Trucking Technology

Automated Braking Requirement Could Be in the Works for Big Rigs

July 9, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

automobile mechanic checking truck in the garage, selective focus

A new proposal could be underway that would begin regulating automatic emergency braking system standards for heavy trucks and would likely require all big rigs to have this kind of technology implemented, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s recent announcement.

These plans would be put in place “over the next year and beyond,” said NHTSA in its mid-June release, which detailed its regulatory agenda for the coming months.

Automated braking systems or collision mitigation are technologies able to apply the brakes of a vehicle in a circumstance where a rear-end crash is probable and the driver has failed to brake or steer away. This is possible due to an alert triggered by the imminent danger through onboard forward-collision warning systems.

The agency is working to set forth a new NPRM on braking systems by April of 2022, following its petition for rule-making on automating braking systems in October of 2015. At that time, the proposal was unable to move forward while Trump was in office.

When the 2015 petition was initially approved by NHTSA, the agency noted that it had already been working on heavy vehicle forward collision avoidance research, as well as research into certain mitigation technologies, for a number of years.

The petition was submitted by groups like Road Safe America, the Center for Auto Safety, Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety and the Truck Safety Coalition. In its research, the agency studied via an ongoing production system field operational test, a driver-warning interface effectiveness evaluation, and first-generation system test track evaluations.

“Based on this research, the agency agrees with the petitioners that forward-collision avoidance and mitigation systems have the potential to save lives by preventing or reducing the severity of rear-end crashes,“ said NHTSA at the time of the petition.

The agency noted the potential to create safer roads–perhaps for the first time in several years–in its most recent announcement.

“Safety is the department’s North Star, and making our roads safer for all Americans is critical,” the agency explained. “The regulatory agenda reflects this–by proposing to make safety technologies like automatic emergency braking standard, to ensure better data collection for autonomous vehicle technology deployments to enable safe innovation, and to update our roadway design and operational practices for the first time in a decade.”

The agency has indeed been researching mitigation technology and forward-collision avoidance on big rigs for many years, the regulatory agenda added. These technologies include both automatic emergency braking system technology and forward-collision warning technology.

“We were excited because, within six months, [NHTSA] granted our petition,” said Road Safe America co-founder Steve Owings in regards to the petition of October 2015. “That was lightning speed for that organization. But, here we are, six years later.”

The NHTSA was put under pressure in early June to create a requirement for commercial motor vehicles to have speed-limiting technology implemented onboard that would include automatic emergency braking systems and set a truck’s maximum speed to 65 miles per hour or 70 miles per hour along with adaptive cruise control. The requirement comes from the Cullum Owings Large Truck Safe Operating Speed Act, named for a young man who was killed on the road when his vehicle was struck by a commercial truck operating on cruise control. The bipartisan act was introduced by Representatives Lucy McBath of Georgia and John Katko of New York, and has received backing from the American Trucking Associations.

Additionally, a new website was recently launched by the agency to streamline the process of providing it with whistleblower information for dealerships, part suppliers, and all motor vehicle manufacturer employees or contractors. Those wishing to share this kind of information with the agency can now find easier methods of doing so on the new webpage, which will help them understand how they should provide certain information and what information is actually important to disclose.

Because there is such an “important role whistleblowers can play in enhancing the safety of the nation’s roadways,” NHTSA explained that it has realized how necessary it is to finally make this system much more easily accessible.

Information About Truck Parking Needs Huge Boost, According to ATRI

July 7, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

According to recent research released by the American Transportation Research Institute, accuracy and thorough standardization will make or break efforts to help ease the current truck parking capacity challenges taking place throughout the United States.

The study, which focused on a survey of 1,103 truckers, analyzed perspectives from truck drivers themselves in regards to truck parking information system capabilities. The research also looked into data collected from cross-tabulates within a variety of trucker experience levels, age groups, and sectors. Additionally, the study analyzed how parking information systems are currently utilized by truck drivers and how these drivers perceive the ways in which parking availability data is released.

Of the survey’s participants, one-third noted that to help them find parking availability, they often use both message signs and trucking parking apps. However, ATRI explained that both of these methods have caveats and limitations in regards to quickly and easily finding parking can be. For example, with an app, a truck driver must typically be parked or pulled over to use it in order to find a parking spot due to federal regulations regarding using a cell phone while driving. As of now, many state departments of transportation are looking into boosted trucking parking initiatives that would likely use entrance and exit sensors to indicate when parking is available, among other technologies.

From state-to-state, though, many programs’ methods of collecting and releasing parking information varies, ATRI noted.

“Until we get an infrastructure bill that dramatically increases capacity, the next best thing we have are truck parking information system apps,” said Dan Murray, Senior Vice President of ATRI. “One of the biggest messages that this research conveys is that there’s a lot of complexity and confusion out there.”

Murray also noted that it can be difficult for a trucker to have to use multiple apps in order to find an open spot quickly.

“There’s nearly half a dozen apps available,” he said. “Many drivers are using [from] many [of them] to all of them concurrently. That sort of confusion will pretty much serve to drive people away from these systems rather than towards them.”

According to the survey, long haul truck drivers were the most likely to use smartphone-based truck parking apps, with young people also being the most frequent users–68.7% of truckers under the age of 45 said they often use these kinds of apps. This may indicate that younger drivers are much more comfortable using phone-based tech on the job, or that older truck drivers are more familiar with their routes and where to find parking in a pinch.

Additionally, over half of survey participants noted that they usually will ignore message sign information in regards to parking availability, which shows a lack of faith in the accuracy of this posted information–deeming parking space monitoring system accuracy an important piece of solving the parking availability concern, ATRI said. A push notification method of reaching truckers could be a solution, though, as this kind of automated alert would reduce potential distraction for drivers and help them use their phone less while looking for parking, while still notifying them of important parking-related information.

“This is sort of a win-win for everybody,” Murray explained. “The driver is not distracted, [he] gets real-time information and you’re letting him know what he needs to know without him having to actively search out the information.”

ATRI plans to collaborate with Natso, a truck stop association, during the next phase of its research around this issue. It will also work alongside truck driver groups, tech vendors, and state departments of transportation in order to find the best methods of regulating and standardizing truck parking information systems throughout the United States.

“This new research on driver issues and preferences toward truck parking information systems is hopefully a first step in developing a national driver-centric system, built on clear standards and approaches,” said American Trucking Associations’ America’s Road Team captain and Werner Enterprises driver, Bill Hambrick.

Because the truck parking information systems and technologies being developed and utilized in the public sector vary so often and implement differing information distribution methods, ATRI and its Research Advisory Committee have conceptualized their research into this pressing issue. Truck parking availability continues to be a major concern for the trucking industry as a whole, and currently ranks as number 3 on ATRI’s list of Top Industry Issues.

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.

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.

Electric Vehicle-Related Infrastructure Becomes Priority Across America

June 24, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Local and regional agencies have been working to promote and implement commercial electric vehicle infrastructure, according to experts at a recent North American Council for Freight Efficiency workshop discussion. These efforts come as Congress is also working toward proposals for national electric vehicle charging infrastructure–which is also part of President Biden’s current American Jobs Plan.

“There are lots of different options for how these vehicles will be charged,” said Rocky Mountain Institute’s Carbon-Free Mobility program senior associate, Jessie Lund. “I will note: [Almost] all of the charging we are seeing, with a couple of exceptions, is fleet depot-based charging.”

For this kind of charging, sites could include areas like truck stops, rest areas on toll roads, interstate rest areas, warehouses, stores, shared-card-lock locations, or ports.

“There is a whole plethora of options,” Lund added. “Some may have some challenges, such as interstate rest areas where it’s illegal to do commerce. So that is probably not a great option for the near-term future.”

If three particular conditions are met, some trucking industry experts believe that electric vehicle deployment for commercial fleets will grow rapidly. These conditions include the accessibility of charging for the public, electric grid resiliency that can handle more demand, and overall truck availability in regards to a positive total cost of ownership.

“Truck OEMs are responsible for the trucks and the servicing, and are addressing this with technological innovation,” said Daimler Trucks North America’s vice president of product compliance, Sean Waters.

In it’s recently-released top research priorities list for 2021, the American Transportation Research Institute included an industry-wide focus on electric truck deployment and the attention needed for infrastructure capabilities and updates to accommodate it.

“Incentives, like Section 45 in the Clean Energy for America Act, also are critical to spur the early adoption of zero-emission vehicles,” added Waters. “Similarly, to support a nationwide charging infrastructure, a vast coalition of players will need to participate in order to identify where to place charging infrastructure, ensure common standards and resiliency, and to help fund its creation.

To help this move forward in the way it should, federal backing is a must, he added.

“The federal government’s support for all of the above will be required in order to create a universally accessible, cohesive, [and] nationwide experience viable for the nation’s fleets,” said Waters.

Commercial truckers would be granted a 30% credit for their electric vehicle purchase through Section 45 in the Clean Energy for America Act, and such credits would last until electric vehicles are determined to comprise more than half of all vehicle sales each year.

Non-profit organization Calstart, which works toward clean transportation technology expansion, has been collaborating with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to evaluate nearly 150 sites along Interstate 5 down the West Coast for potential infrastructure for alternative fuel methods. As of now, this evaluation includes 62 sites for depot and public charging infrastructure.

“We are going to need not only partner collaboration, but also finding resources to really support being able to build out that infrastructure,” said Calstart’s senior director of clean fuels and infrastructure, Alycia Gilde.

Calstart has also been working toward analyzing what is needed for an efficient EV Infrastructure electric grid to exist along that corridor.

“We wanted to understand, where do we anticipate the transition to zero-emission vehicles, the traffic, and throughput in terms of where we should be prioritizing infrastructure?” said Gilde. “For example, at truck stops…and then understanding what is the current load, and what additional load do we need in order to support electrification along I-5?”

According to Gilde, 27 sites will be able to be planned for medium-duty charging along the interstate corridor, and then eventually placed at every other site location for heavy-duty truck charging.

Natso, a truck stop- and travel plaza-representing trade group, is also aiming to boost electric vehicle charging station numbers across the country through National Highway Charging Collaborative group efforts.

“We have the real estate and the amenities,” said Natso’s vice president of government relations, David Fialkov. “We know what drivers want.”

Fialkov added that Natso and its industry are ready to collaborate with Congress, the utility sector, and state and local governments to push forward these innovative efforts.

“Utilities are enthusiastic about these projects,” added Peter Thomas, commercial business deployment manager at Electrify Commercial, a company which customizes programs for electric vehicle charging.

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.