PrePass Customers Can Now Bypass Stations in the NorPass System

A new agreement allows drivers can carry just one transponder — NorPass or PrePass — because the devices are now fully interoperable. WSDOT will continue to sell transponders. Photo: WSDOT

A partnership with the Washington State Department of Transportation has allowed PrePass customers to bypass weigh stations that are part of the NorPass system.

The extended service adds 23 locations within Washington, Alaska, Connecticut, Idaho, New York, and South Dakota. The NorPass system is transponder based and operated by WSDOT on behalf of the other states.

PrePass provider Help Inc. worked on a cooperative agreement with WSDOT to ensure that the PrePass transponder will work with the NorPass system and won't require PrePass customers to use multiple devices. The new agreement means drivers can carry just one transponder — NorPass or PrePass — because the devices are now fully interoperable. WSDOT will continue to sell transponders.

“The goal is one transponder that will work everywhere,” said Anne Ford, WSDOT's commercial vehicle services administrator. “We are pleased our partnership with Help Inc. helps achieve that goal.”

Previously, truck drivers and fleets operating in Washington and other NorPass states purchased a transponder from WSDOT that also worked in several other jurisdictions. The WSDOT transponders could be added to the PrePass system if requested by the driver but general PrePass transponders could not communicate with WSDOT weigh stations, meaning some drivers had to carry two transponders.

“We are excited to be entering into this partnership with Washington to expand bypass opportunities for PrePass customers,” said Karen Rasmussen, president and CEO of HELP Inc. “Safe fleets and drivers appreciate the time and fuel savings of PrePass as well as opportunities for interoperability of their transponders.”

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How the Trump Tariffs Will Affect Fleets

Photo of Donald Trump via Gage Skidmore/Wikimedia.

President Donald Trump's executive order imposing tariffs on foreign steel and aluminum may translate to higher prices to commercial fleets for vehicles and truck or van equipment, fleet management company experts said.

Following Trump's March 8 executive order, tariffs of 25% on steel and 10% on aluminum imported into the U.S. go into effect 15 days later. Canada and Mexico will initially be exempted from the tariff, and other countries could be added later, according to reports.

Wall Street and automotive analysts have said the tariffs are likely to increase vehicle prices because manufacturers would pass along higher costs to customers.

"A likely result from these new steel and aluminum tariffs is that costs will increase throughout the supply chain, driven by higher raw material prices," said Charlie Chesbrough, senior economist for Cox Automotive. "With demand at high levels already, it's likely suppliers will pass their higher costs up the chain, and eventually to car buyers. Alternatively, suppliers may have to absorb the higher input prices by cutting their own costs — generally, neither outcome is good for the industry."

JPMorgan analyst Ryan Brinkman released a report saying the tariff would likely impact the earnings of Ford and General Motors, but he added that any rise in the prices of these materials would likely be absorbed by the manufacturers, reports CNN Money.

Equipment manufacturers such as Adrian Steel, Knapheide, Ranger Design, and others have begun using lighter-weight materials but still primarily offer steel-based shelving, ladder racks, and other equipment.

Whether fleets will pay more for their vehicles and auxiliary equipment remains to be seen, said Partha Ghosh, ARI's director of vehicle supply chain and remarketing.

"Depending on where OEMs and upfit vendors source their steel and aluminum, and how much of these materials they source from foreign producers, they ...Read the rest of this story

Hyliion HE Drive Axle Wins Technical Achievement Award

From left to right: Chris Langley, VP of Fleet Relations, Hyliion; Jim Park, award committee chair; and Thomas Healy, founder and CEO, Hyliion. Photo courtesy Jim Winsor Award committee

A powered auxiliary axle for road tractors from Hyliion has won the 2018 Jim Winsor Memorial Technical Achievement Award, the awards committee has announced.

Called 6x4HE, the fuel-saving electric drive-axle system was selected from five finalists by a panel of truck writers, and presented March 7, during the Technology & Maintenance Council's Annual Meeting in Atlanta, Ga. Heavy Duty Trucking magazine's Equipment Editor Jim Park is the award committee chairman. HDT Senior Editor Jack Roberts and Senior Contributing Editor Tom Berg were also members of the awards committee.

The award finalists were chosen by a group of 12 trade press editors, whose group was formerly the Truck Writers of North America's Technical Achievement Award committee. TWNA was officially disbanded in 2017, but its directors provided funding so the Technical Achievement Award can continue indefinitely. The writers renamed the award to honor Jim Winsor, whose journalism career spanned more than 50 years in service to the trucking industry. Winsor worked his way through college by driving cargo trucks and then served in the U.S. Army as a Transportation Corps lieutenant. He was active with the Truck Maintenance Committee, forerunner to today's TMC.

The Technical Achievement Award was first presented in 1992 by TWNA. To be eligible, a product or service has to show technical innovation, have a wide applicability and availability in trucking, and offer significant benefits.

The electric axle, when added to a truck or tractor, acts as a hybrid system, capturing braking energy and converting it to electricity, then uses that energy to help launch the vehicle and propel it up hills. This relieves the engine of some of its usual work, saving fuel. It ...Read the rest of this story