News
E-commerce is transforming trucking
NASHVILLE, TN - Seventeen years ago, Tom Hanks stood in a shipping yard and lamented that 87 hours was an eternity. Castaway was on the big screen, and the Hollywood superstar was playing a time-obsessed operations manager for a world-wide shipping company. Shouting that "the cosmos [were] created in less time. Wars have been fought and nations toppled at 87 hours. Fortunes made and squandered," Hanks was forecasting the future of supply chain. From 87 hours to just 24 or less, time is running out for goods that take more than a day to get to consumers, and trucking is undergoing massive changes, all thanks to a store that sells just about everything: Amazon. As e-commerce grows exponentially, taking larger and larger shares of markets -- like household goods, cosmetics and personal care items, groceries, and furniture -- it's re-shaping how goods are packaged, shipped, and stored, forcing fleets to adapt quickly. Retail markets were up in July all over the United States, but online sales saw an increase of 1.3%, compared to just 0.1% for traditional brick-and-mortar stores.
Drivers looked up in awe during eclipse data shows
SAN DIEGO, CA - Drivers' eyes were looking toward the sky during the solar eclipse on August 21. Video telematics company Lytx says its data suggests that, like the rest of North America, truck drivers were fixated on the first total solar eclipse visible from this area in 38 years, last Monday.
Tatum meets Mack on tour for Logan Lucky
GREENSBORO, NC - One American legend recently met another, when Channing Tatum toured the Mack Trucks' World Headquarters. The actor stopped by the plant and took a truck for a test drive as part of a press tour unlike any other for his new movie Logan Lucky. The movie, released August 18, stars Tatum as Jimmy Logan, who attempts to stage a robbery of the Coca-Cola 600 NASCAR race. The star briefly shares the screen with a Mack B model truck in the new flick. The unusual press tour took Tatum and crew on a road trip across the United States to promote the movie by showcasing America's heartland, which served as the stage for the story. Along his tour Tatum gave away a Harley Davidson motorcycle, road dirt bikes, cut down trees in Kentucky, and finished off the adventure with the movie premiere in Knoxville, TN.
Cautillo: Gordie Howe bridge on time
WINDSOR, ON - The President and CEO of the Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority (WDBA) has issued a statement to clear up recent reports of delays and problems with the Gordie Howe International Bridge project. The statement from Michael Cautillo aimed to address media reports of delays with the procurement process to find partners to design, construct, and maintain the bridge.
Test Drive: Paccar unveils 12-speed automated transmission
Paccar is the latest North American truck manufacturer to bring a proprietary automated transmission to market. Called the Paccar Automated Transmission, it's a 12-speed, twin countershaft design that was conceived as an automated transmission, which is to say, it was designed that way. It's not a manual box fitted with add-on shift-actuators. Paccar says it's the lightest automated transmission currently in production. At just 657 pounds, it is nearly 200 pounds lighter than Eaton's Advantage AMT. The addition of the automated transmission completes Paccar's goal of having a fully integrated proprietary powertrain. Paccar says its new transmission has been performance-optimized for MX-series engines and the new 40,000-pound drive axles unveiled in October 2016.
Schneider is half-way to an automated fleet
GREEN BAY, WI - Shifting gears will soon be a thing of the past for Schneider. In an attempt to attract younger drivers, and make it easier for potential employees to consider a job in trucking, the company is more than half-way to its goal of creating an entire fleet made up of trucks with automated transmissions.
