“We are working very closely with our customers, the OEs, to resolve the problem,” Barbara Gould, manager, communications & brand management for Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, told Fleet Owner. “We are working very closely with our customers to address the issue and remedy the situation as rapidly as possible.”

Bendix notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the issue on Jan. 26, 2012.

“This potential defect has caused several vehicle manufacturers to defer shipments of trucks with the ATR-6 manufactured between Dec. 2, 2010, and Jan. 18, 2012,” Gould said.

Gould said the affected vehicles come from Paccar, Navistar, and Volvo trucks.

Jack Allen, president of Navistar’s North American Truck Group, told analysts yesterday in an earnings call that the company’s first quarter earnings would be negatively impacted due to a supplier issue with a faulty product. He did not specify the company, but Gould confirmed the product is Bendix’ valve.

“It doesn’t affect everybody in our industry and it doesn’t even affect all of our products, but it’s a serious issue,” Allen said. “As a result we haven’t shipped a whole lot trucks since Jan. 20.”

The issue, Gould stressed, is not a problem with the traction or stability control systems themselves. The affected valve, though, does impact the performance of the vehicle, resulting in pressure building within “a service brake circuit.” This pressure can “cause intermittent or – in isolated cases – continuous brake application,” Bendix said in a service bulletin on its website.

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Saha discussed the shifting aftermarket parts and service business in North America for an audience of industry suppliers in Las Vegas last week at the annual Heavy Duty Dialogue .

“Class 4 to 8 truck repair and maintenance channels are finding it increasingly harder to attract skilled technicians because of the complex and dirty nature of the work,” Saha said. “Dealerships are expected to grow their skilled technician numbers in the short and medium term because of their ability to offer higher wages and training.”

This is creating pressure on independent repair facilities to upgrade their knowledge and skills, he noted.

“Despite the slight economic recovery, fewer independent shops are providing the level of training they historically provided. In 2010, 55% of independents offered formal training services versus 87% of dealerships.

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Osterberg told the audience that he had four “keys to success” when it comes to fleet safety: Hire the “right” drivers (and retain them); train them effectively; manage driver-performance actively, and leverage technology to enhance safety programs.

Traditional safety metrics are lagging, not leading indicators, he noted. Rather, he said Effectiveness flows from the ability to identify and proactively manage those leading indicators, and technology can definitely help to get the job done.

“Technology enables visibility to driver behavior,” Osterberg said. “In the past, it was a crash that raised our awareness of an aggressive driver. Now we can [use driver performance monitoring technology to help us] detect indicators of problematic behavior to enable interventions to remediate the behavior preemptively.”

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Planned hiring is in line with 2011 hiring, which exceeded internal expectations by 74 percent over 2010 due to industry demand. “We’re pleased to continue this positive hiring trend at our North American operations in 2012,” says Ken Hurley, senior vice president of human resources for Penske Truck Leasing. “We look forward to adding new associates to our talented diverse team.”

Penske Truck Leasing and Penske Logistics anticipate finding qualified candidates for the following positions: vehicle maintenance supervisors, technicians, customer service, sales, drivers and logistics and supply chain positions. Penske plans to promote open positions through various online hiring and social media sites, career fairs at diesel technical/trade schools and colleges and universities, diversity career fairs and military job fairs.

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For a complete solution, customers can choose the Kenworth NavPlus system. For those that don’t want all the bells and whistles of the NavPlus, factory-installed radios are now Bluetooth capable, Kenworth said.

“While Kenworth NavPlus is the ultimate do-all, hands-free cell phone system married to true-truck navigation, iPod and MP3 integration, diagnostics, gauges and a host of other features, some drivers just want basic Bluetooth capability, and that’s what we now offer with our two high-quality radios,” said Michelle Harry, Kenworth’s special projects marketing manager.

The factory-installed AM/FM/CD radios are available with or without satellite radio capability. A small Bluetooth microphone is mounted in the A-pillar trim above the driver. Up to eight cell phones can be synchronized to the radios and contacts can be automatically loaded, the company said. A contact screen makes calling easy while parked, but drivers can also take advantage of voice command mode to make calls while on the move.

When incoming calls are received, the radio displays the name of the caller and phone number. Pushing the OK button accepts the call, while the ESC button rejects the call.

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Section 111 of the new law, for instance, requires the Health and Human Services secretary to “promulgate regulations onsanitary transportation practices for the transportationof food,” and also requires theFDA (Food and Drug Administration) “to conduct a study on the transportation of food, including the unique needs of rural and frontier areas.”

Section 204 requires the Health and Human Services secretary to “improve tracking and tracing of processed foods and fruits and vegetables that are raw agricultural commodities in the event of a food-borne illness outbreak; and establish standards for the type of information, format, and time frame for persons to submit records to aid the secretary in such tracking and tracing.”

The Food Safety Modernization Act is, by no means, the first and only move to help assure that food remains safe to eat from farm to the fork. Shippers of some cargo, like perishable food and pharmaceuticals, have been asking fleets to step up and assume additional responsibility for the integrity and safety of their cargo for some time.

They are and have been requiring carriers to deploy technology to help assure the integrity and safety of their goods and, in the case of temperature-controlled food for instance, also help to reduce spoilage and loss. The shippers’ customers’ in this case are the ones holding the whip handle, according to Dr. John Ryan, president of Ryan Systems. Ryan has spent over 25 years implementing high-technology quality control systems and is credited with piloting the first farm-to-fork, Internet-enabled food traceability system using sensors and RFID technology to help get the job done.

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Transport companies nationwide are feeling the pressure to streamline operations. Transporters face diesel fuel prices that have the potential to reach $4 to $5 per gallon in the near future, and are further strained as they navigate the changing landscape of government regulations.

Add to this the steady growth in customer demand for greener transport solutions, and transporters must find ways to extend shelf life, reduce fuel consumption, decrease maintenance costs and differentiate through strategic capital investments in order to remain competitive.

The potential savings of a greener fleet aren’t limited to transporters, however. Businesses everywhere are feeling the economic pinch and are looking for ways to operate more efficiently.

From acquiring raw materials to shipping goods to market, transportation costs can have a significant impact on the bottom line and environmental impact of any business.

Consumer pressure is also a factor. Customers are increasingly aware of the environmental impacts of the products they buy, further driving businesses to invest in sustainable processes, including the supply chain.
Thermo King, a business of Ingersoll Rand, said it develops innovative transport solutions and that it meets this growing demand for efficient transport temperature control systems. With more than 70 years of experience, the company said it has implemented solutions for a wide variety of customers, including Edible Arrangements and C.R. England.

According to Thermo King, a greener fleet includes improvements in the following areas:
• Fuel Usage
• Idling Time
• CARB Compliance
• Emissions
• Noise
• Maintenance

For a complete list of improvements, visit www.thermoking.com.

As demand continues to grow from businesses seeking new ways to achieve improved efficiency, 2012 will see more companies allocating budgets to make improvements like those suggested here to their fleet vehicles and supply chains.

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“While the rate of theft continues to rise, we are pleased to see the average value per incident begin to decline,” says Barry Conlon, chief executive officer of FreightWatch. “This shows that shippers and the industry as a whole is beginning to secure their high-value cargo more effectively, forcing criminals to target less valuable loads.”

According to FreightWatch, the most commonly targeted product types in 2011 were food and beverage products, electronics and building materials. Specific items most targeted by criminals – largely due to their ease of movement on the black market – include televisions, canned food product, cell phone, energy drinks and roofing materials.

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LTL carrier Saia, for one, is stepping up efforts to comb the ranks of its dockworkers to find employees with the right safety mindset and work ethic to help pilot its fleet of 2,475 city and 1,820 linehaul tractor-trailers.

“We’re looking to significantly expand our internal recruiting efforts in 2012,” explained Marty Ready, Saia’s vp-human resources, in an interview with Fleet Owner. “There’s a great demand for drivers in this industry, but the advantage we see in recruiting from within is that we know the work ethic and mindset of those employees already.”

Ready said that workers displaying the right safe operating skills when using yard tractors to “hustle” trailers between dock locations are encouraged to attend local truck driving schools, and upon successfully obtaining their commercial drivers license (CDL) get “finishing training” from Saia’s veteran drivers.

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Myth No. 1 was described as under-engineering a truck can save money on fuel. The translation, observed Wilson, is buying the cheapest possible truck. But that is not at all the way to go, said Mark Stumne, truck engineer for GECFS.

“The idea is not to go for the lowest-powered engine—which won’t save fuel if it is constantly run up against the governor— but to first match your truck specs to the business need that must be met by the vehicle,” he explained. “From there, the fleet can shop those specs around for the best price. The right truck specs will save on fuel, maintenance and downtime; will reduce driver turnover; and yield better remarketing results later.”

Collin Reid, GECFS strategic consultant, added that “under-spec’ing the truck will come out in higher maintenance costs, especially for brakes, and fuel economy will suffer as will driver productivity” from giving them less truck than they need for the job.

Myth No. 2 is that trucks are not impacted by small changes in payload (after they are spec’d, built and delivered). “Payload changes can potentially overload a vehicle or greatly affect the weight distribution of the truck/body package,” stated Tim Craft, president of TiNik Inc., which supplies truck/van-related equipment to both fleets and OEMs. “Changes in payload and equipment added to handle it may also interfere with existing upfits on the body.” He noted a common problem area in the vehicle-ordering process is when a fleet wants to switch from dual to single rear axles, “when that’s done, something has to give on weight.”

According to Stumne, it’s important to bear in mind that the new emissions technology mounted on trucks has severely limited the “real estate” on the frame rails for adding equipment on vocational trucks. “PTO clearances have been limited,” he noted. “And all these things—DEF tanks, etc.—have added weight.” He recommended that once a fleet has modified a spec, that they do a load study of the weight—especially on the front axles—before proceeding.

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