trucking acknowledged that Costello did provide a list of solutions in his recent report that trucking companies may adopt as a way to counteract the estimated reduction of drivers in the industry:

Driver pay increases
More at-home time
Improved driver image
Better treatment and reduced wait times (at shippers)
Transitioning military personnel to truck driving
Lowering the age for interstate operation

Just like everything in life, there is no silver bullet solution to issues that affect everyone. While many may believe that such actions as deregulating current rules will help the industry be more appealing or increase driver pay, there are clearly pros and cons to that approach. It is up to companies to speak up and acknowledge that driver safety must be at the forefront of each of these decisions. If companies can begin understanding and trying to implement these potential solutions, it just may counteract the inevitable shortage in the industry and keep drivers far safer on the roads in the meantime.

Why Do So Many People Turn Left On Red?

July 23, 2019 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Left hand turns are among the most dangerous maneuvers a driver has to make. Turning left is also inefficient. UPS, the private shipping company, implemented a vehicle routing plan that almost entirely eliminates left turns for its delivery drivers. The company states on its website that cutting out left turns, “will result in a 100,000 metric ton reduction in CO2 emissions, equivalent to taking 21,000 passenger cars off the road.”

UPS says that this strategy saves them millions of dollars in fuel costs every year, too. There is also research that shows avoiding left turns can help regular motorists save on gas. The theory is that left turns cause more idling because drivers often have to wait at intersections before they can turn left safely or for traffic signals to allow them to go.

I know from personal experience that waiting in traffic is frustrating. I know this because I live near Chicago. One of the features of the city’s Northwest Suburbs is multi-lane streets where left turns are only allowed from designated turning lanes and on green arrows. “NO TURN ON RED,” is a sign that I see all over suburban intersections. When traffic is heavy, I end up having to wait two, sometimes even three traffic-light cycles before I am in a position to complete a legal left turn.

That long wait sometimes causes drivers to ignore the red arrow and try to squeeze in a left turn before the drivers that were waiting to go straight from the opposite side in the oncoming lanes start to move forward on their green light. This usually causes a backup because the cars that are trying to go straight are forced to wait while cars have cross in front of them on a red arrow.

This type of turn doesn’t only cause delays. It’s also very dangerous. For example, I was recently stopped at a red light on Higgins Road at an intersection in Schaumburg, IL. Cars from the opposite direction were turning left on a green arrow. Inevitably, maybe because traffic was on the heavier side, some impatient drivers decided they could make their left turn even after their green arrow turned red. As the cars in my lane started moving forward, everyone was forced to stop or slow down to avoid hitting a car that was trying to complete a left turn in front of them. The cars going straight were stopped so as not to hit the driver turning left and the car turning left was moving slowly because some cars, especially in the far-right lanes who may have not seen the person turning left against the light, were passing through the intersection.

What surprised me about this interaction was that the driver of the car turning left was expressing anger-filled gestures at the cars moving forward as she slowly passed in front of them. These were the cars that had a green light. The cars that were going straight on green did have a duty to avoid crashing into the person violating the law and turning left on red if they could, but this person was clearly in the wrong and did not have the right-of-way. This is my personal opinion, but I didn’t see the utility in an avoidable situation for getting angry at people who were following the rules.

There are two easy ways to avoid these kinds of scenarios:

Don’t turn on red – It’s better to have to wait longer at a light than to risk hurting yourself, someone else, and as a result, damaging property.
Avoid left turns – Apart from making your commute safer, you might also save money on gas and help the environment by idling less and reducing your car’s emissions.

I do want to add, that some newer cars cut the engine when stopped instead of idling. That technological development may have eliminated the efficiency problem of left turns for some vehicles. However, until we are all traveling in self driving cars, assuming that robots can eliminate all crashes or that they don’t turn against us (I may have watched too many movies), it is still safer to get where you’re going with all right turns where it’s reasonable to do so.

Why Trump’s auto plan is bad news for consumer protection laws

January 25, 2017 by Jay Stefani Leave a Comment

You don’t have to look far to see where this is going. On Tuesday President Trump met with leaders of the so-called Big Three to discuss the future of the American auto industry, and it appears the future doesn’t include the rights of the average American.

Sitting down with the CEOs of GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler, Trump implored the nation’s largest auto manufacturers to start building plants in the U.S. He also urged them to hire American workers. In exchange, he promised to cut taxes and ease governmental and environmental regulations, which he believes are strangleholds to homegrown companies looking to invest domestically.

On its face, Trump’s logic is flawed. Manufacturing is significantly cheaper when outsourced to places like Mexico, and as Kristin Dziczek, director of the industry, labor and economics group at the Center for Automotive Research, described to the Washington Post: “the big automakers make investments knowing they will outlive any single president, regardless of what policies or regulations are put in place.”

The irony then of Trump’s plan is that it’s more likely to hurt average Americans than help them. The trick is to read between the lines. Easing regulations is likely code for eliminating accountability, thus giving big companies like Ford, GM and Fiat Chrysler nearly unmitigated protection in the event of a lawsuit.

I’m talking, of course, about liability, “the state of being responsible for something, especially by law”: the GM ignition switch crisis, for example, or the Takata airbag debacle. If you’re looking for blatant obfuscation, Volkswagen recently paid record fines for implementing a system that skewed the results of emissions tests. Our associate attorney, Brett Manchel, briefly touched on the definition of limited liability in a post about Uber’s new Terms of Service agreement. It’s worth reading to give you another perspective of what I’m talking about.

Like all companies subject to consumer protection laws, GM, Takata and Volkswagen have paid handsomely for defects that have either killed someone, or in Volkswagen’s case, killed the environment. It’s a pittance in comparison to lives lost and damage inflicted.

But money is money and no one likes to lose it. If Trump gets his way, we’re approaching a crucial juncture that has the potential to do real damage to consumer protection laws, giving corporations even more advantages than they already have.

Yesterday the New York Times wrote that representatives of the Big Three expressed optimism at the idea of a “a renaissance in American manufacturing,” now coming off a record sales year in 2016. That optimism is likely tempered by the fact that the White House sees big business as victims rather than perpetrators.

One of the nice things about living in a developed nation like the U.S. is that you shouldn’t have to worry about food being safe to eat, water being safe to drink, products safe to use. The reason for that is because regulations are frequently nothing more than safety rules. In case you haven’t already noticed, Trump the businessman doesn’t see it that way.

Jay Stefani is a partner at Levinson and Stefani. Follow him on Twitter.