Cybersecurity is a core trucking concern now

Many truckers might think all the hand-wringing over cybersecurity these days isn't something they need to worry about.

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More insights from in.sight conference

From an explanation as to how e-commerce is reshaping the trucking industry to discussion of trends in cybersecuroity, autonomous vehicle development, regulations, and maintenance data analysis, the three-day 2017 in.sight user conference and exposition in Nashvilee, TN, offered up a chance to dig into some of the major issues affecting the freight world today. (All photos: Sean Kilcarr/Fleet Owner)

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Trump signs executive order to speed infrastructure permitting process

President Trump signed an executive order on Aug. 15 aimed at speeding the federal permitting process for transportation and other infrastructure projects.

Speaking at the Trump Tower in New York alongside Transportation secretary Elaine Chao, he said builders have to navigate up to 16 approvals, 9 agencies and 29 statutes. That can result in delays of years or even decades, costing millions of dollars, he said.

The result is a “self-inflicted wound on our country,” Trump said.

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Drivewyze Bypass Service Debuts in North Dakota

Photo: Drivewyze

The Drivewyze weigh station bypass service is now being offered in North Dakota at 21 permanent and mobile sites, the company announced.

The Drivewyze PreClear program, which allows participants to bypass weigh stations and inspections sites using a smartphone or other mobile device, is compatible with 13 different approaches to seven fixed weigh stations, as well as eight mobile sites. The program is being run in collaboration with the North Dakota Department of Transportation and Highway Patrol. Truck fleets and drivers who operate safely and within legal weight limits and meet the state's criteria can obtain bypasses through Drivewyze.

The addition of North Dakota closes a nearly 400-mile gap in Drivewyze bypass service between Moorehead, Minnesota, and Wibaux, Montana, according to the company.

The Drivewyze PreClear weigh station bypass application comes pre-loaded on in-cab telematics and ELD devices like Omnitracs, PeopleNet, Rand McNally, and Zonar. The application is also available for Android and iOS-based tablets or smartphones.

Related: Weigh Station Bypass Saves Time for Car Hauler

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Trucking Industry Revenue Hit $676.2 Billion Last Year

American Trucking Associations' American Trucking Trends 2017 annual compendium of data on the trucking industry reveals that the trucking industry generated $676.2 billion in revenue last year, making up nearly 80% of the nation's freight bill. Trucks moved 70.6% of all domestic freight tonnage for a total of 10.42 billion tons of freight.

“The information in Trends highlights exactly what I tell elected officials, regulators and key decision-makers every day: Trucking is literally the driving force behind our great economy,” said Chris Spear, ATA president and CEO. “Safe, reliable and efficient motor carriers enable businesses throughout the supply chain to maintain lean inventories, thereby saving the economy billions of dollars each year.”

Trucking isn't cheap either, with the ATA finding that the nation's commercial trucks paid $41.3 billion in state and federal highway user fees and taxes, with the average five-axle tractor trailer paying more than $5,600 in taxes annually.

There were 33.8 million trucks registered for business purposes, of which 3.68 million were Class 8 vehicles. Those trucks burned 38.8 billion gallons of diesel fuel and 15.5 billion gallons of gasoline and traveled 450.4 billion miles.

Somebody has to drive all of those vehicles, of course, and the trucking industry employed 7.4 million Americans last year, nearly half of which were drivers. Of those drivers, 6% are women and 38.7% are minorities.

As a whole, the trucking industry is primarily made up of small businesses; 91% percent of motor carriers operate six or fewer trucks and 97% operate fewer than 20.

More data is available and complied in the American Trucking Trends 2017 compendium, available for purchase here.

Related: ATA to California: Don't Mess With Trucking

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TMW Updates Billing, Planning, Business Tools

TMW Systems announced several updated fleet software tools for managing billing, maintenance, and business at the in.sight. User Conference + Expo hosted by PeopleNet and TMW in Nashville, Tennessee.

TMW.Suite Fuel Dispatch is now available with three additional features designed to help users improve planning and dispatch operations and make informed decisions about existing and new market opportunities.

The TMW.Suite Fuel Dispatch module now features a time-saving capability to simultaneously perform multiple commodity product code changes. Users can now select one or more sites and update the corresponding codes. This feature also automatically updates existing orders for each of the sites. Mass updates of commodities are particularly useful in regions where fuel formulations change by season, according to TMW. Commodity changes can be scheduled for future dates, as well.

Also new to Fuel Dispatch is an interactive re-forecasting feature that allows dispatchers to assess the overall effect on projected deliveries if a current available order changed. Dispatchers can use this feature to adjust for special market conditions or situations that require a change to one or more loads. Current-state and re-forecasted orders are displayed on a new order grid within the Dispatch Dashboard and Call On Demand Order Entry screen.

The company also expanded its Reveal Series business intelligence and data analytics tools for oilfield service and fuel delivery carriers. Reveal Series analytics can now be used to build solutions that isolate abnormal rack and delivery point dwell times; analyze driver and asset performance; develop time-based metrics to reduce delivery delays during peak traffic or busy seasons; and establish trip standards by time of day, week, month, or season. TMW's Reveal Series data warehouse aggregates all orders, stops, commodities, quantities, stop date times, freight volumes and other information for fuel delivery and oilfield gathering operations.

“Each of these new capabilities extends the breadth and value ...Read the rest of this story

TMW Introduces TMT Predictive Maintenance Software

TMW Systems introduced a predictive maintenance application, TMT Predict.Fault Code, that helps fleets anticipate and address potential vehicle breakdowns and other unscheduled service needs before they occur. The new application is the first tool to be offered under the company's new TMT Predict Series of maintenance analytics solutions.

The TMT Predict.Fault Code application works in conjunction with the PeopleNet Mobile Gateway and Vusion data science to capture and analyze vehicle fault codes and more than 80 leading vehicle performance variables. When fault codes and other vehicle data indicate an increased probability of failure, a dashboard alert appears within the user's TMT Fleet Maintenance software. The alert identifies the fleet's assigned equipment number, vehicle identification number, probability of failure, diagnostic trouble code and description, the performance variables triggering the probability, and other key information.

This new predictive maintenance capability is available for vehicles equipped with PMG via factory or aftermarket installation. The feature is currently offered for a number of leading commercial vehicle nameplates.

“Preventing just 35% of unplanned repairs can save fleets thousands of dollars in hard costs alone,” said Renaldo Adler, principal, asset maintenance and fleet and service centers for TMW. “Many serious faults also can have a cascading effect on other vehicle systems if they aren't caught in time. Our new predictive maintenance capabilities can help the fleet manager pull the vehicle out of operation before a problem becomes extremely expensive.”

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