News
Lytx: waste drivers’ drowsiness linked to football
SAN DIEGO, CA - Sunday night football may be bringing the Monday morning blues to drivers. A four-year data analysis by Lytx, a telematics provider, found incidents due to drowsiness increased by 53% for waste truck drivers from August to November, annually. For Mondays and Tuesdays that number rose to 78%.
3,000 driver violations flagged in CVSA blitz
GREENBELT, MD - Nearly 3,000 drivers and 12,000 trucks were placed out-of-service by local law enforcement in Canada and the United States during the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance's (CVSA) annual road check blitz. June 6-8, 2017 marked the 30th anniversary of the annual enforcement event, called International Roadcheck. More than 62,000 large trucks and buses were given Level I, II, and III inspections over three days.
Total aquires Maersk Oil & Gas for nearly $7.5B
PARIS, FRANCE - In a debt for stock swap, petroleum company Total has acquired Maersk Oil & Gas from A.P. Moller. The Scandinavian transportation and energy company will receive nearly $5 billion in Total stock, while Total takes on $2.5 billion in debt from Maersk Oil & Gas. Total has also offered a seat on its board to A.P. Moller's main shareholder.
Trout River and Valley Equipment announce partnership
COLEMAN, PEI - Trout River Industries and Valley Equipment Ltd. have partnered in a deal that will see Valley Equipment and its sister locations become full-service dealers for the live-bottom trailer manufacturer. Valley Equipment, along with Northeast Truck & Trailer Inc. announced they will be the dealer for Trout River Industries for Atlantic Canada.
Fleet Complete wants to bring blockchain to trucking
TORONTO, ON - Blockchain technology is coming to trucking, and Canadian telematics company Fleet Complete is helping to usher it in. The company joined the recently formed consortium Blockchain in Trucking Alliance (BiTA) as a service charter member. The group formed to promote the adoption, education, and development of a standard framework for blockchain in the trucking industry.
Data Driven: ELD’s can open door to big data
If knowledge is power, then Electronic Logging Devices (ELD) could be the most powerful device on the truck. Sure, the device at its most basic is responsible only for monitoring hours of service, but the potential of networking and integrating data is impossible to ignore. Why settle for simple electronic logging when it can serve as a total fleet management solution in a box? A friend of mine drives for a 10-truck floral distribution company and makes regular runs from Ontario's Niagara region to Chicago, Michigan, and western New Jersey. The picture he paints of his distribution manager would be amusing if it were not (most likely) true. The manager must be a fellow who grew up trucking in the '60s, and still listens to eight-track tapes of Red Sovine and Dave Dudley. The routes are badly planned, trucks are frequently diverted en route, the vehicles are always breaking down, and all communication with drivers is done over the -telephone. And he doesn't believe in ELDs. My friend says his boss will wait until the last possible moment to equip his fleet - and then only because he must.
Helpful Moves: Trucks come to the rescue in BC and beyond
British Columbia residents were still fleeing the path of wildfires in mid-July when Shane Reynolds took stock of the supplies on hand. "We're storing 5,000 cots, 5,000 blankets, and other material," said the operations manager at Landtran Logistics' facility in Prince George. "We'll be helping with local delivery of supplies when the Red Cross tells us what has to be done." Having grown up in B.C., then working around Fort McMurray, Alberta, Reynolds knows the devastation that wildfires can bring. With a job in trucking, he understands the challenge of moving relief supplies. He was even part of a team that set up distribution centers after Hurricane Katrina slammed into the U.S. in 2005. When disaster strikes, there are always goods to move and a need for trucks to move them.
