Will Future Tech Have a Domino Effect on Fleets?

Although the use of electric trucks will likely rise in the coming years, diesel will remain the fuel of choice for fleets, said analyst Rick Mihelic. Photo: Mercedes Benz

Great changes are heading toward trucking. And while it's only natural to focus on headline-making technologies such as electric vehicles or autonomous driving technology, the tidal wave of changes coming at the industry create a ripple effect that will change aspects of the trucking industry that few have considered to this point.

That was the cautionary note struck by Rick Mihelic, transportation industry analyst and president of Mihelic Vehicle Consulting, at a webinar hosted by the Stifel Transportation Equipment Equity Research Group.

Mihelic noted that while there are many experts and pundits making predictions concerning the future of trucking today, these forecasts are extremely tricky to get right with the benefit of hindsight. However, he said it is important to remember that while many new technologies are initially supported by incentives, tax breaks, and grants to offset developmental costs, ultimately these technologies must win out in the marketplace and generate a positive return on investment and prove capable of offsetting both developmental and operating costs in order to be successful.

Taking that analysis a step further, Mihelic said it's possible today to zero in on specific aspects of the trucking industry to see where emerging technologies might be able to cut costs or improve efficiencies in the future. These areas include:

Mihelic said that while other forms of transporting material goods, such as shipping, rail and airlines, have evolved and modified over the decades since their establishment, trucking alone remains locked by regulations and legislation in methods and configurations that would be familiar to ...Read the rest of this story

It’s not just trucking that lacks skilled workers anymore

So the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) recently posted the results of an interesting survey of business executives from across the U.S. business landscape. And wouldn't you know it: a variety of industries are starting experience what's been a long-term problem for trucking companies.

They can't find enough skilled workers.

read more

Mack opens newly remodeled customer center

Mack Trucks recently celebrated the opening of its remodeled Mack Customer Center based in Allentown, PA. The $3 million renovation features facility enhancements, a reconfiguration of the floor plan and the addition of multiple interactive displays, Mack noted.

read more

TRAC Intermodal expands TRAC Select at ports

TRAC Intermodal announced it is expanding availability of its TRAC Select offering to serve the country's busiest ports, including the Los Angeles/Long Beach and New York/New Jersey ports.

Launched in February, TRAC Select is a chassis pool fleeted with a specialty chassis and services to meet specific marketplace needs, according to the company.

read more

Fruehauf inducted into Automotive Hall of Fame

August Fruehauf (1867-1930) was recently inducted into the National Automotive Hall of Fame. Fruehauf was the founder of the Fruehauf Trailer Company in 1918.

One of Fruehauf's major contributions was the automatic 5th wheel hitch in 1926, a design that is still used in the transportation industry today.

read more

Truck-Lite Offers Rigid LED Fog and Scene Lights

Truck-Lite has added an SAE-compliant LED fog light and an LED scene light to its Truck-Lite by Rigid product offering.

The fog light is designed as a direct replacement for the Freightliner Cascadia model years 2007-2016. It features a durable, die-cast housing and polycarbonate lens to combat shock and vibration. The kit includes mounting brackets and hardware, and its waterproof H11 Deutsch adapter is a direct fit for factory harnesses, and will soon be available for other truck platforms.

The scene light offers a variety of practical uses with a 65° horizontal and 69° vertical spread, flat mounting surface and powder-coated aluminum housing.

Both the SAE Fog Light and Scene Light from Truck-Lite by Rigid produce a light output closer to the color temperature of daylight, according to the company, to improve overall visibility. The lights are rated for over 50,000 hours and come with a limited lifetime warranty.

"These versatile lamps from Rigid Industries are now available for heavy-duty applications," said Errico Paolucci, aftermarket sales director for Truck-Lite. "Adapted for heavy-duty use by the leader in off-road lighting, these Truck-Lite by Rigid lamps combine the rugged durability you expect from Rigid with the safety and compliance that Truck-Lite is known for."

Follow @HDTrucking on Twitter

ITI Offers Online Urban Driving Courses

Photo: ITI

Instructional Technologies has announced a series of online Urban Driving courses, designed to teach urban driving techniques for a variety of configurations, including light-, medium- and heavy-duty commercial vehicles. ITI provides training solutions for the transportation industry, including the Pro-Tread online driver training system.

Urban Driving training lays out critical points of safely managing the urban driving environment. For each vehicle configuration, the courses provide specific information about urban driving and defensive driving practices, including:

“Urban driving is one of the most challenging and stressful jobs in trucking that requires different skills than freeway driving,” said Laura McMillan, vice president of training development at ITI. “There are distinct challenges related to traffic, routes, turns and distractions. Our new Urban Driving courses were developed to arm drivers with the information they need to drive safely and effectively when these challenges exist.”

ITI makes use of an effective mastery learning training strategy, an instructional method by which the student must master each subject before moving to the next.

The online strategy is designed to improve employee safety behaviors and provide defensible proof that a student has mastered a topic. Fleets have the flexibility to use off-the-shelf Pro-Tread lessons, engage ITI's Pro-Service team to develop customized content, and use ITI's secure hosting services for their own content.

“Our customers brought the need for Urban Driving courses to us,” McMillan stated. “To reduce the likelihood of accidents, these new lessons promote safety among drivers that operate exclusively in those environments and drivers that have to transition from the relative safety of highways to city streets.”

For more information, click here.

Related: Defensive Driving Program Focuses on Distracted Drivers

Follow @HDTrucking on Twitter