NAFTA Trucking Freight Falls; 19th Straight Overall Monthly Drop

U.S.-NAFTA freight value percent change from previous year over the last 24 months. Graphic: U.S. DOT

Trucking and all other transportation modes except rail carried less cross-border freight by value in July compared to a year earlier, according to new U.S. Transportation Department figures.

This resulted in a 10% decrease in the total current dollar value of freight moved. The $83.7 billion in July 2016 cross-border freight is the lowest monthly amount since February 2011, which had $76.7 billion in cross-border freight.

July also marks 19th consecutive month that the total value of U.S. freight with North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) partners Canada and Mexico declined from the same month of the previous year.

The value of commodities moving by truck fell by 8.8% as rail increased 0.9%. Also falling is air freight by 6.4%, vessel by 25.1% and pipeline by 26.9%. Truck freight imports fell by 7.3% while exports declined by a larger 10.3%.

According to the department, the increase in rail is due in part to the a 14% year-over-year increase in the value of vehicles and parts traded with Mexico. A drop in the price of crude oil also played a role in the large declines in the dollar value of products shipped by vessel and pipeline. Crude oil accounts a large share of the commodities carried by these modes. Mineral fuels, a commodity category that includes crude oil and coal, accounted for 10.1% of total value of U.S.-NAFTA trade in July.

Despite the overall decline, trucks carried 64.7% of U.S.-NAFTA freight and continued to be the most heavily utilized mode for moving goods to and from both U.S.-NAFTA partners. Trucks accounted for $27.8 billion of the $44.6 billion of imports, or 62.4%, and $26.4 billion of the $39.1 billion of exports, or 67.4%%. Rail remained the second largest ...Read the rest of this story

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Wabco Partnerships Aimed at Advancing Autonomous Vehicle Tech

Wabco Holdings is collaborating with Peloton Technology and Mobileye to advance the company's autonomous vehicle technologies, the company announced at the IAA Commercial Vehicle Show in Hannover, Germany.

Wabco is working with Peloton to advance an innovative solution for truck platooning, integrated commercial vehicle-to-vehicle communication and other automation technologies to improve safety and fuel efficiency.

By electronically linking two or more trucks and forming a virtual road train on highways, platooning increases fuel economy for each truck. Wabco will contribute to this concept with its portfolio of braking, advanced stability and emergency braking systems, including predictive cruise control. Peloton will bring its proprietary platooning technologies that are currently under testing in the U.S.

Wabco's OnGuardActive collision mitigation system is important to vehicles connected in a platoon. When necessary, it provides active braking to avoid or mitigate impending rear-end collisions.

Peloton's systems enable platooning through advanced vehicle-to-vehicle wireless communication, enabling tractor-trailers to accelerate and brake together and safely operate at closer distances to gain aerodynamic efficiencies. Peloton's Network Operations Center supervises the platooning trucks, allowing platooning only where, when and how it is safe to do so.

Peloton's system also processes real-time data gathered from sensors linked to other vehicle's active safety and automation systems, including Wabco's OnGuard emergency braking system and from data about the vehicle's systems and their performance.

“Today's announcement builds on our past work together, and we continue to be excited about the synergy with Wabco, a global technology leader in advanced driver assistance and active safety systems,” said Josh Switkes, Peloton CEO and founder. “Working with Wabco, we can make trucks and drivers safer on highways whether in a platoon or operating individually.”

Wabco has also signed an agreement with an automotive industry supplier based in Asia to bring active steering and other technologies to the commercial industry through a new joint ...Read the rest of this story

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FMCSA Final Rule Allows Windshield Mounted Technology

Photo: Lytx

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has issued a final rule amending the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations to allow the voluntary mounting of certain devices on the interior of the windshields of commercial motor vehicles.

The rule includes technology placed within the area that is swept by the windshield wipers. Section 5301 of the Fixing America's Surface Transportation or FAST Act directs the FMCSA to amend the FMCSRs to allow devices to be mounted on the windshield that make use of “vehicle safety technology.”

Section 5301 also states that all windshield-mounted devices and technologies that were already given an exemption will already meet or exceed the safety standard required for the initial exemption.

The final rule is a nondiscretionary, ministerial action that does not require prior public notice and public comment under the Administrative Procedure Act.

To read the complete Federal Register notice, click here.

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