FMCSA Awards Over $70M in Grants For Commercial Vehicle Safety

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has awarded more than $70 million in grants and educational institutions to enhance commercial motor vehicle safety.

Most of the grant money was given out through the FMCSA's High Priority grant program and Commercial Driver's License Program Implementation grant program .The HP grant program consists of high priority commercial motor vehicle grants and innovative technology deployment grants. HP-CMV grants are designed to provide financial assistance to state commercial vehicle safety efforts, while HP-ITD grants provide financial assistance to advance the technological capability and promote the deployment of intelligent transportation system applications for CMV operations.

The goal of the national CDL program is to reduce the number and severity of commercial motor vehicle crashes in the United States by requiring states to conduct knowledge and skills testing before issuing a CDL, maintain a complete and accurate driver history record for anyone who obtains a CDL, and impose appropriate disqualifications against any driver who violates certain offenses. The program is part of the FMCSA's efforts to reduce crashes, injuries, and fatalities involving large trucks and buses.

“Our shared goal of a safer transportation system is a top priority,” said Elaine Chao, U.S. Transportation Secretary. “These grants will further assist state and local officials in their efforts to prevent commercial motor vehicle crashes and injuries each year, and have the potential to save hundreds of lives.”

FMCSA announced:

Azuga Offers ELD Mandate Solution

Photo courtesy of Azuga

Azuga has launched and electronic logging device (ELD) solution that provides commercial fleets with a compliance solution for the upcoming ELD mandate, and also helps boost fleet visibility and operational efficiency.

The Azuga eLogs solution offers two interfaces designed to help managers and drivers efficiently gather and analyze information based on drivers' HOS and Driver Vehicle Inspection Reports (DVIR), according to Azuga.

For drivers, the eLogs solution comes with an intuitive in-vehicle dash-mounted 8” tablet to capture all required information for the driver's log and post-trip DVIR reports. As for the connected fleet manager interface, it is powered by a web application, which offers comprehensive back-office reporting to avoid HOS violations, and focuses on resource optimization.

This solution offers an intuitive means for fleets to avoid potential citation and fines that may result from the upcoming mandate, according to Azuga.

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Focus on advanced tech, facelift for next-gen ‘Benz Sprinter

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Dana launches SPL 250 Lite driveshaft for heavy-duty trucks

ATLANTA. Dana Inc. announced several product enhancements on Sept. 26, including the launch of the SPL 250 Lite driveshaft for heavy-duty trucks.

The new driveshaft is about 20 pounds lighter than competitive products, Steve Slesinski, director of product planning for Dana, said at a press event during the National American Commercial Vehicle show. It has been engineered to reduce noise and vibration without impacting performance, he said.

It will be formally launched in November, although some OEMs have already begun installing the driveshaft, Slesinski said.

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Mack Cites Positive Trends And Sales Figures at NACV

Photo: Jack Roberts

ATLANTA — Fresh off the launch of its new Anthem highway tractor, Mack Trucks held an upbeat press conference kicking off day two of the North American Commerical Vehicle Show (NACV) in Atlanta with an overview of the year to date and hints as to the company's future objectives.

Jonathan Randall, senior vice president, sales for Mack, began by noting that the North American truck market has stabilized in the past couple of months to the point that the company is upgrading its Class 8 sales forecast. Initially, Randall said, Mack was predicting Class 8 sales of around 215,000 units by year's end. Now, he feels 225,000 is possible, with even higher sales likely.

Overall, Randall said, times are good for Mack with strong construction and vocational marketshare numbers holding steady along with a firm mid-20% marketshare for straight trucks. The company continues to invest heavily in the future, as well, Randall said, with approximately $84 million spent on new products and upgrades, while Mack dealers have invested over $600 million in new and upgraded facilities.

Mack marketing manager John Walsh added that the company has a long, proud, history in the North American long-haul market segment, and is looking to reclaim some of that glory with the new Anthem tractor launched last week at the company's home in Macungie, Penn.

Roy Horton, director of product strategy for Mack, spoke about the company's focus on improving fuel efficiency, driver recruitment, and uptime for its customers today. He noted that the last round of aerodynamic upgrades boosted fuel economy by up to 3%. When combined with a Mack MP8 diesel engine and integrated Econodyne powertrain, fuel economy numbers rise 8% compared to previous Mack models. Horton said the Mack mDrive automated manual transmission was a big enabler for that boost in ...Read the rest of this story

Mercedes-Benz Gives Glimpse of Next Sprinter Van

Sketch of the next-generation Mercedes-Benz Sprinter courtesy of Daimler.

Mercedes-Benz Vans showed an early look at its next-generation Sprinter full-size van that it will launch in Europe by July 1 and roll out to the U.S. and other markets later in 2018.

The first details about the new Sprinter came at the North American Commercial Vehicle Show that's debuting in Atlanta this week. Mercedes-Benz Vans released a sketch of the van, and pledged to release more details "in the coming months."

The sketch shows a Sprinter with a more "athletic front" that will offer a "full spectrum" of mobility solutions for various industries. It will incorporate the Daimler van unit's adVANce connected vehicle initiative unveiled in 2016 that emphasizes digitalization and urbanization in vehicle design.

Since its launch in 1995, the Sprinter has sold more than 3.3 million units in 130 countries. Sales grew 10% from January to March compared to the same period in 2016. For the first half of 2017, sales increased to 96,200 units — a 1.1% increase from the 95,100 in the first half of 2016.

Related: Sprinter Charges Ahead

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Navistar OnCommand to Offer Parts Failure Prediction Feature

ATLANTA — Navistar has announced a number of updates to its OnCommand Connection platform, showing a new feature called Live Action Plans, which predicts when a part is going to fail before it does.

To predict part failure, Live Action Plans uses prognostic models that were developed using Navistar's field service intelligence and algorithms based on big data analytics. The result is that when certain adverse conditions are identified on a vehicle, OnCommand Connection can provide the customer with alerts about potential corrective actions, potential repair, the parts needed, and the training required to make the repair.

If the repair is performed as instructed and the vehicle is under warranty, Navistar will pay for the repair. The company expects to pilot this new feature over the next three months, with an official launch next year.

"The innovative solutions we offer via OnCommand Connection help fleet owners and operators achieve optimum vehicle uptime while protecting their bottom line,” said Persio Lisboa, chief operating officer. "We expect to be able to tell customers that we will proactively identify problems before they happen, recommend a fix and pay for warrantable fixes…before anything fails on the truck and they experience downtime."

Other features added to OnCommand Connection include Automated Driver Vehicle Inspection Reporting capabilities that are intended to automate government-required vehicle inspection reporting and record-keeping for enhanced safety and productivity. The solution is fully integrated with other OnCommand Connection tools and services, including OnCommand Connection Telematics, Remote Diagnostics, and Electronic Driver Log.

Navistar has also integrated trailer tracking into OnCommand Connection intended to provide detailed analytics and reporting for trailer management. GPS fleet trailer tracking helps companies keep tabs on their trailers and their cargo, so they can make better use of these assets to reach their customers and clients effectively. It also helps improve asset utilization, maintenance ...Read the rest of this story