Valhalla Rising With Volvo Trucks

A glimpse of Volvo's work on future transportation technology is apparent in this model of an autonomous concept truck on display at the company's Customer Center in Dublin, VA. Photo: Jack Roberts

If I could take a time machine and travel back to visit my ancestors running around in Wales, in the British Isles, a thousand or so years ago, at some point I suspect they would get around to telling me what a major buzzkill it was to see a bunch of Scandinavians – Vikings, they would have called them – showing up on their doorstep.

Vikings, they would no doubt warn me, are violent, reckless, boastful braggarts, always going on about their great deeds in their Sagas, and primarily interested in burning, pillaging and stealing anything they could get their hands on.

The facts are much more nuanced, of course. Given my family history, I seriously doubt my forbearers were up to much good themselves back then, and probably didn't have a whole lot of room to talk. But they would still be aghast to learn that historians today consider the Viking's contribution to world history to be far more important than the occasional ransacked village. And despite the contemporary charges of heathenism and debauchery, the Norsemen were also skilled engineers whose long boats were wonders of the age.

Whatever anybody thinks about the Vikings today, it does seem they did get all the violence and boasting out of their system after terrorizing my ancestors all those years ago. The Scandinavians today are quiet, well-mannered and modest about their accomplishments.

If you visit Volvo Trucks, either here in the States, or in Europe, you see that reserved Swedish pragmatism on display as well. The engineering heritage pioneered a millennia ago by their ancestors is very much alive and well in the cutting edge ...Read the rest of this story

White House: Sen. Schumer is weaponizing Senate procedure…

At the daily press briefing, Marc Short, White House director of legislative affairs, speaks to the press about the process of approving presidential nominees.

Scania Inks Historic Platooning Agreement

Scania cabover tractor-trailers conduct a platooning test on a track in Europe. Photo: Scania

Swedish truck maker Scania has finalized a deal with a Finnish fleet to begin testing platooning technology on Scandinavian highways, the company has announced.

Scania is owned by Volkswagen and has been a European leader in truck platooning technology, which uses advanced vehicle safety systems, wireless communications, and autonomous vehicle controls to allow long-haul tractor-trailers to travel in convoy formations with decreased following distances to boost fuel economy thanks to increased vehicle aerodynamics.

According to reports, Scania has signed an agreement with Ahola Transport to use both Scania trucks and autonomous vehicle technology to test semi-autonomous platooning operations involving three or more vehicles on public roadways. According to reports, the first vehicle will be operated in cruise mode with a human driver steering. All the following trucks in the platoon will be operated under full autonomous control with human drivers monitoring driving operations.

Scania cited the agreement as a “landmark” in the development of autonomous vehicle technology, noting that it is the first such agreement in Europe between a truck OEM and a fleet.

Scania officials said the trials in actual traffic situations and varying weather conditions are essential for building public acceptance and confidence in the technology.

In a statement, an Ahola spokesperson noted that the fleet's very first truck purchase, in 1959, was a Scania model and that it looked forward to extending that long-term cooperation toward finding new transportation solutions for the trucking industry.

Follow @HDTrucking on Twitter

FMCSA: A Driver Found Lacking Required ELD May Finish Trip

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has advised how the electronic logging device mandate will be enforced beginning April 1, 2018, when the period of “soft enforcement” ends, according to a post by Daren Hansen, senior editor of Transportation Safety for J.J. Keller & Associates.

Once full enforcement begins on April 1, drivers required to operate with an ELD but found to be lacking a device will be placed out of service (OOS). That OOS order will be in effect for 10 hours for truck drivers.

At the end of the OOS period, the driver will be allowed to continue to his or her next scheduled stop using paper logs. But the driver should not be dispatched again without an ELD.

And if the driver is dispatched again without an ELD, he or she may be placed OOS yet again and “the motor carrier will be subject to further enforcement action,” FMCSA said.

Also starting on April 1, any ELD violations recorded on roadside inspection reports will count against the driver's and the carrier's scores in FMCSA's Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) system.

Related: ELD Mandate Enforcement Kicks in for Real April 1

Follow @HDTrucking on Twitter

An Emirates flight attendant dies after falling out of a Boeing 777

An Emirates flight attendant has died after falling out of a Boeing 777 while preparing the plane for boarding. An Emirates spokeswoman told Business Insider that the airline offers its condolences to her family and will cooperate fully with authorities in their investigation. An Emirates Airline flight attendant died on Wednesday after falling out of a plane while it was parked at the gate in Entebbe, Uganda before a flight.

Fired top diplomat Tillerson says he’s praying for America

Fired top diplomat Rex Tillerson says he's praying for America. Tillerson, in a message sent to U.S. embassies and consulates three days after President Donald Trump ousted him, also told American diplomats ...

Veteran Democratic Congresswoman Louise Slaughter dies

Veteran U.S. Rep. Louise Slaughter, a Kentucky blacksmith's daughter who went on to chair one Congress's most important committees, died Friday at a Washington hospital where she was being treated after ...