Waymo, Aurora, Uber, and Others Urge California to Lift its Ban on Heavy-Duty Self-Driving Trucks
June 29, 2022 - California is at risk of losing its “competitive edge” if it doesn’t lift a ban on the operation of autonomous semitrailer trucks on public roads, a group of 35 industry leaders said in an open letter to Governor Gavin Newsom.
California has permitted public testing of light-duty autonomous trucks since 2019. But vehicles that weigh more than 10,001 pounds - which include walk-in delivery trucks, semi-trucks, buses, and heavy-duty construction vehicles - are not allowed under the state’s permitting system. Class 1 and 2 trucks - which include minivans, pickup trucks, utility vans, and step vans - can receive permits for testing and commercial deliveries under the current rules.
Long-haul trucking is likely to be one of the first broad applications of automated driving technologies. Indeed, there are widespread fears in the trucking industry that autonomous technology will lead to enormous displacement among truck drivers.
via The Verge
Biden’s Bold Bet on Vehicle Charging
June 28, 2022 -- The Biden administration announced $700 million in private sector commitments to build and expand the vehicle charging infrastructure needed to transition to zero-emission cars and trucks.
“Given the task before us, we need both public and private investments in charging infrastructure to scale up as quickly as possible – and deliver a clean-driving future,” said Colleen Quinn, president of eMobility Advisors and one of the coalition’s organizers. “The announcement from President Biden today demonstrates that the private sector is stepping up to do its part.”
Talks on EV Tax Credits Still Alive, Dingell Says
Revisions to the EV tax credits are not a dead letter on Capitol Hill, according to at least one influential politician. Debbie Dingell (D-Michigan) .
Buyers of EVs made by companies such as Tesla and GM are no longer eligible for credits because both companies have reached a cap on credits of 200,000 originally put in place in 2007. Several other automakers are rapidly approaching the cap limit.
An expansion of tax credits originally was part of President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan, which was scuttled last December after negotiations with Senator Joe Manchin (D-West Virginia) broke down. The climate related-issues — including the EV tax credit — were one of the key reasons the talks stalled.
Support Beyond Sensors – How Fleets Can Streamline Maintenance by Embracing Data
By Oswaldo Flores, Product Manager, Teletrac Navman
Over the years, sensor technology has become a stalwart ally in keeping up with the maintenance needs of a fleet, but for how far this tech has come, there will always be some parts of a vehicle that simply aren’t capable of announcing that they need attention.
Fleets have adopted different strategies to address this gap, often leaning towards either rigid scheduling or pure reactive maintenance when something goes wrong.
Instead, by utilizing electronic tracking, fleet managers can automatically track and record digital inspection reports, machine hours, mileage and even fault codes. This avoids common errors that can arise from relying on drivers and operators to record information using paper records, but it has the additional boon of providing an easy way to track large amounts of historical data.
Trucking Industry in 2022 and Beyond: Breaking Down Top Trends by Industry
By Eric Bandin, Content Specialist, COOP by Ryder
The past two years have brought a lot of changes, to our society as a whole as well as within many different industries.
Aside from the supply chain issues caused by the global lockdowns and problems that people had trying to find out of stock items that they wanted or needed, there have been a large number of changes that were invisible to the average consumer.
The changes in consumer behavior and even place of deliveries changed, forcing the logistics industry to adapt once again to ensure that the trillions of dollars worth of goods sold in this country every year arrived where they needed to be.
The industry is known for both its adaptability and resilience, so while there may be major changes and challenges on the horizon, we can rest assured that the transportation industry will meet those challenges in stride.
