YTD Commercial Truck Registrations Fall 4.2%

The number of commercial vehicles in GVW classes 4-8 registered this year through August fell 4.2% mostly due to a steep decline in class 8 over-the-road trucks, IHS Automotive has reported.

Registrations of Class 8 vehicles is 17.1% lower than it was a year ago, while registrations of Class 7 vocational trucks is down only 0.6%, according to research presented by IHS Markit at the Automotive Aftermarket Products Expo.

Freightliner leads the market for classes 4-8 with 27% of registrations from January to August.

IHS has also analyzed light-duty registrations and found that Class 1 vehicles — a segment that would include compact vans and mid-size pickups — has the lowest volume of vehicles registered to a business with a 24% share. Almost 96% of vehicles in classes 7 to 8 are registered to a business.

"Traditionally, the larger trucks have a single purpose — for work applications — versus the smaller trucks, which are used for both personal and business needs," said Gary Meteer, director of commercial vehicle solutions at IHS Markit. "As we work our way up the weight (GVW) scale, the business use gets larger."

New vehicle registrations among fleets operating more than 500 vehicles have declined, resulting in the decline of tractor-trailer trucks versus the same period in 2015, according to IHS.

"These large fleets have been in a replacement cycle for the past five years, and large fleets have accounted for more than 50% of GVW 8 new registrations during this period," Meteer said. "Some of this year's slowing may be the result of uncertainty in the demand for goods with the general slowing of the economic growth in the most recent quarters."

When comparing new registrations against vehicles in operation, businesses with more than 500 vehicles have 43% share of new registrations, while only representing 22% of vehicles in operation.

Diesel-powered engines ...Read the rest of this story

Unilever Strikes Deal with Convoy to Move Freight

Unilever and Convoy sign the transportation partnership agreement. Seated, from left: Kees Kruythoff, President of Unilever North America, Dan Lewis, CEO of Convoy; Standing, from left: Seref Alptekin, Camille Chammas, Reginaldo Ecclissato, Senator Bill Bradley, Wendy Herrick, Grant Ries, Jonathan Atwood, Tinsley Corbett, Matthew Algar, Ramesh Daga Photo: Business Wire

Unilever North America has agreed to a multi-year deal with the freight-matching “Uber for trucking” startup Convoy to help facilitate the company's shipments through its online service.

Through its online system, Convoy will match trucks with available capacity in local markets with Unilever's freight moving needs. The system is designed to connect carriers and shippers in a fast and efficient way to improve on-time rates, reduce empty miles, lower operating costs, and provide transparency through GPS tracking.

Unilever is a consumer goods company representing more than 400 brands, including Dove, Lipton, Hellmanns, and Breyers.

“Unilever is one of the largest companies in the world, yet they're incredibly agile and forward-thinking— especially in their approach to supply chain innovation,” said Dan Lewis, Convoy co-founder and CEO. “Their vision to reduce manual processes and make trucking more efficient aligns directly with ours.”

Convoy works through a network of trusted carriers that are pre-screened and certified before joining. The system will automatically offer shipments to the best available carriers for location, timing, and price.

Fleets and owner-operators use the Convoy app to find new jobs and the payout amount and, after completion, Convoy will process the payment within 24 hours.

Convoy launched in 2015 after receiving funding through an investment group that included Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, eBay founder Pierre Omidyar, and other high-profile investors. Since launch, the company has raised $18.5 million in venture capital funding.

“We are very impressed with Convoy's approach to technology-enabled trucking services. Equally as important, we share a focus on driver ...Read the rest of this story

OOIDA Not Throwing In ELD Towel

Photo: Continental

While several trucking lobbies are applauding the court ruling that upholds a Congressional mandate to require electronic logging devices, the association that had sued to overturn the pending ELD rule has not yet given up the fight.

The Owner Operator Independent Drivers Association had argued strongly in its March filing with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit that the ELD rule would violate truck drivers' rights to privacy under the Fourth Amendment. In denying OOIDA's petition for judicial review, the court ruled on Oct. 31 that the ELD rule is “not arbitrary or capricious, nor does it violate the Fourth Amendment” provisions against unreasonable searches and seizures.

However, the court's crystalline opinion has not convinced OOIDA that it has done all it can to quash the ELD rule. The association does have the option of appealing the appellate court's decision to the U.S. Supreme Court.

“We are disappointed and strongly disagree with the court's ruling,” OOIDA President and CEO Jim Johnston said in a statement. “Because this issue is of vital importance to our members and all small business truckers, we are reviewing our next steps to continue our challenge against this regulation.”

The court decision means the final ELD rule, published last December by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration, remains on track to go into effect starting on Dec. 18, 2017.

The American Trucking Associations, which has championed the adoption of ELDs, was cheered by the court's decision. “ATA is pleased that the court has cleared the way for this important regulation and we look forward to its implementation," said Sean McNally, ATA spokesperson.

The Truckload Carriers Association also supports the decision, which it pointed out “mirrors TCA's own ELD policy, established by its Regulatory Policy Committee and approved by the Board of Directors in 2011.”

“I can ...Read the rest of this story

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