J.J. Keller Program Lets Fleets Reserve ELDs

Photo: J.J. Keller

With some industry observers worrying about whether the supply of electronic logging devices will meet the demand as we near the Dec. 17 deadline to install the mandatory devices, J.J. Keller & Associates announced it will make the transition earlier for fleets who want to wait until closer to the deadline.

The J.J. Keller ELD Reserve It Plan lets fleets reserve J.J. Keller ELDs with guaranteed shipment between November 1-10, 2017, and zero service fees until January 2018. The offer runs through October 31.

“Over 50% of the fleets we surveyed are waiting until November or December to switch to ELDs, or they're undecided,” said Tom Reader, director of marketing at J.J. Keller. “We created the J. J. Keller ELD Reserve It Plan to get fleets everything they need in time to make the switch and avoid violations from being out of compliance with the mandate. The fourth quarter is already a busy one for most fleets and it's easy for things to fall through the cracks.”

J.J. Keller ELDs, which are on the FMCSA's ELD registry of self-certified compliant devices, are part of J.J. Keller's Encompass Fleet Management System with ELogs, which includes an online dashboard for HOS compliance, an ELog app that's compatible with most smart devices, and service options ranging from stand-alone ELogs to full performance management. For more information visit JJKeller.com/ReserveELDs.

Related: What You Need to Know About ELD Mandate Enforcement

Follow @HDTrucking on Twitter

Is Hurricane Harvey the Lead-in to Something Significant in Trucking?

How have the after-effects of Hurricane Harvey affected trucking? FTR has quantified the numbers, gauging the impact on the overall trucking market and the Texas and Houston markets in particular.

During the first week, almost 10% of all U.S. trucking was affected in some manner. That number jumps to near 100% for the Gulf Coast region west of the Mississippi. After a month, the numbers will ease but still remain significant. The largest effects were regionalized, but transportation managers across the entire U.S. were scrambling.

As we moved into the second week of the Hurricane Harvey drama, we saw three things happening, all reflecting supply chains and trucking operations thrown out of normal routines by this long and powerful storm.

It's apparent that people are working very hard in Houston, because the spot market trucking statistics are showing strong positive moves, in some cases to levels above pre-storm benchmarks.

Beginning with day 13 (Tuesday, Sept. 5), the recovery clearly had started. Outbound volumes in Houston were up for the week and would have been back at pre-storm levels if not for Labor Day. Outbound prices still lagged pre-storm levels. The outbound volume situation was very good news, because it implies that the Houston manufacturing sector, so important for U.S. fuel and chemical supplies, had begun to roar back to life.

On the inbound side we saw clear evidence of the beginning of ...Read the rest of this story

Dissecting the trucking distress surrounding ELDs

So I had the good fortune to chat with a good number trucking company personnel this week at the McLeod Software 2017 User Conference in Atlanta and none-too-surprisingly, electronic logging devices (ELDs) proved to be the “talk du jour” of the show.

read more

Celadon Trucking Services Getting Out of Driver Training Business

A Celadon Driving Academy student practices his driving skill on a TransSim simulator. Photo: Celadon

Days after it announced it was selling off its flatbed division, Indiana-based Celadon said it's getting out of the driver training business.

Celadon Trucking Services said it will exit its three Celadon Driving Academy locations in Indianapolis, Laredo, Texas, and Richmond, Virginia, later this year. One of Celadon's third-party driving school partners plans to establish accredited driving schools at each of the three locations. Celadon says while it will continue to need new drivers, it has decided a third-party model is more effective. It notes that most over-the-road trucking companies use a network of accredited driving schools rather than running their own.

“Highly qualified professional truck drivers are the lifeblood of our organization,” said President and CEO Jon Russell in a news release. “After a thorough review, we determined that using third-party programs and making additional investments in driver compensation and advanced training would afford a better investment of resources than continuing to operate the schools ourselves. We are trucking specialists, and we will focus on our core business."

It's the latest in a number of moves the struggling company has made this year to deal with mounting losses.

In May, Celadon announced changes in its top management and a new line of credit, as it said it expected to report a $10 million operating loss from the first quarter.

Also in May, the New York Stock Exchange said problems with Celadon's financial reporting could result in the company's stock being delisted.

In July, Celadon Group named Paul Svindland CEO, succeeding Paul Will.

Celadon founder Steve Russell died in April of 2016.

Follow @HDTrucking on Twitter

Baron introduces Weather API for fleets

Baron has introduced its Baron Weather API for Fleet, a range of weather data that can be integrated into network fleet platforms. According to the company, the Baron Weather API was developed for fleet management tracking platforms, transportation management systems for pre-planning, and mobile driver applications.

read more

Omnitracs completes acquisition of Shaw Tracking

Omnitracs completed its acquisition of Shaw Tracking, a Shaw Communications subsidiary that provides fleet management solutions in Canada. This further expands Omnitracs' customer base in North America, the company noted.

Shaw Tracking will be integrated into the Omnitracs product and service portfolio. The combined organization is positioned to assist the Canadian market throughout an entire load lifecycle. Mike Ham will lead the organization as vice president and general manager of Omnitracs Canada.

read more

Massachusetts adds XL Hybrids tech to fleet

XL Hybrids' XL3 Hybrid Electric Drive System will be installed in 52 vehicles that serve five Massachusetts state agency fleets.

The hybrid-electric vehicles will be used by the state's Department of Conservation and Recreation, Environmental Police, Department of Correction, Department of Developmental Services, and Department of Youth Services. The XL Hybrids upgrades were made possible by support from the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources and the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center.

read more