HDT Talks Trucking

Meet the newest member of HDT’s editorial team, managing editor, Vesna Brajkovic. Managing editors are to magazines what operations managers are to truck fleets. They tend to the day-to-day details of running a magazine and a website and are responsible for keeping everything on the rails. On this episode of HDT Talks Trucking, Vesna talks about what she has learned about trucking since she starte...

Truckstops and trucking are very much dependent on one another, yet the relationship isn’t always mutually beneficial. Whether it’s fuel prices, restaurant prices or the debate over paid parking, trucking and truckstops don’t always see eye to eye. In this episode of HDT Talks Trucking, truckstop business consultant, Don Baglien -- aka That Truckstop Guy -- pulls back the curtain and shares what i...

With medium- and heavy-duty truck electrification, we’re seeing a unique alignment of traditional truck manufacturers, tier-1 suppliers and start-up companies simultaneously competing and collaborating. We have companies that started building electric trucks in their garages now developing trucks for the parcel delivery market. We have two tier 1 suppliers going from axle, brake and driveline supp...

While the basic principles of Ohm’s Law haven’t changed, the architecture of a truck’s electrical system certainly has. Are fleets doing enough to keep their technicians ahead of the rapidly steepening technology adoption curve? Our guest on this episode of HDT Talks Trucking is Larry Rambeaux, a sales application engineer at Purkeys Fleet Electric in Rogers, Arkansas. He worries truck fleets coul...

Cruising down the highway at 900 rpm takes a bit of getting used to. Some drivers don’t like the way the truck feels, while others can’t get used to the way it sounds. And there are some drivers who  don’t quite understand the relationship between engine torque and engine speed. There are proven fuel economy benefits to downsped engines, but drivers who drive those trucks the old-fashioned wa...

It’s going to take a lot more than better aerodynamics and low-rolling resistance tires to meet the EPA’s next round of emissions reductions for heavy trucks. Trucks from model-year 2021 are included in the rulemaking. All the OEMs met those requirements handily, and vehicle owners hardly noticed. That probably won’t be the case in 2024 and we will certainly notice the changes needed to meet the 2...

Volvo Trucks has committed to decarbonizing its share of the road transport system by 2050 using hydrogen fuel cells alongside battery-electric vehicles and biofuel- or possibly hydrogen-powered internal combustion engines. The Volvo group sees battery-electric and fuel-cell-electric trucks as complementary rather than competitive, depending on the individual customer use case. Volvo believes batt...

The market for battery- or fuel-cell-electric trucks is still in its infancy. It could be another 10-15 years before production and deployment numbers achieve a critical mass where scale begins to provide significant cost reductions. In the meantime, subsidies and incentives will keep the industry moving forward while the electrical infrastructure is built out and new efficiencies are realized in...

The most recent update to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Hours of Service regulations went live September 29, 2020. They were two years in the making, and the changes came only after years of drivers asking for a bit more flexibility in how they manage their time. Did FMCSA get it right this time? To answer that question, we have Jerad Childress of Childress Law PLLC and Truck S...

Trucking's response to a crisis often tends to be reactive and defensive. That can leave a carrier on its back-foot when trying to defend a claim in court. It's not that we're not good at defending ourselves, it's that plaintiff's attorneys are better; they are often better organized and prepared, and they are better funded. Can trucking level that playing field and start fighting back? Brendan Da...

Autonomous truck teaching and testing is in full swing now, with close to a dozen companies in the game right now. One company, Locomation, says it can commercialize the technology faster by letting human drivers do some of the heavy lifting, while smoothing out the learning curve for the AI system. This, according to Locomation's co-founder and CEO, Dr. Çetin Meriçli, will more quickly transition...

Aftertreatment systems remain the source of much confusion and frustration for fleets and drivers alike. In this episode we discuss some of the problems that arise from lack of maintenance and a general lack of understanding of how the systems function. Our guests bring nearly three decades of combined experience cleaning and servicing aftertreatment systems. Steve Hoke, president, of Diesel Emiss...

Season 6 of HDT Talks Trucking digs into bunch of hot-button issues, from aftertreatment system maintenance -- a perennial headache for fleets, to managing litigation costs resulting from accidents. We also have a fresh look at the burgeoning electric truck market. How soon will battery-powered trucks hit the mainstream? Automated trucks and Hours of Service are on deck too. We talk with an AI dev...

HDT Talks Trucking Special Report: Self-driving trucks will obviously displace some drivers. The question everyone is asking is how many and when. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's new deputy administrator and current acting administrator, Meera Joshi, said in mid-March, "If it’s your livelihood that seems like it’s being threatened, it is an immediate problem." But realistically,...

From the latest in data intelligence to effectively using data to improve safety and operations, Dr. Ashim Bose, Omnitracs' chief data and AI officer, discusses how fleets can overcome the challenge of managing vast amounts of data and begin putting that data to work. This is part 1 of our three-episode conversation with Omnitracs. This episode was produced in partnership with Omnitracs – discover...

Data is the key to profitability. Omnitracs' chief data and AI officer, Dr. Ashim Bose, focuses on how operational data can improve efficiency and productivity. He also explains how smaller fleets can use data and advanced analytics to improve their efficiency and productivity, too. This is part 3 of our three-episode conversation with Omnitracs. This episode was produced in partnership with Omnit...

Data flows by the gigabyte from trucks today. Much of that data can help make your drivers safer and keep your drivers safe. From fatigue warnings and traffic alerts to weather and even Covid-19 hot-spot alerts, Omnitracs' chief data and AI officer, Ashim Bose, discusses how fleets can benefit from this treasure trove of data. This is part 2 of our three-episode conversation with Omnitracs. This e...

We assembled the editorial team for a look back at 2020 and a look ahead at 2021. Deborah Lockridge, David Cullen, Jack Roberts, and I offer our reflections on the year just passed and the year ahead through a trucking lens -- what will this industry see from the Biden administration? How much of our long wish list will be fulfilled this year or over the next four years? Will we see more emissions...

Running a fleet's Human Resources and Safety & Compliance departments would be challenging at any point in time, but more so through a pandemic. Adam Lang, chief risk officer for Halvor Lines of Superior, Wisconsin, came to trucking just eight years ago, but he has made quite an impression in that short time, including being named HDT's Safety & Compliance Award winner for 2020. We spoke w...

We're facing what some have called a crisis with insurance costs right now. Premiums continue to escalate in lock step claims costs, from medical expenses to vehicle repair costs. The so-called nuclear verdicts are a factor too. Many insurance companies have exited the market, so those that remain can be very selective about the risk they take on. For a better understanding of the state of the ins...

The world is electronic now, which means there are doorways into our lives and our business that we'd prefer stayed closed. But as the recent Russian hack of the U.S. government shows, we can't always keep the bad guys out. Big fleets have the resources to protect themselves and can hire the expertise they need. Small fleets may not even see themselves as targets, and that leads to a denial of the...

Chuck Blake and Bob Wessels hardly need an introduction, but for the record, Chuck was Detroit Diesel's senior technical support manager when he retired in 2018, and Bob was the assistant chief engineer and a project manager at Caterpillar when he retired in 2006. Together, they charted new territory in fuel economy testing and validation. Under the auspices of the ATA's Technology and Maintenance...

Season 5 of HDT Talks Trucking delves into a couple of current industry concerns, insurance costs and cybersecurity. Andrew Ladebauche and Brian Runnels of Reliance Partners shed some light on why truck insurance is so pricey. Kevin Linardic, the Chief Technology Officer at Carrier Logistics Incorporated talks about the need to lock down your data. HDT's editorial team, Deb Lockridge, David Cullen...

HDT Talks Trucking Special Report: Smart Trailers Smart Trailers are upending how truck fleets do business. These formerly brainless boxes are now providing insights and intelligence to fleets that help improve efficiency and productivity while making fleets proactive rather than reactive. Paul Menig of Business Accelerants discusses where this technology can take us, and what we'll need to do to...

HDT Talks Trucking Special Report: Hydrogen Fuel Cells. Hydrogen fuel cells' place in the heavy-duty trucking market is not well understood. Many see fuel cells and batteries as competitors. Loop Energy's Ben Nyland sees them as complimentary rather than competitive. Loop Energy is a new name to North American ears, but the company has been developing its fuel cell technology for the past two deca...