Trucking

User-Based Funding Projects Next in Line for FHWA Grants

June 1, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

Through the Surface Transportation System Funding Alternatives program, the Federal Highway Administration is awarding $18.7 million to eight user-based revenue testing projects.

The Surface Transportation System Funding Alternatives program was implemented by 2015’s Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. The focus of this program is to provide backing for states that are working on adopting user-based funding methods.

The newly-funded projects come at the hands of the transportation coalition and various state departments of transportation and their efforts to better evaluate road usage charges and mileage-based user fees.

One grant recipient was Ohio’s Department of Transportation, which will receive $2 million in funds to help with its efforts in creating a public-educating outreach program. This money is expected to help the agency collect the necessary data and find the best possible ways in which it can help more people fully understand road usage charges.

In regards to transportation funding in general, the Ohio General Assembly has requested that the Ohio Department of Transportation begin focusing on how best to take more of a vehicle-miles-traveled approach, according to ODOT’s spokesman, Matt Bruning.

“For decades, the preferred funding mechanism for roads and bridges has been through the motor fuel tax,” explained Bruning. “However, as vehicles become more fuel efficient, the revenue from this source hasn’t been keeping pace with the cost of maintaining our infrastructure.”

With all of the technological and fuel-efficient changes coming to transportation, these grants are set to help these agencies find the most efficient ways to keep up with the evolution of the industry.

“The funds will be used to educate, research, demonstrate need, and determine possible next steps forward,” Bruning added.

The projects that will receive the support they need from these funds are expected to help these states find the best ways in which they can boost the Highway Trust Fund, FHWA noted. For instance, the federal fuel tax has long-supported the Highway Trust Fund, although it has stayed at 18.4 cents a gallon for gasoline and 24.4 cents a gallon for diesel for the last 27 years. Now, applicants for these grants must prove their intentions to solve issues regarding the effects of user fees on people in various geographic regions or having varying household incomes.

As of now, $73.7 million has been awarded by the Surface Transportation System Funding Alternatives program to 37 different projects since 2016.

“The pilot projects under the STSFA program allow states to learn more about potential new user fees structures that can complement traditional funding sources that states rely on to build and improve the nation’s highway and bridge infrastructure,” explained Stephanie Pollack, acting Federal Highway Administrator.

Delaware’s Department of Transportation and the Eastern Transportation Coalition (formerly the I-95 Corridor Coalition) have been gearing up to test mileage-based user fees in places like Delaware, the District of Columbia, Maine, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, and Virginia. The District of Columbia and 17 other states have been collaborating within the Eastern Transportation Coalition to analyze mileage-based user fees possibilities through pilot programs, for which the groups will receive $4.67 million.

$3.25 million will be allocated to efforts spearheaded by the Kansas Department of Transportation and the Minnesota Department of Transportation, which are prioritizing the testing of road usage charge systems and their effects throughout the Midwest. This project will study the impacts of this kind of system in regards to supply chain operators and commercial freight haulers, as well as the effects within both agricultural and rural regions.

Additionally, because Utah’s Department of Transportation is working to boost customer service capabilities in regards to potential road usage charges, the state will receive $1.25 million. These efforts are aiming to bring about more supporters and improve public perception in regards to these kinds of policies.

“Customer experience is a key ingredient in advancing acceptance of road usage charge policies and systems,” explained the manager of UDOT’s Road Usage Charge Program, Tiffany Pocock. “Funding this application for customer experience improvements will help Utah grow its own program and provide much-needed best practice guidance to other states.”

Pre-Planning Efforts by Carriers in Place to Help Truck Parking Crisis

May 30, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

“With parking being as big a factor as it is, a successful driver can no longer simply leave out on a trip and decide last-minute [that] they are going to just pull in and park at a given location,” said Cargo Transporters vice president of safety, Shawn Brown.

Right now, the issue of parking availability for truck drivers is a continuous battle, and there have been no widespread solutions–including those in regards to infrastructure updates–to combat this frequent issue.

Because of this, trucking companies are having to go above and beyond what they should have to do to ensure their drivers can find places to park when it’s time for a driver to rest during a long-haul shipment. These methods include securing paid reservations for parking spots or even booking hotel rooms for a driver to be able to take a break, as well as utilizing real-time parking availability information within various technologies and implementing in-depth strategic planning that is mapped out far in advance of a driver’s trip.

”Careful planning needs to occur along with taking into account factors such as time of day, weather, traffic days, et cetera…that all in some way affect how a trip will play out, and therefore how satisfied a driver is,” Brown added.

2020 saw parking challenges increase as stay-at-home orders caused many states to shut down their public rest areas. According to the American Transportation Research Institute, parking for truck drivers became either “somewhat harder” or “much harder” once the pandemic was in full swing for 44% of respondents.

Now, truck parking is the number one overall concern for truckers across the nation.

“I think this peak in ranking is reflective of the continued frustration on the part of drivers who struggle to find a safe place to rest each day,” said Rebecca Brewster, President of ATRI.

This is an especially prevalent issue in some areas that are heavily populated–particularly during rush hour.

“We also see the I-95 corridor from the Virginia-North Carolina line all the way south to nearly the South Carolina line before you come to adequate truck parking,” said Cargo transporters’ Brown. “Many times, drivers will have ample drive time left on their clock, but due to this issue will have to take the opportunity to get parked early in the driving shift so as not to get stuck without parking when the driving hours are almost expired.”

Because of this, Cargo Transporters has found that it needs to plan ahead of time to contact customers and find out if parking is open on their property around the time the driver will be loading or unloading, and will stay in contact with drivers to make the best real-time decisions for their trips.

Luckily, truckers have been outsmarting parking shortage issues with the help of live parking data within certain kinds of technology. The Park My Truck app, developed by the Truck Parking Leadership Initiative, allows rest areas, truck stops, and other establishments to report the number of parking spots open on their properties in real time. The initiative was a collaborative effort by NATSO–a group representing operators of truck stops–along with ATRI and American Trucking Associations.

“Drivers can update [apps like these] to say spots are limited or there are a few spots left,” said Tim Chelette, a truck driver for Big G Express. “It saves you time.”

This is especially true on certain apps that update the platform with real-time parking updates from the public, like Trucker Path. This app has a network of 600,000 truckers adding live, updated parking information throughout the day in regards to 8,000 different locations so that truckers can easily find available parking.

Still, though, some parking reservations are only able to be held for a fee, but trucking companies will typically reimburse drivers for these costs.

“If a driver has to pay for parking, that’s just the way it is,” said Garth Pitzel, director of safety and driver development for Bison Transport. “Ultimately, first and foremost is ensuring the safety of our employees and contractors.”

One parking information app, TruckPark Inc., allows fleets and drivers to pay either on-demand or in advance for up to a 12-hour hold on a parking spot, which the platform reserves in collaboration with certain private businesses. Drivers can also pay for on-demand delivery of fuel for any location other than a designated truck stop.

“You could park at a hotel, rest stop, or shipper and we’re going to dispatch a truck to you,” said TruckPark’s CEO, Anthony Petitte.

Additionally, eight midwestern state Departments of Transportation–Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, And Wisconsin–are working together with the Mid America Association of State Transportation Officials within the Truck Parking Information and Management System initiative. This effort is the country’s first regional truck parking information system that allows users to access and share data in regards to common freight corridors.

43 sites across these states will begin collecting and releasing camera, video, and wireless puck data to detect the number of open parking spots multiple times a day. With a $25 million dollar grant in hand, this initiative will require all states involved to utilize the system until 2022, which will likely be extended.

“Now, [truckers] can know what is ahead of them and make better decisions on how much further they can drive before getting to a suitable parking location.” explained transportation planner for the Iowa Department of Transportation, Phil Mescher.

Lasting Changes May be a Result of Contactless Delivery Methods Brought About by Pandemic

May 24, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The pandemic has brought with it many changes across the trucking industry, from shut-down rest areas and shipping ports to changes in road safety and manufacturing capabilities–but one positive change has clearly been the speed and efficiency of contactless deliveries.

In early 2020, The Consumer Brands Association collaborated with carriers, truck manufacturers, and retailers to outline contactless delivery method standards and test their usability.

“The task forces put emphasis on documenting the underlying use cases, understanding current processes, talking about what the technology would enable going forward, and then laying out the standards and publishing that,” explained the vice president of supply chain at the Consumer Brands Association, Tom Madrecki. “This is where we think that contactless delivery is headed.”

The task force has worked diligently to put in place various pilot programs that allowed it to easily test specific contactless procedures, Madrecki said. Companies have also been able to implement many short-term contactless methods including social distancing and communicating to dockworkers from the cab. However, aspects like paperless technology may be key to a lasting contactless system.

“The open question is, ‘How do you scale new technology?’” Madrecki added. “How do you accelerate carrier adoption? How do you get the facilities on board? How do you ensure that if people have different technology solutions…they’re quickly adopting those, and…they’re all sort of similar?”

Still, though, contactless options have seen massive shifts even in the short amount of time since the pandemic began.

“I think, at the start of the pandemic, contactless pickup and delivery was really for the sake of social distancing and keeping drivers physically distant from warehouse employees, shipping clerks, and guards,” said Vector Logistics co-founder, Will Chu. Vector is a provider of logistics software to fleets. “There’s a lot of traffic, a lot of people moving in and out, and you think about distribution facilities and the number of people coming in–[they are] definitely hot spots for potential outbreaks.”

In particular, Chu said, paperless systems save companies a lot of time by reducing the travel time from the staging area to check-in and by diminishing lines that would grow at the entrance of facilities. This also allowed companies to gain more overall insight into how time can be much more easily managed.

“We’ve been able to reduce dwell times from 30% to 50%,” explained Chu. “We’re replacing a process that really involved a driver speaking to multiple people, getting in and out of their cab multiple times to get paperwork, to sign paperwork. They’re removing into a process where everything can be done from the comfort of their own cab, over a mobile app.”

These time-saving contactless procedures will likely be here for the long term, Chu added.

“The conversation has shifted from safety and social distancing to efficiency and visibility,” he said. “That has been the larger driver of process and business process change. You’re moving from a system where it was just a physical piece of paper to now a digital system.”

Although these changes have been a long time coming, it seems COVID-19 has forced them to finally come into play at warp-speed. Now, companies like XPO Logistics and Ryder System Inc. have boosted their contactless delivery methods by incorporating contactless customer interaction through procedures like synchronized e-signature capture.

“Contactless and electronic supply chains have been a growing necessity in the industry for many years, and the pandemic has accelerated the need to innovate and adapt quickly,” noted Coyote Logistics chief network solutions officer, Nick Shroeger. Coyote has been working with the CBA’s task force. “While many of the recent advancements in contactless technology have been rooted in creating safer operations and working conditions for members of the supply chain, there are additional benefits to these solutions.”

Those solutions include overall cost savings brought about by automating data storage and paperwork, decreasing dwell times, and allowing for the full reconciliation of deliveries, Shroeger explained. The improved efficiency from these changes is showing that they are likely to become a permanent part of the trucking world.

“There’s a lot of success, not only around keeping workers safe,” said Madrecki, “which is the original premise, of course, and [in] trying to minimize interaction, but there [are] actually a lot of documented cases of enhanced efficiency when it comes to the speed that a driver can get in and get out.”

Confidence Report Updates Show Truck Lightweighting Will Become More Common

May 23, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

A recently-updated confidence report from the North American Council for Freight Efficiency is predicting that North American Class 8 trucking will be undergoing much more lightweighting with the implementation of more and more electric trucks on America’s roadways.

Currently, many truck buyers have been shifting towards lightweighting incrementally while others may already require it, but, according to the Lightweighting Confidence Report’s updates, these efforts may begin increasing steadily.

“The key is that lightweighting is not a fuel economy option like it is in cars,” said Mike Roeth, Executive Director of NACFE. “It’s a payload play. It’s freight-ton-per-mile efficiency. Do enough of that, and you could have fewer trucks on the road, less congestion–that’s a good thing.”

However, fleets have to be diligent about when and how they begin the process of lightweighting their trucks.

“If a fleet spends money to lightweight but doesn’t get more freight, then [it has] lost money,” Roeth added.

The report noted, primarily, that freight is becoming denser, shippers are loading more pallets onto trailers, and overall tractor and trailer weights have been on steadily increasing.

On America’s roadways, a large majority of trucks are dry van units, which only travel at maximum weight 2% of the time due to goods filling out trailer volume before meeting maximum weight or because routes are not ideal for hauling a grossed-out trailer volume, according to the report.

Now, NACFE expects that shippers will begin asking fleets to have trucks loaded to maximum weight–80,000 pounds–on 20% of their shipments instead of just 10%. Maxed-out trucks currently make up only about one-tenth of big-rigs on the road. Therefore, shippers will likely request that dry van units boost their maximum load on 4% of their hauls, double from the current average of 2%.

Bulk haulers, or fleets that typically reach maximum weigh on most shipments, only make up about 2% of trucking overall, Roeth noted. If these haulers utilize technology that can help reduce their weight by 500 pounds, they could save around $5,500 upfront.

“A good metric for the value of lightweighting technologies is dollar of upfront cost per pound of weight saved,” the report said. “For example, average bulk carriers will pay $6 to $11 [per round] for a component that weighs less, reefer- or certain dry van- dedicated routes [is] $2 to $5, and general dry van freight is $0 to $2.”

Originally, when NACFE first released its report in 2015, it believed more fleets would be reaching maximum weight limits more often “because packaging would get denser, load matching and digital brokers [would] get more freight on trucks, and the trucks were getting heavier because of more emissions components and driver amenities and aerodynamic devices,” Roeth said. These added components have increased average weights by 1,000 pounds throughout the last ten years.

“That trend, we think, still exists, it’s just a little slower,” Roeth continued. “And the truck builders have done a pretty good job of lightweighting their [bases, standards, and] trucks to help with the extra weight they added through the 2000s.”

Since 2015, trucks have been able to drop five pounds of weight by installing steel and aluminum wheels, as well as utilizing new innovations regarding cab, mount, and frame structures, Roeth explained.

“These options are out there and the supply chain is kind of ready to build them when they have to, and we think it is going to happen over time,” said Roeth, who added that truck manufacturers may begin selling newer lightweight features that have been in the works.

Some obstacles regarding the industry’s ease into efficient lightweighting include the current shift from diesel-run trucks to those that are hydrogen-electric or battery-electric. For the same shipment, an electric truck can be 2,500 to 5,000 pounds heavier than a diesel truck.

Many may think that a viable option would be converting existing diesel trucks into ones running on electric batteries, but that would mean there would be “less [of an] opportunity to try to take that weight out…at least in the first generation,” Roeth noted.

Another caveat? According to Roeth, t’s still much easier to haul heavy freight with two trucks–keeping them both under weight limits–than trying to lightweight a large load with just one truck.

Independent Contractor Rule Changes Facing Delays–John Stefani Weighs In

May 22, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

The regulatory freeze that occurred in late January following the inauguration of President Biden has subsequently delayed the actions intended by the U.S. Department of Labor to modify the interpretation of an independent contractor working for a carrier.

This is a typical occurrence with the entrance of a new president as regulatory landscapes will undergo large changes every time a new administration takes office.

“When there is a change in administrations, it is standard to have a regulatory freeze so new agency staff have some time to review the issues at hand, and the review can delay or pause the regulatory process,” said American Trucking Associations vice president of safety policy, Daniel Horvath.

In February, the Department of Labor announced a two-month delay on the final rule that would revise its interpretation of an independent contractor’s status in regards to the Fair Labor Standards Act. The rule was initially planned to go into effect on March 9th, and the DOL said its purpose would be to “promote certainty for stakeholders, reduce litigation, and encourage innovation in the economy.”

For now, the DOL said it would be delaying the effective date for this revision until May 7th and accepted further public comment regarding this change through the month of February. It had also announced that it would be withdrawing its previous opinion letter stating that motor carriers could offer safety equipment and training to their independent contractors without causing any conflict in relation to their statuses and independent contractors.

The letter was retracted because it had been “based on a rule that had not gone into effect” and was “issued prematurely,” according to the Department of Labor’s Wage and Hour Division. If that rule does end up going through as originally intended, it would give a new federal standard to motor carriers, allowing them to decide whether a trucker is an independent contractor or an employee–which the DOL said would likely be more beneficial than California Assembly Bill 5 law’s ABC test that is currently used to make this determination.

As of right now, it is difficult to know whether or not the modification will continue on as planned, undergo further changes, or be dismissed altogether under the new administration, according to deputy general counsel for American Trucking Associations, Richard Pianka.

“I think there’s an expectation that the independent contractor rule will go away, one way or the other,” he said. “We certainly know there are a number of groups that were not happy about the [independent contractor] rule who are likely to be influential and will be urging this administration to undo it.”

Executive vice president of advocacy for ATA, Bill Sullivan, noted that ATA strongly supports this becoming a final rule. “This rule would provide a welcome step in the right direction, providing fleets and independent contractors with needed clarity,” he said.

Additionally, most public comments collected in regards to the rule changes were in favor of the new modifications, expressing their belief that it would boost work arrangement flexibility, clarity for workers, and business benefits.

However, some groups that have been looking critically into the consequences of allowing drivers to maintain their independent contractor statuses have concerns regarding the responsibilities and pressures that would fall onto the shoulders of these drivers as opposed to the companies for which they would be driving for–especially when the companies are typically the party with the resources to pay for damages and insurance costs in the event of an accident.

“If this rule goes into effect–shifting the legal burden from the large company to the independent driver–it’s all the more reason we need to see an increase in minimum insurance requirements,” said Levinson and Stefani’s John Stefani. “When something goes wrong and people are injured–or worse–the responsible party should have the means to compensate the victims.”

Additionally, when truckers are working as independent contractors, they may often feel the expectation to transport shipments as fast as they can, meaning that a driver may overlook his or her own health and safety to get the job done.

“The concept of an independent contractor–driver–is a bit trickier in the trucking industry because the reality is that these large companies are exerting a lot of pressure on the drivers to get the loads transported as quickly as possible,” Stefani explained. “And, as we’ve seen in many of our truck crash cases, those drivers react to that pressure by cutting corners, oftentimes staying on the road while fatigued or despite hazardous weather conditions.”

How the Pandemic has Shifted the Supply Chain – Part 2

May 21, 2021 by Levinson and Stefani Leave a Comment

We recently reported on some of the areas within the world of trucking that saw major, lasting changes due to the effects of the pandemic, such as the operations within state departments of transportation, road safety reports, and trucker advocacy and appreciation.

Another aspect of the industry that was highly affected–logistics. When companies focusing on logistics were able to implement data-driven technology and boost diversification, they were able to stay afloat much more easily during the COVID-19 era.

“Even if they themselves don’t necessarily have a diverse mix but they can figure out a way to flip [to a different type of load, and they] have the resourcefulness, they’ve been able to fare well,” explained Anne Reinke, President of the Transportation Intermediaries Association. “And some of our customers who can’t necessarily flip the switch have had a really tough time.”

At the beginning of the pandemic, logistics companies suffered large declines in volume, with some segments steadying much more quickly than others. Because much of the nation was adhering to shelter-in-place orders, the segments that thrived were those in alignment with what people needed at home, like grocery stores, Reinke explained.

“You’ve got to be nimble, fleet-footed, and try to broadcast your horizon–to the extent you can,” Reinke said. She also noted that some members of TIA kept in mind the mantra of: “We’ve got to focus on culture, we’ve got to focus on what we can control.”

Communicating with partners and customers was also much more beneficial when logistics companies worked to utilize the capabilities of data-focused tech.

“These companies that have invested in technological solutions to make themselves a difference-maker, to make [themselves] more predictive in terms of their carrier arrival times and their carrier relationships…Those are the ones that recognize how important it is to make those investments,” said Reinke.

Manufacturers comprised another group to make some key adjustments, especially while they were fighting for “essential” status at the start of the virus’ spread. Still, vehicle suppliers soldiered on regardless of any production delays or disruptions.

“HDMA member companies have adjusted to the pandemic with a keen focus on their workforces,” said Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association CEO, David Giroux. “It was critically important that our manufacturing sector was deemed ‘essential’ at both the state and federal levels. The designation allowed production to continue primarily without pause.”

One difficulty for manufacturers was the steeply-declining number of Class 8 vehicle sales, down to 191,900 in 2020 from 276,348 in 2019.

“We are now seeing the fragility of the supply chain as the shortages in the supply of goods from foreign ports and critically-important components like semiconductors and resins continue to cause headwinds,” said Giroux.

Additionally, administration operations and marketing techniques have undergone massive shifts, he added.

“Many trade shows, company events, and customer activities were dispatched to the virtual realm,” Giroux explained. “The return scenario is not yet in clear view.”

Finally, a sector of the transportation world that had to quickly change its operational systems–seaports.

Within a few weeks of the early days of the pandemic, the number of imported containers arriving in the United States from China dropped dramatically as sea shipments were canceled and the U.S.’s industrial capabilities began shutting down more and more.

Still, ports worked through these obstacles, proving their essential nature to the rest of the country, said Chris Connor, CEO of the American Association of Port Authorities.

“Throughout the global pandemic, America’s ports–in fact, ports throughout the Western Hemisphere–never stopped operating,” he said. “Port workers are clearly essential workers, ensuring the delivery of vital goods to grocery stores, businesses, and medical care facilities at major personal risk.”

Although some ports saw nearly a 25% drop in shipment volume during the pandemic’s first few months, most made extraordinarily strong comebacks by the summer following the boom of e-commerce, caused by a majority of Americans shopping online in lieu of heading to stores in-person.

“Countless millions of Americans were able to work from home with all the comforts of home at their disposal because the transportation system–with ports at the nexus–never paused,” Connor explained.