Sen. Schumer Urges Finalizing Speed-Limiter Rule

Senator Chuck Schumer 

Influential Senator Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) lent his support to the proposed federal rule that would mandate electronic speed limiters on commercial vehicles during an Oct. 13 campaign stop on Long Island.

“There's nothing more harrowing than having a 12-wheeler behind you going fast,” Schumer said while standing alongside the notoriously hectic Long Island Expressway, per a news report posted by TheIslandNow.com. Schumer, New York's senior senator is running for reelection and is in line to succeed Sen. Harry Reid (D-NV) as the Senate's Democratic leader.

Back in August, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration and the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration jointly proposed that heavy-duty vehicles be equipped with speed-limiting devices set to a specific maximum speed.

However, as of yet, the agencies have not proposed a specific speed limit for the proposed limiters. The Department of Transportation has said only that the proposal “discusses the benefits of setting the maximum speed at 60, 65, and 68 miles per hour, but the agencies will consider other speeds based on public input.”

That lack of specificity drew the scorn of Chris Spear, president and CEO of the American Trucking Associations, earlier this month during a press briefing at ATA's Management Conference and Exhibition in Las Vegas. “The various differentials in speed from what this rule proposes and what state speed limits are is dangerous,” he said. “What is this proposal? Three speed limits, not one. No studies to back it up. And no national cap on limits to address speed differentials.

“Our policy focus now is to develop comments on this proposal, which in my humble opinion, is flawed,” Spear continued. “We cannot afford to elevate risks for the motoring public with a rule that does not take into account the danger of differential speeds for cars and trucks."

As reported ...Read the rest of this story

DAT Solutions Integrates Small Carrier-Focused Getloaded

Image via DAT Solutions

DAT Solutions has announced that Getloaded, a load board for smaller freight brokers and carriers, will be integrated into the DAT Network of load boards.

The combination with the rest of DAT's load board network provides a single location for options aimed at van, refrigerated, flatbed and specialty freight and capacity. With the integration, Getloaded's carrier customers will have access to four times as many loads per day while broker customers will be able to choose from 17 million available trucks posted annually to the DAT Network.

Getloaded and DAT - which includes DAT Power, DAT Express, DAT TruckersEdge and OOIDA's MembersEdge - are both owned by the same company, and have been operating with independent databases operated by DAT. DAT will migrate DAT and Getloaded customers to the combined database by year-end.

The move is the latest in a series of expansions at DAT. In August, the company relocated to a 55,000-square-foot facility in Portland. It also grew its technical and engineering staff, while expanding its Data Science department to address the needs of a changing industry.

"Since 1999, Getloaded has built its reputation as a marketplace for smaller brokers and carriers, especially those involved in moving flatbed and specialty freight," said Don Thornton, senior vice president at DAT. "We're excited to offer more choices and services to Getloaded customers and to allow all customers to post their loads and trucks in one efficient super-database."

Related: DAT Launches Scalable TMS for Brokers

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DAT Solutions Integrates Small Carrier-Focused Getloaded

Image via DAT Solutions

DAT Solutions has announced that Getloaded, a load board for smaller freight brokers and carriers, will be integrated into the DAT Network of load boards.

The combination with the rest of DAT's load board network provides a single location for options aimed at van, refrigerated, flatbed and specialty freight and capacity. With the integration, Getloaded's carrier customers will have access to four times as many loads per day while broker customers will be able to choose from 17 million available trucks posted annually to the DAT Network.

Getloaded and DAT - which includes DAT Power, DAT Express, DAT TruckersEdge and OOIDA's MembersEdge - are both owned by the same company, and have been operating with independent databases operated by DAT. DAT will migrate DAT and Getloaded customers to the combined database by year-end.

The move is the latest in a series of expansions at DAT. In August, the company relocated to a 55,000-square-foot facility in Portland. It also grew its technical and engineering staff, while expanding its Data Science department to address the needs of a changing industry.

"Since 1999, Getloaded has built its reputation as a marketplace for smaller brokers and carriers, especially those involved in moving flatbed and specialty freight," said Don Thornton, senior vice president at DAT. "We're excited to offer more choices and services to Getloaded customers and to allow all customers to post their loads and trucks in one efficient super-database."

Related: DAT Launches Scalable TMS for Brokers

Follow @HDTrucking on Twitter

Detroit Diesel to Pay $28.5 Million in Clean Air Act Settlement

Image: U.S. Department of Justice

Detroit Diesel Corp. will pay $28.5 million, in a combination of fines and funding for pollution-reduction projects, to settle alleged violations of the Clean Air Act that the Department of Justice said entailed selling heavy-duty diesel engines that were not certified by the Environmental Protection Agency and did not meet applicable emission standards.

Per the settlement agreement announced by DOJ, Detroit Diesel will pay a $14 million civil penalty and spend $14.5 million on projects to reduce nitrogen oxide and other pollutants, including replacing “high-polluting” diesel school buses and locomotive engines with models that meet current emissions standards.

The government's complaint, filed on Oct. 7 in tandem with the settlement, alleges that Detroit Diesel violated the Clean Air Act by “introducing into commerce 7,786 heavy-duty diesel engines for use in trucks and buses in model year 2010 without a valid EPA-issued certificate of conformity demonstrating conformance with Clean Air Act standards to control nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions,” said DOJ. The complaint also alleges that the engines did not conform to emission standards applicable to model year 2010 engines.

“This case demonstrates the critical importance of EPA's vehicle and engine certification program to achieving the goals of the Clean Air Act,” said Assistant Attorney General John C. Cruden for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division. “By not certifying the engines in accordance with the rules, Detroit Diesel Corp. increased pollution and undercut competitors. We will uphold the integrity of that program by holding accountable those that skirt the rules.”

Per a statement received from David Giroux, director of corporate communications for Daimler Trucks North America, Detroit Diesel's parent firm, in the second half of 2009 the engine maker received “an unexpected increase” in orders for MY2009 engines.

“To complete production of those engines in 2009, ...Read the rest of this story

FourKites Receives $13 Million To Expand and Improve Platform

Photo: FourKites

Transportation industry software provider FourKites announced that it has raised $13 million in Series A funding led by Bain Capital Ventures, bringing total funding for the two-year-old company to $16.5 million.

FourKites uses mobile, cloud and analytics software to provide load tracking in real-time across more than 2.5 million trucks. The platform is designed to help improve supply chain efficiency for shippers. It uses FourKites proprietary technology and its network of more than 45 partnerships with GPS-enabled electronic logging device providers.

The new funding will be used to integrate more data sources into its tracking platform, expand internationally and cover additional transportation applications like LTL, rail, intermodal and maritime. Additionally, FourKites is also building new applications that make use of the data its platform collects to drive supply chain operations efficiency.

“Supply chain efficiency has become paramount for every kind of business, and we're excited to help Matt and FourKites realize their ambitious yet achievable vision,” said Ajay Agarwal, managing director of Bain Capital Ventures. “FourKites has marquee customers achieving impressive results, boosting on-time performance from the low 90% range to 97-98%, which translates into less wait time at warehouses, lower stock-outs, faster inventory turns.”

Related: FourKites Hires ALK Veteran to Head Global Partnerships

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For-Hire Freight Slips Following Four Straight Monthly Gains

Freight Transportation Services Index, August 2011 - August 2016. Graphic: U.S. DOT

The amount of freight moved by the nation's for-hire transportation industry fell in August after rising four straight months, according to new Transportation Department figures, and reflecting trends in the overall economy.

The Freight Transportation Services Index (TSI) declined 1.8% in August from July to a reading of 122.3. It remains less than 2% below the downwardly revised all-time high level of 124.5 hit this past July, first reported as 124.6. Monthly numbers for January through May were revised down slightly.

The Freight TSI measures the month-to-month changes in freight shipments by mode of transportation in tons and ton-miles, which are combined into one index. It measures the output of the for-hire freight transportation industry and consists of data from for-hire trucking, rail, inland waterways, pipelines and air freight.

The August Freight TSI decrease was due to declines in pipelines, rail carloads, and particularly trucking, while all other modes grew or were stable, according to the department. “The August decrease was driven by declines in the mining, including oil and gas well drilling and servicing, and manufacturing sectors of the economy.”

The Freight TSI drop in August from July was the largest monthly decrease since January 2014. The decrease, following an increase of 1.6% in July, virtually brought the index back to the June level.

In the two-month period, the index is down just 0.2%. However, since the beginning of 2015, the index has been extremely stable as it fluctuated above and below 122. It has deviated only twice by more than 1% from the 122 level twice, in March 2016 when it fell 2% below 122 to a two-year low, and in July 2016 when it rose 2% above 122 to reach an all-time high. The index has risen 29% since the ...Read the rest of this story