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Apr 1, 2016

TRUCKING INDUSTRY ELDs * USA: To Prepare for the coming ones

* Shippers also needs to change


-- A tremendous shift is coming to the trucking industry, and it’s certain to impact shippers and intermediaries nationwide. As of December 18, 2017 carriers and drivers who are using paper logs or logging software must transition to electronic logging devices (ELDs)... Think of an ELD as the black box in an airplane. They make it easier to track and manage a driver’s duty status and they synchronize with a vehicle engine to automatically record hours of service... If a shipper trusts its freight to non-asset based companies then they should ask the intermediary what it’s doing to prepare. This would involve ensuring that contract carriers are all compliant. Shippers should perform this base-level due diligence on asset-based carriers and brokers to avoid being accused of entrusting freight to a non-compliant carrier and avoid a truck being shut down by law enforcement mid-route... Shippers will benefit from the ELD mandate. Carriers should know where their trucks are down to the blade of grass—avoiding an ambiguous status of load. If the load is involved in an accident, all parties should have access to location, rate of speed, and deceleration. All parties will benefit from being able to prove arrival time, free time, detention time, and departure time, allowing carriers to be compensated fairly for lost time... Carriers who do not have ELDs will learn to embrace them prior to December 2017 while shippers will benefit from eliminating carriers who have not committed... Follow Jack Welch’s advice, “Change before you have to” ... Shippers should immediately develop an ELD strategy with respect to their carriers and brokers... 
(Photo: ELD in a truck cabin) -- Newport Beach, CAL, USA - Global Trade, by Brian Fielkow - March 31st, 2016

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Jun 28, 2012

EOBR's * USA

* OOIDA: Say no to EOBRs in highway bill 

(Photo)
Grain Valley,MO,USA -Land Line Magazine, by David Tanner -26 June 2012: -- OOIDA issued a Call to Action on Tuesday to keep pressure on a joint committee of the House and Senate to remove government-mandated EOBRs from the transportation authorization bill. Lawmakers are down to crunch time on the bill, and that means they could be voting any minute on whether to keep or scrap the EOBR mandate in the bill... By the White House’s own figures, a government mandate for electronic on-board recorders would cost the trucking industry $2 billion, and some say that’s a lowball estimate... OOIDA has long held that EOBRs are no more effective than paper logs at improving safety and compliance with trucking hours of service. The devices, which can notify carriers and dispatchers about available time left on a driver’s clock, could lead to pressure on those drivers to keep driving even if they are tired or in need of a break... The Association’s Call to Action targets members in the districts of the 16 U.S. senators and 33 members of the House of Representatives involved in negotiating the transportation bill...

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Apr 1, 2011

EOBR * USA - Senators introduce bill to mandate Electronic on Board Registers for commercial vehicles

(Photo: Highway safety advocates and trucking industry executives have expressed support for the bill’s provision which requires mandatory electronic on-board devices)
Washington,DC,USA -The Trucker News Services -31 March 2011: -- U.S. Senators Mark Pryor, D-Ark, and Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., on Thursday introduced legislation designed to improve highway safety by requiring commercial truckers to use devices that accurately monitor their hours on the job... Pryor’s news release says, this legislation would create a consistent standard to help companies and drivers manage the safety and compliance risks associated with trucking... The Commercial Driver Compliance Improvement Act requires universal installation of electronic on-board recording devices in commercial motor vehicles. The Department of Transportation will be responsible for issuing the regulations...  The tamper-resistant devices must be capable of communicating with the engine’s control module, indentifying the individual operating the vehicle, recording driving time, providing real-time recording of a vehicle’s location and enabling law enforcement to access the information contained in the device during roadside inspections... The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association objects to the legislation, as well as a similar regulatory proposal in the works...

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Oct 28, 2010

TECHNO-NEWS * USA - Early Results Validate EOBR Initial Field Trial Objectives

NavStar Technologies, Inc. Update on Field Trial to Electronically Record Hours of Service to Comply With the US Trucking Industry Mandate

Anaheim,CAL,USA -MARKETWIRE via COMTEX -Oct 27, 2010: -- NavStar Technologies, Inc., a company focused on producing and commercializing products and services for tracking/monitoring and reporting on the location and condition of high value cargo and other assets, today announced that an extensive review of the data collected from the Electronic On Board Recorder (EOBR) East Coast trial has verified that current software applications and data collected will satisfy the EOBR mandate for reporting hours of service (HOS).The next step is to validate the report format with the Department of Transportation (DOT) and to totally understand their exact requirements... Another objective of the East Coast trial was to understand the hardware requirements, along with interface and connectivity challenges so that adjustments can be implemented on our NSTRAK tracking and monitoring devices. Early results would indicate that current hardware with minor modifications will meet all mandated requirements for EOBR while providing valuable productivity and efficiency tools for the individual trucking companies... (Photo from navstarinc: Fleet Management System -FMS-)

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Apr 4, 2010

EOBR Rule * USA - FMCSA Chooses Strictest Electronic Recorder Option

Washington,DC,USA -TruckingInfo, by Oliver B. Patton -2 Feb 2010: -- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration opted for the strictest rule, which will go into effect June 1, 2012, says carriers that violate hours of service rules 10 percent of the time, based on single compliance review, must use electronic onboard recorders to track driver hours... The stricter rule will affect close to 5,700 interstate carriers after its first year of implementation, compared to the approximately 1,000 carriers that would have been targeted under the lesser option... Both groups of carriers have a crash rate that is significantly higher than the industry average, the agency said. Carriers that violate hours rules 10 percent of the time in two compliance reviews have a crash rate 90 percent higher than the general population. Those that break the 10 percent barrier in just one review have a rate that is 40 percent higher than the general population... As an incentive to promote voluntary use, the agency will no longer require supporting documents related to driving time, such as toll receipts, for carriers that install recorders. Also, carriers that use recorders will get more liberal compliance review procedures... (Photo by Kristin Ries - The new EOBR rule, which will go into effect June 1, 2012, says carriers that violate hours of service rules 10 percent of the time, based on single compliance review, must use electronic onboard recorders to track driver hours)

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Apr 2, 2010

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * USA /MATS - Pete launches new in-dash telematics and infotainment system

Louisville,KY,USA -Truck News (CAN) -29 March 2010: -- Peterbilt trucks will soon be available with an in-dash telematics and infotainment system dubbed SmartNav... The system features truck-specific navigation, telematics, phone, audio and camera capabilities all controlled using an in-dash touch screen display... The truck-specific GPS is provided by Garmin and will warn drivers of important information such as bridge heights and weight restrictions. Drivers will also be able to use an optional modem to connect to the Internet during their travels. The phone will be voice recognition-enabled and can log calls, store contact info and enable text messaging... The system will also be used to communicate information about the truck, such as pressure, torque, horsepower, fuel use, idle-time and current fuel flow rate...



* MATS: Cummins says its EPA2010 engines showing well


(Photo: The Cummins ISX11.9 is coming later this year)

Louisville,KY,USA -Truck News (CAN) -29 March 2010: ... Cummins officials kicked off the Mid-America Trucking Show by revealing more than 2,500 EPA2010 engines have been built and put into service and that some major fleets are enjoying double-digit fuel economy gains over previous engine designs... Cummins has been tracking nearly 240 variables on many of its field test engines, using a proprietary datalogger that provides engineers with a steady stream of data. The goal is to identify and address potential problems before the products are rolled out, execs explained... Cummins now has 2010 engines available in 180 vehicle installation applications with more than 60 vehicle manufacturers, the company said...

(Photo: The QuickCheck 5200 tool features a processor that's twice as fast as the previous model, Cummins announced)

Cummins' EPA2010 engines will use exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), a single variable geometry turbocharger and Cummins' selective catalytic reduction (SCR) exhaust aftertreatment system...

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Telematics on Vehicles * WORLDWIDE

* UK - Telematics Could Set Insurance Rates Based on Driver Performance

London,UK -Telematics Update -March 25, 2010: -- Insurance premiums currently based on group models. Include age, gender, credit score and driving record. Telematics can monitor and report actual driving behavior. Could serve as basis of 'pay-how-you-drive' car insurance model... Insurance telematics transmits real-time driving data to insurers. More accurate picture of driving behavior used to set fairer rates... Law-abiding, fuel-conscious drivers would be rewarded w/ low premiums... Hard-braking, fast-accelerating maniacs would get stuck w/ higher ones... New services could be offered to insurance customers. Same devices offer real-time navigation, vehicle diagnostics, and in-car entertainment... In 2010 there have been exciting developments—in South America, with Brazils GDP and its automotive sector continuing to blossom in spite of the global recession; in Asia, where the governor of Singapore is pushing for a GNSS-based road pricing system; in Europe, where the European Commission is finally moving with eCall; and in America, where states like California are championing pay-as-you-drive regulations as a means to reduce emissions...


* USA - NHTSA Rushing to Catch Up With Industry. Regulations may emerge that include black boxes and collect data from crashes

Washington,DC,USA -Bloomberg - March 26, 2010: -- US vehicle recalls related to electronic systems have tripled. Investigations quadrupled in past 30 years; surge in use of computers to control functions... Recalls related to electronics averaged 34 per year this decade, up from 11 annually in 1980s. Defect investigations rose to 12 per year from 3 in that period... NHTSA complaints about electronics rose 50% from mid-1990s to 3,798 annually this decade. Complaints involve automakers throughout the industry... First industrywide microprocessor modules were engine control units required in 1981... National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has failed to keep pace w/ technology. NHTSA has 2 engineers out of 125 who specialize in electronics... Agency lacks regulations for auto electronics. Rules governing accelerators written in 1973; last updated in 1995... David Champion, director of testing, Consumer Reports, says "The proliferation of features in cars has really passed NHTSA by and caught them somewhat unprepared"...


* USA - Compute Your Way Through Traffic

Seattle,WASH,USA -Forbes, by Jon Bruner -1 April 2010: -- Inrix navigation software gets its predictions about traffic congestion down to a science... Inrix's service is becoming a selling point for navigation device makers looking to stand out in an increasingly commoditized market. As more drivers get directions from GPS-enabled cellphones rather than specialized devices, services and data will take on new importance... Standalone GPS units can also receive Inrix data provided they have some kind of cellular or radio link... Inrix's primary customers are other businesses rather than consumers directly, though it released an iPhone app (followed by a similar one for Android) in 2009 that gives consumers direct access to real-time traffic data and advanced routing that takes traffic into account... Inrix sells its data to more than 90 companies including MapQuest, Clear Channel Communications and Ford, which forwards its data to SYNC-equipped vehicles... Inrix follows traffic activity on 1.3 million miles of road in 16 North American and European countries. Traditional methods can only cover 10,000 miles. The difference is that Inrix has nearly 2 million sources of information, including every taxi cab in New York City as well as trucks and commercial vehicles across the country. Computers in these vehicles send speedometer readings and location information wirelessly to Inrix, which collects as many as a million data points every minute. Inrix also receives data from 400 public and private sources, like transportation departments' traffic sensors... (In Pictures: Navigating Your Way Though Traffic)

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Jun 21, 2009

Truck Recorders * USA - House plan requires EOBR

Washington,DC,USA -eTrucker, by Jill Dunn -19 June 2009: -- Although the U.S. Department of Transportation wants immediate approval of a short-term surface transportation reauthorization bill, which would allow more congressional deliberation on long-term transportation policy, House leaders released their funding plan requiring electronic on-board recorders on trucks... In 2007, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s proposed rule only required EOBRs by companies with HOS violation patterns. More than 99 percent of carriers would continue to use paper logbooks under the rule, which has not been finalized... The American Trucking Associations conditionally supports an EOBR mandate, including requiring evidence that it improves compliance and safety. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association, however, opposes it. Public Citizen endorses EOBR mandates as well as asking that the legislation protect highways against heavier and bigger trucks...

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Dec 5, 2008

TRUCKS' SAFETY * USA - Tougher recorder rule expected

Washington,DC,USA -eTrucker -4 Dec 2008: -- The chief of the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration hinted the final electronic onboard recorder rule will be expanded to cover more trucking operators and could lead to a universal mandate... Chief John Hill said the final version of the EOBR goes beyond a proposed rule that requires habitual violators of the hours of service rules to use recorders. FMCSA has sent the rule for review by the White House Office of Management and Budget. It is scheduled to be released this year, but it’s unclear if that timetable will happen... As proposed, drivers and trucking companies would be required to use recorders if they exceed the hours rule at least 10 percent of the time. Violations would be measured in two reviews within a two-year period. Fewer than 1,000 of the estimated 650,000 carriers FMCSA regulates would fall within that range, the agency estimated...

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Nov 1, 2008

Electronic On-Board Recorders * USA - NTSB presses for mandatory EOBRs

Washington,DC,USA -Today's Trucking -31 Oct 2008: -- The National Transportation Safety Board this week issued its 2009 Federal Most Wanted List of highway safety improvements. Newly added to the list is one to require Electronic On-Board Recorders by all motor carriers... It's latest wish -- "Require Electronic On-Board Data Recorders to Maintain Accurate Carrier Records on Driver Hours of Service and Accident Conditions -- is a reiteration of what the NTSB told its sister agency at the DOT last year: Make EOBRs mandatory for all trucks... The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's original plan called for EOBRs -- once commonly referred to as "black boxes" -- for a minimum of two years for carriers and independent owner-ops deemed "most likely to be a safety hazard on the road"... Carriers charged with two serious HOS review violations (with a rate of violation greater than 10%), in a two-year period, will have to fit their fleet with EOBRs... But NTSB said that proposal lacked teeth. More recently, FMCSA admitted it has gone back to the drawing board and is now considering a plan closer to the NTSB's suggestion...

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Mar 17, 2008

ONBOARD RECORDERS * USA - ...Why the trucking industry resists they...???

Technology and the tired trucker

Framingham,MA,USA -Computerworld -March 17, 2008: -- ... But carriers make money by delivering the maximum number of loads in the minimum time. Enforcing hours-of-service rules more tightly could reduce per-truck revenues -- and profitability -- if drivers are breaking the rules. Some drivers complain that with the current per-mile compensation levels, they can't make a living without bending the rules. Adopting EOBRs not only might reduce revenue per truck, but also could require an increase in driver compensation... But one carrier adopted electronic driver logs and other safety- and performance-related technologies long ago -- and now uses those technologies to competitive advantage... Omaha-based Werner Enterprises "best in class" for its use of information and communications technologies to reduce costs and improve profitability. The for-hire operator is able to more efficiently schedule its fleet because it can better track the number of hours its drivers are available... Requiring EOBRs would force carriers to move forward in lock step, achieving safety goals without putting any carrier at a competitive disadvantage, says Kay Palmer, CIO at carrier J.B. Hunt Transport Services, which is testing EOBRs. That may be the direction the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is heading...

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Dec 21, 2007

EOBRs for all trucks * USA - NTSB recommends FMCSA implement

One federal agency is telling another federal agency that electronic on-board recorders are needed on all heavy trucks and not just the trucks of companies that have bad safety records

Washington,DC,USA -Land Line Magazine -December 20, 2007: -- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has proposed on-board recorders for the “bad actors” in the industry... According to the proposed regulation, if FMCSA officials determine – based on HOS records reviewed during each of two compliance reviews conducted within a two-year period – that a motor carrier had a 10 percent or greater violation rate, the carrier would be mandated to use EOBRs for two years... All of the trucks owned and leased to the motor carrier would be required to have EOBRs installed, according to the proposed reg... But the head of the National Transportation Safety Board is calling for recorders on all trucks... In a recommendation published Monday, Dec. 17, NTSB officials cited a fatality accident from July 2004 in Michigan as a case in point... Investigators found that a truck driver for Equity Transportation Company had been driving for 14 hours straight when a crash occurred. Congested traffic had queued up on Interstate 94 near Chelsea, MI, and a witness testified that the truck was traveling at 60 mph...


* U.S. Department of Transportation Seeks Technology Solutions to Improve Safety and Reduce Congestion on Nation's Roadways
Washington,DC,USA -Transport Topics -20 Dec 2007: -- The U.S. Department of Transportation's Research and Innovative Technology Administration (RITA) today issued a request for information (RFI) to private industry, research organizations, and state and local governments seeking information about commercially available technology applications designed to fight congestion and improve the safety and performance of the nation's transportation system...

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Dec 4, 2007

* USA - EOBRS: Logging in Truck Hours

USA -Trantolo Law Blog, by Patti(Patrick) -December 3, 2007: -- On May 11, 2007 the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) issued a statement supporting 100% use of Electric On Board Recorders (EOBRs) and acknowledging the problems with fatigued truck drivers on the roads... The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is following the CVSA’s lead by proposing rules that would require installation of electronic on-board recorders (EOBR) for monitoring drivers following Hours of Service (HOS) regulations... Although truck accidents can be caused by factors other than driver fatigue, EOBRs are a significant step forward for safety. They can be very beneficial in ensuring that tired truckers are not allowed on the roads in violation of the law. However, they are not a cure-all, since there are ways for savvy truck operators to fix or alter the EOBRs to allow violations of the HOS regulations. It is therefore crucial in establishing liability in a truck accident lawsuit to know how to prove an EOBR was "fixed" in order to allow a driver to stay on the road longer than the HOS regulations allow...

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Aug 12, 2007

DEBATE: Electronic Monitoring * USA -

The debate over electronic logs goes back years...

Milwaukee,WI,USA -The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (subscription), by RICK ROMELL -11 Aug 2007: -- ... and has played out against an industry background in which: Surveys of long-haul drivers in 2003 and 2004 found that 12% to 16% had dozed at the wheel at least once in the previous month. Thirty-six percent to 48% had driven while sleepy in the previous week. Researchers monitoring 80 long-haul truckers in 1993 found they averaged 4 hours and 47 minutes of sleep a day - a level at which, the study said, alertness suffers and people are more likely to doze off. The vast majority of drivers in the long-haul "truckload" sector are paid by the mile or load rather than by the hour. And while many work more than 60 hours a week, they don't get overtime - a system that gives both drivers and companies incentives to run long hours. Truck driving remains one of the deadliest jobs. Truckers make up about 1.5% of U.S. workers, but in 2005 accounted for nearly 15% of fatal work injuries. Heavy-truck driving combines a high fatality rate and an unmatched death toll - 836 truckers killed in 2005... (Photo by statenlaw.com)

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May 28, 2007

DEBATE: RECORDING DEVICES * USA

* Use recorders to keep tired truckers parked

Cherry Hill,NJ,USA -The Cherry Hill Courier Post -May 27, 2007: -- ... New Jersey's representatives in Washington should work to make our highways safer by voicing their support for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's effort to get more trucking companies to install devices on trucks that make sure drivers don't stay behind the wheel for more than 11 hours at a time... The idea is to cut down the number of accidents caused by drowsy driving... Truckers, by the nature of their job, are more likely than the average driver to drive for long, continuous stretches. The problem is, after 14 or 15 hours on the road and 700 miles, a driver can be incredibily fatigued while operating a huge, dangerous vehicle... Federal "hours of service" regulations say truck drivers can't drive more than 11 hours in a row without calling it a day... But what's stopping truckers and their bosses from fudging the books?...

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May 21, 2007

SAFETY * USA - Big trucks need hour counters

Washington,DC,USA -Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis,IN), by Raju Chebium/Gannett News Service -21 May 2007: -- Large trucks -- delivery vans to 18-wheelers -- were involved in 5,000 fatal accidents on U.S. highways and 82,000 crashes where someone was injured in one year... Experts say drowsy truck drivers who've been behind the wheel for long periods caused many of those crashes in 2005, the most recent year for which statistics are available, but no one knows how many... Mark Rosenker, chairman of the National Transportation Safety Board, says the government must require the industry to use electronic onboard recorders to make sure drivers comply with federal "hours of service" regulation...

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posted by Unknown @ 11:05 AM  0 comments

Feb 5, 2007

Asleep at the wheel * USA

Proposal to monitor scofflaw truckers could improve safety on road
Columbus,OH,USA -The Columbus Dispatch -Feb 05, 2007: -- Whenever new technology can help solve a problem, some people who benefit from the status quo will rise up to resist it... A federal rule proposed last month would require the installation of electronic devices on commercial trucks used by drivers who repeatedly stay at the wheel when they ought to be resting... Almost immediately after the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration rolled out the plan, groups of truckers began taking sides... The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association blasted it as "long on Big Brother and short on the real issue," according to Traffic World magazine, while the American Trucking Associations said it was "a sensible approach."... Truckers who criticize the plan appear more interested in bending the rules when traffic jams slow their progress than in driving safely... Ensuring that drivers are alert is in the best interests not only of those who share the highways with the big rigs but also of the trucking industry and the businesses that rely on its services...

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