Transport Topics

GXO Logistics announced it is deploying 6 River Systems collaborative robots, also known as cobots, on multiple mezzanine floors in one of its distribution centers in England. GXO said it collaborated with 6RS to develop and test new features on the cobots, which can automatically travel from one location to another carrying picked items, reducing employees’ walk time and helping them pick items from inventory more efficiently. At another GXO location, cobots have improved picking accuracy of products in warehouses by 40% and reduced new employee training time by 80% since the units have been deployed. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Legislation targeting staged vehicle collisions and fraudulent claims affecting the motor carrier industry has been introduced in the House of Representatives. Representatives Henry Cuellar of Texas and Garret Graves of Louisiana unveiled the Highway Accident Fairness Act of 2021. Their legislation aims to further ensure legitimate claims are pursued fairly and promptly for victims involved in highway accidents. It also would seek to enhance transparency in the litigation process, and increase certain protections for motor carriers and insurers dealing with fraudulent claims resulting from staged collisions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Central Freight Lines is ceasing operations after nearly a century in business. The Waco, Texas-based less-than-truckload carrier notified drivers, employees and customers that it would start to wind down operations Dec. 13, meaning 2,100 employees will be laid off right before Christmas. CFL President Bruce Kalem cited years of operating losses for shuttering the operation, according to reports. CFL currently ranks number 98 on the Transport Topics Top 100 list of for-hire carriers in North America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last week, Daimler Truck began trading as an independent company on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange under the stock symbol DTG, marking a new era following its spinoff from Daimler AG. Shares, traded in euros, opened at the equivalent of $31.57. The truck maker in a release called its new status unrestricted entrepreneurial independence and probably the most important milestone in its 125-year history. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

November was not a good month for Class 8 orders. According to ACT Research, orders plunged to 9,800, a 26-year low. Last year, in the month of November there were 52,104 orders. The truck order number encompasses all North American orders. It’s the lowest November total since 1995 when orders only reached 7,923. Class 8 order backlogs extend deep into 2022, nearing 281,000 units, and the backlog-to-build ratio was 14.6 months. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The flow of freight between the United States and Canada could be slowed beginning in January, as both countries’ governments have laid out vaccine mandates for truck drivers. According to the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, all foreign national travelers seeking to enter the U.S. by land — whether for essential or nonessential reasons — must be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and provide proof of vaccination. In Canada the rule states that certain groups of travelers — among them essential providers including truck drivers, who are currently exempt from COVID-19 entry requirements — will be allowed to enter Canada only if they have been fully vaccinated with an approved vaccine. Implementation by both countries will start in January. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

A federal judge in Georgia has blocked the Biden administration’s nationwide mandate for federal contractors’ employees to be vaccinated amid a slew of challenges from states that say the president overstepped his authority in requiring the COVID-19 shots. The mandate, which was to have taken effect Jan. 4, applies to roughly a quarter of the U.S. workforce and would have affected companies that do business with the federal government, including Lockheed Martin Corp., Microsoft Corp., Alphabet Inc.‘s Google and General Motors Co. The case is similar to an emergency regulation from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration that orders private-sector companies with 100 employees or more to require vaccinations of their employees. The Sixth Circuit Court is poised to consider the consolidated challenges to the OSHA rule. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Missed deliveries and driver dissatisfaction are among the headaches fleets endure when the trucks hit the loading docks. In a time when supply chain issues have reached critical mass, trucking and warehouse companies, as well as dock equipment managers, have been searching for solutions for better efficiency. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the company’s electric pickup truck, Cybertruck, will be able to drive diagonally. That’s because it will have independent steering of the front and back wheels thanks to a four-motor variant. He reiterated his description of the vehicle as an “insane technology bandwagon.” Musk’s comments came on Twitter in response to comments and questions posted by other users. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ocean freight rates on goods shipped to both U.S. coasts from Asia fell to the lowest levels since July, reflecting an easing of supply strains. The spot rate for a 40-foot container from Shanghai to Los Angeles sank 3.8% over the past week to $9,698, according to the Drewry World Container Index. From Shanghai to New York, the price dropped 4.9% to $12,582. Both are still around five times higher than they were before the pandemic in January 2020. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration extended regulatory waivers related to truck drivers’ allowable work time. The waiver for property-carrying vehicles was extended through Feb. 28. The FMCSA explained, “Although the number of COVID-19 cases began to decline in the U.S. following widespread introduction of vaccinations, persistent issues arising out of COVID-19 continue to affect the U.S., including impacts on supply chains and the need to ensure capacity to respond to variants and potential rises in infections.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Federal officials, Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan and other stakeholders gathered yesterday for the groundbreaking ceremony for construction on the Howard Street Tunnel in Baltimore. The 126-year-old, 1.7-mile tunnel is a major pain-point for cargo movement in and out of the Port of Baltimore. The $500 million project will significantly expand intermodal freight traffic in and out of the expanding port along with the East Coast CSX rail network. The expansion also will revamp the tunnel, add capacity at three Baltimore bridges and improve access at 19 other locations on the heavily traveled stretch of tracks between Baltimore and Philadelphia, allowing additional room for trains with double-stacked containers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

President Joe Biden met yesterday with CEOs of some of the nation’s largest retailers, including Walmart and CVS, to discuss holiday supply chain concerns. Biden pointed to improvements in backups at ports, saying that his administration’s work has contributed to a 40% decrease in the number of containers sitting at docks for eight days or longer. Walmart’s CEO, Doug McMillon, offered some reassurances and said, “While we’re all concerned about the supply chain, we have more inventory than we did a year ago and have the inventory that we need to be able to support the business.” The meeting comes amid worries over the continued effects of the COVID pandemic on the economy as the holiday shopping season is in full swing. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker has stepped away from his administration’s plan to create a coalition of New England states with the purpose of cutting transportation pollution after the compact failed to generate broad support. Baker’s announcement came after Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, who supported the initiative, indicated he was abandoning the Transportation and Climate Initiative. Rhode Island was the only other state to have expressed interest in the deal. The governors of other states — New Hampshire, Maine and Vermont — were skeptical of the program, in part over fears that it amounts to a gas tax or a tax on carbon. The proposal would have required large gasoline and diesel fuel suppliers to purchase “allowances’’ for the pollution caused by the use of the fuels they sell in the region. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The ATA For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index rose to 113 last month, a 1.8% increase compared with October 2020 and a 0.4% improvement compared with the 112.6 result from September 2021. It’s the strongest year-over-year gain since just before summer and comes from early spending in anticipation of a busy holiday shopping season. For the three-month period, tonnage has increased a combined 2.9%. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For the first time in over 2 months the national average price for diesel dropped, by 1 cent per gallon, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration. The drop comes after months of elevated prices and concerns over gasoline and diesel supplies. The national average price now sits at $3.724, with the average price in California coming in over a dollar higher per gallon at $4.784. The year-over-year difference in diesel price nationally is $1.262 higher. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Democrats pushed their expansive social and environment bill through a sharply divided House of Representatives on Nov. 19, advancing the measure on a 220-213 vote. The nearly $2 trillion bill paves the way for the adoption of alternative fuel technology and severe weather resilience for mobility corridors and structures, such as bridges and tunnels. The legislation now goes to the Senate, where cost-cutting demands by moderates and that chamber’s more stringent rules are likely to force significant changes. Initiatives in the measure include bolstering child care assistance, creating free preschool, curbing seniors’ prescription drug costs and increasing efforts to slow climate change. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Experts are warning that shipment delays will most likely extend well into 2022 due to the continued strain on the country’s supply chain. GXO Logistics Chief Investment Officer Mark Manduca is bracing for an extended holiday season, with the peak shipping period averaging six or seven weeks instead of the usual two or three. According to C.H. Robinson data, retail sales in the U.S. usually increase about 4% a year; this year they are projecting it will be up 10.5%. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Waymo, a self-driving truck technology developer, announced it expanded its partnership with UPS Inc. to include autonomous freight movement with Class 8 vehicles. “For these trial runs, our Class 8 trucks will have two autonomous specialists — one driver with a CDL and one software technician — on board to monitor operations,” said a Waymo spokesperson.The trial runs will take place between UPS facilities in Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston, a distance of about 240 miles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ocean freight rates, which have pummeled retailers and manufacturers throughout 2021, may take more than two years to return to normal levels, according to an analysis from Sea-Intelligence, a Copenhagen-based maritime data and advisory company. Applying the 0.9% drop seen during the global financial crisis of 2008, Sea-Intelligence CEO Alan Murphy said, “It would take 18 months to get back to ‘normal.’” According to Murphy, if you look back the last two decades, the average recovery time could mean rates wouldn’t be normalized for 26 months. Transpacific rates, where demand is the strongest, are sitting almost 300% higher than a year ago. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices