RoadSigns A Transport Topics Podcast

How will the emergence of automated steering capabilities in trucking change on-road safety? The introduction of active steering features in commercial trucks represents the next evolutionary stage for the onboard safety and collision mitigation systems available on the market today. However, how will this affect the driver experience? Will steering features such as lane-keeping assist begin to re...

Truck platooning has long been discussed in conversations about the industry’s future, but what will it take to make this technology a reality on the nation’s highways? Not only does this emerging technology enable paired trucks to brake and accelerate in unison to save fuel, but could also increase driver productivity. The concept has been pursued by various tech start-ups, truck manufactures, ma...

They say if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. So, what if you could plan maintenance and parts replacement on need, rather than standard service intervals? The cost benefits are invaluable. Equipment maintenance has a large part of the bottom line of trucking efficiency. Host Seth Clevenger begs the question, what if you could forecast when a component will fail? To help answer these questions, two te...

Sophisticated fleets have already taken advantage of the low hanging fruit - sideskirts, trailer tails, and OEMs have made their tractors more streamlined. So, our host wonders, what's left? How much more is possible? Can trucking businesses still make lemonade by adopting new practices? Or is this field just out of juice? For more information visit: https://roadsigns.ttnews.com/episodes/how-much-...

The perpetual drive to improve fuel efficiency will only continue as fleets look to improve their bottom lines and GHG emission and fuel economy standards tighten. So, host Seth Clevenger wonders, what are fleets and tech vendors doing to find further improvements in fuel economy? For more information visit: https://roadsigns.ttnews.com/episodes/how-can-trucking-take-fuel-economy-to-the-next-level...

Did you ever wonder what might happen if your back-office decision makers had time to strategize and think, rather than be weighed down by menial tasks? Could the digital brain help support your real human brains? And could they do so in cost-effective ways? In this episode of RoadSigns, host Seth Clevenger takes a look at the way an entirely new technology changes trucking’s and freight transport...

Have you thought about technology as a gateway to… more technology? Take the oft-considered Electronic Logging Device (ELD) technology as an example. What was a technology meant to track hours of service may now be a gateway into new forms of fleet management. In fact, several new ELD vendors (at least the successful ones) are expanding their products to deliver new fleet management features beyon...

It’s time to trade in your old tech for new. Oh… and you have less than a year to complete the journey. Every business manager knows that, when you have institutionalized an operational technology, moving to a new system can feel like an impossible task. And the stakes increase when outside forces put a time constraint on that change. Some of the trucking's most forward-thinking managers provide a...

Right now, in the ports of Southern California, product planning, purchasing, and regulatory forces are coming together to lay the groundwork for first real electric ecosystem. Grants and incentives make EV technology attractive for both new truck manufacturers and buyers. So, host Dan Ronan wonders, could what’s happening at the ports of Southern California have consequences for the way the rest...

In terms of raw numbers, the November 2018 election brought the highest level of voter involvement in a non-presidential election in our nation’s history, but, host Dan Ronan wonders, what will it mean for trucking's future? Is this the time where President Trump, who calls himself a dealmaker, is able to sit down with his opponents in Congress and negotiate a grand deal to begin the long process...

“Hello, Johnny? It’s your load bot texting…” Manual processes, like phone calls and back and forth negotiations, are a kind of life blood of the commercial freight. Imagining business without them is… difficult. The relationship between the carrier and the shipper is still very human. And, yet, new technologies are at the doorstep promising to change that traditional system, improve freight effici...

Have you and your colleagues jumped onto the blockchain bandwagon? Business experts suggest that these shared digital ledgers could lead to much greater transparency, efficiency, and trust in the supply chain. Understandably, many trucking and logistics industry leaders are rushing to learn more. And, it seems, blockchain is not a matter of if but when… But, Transport Topics Managing Editor of Fea...

Imagining battery-powered trucking seems easier these days. Cool, sleek semis seem to be all over the trucking news and, even, dotting the popular press. But what about real business? Are electric vehicles REALLY poised to break through in commercial transportation? Other alternative fuels have held similar promises: to cut fuel costs, eliminate emissions, and find parity with diesel. So, Transpor...

Have you ever wondered HOW we will deploy automation in the trucking industry? Certainly, truck manufacturers, industry suppliers and technology firms are all placing their bets on what the automated future will look like. The emerging legal and regulatory framework that supports the system will clearly impact that picture further. Seth Clevenger, Managing Editor of Features at Transport Topics, c...

In this episode, we set out to answer a question - what does the move toward autonomy mean for the truck driver? To get that answer, Transport Topics Managing Editor of features, Seth Clevenger, approaches two people at the forefront of developing this technology who are responsible for driving this movement despite representing two very different paradigms: one, the OEM engineer; the other, the S...