Shop productivity and OSHA travel the same road

There are many things you can do to keep OSHA happy. But the first thing you need to do is to keep yourself, your employees, boss or owner happy.

The first thing you many want to do is take a camera around the shop with you and take a couple hundred pictures. That's not hard today with a digital camera. Then, once you take those pictures, create a slideshow, and you will see that you have plenty to do.

Here are some basic things to consider:

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Love’s Adds CNG Pumps to Oklahoma Travel Stop

Photo via Love's Travel Stops

The Love's Travel Stop in Guthrie, Okla., off Interstate 35, is now offering Fast-Fill compressed natural gas for heavy-duty trucks, the company announced.

The recently acquired Trillium CNG, now a part of the Love's family of companies, will maintain the CNG fuel systems at the travel stop and maintain reliable service.

“Trillium as the CNG affiliate of Love's strengthens the experience we can offer our Customers,” said Bill Cashmareck, general manager of natural gas for Love's. “Trillium is the best in the industry for CNG systems maintenance and their expertise ensures operations will remain in top condition for years to come. Meanwhile, customers can expect the same level of service Love's stores are known for.”

Love's added CNG to the Gurthrie location due to the heavy traffic on Interstate 35 40 miles north of Oklahoma City. It joins a string of Fast-Fill CNG Love's locations along Interstate 35, including fueling stations in Ardmore, Okla., Fort Worth and San Antonio, Texas.

Guthrie is Love's 18th overall location to offer Love's Fast-Fill CNG. Together Love's and Trillium own 65 CNG locations and operate nearly 100 additional locations.

“As Love's and Trillium move forward together, we will keep our focus on designing and building high-quality CNG stations, both for ourselves and others. Trillium will also keep providing maintenance services for existing locations, and for others in the CNG market,” said Cashmareck.

Related: Trillium CNG Officially Joins Love's Travel Stops

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MacroPoint Integrates with 3PL Systems’ BrokerWare TMS

MacroPoint has announced an integration with transportation management system software provider 3PL Systems to help automate certain processes between shippers and brokers.

MacroPoint is integrating with 3PLs Systems' BrokerWare to automate the tracking of shipment information, which will help customers book more loads from valued shippers.

3PL Systems BrokerWare TMS offers dispatch and operations capabilities that rely on accurate load tracking. Through customer and sales portals in the web-based application, brokers using the TMS can track shipments. Other features of BrokerWare include least-cost routing, a bi-directional accounting integration, and a carrier selection function for researching provider qualifications.

“Through our new integration with 3PL Systems, MacroPoint's load tracking solution will enhance benefits that 3PL Systems already offers its customers,” said Dave Halsema, executive vice president of MacroPoint. “We are pleased they have enabled MacroPoint with their TMS and look forward to providing their brokerage users with freight tracking and real-time location monitoring.”

MacroPoint designs freight monitoring and tracking solutions for shippers, brokers and 3PLs. Its solution works on any cell phone and with existing in-cab electronic logging devices or GPS tracking devices to provide real-time location monitoring and tracking, delivery monitoring and event notifications for third parties.

Related: Logistic Dynamics Offers Freight Tracking With MacroPoint

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Bestpass Brings More Features to its Online Portal

Screenshot via Bestpass

Bestpass has launched a new version of its web portal at my.bestpass.com, allowing customers to more efficiently manage their fleets and access advanced tolling and trucking analytics and reporting.

The updated portal gives customers more options for viewing and changing their fleet data through an online interface. Previously, fleets had to go through customer service to access certain kinds of data or to make changes, but Bestpass redesigned the portal and upgraded it based on customer feedback, giving users more options and more accessibility.

The portal gains enhanced transparency with the ability to search and make vehicle updates, instead of having to directly contact customer service. It features targeted search across all toll transactions, as well as advanced filtering options, including transponder, date/time, facility, vehicle and cost center.

There is also a feature to upload necessary data and files, from entire vehicle lists to cab cards and truck photos and an improved dashboard.

“We always strive to make things easier for our customers, and this new portal has a number of features that will facilitate a great deal of back-office efficiency,” said John Andrews, president and CEO of Bestpass. “For a fleet manager with hundreds of vehicles incurring tolling fees with dozens of tolling groups, having all of that data in one place is invaluable, saving countless hours in the back office and allowing the manager to make more strategic decisions.”

By aggregating what would normally be multiple tolling accounts, with disparate interfaces and sets of data, the Bestpass customer portal allows fleet managers and other customers to see a more comprehensive and meaningful picture of toll usage and truck activity across an entire fleet, enabling them to make strategic decisions much more efficiently.

The portal also lets users download comprehensive toll spreadsheets, manage payments, and proactively submit tickets and violations for potential correction, among other options.

The portal's notification platform provides users with alerts such as exclusion zone infractions, inactive transponders, pending payments and automated toll exports.

In addition to launching a new web portal, Bestpass has also expanded its Customer Service team to meet the demands of the company's growing client base, which surpassed 3,000 accounts in 2015. The Customer Service department handled more than 40,000 incoming support requests last year, including phone calls, emails and live chats.

For more information, click here.

Related: Bestpass Revamps National Tolling Solution and Expands Coverage

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XL Hybrids Vans Granted Voucher Eligibility in Calif.

Photo courtesy of XL Hybrids.

Fleets who deploy XL Hybrids vans for delivery or service uses in California can now defray the cost of the conversion with a $2,500 voucher, the company has announced.

The California Air Resources Board has granted eligibility for the company's General Motors vans equipped with its XL3 Hybrid Electric Drive System under the California Heavy Duty Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP). XL Hybrids offers conversions of GM's 2500 and 3500 passenger and cargo vans.

Under the voucher, businesses and organizations can recieve up to 100 vouchers of $2,500 for each van converted to operate as a gasoline-electric hybrid in the state. The second 100 vehicles would receive $2,000 vouchers.

The converted vans must have less than 3,500 miles to be eligible for the program.

"Our XL3 Hybrid System is especially effective for fleets in urban settings and vehicles in stop-and-go traffic, delivering immediate fuel savings and sustainability benefits to corporate fleets," said Ed Lovelace, chief technology officer for XL Hybrids. "HVIP eligibility also establishes that CARB recognizes the value of hybrid electric conversions as a catalyst towards meeting the long-range greenhouse gas reduction and air quality goals."

XL Hybrids manages the conversion process for fleets that take advantage of HVIP vouchers. The vans upfitted with the XL3 system through partner installation facilities across California. Once the conversion is completed, XL Hybrids submits the voucher paperwork on behalf of the fleet, according to the company.

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Tougher sledding for intermodal

The new intermodal competitive index (ICI) crafted by research firm FTR dropped 1.2 points in May to a reading of 3.5 – the second straight decline for the index, reflecting “somewhat difficult competitive conditions” for the domestic intermodal segment.

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Paccar celebrates Renton grand opening

Paccar Parts recently celebrated the grand opening of its new distribution center in Renton, WA.

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