CNBC's John Harwood reports that the Trump White House kicks off "Made in America" week, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer justifies the Trump family's personally branded products that are not manufactured here.
Screenshot via Geotab
">Screenshot via Geotab
">Geotab has announced the launch of Driver DataSense from J.J. Keller & Associates and integrations to TMW Suite and TMW TruckMate from TMW Systems, through its online Marketplace.
To address the needs of mutual customers, J.J. Keller and TMW Systems are joining the Geotab Marketplace of mobile apps, software add-ins, and hardware add-ons, allowing Geotab customers more choice in customizing and extending fleet management capabilities.
The J. J. Keller Driver DataSense service helps fleets manage hours of service compliance based on data coming from the Geotab device, paper logbooks, and driver time records. A dedicated client service specialist interprets fleet data and provides compliance guidance and DOT audit support. Additionally, customers can gather Business Intelligence reporting and other fleet analytics with detailed views down to the specific violation through a secure online portal.
The service can help fleets with roadside inspections, CSA score improvement, best-practice time management, fuel use efficiency, and protection from DOT audits and interventions, according to J.J. Keller.
In the coming months, the Encompass solution from J. J. Keller will also debut on the Geotab Marketplace. It uses a cloud-based system to report on data captured from the Geotab ELD, and data from the driver's smartphone or tablet that has the J. J. Keller Mobile app.
“We are proud to partner with Geotab to offer the industry multiple options for hours of service compliance. Whether fleets prefer to have J. J. Keller compliance experts oversee the data coming from the Geotab device, or manage hours of service themselves using the J. J. Keller hours of service back office, we have a solution,” said Rustin Keller, executive vice president of J. J. Keller.
Both TMWSuite and TruckMate, from TMW Systems, are transportation management software for fleet operations that serve as the information hub of your organization, providing real-time visibility into order-entry, load-booking, ...Read the rest of this story
More than 15 cents per mile. That's what it costs a fleet on average for maintenance and repair, according to the American Transportation Research Institute. That equates to about 10% of a fleet's vehicle-based operating costs.
Currently fleets are conducting 75% of their maintenance in house, according to Molly MacKay Zacker, vice president of operations at MacKay & Company, a market research company for the trucking, construction and agricultural equipment industries. However, when her firm surveys fleets every four years in its Truck and Trailer Service Study, fleets indicate they want to outsource more of their service work — yet the percentage of in-house service continues to remain steady. MacKay's predictions are that in 2020, 68% of the 672 million service labor hours will be handled in house.
According to MacKay Zacker, “The reason fleets cite for not outsourcing more is they can't afford the turnaround time.” Quality of work and cost of repairs are the other items that top the list of fleet concerns about outsourcing their service work. “Concern about downtime and turnaround time is a huge issue,” she explains, “and it is not just getting the truck where it needs to be to get the service done, it is how long is it going to take to fix it once it gets there.”
She adds, “Fleets consider that to be a deep dark hole. The truck goes to [a shop] and they have no idea when it is coming out.”
CK Commercial Vehicle Research's Fleet Productivity Study found that 36.8% of the fleets surveyed (mostly fleets with fully staffed maintenance facilities) improved productivity over the past several years by performing more maintenance in house. Chris Kemmer, consultant at CK Commercial Vehicle Research, a market research company focusing on the trucking industry, says the average productivity gain was 14.5%. “It comes from ...Read the rest of this story
Deborah Lockridge
" >Deborah Lockridge
" width="185" height="244">When your drivers nickname you the “vice president of happiness,” you must be doing something right.
Debbie Landry's official title at Wisconsin-based Halvor Lines is director of driver services. After spending many years heading up recruiting, a couple of years ago she shifted her focus entirely to driver retention.
“Basically I'm here for the drivers,” Landry says, from overseeing orientation and handling truck assignments to simply being there for drivers to come talk about problems or questions. Some even ship things to her office when they're on the road.
In her previous role, she had gradually been focusing more and more on retention rather than recruiting. So with the opening of a third terminal, the growing family business decided to create a new position to make that her official role and hired someone else to manage recruiting.
Landry says Halvor's turnover actually increased a bit last year, from 27% in 2015 to 35% in 2016, but she says that's largely due to the company hiring more new-to-the-industry trainees in a period of growth. She believes if it hadn't been for the company's driver retention efforts, that turnover would have been higher.
The company has 425 trucks and has been honored multiple times in the Truckload Carriers Associations' Best Fleets to Drive For competition. Halvor runs new equipment with lots of comforts, including satellite TV and exercise steppers. Drivers are home weekly or every other weekend. There's a health and wellness program, a passenger program, and a pet program.
But perhaps the open communication is one of the biggest reasons drivers stay. They are introduced during orientation to the people they'll deal with in various departments and are always welcome to talk to them. And if they don't feel comfortable going to their driver manager or the person who handles their paycheck, there's always ...Read the rest of this story
By Karin Strohecker and Tom Finn LONDON/DOHA (Reuters) - Qatar said on Monday that a U.S. media report had shown that the United Arab Emirates was involved in an alleged hack of Qatar's state news agency in late May that helped spark a diplomatic crisis in the Gulf. The UAE said the Washington Post report was untrue, and that four Arab powers were discussing imposing new sanctions on Qatar. Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Bahrain and Egypt all cut off diplomatic and transport ties with Qatar on June 5, accusing it of financing Islamist militant groups and allying with their regional adversary Iran - allegations Qatar denies.
When Syria's uprising broke out, Rania Kisar left her job in the United States and returned home to join what she dreamed would be the ouster of President Bashar Assad and the building of a new Syria. ...
TONTO NATIONAL FOREST, Ariz. (AP) — The Latest on deadly flash flooding in a national forest in Arizona (all times local):
