Speaking before the Senate Subcommittee on Surface Transportation last week, American Trucking Associations President and CEO Chris Spear said the pressures on the supply chain are “fast approaching crisis levels,” and that Congress needs to take immediate action to “ensure our economic recovery is not derailed by further disruptions.”
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, May 17, 2021
In this Friday Short Haul a startup has developed at break-away fifth wheel protecting tractors from trailer rollovers, HP has partnered with autonomous developer Embark, and the Texas bill protecting carriers from excessive lawsuits passes out of committee.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, May 14, 2021
Several of the biggest names in the American trucking industry have signed up ahead of time to receive TuSimple’s first rollout of its Level 4 self-driving International LT Series trucks.
Dave Wickenhauser on Wed, May 12, 2021
In this Friday Short Haul the FMCSA makes push for ADAS awareness, trucking in Fiji curing COVID, looming gas shortage due to lack of tank drivers, and California's AB 5 becomes law with removal of injunction protecting truckers.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, April 30, 2021
In this Friday Short Haul what happened to Samsung's Safety Truck, another attempt to increase insurance minimums, and North Dakota to begin giving COVID shots to Canadian truckers.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, April 23, 2021
In this Friday Short Haul Embark announces a universal interface for four major makes of truck, OOIDA pens letter to the U.S. Senate about truck parking, about truck size and weight, and funding, and Crete increases driver pay.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, April 2, 2021
When Rick Pena graduates from Pima Community College at the end of this current semester he will have earned a certificate from the Autonomous Vehicle Driver & Operations Specialist Certificate Program, and will hold the title of autonomous vehicle driver and operations specialist.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, March 15, 2021
In this Friday Short Haul U.S. Xpress pushes for $2 million minimum insurance, the ATA applauds introduction of the DRIVE Safe act to put under-21 drivers into interstate commerce, and illegals stream across the border in semi trucks.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, March 12, 2021
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Associated has entered the fray in the newly resurrected effort to propose a mandated Federal speed-limiter law.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, March 8, 2021
Having settled into compliance and routine use of mandated electronic logging devices U.S. commercial carriers that transport into Canada will have to go through the process all over again. Only, this time it will be much more complicated.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, March 1, 2021
In this Friday Short Haul ATRI releases report of the top 100 truck bottlenecks, North Dakota still considering road trains legislation, and TuSimple is the first self-driving truck innovator to announce a public stock offering.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, February 26, 2021
While tractors and the loads they haul continue to get heavier, commercial carriers have not fully embraced the lightweighting concept, resulting in costs of lightweight components for those who do want to employ lightweighting to remain high, but it also impacts carriers' bottom line.
Dave Wickenhauser on Wed, February 24, 2021
The electronic logging device mandate that went into effect last year opened the door for many small telematics and technology innovators to develop the next killer product that they hoped would be making an appearance in every single truck on the nation's roads.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, February 22, 2021
A January article at Trucks.com highlighted the statistical fact that trucking is one of the deadliest occupations. Among the ideas brought forth trying to reduce the number of accidents that contribute to that statistic is to implement blind spot alert technologies.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, February 1, 2021
In this Friday Short Haul truckers can now take training in how to stay safe during protests, new administration means dark days ahead for small carriers, and two mega carriers invest in TuSimple's autonomous truck programs.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, January 22, 2021
The Advocates for Highway and Auto Safety have released its 18th annual Roadmap of State Highway Safety Laws and the China virus has taken one more hit in the blame game for helping to give 2020 a "substantial uptick in the fatality rate." In her preamble to the report, Advocate's President Catherine Chase remarked that, "In 2020, emptier roads turned into racetracks, impaired and distracted driving was reported as more widespread, protections like seat belt use appear to have dipped, and the traffic fatality rate spiked. In 2021, let’s change this picture."
Dave Wickenhauser on Wed, January 13, 2021
In a 38-page report released Friday by the U.S. Government Accountability Office the conclusion was that the U.S. Department of Transportation and its three main administrations do not have the skilled staff necessary to oversee the growing automation technology that is taking place in the trucking industry.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, December 21, 2020
In this Friday Short Haul FMCSA announces a new rule allowing driving trainers to also administer the skills test, U.S. Xpress partners with MIT for an HOS study, and Triton-EV debuts a new hydrogen/electric semi.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, December 18, 2020
Despite ongoing negative reactions from drivers and opposition from some organizations like the Teamsters Union, the latest innovation in driver assistance technology – machine vision and artificial intelligence – is continuing to make itself known inside a driver's cab.
Dave Wickenhauser on Wed, November 25, 2020
In this Friday Short Haul take a Daimler self-driving Freightliner tour, high school driver's ed student learn about big rigs, and StopTheTires2020 is officially cancelled.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, November 20, 2020
In this Friday Short Haul Tyson tries out removing rear view and side mirrors, one in eight trucks go out of service during Brake Safety Week inspections, and a coalition of producers and distributors lobby in favor of FMCSA's split 14-hour pilot program proposal.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, October 30, 2020
Responding to the National Tank Truck Carriers Inc's application for approval to add a pulsating amber or red brake light to rear of tank trucks in addition to the steady-burning regular brake light, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has granted a 5-year exemption beginning October 8.
Dave Wickenhauser on Wed, October 14, 2020
Autonomous trucking principals Xiaodi Hou of TuSimple and Boris Sofman of Waymo agreed on some major issues they have faced in their AV development, but disagreed on a fundamental issue of how to overcome the differences that self-driving trucks might encounter between highway driving and street-level driving.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, October 12, 2020
One question that drivers should be constantly asking … even long before a lawsuit situation develops, after an accident for example … is what am I doing now that is going to be used against me big time if I am sued?"
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, October 5, 2020
In this Friday Short Haul Walmart buys 130 Tesla semis -- to start, FMCSA opens the drivers advisory panel for applications, Pronto.ai is denied an HOS exemption request, and Jim Mullen formerly of FMCSA takes job at TuSimple.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, October 2, 2020
Truck load and less than truck load (LTL) are common trucking industry terms that have been around for awhile. But there's a fairly new "truck load" term that is beginning to find its way into the industry's compendium of jargon, and that is STL, standing for shared truck load.
Dave Wickenhauser on Wed, September 30, 2020
SmartDrive, a leading innovator in video-based safety intelligence systems for trucks, has developed a patented technology for alerting drivers to situations where they might be speeding for conditions and where they might need help while parked in "sitting duck" situations.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, August 3, 2020
In this Friday Short Haul the FBI sends out a notice warning about hacker attacks against trucks' ELDs, college students study how to hack trucks, and OOIDA writes a letter to Congress asking them to suspend the HVUT.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, July 31, 2020
In this Friday Short Haul states sign a memorandum to push for electric semis, carriers find a smaller pool of student new hires, and troopers ride with truckers to spot unsafe drivers.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, July 17, 2020
TuSimple, an early autonomous Class 8 innovator, has leapfrogged all the other autonomous truck innovators by announcing on July 1 the launching of what they call "the world's first Autonomous Freight Network."
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, July 6, 2020
In this Friday Short Haul Convoy steps up its game to capture more freight business, FMCSA extends CLP waiver, the $2 million minimum insurance coverage amendment is passed, and CDL examiner and trucking school owner are sentenced for CDL fraud conspiracy.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, June 26, 2020
The United States military has been keeping pace with the commercial trucking industry in developing platooning technology, often employing virtually identical mechanical and electronic components to accomplish their purposes. But the design specifications to meet the needs for the two couldn't be farther apart.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, May 4, 2020
In this Friday Short Haul - Truckers protest low freight rates, FMCSA gives out 1 million masks to drivers, and the SecurSpace app finds parking spots for drivers.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, May 1, 2020
Netradyne, a company that produces camera and artificial intelligence-based technology focusing on driver safety, has released findings of a survey of drivers' opinions about driver distractions and AI technology. The bottom line is that the majority of drivers agree that distracted driving is on the rise, but also that "it's the other guy" who is to blame.
Dave Wickenhauser on Wed, April 22, 2020
In an article at Automotive World the authors say that trucking industry participants ignore new autonomous vehicle technologies at their peril, predicting that within a relatively short time frame, within the next 15 years, forward-thinking larger carriers will have between 20 percent and 40 percent of their fleets as Level 4 autonomous Class 8 trucks.
Dave Wickenhauser on Wed, April 1, 2020
Investor money going to other autonomous vehicle startups instead of to his company, and a downturn in freight rates, is the reason given by Starsky Robotics co-founder Stefan Seltz-Axmacher for ending Starsky’s experiment with remote-driven trucks.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, March 23, 2020
Daimler Trucks North America has announced a late 2021 market launch of its heavy duty Freightliner eCascadia and its lighter eM2 electric commercial trucks. Both electric trucks are currently undergoing real-world customer testing, mostly in the Los Angeles basin area.
Dave Wickenhauser on Wed, March 11, 2020
As commercial carriers acquire more telematics capabilities it was only a matter of time before someone came along and offered a way to integrate all of that information into a way to track, coach and train drivers, even to the point of making decisions about letting a driver go.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, March 9, 2020
Taking a page from the ride-sharing playbook a Canada company offers the same kind of service for truckers to have access to trailers. The company, vHub, has announced its desire to expand its services globally, beginning with the United States.
Dave Wickenhauser on Wed, February 26, 2020
To help alleviate the pain of long wait times at shippers a mobile app developer company called Truckerd-In has created an app that they hope will get accepted by drivers and shippers alike that allows drivers to communicate with shippers via their smart phones rather than by in-person and standing in lines.
Dave Wickenhauser on Wed, February 12, 2020
While Baylor Trucking is not one of the Big 10 in the commercial carrier lineup the recent ELD outage experienced by the 240-truck fleet illustrates the numerous issues that can arise when a company is fully converted to ELD and telematics technology and that technology fails.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, February 3, 2020
In this Friday Short Haul U.S. Senators demand smart phone map apps update with truck-specific information, FHWA to study truck parking, ATA applauds the USMCA trade agreement passage, and FMCSA conducts a truck crash survey.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, January 17, 2020
Yesterday, Tuesday, December 17, is the day that law enforcement ended any kind of reprieve for truckers found to be driving without a fully compliant electronic logging device … in other words, no more grandfather, no more exceptions.
Dave Wickenhauser on Wed, December 18, 2019
In this Friday Short Haul J.B. Hunt participates in Wreaths Across America, a self-driving truck makes a cross-country butter run, and states sign on to a zero emission goal for big rig trucks.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, December 13, 2019
In this Friday Short Haul PBS examines AI and it's eventual effect on drivers' jobs, truckers are arrested for a CRV scam, truckers protest AB-5, and ELD quit working for thousands of drivers.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, November 8, 2019
In this Friday Short Haul Embark expands and adds LA and Phoenix hubs, FMCSA announces safety grants, Covenant exits Mexico routes, and some interesting trucking stats.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, September 27, 2019
In this Friday Short Haul Volvo introduces its dynamic steering, Meals for 18 Wheels seeks volunteers, trucks nabbed in speeding crackdown, OOIDA opposes trucking legislation.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, September 20, 2019
Continuing Trucking Truth's unofficial series on telematics and other advanced technologies in the trucking industry we take a look at how the insurance industry is reacting to this new dynamic, and how that interest by insurers benefits carriers.
Dave Wickenhauser on Wed, September 18, 2019
Despite its many advantages, a significant number of fleets don't intend to implement new telematics technology beyond what is required by the electronic logging device mandate – which has a final full-compliance deadline of December 16 of this year.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, September 16, 2019
While Class 8 tractors are getting smarter, and even learning to drive themselves -- and getting all of the media attention – there's one other element in the trucking supply chain that is getting a boost in smarts as well, but still riding relatively under the radar.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, September 9, 2019
In this Friday Short Haul, logistics aid organization mobiles for Hurricane Dorian, a speed limiter bill is "retired", and Pilot Flying J mounts "Thank a Driver" campaign
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, August 30, 2019
TuSimple, the San Diego-based company that also has operations in China, announces that United Parcel Service has made arrangements with them to test the viability of using autonomously-driven tractor trailers to haul packages within its UPS network.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, August 19, 2019
Today, beginning drivers and grizzled veterans alike will appreciate that there is a new technology called AMT, automated manual transmission, that is becoming increasingly integrated into commercial fleets as well as driving schools' lesson trucks.
Dave Wickenhauser on Wed, August 14, 2019
Friday Short Haul - HOS revisions are still under OMB review, Legislators introduce an AEB bill for trucks, and Koch & Sons is sued for sex discrimination.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, August 9, 2019
Kodiak Robotics, Inc., another startup in the autonomous trucking industry, this one being only 16 months old, claims a first with its commercial freight business hauling middle-mile highway routes in the Dallas-Fort Worth area.
Dave Wickenhauser on Wed, August 7, 2019
In this Friday Short Haul CRST awarded $15.5 lawsuit against Swift, OOIDA opposes legislation hiking insurance rates, and UPS has an in-house navigation system that saves millions a year.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, August 2, 2019
In this Friday Short Haul the DOL writes an opinion on sleeper berth pay, UPS set for nationwide drone deliveries, and Geowiz offers no-fee, FMCSA-compliant ELD logging.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, July 26, 2019
With the hard deadline for ELD compliance looming ever closer, and with no more extensions or grandfathering to be counted on, a significant portion of commercial carriers industry wide have yet to install the devices in their fleets.
Dave Wickenhauser on Wed, July 10, 2019
In this Friday Short Haul top shippers are named, insurance rates increase, wheel spikes are questioned and Women in Trucking seeks candidates.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, June 21, 2019
In a move that might at first glance appear to be counter-intuitive in light of the driver shortage, a trucking group is calling for the purging of at least 300,000 drivers -- but their main concern is public safety, as this is the number of drivers they estimate are un-caught illicit drug abusers.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, June 17, 2019
In this Friday Short Haul a community college offers a first-ever self-driving driver certificate, engineers look at truck platooning, and SoCal ports are stacked up with cargo.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, June 14, 2019
TuSimple, a San Diego-based self-driving truck company, announced on Tuesday that the United States Postal Service will be a test bed for a first-ever, long-haul regular delivery route across state lines.
Dave Wickenhauser on Wed, May 22, 2019
A Swedish company named Einride that defines itself as, "The intelligent movement company -- part commercial enterprise, part revolutionary movement," says it is "bent on a complete transformation of the transportation industry." And May 15 marked a milestone in that company's mission as it is the day the first cab-less electric truck was allowed to drive on a public road.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, May 20, 2019
Training simulators have been in use for aviation and military purposes for some time, but these training devices are now catching on in truck driving schools across the country.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, April 29, 2019
In this Friday Short Haul we hear a recommendation to think about electric trucks, Penske opens an electric charging station, prices might increase because of the border crossing crisis, and railroads are taking business away from trucking companies.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, April 26, 2019
Truck drivers arriving at a distribution center in the very near future could be greeted by the sight of yard trucks running around the facility as usual -- hooking, unhooking, pulling trailers and hitting docks – but with one major difference … all that without a human being behind the wheel.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, April 22, 2019
In this Friday Short Haul Nikola announces new big rigs, WIT welcomes Peterbilt to Gold Level, we learn about Oregon crash numbers, and update border crossing issues
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, April 19, 2019
Uber, the ride-hailing giant that gives taxi companies headaches has set its sights on competing against the top players in the freight brokerage business.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, April 15, 2019
With electronic logging devices now mandatory and enforced, and with more than half of American trucking companies in its customer base, a relatively new technology company called KeepTruckin is now entering the load board field with a new app called Smart Load Board.
Dave Wickenhauser on Wed, April 10, 2019
Volvo Trucks has upped the ante in electronic connectivity with its new Parameter Plus Package addon to its existing Remote Programming feature; which now allows over-the-air updates to a large number of functions, all within the time a driver takes to eat a meal.
Dave Wickenhauser on Wed, April 3, 2019
Fuel pump scammers are busy, but there are ways to avoid being a victim of card-skimmers.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, April 1, 2019
In this Friday Short Haul we look at the new semi-autonomous Freightliner Cascadias, see the results of a motorist survey about truckers, learn about a U.S. Xpress award, and view the rollout of new technology that helps drivers find parking spots.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, March 29, 2019
The "It's a convoy!" of lore and ballad is morphing into an entirely new concept for truck transportation on America's highways. But, it's doubtful that movies and songs will spring forth in honor of what motorists may soon be encountering along this country's interstates.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, March 25, 2019
In this week's Friday Short Haul we announce the WIT survey, learn why a motorist is irate at truckers, report FMCSA's easing of HOS for flood states, and announce a new ball cap for truckers.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, March 22, 2019
Distraction is the nemesis of anyone trying to observe safe driving practices. We all know that. Cellphones, GPSs, ELDs, lane-change warnings, etc., all contribute to taking away a truck driver's attention while on the road. But what many don't realize is that the problem goes much deeper than being distracted by gadgets and such. There is actually a science behind this, and it has a name – inattentional blindness.
Dave Wickenhauser on Wed, March 13, 2019
In the Friday Short Haul for March 8 we see the results of failure to sweep snow off the roof, catch truckers bypassing a new toll road, and see what NYPD is up to concerning Google's Waze app.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, March 8, 2019
Researchers at MIT have found a way to turn a driver's lowly smartphone into a tool that they tout as being able to reduce fuel consumption by 5 to 10 percent, monitor tire pressure and even monitor wheel alignment.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, March 4, 2019
In this Friday Short Haul we see why Connecticut trucking companies are riled, we look at what's happening with hydrogen fuel-cell trucks, and discover the roads with the worst cell phone use.
Dave Wickenhauser on Fri, February 22, 2019
Appeals against California's low-carbon fuel standard by transportation industry interests failed this month at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals level. Judges in the case stood on their belief that the state legislature reasoning behind the stricter California standard was concern that climate change, and particularly global warming, presented a risk to California.
Dave Wickenhauser on Mon, January 28, 2019
A North Carolina startup that specializes in lithium battery technology is giving big-rig truck drivers the same portable jump-start capability enjoyed by car and light truck drivers.
Dave Wickenhauser on Wed, January 23, 2019
PepsiCo has reserved 100 electric trucks from Tesla Motors in the largest electric truck order yet from any company.
Brett Aquila on Tue, December 12, 2017
They say self-driving vehicles are on the way. They're right around the corner. I say they're full of baloney. It's a bunch of noise from a bunch of clowns looking for attention, and here's why....
Brett Aquila on Thu, May 25, 2017
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