On April 8, a total eclipse will sweep across the United States in a stunning solar display, leaving much of the central and eastern United States in the dark, if only for a fleeting few minutes.
While the bulk of the nation’s eyes will be on the skies, trucking companies will have to deal with heavier traffic loads and delays, among other concerns. (more…)
Truck Parking Club, the social media-savvy “AirBnB of truck parking” startup that set out with the mission of helping land owners monetize vacant lots by turning them into truck parking, has “crossed the line” with some drivers as previously free spots at major truck stops become paid reservations in their system.
Michelle Kitchin has been hauling since 1988, and now works as a company driver for Van Eerden Trucking, hauling office furniture out west and coming back with a reefer full of produce. As such, she’s hit up the same handful of Midwest to more western Flying J truck stop locations for decades.
A recent trip to the Flying J location in Avoca, Iowa, served an unwelcome surprise.
“I had planned to stop at the big rest area that holds 60-70 trucks in Iowa, but two miles out there’s a big orange sign that says it’s closed,” she said. “I was running close to my hours, and the next available spot is at the scale.”
Kitchin runs with a dog, so she’s careful where she parks. She knows her spots. “That particular scale, the lights don’t come on at night,” she said. “I personally am not going to stop there.”
The next available spot was at the Flying J. “It’s always packed,” she said. There were a couple spots open she could see when she got there, but also a “whole row of spots empty with signs on it that say to reserve through a private app.”
The app is that of Truck Parking Club, a fast-scaling parking-reservations startup that’s quickly become a mainstay at trucking trade shows and in social media.
Company driver Kitchin earns on miles traveled, and doesn’t get reimbursed for paid parking spots unless she works it out with her dispatch first. When she does need paid parking at a major truck stop, she tends to pay with loyalty points within the truck stop’s own reservation system.
“When you think about the point system, I don’t get paid for that — let’s say 15 minutes — that I fuel. It’s coming off of my 70 hours and eliminating 15 miles’ worth of pay, because I have to be on-duty,” she said. “Those points are not free to me. Those points are really my payment for fueling up the truck” for her fleet.
But Truck Parking Club doesn’t accept Flying J points. “Had the lot been full, or I’m out of hours and tired, then say I don’t have a credit card or my credit card is maxed out, what do I do?” she said. “That’s when they cross the line” by turning previously free parking spots into paid-only spots that need an app and credit card.
Kitchin fired off some tweets expressing her frustration. Truck Parking Club co-founder Evan Shelley responded, proposing a livestream discussion with any upset drivers. The livestream never happened, but a look at both sides of the story reveals how truck parking is evolving, and who feels the hurt from the growing pains.
Now in just its second year of operation, Truck Parking Club recently passed 400 truck parking locations within its app, including 25 truck stops, a mix of smaller outfits and a few Pilot Flying J network locations. According to Shelley, the company has already in 2024 added 1,771 new truck parking spots that weren’t available before in any form — paid or not. These mostly come from incentivizing private land owners to open up vacant lots.
[Related: New site to reserve truck parking something of an ‘AirBnB’ for facilities]
On that front, Kitchin had high praise for the Truck Parking Club co-founder. “The spots he’s generating from trailer repair places or companies that have extra room, that is awesome,” she said.
In 2023, an Overdrive review of truck parking creation found that, despite billions in federal, state and local funding for public entities, private industry really leads addition of new truck parking at scale. Truck Parking Club, as noted just a two-year-old business, might have already surpassed the 2024 growth of three traditional truck stops. TA/Petro, for example, only planned to add 1,200 spots all year. Pilot/Flying J is looking to add about 500, and Love’s hoped to add 2,000 all year. Some of the first two networks’ spots, no doubt, will filter into TA and Pilot chains’ parking-reservation systems.
Kitchin is a board member of Real Women In Trucking, an organization that has successfully advocated for truck parking construction, including 400 new spots in Miami in 2023. The group’s founders were instrumental in the promotion and passage of Jason’s Law more than a decade ago, and RWIT remains a staunch advocate for truck drivers of all stripes in exploitative situations.
Truck Parking Club’s Evan Shelley had praise for Kitchin and RWIT, noting he supports “anything” that advocates for drivers and increases truck parking. South Florida desperately needed the spots, too, he noted of the Miami project.
Kitchin and others, though, feel Shelley and company ought not to be in the business of monetizing formerly free spaces as part of their efforts to grow. “You don’t get to take free stuff,” Kitchin said. “That’s exploitation. You’re exploiting a major industry. It’s no different than raising the price of bottled water in Flint.”
An RWIT spokesperson elaborated on what she was hearing from members and other drivers. “I’m seeing drivers posting around too that places they have been parking free for years now have TPC signs up. They don’t hold the lease on these properties. They have inserted themselves as brokers.”
Potential enforcement mechanisms for these newly paid spots also concerned Kitchin. Who would enforce the app’s reservation systems? Would a Flying J attendant rouse a sleeping driver if he parked in the spot she paid for? Would a truck stop using Truck Parking Club contract with a predatory towing outfit and extort her for cash?
Kitchin acknowledged that, often, drivers park and don’t pay, or fuel, or even come inside for a snack, and the truck stop gets stuck with the maintenance bill. But Shelley, in her opinion, was disrupting a balance, hurting truckers to the benefit of business and land owners.
“The thing with the truck-stop reservations is, as much as I hate that they’re charging us, that money is probably going back into covering the cost of people cooking in trucks and making a mess and stuff like that,” she said. “Truck stops are businesses. They can charge me whatever they want, but an outside guy coming in and taking advantage” crosses the line, she said, referring to Shelley.
Shelley said Kitchin is “not the only one” complaining about the paid-only parking spots at Flying J that don’t accept points, and that he’s working to fix it.
“We get calls into customer service with people calling asking if we can start accepting Pilot Flying J points,” he said. “We’re doing everything we can do to get that ability onto our app to still give the drivers the ability to use the points. I feel for them and I hear you, driver, and we are working on it.”
But Shelley also sympathized with the truck stop owners. “The issue is 85% of truckers never even come in the store,” he reported hearing from truck stops. Shelley said it can cost “several hundred thousand per acre” to fix rutted-out, abused parking lots, and that if truck stops don’t make money, they will simply close their doors and chain up the lots. “It is a business decision if the lots shut down, and it’s less parking for drivers,” he said.
As for enforcement, Truck Parking Club leaves it up to the individual property owners, but they have a “rigorous” onboarding process for parking facilities, according to Shelley. He takes the threat of predatory towing very seriously. “We do not support anything that is predatory towing or predatory booting,” he said. “We haven’t once experienced that but if we did,” that parking facility would be swiftly booted from the TPC system.
[Related: Trucking’s best defense against predatory towing: A step-by-step guide]
When major truck stop chains and others began to move toward paid spaces in their networks, a principal selling point was the ability for truckers to reserve those spaces ahead of time. That’s not 100% the case with these newly monetized spaces Truck Parking Club is now collecting payment for, however, which Kitchin took issue with at the Avoca, Iowa, Flying J location. It doesn’t advertise that about a quarter of its 200 spots are now pay-to-park, and the paid spots can’t be reserved ahead of time.
“Not being able to reserve offers no extra benefits for $15 than the truck stops already offer for free,” Kitchin said. “And 50 people paying $15 a night while 150 pay zero, without any extra benefits, is hardly acceptable.”
Shelley said 93% of the app’s locations in general take reservations — “mostly our never publicly available spots.” Some locations, however, mostly truck stops, do not, he added.
Kitchin’s worries about enforcement practices are well-founded, too, it seems.
“We found that reservations are extremely hard to keep other non-paying drivers out of the reserved spot at a truck stop where a lot of drivers are coming and going,” said Shelley. “Issues like this can lead to altercations between drivers and truck stop staff, and we want to avoid that happening. We never want to accept money from a driver if they aren’t already parked in a space at a truck stop.”
[Related: Paid parking — how often do you pay for space?]
Truck Parking Club cofounder Evan Shelley (left) on an eight-day haul with owner-operator and TPC brand ambassador Chris Thomas.Truck Parking Club
A Truck Parking Club ambassador, owner-operator Chris Thomas (@indietrucker on Twitter), took some heat in the back-and-forth as being the truck driver face of the startup. He responded with a nuanced view of the situation, drawing on 19 years hauling.
“This whole problem has been created,” he said. “This didn’t exist before e-logs. Or it did exist, but I could drive, we all did, we would all just drive until we found parking.”
[Related: ELDs up the ante on parking]
Thomas pointed to TA/Petro moving towards paid parking, even before the electronic logging device mandate. “Everyone is doing it. I’d rather have a company with a face than 30 different companies'” apps installed on a single phone, he said. “You can actually call [Truck Parking Club] customer service and get through to someone.”
Truck Parking Club makes a point of hiring former truckers. Retired or otherwise former drivers comprise 100% of customer service employees, according to Shelley. When you call Truck Parking Club’s 24/7 line, it’s them you’d speak to.
In January, owner-operator Thomas took Shelley on an eight-day haul across America, yet Thomas said he hasn’t used a Truck Parking Club spot in a month or so for a perhaps obvious reason. “I’d go for the free parking as much as humanly possible,” he said. “I think it’s going to be some time before this whole paid-parking thing is kind of ironed out. A lot of this stuff is pretty new.”
Told about Truck Parking Club’s efforts to accept points, Kitchin noted “it would be a start.”
If Truck Parking Club continues to scale up its efforts with truck stops themselves, more previously free spots could become paid, though Shelley said he heavily incentivizes property owners to allow free parking if the driver buys fuel or products at the shop.
Kitchin objects to the idea that a tech company is taking something away from her, that Truck Parking Club is advertising revenue streams to property owners — that revenue would come out of her pocket and the pockets of drivers like her.
Shelley promised to remedy the loyalty points payment issue and hopes to add value overall. “We have complete sympathy for drivers. It’s an extremely hard career as a company driver or owner-op. We just didn’t know it was an issue. This is a learning lesson for us.”
What do you think? Answer the question below to help us get a feel for how you approach paid parking and reservations, and feel free to leave a comment, too.
A motorist was killed in a crash at a Texas weigh station on Wednesday.
The crash occurred shortly before 11 p.m. on June 5 at a US 87 weigh station south of Dumas, Texas.
Officials say that Nathaniel Harden, 58, was operating a 2008 Chevrolet Equinox when, for unknown reasons, he traveled into the weigh station facility and struck the rear of a parked semi truck.
Harden was transported to a nearby hospital, but he later succumbed to his injuries.
Truck driver Mellena Delaney-Koop, 54, was treated at the scene for minor injuries.
Police are investigating the crash.
ZF North America announced that Ramiro Gutierrez is taking on the role of president of North America. He will report to board of management member Peter Holdmann.
Gutierrez brings 30 years of experience in the automotive industry to his new role.
Prior to joining ZF North America, he served as president of engineered structures at Howmet Aerospace. He also served as vice-president of Aprive for over four years and was a member of the General Motors supplier council.
Now, Gutierrez rejoins ZF after having previously worked for the company for more than 12 years. He started in 2005 as a sales director and went up the ranks to being promoted to senior vice-president of sales in 2016.
“I’m excited to be back with this team and to continue to strengthen our ability to help our customers with the future of mobility,” said Gutierrez in a news release.
In-cab cameras are a hot discussion topic. Some people really like the idea of introducing them into the cabs of every truck. There is plenty of backlash as people cite invasions of privacy and a general distrust of camera usage. There are still many conversations to be had about the necessity and relevance of in-cab cameras for today’s driver. The future remains to be seen on their implementation. Statistically speaking, in-cab cameras do seem to provide a benefit for road and cargo safety which may win the favor of the more reluctant audiences.
Cameras within the cab of a truck may sound like an odd idea. Why would you want camera footage of a driver in their cab? While often this footage would be very boring as it is the driver sitting, possibly eating, turning up the AC, or taking a sip of water, there are many occasions where having footage of the driver and cab could be important. This is especially true when it comes to accidents. In fact, having recording devices can also reduce the likelihood of a major crash by stopping distracted driving.
In the past few years, there have been major developments in the Artificial Intelligence (AI) industry. There are now in-cab cameras that can tell how many times drivers pick up their phones, when they are distracted, and even when they appear to be fatigued. This is an incredibly odd thing to hear for many drivers who have been on the road for decades as there was never any supervision before and rarely any questions about one’s safe driving ability if no wrecks occurred.
Driving with an in-cab camera can sometimes make drivers uncomfortable. A sudden introduction of them without warning is an invasion of privacy as drivers would not have consented to being filmed. However, if drivers are properly warned of being recorded and allowed the chance to learn from the AI cameras (which provide feedback about distracted driving), the installation of in-cab cameras can be a good thing. The only con is driver pushback and the issue of privacy. However, in a company owned vehicle, if drivers are notified of this change, then in-cab cameras are a great idea for most fleet owners.
In-cab cameras have been shown to decrease texting and driving, distracted driving, and fatigued driving by providing the drivers with feedback about what they’re doing well and what issues they should address as they continue driving. Having less distracted drivers on the road is always a great thing for the safety of both drivers and civilians and will assist in keeping the roads free and clear of accidents!
Some fleet owners do not believe that in-cab cameras are a good choice for keeping their drivers and civilians on the road safe. However, some do not believe this is a necessary addition to the fleet. This is a very easily debated question and there are many privacy questions to keep in mind. However, if you are planning on installing in-cab cameras, be sure to notify your drivers and have an open, honest discussion about why you think in-cab cameras are a good choice for your business!
Trucking news and briefs for Thursday, June 6, 2024:
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration will host a listening session pertaining to the development of an updated methodology to determine when a motor carrier is not fit to operate in interstate commerce later this month at the Texas Trucking Show.
Specifically, FMCSA said it would like to hear from members of the public on concerns relating to the following topics:
[Related: Fit or Unfit? FMCSA keying in on problems with ‘Conditional’ safety rating limbo]
FMCSA last year began the early stages of a potential revamp of its carrier safety rating system. An advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) was published in August, which sought public feedback on the need for a rulemaking to revise the safety rating regulations, feedback on current safety rating regulations, and more. Only 176 comments were filed on that ANPRM.
The public session will be held in-person at the Texas Trucking Show at the NRG Center in Houston on Saturday, June 29, from 1-2:30 p.m. Central. Registration with the Texas Trucking Show is required to attend FMCSA’s listening session. Registration is free and may be completed online here.
The agency is also planning two virtual-only listening sessions on the same topics to be held in June and July. Specifics of those meetings will be announced in a separate notice yet to be published. Stay tuned to Overdrive for details on those meetings when they are announced.
Get a window on relatively recent-history rating developments and discussions in the two 2023 editions of Overdrive Radio below:
[Related: FMCSA’s safety rating revamp: Could new reports mean in-cab tech will play a role?]
The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) contract crews will be closing the I-55 Mississippi River Bridge for two weeks to continue construction activities on the I-55 and Crump interchange.
During the two-week closure, crews will hydro-demolition the bridge deck and provide a new polymer concrete overlay. The polymer-modified concrete has strict temperature restrictions, so all work is weather-dependent. The upcoming closure is the first of two allowed in the contract.
The closures will take place from 8 p.m. Sunday, June 9, through 8 p.m. Sunday, June 23, at the following locations:
TravelCenters of America has opened another TA Express location In Louisiana, this time in LaPlace.
This is the fifth TA location to open in Louisiana in the last six months. The other new locations that opened in Louisiana are TA Express Minden, TA Express Hosston, TA Express St. Rose and TA Express Grambling.
TA Express LaPlace, located off I-10 west of New Orleans, offers 100 truck parking spaces, a Subway restaurant, eight showers, 10 diesel lanes and a casino opening in the fall.
TA now has more than 300 locations in 44 states and plans to open another 16 by year-end.
[Related: Truck Parking Club turns free spaces paid: Is this the future of parking?]
Trucking news and briefs for Monday, June 10, 2024:
The sales of new zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty trucks in California in 2023 doubled from the prior year, now representing 1 out of every 6 new vehicles sold for services that include last-mile delivery, freight transportation, and school-bus passenger transport, according to a report released by the California Air Resources Board.
With 18,473 medium- and heavy-duty ZEVs sold in California in 2023, the state has exceeded its Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) goal two years ahead of schedule with five times the required sales numbers. Since 2021, a total of 26,921 medium- and heavy-duty ZEVs have been sold in California.
The ACT requires Class 2b-Class 8 manufacturers to sell zero-emission trucks as an increasing percentage of their annual California sales from 2024 to 2035. By 2035, zero-emission truck/chassis sales would need to be 55% of Class 2b-3 truck sales, 75% of Class 4-8 straight truck sales, and 40% of truck tractor sales.
The latest figures are a preliminary look at annual medium- and heavy-duty vehicle sales data in the state, and points to continued momentum for zero-emission vehicles, CARB noted, ahead of rules that start phasing in later this year requiring the gradual deployment of clean vehicle technology for fleets. That rule requiring fleet adoption, the Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) rule, is effectively on hold until CARB receives a waiver from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.
[Related: How California’s Advanced Clean Fleets regs impact businesses]
The ACF rule in particular has been under fire from trucking industry groups and others. Most recently, a coalition of 17 states and the Nebraska Trucking Association filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California that seeks to block the ACF rule. The American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce (AmFree Chamber) also filed suit over the rule earlier this year. Late last year, the Western States Trucking Association (WSTA) filed two lawsuits challenging both the ACT and ACF rules.
“California set visionary targets to move key transportation sectors toward zero-emissions technology, and the market is stepping up to be part of the solution for cleaner air and climate action well ahead of required targets,” said CARB Chair Liane Randolph. “The data shows that the future is zero-emissions and that fleets are finding value in making the switch early.”
In total, OEMs sold 116,483 vehicles in California, where 18,473 were ZEVs. Many of the ZEVs sold are in the medium-duty range, with Rivian (11,182 sales) and Ford (5,221 sales) leading the charge. Navistar sold 246 medium-duty ZEVs.
Among heavy-duty truck sales, Paccar led the way in 2023 with 76 ZEV tractor sales, followed by Daimler (73), BYD (68), Tesla (58) and Volvo (44). Electric terminal tractor manufacturer Orange EV sold 210 units.
[Related: States challenge latest EPA, CARB truck emissions rules]
The trend of increasing cargo theft across the U.S. is no secret. Cargo theft recording firms have been reporting on the rise for more than a year.
One firm, Overhaul, said that as 2024 continues, the trends in cargo theft are becoming more apparent. Perhaps the biggest trend to watch, Overhaul noted, is a pattern involving the targeting of high-value loads, which are of special interest to criminals who have a lot to gain from a successful theft.
Every quarter, Overhaul compiles data concerning cargo theft trends in the U.S. and abroad. During the first quarter of 2024, the company recorded 11 cargo theft events in the U.S. with a total value exceeding $1 million. This represents a significant increase compared to Q1 of 2023, where only one event was recorded with cargo worth higher than $1 million. The value of these 11 events accounted for 49% of the total loss value in Q1-2024.
Overhaul said high-value goods such as electronics and pharmaceuticals can easily be sold on the black market for a sizable profit. Additionally, shippers often transport multiple high-value goods at once, which means the potential rewards are even greater via the theft of a single tractor-trailer. In other words, rather than risk stealing several less valuable loads, thieves often choose to go after a single, more valuable one.
[Related: Surge of cargo theft is ‘hitting us like lightning,’ experts say]
Electronics were the main high-value product type targeted during the first quarter this year, with seven events reported. The stolen products ranged from computers and monitors to specialized equipment such as cryptocurrency mining machines or telecommunications equipment. Pharmaceuticals were targeted in two events, one involving medicine and the other involving nutritional supplements.
These first-quarter theft events mainly took place in three states: California, Texas, and Arizona. These states are well-known for their commercial and logistics importance, but also for the high number of cargo theft events. In the case of California, specifically, Overhaul recently helped recover a stolen load of electronics. Although this is a win for the industry, it also serves to highlight the growing threat and prevalence of these crimes.
Overall in the first quarter, Overhaul reported 371 total cargo thefts with an average loss value of $210,597. The number of thefts recorded was a 38% increase over the same period a year ago. Full truckload theft was the most popular theft tactic by thieves during the quarter, representing 33% of all thefts. Facility theft ranked second at 27%, followed by pilferage at 25%.
Overhaul’s numbers are on the low end compared to another cargo theft recording firm, CargoNet, which said last month that it documented a staggering 925 theft incidents in the first quarter — up 46% from the first quarter in 2023.
[Related: How carriers can respond to the rash of cargo thefts hitting the industry]
As cargo theft grows rampant in the freight industry, strategic theft has also come up.
Talking about the surge of cargo theft, Keith Lewis, vice president of operations at CargoNet, said, “[A big increase] is the fraud using deceptive means to steal a load – whether it’s stealing someone else’s identity to go on a load board, creating a trucking company and going on a load board, and buying another trucking company’s operating authority, name, email and domain, and eventually, taking the load by fraud.”
As methods like these continue to increase, this serves as a warning to remain vigilant against phishing attacks that utilize lookalike domains. Cybercriminals can create domains that closely resemble those of legitimate carrier companies. These fake domains are used to send phishing emails, manipulating employees and customers to disclosing sensitive information, such as login details, financial details or personal data.
“Replicating the targeted site is an easy process in which the threat actor designs or obtains the format of the targeted site,” said National Motor Freight Traffic Association (NMFTA) COO Joe Ohr. “As seen in communications identified on dark web and cyber oriented forums, threat actors outsource this process and customize the site in order to fit the targeted actors.”
A 2023 report by Arctic Wolf found that nearly half of all cyberattacks in 2023 were driven by attackers stealing their target’s credentials and reusing them to gain access to their intended organization.
There’s plenty of reasons for reasons for this. Mark Manglicmot, senior vice president of security services at cybersecurity firm Arctic Wolf, said that lookalike domain-based attacks, like all social engineering and credential compromise-based scams, are on the rise.
“Organizations have more digital tools in their environment than ever before, thus creating large attack surfaces that are hard for security teams to adequately defend,” he said.
Bobby Kuzma, director of offensive cyber operations at cybersecurity firm ProCircular, also pointed out that it’s increasing because it’s poorly defended against. “The bad guys have a huge economic incentive to gain accesses to enterprises, particularly those that are part of the critical infrastructure.”
With the rise of artificial intelligence, Manglicmot noted these same threat actors are also now able to create realistic-looking websites, text messages, emails and even multimedia to more effectively disguise their online behavior as legitimate, rather than a scam.
The trucking industry relies on thousands of vendors who are simultaneously fragmented in their security but retain access to each other. These interconnected systems, Manglicmot pointed out, are often enticing to threat actors, as they offer multiple points of entry.
Cybercriminals use an array of tools and tactics, but a common example that Manglicmot gave is where a threat actor could use a phony domain that prompts a user to enter their username and password, giving attackers what they need to login to company systems, and depending on security protocols, give them access to any and all data.
Kuzma noted that attackers may use a lookalike domain against a company, or their customers, as part of a phishing campaign to gain access to user accounts, or as part of a fraud to redirect payments. “They take advantage of the fact that people do have issues distinguishing between very similar characters, such as 1 and (uppercase I) and (lowercase L),” he said. “Late last year, security researchers discovered a state sponsored attack using a lookalike including Greek and Cyrillic letters to spoof Microsoft.”
[RELATED: QR code attacks are on the rise]
A proactive approach is essential to protecting an organization. Manglicmot suggested having a strong incident response plan and 24/7 managed detection and response system. “Understand your systems inside and outside, know what tools you have, and how do those tools work together,” he said.
Kuzma said businesses can also ensure that they have clear indicators added to emails to warn they are external. “For best protection, you can use software like DNSTwist or subscribe to a cyber threat intelligence service such as Flare to collect a list of lookalikes for key domains, then either purchase them yourself or preemptively block them.”
Most importantly, with tactics like credential stealing from lookalike domains, Manglicmot said that your best line of defense starts with educated employees.
“Ensure that you have tools that empower your teams to make cybersecurity-conscious decisions,” said Manglicmot. “Implement multi-factor authentication (MFA), launch training programs with phishing tests that can demonstrate the complexities that fake domains and other tactics can take on.”
“By arming ourselves with a company full of individuals that recognize the nuances that can come from threat actors, you stand a much better chance of mitigating the risk cybercriminals and their attacks pose,” he said.
Ohr offered mitigation tips below:
According to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA), large single-unit and combination trucks travel hundreds of billions of miles each year, transporting countless shipments to stores, warehouses and customers across the country. However, none of this activity is possible without an operable truck. Routine maintenance, as standard as it may seem, can play an important part in keeping your business running profitably.
The following insights detail some of the benefits routine truck maintenance can provide and what fleet managers can do to prioritize vehicle health year-round:
Reduced breakdowns
Preventive maintenance can reduce equipment failure, resulting in better equipment uptime and, in turn, better customer satisfaction.
Reduced maintenance
Properly scheduled maintenance inspections provide opportunities to make minor repairs and adjustments that can help prevent premature wear and identify mechanical failures before they become catastrophic.
CSA scores and public perception
CSA program/SMS scores are critical in fostering a public perception that your company offers reliable transportation services. Maintenance can help keep your equipment clean and ready for CSA inspections.
Each fleet’s commercial truck maintenance program will vary based on factors like size of fleet, staffing and type of vehicles in the fleet. No matter the size of your fleet, documenting your maintenance program can help provide clarity and informed direction to your employees. By formalizing a maintenance program, you can detail expectations for maintenance performed; who is responsible for each task; what documentation needs to be completed; how long that documentation needs to be maintained and where it should be saved.
Documenting these requirements can save you time and money in the long run. By keeping clear records, you may be able to identify cost-efficiency opportunities, determine if certain vehicles are more costly than others and analyze trends related to drivers or truck maintenance personnel that would not be possible without that data being collected. It also sets expectations for everyone in the organization to do their part to maintain equipment and meet DOT regulations.
One important feature of a maintenance program is the periodic maintenance schedule. On this schedule, you can include as much detail as needed. Some elements to include in your schedule include-
Inspection type
This should listall your regular maintenance tasks, such as daily trip inspections, greasing intervals, visual inspections, oil change intervals, manufacturer schedules and annual inspections.
Vehicle type
If you perform different maintenance tasks on trucks, tractors, or trailers, detail those differences on your maintenance schedule.
Inspection intervals
Inspection intervals can include different metrics. For example, certain tasks may only be necessary every two months or 40,000 miles. Comparatively, other tasks may come due every 12 months regardless of vehicle use. Be sure to specify the intervals at which each task should be performed.
Comments and additional considerations
Detail expectations for forms that need to be filled out, brands to use in each vehicle, weights for oil, specifications for your preferred parts, etc. This can fill in all the remaining details not clearly outlined in other categories.
An example format for truck maintenance schedules is included below.
Setting up your schedule to include the full list of inspections you perform can help you keep track of all the tasks that need to be completed. It also provides a simple visual for record keeping so if anyone needs to audit your records, it is clear what maintenance has been completed.
Detailing each of your truck maintenance tasks in a schedule can set clear and informative expectations for what needs to be done and how to document it appropriately.
Pre- and post-trip vehicle inspections, which are required by the FMCSA, can yield valuable feedback that helps you prevent catastrophic breakdowns before they occur. Providing a useful, understandable, repeatable tool for drivers to fill out can instill confidence that their concerns will be heard. These inspections also produce the documentation and information you need to get ahead of maintenance needs.
Consider using electronic logs and maintenance reports. These digital records are harder to lose and can be immediately transmitted to both management and truck maintenance teams. Whether you’re using paper or electronic forms, ensure your drivers understand how to complete the inspections and what to do if they recognize issues.
Routine maintenance may seem tedious, and documentation may sound even less appealing, but both practices can have a profound impact on a trucking fleet’s bottom line. Failing to proactively address issues through maintenance can lead to expensive repairs. Failing to document maintenance tasks can lead to unnecessary headaches and increased scrutiny if things go wrong. Keeping up with maintenance can help keep you rolling profitably.
Cliff Johnson is a Trucking Segment Business Consultant at Acuity Insurance. Cliff began his career in the trucking industry operating intrastate before expanding his operations into 48 states and Canada. Over time, his experience provided him opportunities to work in several industries transporting a variety of cargo utilizing specialized trailer configurations. Through his trucking business, Cliff continued hauling commodities serving the forest and paper industries, as well as aggregate, fuels and heavy haul.
May was a strong month for Class 8 truck orders. Does it signal improving freight conditions or the beginning of a pre-buy ahead of costly EPA27 emissions regulations?
And the spot market was flat in the most recent week, but some segments were stronger than others.
Class 8 truck orders spiked in May, according to preliminary data from FTR and ACT Research. Is this the beginning of the EPA27 pre-buy?
FTR reported orders of 18,900 units, up 25% from April and 37% year over year.
“OEMs are actively filling build slots at a steady pace. Along with the month-over-month increase, the fact that orders were up significantly from the May 2023 level indicates that the market remains on a solid footing despite near-term challenges,” said Dan Moyer, senior analyst, commercial vehicles with FTR.
“While all OEMs experienced order growth, vocational markets stood out as particularly strong compared to on-highway. Despite the trend of stagnant freight markets, fleets remain willing to invest in new equipment. Order levels slightly exceeded historical averages and seasonal expectations, and we still anticipate a replacement level of output by the end of 2024.”
For its part, ACT Research reported net orders of 23,200 units, up 46% from April and 49% year over year.
“Market observers may recall that demand typically slows in Q2. However, surprises are always lurking,” said Steve Tam, vice-president and analyst.
“Class 8 preliminary order intake provided May’s drama, effectively zigging when they were expected to zag. Ample open build slots in Q3 and Q4, combined with the OEMs’ desire to achieve some semblance of balance with respect to the impending pre-buy likely impacted May’s order activity. While we do not have complete visibility at this point, the strength is presumably driven by private and vocational fleets, supplemented by an ongoing healthy appetite for equipment in Mexico.”
Truckstop and FTR Transportation Intelligence report the week ended May 31 showed stable rates on the spot market.
Dry van rates were basically flat, while reefer rates fell the worst since the fifth week in the year. Flatbed rates were up for the third consecutive week, for the first time since January.
“While the main equipment types moved differently, the week-over-week changes each were directionally in line with the changes for the same week last year,” Truckstop reported.
Load postings fell more sharply than truck postings, so the ever-important Market Demand Index fell to 74.4, its lowest level in a month.