The entire 12,000 member Texas National Guard deployed to deal with the destruction wreaked by Hurricane Harvey; a storm some suggest could destroy up to $20 billion in insured property largely due to heavy flooding, which would make it one of the costliest storms in U.S. history. (Photos: Texas Military Department)
...Read the rest of this storyThe British government has awarded a grant of €8.1 million to test truck platooning on public roadways. Photo: Scania
">The British government has awarded a grant of €8.1 million to test truck platooning on public roadways. Photo: Scania
">The government of the United Kingdom announced on August 25th that it will grant €8.1 million in funding for a series of truck platooning trials on public roads next year.
The Transport Research Laboratory will carry out the trials, with funding provided by the Department for Transport and Highways England. The decision follows a government-funded feasibility study that recommended a trial to examine the benefits and viability of platooning.
According to Jim O'Sullivan, Highways England's chief executive, the platooning trials will focus on three-truck convoys with the goal of demonstrating how greater automation of vehicles – in this instance, heavy commercial vehicles – can deliver improvements in safety, better journeys for road users, and reductions in vehicle emissions.
The tests will be carried out in three phases, with the first focusing on the potential for platooning on Great Britain's major roads. Initial test track-based research will help decide details such as distance between vehicles and on which roads the tests could take place. Each phase of testing will only begin after there is “robust” evidence it can be carried out safety, O'Sullivan added.
The British government anticipates that the initial three test phases will be complete by the end of next year.
Rob Wallis, chief executive of The Transport Research Laboratory, said in a statement, “The UK has an unprecedented opportunity to lead the world in [testing] connected vehicle platoons in a real-world environment. TRL and its consortium of leading international partners, have the practical and technical knowledge gained from previous projects to understand what is required to put a connected vehicle platoon on to UK roads safely.”
Related: Scania Tests Truck Platooning Technology in Singapore
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...Read the rest of this storyTrucking Moves America officially named its new mascot Safety Sammy after fierce competition from over 2,000 other possible entries. Photo: TMAF
">Trucking Moves America officially named its new mascot Safety Sammy after fierce competition from over 2,000 other possible entries. Photo: TMAF
">After a months' long contest to name its official mascot, Trucking Moves America Forward has finally announced that the bug-eyed cartoon truck will henceforth be known as Safety Sammy.
TMAF co-chair and American Trucking Associations chariman Kevin Burch, president of Jet Express, revealed the name of TMAF's mascot, who was first shown off at the Pilot Travel Center in Knoxville, Tenn.
Over a four-month stretch, the mascot's naming included public participation from TMAF's grassroots support network.
TMAF received nearly 2,000 entries from the public and 2,000 people voted for their favorite option. Safety Sammy beat out four other finalist names: Axle, Bob Tail, Seymour S. Miles, and Wheels.
"Our mascot brings to life the great aspects of trucking, offering the more human aspect of the trucking industry," said Burch. "Safety Sammy represents the safety we strive for each and every day on the road. We're looking forward to taking Sammy coast to coast, to tell the vital trucking story.”
For companies and organizations interest in promoting Safety Sammy at an event, email [email protected]
Trucking Moves America Forward is an industry group aimed at creating a positive image for trucking. It seesk to ensure that policymakers and the public understand the trucking industry's importance to the nation's economy and aims to build the political grassroots necessary to strengthen and grow it in the future.
Related: Trucking Moves America Forward Celebrates Third Year
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...Read the rest of this storyImage: FMCSA
">Image: FMCSA
">The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has scheduled a public meeting for Sept. 8 to solicit comments on recommendations on reforming the agency's Carrier, Safety, Accountability enforcement regime made by the National Academies of Science.
The NAS review, which had been mandated by Congress, was released back on June 27.
FMCSA is now required by the FAST Act highway bill to develop and implement an action plan “to address any identified deficiencies [by NSA] and submit it to Congress and the U.S. Department of Transportation's (DOT) Office of Inspector General.”
The National Academies recommended replacing the CSA;s current Safety Measurement System over the next two years with a method using "item response theory," also known as latent trait theory.
FMCSA should develop a “more statistically principled approach” for the task, NAS said, based on an item response theory (IRT) model. Also known as latent trait theory, it's an approach that has been used for policy decisions in other areas such as hospital rankings.
The public meeting will take place on Friday, September 8, 2017, from 1:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m., EDT, at the FMCSA National Training Center, 1310 N. Courthouse Road, Suite 600, Arlington, VA 22201–2508.
Those interested in attending the public meeting must register at: https:// www.regonline.com/FMCSA_ Correlation_Study_Action_ PlanPublicMeeting. Participants have the option of registering to attend in person, or via webinar.
A copy of the agenda for the meeting will be available in advance of the meeting at https:// www.regonline.com/FMCSA_ Correlation_Study_Action_ PlanPublicMeeting. The agency noted that “If all interested participants have had an opportunity to comment, the meeting may conclude early.”
Comments on the action plan to be driven by the NSA report-- in any form-- must be received by September 27, 2017.
Besides attending the publci meeting, comments may be submitted under Docket Number FMCSA–2017–0226 using any of the following methods:
Federal ...Read the rest of this storyPhoto via Lytx
" >Photo via Lytx
" width="300" height="241">Video-based telematics provider Lytx found that truck drivers seemed to join in with the rest of the country last week to catch a glimpse of the eclipse, according to data from trucks equipped with DriveCam.
While the DriveCam video system didn't always record drivers donning the cardboard solar eclipse glasses to watch the rare cosmic event, analysis of driving event data during the daylight hours showed that on Aug. 21, drivers pulled off the road at a 68% higher clip than normal. The data also indicated that use of non-cellphone electronics devices was 47% higher, possibly from drivers taking photos.
Lytx analyzed information from its database of more than 70-billion driving miles from more than 400,000 vehicles at 2,200 commercial and government fleets. Data was recorded from vehicles that span several commercial driving segments including trucking, distribution, waste, transit, construction and services. It looked at data from daylight hours from the past five months of Mondays to compare to the solar eclipse timeframe.
Perhaps the most telling sign that drivers took a moment to view the solar eclipse was that vehicles tracked driving over the posted speed limit, increased by 35% on the day of the eclipse, which Lytx says could be drivers trying to make up time for the unscheduled downtime.
Related: How the Solar Eclipse Will Affect Fleets
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...Read the rest of this storyPhoto: Texas Army National Guard/ Lt. Zachary West
">Photo: Texas Army National Guard/ Lt. Zachary West
">Hurricane Harvey, whose heavy rains brought devastating flooding to Houston and much of south Texas, may yet cause more trouble for the region-- the National Weather Service is predicting an additional 25 inches of rain through the end of the week in certain areas.
Some parts of Texas have already seen as much as 30 inches of rainfall, with flood waters covering freeways, homes, and neighborhoods across south Texas in an area the size of Lake Michigan, a Red Cross administrator told National Public Radio.
It will be a while before the totality of the damage is realized in the fourth largest city in the U.S., but some are estimating that 30,000 are currently without a home. Many key roads in the area are impassable or washed away and that is also impacting businesses, including trucking operations.
Trucking research and analysis firm FTR estimates that Hurricane Harvey could strongly affect over 7% of U.S. trucking with up to 10% of all U.S. trucking being affected during this first week.
FTR attributed this disruption to trucking to a few broad effects. Trucks will have to wait for the water to recede from roads and docks in the region before freight begins to move. Extra shipments of relief construction supplies will take precedence, so overall productivity could decrease due to out-of-cycle supply chain demands. Then, most obviously, there is the infrastructure nightmare due to congestion and backed up loading docks.
The hurricane will also have significant pricing effects on the spot market based on observations made after similar storms, such as Hurricane Katrina in 2005, according to FTR. Ports and railways are also jammed with traffic waiting just outside the affected area, falling behind schedule.
“Look for spot prices to jump over the next ...Read the rest of this story
The technician shortage has caused many fleets and service providers to come up with creative solutions to ensuring that their bays are staffed with qualified technicians.
Chris Disantis, director of training and field technical support at Aim NationaLease, developed a program to grow the company's own diesel technicians. He shared details of the program at a recent NationaLease member meeting.
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