FMCSA Slates Summertime ‘Road Show’ Regional Forums

With no fanfare and nearly as little publicity, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has begun holding day-long regional forums to discuss how to improve the highway safety performance of commercial vehicles.

The first of what the agency is billing as “Road Shows” was held Aug. 9 in Minneapolis. The only public notice for that event appears to have been a post on the FMCSA Facebook page that popped up just the day before it took place.

The next forum is slated for 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Courtyard Philadelphia Valley Forge/Collegeville in Collegeville, Penn., near Philadelphia. FMCSA's announcement of the event is a single sentence long.

A third forum is scheduled for 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. August 17 at the Embassy Suites by Hilton at Denver International Airport. Again, there is a one-sentence description of the event.

A longer description was posted about the Minneapolis event. Presumably, the other two yet to occur will follow the same format. Of the Aug. 9 Road Show, FMCSA said beforehand that the agenda would include presentations by FMCSA senior executives and program specialists. In addition, attendees would be invited “to further discuss and explore both the challenges and the opportunities for strengthening large truck and bus safety.”

Some of the discussion topics were listed as: “FMCSA priorities and goals and their alignment with commercial vehicle safety programs and activities; the Compliance, Safety, Accountability program; the congressionally mandated electronic logging device rule; large truck and bus traffic enforcement; and FMCSA's state grant programs that support grass-roots commercial vehicle enforcement and safety programs.”

Related: FMCSA Takes Driver ELD Education on the Road

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Ancra Beam Rack Keeps Cargo Beams Tidy

Ancra released a new, patented, Beam Rack designed to provide a secure, easy and efficient method of raising beams up and out of the way when not in use.

A key advantage, according to the company, is that the system ensures no beam is left behind during the unloading process. Often, dock workers will place beams on the side of the trailer or in the warehouse to keep them out of the way when unloading cargo, resulting in beams being forgotten and left in the warehouse resulting in possible lost time or insufficient beams for the next cargo load.

Ancra says the new Beam Rack is manufactured for easy installation and the unique design lets you lock up to six beams per set horizontally in your trailer.

To install the Beam Rack, align brackets 8 feet apart, into your current trailer logistics posts with UP arrow pointing up and tabs inserted into logistics posts slots. The lower tab can be adjusted if needed to fit into logistics posts with unique slot spacing. Turn the thumb screws, top one first to lock Beam Rack bracket in place then turn the lower one to eliminated rattles – then simply place beams in the designated slots until needed.

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Telsa Wants to Test Self-Driving Class 8 Electric Truck in Two States

Based on emails obtained by Reuters, it appears Tesla's new electric truck will have some autonomous and platooning capabilities. Photo: Tesla

It appears Elon Musk's Tesla electric Class 8 tractor will be designed from the ground up with autonomous platooning capability.

That's the take-away from an email exchange between the Tesla chief executive office and the state of Nevada, as reported by Reuters. Musk is apparently reaching out to Nevada officials in an attempt to get approval for platooning test runs on public highways in the state.

Nevada has been an early leader in state-level pro-autonomous vehicle legislation and policy. The report also indicated Musk will meet with California officials next week to discuss his autonomous vehicle and platooning initiatives.

According to the report, Musk references both autonomous vehicle control and semi-truck platooning in the emails – but there are no specific details as to what level of autonomous control the new Tesla truck will have when unveiled.

Tesla plans to publicly reveal its electric Class 8 truck next month. The exchange between Musk and California and Nevada officials appears to be the first time the Tesla CEO has mentioned autonomous or platooning capabilities in the new truck.

According to Reuters, Nasser Zamani, a regulatory affairs officer at Tesla, wrote to Nevada DMV officials earlier this year, "To insure we are on the same page, our primary goal is the ability to operate our prototype test trucks in a continuous manner across the state line and within the States of Nevada and California in a platooning and/or Autonomous mode without having a person in the vehicle."

No dates for vehicle tests were mentioned in the email exchanges.

Related: Tesla Gets Set to Run with the Big Rigs with Electric Truck

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Ryder offers ELD resource guide

Ryder System is offering an eight-page “resource guide” regarding the basics of the electronic logging device (ELD) mandate available for download on its website – a guide that the company said answers some of the most commonly asked questions regarding the mandate, which goes into effect on December 18.

Key points highlighted within the guide include:

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Real-time routing

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Telsa Seeking to Test Autonomous, Platooning Tech on Public Roadways

Based on emails obtained by Reuters, it appears Tesla's new electric truck will have some autonomous and platooning capabilities. Photo: Tesla

It appears Elon Musk's Tesla electric Class 8 tractor will be designed from the ground up with autonomous platooning capability.

That's the take-away from an email exchange between the Tesla chief executive office and the state of Nevada, as reported by Reuters. Musk is apparently reaching out to Nevada officials in an attempt to get approval for platooning test runs on public highways in the state. Nevada has been an early leader in state-level pro-autonomous vehicle legislation and policy. The report also indicated Musk will meet with California officials next week to discuss his autonomous vehicle and platooning initiatives.

According to the report, Musk references both autonomous vehicle control and semi-truck platooning in the emails – but there are no specific details as to what level of autonomous control the new Tesla truck will have when unveiled. Tesla plans to publicly reveal its electric Class 8 truck next month. The exchange between Musk and California and Nevada officials appears to be the first time the Tesla CEO has mentioned autonomous or platooning capabilities in the new truck.

According to Reuters, Nasser Zamani, a regulatory affairs officer at Tesla, wrote to Nevada DMV officials earlier this year, "To insure we are on the same page, our primary goal is the ability to operate our prototype test trucks in a continuous manner across the state line and within the States of Nevada and California in a platooning and/or Autonomous mode without having a person in the vehicle." No dates for vehicle tests were mentioned in the email exchanges.

Related: Tesla Gets Set to Run with the Big Rigs with Electric Truck

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3 ways ELDs Should Help Prevent Driver Coercion

Photo: FMCSA

Drivers, of course, are at the heart of the electronic logging device mandate that kicks in just over four months from now, on December 18. According to Pete Allen, executive vice president of MiX Telematics, which provides ELD solutions, it was concern about how drivers might be impacted by rule change that compelled the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration to put “provisions in place to prevent issues of harassment, one of which is driver coercion.”

Allen told HDT that the rule includes these three technical requirements to help protect drivers from being coerced into violating federal hours-of-service regulations:

Unassigned Driving Time: The ELD device must track all miles associated with the vehicle. If any mileage is not assigned to a driver, it is labeled as Unassigned Driving Time.

When drivers log onto an ELD, they must be prompted if the vehicle they are in has any unassigned driving time. If a driver is responsible for any unassigned driving time, he or she must identify it as his or her own, and then the system will automatically update the driver's Record of Duty Status. Managers should also monitor unassigned driving time from their vendor's portal or reports. There may be unassigned driving time that is unaccounted for, and managers will need to remind the specific driver who drove the vehicle at that time to accept the unassigned driving time to remain compliant.

Edits to RODS/HOS: Under the rule, drivers are responsible for their RODS/HOS.

This requirement means the driver has the final say on any changes made to their RODS/HOS. The technical requirements require ELD devices to allow drivers to edit their own HOS logs, and to view and accept or reject any edits made by a manager. At driver log in, the ELD must prompt the driver if any ...Read the rest of this story