Trucking Industry

Driver Assistant Tech Finally Winning Most Truckers Over

June 27, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

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Truck drivers have had to adapt to more new onboard technology than ever in recent years, updates that originally saw a lot of hesitancy from the truckers themselves. Now, as drivers are more often seeing the benefits of technology like safety alert systems, they have embraced these changes.

Driver assistance systems (ADAS) tech has been able to help drivers avoid many kinds of crashes–whether they occur as a result of a driver’s own behavior or outside circumstances. Thousands of commercial vehicles are now equipped with such technology, which involves aspects like blind-spot detection and warning, rollover prevention, active braking, radar-enabled lane-keeping assist, variable-power-assisted steering, active radar-enabled forward collision mitigation, and side-of-truck displays made by video as opposed to having to use side mirrors.

Keeping up with these constant changes and upgrades has been tricky, explained executive vice president of TFI International, Greg Orr.

“Our drivers continue to adapt to new technology, which we support with training and education,” he explained. “It’s a process. You always have a break-in period and familiarity time, but once [drivers] get used to the technology, understand and incorporate it into their skill set, they realize it helps make them better. The majority would tell you that.”

Still, many drivers have maintained skepticism as more and more driver-assist tech comes into play, which Orr notes is really “rooted in experience.”

“For the driver,” he said, “any new system has to prove, without a doubt, two things: It does not diminish or get in the way of my ability to control and operate the truck, and it never fails or gives me false information.”

Because companies are doing more to educate drivers and are making an effort to keep this conversation ongoing, driver acceptance has become much easier, added Werner Enterprises‘ vice president of operations, Angelo Gibson.

“Adoption is quicker today than in years past,” he said, although “it still comes down to culture. Are we educating and talking about it the right way? That matters when you are trying to get driver buy-in.”

Because many drivers tend to be set in their ways, though, continuous feedback and testing is vital, Gibson explained.

“Again, there is a process you have to go through to get people comfortable with change,” he noted. “We do a really good job promoting [the advantages] and keeping things positive, educating on the benefits of the technology. That encourages buy-in.”

Additionally, ensuring that proper training is underway in regards to these new kinds of systems before they’re implemented is really the key in the success of their usage.

“We make sure, before we roll out any technology–whether retrofit or new–[that] we have a good training program to bring drivers up to speed on what it does and how it affects operating a truck, [as well as] what the signals mean.” said Old Dominion Freight Line’s president of safety and compliance, Sam Faucette. “Then, they learn what they can do in their driving to keep those [alerts] from happening.”

All trucks operated by ODFL have implemented active mitigation systems, Faucette said. For the company to secure its lowest accident rate to date in 2020, collision mitigation tech was the main contributing factor.

Interestingly, when younger truckers enter the industry, they are likely much more accepting of ADAS. For example, because they have spent a majority of their lives utilizing a variety of applications on their smartphones, they are much less concerned with additional applications utilized in a truck’s operating system. Additionally, the independence that truckers obtained in the business decades ago–that isn’t as prevalent now–isn’t as much of a concern for these younger drivers.

“Most of today’s young drivers have never experienced the freedom of truly driving a truck like it was 20 years ago,” Orr added. “They don’t have that frame of reference. They’re comfortable with technology, so having tech in the cab isn’t a big deal. In fact, it’s expected and almost universally embraced.”

Now, more drivers are understanding the overarching benefits of new technology implementation, especially when safety tech ends up helping to prevent an accident–or even exonerating a trucker from being at fault.

“We know that at least 80% of crashes involving [commercial trucks] are the other driver’s fault,” Werner’s vice president of safety and compliance, Jaime Maus, explained.

The Truck Driver Shortage–What is Really Going On?

June 26, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Truck or bus driver hands holding steering wheel and smoking cigarette in public places.

The truck driver shortage continues to run rampant throughout the United States, even making ATRI’s Most Wanted List of trucking industry concerns year after year. But, is this nationwide shortage really as prevalent as the industry says?

Sisu Energy out of Texas recently made headlines when it offered to pay truckers up to “$728,000 a year” due to the shortage being so pervasive.

“Those news stories flying around out there are very misleading and inaccurate,” said Sisu’s director of recruiting, Karrie Gundy, who noted that the company doesn’t even pay yearly salaries to truckers. In fact, Sisu hires independent contractors solely, meaning they get paid by the loads they haul and can only begin earning once they have the certifications, licensing, skills, and commercial truck needed to haul “frac sand” for the company. Still, the company maintains that productive truckers can eventually make $14,000 a week (although they have to cover their own insurance, fuel, equipment, and maintenance costs).

American Trucking Associations, along with other lobbying groups, have pushed the argument that the shortage of truck drivers has remained a major national issue for four decades now, but one may wonder how could such an employee shortage last so long? Has it really affected the average consumer? It is simple economics that when worker numbers are low, you need to raise wages to solve the problem. So, what’s really going on?

“In our type of economy, worker shortages are usually solved by employers paying higher wages to entice people to work for them,” said Levinson and Stefani’s Jay Stefani. “It is beyond believable that a driver shortage could last four decades without the trucking industry improving working conditions or paying fair wages.”

Groups like ATA have been claiming that relaxed regulations in the trucking industry would help to bring in more drivers, such as legislation like the DRIVE-Safe Act. This bill would allow drivers between 18- and 21-years-old to operate commercial trucks across state lines.

The trucking industry loves cheap labor, and has found ways to secure it for decades.

“The driver shortage has been a persistent issue in our industry for many years,” said ATA’s chief economist, Bob Costello. “We have numerous examples of fleets of all sizes raising pay, increasing bonuses, and increasing benefits–like time at home–in response to the shortage.”

The COVID-19 pandemic has worsened this shortage, Costello explained, noting that recent regulation changes, and even stricter truck driver drug testing, have added fuel to the fire.

The main area the shortage affects within the industry is within that of long-haul trucking as more of these truckers leave the industry or retire, according to ATA. The American Association of Motor Vehicle Administrators adds that while 450,000 new commercial driver’s licenses are issued each year, there are only currently between 300,000 and 500,000 long-haul truck drivers currently operating throughout the country.

“We have millions of people who have been trained to be heavy-duty truck drivers who are currently not working as heavy-duty truck drivers because the entry-level jobs are terrible,” said University of Pennsylvania sociologist and trucking industry expert, Steve Viscelli.

Millions of Americans have been drawn to the trucking industry, but the way in which large trucking companies operate causes these new truckers to give up quickly. The largest concern? Wages.

Although the median annual income of a truck driver is just over $47,000, long-haulers often operate their trucks for an excessive number of hours–around 70 hours a week, if not more. Additionally, truckers are usually only paid for the number of miles they drive–on average, 52.3 cents per mile.

If these truckers must slow down en route due to construction, traffic, or inclement weather, they do not get paid more. They also don’t receive more pay for the time it takes to load or unload their hauls, nor for their “off-duty” time while they’re on the road.

“Driving a truck–especially interstate–is a difficult and demanding job,” noted Stefani. “These folks work long hours at physically demanding jobs. They’re being pressured to drive more miles in less time and for less money. And if they don’t? The trucking companies threaten to hire someone who will. And weakening safety standards–such as allowing teenagers to obtain CDLs–only lowers the bar, allowing these motor carriers to pay even less.”

The issue at hand isn’t finding ways to make entering the trucking industry more enticing to younger drivers. The solution? Make trucking companies pay their drivers enough–or more than enough–to do this difficult job that is essential to the American economy.

New Partnerships Arise to Increase Sustainability Capabilities Throughout Trucking

June 25, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

We recently reported on Albertsons Cos. working with Volvo Trucks North America to complete the first ever zero-emission grocery chain delivery in the country when Albertsons used a Volvo VNR Electric truck to distribute goods to its hub in Irvine, California.

To do so, Albertsons also obtained Advanced Energy Machines electric-power transport refrigeration units, as well as its VNR Electric trucks through Volvo Financial Services.

These efforts come as part of the Volvo Low Impact Green Heavy Transport Solutions (LIGHTS) Project, an effort to create a strong ecosystem introducing electric trucks and battery-electric equipment widely into the North American transportation industry. The LIGHTS project is a partnership between VTNA, the South Coast Air Quality Management District, and a dozen other groups.

“Albertsons is providing a great example of how this type of technology can reduce emissions and provide a sustainable zero-emissions goods delivery option,” said South Coast AQMD governing board member, Lisa A. Bartlett.

Through Volvo Gold Contract service, Volvo LIGHTS project collaborator TEC Equipment will offer contracted repairs and maintenance for these vehicles at its Fontana, California location.

“Clean up on aisle everywhere,” said Volvo Trucks North America in a tweet. “Albertsons Companies is leading the way with the nation’s first 100% zero-emission refrigerated grocery delivery deploying two Volvo VNR Electric trucks, the first in their fleet.”

As part of California Climate Investments, the California Air Resources Board launched the Volvo LIGHTS project into fruition as a statewide effort. This initiative added billions of cap-and-trade dollars to help push for the reduction of all greenhouse gas emissions in the country, as well as to boost the health of the public, the environment, and the economy.

As of now, 1,400 Class 8 trucks are operated by Albertsons across the country and are all certified as meeting high transportation sustainability and efficiency standards under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency SmartWay program. Albertsons’ Southern California fleet consists entirely of VTNA-manufactured trucks and serves 335 store locations between the Central Coast and the Mexican border.

Also partnering in a plan for emissions-reduction are Penske Corporation and Shell Oil Co., who are now working together in a new effort to boost sustainability and decarbonization.

“NEWS: Shell and Penske announce strategic collaboration to help drive decarbonization and sustainability across sectors,” said Team Penske recently in a tweet.

Customers of the companies’ supply chains will now be granted access to a new integrated solution to lower carbon emissions, including within key supply chain aspects such as sustainable transportation routes, vehicle and fleet technologies, and warehouse facilities.

“Shell and Penske have a long history of working together across truck leasing, logistics, automotive retail, and motorsports,” explained Shell’s downstream director, Huibert Vigeveno. “Customers have many choices to make when navigating the challenges and opportunities of decarbonization. Our strategic collaboration will allow us to offer customers more options and integrated solutions for a smoother transition.”

This isn’t the first time Penske has worked with Shell, as Shell has previously delivered dealer site energy savings to Penske and is currently providing fast charging capabilities for Penske’s heavy-duty electric trucks. Additionally, Penske has, in the past, offered benefits in regards to optimization for Shell’s lubricant supply chain through outside logistics program services.

“Over 10 years ago, Shell and Penske [Corporation’s] Team Penske began a business-to-business, technical, and motorsports collaboration,” said Roger Penske, CEO of Penske Logistics. “Now, by combining Shell’s energy solutions with Penske Logistics and technology expertise, the companies aim to help customers achieve their sustainability goals faster and at a lower cost.”

Additionally, in collaborative efforts to reduce the NTT IndyCar Series’ overall Carbon footprint, Penske has upgraded many facilities to have more environmentally-friendly capabilities since acquiring the Indianapolis Motor Speedway last year. Shell Oil Co.’s subsidiary, Pennzoil-Quaker State Co., is now working with Penske to lower the race facility’s carbon footprint, and the groups are also certifying events as meeting green standards alongside the Council for Responsible Sport.

AI Helps Load Board Operators Speed Up Process

June 24, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

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Artificial intelligence, data analytics, and business-process automation are innovations being heavily utilized by logistics companies, technology vendors, and load board operators right now, as these methods have boosted freight matching capabilities and truck-to-load connectivity efficiency.

“I think it starts with the customer and really understanding their problems,” said DAT Freight & Analytics vice president of product, Nadya Duke Boone. “When they’re looking at that load, they actually have lots of different things in their heads that they’re trying to juggle. What we’re doing is bringing all that together in one streamlined way. I think that’s where the power of automation can really help if you do it right.”

According to Boone, DAT Book Now was one of her company’s methods for solving the issues customers face regularly and to help automate previously-manual processes.

For Truckstop.com, streamlining processes begins with determining what currently is working efficiently and what isn’t, and the company has been investing in technology teams to accurately make those decisions.

“How do we help them be more effective and efficient, and how do we get the work flows correct to provide them answers at the right time so they can make quick decisions?” asked Truckstop.com’s chief product officer, Brett Webb.

Also implementing automation in regards to business-process technology is Kenco Group, a logistics services provider.

“A couple of good examples where we got some traction are things like tracking and tracing,” said the company’s senior vice president of transportation, Mike McClelland.

Kenco has also been using process automation for its large online retailers wanting to integrate coordinating, warehousing, and appointment-setting services into their own fleets, as well as for its freight payment activity and other back-end processes.

“We are investing heavily in robotic process automation to eliminate any type of manual work, [and] any type of data entry that we’re having to redo in various systems,” said Kenco’s vice president of innovation, Kristi Montgomery.

Additionally, Kenco has been using DaVinci AI, a proprietary machine-learning AI system for service failure predictive analytics as well as for more accurately-estimated times of arrival. Other new technology utilized by Kenco includes Kenco STARR, a system launched in February to help smaller shippers with a TMS, HubTran for automated back-end processing, and a control tower capability system for its transportation branch.

“It is a marketplace, so you have to make sure demand and supply meet,” explained Uber Freight‘s head of product, Natarajan Subbiah. “Every time I’ve talked to someone in the logistics space and the shippers of the world, no one [has ever] said they have a lot of free time. So, this means that we have to make things super easy for them to basically improve their daily quality of life.”

Uber Freight has also launched a variety of tech-based AI solutions for supply chain members, especially to help make processes easier during the coronavirus era.

“It helped us weather through the market fluctuations, which we had quite a few [of] last year,” said Subbiah.

Additionally, Uber Freight’s pricing models have implemented data point-analyzing machine learning systems in order to instantly offer pricing for loads across their network. For larger customers to more easily gain access, Uber Freight also launched Uber Freight Link and Market Access.

“For those smaller shippers, we basically built a fully self-serve platform called the Shipper Platform that allows them to price and tender loads almost instantaneously,” Subbiah continued. “Because we price loads instantaneously, we make it super easy for shippers.”

Truckstop.com is also currently working on shifting its customer base to a new load search system, one that utilizes machine learning automation to predict more accurate rate estimates and ease the process of product freight matching.

For example, a ‘summary card’ was created by Webb and her team to work as a decision tree for carriers to more efficiently call a broker or book a load themselves.

“That is kind of the simplest part of that automation that we’ve been investing in, just keeping that user interface simple, streamlined, and with the right data at the right time,” she said.

First Zero-Emission Frozen Food Shipment Delivered by Albertsons and Volvo

June 21, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

What she’s referring to, of course, is Albertsons Cos.’ delivery of a refrigerated grocery load with zero tailpipe emissions. This is the first delivery of its kind in the United States and was accomplished by deploying an electric Volvo truck as well as an electric Advanced Energy Machines trailer.

“Clean up on aisle everywhere,” said Volvo Trucks North American in a tweet. “Albertsons Companies is leading the way with the nation’s first 100% zero-emission refrigerated grocery delivery deploying two Volvo VNR Electric trucks, the first in their fleet.”

Albertsons, America’s second-biggest grocery chain, obtained two Volvo VNR Electric trucks for its Irvine, California distribution center, and completed a zero-emissions frozen food delivery to an Irvine store on May 28th. According to local and state environmental regulators, this delivery shows the potential for electric trucks and other environmentally-friendly transportation equipment to become more widely commercialized and make a shift in the trucking industry for the better.

“As early adopters of leading-edge technology, Albertsons Cos. continues to pursue new delivery modes that will help reduce emissions,” explained vice president of transportation at Albertsons, Tim Burke.

Additionally, electric trucking capabilities “will also provide a better working environment for our drivers and grocery store staff,” he added.

Nonprofit Calstart CEO, John Boesel, chimed in, noting how many members of the freight industry can make the switch to zero tailpipe emissions–which has only been made easier with more green transportation equipment coming available than ever before.

“When you get a major OEM and a major fleet working together on an all-electric tractor-trailer rig, it sends a strong message that the technology is mature, reliable, and ready to go,” said Boesel. “I would expect that Albertsons’ competitors will pay attention and will not want to be left behind using yesterday’s technology that is leading to climate change.”

Volvo’s VNR Electric was launched into production at its New River Valley, Virginia factory in 2020, and the company continues moving forward in the electric truck game. As of now, Volvo has 100 trucks either ordered or already in operation throughout the county, and its VNR Electric capabilities are meant for heavy hauling through regional areas. VNR Electric currently has 455 horsepower, 4,051 pound-feet of torque, and a range of 150 miles.

As part of the Low Impact Green Heavy Transport Solutions (LIGHTS) Project, Albertsons acquired these trucks, and the company’s Southern California fleet only uses Volvo Trucks–covering 335 stores in the area.

The LIGHTS Project was created through partnerships between Volvo Trucks North America, South Coast AQMD, and a dozen other organizations through a $4.8 million grant given by the California Air Resources Board. Volvo Group contributed another $36.7 million and built 25 trucks for the project’s efforts.

“We are confident that the Volvo VNR Electric Albertsons is deploying in Southern California will enable the company to not only reduce its emissions, but to make reliable daily deliveries to its grocery stores throughout the region,” explained Peter Voorhoeve, President of VTNA.

Southern California–from ports in Los Angeles and Long Beach all the way to warehouses and distribution centers 70 miles to the east–has become a hub for electric truck testing. Right now, pre-production models of the Freightliner eCascadias (built by Daimler Trucks North America) are being tested by companies such as J.B. Hunt Transport Services Inc., Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings Inc., XPO Logistics, Ryder System Inc., U.S. Foods Inc., UPS Inc., and Schneider National Inc.

Volvo has also recently acquired its biggest order on electric trucks thus far from Quality Custom Distribution. QCD, a supplier of national food service logistics services, has leased 14 Volvo VNR Trucks solely for its delivery routes throughout Southern California and will begin to deploy these vehicles from its Fontana distribution center later in 2021.

“The experience gained from this program will help accelerate battery-electric truck adoption in QCD’s fleet, as well as other last-mile delivery fleets,” said QCD senior director of strategic procurement, Mike Douglas.

Obstacles Continue As Trucking Companies Work to Purge Banned Tech

June 20, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

All companies and truckers working in business with the federal government, through a provision in Section 889 of the 2019 fiscal defense authorization bill, must purge all implemented technology systems made by five specific Chinese technology providers that have recently been prohibited.

These five Chinese tech companies–Dahua Technology, Hikvision, Huawei Technologies Co., Hytera, and ZTE Corp., were found to be potential U.S. intelligence and defense agency information system hackers.

A majority of federal government-collaborating companies have been doing what they can to remove this technology from their fleets, but there has been a plethora of difficulties in accurately identifying the 300 different subsidiaries and affiliates of these Chinese companies that were originally identified by one particular data security branch.

The items that need immediate removal include: cell phones, computers, GPS products, cameras, computer routes, and other onboard truck technologies, and companies which don’t comply with the purge requirement may lose their government contracts.

“Part of the problem is that it’s not always crystal clear exactly what to do, or what products you have to avoid in order to be compliant,” noted a Scopelitis, Garvin, Light, Hanson & Feary P.C. transportation regulatory specialist.

Because identifying all particular aspects of technology needing purging isn’t as easy as it should be, trucking companies have had to use their own discernment to the best of their abilities.

“So, it becomes partly a matter of judgment,” the specialist continued. “It’s plain to say that carriers doing business with the government that I have spoken to have all taken substantial efforts to be in compliance.”

Indeed, industry executives have been working together to find the best ways to find the subsidiaries and affiliates of these Chinese technology companies, and the obstacles of such efforts were even recently discussed during a May freight conference, according to first vice chairman of ATA’s Government Freight Conference and president of Bennett Motor Express, Charles Phillips.

“It would be nice to have a government repository that would allow motor carriers to go into and see all the subsidiaries and other companies that carriers can’t buy from,” explained Phillips, who also noted that the current regulation does not explicitly outline the Chinese companies’ subsidiaries. “We talked about pursuing the government for a repository. It’s on our docket to work toward [this].”

In relation to the five Chinese companies, agentless device security platform Armis was able to find 291 specific affiliates when the regulation first came into effect.

“The release of the Federal Acquisition Regulation Ban 889 has impacted many organizations, gaining visibility at the board level,” said Armis in a statement. The company also explained that when the ban was first released, it identified two particularly pressing problems: How would trucking companies be able to efficiently find the devices affected by the mandate, and what was the best way of complying with the government’s request while also not hurting their business models and customer service capabilities?

“The biggest issue has been one of identification of devices across the entire enterprise, and this does include devices manufactured by the subsidiaries as well,” added Susan Torrey, a spokeswoman for Armis. “We at Armis performed a deeper analysis to gain a better understanding of the five vendors and also identified 291 subsidiaries as part of that research.”

It was also important to Armis to find ways of staying in communication about these efforts with their customers as much as possible.

“[Our analysis] includes having risk factors that can identify the specific manufacturers flagged by the U.S. government and alerting customers to their presence, so they can take appropriate action to remediate and demonstrate compliance,” said Torrey.

According to the National Defense Transportation Association, this regulation comes from the 2019 Worldwide Threat Assessment of the Intelligence Community and the U.S. National Counterintelligence and Security Center.

“Chinese intelligence and security services may use Chinese information technology firms and their equipment as routine and systemic espionage platforms,” said the association on its website. “The increasing reliance on foreign-owned or controlled equipment and services, and reliance on those that present national security concerns, creates vulnerabilities in U.S. supply chains.”