public safety

Trucking Companies Turn to Apps to Help Keep Employees Safe From COVID-19

January 9, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Modern technology has become a staple for trucking companies navigating the challenges of operating during the coronavirus pandemic–namely, software applications.

Specific apps have been helping employers and employees alike better understand the risks of COVID-19 that may occur while at work, and can also allow companies to track employee health, address fears around the virus, and help employers properly respond to a worker contracting the virus.

“While many communities across North America and the world are declaring a state of emergency and are mandating the closure of nonessential businesses, trucking logistics companies are continuing to deliver the goods that we rely on every single day,” said Geotab CEO, Neil Cawse.

Because truckers are still at the frontlines, coronavirus-focused trucking apps need to become readily available for workers across all trucking companies, especially apps with consistent updates on which areas are most affected.

“For instance, if the number of infected [people] has been going up in Charlotte, North Carolina, I might want to take a few extra precautions if I’m going there,” said trucker Todd McCann, who also noted that many truckers have been using word-of-mouth to share COVID-related updates within the industry.

“I work for an LTL company and we often have city drivers from all over the map drive our trucks while we are sleeping at the hotel,” he continued. “It would be extremely important to know if the driver who drove my truck that day showed symptoms of COVID-19.”

However, getting this kind of app usage to become widespread across trucking companies may be more difficult than one might think, McCann said.

“You’d be shocked [by] how many drivers out here are still rocking flip phones–seriously.”

Truck driver training firm CarriersEdge co-founder, Jane Jazrawy, agreed, also saying truckers must be able to stay in constant communication with their companies while on the road. Jazrawy believes the need for a workplace coronavirus management app is of the utmost importance right now.

“[Employees] need to be able to connect to someone at the office if they need help, and they need to know what resources they have if they have symptoms on the road or find themselves in a situation where there is potential exposure,” she explained.

To bring common usage of an app like this would require slow buy-ins and proper testing, though, Jazrawy said.

“The best way to make sure that any technology adoption is successful is through a pilot rollout,” she explained. “Choose a small group of drivers and ask them to be part of the test and ask them to use the system. Ask the drivers who you think will be the most resistant–if they are included in the decision process and they like it, it will be much easier to persuade others to adopt the technology. The pilot doesn’t have to take very long if you want to get started quickly.”

So far, bigger companies like Ryder System Inc. have been able to create their own custom company apps for purposes like these.

“Our approach has been to utilize our existing tools and data analytics capabilities, while augmenting with outside technology partners to solve for a particular use case,” said Ryder Supply Chain Solutions vice president of supply chain excellence, Gary Allen. “As an example, Ryder already has safety solutions–Internet of Things devices–to track personnel and material-handling equipment, and an analytics platform to monitor performance across our business. Our business analytics team built our own app to help with monitoring external hot spots, internal case status, attendance issues, and business interruptions across our Ryder network.”

Still, companies without the capacity for custom app creation can utilize already-made apps for protecting employees from the virus–some that only focus on workplace COVID contact tracing, and others with management solution tools to use during the pandemic. Some of these apps are (often free) software packages, and some are add-ons to other more extensive management packages.

For example, SafetyTek COVID-19 Workforce Health Analysis is a free, stand-alone tool with cloud-based software and the capacity to monitor at-work safety.

“We’re making this solution free because we strongly believe that every company should have access to all the tools available to ensure their team’s health and safety,” said Ryan Quiring, CEO of SafetyTek.

Employees can update their COVID status daily on the app, while companies can offer updated insight on work-from-home situations, human resources, and other safety information.

Kokomo24/7 COVID19Tracker is also free software that consists of a contact tracing tool allowing companies to track their employee’s health and to alert employees that may have recently been in contact with another worker who has contracted the virus. The software uses artificial intelligence to determine the probability of reported COVID cases that need “proactive intervention” from company officials or public health authorities.

Other apps include the stand-alone PwC Check-In and Apian Workforce Safety and Readiness, as well as add on modules like Ceridian Dayforce Employee Safety Monitoring and Pega COVID-19 Employee Safety and Business Continuity Tracker.

“Today, more than ever, it’s critical that employers prioritize employee wellness by engaging and caring for their people,” said Ceridian Chairman and CEO, David Ossip.

Safety Advocates Petition Against New HOS Rules

December 27, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Announced officially on May 14th, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration made a final ruling regarding hours-of-service regulations, bringing flexibility among its four revisions for truckers, such as relaxing current mandatory 30-minute rest breaks and sleeper berth time splits.

“Starting on September 29th, 2020, truck drivers subject to Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations (FMCSRs) will be required to comply with the revised hours-of-service regulations,” FMCSA said in a recent tweet.

The final rule was formally implemented in late September, and brings boosted flexibility to truck driver rest break rules by only requiring a break after eight hours of consecutive driving and permitting the break to consist of an “on-duty, not driving” status instead of the previously-necessary “off-duty” status. Drivers will also have changed short-haul exceptions by the expansion of a maximum on-duty driving period from 12 to 14 hours and the lengthening of the distance limit for operation from 100 air miles to 150 air miles.

The new rule also changes adverse driving condition regulations by stretching the maximum window of permitted driving in challenging conditions by two hours. It also allows drivers to divide their required 10 hours of off-duty time into two different possible split periods–an 8/2-hour split or a 7/3-hour split–neither of which would count against the trucker’s 14-hour driving window.

Now, three organizations, along with the Teamsters union, have decided to file a petition in federal court opposing these regulation changes.

The petitioners include the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, Citizens for Reliable and Safe Highways, and Parents Against Tired Truckers, along with the Teamsters. The groups filed the petition in mid-September in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

This legal action comes after the groups had a petition for reconsideration denied by the FMCSA, and now, the petitioners are requesting that the court reviews the final ruling as well as the denial of their petition to the agency.

“Because they’ve rejected that petition, now, we’ve filed a petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals in the D.C. Circuit–so, it’s kind of the next step in the process,” said general counsel for Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety, Peter Kurdock. “This is just the first step in a very long journey.”

Because the final rule was scheduled to be put into effect at the end of September, Kurdock knew early on that efforts of the petition would last longer than the date of implementation.

“This action that we’ve taken in filing the petition with the U.S. Court of Appeals is really not going to affect that date,” he explained. “This is a lengthy process. In all likelihood, the rule is going to go into effect at the end of September, and this process will continue after that date.”

The petitioning groups have made clear their beliefs that the regulation relaxations within this final rule will worsen the already-dire problems surrounding driver exhaustion.

“I fall asleep on the job, my head hits the keyboard,” said Cathy Chase, President of the Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety. “If a truck driver falls asleep, his [or] her head hits the windshield, and that’s only part of the catastrophic outcome. Allowing operators to work longer hours and drive farther distances without proper rest breaks and other protection ignores science, data, and expert opinion.”

It makes sense that many truckers would want the option of driving more hours, and that trucking companies are happy to push truckers’ abilities to their limits in order to meet higher demands–especially demands following the spike in food, household goods, PPE, and medical resource delivery orders that came with the pandemic. However, opposers of the new rule are certain that the industry is only catering to these desires to fulfill orders and remain profitable–rather than prioritizing roadway safety for all.

“By issuing this HOS regulation, FMCSA has bowed to special trucking industry interests at the expense of highway safety, seeking longer work days for drivers who are already being pushed to the limit,” said James Hoffa, General President of the Teamsters union. “We joining this lawsuit to ensure that our members and their families are protected from fatigued drivers when they use our nation’s highways.”

Trucking Companies Work to Help Victims of Hurricane Laura

November 29, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Fleets have banded together to bring aid to victims of Hurricane Laura since it first hit land at the end of August.

“Truckers have moved millions of meals, water, tarps, plastic sheeting, generators, fuel, and other items in support of response operations to both Texas and Louisiana,” said a Federal Emergency Management Agency spokesperson. “They have operated day and night to keep critical commodities flowing into the states.”

Louisiana, which suffered the worst damage, has been the focus of trucking companies transporting much-needed emergency supplies.

“I have family and friends who live in the west and southwest side of the state–the Lake Charles area and the DeRidder area,” said Frisard’s Trucking Co. Inc. chief operating officer, Cully Frisard. “Of course, we have drivers that live out in those areas as well that were impacted by the storm. It really did catastrophic damage.”

Frisard, based in Gramercy, Louisiana, began organizing a donation drive, but quickly realized there was much more work to do.

“I was out there, and a bunch of other family members were out there helping,” said Frisard. “I said, ‘We have to do more than this. This is not going to be enough.’ We turned around and partnered with the United Cajun Navy in Baton Rouge. We have since delivered a total of 10 loads.”

Back in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Frisard allocated seven of its trucks to help victims in the area along with the volunteer-based United Cajun Navy. For Hurricane Laura aid, Frisard noted any supplies that are donated should be sent directly to the United Cajun Navy. Frisard is also working with sheriff’s departments around the affected areas to find out what areas of relief need the most support.

“We have been hauling everything that has to do with relief,” said Frisard. “First-aid kits, water, nonperishable food items, tarps, and baby items such as formula, diapers, wipes, and hygiene items for men and women.”

Van Buren, Arkansas-based USA Truck has also been working with relief efforts and is hoping to be of the most help possible during this time.

“We’re teaming up with the United Way to provide a spot for donations,” said USA Truck assistant general counsel, Edwin Anglin. “We’re providing the drop-off location and then we’re providing transportation.”

USA Truck also set up donation collection locations in Fort Smith, Arkansas and in southwest Louisiana.

“Basically, what we’ve been hearing is that they need bottled water, Gatorade, sunscreen, cleaning materials,” said Anglin, also adding that first-aid kits, bug spray, and building materials were of high importance as well.

Anglin, who created United Way to jumpstart Hurricane Laura Relief efforts, said USA Truck is still accepting donations and began transporting supplies to affected areas the week of September 14th.

UPS Inc. has also been transporting supplies for multiple hurricane relief groups, and recently sent two truckloads of supplies to Louisiana for the American Red Cross. UPS’ fleet has also been helping The Salvation Army, ToolBank, and Good360, and has also collaborated with Coca Cola and Coyote Logistics for these efforts, as well.

“The UPS Foundation has moved 20 truckloads of relief materials to impacted areas near the Gulf Coast to help relief and recovery efforts,” said a UPS spokesperson. “Additionally, The UPS Foundation has provided $50,000 in grants for Hurricane Laura response and recovery efforts.”

UPS explained that two recent shipments held 606 rakes, 600 shovels, 600 tarps, 600 trash bags, 600 dust makes, 600 work gloves, 600 flashlights, 595 bottles of hand sanitizer, 584 storage totes, 576 clean-up kits, and 25 signs.

U.S. Xpress Enterprises has also been working with other organizations to get emergency supplies where they’re needed most, as quickly as possible.

“We’ve been working closely with our core strategic partners within our customer base to handle shipments of water, generators, batteries, and other essential relief items across a range of industries,” said U.S. Xpress chief revenue officer, Justin Harness. “With our dedicated accounts, we’re keeping essential shipments moving, helping to ensure shelves are stocked and businesses and families have the goods they need.”

Additionally, Bengal Transportation Services has been transporting food to the Lake Charles areas and has even held a cookout to feed relief workers, first responders, volunteers, and locals.

“We took several trucks from our own fleet to bring all of the supplies that we needed to cook that day, as well as other supplies,” said marketing manager for Bengal, Ashley Baham. “We had a refrigerated truck that housed the ice and chickens that is still down there. And we’re about to start a donation drive here.”

Communication and Collaboration Vital to Addressing Natural Disasters, Experts Say

November 15, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Communication needs strengthening between the transportation industry and emergency management agencies for effective natural disaster response, according to disaster preparedness experts. When Hurricane Laura hit the Gulf Coast this summer, it was clear that these partnerships were more vital than ever.

Tulane University professor of emergency and security studies, Robert Allen, said focusing on risk assessment of each emergency situation is key, as well as determining the availability of resources and teamwork.

“You look at what transportation infrastructure you have,” he explained. “You’ve got to have good knowledge of transportation routes.”

He also suggested fleets work with law enforcement and the U.S. National Guard to stay aware of any problems regarding route accessibility.

In late August, the National Hurricane Center reported that Hurricane Laura was headed across the Gulf of Mexico at winds of up to 125 miles per hour. The day before, the Center had reported Post-tropical Cyclone Marco moving along the coast of Louisiana at up to 30 miles per hour.

In response, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration sent out a regional emergency declaration to truckers working within Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas relief efforts. State officials in Texas, Mississippi, and Louisiana also issued their own states of emergency and disaster. FMCSA’s declaration gave exemption from Parts 390-299 of its Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations regarding hours of service, longer combination vehicles, and parts needed for safe operation.

Texas Trucking Association’s John Esparza said TTA has been working diligently with Federal Emergency Management Agency and Department of Homeland Security officials, port authorities, and members of the governor’s office for up-to-date safety information.

Ports in New Orleans and Houston were working toward potential closures before Hurricane Laura reached land, as storms can cause ships to disengage from their routes. Esparza said this communication with government officials was incredibly important during that time, as the Port of Houston processes almost 70% of Gulf Coast container traffic.

“With major weather events like hurricanes, freight movements tend to follow a common pattern,” said DAT Freight and Analytics in a tweet. “But, within that pattern, circumstances and freight flows change quickly.”

2017’s Hurricane Harvey brought with it many learning opportunities relating to emergency preparedness, Esparza explained.

“We’ve already been sending out information to our membership, should we find ourselves in the situation that we have experienced in the past,” he said. “We know it is great to identify and have a network of drivers ready. We learned before that even if you have 100 drivers that you identify, once the storm comes in, you might have 12 or 15 of them that are even available or able to assist.”

Still, current emergency practices are “night and day” when compared to those of 2005, said Allen, who worked with the United Nations Police and the Harbor Police Department aligned with the Port of New Orleans during that time. Hurricane Laura hit the coast around the 15th anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s arrival in 2005, and Allen said preparedness techniques are much more efficient now, especially when it comes to prepositioning supplies like water and ready-to-eat meals.

“My dad told me one time, ‘Sometimes when you tap somebody on the shoulder, you may not get their attention, but if you crack them in the head with a two-by-four, they’re going to listen,’” Allen said. “Katrina was a two-by-four, and we listened, and we learned a lot from it.”

One aspect of preparation that was definitely learned was building bridges of communication far in advance of any catastrophic event, said University of California-Berkely doctoral candidate in transportation engineering, Stephen Wong.

“Pick up a phone and make sure the supply chain network is good to go,” he said. “You don’t want to be exchanging business cards during a disaster. You want to be changing business cards before a disaster.”

Suppliers and agencies should also stay connected in order to ensure important items like personal protective equipment can be stored and contracts can be fulfilled when necessary, Wong explained.

“Build out infrastructure, partnerships, and storage for rapid relief,” he said.

Additionally, natural disasters should be looked at as recurring issues and not one-time events, said Louisiana State University engineering professor, Brian Wolshon.

“I believe these are still looked at as one-off events,” he said. “[Hurricane Laura] is not a one-off event. It’s going to probably happen next year, if not the year after. What there needs to be is kind of a more holistic, systematic approach, and it needs to be more mainstreamed into thinking for transportation.”

2020’s Safety Enforcement Event Brings 71,000 Warnings and Citations to Drivers

November 11, 2020 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

After last month’s Operation Safe Driver Week, rescheduled from earlier in the year due to the pandemic, inspectors, along with law enforcement, found at least 66,000 drivers operating with less-than-safe behavior across North American roadways.

The boosted enforcement event brought 71,000 warnings and citations issued to drivers between July 12th and 18th, and was Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance’s first safety enforcement campaign of 2020.

“Despite the challenges associated with the pandemic, 3,681 enforcement officers from 55 Canadian and U.S. jurisdictions interacting with 29,921 commercial motor vehicle drivers and 36,500 passenger vehicle drivers during this year’s special enforcement event,” said the CVSA.

The most common citations given to truckers specifically included: speeding and driving too fast for the conditions, failure to wear a seat belt while operating a commercial motor vehicle, failure to obey traffic control, texting or otherwise using a hand-held phone while driving, and improper lane change.

State and local driver violations were also given for certain observations made by officers during a traffic stop, like expired license plate tags, inoperative lamps, and mirror equipment violations.

In regard to speeding, which was the focus of this year’s efforts, inspectors gave 14,378 citations and 11,456 warnings to passenger vehicle drivers, and 2,339 citations and 3,423 warnings to commercial motor vehicle drivers. Therefore, 56.3% of all warnings and 50.2% of all citations given to commercial motor vehicle drivers were for speeding alone. This hyper-focused approach to speeding comes after 2017’s data showing one driver-related factor caused 32% of all large truck-related fatal crashes, and 54% of passenger vehicle-related fatal crashes.

The second-most identified traffic enforcement offense, failure to use a seat belt, accounted for 12.5% of all warnings and 21.4% of all citations. “Safety belt use remains one of the cheapest, easiest, and most important means to protect commercial motor vehicle drivers,” CVSA said. In 2017, 13% of big rig occupants in all fatal crashes failed to wear a safety belt, and 45% of those people were killed in the respective crash. Still, CVSA said overall seat belt use by CMV drivers continues to rise, with a record high of seat belt use rates for medium and heavy-duty trucks and buses found to be at 86%.

Thirdly, hand-held phone use made up 4.35% of all issued warnings and citations, and was the fourth-highest on the top violations list. “The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration restricts the use of all hand-held mobile devices by drivers of commercial motor vehicles,” CVSA noted. FMCSA has found that involvement in a crash or near-crash rises by six times as much for CMV drivers who use a hand-held mobile phone while driving as compared to those who don’t. “Penalties [of hand-held phone use] can be up to $2,750 for drivers and $11,000 for employers who allow or require drivers to use a hand-held communications device while driving,” CVSA said.

Additionally, even though CMV drivers are completely prohibited from using any hand-held communications device while operating their vehicles, it was the fourth-ranked citation for the truckers with 269 overall citations, while only ranking 12th for passenger vehicle drivers, with 58 citations.

According to CVSA, passenger vehicle drivers were cited for speeding more than six times as much as CMV drivers, and were given three times as many warnings and citations as CMV drivers for all infractions.

Because this safety enforcement effort took place in the midst of a national pandemic, CVSA found that nearly 700 fewer interactions occurred between law enforcement and CMV drivers than during the safety enforcement operation of 2019. Last year, officers issued more than 17,000 citations for speeding across North American highways, and 92% of those citations were given to passenger vehicle drivers alone. Officers also interacted with 30,619 drivers in July of 2019, and 29,921 this year.

“When commercial motor vehicles and passenger vehicles collide, no matter who was at fault, the results can be catastrophic, especially for the smaller and lighter passenger vehicle,” said John Samis, Delaware State Police sergeant and CVSA President. “Preventing crashes from happening requires every driver–commercial and personal–to be aware of how to safely share the road with other types of vehicles.”

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.