Trending Topics
News
Context: Understanding electric trucks
Electric trucks seem to be all the rage today, just as natural gas was to be the industry's salvation just a few years back. There's not much excitement in natural gas today, though it remains a viable alternative fuel. Electric trucks, on the other hand, are just beginning their climb to prominence. Interest in electric trucks peaked in November with the world's first look at Tesla's Electric Semi. Whether Tesla can carry the torch for battery-powered heavy trucks remains to be seen, but Elon Musk isn't only player in the market. Transpower's electric Class 8 tractor uses a conventional drivetrain, but with a 400-horsepower electric motor. It has a range of up to 160 kilometers at full load. I drove a fully electric plug-in Transpower USA Class 8 tractor back in 2015. That truck had been in field tests at the port of Long Beach, California, for two years prior to that. The company made headlines recently announcing a partnership with Meritor that will make its technology commercially available in the spring of this year.
Do you know Canada’s top driver or O/O?
TORONTO, ON – The search is on for Today’s Trucking’s 2018 Highway Star of the Year – the honor reserved for Canada’s top driver or owner-operator. Nominations are now open for the award, which will be presented during the Truck World trade show that runs April 19-21 in Toronto. And there’s more than bragging rights at stake with more than $15,000 in cash and prizes.
Daseke names new president
ADDISON, TX – Daseke -- North America’s largest flatbed and specialized transportation carrier -- has appointed Chief Financial Officer Scott Wheeler as its new president. He also remains Chief Financial Officer and assumes the role from founder Don Daseke, who continues to serve as Chief Executive Officer and chairman.
Lack of parking affects driver health; survey needs respondents
TORONTO, ON – A lack of truck parking in Southern Ontario is affecting driver health according to the preliminary results of a survey on the issue. More than 1,000 drivers have responded to the survey on truck parking being conducted for the Ontario Ministry of Transportation to asses the needs of drivers, but the survey's adminstrator Ted Harvey is hoping for 2,000 more to answer questions before the Feb. 28 deadline.
VersaCold opens new Milton distribution center
MILTON, ON – It’s freezing in VersaCold’s new distribution center in Milton, Ontario. Below freezing, actually, and that’s a good thing. Officially opened on January 11, the structure shares little in common with the Sobey’s warehouse that once called it home. It has been transformed into a fully temperature-controlled environment, with individual zones chilled to temperatures between 4 and -30 Celsius. Investments have been made in generators, boilers, and refrigeration panels alike. Concrete floors have been raised and re-poured in 11 seamless sections. The underlying technology used to move pallets of frozen foodstuff has all been upgraded, even to the point of including voice-activated equipment.
Creative solutions may be needed for capacity market: FTR
BLOOMINGTON, IN – FTR Intelligence is predicting the strong start for trucking in 2018 will continue, leaving fleets to get creative when solving the problems created by a market already at capacity. Avery Vise, vice president trucking research, says although fuel rates leveled in the first week of the new year, they aren’t expected to drop dramatically in the near future, contributing to record-level spot rates and rising contract rates he expects will peak and then fall sometime in late 2018 or early 2019, but will still remain high. The reefer market was also up in the first week of 2018, with a polar vortex creating an increased need for temperature-controlled transport to keep products from freezing.