Transportation
Omnitracs Unveils Rebranding Effort
DALLAS - The fleet management technology provider Omnitracs LLC says it is rolling out new branding to better unify its different business units under one name. What operated before as independent business units; Roadnet, XRS, Sylectus, and Analytics; are now fully integrated flagship products within Omnitracs' broad range of offerings including: compliance, safety and security, productivity, telematics and tracking, transportation management system (TMS), planning and delivery, data and analytics, and professional services.
Truck Wheels Maker Alcoa Splitting Into Two Companies
NEW YORK - A company known for its truck wheels, among other lighter weight metal products, plans to separate into two independent, publicly traded companies. The move by Alcoa Inc. will result in a yet to be named company, what it currently calls "the value-add company," that will include its transportation, rolled, engineered and construction products. The other will keep the Alcoa name and will include its bauxite-mining, alumina-refining and aluminum-production businesses. The transaction, expected to be completed in the second half of 2016, has been unanimously approved by the Alcoa board of directors. According to the Wall Street Journal, the move comes in the wake of depressed aluminum prices as China has flooded the market with lower metals prices, and the company seeing its stock price fall 43% this year.
U.S. May Alter Plans for Phase 2 Truck Engine Rules
ORLANDO, FL -- Truck operators and builders are commenting strongly on the proposed Phase 2 Fuel Economy and Greenhouse Gas emissions proposals, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is taking notes and might well make some changes to the lengthy set of rules.
Here Come the Trucking Robots
GOTHENBURG, SWEDEN -- Robots might soon find their way into a very specialized, vocational side of the trucking industry, according to one truck manufacturer. "Imagine a robot that quietly and discreetly enters your neighborhood, collects your refuse bin and empties it into the refuse truck. It is done without waking the sleeping families and without heavy lifting for the refuse truck's driver," the Volvo Group said in a recent press release. It's about 'ROAR', a joint project aiming to develop tomorrow's smart transport systems. ROAR, stands for 'Robot-based Autonomous Refuse handling', and the goal is to introduce a robot that, with instructions sent from a truck's operating system, can collect refuse bins in a neighborhood, bring them to the truck, and empty them. All of this happens under the supervision of the truck's driver.
Port Metro Vancouver project gets ISI’s Envision Sustainable Infrastructure Platinum award
VANCOUVER, B.C. – Recently Port Metro Vancouver’s Low Level Road project received the Institute for Sustainable Infrastructure (ISI) Envision sustainable infrastructure rating system’s Platinum Award. It is the first transportation…
Volvo Upgrading Plant, Opening New ‘Customer Experience Center’
DUBLIN, VA -- Volvo Trucks North America says it will make several plant upgrades and open a new Customer Experience Center as part of a $38.1 million investment in the New River Valley (NRV) truck assembly plant in Dublin, VA, where all Volvo truck models for North America are assembled.
Mercy Sakes Alive, Looks Like We Got Us Some Convoys!
It's the season for truck convoys and all the work that comes with them to raise money for charities. In less than two weeks is the Trucking for a Cure Convoy in Woodstock, ON, that begins at the TA Travel Centre, Exit 230 off Sweaburg Rd. There will be a lot of pink on display...on people and trucks. According to organizers, Trucking for a Cure is a support group on behalf of the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation-Ontario. The group is made up of professional organizations and individuals in the transportation industry. Trucking For a Cure says it not only raises awareness and funds for the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation, but also builds bridges between commercial drivers, the industry, and the public at large, and hopes to unite trucking enthusiasts behind such a meaningful cause. This convoy on Oct. 3 follows a sister event held last weekend in Prescott, ON, which made its inaugural run in 2014. Together the two events raised $75,000 last year, according to organizers.
