No Cab? No Driver? No Problem.

The T-Pod is an all-electric autonomous truck capable of running 124 miles on a single battery charge. Photo: Einride

A Swedish automotive startup has unveiled a peek at the future of autonomous trucking-- as of right now. On July 4, Einride rolled out its new T Pod concept truck during the Almedalsveckan Week event in Visby, Sweden. The new truck is a 23-foot long, 4,000-pound straight truck capable of hauling 15 pallets worth of cargo in urban delivery applications.

The T Pod is interesting firstly because it is an all-electric design with an estimated range of 124 miles on one charge, and secondly because it is a fully autonomous design. There is no driver in the T Pod. In fact, there is not even cab for a driver to sit in. Einride has designed the T Pod from the ground up as a completely driverless vehicle.

The company said that, initially, the T Pod can be controlled remotely by human drivers, although it is working to establish the necessary infrastructure and support elements that will eventually allow the truck to operate completely autonomously without any active human input whatsoever.

According to reporting from The Verge, Einride is planning to develop a complete autonomous transport network complete with charging stations connecting the Swedish cities of Gothenburg and Helsingborg by 2020.

Eventually, the company said, it will have as many as 200 T Pod trucks working the route capable of handling up to 2 million pallets of cargo annually. According to Einride, T Pod models on this route would save the equivalent Co2 emissions of 400,000 passenger cars annually.

Related: Global Self-Driving Market Expected to Grow 40% by 2027

Follow @HDTrucking on Twitter

Feds Withdraw Sleep Apnea Pre-Rule

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Federal Railroad Administration have withdrawn their advance notice of proposed rulemaking on obstructive sleep apnea.

The so-called “pre-rule” was jointly issued in March 2016. It was regarded by the two agencies as merely “the first step” in considering whether to propose specific requirements around OSA for commercial vehicle drivers and rail workers in “safety sensitive positions.”

FMCSA and FRA said in an Aug. 4 announcement of the withdrawal that the agencies have “determined not to issue a notice of proposed rulemaking at this time and believe that current safety programs and FRA's rulemaking addressing fatigue risk management are the appropriate avenues to address OSA.”

The agencies did stress that “OSA remains an ongoing concern for the agencies and the motor carrier and railroad industries because it can cause unintended sleep episodes and resulting deficits in attention, concentration, situational awareness, and memory, thus reducing the capacity to safely respond to hazards when performing safety sensitive duties.”

The 2016 pre-rule (RIN 2126-AB88 and 2130-AC52), titled “Evaluation of Safety Sensitive Personnel for OSA,” had sought to obtain “data and information concerning the prevalence of moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnea among individuals occupying safety sensitive positions in rail and highway transportation.”

The agencies also had requested information about the potential economic impact and safety benefits associated with “regulatory actions that would result in transportation workers in these positions, who exhibit multiple risk factors for OSA, undergoing evaluation by a healthcare professional with expertise in sleep disorders, and subsequent treatment.”

In its notice of withdrawal published in the Federal Register, the agencies stated they had received more than 700 comments from individuals, medical professionals, labor groups, and transportation industry stakeholders as well as the National Transportation Safety Board.

FMCSA added that it “reminds medical examiners that there are no FMCSA rules or other ...Read the rest of this story

Minimizer releases new floor mats for Western Star trucks

Minimizer has released five all-new custom molded floor mat kits to fit 2016-2018 Western Star trucks.

“It's exciting to know that we now have nearly every Western Star truck released over the past couple years covered … literally,” Minimizer CEO Craig Kruckeberg said. “Our Custom Molded Floor Mats are designed to be a perfect fit, which can be tough logistically, but I'm proud to say our R&D team has pulled it off.”

read more

The birth rate, economic productivity, and trucking

Here's a gloomy thought: despite the positive projections for freight growth over the next decade being bandied about (though trucking's share of freight volumes is expected to decline) what if the real long-term trend is far darker and downward in nature?

read more

Sheehy Mail Contractors partners with Trillium CNG

Sheehy Mail Contractors Inc. partnered with Love's Trillium CNG after adding to its natural-gas vehicle (NGV) fleet. The mail carrier entered into a contract with Trillium and now stops at the Trillium compressed natural gas (CNG) refueling station in Omaha, NE.

read more

Mack reaches 100th Certified Uptime Center

Mack Trucks announced it certified its 100th dealer location as a Mack Certified Uptime Center.

According to the company, standardized workflows and processes at Mack Certified Uptime Centers, combined with redesigned service bays, enable quicker repairs and more streamlined service for customers. Mack began distinguishing dealerships that achieved the guidelines to be a Mack Certified Uptime Center in January 2016.

read more

Q. What are the record retention requirements with ELDs?

A. As part of its Electronic Logging Device (ELD) Mandate, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) has established rules covering retention of record of duty status (RODS) data.

Motor carriers must keep ELD RODS data for a period of six months, according to FMCSA guidelines. They must also keep a back-up copy of the data on a separate device for six months. It is the carrier's responsibility to ensure that records are stored in a secured manner in order to protect driver privacy.

In addition, original records will be kept even after edits and entries have been made. Drivers have a right to see their records for six months. Access to records can be through the ELD itself or via another means the carrier provides.

The FMCSA and other authorized safety officials will not retain any ELD data unless there has been a violation.

In addition, carriers have to keep up to eight supporting documents for every 24-hour period that the driver is on duty. Supporting documents include:

It is the driver's responsibility to submit his or her RODS and supporting documents to the fleet no later than 13 days after receiving them.

Follow @HDTrucking on Twitter