Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/815349
14 commercial carrier journal | april 2017 JOURNAL NEWS • RoadrunnerTransportation Systems (CCJ Top 250, No. 34), a Cudahy, Wis.- based less-than-truckload company, established Roadrunner Temperature Controlled, a refrigerated division that combines the assets of two affiliated fleets, M. Bruenger and R&M Transportation. The RTC network will employ about 400 drivers, operate more than 400 tractors and manage more than 650 reefer trailers. • Central Freight Lines (No. 108), a less-than-truckload carrier based in Waco, Texas, is buying certain assets of Fisherville, Va.-based fleet Wilson Trucking (No. 131); terms were not announced. Central runs primarily across the southern United States fromCalifornia to Tennessee and Georgia, while Wilson provides LTL and truckload service to all or parts of 11 states in the Southeast and Washington, D.C. • U.S. Xpress Enterprises (No. 14) announced that Eric Fuller is now chief executive officer, while Lisa Quinn Pate is now president and chief administra- tive officer.Max Fuller, co-founder, is now executive chairman of the Chattanooga, Tenn.-based truckload company. • The Technology & Maintenance Council elected Glen McDonald 2017- 18 general chairman and treasurer. McDonald, director of maintenance for Memphis, Tenn.-based Ozark Motor Lines, succeeds Doug White, vice president of maintenance for Dunbar Armored. • Martin Daum, president and CEO of Daimler Trucks North America since 2009, was named head of Daimler Trucks & Buses and a member of Daimler AG's Board of Management. Daum succeeds Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard, who stepped down after four years at the helm because of personal reasons. Daum's successor as DTNA president and CEO is Roger Nielsen, who since 2001 has been chief operating officer for DTNA's manufacturing network. • Navistar International Corp.'s board of directors elected Troy A. Clarke, presi- dentand CEO, to also serve as chair- man, replacing James H. Keyes, who had served as non-executive chairman since April 2013. INBRIEF 4/17 ATRI: Parking test helped drivers find open spots, adhere to HOS regs A studyby the American Transportation Research Institute conducted to test the effectiveness of truck parking availabil- ity systems found that 60 percent of truck drivers who used the system indicated it "significantly" helped them find park- ing. ATRI also says 30 percent of drivers indicated the systems had a "significant impact" in helping them to comply with hours-of-service regulations. To conduct the study, ATRI devel- oped and installed a multicamera system that detects truck parking stall occu- pancy at three rest areas along the Interstate 94 corridor within 100 miles west of Minneapolis-St. Paul in Minnesota: Elm Creek, Enfield and Big Spunk Lake. The open stall information was relayed to drivers from the camera systems in three ways: a web portal, an in-cab onboard device and roadside electronic message signs. The survey found that drivers prefer to receive the information through road- side signs, followed by smartphone apps, websites and onboard devices. For roadside signs, drivers indicated they prefer to receive the information 20 miles away from the rest area, and more than 30 percent of drivers indicated they would like more than one notification. – Matt Cole Technologies focus of Senate hearing on truck safety A Senate subcommittee hearing last month brought together trucking industry stake- holders and subcommittee members to discuss what can be done to further address truck safety. Safety technologies such as forward collision avoidance, lane departure warning and automatic emergency braking systems were some of the initiatives discussed by the Subcommittee on Surface Transportation and Merchant Marine Infrastructure, Safety and Security. Subcommittee Ranking Member Cory Booker (D-N.J.) said more efforts were needed to reduce crashes, including those involving trucks. Booker said that as the economy has improved, highway deaths involving trucks also have been on the rise. Dr. Adrian Lund, president of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, testified that since 2009, there has been a 22 percent increase in fatalities involving trucks compared to just a 4 percent increase for other crashes. Lund said stability control systems, electronic logging devices, speed limiters and similar technologies that already exist have been shown to cut down truck-related fatalities. Jerry Moyes, chairman emeritus of Phoenix-based Swift Transportation (CCJ Top 250, No. 4), touted his fleet's implementation of safety technologies in recent years with ELDs in 2010; collision avoidance, lane departure and automatic transmission systems in 2013; and dashcams, both road- and driver-facing, in 2015. – Matt Cole An ATRI study found that 60 percent of truck drivers who used the parking availability system indicated it "signi cantly" helped them nd a spot. Collision avoidance systems were discussed during a Senate subcommittee hearing as a way to improve safety in trucking.