Can a Fleet of Many Colors Help Recruit and Retain Drivers?

Plastic Express's fleet is so colorful it's been nicknamed the "jelly bean" fleet -- but its trucks are well known in the regions it runs. Photo: Plastic Express

In the quest to attract and retain drivers, these three trucking companies have found that a fleet of colorful tractors is one stepping stone on the path to success.

The rainbow of different-colored trucks at Plastic Express, a Southern California-based for-hire carrier and packager of bulk plastic resin, have been called the “jelly bean” fleet, says Tom McKellar, vice president of transportation and terminals.

“We're fortunate in the West we have equipment that people are enamored with, and they like the idea of seeing themselves driving something shiny and colorful."

At one time, McKellar was a salesman at the Peterbilt dealership that sold Plastic Express trucks. “They said it was because we can remember colors better than numbers, but the truth is it gives the drivers a sense of ownership. They take care of trucks. They're all individuals, and we have to recognize that.”

Although the company today is 100% Freightliner rather than Petes, the colorful trucks are still one of its hallmarks.

It's just one small piece of a driver-focused operation. It starts out by hiring drivers who are professional and safe (including having to submit a resume via Indeed.com), and continues with an extensive onboarding and driver training and mentoring process, a guaranteed minimum salary, generous health insurance benefits, and ongoing respect, communication, and recognition.

They might not be quite as colorful as Plastic Express's "jelly beans," but Wisconsin-based Halvor Lines started adding black and silver Volvo sleeper trucks this past year. “We've always had white or yellow trucks, and this year we added black and silver,” explains Debbie Landry, director of driver services. “A lot of drivers have a specific request for a certain ...Read the rest of this story

Trimble Acquires 10-4 Systems

Image via 10-4 Systems

Trimble has announced it has acquired privately held 10-4 Systems, a provider of multimodal shipment visibility solutions for shippers and transportation companies.

The acquisition is aimed at expanding Trimble's portfolio of transportation management systems to include a cloud-based solution for small carriers as well as a shipper RFP platform. Financial terms were not disclosed.

Based in Boulder, Colo., 10-4 Systems offers solutions for real-time shipment visibility, offering SKU-level detail and estimated time of arrival to improve collaboration between shippers, third party logistics companies, transportation providers, and carriers.

Travis Rhyan, current president and CEO of 10-4 Systems, will continue to lead the company as executive vice president and general manager.

"With the addition of 10-4 Systems, Trimble will significantly enhance its ability to help the transportation industry optimize demand and capacity management and improve utilization of long-haul trucking assets,” said David W. Wangler, president of Trimble Transportation Enterprise.

Demand for end-to-end visibility is being driven by the rise of online-only and omni-channel commerce, which is causing shippers to rethink traditional inventory positions and transportation networks, according to Trimble.

"We are excited to bring the benefits of our advanced enterprise visibility platform to the thousands of supply chain partners that rely on Trimble's Transportation Enterprise solutions," said Rhyan. "Trimble has a clear commitment to offering leading-edge technologies and collaborative solutions that enable customers to increase efficiency, profitability and long-term competitiveness."

Related: Trimble Creates Two Transportation Specific Divisions

Follow @HDTrucking on Twitter

Senate Panel Hears Pros and Cons of Autonomous Trucks

ATA chief Chris Spear testifying on autonomous truck technology to Senate panel on Sept. 13. Photo: ATA, via Twitter

While the House has already passed a bill that could help bring self-driving cars to market faster, a Senate panel is taking a more deliberative approach by considering whether such legislation should also help foster the development of autonomous truck technologies.

To that end, Sen. John Thune (R-SD), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, held a hearing on Sept. 13 with the specific intention of examining the potential benefits of automated truck safety technology.

“Trucks share our roads, deliver our goods, and keep our economy moving,” Thune said in his opening statement. “Including trucks in the conversation about automated vehicles is important as we seek to improve safety; it also puts our economy on a level playing field as other countries around the world deploy automated freight trucks.”

In his minority statement, Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI), substituting for absent Ranking Member Sen. Bill Nelson (D-FL), pointed out that a bipartisan effort has gone into crafting a draft Senate bill on self-driving vehicles. But he is not yet sold on including commercial vehicles in the legislation, stating noting that “… we have not gotten as clear of an understanding on issues related to self-driving trucks as we have during our countless discussions on self-driving cars. As a result, I am of the mind that highly automated trucks are not ripe for inclusion in this bill.”

On the other hand, Peters said that he “recognize that in the long-term, self-driving trucks and buses are also intended to improve safety on our highways. That is certainly clear.” However, he questioned “assertions that excluding self-driving trucks from this particular bill will result in less safe roads and that they don't merit special considerations going forward. We ...Read the rest of this story

Lead ain’t dead — not yet

I'm attending a conference outside Detroit, MI this week. It's The Battery Show and the Electric & Hybrid Vehicle Technology Conference. Not surprising, there is an overwhelming number of presentations on batteries. The show floor is filled with people that provide materials for batteries, test equipment for batteries in engineering (not the dealerships), engineering services of all types, equipment for manufacturing batteries, some new concepts in packaging, high volume manufacturers and low-volume custom manufacturers.

read more

Fleets Talk ELDs, Specs, Self-Driving Trucks on FTR Equipment Panel

From left, Greg Eddy, president and CEO of Venture Logistics; Don Hinkle, vice president of equipment services at YRC Worldwide; and  Maverick Vice President of Maintenance Mike Jeffress. Photo by Evan Lockridge

How fleets think about equipment, electronic logging devices and even the future of autonomous vehicles were in the spotlight Wednesday afternoon at the annual FTR Transportation Conference in Indianapolis, as three trucking fleet people spoke on a panel about the challenges they face in today's uncertain trucking environment.

In a discussion about ELDs, Maverick Transportation Vice President of Maintenance Mike Jeffress said shortly after his fleet began using electronic logs around 2010, they were greeted with both a good and a bad surprise.

“We've never been really able to quantify this, but after we went to ELDs we saw an improvement in fuel efficiency,” he said. “I equated that to the fact the operator had to do better trip planning than what they had done historically.”

While he was glad to see what he described as a “soft improvement” in fuel efficiency – having no real numbers to quantify the savings – their productivity took a hit of around 15%.

“From a maintenance perspective on the ELD I don't know if we've seen any other improvements. If anything, there might be a slight argument that you saw a little bit of reduction in brake wear,” he said.

Don Hinkle, vice president of equipment services at YRC Worldwide, noted his company has been surprised by the price of ELDs, calling them “expensive." Greg Eddy, president and CEO of Venture Logistics, praised the coming December federal mandate for their use.

“I think as we moved to ELDs several years ago we certainly saw a drop in capacity (about 4%)…but I think the key is the safety,” he said. “We need to get those drivers that are cheating…that's when ...Read the rest of this story

Vehicles in Floodwater? Bendix Offers Servicing Tips

Depending on water depth and time submerged, a truck or trailer might or might not be fit for service again.  Affected components must be dried out and inspected. Image: Screen capture from ABC News

Floodwaters from Hurricanes Harvey and Irma inundated hundreds of thousands of cars and trucks, ruining many of them, news reports say. Modern motor vehicles incorporate so much electrical and electronic circuitry that is not sealed against water, and are so complex, that the vehicles cannot be salvaged. Experts warn that some will be dried out, cleaned up, made to run again, and sent north to be sold to unwary consumers. So, beware!

But heavy trucks and trailers sit higher than cars, and if they've been in relatively shallow water and circuitry and onboard computers are not damaged, they might still be serviceable. Not right away, though, emphasizes Bendix Heavy Vehicle systems, which has issued guidelines for repairing air brake and wheel-end components exposed to flood waters.

“At the top of the list is the question of whether the floodwater was salt water,” said Jim Szudy, Bendix's engineering manager for advanced systems engineering, in a press release. “If the answer is yes, then you should immediately begin replacing parts."

"Pneumatic air brake valves that have been submerged have likely lost their lubrication, for example. Couple that with the extremely corrosive nature of salt water, and these valves would be at much higher risk for sudden and premature malfunction," he continued. "Any brake system valve that's been submerged in sea water should be replaced, along with air compressors, air reservoirs, antilock brake system (ABS) relay modulators, and brake actuators.”

Salt water also makes corrosion of wheel-end parts more likely, leading to increased chances of rust-jacking and damage to other components. Again, Bendix recommends a complete replacement to prevent future failure.

It's best to do all ...Read the rest of this story

Steelworkers Union Attacks ITC’s Handling of Chinese Tire Tariffs

Photo: Jim Park

Attorneys for the United Steelworkers have laid out their case with the ways they believe the International Trade Commission erred in February when it didn't order tariffs on truck and bus tires from China.

In its 52-page memo filed Sept. 1 in the U.S. Court of International Trade, the USW insists the vote not to impose tariffs is in contrast to the evidence presented to the commission. There are four broad issues:

In all four categories, the USW says the commission's decision wasn't based on the evidence presented.

The substitutability of tires: The union went back to questionnaire responses filed in the case to show how purchasers, importers and domestic producers measured Chinese tires against their domestically produced counterparts. About three out of four of these respondents said the tires “were always or frequently interchangeable.”

Tire prices: Tire buyers said price was an important factor in their purchasing decisions: 80% said it was “very important,” while the others said it was at least “somewhat important.” Fourteen purchasers, of 70% of those responding, said price was one of their top three factors to consider, second only to quality, which was cited by 15 purchasers.

“Despite this high degree of substitutability and the importance of price in purchasing decisions, the commission majority determined that purchasers would choose to buy higher-priced tires due to alleged differences in branding, quality, tiers and other factors.”

The USW also says even though the commission recognized that underselling by imports was “pervasive and significant,” the ITC says it was mitigated by other factors. The USW says the evidence of dropping raw material costs wasn't enough to offset the price depression, which is what the ITC had concluded.

“It was not correct that raw material prices declined faster than (tire) prices ...Read the rest of this story