Electric Trucks: Zap in the Pan?

You won't hear it coming, but there is likely to be an electric truck in your future, and it will arrive sooner than you think. It won't be an-all electric Class 8 over-the-road truck, at least for the foreseeable future. More likely it will be a yard tractor, a service vehicle, or a local or regional route vehicle such as a panel van or a refuse or utility truck.

These vehicles all have the type of power demands and operating attributes that make them ideal candidates for electrification, such as limited daily ranges, easy access to recharging or a duty cycle that allows for overnight charging — and for the most part, they are not highly weight-sensitive.

Weight is certainly a limiting factor with Class 8 trucks, but there are already fully electric ones working in this country. Several are proving viable, if just barely, at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Even with 4,000 to 5,000 pounds of batteries on board, they can make round trips of only 80 miles or so before they must be recharged.

One company that is making batteries work in the Class 8 space is Motiv Power Systems of Foster City, California. Motiv currently has one refuse truck on trial in Chicago, where it reportedly manages routes of about 60 miles with an 18,000-pound payload while running a hydraulic compactor. The company recently announced plans to put an all-electric automated left-side loader garbage truck into testing in Sacramento, California, for residential refuse and recycling routes.

Motiv's electric refuse vehicle is equipped with 200 kilowatt-hours of energy in 10 battery packs. The chassis can accommodate up to 12 battery packs to handle longer routes if required.

The company has also had success on a smaller scale, a Class 6 walk-in van built by Morgan-Olsen Work Truck Bodies. Motiv ...Read the rest of this story

TMW Systems Joins Blockchain in Trucking Alliance

TMW Systems has become a charter member of the Blockchain in Trucking Alliance, a group dedicated to setting standards for blockchain applications developed for the transportation industry.

Blockchain is a distributed ledger technology designed for transactional applications such as the movement of freight. The technology is already in use in industries such as stock trading, banking, insurance, and real-estate – all industries with complex, high-volume transactions.

“TMW Systems is a leader and innovator in transportation management software and their software is core to a significant portion of the for-hire capacity in the industry,” said Craig Fuller, CEO of TransRisk and co-founder of BiTA. “They will play a key role in helping us to set standards for blockchain applications and smart contracts.”

Blockchain simplifies the management of transactional data by storing contracts and related information within transparent, auditable, secure “blocks” that are shared with multiple parties.

Tim Leonard, executive vice president of technology for TMW, will lead the company's participation in BiTA. Leonard, who recently was recognized as a 2017 “Data Visionary” in the Americas Data Heroes Awards program sponsored by Hortonworks, has published a new white paper, available here, that explores the benefits of blockchain for an increasingly multi-modal transportation environment.

“Blockchain, machine learning, and other emerging technologies can play vital roles in helping transportation service providers more efficiently and profitably meet the demands of tomorrow's highly complex supply chains,” said Leonard. “We are excited to help lead the development of standards and innovative applications that can transform the movement of freight from supplier to end consumer.”

Related: New Group Lobbies for Blockchain Adoption by Trucking

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Bridgestone Names Head of North American Commercial Business

Scott Damon Photo: Bridgeston Americas

Bridgestone Americas has announced that Scott Damon has been named president, commercial group, U.S. and Canada for Bridgestone Americas Tire Operations, effective Oct. 1.

Damon will oversee all business operations within the commercial tire portfolio, succeeding Kurt Danielson, who is retiring after 23 years with the company. Damon will be responsible for leading the company's commercial tire sales and service operations in North America, which includes truck and bus radial tires, off-the-road tires, Firestone agricultural tires, the Bandag retread business, and commercial retail operations.

Danielson has been in his current role as president of U.S. and Canada commercial tire sales since May 2014. He joined Bridgestone in 1994 as a territory manager in Cincinnati, Ohio, and throughout his tenure progressed through numerous leadership positions within the company.

"Kurt's leadership has been instrumental in growing our commercial tire and service business, and he has positioned the team for continued success after his retirement," said Gordon Knapp, CEO and president, Bridgestone Americas. "Scott started his Bridgestone career in the Commercial organizations and has since gained diversified leadership experience across the Bridgestone portfolio. We are eager to bring his talents to such a pivotal role within the company."

Damon joined Bridgestone in 1996 as a development engineer for Bandag, which was acquired by Bridgestone Americas in 2007. During his career with Bridgestone, Damon has served in various roles including executive director of strategic planning for the Bridgestone Americas Technical Center and, most recently, president of Firestone Industrial Products.

He graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering, earned an MBA from Frostburg State University, and completed certificate studies in executive leadership and management at the University of Notre Dame.

Related: Love's Acquires Speedco from Bridgestone Americas

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Turnover at Large Truckload Carriers Hits Highest Point in 2 years

The turnover rate at truckload carriers surged in the second quarter of 2017, according to American Trucking Associations, possibly reflecting a tightening market for drivers.

According to ATA's quarterly report, the turnover rate for large truckload carriers jumped 16 percentage points to 90%, the highest it has been since the final quarter of 2015. The 16-point jump is the largest quarterly increase since the fourth quarter of 2010.

“We saw double-digit gains in the annualized turnover rate for both small and large truckload fleets,” said Bob Costello, ATA chief economist. “After a period of relatively low turnover, it appears the driver market is tightening again, which coupled with increased demand for freight movement, could rapidly exacerbate the driver shortage.”

Smaller carriers with annual revenues under $30 million saw an even larger increase, jumping 19 percentage points to 85%. This is the highest turnover rate for small carriers since the first quarter of 2016.

Turnover at less-than-truckload fleets was mixed with a slight decrease to 9% for over-the-road LTL. The rate for local LTL drivers, however, was up two percentage points to 14% for the quarter, the highest rate in three years.

“We predicted that last year's period of relatively low and stable turnover could be short-lived if the freight economy recovered from 2016's freight recession,” said Costello. “It appears those predictions were correct and we may be seeing the beginnings of a significant tightening of the driver market and acceleration of the driver shortage.”

Related: Large and Small, Fleets Focus on the Driver

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Could Tesla Solve EV Range Issues With Battery Swapping System?

Tesla has filed a patent for a hoist system capable of swapping out electric vehicle battery packs in less than 15 minutes. Image via Tesla

One of the major obstacles — or concerns, at least — regarding electric trucks has been the question of recharge times. Although advances have been made in fast-charge technology, returning a battery big enough to power a commercial truck to full capacity is still a time-consuming process that can take hours. As a result, most experts have theorized that any future electric trucks or vans will have in the commercial space will be limited to set, daily routes with fixed distances. Vehicles on these routes, conventional thinking goes, would return to their shops in the evening and recharge their batteries overnight.

Recently transportation analyst Rick Mihelic, in a study commissioned by the Stifel Transportation Equipment Equity Research Group, theorized that electric trucks could make a move into regional-haul applications if depleted batteries were swapped out for fresh ones at drop-and-hook terminals along the route.

It appears Mihelic is not the only one thinking along those lines. According to a report from Business Insider, Tesla is looking into a specialized hoist system that would make it easier, and faster, to replace batteries in an electric vehicle.

According to the report, Tesla filed a patent application in May for a system that can elevate a vehicle and replace a depleted battery pack with a fresh one. The patent says at least one technician would monitor the machine, which could be installed at remote locations along highways between cities and would be able to complete a battery swap job in under 15 minutes.

In other Tesla news, company founder and CEO Elon Musk said in a Tweet late last week that he hopes to unveil its much-anticipated electric truck ...Read the rest of this story

McLeod: Tangle of trends is changing trucking

ATLANTA. Tom McLeod, founder, president, and CEO of McLeod Software, is fond of saying that, “one of the more immutable laws of the universe is that we reap what we sow,” and at least from his perspective, motor carriers will need to do an awful lot of reaping based on the amount of change now rapidly occurring in the trucking industry.

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HDT is Seeking Emerging Industry Leaders

Heavy Duty Trucking magazine is seeking nominations for the HDT Emerging Leaders honor, a group of young trucking industry leaders already making a difference in his or her fields.

We're looking for young professionals who are influential, innovative and successful, who can point to outstanding accomplishments and leadership qualities, and who have a passion for the trucking industry.

Emerging leaders will be under 40 years of age and work for a for-hire, private, government or vocational fleet. The award nomination is open to those employed in any aspect of a fleet's business and all levels, whether management, maintenance, sales, marketing, safety, IT, training, or elsewhere.

Whether a person is in the top management position of a company, a shop foreman or the IT person who led a key data transition, as long as they are making a difference in the trucking industry they are eligible for nomination.

Leaders honored as an HDT Emerging Leader will be featured in an article in our December print magazine issue. The nominee must be under 40 years old as of Jan. 31, 2017, self-nominations are also being accepted.

The nomination deadline is Oct. 6, 2017. To nominate an Emerging Leader, fill out our online nomination form here.

Related: Can Autonomous Trucks Help You Attract Fresh Talent?

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