Platooning, Electrified Cascadia in the Works at Daimler Trucks North America

Daimler Trucks North America President and CEO Roger Nielson talks to reporters during the ATA MC&E. Photo: Deborah Lockridge

ORLANDO – Advanced technology, from platooning to electric trucks – both of which you'll be seeing soon from the nation's biggest truck maker – was a key topic of a reporter roundtable with Daimler Trucks North America President and CEO Roger Nielson during the American Trucking Associations Management Conference & Exhibition.

But Nielson emphasized that exciting, headline-grabbing topics such as platooning or advanced driver assistance systems and automated technology are only partially a means in and of themselves.

He compared the research to the space program, where society benefitted from technology developments adapted from the race to the moon and beyond, such as LEDs, improved radial tires, freeze-drying technology and more.

“We didn't end of going to the moon and finding gold, it's more about what we discovered along the way.”

'Watch soon for the availability of active lane keeping as an option, which is a step on the path to platooning and other automated and driver assistance technologies.

“We believe active lane keeping is absolutely required to make platooning work properly,” Nielson said. “We are not ready to announce a market availability of platooning yet, although you'll see us come out soon with active lane keeping as yet another advanced driver assistance system. That is the way to go and with platooning, that's absolutely going to be required to keep the driver of the second truck safe and less fatigued.”

As it announced at the North American Commercial Vehicle Show last month, DTNA has been testing its own platooning system.

“If you haven't ever driven in truck number two you should do it some time; it'll scare the crap out of you, because you're just not used to driving 45 feet behind a stainless ...Read the rest of this story

Freightliner Unveils Driver-Focused Updates to Cascadia

Photo: Freightliner

ORLANDO — New upgrades to Freightliner's new Cascadia model aimed at the driver were announced at the American Trucking Associations Management Conference & Exhibition in Orlando, Fla. The new updates include keyless entry and medical power supply option designed for a CPAP machine.

With Keyless entry, users can lock and unlock doors, roll down windows and, if equipped, test the bulbs on the truck's exterior before a trip. Each truck purchase includes two keyless entry transmitters that are paired at the plant and one transmitter that can be paired to multiple trucks for fleet owners.

Freightliner has also added a medical power supply that's designed to provide 8 to 10 hours of power for a typical continuous positive airway pressure device, to help drivers with breathing problems while sleeping.

The optional medical device power supply includes three main components: an Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) battery securely mounted under the bunk and vented externally; a 12-volt dedicated, labeled power outlet mounted on the front of the bunk, and a charge control isolator. The battery is automatically recharged from either the alternator or from shore power if so equipped.

AGM is a fine fiberglass mat that offers the benefits of a gelled mat but can withstand more wear and tear. The battery's design holds the electrolyte in suspension, fueling higher efficiency when discharging and recharging, according to Freightliner.

“Part of what makes the new Cascadia best-in-class is that we are continually making improvements that benefit our customers,” said Kary Schaefer, general manager, marketing and strategy, Daimler Trucks North America. “Much of that focuses on safety and fuel economy of course, but we're also making our product more productive and functional for the drivers. Each new feature is an important part of ensuring that every new Cascadia is a smart investment.”

Related: Learn About Freightliner's Next-Generation ...Read the rest of this story

Zonar Offers Video-Based Driver Coaching System

Photo: Evan Lockridge

ORLANDO — Zonar has introduced its Zonar Coach video-based coaching solution designed to improve safety, efficiency, and compliance for commercial vehicle drivers. The product was announced at American Trucking Associations' Managment Conference & Exhibition in Orlando, Fla.

Coach is an advanced driver assistance system that uses sensor-based event detection and automatic video capturing technology. The system can identify proper and risky driving behavior and offers instructions to drivers in real-time to prevent accidents, improve driver efficiency and maintain compliant vehicle operation.

The live, in-cab coaching is provided through voice event notifications to the Zonar Connect tablet when a driver exhibits potentially risky behavior. Events that might trigger the coaching are exceeding speed limits, tailgating, lane drifts, missing stop signs and other potentially dangerous behavior.

After completing a driver, the driver can access their scorecard on the Connect to see how they were rated for each event type. This information can help teach corrective action for future drivers and be used as verification for any captured driving events, according to Zonar.

Fleet managers can access data from Coach through Zonar's Ground Traffic Control web portal. They can also set thresholds and notifications for their fleet's behavior based on criteria they determine most critical to their operations. Fleet operators are also able to see the same video and scorecard that drivers view on their tablet.

"What we have done in the past is focus on driver score carding, collecting telematics data to help us understand drivers behavior in terms of their speed, idling, hard cornering and hard breaking," said Shawn Bonnington, director of the enterprise team at Zonar. "This is all very valuable information but what it lacked was a way to connect the driver with the behavior and learn from it. And that's what Zonar Coach does."

Driver scorecards can also be used to encourage ...Read the rest of this story

Daimler’s Nielsen: Truck production will finish 2017 strong

Chao says no infrastructure bill before tax reform

ATA’s Spear Praise Trump for Championing Trucking Interests

ATA president and CEO Chris Spear. Photo: Evan Lockridge

Chris Spear, president and Chief Executive Officer of the American Trucking Associations (ATA), delivered a wide-ranging state of the industry address at an annual meeting today – promoting everything from proposed tax reforms to a pending mandate for Electronic Logging Devices, and Trump's commitment to raise more than US $1 million for infrastructure.

In the past year, the group has met with U.S. Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao and all 10 House and Senate Committee leaders and ranking members. But a clear highlight, demonstrated through pictures around the convention hall, was an appearance at the White House with 12 America's Road Team captains.

“ATA in now fully engaged in reforming our country's decaying tax laws,” he added, referring to the associations hosting a recent meeting with Trump in Pennsylvania. Citing trucks as “the barometer for the nation's economy”, Trump at that meeting introduced a proposal for a 20% cut in corporate tax rates and eliminating estate taxes.

“With the president now championing our best interests, the entire nation is paying attention to what we have to say,” Spear said.

Meanwhile, ATA is supporting a coalition led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce to advance trade policy – including that which governs truck freight between Canada and the U.S. “Trucks move 76% of the NAFTA surface freight, 82% of the cross-border traffic with Mexico, and 71% with Canada: our nation's largest trade partner. I've visited our borders and can tell you first hand that our industry will be the first to feel any changes in NAFTA, good or bad,” he said.

Throughout the strongly worded address, Spear committed the ATA to fighting “anti-truck and amateur-hour advocacy groups”, and credited the group with helping to strike down “ill-conceived, special interest-driven Hours of Service rules from the U.S. Code.”

“ATA and ...Read the rest of this story

Trucking’s Best Honored at ATA MC&E

President's Award winners on stage at ATA MC&E. Photo: Evan Lockridge

American Trucking Associations recognized the winners of several of the industry's top honors as part of the association's Leadership and Awards Luncheon at its annual Management Conference & Exhibition in Orlando, Fla.

“This industry provides constant examples of hard work and professionalism exhibited by its people on a daily basis,” said Chris Spear, ATA president and CEO. “Today, we take a moment to honor groups of people and companies that have gone above and beyond in the pursuit of excellence to earn the title of champion and promote safety throughout our vital industry.”

Those honored included:

The ATA also honored three fleets with the ATA President's Award. The award goes to fleets who demonstrate innovative approaches to safety and go above and beyond to keep the highways safe.

The President's Award winners were:

ATA will be announcing the winners of National Safety Director of the Year and National Safety Professional Award of Excellence at the Safety, Security & Human Resources National Conference & Exhibition, Nov. 14-16 in Nashville, Tenn.

In addition, ATA announced the winners of ...Read the rest of this story