Last month, U.S. heavy-truck sales grew to 36,057 units – up 7.1% – compared with 2016's 32,357, according to WardsAuto data. In Canada, big truck sales also continued to rise – up 15.9% to 4,014 in September – for the seventh consecutive monthly year-over-year gain, according to Wards.
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...Read the rest of this storyNATIONAL HARBOR, MD. Being a good company with strong values offering good pay and great benefits is no longer enough to recruit and retain employees, now and in the future, according to a panel discussion of executives here at the 2017 International Foodservice Distributors Association (IFDA) conference at the Gaylord Convention Center.
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...Read the rest of this storyGeotab's electronic logging device (ELD) solution, Geotab Cloud ELD, is now registered with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), the telematics provider announced.
Geotab Cloud ELD is a compliance management platform for monitoring and recording Hours of Service (HOS) for fleets seeking to comply with the ELD mandate that's slated to take effect Dec. 18. The FMCSA maintains a list of ELD providers and their products.
The Geotab Cloud ELD platform connects the Geotab GO telematics device with a mobile device running the Geotab Drive app (available for Android and iOS) through a secured cloud-based server operating the MyGeotab fleet management software.
Unlike hard-wired or Bluetooth-paired solutions that use a time-based approach with periodic status checks, the GO device continuously records and transmits data to the cloud-based program to effectively monitor and record HOS, including Records of Duty Status (RODS) and Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports (DVIRS).
Geotab Cloud ELD, which doesn't require an in-vehicle pairing process, enables vehicle inspection reports, IFTA support, routing, risk management, accident reconstruction, driver safety, and third-party add-in solutions including cameras, temperature sending and tire pressure monitoring.
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...Read the rest of this storyImage: Instructional Technologies
">Image: Instructional Technologies
">Instructional Technologies Inc., providers of training solutions for the transportation industry, has announced an automated web-based learning management system called Sentix designed for scheduling, tracking, verifying, and managing training.
“Automation and integration are the keys to the power of Sentix,” said Aaron Purvis, CTO of ITI. "As a next-generation learning management system, Sentix shoulders much of the repetitive burden of managing training. It can automate assignments for new hires, schedule training before an endorsement expires, or trigger corrective training based on an event or trend.”
Sentix features a customizable web-based portal and dashboard and can integrate with any fleet management system, according to ITI. The platform users APIs to transportation management and other enterprise systems to give safety and training departments the ability to:
Automatically assign training based on criteria such as hire date, training requirements, incidents, policies, and regulationsProactively track the expiration of licenses, medical certificates, and endorsementsShare data between back-office systems to save time and improve accuracyRun reports based on a wide range of parameters on individual drivers and groups such as company divisions“All of this is possible because we built Sentix to integrate with other systems used in the transportation industry Sentix helps fleets reduce liability by more quickly changing dangerous or expensive behavior, more easily meeting safety or compliance requirements, and more securely connecting training to your fleet's other systems,” said Purvis.
Fleets will be able to customize how Sentix automates the training process at their fleet, to tailor it to each fleet's needs. The company says it will also be able to help make changes if it is needed. Fleets can also upload their own content related to training, and ITI will ensure that it is optimized if needed or assist with the process.
Sentix is currently in beta testing and will be available on Nov. 1. ...Read the rest of this story
Photo: David Cullen
">Photo: David Cullen
">Germany's Daimler AG has announced that it is considering a new corporate structure that it expects would make the company more responsive to rapidly changing marketplace developments.
Under the scheme, the existing Mercedes-Benz Cars & Vans and the Daimler Trucks & Buses business units “may be transferred into two legally independent entities,” and thus operate as the already independent Daimler Financial Service division does.
Daimler said the goal of such a restructuring would be to have the car and truck divisions take on “greater entrepreneurial responsibility.” The OEM also stated that it does not plan to divest any of its divisions.
Bodo Uebber, member of the Daimler Board of Management responsible for Finance & Controlling and Daimler Financial Services, said in a statement that the company needs “to be as close as possible to our customers' pulse, but also to be able to react as quickly and flexible as possible to market developments and a fundamentally changing competitive environment."
The restructuring plan is not yet final. It must still be approved by both Daimler's Board of Management and its Supervisory Board. Should the boards decide to implement the new group structure, the changes would also require the approval of shareholders. The company noted that such a motion could be voted on no earlier than at a shareholders' meeting in the year 2019.
"Daimler is today facing an exceptional challenge: On the one hand, we are more successful than ever before; on the other hand, our business is changing like never before," said Dieter Zetsche, chairman of the Board of Management of Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars. "Whoever aims for sustainable competitiveness and profitability must continuously evolve and adapt to rapidly changing surroundings – technologically, culturally and also structurally.
“We are following a straight-forward strategy and have decided to examine a ...Read the rest of this story
SmartDrive Systems announced that Smithfield Foods, Inc. has deployed the SmartDrive video-based safety program across its entire fleet of nearly 600 Armour and Eckrich branded refrigerated box trucks following a competitive review and pilot program. Armour and Eckrich are brands of Smithfield Foods.
“We found ourselves reacting to accidents and situations, rather than training our drivers to get ahead of them,” commented James Michael, senior operations manager at Smithfield Foods. “There was a growing concern and some anxiety over the question, ‘what if the next accident is worse than the last?' We knew we needed an effective way to reduce risk, and the SmartDrive program was the perfect solution.”
To improve its safety record, Smithfield embarked on a side-by-side comparison pilot of two video-based safety systems in its vehicles across the country.
“The SmartDrive results were overwhelmingly positive,” continued Michael. “Soon after deploying the SmartDrive program, we went from 20 preventable accidents on the roadway where we lost two trucks to accidents, to only eight preventable accidents and no truck losses during the same time period the following year. In addition, the online dashboard, coaching workflow and client support convinced us that the SmartDrive program would be the most beneficial solution for our fleet.”
Smithfield Foods executives were involved in the purchasing decision and, after seeing the results from the pilot, quickly agreed the SmartDrive program was the right choice.
“We have 40 branches across the country, both union and non-union facilities,” explained Michael. “We engaged our drivers in a conversation so they understood the program and how it works. Once it was clear to them that video is only recorded if a risky maneuver or external G-force is detected, many drivers made a personal commitment to avoid causing a trigger by driving safely each and every time they hit the ...Read the rest of this story
Connectivity — trucking shorthand for plugging into the Internet of Things — is a positive trend being advanced by industry suppliers and embraced by forward-leaning fleets to better control operating costs and boost productivity.
It all sounds good. Until it doesn't.
The appeal is easy enough to grasp. Connect every digital device so that data can be shared and leveraged across multiple, interconnected systems. In trucking, that means linking everything from in-cab computers to smartphones to hardware so reams of data can be intelligently managed and leveraged.
Expanding connectivity can make trucking operations smarter and nimbler and thus more profitable. But it also heightens exposure to cybersecurity threats. When everything is connected, a sophisticated criminal or merely a disgruntled ex-employee or unhappy customer can more easily gain access to computerized systems to wreak havoc on unsuspecting or poorly guarded businesses.
Ron Godine, vice president, information and cloud technology for fleet-management provider TMW Systems, points out that increased connectivity via in-cab devices gives outsiders the ability to “touch all the systems that affect the vehicle and learn your location. If they know your location, what can they do? How can they target you? There's safety concerns with just knowing your location, where you're going and how fast you're going. Any of those things are a security awareness risk.”
Hackers can then gain access to a fleet's trucking management solution and back office systems to learn about customers, loads, and financial information, cautions Godine. “What we've seen is that people can get into a system by automation and by hacking accounts, and then they peruse data like any other user.”
Alan Gordon, chief information officer of Cisive, parent of Driver iQ, which provides employee screening services, says that “small- and mid-sized companies can get lulled into thinking ‘Who would go after me?' but truck fleets are just as ...Read the rest of this story
