Kar Joins Fleet Complete as Chief Strategy Officer

Sandeep Kar Photo: Fleet Complete

Fleet Complete has announced that Sandeep Kar, an industry expert and influencer, has joined the company as the chief strategy officer to spur the company's advancement internationally.

In the role, Kar will lead Fleet Complete's corporate strategy as the organization focuses on dynamic and sustainable growth, driven by a combination of IoT technologies, value-driven econometrics, mobile resource management applications, and expansion into developed and emerging markets. Kar will guide the company, broadening its reach to lead the global commercial vehicle space and develop new technology standards in the industry, according to Fleet Complete.

"I am very pleased to welcome Sandeep Kar to our core," said Tony Lourakis, CEO of Fleet Complete. "He is a proven thought leader with a tremendous breadth of industry experience, global perspective and demonstrated success in driving global strategy. He will help take Fleet Complete's international prominence goals to the next level."

Kar has experience in propelling growth in a commercial vehicle ecosystem and is well known in the industry's c-suite circles as a thought leader, according to the company. He previously served as the global vice president at Frost & Sullivan, heading research for the organization's automotive and transportation practice. While there he helped redefine strategic paradigms around products, platforms, processes, and personnel.

He is a frequent keynote and panel speaker at conferences and has been quoted in the industry journals and publications.

“Together, we will drive powerful innovations and ecosystem collaborations to deliver industry-leading IoT solutions to our customers and client partners,” said Kar. “This new phase of Fleet Complete's expansion will manifest through advanced technologies and growth in current and new markets."

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ONE20 launches commercial tire program

ONE20 announced plans at the recent Great American Trucking Show in Dallas to launch ONE20 Tire, a program that will be available in Q4 2017.

According to the company, ONE20 Tire will leverage more than 200 wholesale warehouses in addition to 75,000 service centers across the country. With the direct warehouse-to-consumer program, drivers and carriers will be able to save on their tire purchases. From purchase to delivery, installation will take four days or less, the company added.

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Love’s Travel Stops opens stores in North Carolina, Texas

Love's Travel Stops adds more than 200 truck parking spaces to busy interstates and highways with the opening of two new stores in Newton, NC, and Beaumont, TX. The Newton store is located at 1760 Southfork Drive (U.S. Highway 321, Exit 37). The Beaumont travel stop is located at Interstate 10 and Smith Road (Exit 843).

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Webinar: Roadside inspections in the digital age

A range of new technologies, from electronic logging devices (ELDs) to driver vehicle inspection reports (DVIRs), are changing how roadside inspections are being conducted now and into the future.

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Hurricane Harvey may sideline 7% of the trucking industry

Hurricane Harvey will “strongly affect” over 7% of U.S. trucking during the next two weeks, with some portion of that fraction out of operation entirely, according to analysis by freight research firm FTR Transportation Intelligence.

During the first week, almost 10% of all U.S. trucking will be affected, the firm said; a number that jumps near 100% for the Gulf Coast region west of the Mississippi.

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Dealing with the devastation of Hurricane Harvey

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)

UK Announces Series of Truck Platoon Tests

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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