Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/699972
commercial carrier journal | july 2016 21 JASON CANNON is Equipment Editor of Commercial Carrier Journal. E-mail jcannon@randallreilly.com or call (205) 248-1175. percent fewer than in 2016. Partially self-driving tech in 2015 was OK'd by 40.6 percent of respondents, another nearly 2 percent more than 2016. The only category remaining any- thing close to flat were the number of people who were OK with autonomy (15.5 percent in 2015 vs. 15.6 in 2016). If 85 percent of respondents want nothing to do with autonomous cars, it shouldn't come as a surprise that even more want nothing to do with self-driving heavy trucks. In a similar survey, about 97 percent of U.S. motorists had some level of concern sharing the roads with autonomous trucks and trailers. Nearly 60 percent were very con- cerned, nearly 25 percent moder- ately concerned and 12.2 percent slightly concerned. Among the countries covered in the report (Australia, China, India, Japan, United Kingdom and United States), American motorists listed self-driving Class 8s on the highway as their top concern. For comparison, people were 10 percent less concerned by automated buses and public transportation. Consumer skepticism isn't going to slow these innovations since the self-rid- ing horse is already out of the barn. With every passing day that doesn't see a "robot car" become self-aware and go on a "Judgment Day" rampage, sentiments are likely to ease. But it's interesting to see that as more players get into the game – Toyota, Uber, General Motors, Google and Lyft, among several others – the higher the latest trepidation trends on the roads. WANT MORE EQUIPMENT NEWS? Scan the barcode to sign up for the CCJ Equipment Weekly e-mail newsletter or go to www.goo.gl/Ph9JK. More layoffs coming at Volvo's Virginia plant V olvo Trucks will lay off an unspecified number of workers from its Dublin, Va.-based truck manufacturing plant late this summer, the company said. The layoffs stem from a slowdown in North American truck orders, said Volvo spokesman John Mies. Volvo noti- fied the plant's workers that production cuts will come in early August, but details on worker layoffs remain scant, Mies said. "It's too soon to say how many people or exactly when" the layoffs will come, he said. The late-summer round of layoffs will be the second of the year for Volvo's New River Valley plant, where all of its North American trucks are built. The plant cut more than 700 workers in February due to projected slowdowns in truck orders. – James Jaillet API releases donut symbol to identify new engine oils T he American Petroleum Institute introduced a special Service Symbol Donut to help consumers identify the recently approved FA-4 diesel engine oil designed to protect the next generation of diesel engines. API approved two new diesel oil standards, FA-4 and CK-4, earlier this year for use in truck engines de- signed to meet 2017 model-year on-highway greenhouse gas emissions standards. The new donut features a shaded section to differentiate FA-4 diesel oils from CK-4 oils. The API CK-4 Service Symbol Donut will look the same as the current CJ-4 donut. – CCJ Staff API's new FA-4 Service Symbol Donut features a shaded section to dif- ferentiate FA-4 diesel oils from CK-4 oils. The layoffs at Volvo's Dublin, Va.-based truck plant stem from a slowdown in North American truck orders. About 97 percent of U.S. motorists had some level of concern sharing the roads with autonomous trucks and trailers.