Self-driving cars and solar-powered aircraft: the media is full of transportation advances that promise to impact our lives in the future. Likewise, the trucking industry is also spawning a stream of innovation. The future of freight hauling looks more efficient, more profitable, and greener. Eighteen-wheel rigs with micro-turbine electric drive, truck platoons linked by vehicle-to-vehicle speed and braking control—these techno-wonders are still well beyond the horizon. However, in the more immediate future of 2016, we can look forward to examples of practical innovation in trucking like these:
Fuel Is A Gas
Fiat-Chrysler has taken a big step forward into transitioning its parts freight fleet into CNG—compressed natural gas—and away from diesel. The company expects to invest $40 million in the coming year in retrofitting heavy-duty trucks with behind-the-cab CNG fuel systems. CNG fuel offers a 160 Diesel Gallons Equivalent to provide an average 600-mile range. To service the new fleet, the company has spent over $1.5 million to upgrade its 36,000 square-foot maintenance facility. Use of abundant, domestically-produced CNG ensures more stable fuel costs than diesel, produces up to 30 percent less greenhouse gases, and results in a 90 percent reduction in tailpipe emissions over petroleum fuels. CNG also reduces engine wear and maintenance costs while extending expected vehicle service life.
Connecting To Freight
Apps that provide data on available loads from freight brokers aren’t new. However, Silicon Valley-based Trucker Path’s popular Truckloads shipping marketplace platform for iOS and Android phones and tablets is updating significantly for 2016. Offering truckers and freight brokers alike more data and input options, the version of Truckloads currently in Beta testing now displays the age of available loads to provide truckers the freshest postings, as well as the credit rating for the broker to ensure that the outfit meets ability-to-pay standards. Drivers may also filter loads by city and zip code to facilitate searching for potential freight opportunities ahead along an active route. Options for input include the capability to identify their truck and location in order to display available loads in the immediate vicinity, as well as crowd-sourcing features, such as contributing to a database that displays up-to-the-minute accurate fuel price info.
Detour Not Ahead
To aid in keeping routing current and localized to the position of every truck in the fleet, Paragon’s Route Control routing and scheduling software helps avoid conflicts due to road closures, special events, local Truck Zone restrictions, construction zones and areas where heavy trucks might present safety issues. Paragon Route Control can apply the rules based on time, calendar day, and vehicle type, then create a continuously updating calendar for each route including information on detours and alternate routes. The software reduces manual route planning as well as the daily time and money impact of route restrictions and scheduling slip-ups.
Drivers Still Wanted
Is a self-driving fleet in your company’s future? Intelligence gathering in that direction is now originating from none other than the Department Of Transportation. In December at the Volpe National Transportation Systems Center in Cambridge, Mass, the DOT hosts a one-day seminar featuring Chris Urmson, Google’s guru of self-driving vehicles. In his previous job as a Carnegie Mellon faculty member, Urmson researched self-driving vehicles, notably including the robotics behind controlling “house-sized trucks.” Events like this underscore the federal government’s mounting interest in some form of on-road autopilot technology, someday. In the near term, however, plan on keeping your skilled team of professional human drivers happy and on the road during 2016... and beyond.
Keeping up with innovations and technology can be costly. Learn more about options for enhancing your existing fleet to improve flexibility and efficiency:
