US oil refiner leads bids for Petro-Canada's lube division

Uber’s Otto completes first-ever delivery by self-driving truck

Earnings Watch: Swift Profit Up 4.7%, Paccar Down Nearly 20%

At a time when many trucking companies are reporting lower third quarter earnings, Swift Transportation (NYSE: SWFT) bucked the trend with a 4.7% increase driven by its dedicated operations, while truck and engine manufacturer Paccar (NASDAQ: PCAR) saw earnings fall by 19.7%.

Arizona-based Swift reported net income increased to $38 million, or 28 cents per share, up from $36.3 million, or 25 cents per share, a year earlier. This includes the $7.1 million retirement package for President CEO Jerry Moyes, who is set to leave at the end of the year. The company's adjusted earnings of 34 cents per share beat a consensus estimate from analysts.

Total revenue moved lower, to $1.01 billion from $1.06 billion a year ago. Revenue minus fuel surcharge fell to $929.7 million from the year-ago $955 million.

"Excess industry capacity, excess customer inventories, and sluggish demand have combined to cause persistent pressure on freight volumes and pricing,” the company said in its letter to shareholders.

According to the company, during the quarter its average operational truck count declined by 110 trucks from the second quarter and by 581 trucks compared to a year ago, “to drive improvements in asset utilization as the truckload market continued to be challenging throughout the third quarter.”

Swift's dedicated operation saw a 8.9% year over year increase in revenue minus fuel surcharges, hitting $234.4 million. Weekly revenue less fuel surcharges per tractor improved 8.1% year over year, due to improvements in pricing and freight mix, Swift said. Its average operational truck count increased 130 trucks over the second quarter, due to growth with its existing dedicated customer base.

Swift's truckload segment, however, saw lower revenue compared to a year ago. Revenue minus fuel surcharges for the third quarter of 2016 was $469.1 million, down from $489.5 million in the third quarter of 2015.

Total loaded ...Read the rest of this story

Otto, Budweiser Announce First Shipment Using Autonomous Truck

If you're in Colorado Springs, you might buy a can of beer that was shipped by a self-driving truck.

Otto and Budweiser announced Tuesday that they have reached a major milestone on the road to autonomous trucking with the completion of the world's first shipment using a self-driving truck.

Otto, which is now owned by Uber, teamed up with Anheuser-Busch to haul 51,744 cans of Budweiser from Fort Collins, through downtown Denver, to Colorado Springs. By using cameras, radar, and lidar sensors mounted on the vehicle to “see” the road, Otto's system controlled the acceleration, braking, and steering of the truck to carry the beer exit-to-exit without any human intervention.

Walter Martin, a professional truck driver since 2007, monitored the 120-mile journey down I-25 on October 20 from the sleeper berth in the back. Otto says the project had full support from the State of Colorado.

“We are always looking for new innovations and technology,” explained Anheuser Busch's James Sembrot in a video posted by Otto. “Otto's trucks are the next area of transportation innovation.”

The driver is still involved in picking up the load, making sure the freight is secured in the trailer. Once the truck is on the Interstate, he flips a switch and the truck drives itself down the road.

As HDT's Rolf Lockwood reported earlier this year, Otto hardware and software is tuned for the consistent patterns and easy-to-predict road conditions of highway driving. Sensors are installed high atop the truck, which offers an unobstructed view of the road ahead. With highways making up only 5% of U.S. roads, Otto says this allows a tight testing focus on a specific set of trucking routes critical for the American economy.

The driver monitored the 120-mile trip on I-25 from the sleeper. Photo courtesy Otto.

Related: Self-Driving Trucks ...Read the rest of this story

Class 8 market to drop to 215,000 units in 2017: Volvo

Where trucking rates go from here

So by now you've no doubt heard about the first “live load” of freight hauled by Otto the self-driving truck (go here and here for more on that.)

read more

Fleetmatics: Tracking tech and driver screening desired for school buses

Fleetmatics Group recently commissioned KRC Research to conduct a survey to examine U.S. confidence in school bus safety, and identify the top areas for improvement.

The results find that close to three fourths of Americans (71 percent) are confident in the current state of school bus safety. In fact, nearly 8 in 10 Americans (79 percent) are confident in the timeliness of their school buses, suggesting a high level of trust that parents and students will not be left waiting.

read more