Category: Trucker News

Dozens of companies, from truckmakers like Daimler and Navistar to startups like Change and Embark-plus Uber’s Otto and Waymo, the erstwhile Google self-driving project-are pursuing what they believe is the next generation of trucking. Its business opportunity-and trucking is the physical embodiment of a thriving economy. Trucks moved more than 70% of all U.S. freight and generated $676 billion in revenue in 2016, according to the American Trucking Associations.

Some 33.8 million trucks were registered for business purposes in 2016. Almost 4 million of them were categorized Class 8, denoting the largest freight trucks. Without the trucking industry, the economy would screech to a standstill. The newest trucks on the road, such as those made by Volvo and Freightliner, employ driver assistance technologies similar to the adaptive cruise control and lane-keeping features found in modern passenger cars. The technologies make driving a truck less stressful, safer, and more fuel efficient.

Starsky Robotics CEO and co-founder Stefan Seltz-Axmacher believe trucking is on the verge of a radical change that hasn’t been seen since the industry was deregulated in 1980. “Autonomous trucks are going to be an even bigger change than that.” Seltz-Axmacher’s company, which is based in San Francisco, uses software, radar, and computer vision cameras to enable long-haul trucks to drive by themselves on the highway, then cede control to a remote operator to travel from exit to final destination.

In September, a Starsky Robotics truck drove 68 miles on a Florida highway with zero intervention by a human. Meanwhile, Nikola Motor is designing and building its own driverless, hydrogen fuel cell-powered Class 8 truck-“The iPhone of trucking,” says CEO Trevor Milton. So where does that leave a company like Daimler, whose first truck arrived at the market in 1896? In the embrace of the long view.

Daimler, which sells more than 400,000 trucks globally each year, is treading carefully as it brings technology to its commercial vehicles. Its $180,000 Semi promises up to 500 miles on single charge-four time the range of an electric truck that Daimler is developing.

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Some were skeptical of Tesla’s ability to break into the trucking industry. Sysco hopes the trucks will help the company save on fuel and maintenance costs and reduce its environmental footprint. While some had doubts about Tesla’s ability to break into the trucking industry before it introduced the Semi, early orders indicate Tesla may beat expectations.

DHL: The transportation and logistics company has reserved 10 Semis to add to its fleet. Ryder: The transportation company reserved an unspecified number of Semis in November. Hunt: The trucking company is set to purchase “Multiple” Semis, but hasn’t revealed the exact number. Flexport: Ryan Peterson, the freight company’s CEO, announced the company has ordered one Semi. JK Moving: The independent moving company has reserved four Semis. Loblaw: After ordering 25 Semis, the Canadian supermarket chain announced plans to make its trucking fleet 100% electric by 2030.

Fercam: Based in Italy, the trucking company has reserved a single Semi. Girteka Logistics: Not to be outdone by Fercam, the European transportation company also announced its plans to invest in one of Tesla’s electric trucks. Fortigo Freight Services: The Canadian logistics company reserved one Semi. Best Transportation: The shipping company also ordered one Semi. Mecca & Son Trucking: According to Jalopnik, this trucking company has reserved one Semi.

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Source:http://www.businessinsider.com/

HOLLYWOOD, Ala. – Trucking company owners and drivers got together in Jackson County Monday morning to protest congressionally mandated Electronic Logging Devices, set to go into effect in a few days. Darrell and Audrey Wright own a trucking company based out of Hollywood in Jackson County. “It’s really small, it’s only three trucks,” Audrey Wright said. Like many other companies and drivers across the nation, they’re directly impacted by a government-imposed mandate that says Electronic Logging Devices, or ELDs, need to be used by commercial drivers who are required to prepare hours-of-service records of duty status. Along with several others, they staged an event Monday morning to protest the mandate. It’s part of a nation-wide effort to raise awareness for the mandate and their concerns. The devices sync with a vehicle engine to automatically record data like driving time, location information, and miles. Information from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says the devices are meant to help create a safer work environment for drivers and make it easier and faster to accurately track, manage, and share records of duty status data.

The Wrights and other drivers say they have many concerns about the devices. Drivers can only work a certain number of hours a day, and the Wrights say the previous method of logging data was flexible with the inevitable traffic delays. They say the new device is not because of its continued monitoring. “It causes drivers to be more dangerous because they’re losing their driving time on these ELDs, and it’s causing them to cut other drivers off, speed through school zones.” “On paper logs, it costs eight dollars per truck per month to operate a truck on logs right now. It’s going to cost us an estimated 30 to 50 dollars extra per month per truck to operate on these things.” The drivers at the protest Monday say they feel the ELDs are hindering their day-to-day jobs. “Ask us our opinion. These people who are sitting in the office mandating this, they’re not in the trucks,” Audrey Wright said. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration says motor carriers and drivers subject to the ELD rule must start using ELDs by December 18 unless they are using a grandfathered Automatic Onboard Recording Device. The ELD mandate was phased in over the last two years.

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GERING – Nebraska Transport Company, founded in Gering in 1973, recently underwent a major change, but most people will see no differences. NTC owner Brent Holliday, the second generation of the family to operate the business, has sold the LTL small package delivery division to Cross Country Freight Solutions, a family-owned company out of Bismarck, North Dakota. Holliday and his son, Phillip, will retain ownership of the truckload portion of the business, which will operate under the name Twin City Cartage.

A new building is currently going up just west of the current NTC headquarters to serve as a terminal. Another part of the business they’ll keep is NTC Logistics, which Phillip is heading up. “In the old days, it was called a broker,” Holliday said. “If we can’t handle a specific load for a customer ourselves, we’ll take responsibility for the shipment and find an outside trucking firm that can make the delivery for us. It’s really freight management.” NTC’s service area includes eastern Colorado, all of Nebraska, eastern Wyoming, the northeastern corner of Kansas, western Missouri and parts of Iowa.

The purchase by Cross Country Freight Solutions doubles the company’s direct shipment coverage. Holliday said he wasn’t really thinking of selling any part of the business his father had started, but the call from Cross Country came “Out of the blue.” “I wasn’t that interested, but they asked to visit us and talk about it,” he said. “This company has been my identity for a lot of years so I wanted to be sure this was God’s will for my life and for the company.” He added that any possible sale had to be right for his family, as his wife, two children and their spouses, and a nephew all work for the company. “I wanted to know the new company would treat my employees well,” he said. “I have people who have worked here for 30 years.

Any business has to make money, but when we draw our last breath, it’s not about money but how we’ve treated our fellow human beings.” As a vice president, Holliday will continue working part-time for NTC, calling on major clients as needed and representing the company at industry meetings and shows. Cross Country Freight Solutions will keep the Nebraska Transport name and its familiar black and yellow color scheme. They also plan to keep all the current terminals open and keep most of the employees, including those in Gering. “This community was good to my dad as a one-man operation trying to make a living,” Holliday said.

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HARRISONBURG, VIRGINIA – A Mount Crawford based trucking company that formerly hauled United States mail and it holding company, as well as four of its most senior officers, the President, Vice-President, Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer, were all sentenced this week in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg for conspiring to commit federal crimes, United States Attorney Rick A. Mountcastle announced.They were also sentenced to pay approximately $1,000,000 in restitution to drivers who were defrauded of their pay.

Beam Holding previously pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in that the company knowingly and willfully defrauded its driver employees of almost $1,000,000 dollars of their pay. In specific, Beam Holding caused their driver-employees to falsify their time sheets so that they would report fewer hours worked than they actually worked in direct violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act and the McNamara-O’Hara Service Contract Act. Beam Trucking previously pled guilty to conspiracy to falsify safety records and pay records in that the company falsely reported the hours their truck driver employees worked and were on duty with intent to obstruct the government’s investigation.

In specific, Beam Trucking conspired to falsify drivers’ records of duty status and their time sheets. Beam Trucking and Beam Holding President, Gerald Wayne Beam and Vice President, Garland Crawford Beam were each sentenced to serve six months of home confinement followed by three years of supervised release. Beam Trucking Chief Operations Officer, Shaun Crawford Beam and Chief Financial Officer, Nickolas Gene Kozel were each sentenced to serve three months of home confinement followed by three years of supervised release. The FMCSA highway safety regulations are designed to protect the driving public and truck drivers from injury or death caused by truck crashes resulting from driver fatigue.

According to evidence presented during the sentencing hearings by Assistant United States Attorneys Stephen J. Pfleger and Christopher Kavanaugh, between 1999 and 2017 the leaders of the conspiracy, Gerald Wayne Beam, Garland Crawford Beam and Shaun Crawford Beam created routes and then instructed Beam Trucking drivers to drive routes that were grossly illegal. Beam Trucking drivers were instructed to drive routes that were so long that they barely got any sleep between trips for weeks at a time over a course of years. Drivers became so fatigued that they could hardly stay awake. Drivers were so fatigued that they barely avoided crashes when they momentarily fell asleep while driving trucks on public highways. One driver was so fatigued that he took drugs every few hours to stay awake. After three months of taking drugs, the driver found during one of his trips that he could no longer physically drive a truck and had to call for a medical rescue.

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Source:http://www.nbc29.com/

Clearing agents and freight forwarders have accused the foreign shipping companies of exploiting and extorting Nigerian importers through the introduction of arbitrary charges on a yearly basis. This is even as the agents expressed fear of a new shipping levy come 2018. Speaking with the Nigerian Tribune exclusively, a customs agent Izuchukwu Obasi, explained that some importers have joined the bandwagon and moved their cargoes to neighboring countries due to unnecessary shipping charges shipping lines slam on Nigerian bound cargoes. “According to Obasi,”In 2016, the shipping lines first came with a new charges called government and port taxes.

They were imposing the charges on importers, and many had no choice other than to pay, even though some of our clients complained to us. “The year is coming to a close now and the shipping lines are still collecting the PAD charges plus the 2016 government and port taxes, alongside other normal charges importers pay before 2016. Many importers are already looking at a new levy in 2018 because it is fast becoming a yearly ritual. New year comes with new shipping charges for Nigerian importers. The situation is that bad.”.

Also speaking with the Nigerian Tribune, the Spokesman of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents, Kayode Farinto confirmed that the PAD charges are still being collected. In his words, “Importers are still paying the levy and nobody seems to be talking about it again. We just hope the government does something about this.”

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Source: http://www.tribuneonlineng.com/

The group formerly known as the Blockchain in Trucking Alliance has expanded its mission and been renamed the Blockchain in Transport Alliance, reflecting its widened focus on all forms of transportation.

BiTA is dedicated to setting standards for blockchain applications developed for transportation. The alliance was formed by tech and transportation executives to create a forum for promotion and education, and to encourage development and adaptation of blockchain applications within the transportation and logistics industries. While initially focused on bringing blockchain technologies to trucking, the group includes several members that have business interests in several transportation modes, including air, maritime, intermodal, pipeline, and rail.

“These organizations wanted an organization to further their interests in blockchain standards, working on the same framework, regardless of mode.” BiTA has also opened offices in London and Singapore because of their importance in global transportation and commerce. Blockchain is a digital database using blocks of secure data that can be used to keep records of information or assets. “Expanding our focus and footprint is a reflection of a broader mission, but blockchain standards in trucking and road freight are still enormously important,” said Burruss.

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Source: https://globenewswire.com/

AUSTIN – Come mid-December, commercial truckers will be required to use a software system to log driving time, but despite claims that it will save lives, a Texas congressman wants to delay implementation. U.S. Rep. Brian Babin, R-Woodville, argues that implementing the Electronic Logging Device mandate will cost truckers $2 billion annually and that claims of increased safety are dubious. “Millions of hard-working American truckers, farmers and small businesses need you to take immediate and decisive action to protect them from a massive new regulation,” Babin wrote. “I request that you issue an executive order as soon as possible, instructing the Secretary of Transportation to provide an immediate waiver for all trucking sectors and operations subject to this mandate …”. At least one national organization – the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association – says small-business truckers shouldn’t be subject to buying the devices and wants a five-year exemption, but the man at the wheel of the Texas Trucking Association says it’s time to move ahead with the change.

“We don’t want the delay,” said John Esparza, president, and CEO of the TTA. “It’s too important not to work through this mess.” Commercial truckers are already required to record their driving hours on paper logs. Adrienne Gildea, deputy executive director of the not-for-profit Commercial Vehicle Safety Association, said that ELDs will cut down on cheating and reduce the number of tired truckers on the road. The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimates that drowsiness and/or fatigue are principal, causal factors in about 100,000 police-reported crashes each year. Truckers are responsible for about 135 of the 3,500 fatalities on Texas roads each year, Esparza said. Todd Spencer, executive vice president of the owner-operators organization – OOIDA – said in a recorded statement on the OOIDA website that the mandate “Is not about safety.” Esparza said the “Majority of those who are anti-ELD are those who are more upset with the current federal hours-of-service regulations for drivers.” Property-carrying drivers may drive a maximum of 11 hours after 10 consecutive hours off duty, according to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

They may not drive beyond the 14th consecutive hour after coming on duty, following 10 consecutive hours off duty. Chad Davis is safety manager at Fort Worth-based Raider Express, which runs about 250 trucks, most of which carry refrigerated food. The electronic devices only log information on driving hours that’s already federally mandated. Raider Express trucks already have ELDs and Davis said the company is “Happy” to have made the move. “There’s an awful lot less trying to fudge things and trying to bend the rules,” on driving hours by drivers, Davis said. The cost to install ELDs was “Just a couple of hundred dollars per truck,” Davis said, with objections coming mainly from older drivers, “Who put up quite a fight.” Gildea said that anyone who can use a smartphone can figure out how to use the ELD. Of course, Gildea said, “You’ve got a lot who are older, they’re still on those flip phones.” John Austin covers the Texas Statehouse for CNHI LLC’s newspapers and websites.

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