Battery Power – More, Better, Faster

by | Dec 12, 2019 | Fleet Management, Announcements-News, Electric Vehicles

Battery power is always in the back of our minds.

rechargeable cordless drillIn the Telematics industry, our clients communicate throughout the workday on smartphones. Also, many run apps on phones or tablets. We use portable devices to manage work orders, complete electronic forms, report issues, receive locations and update routes. Similarly other apps capture signatures, record work completed, and document damaged freight. Furthermore, field technicians use an array of battery-powered tools to get their work done. As a result, if we run out of battery power it all comes to a screeching halt.

More EV’s = More Battery Power

Now add to this the increased use of Electric Vehicles. Seems like we are becoming more and more dependent upon battery power. That raises another big concern. As the rate we are consuming battery power increases, there is a very real risk of a battery disposal crisis in our future. Is all this battery use going to be sustainable?

Improving Battery Technology

Improving battery technology is high on the list of hot tech issues to address. Environmentally friendly batteries that charge faster and last longer will head off the potential crisis. So what is being done about it? Here are some of the encouraging projects I found.

Saft Research Director Patrick Bernard recently shared 3 new technologies being considered.

NEW GENERATION LITHIUM-ION

These batteries use different active materials to increase both energy and power. They will have very long life cycles, typically charging/discharging thousands of cycles.

LITHIUM-SULFUR

This battery has a different type of internal structure. It uses sulfur in the positive electrode and lithium in the negative electrode. As it discharges, chemical changes occur inside the battery. The reverse occurs during the charging cycle.

SOLID-STATE

Solid-state batteries use a solid compound rather than liquid electrolyte. This will make the batteries safer. The solid electrolytes are not flammable. This technology promises higher voltages, and batteries that are denser, lighter, and last longer on the shelf. These may become the future battery of choice for Electric vehicles.

Electric Car Lithium Battery Pack And Power ConnectionsOther Technologies Being Researched

Gold Nanowire Batteries are under development at UC Irvine. Researchers claim they can be recharged over 200,000 times with no material deterioration. Ultimately, this may result in a battery that lasts “forever.

Extreme Fast Charging or XFC charges batteries faster by charging them at higher temperatures. Using this method they say a 10-minute charge will add 200 miles of range on an EV battery.

Wireless Charging

Another research team reports initial success with an antenna that collects AC power from WiFi in the air and converts it to DC. It is being developed for use with battery powered medical devices. Instead of future surgeries to replace a batteries, the battery charges pretty much all the time.

Yet another startup is developing semiconductors made from organic materials. They are talking about 60-second cell phone charging and 5 minute EV charging if their research proves successful. Similarly a unique and promising technology under development uses ultrasound to wirelessly transmit electricity to a small receiver to recharge a device.

There are also preliminary reports of batteries made of foam and foldable materials, but the one that seems to be getting attention is the technology announced this past April by Nikola Corp. They plan to release details at their Nikola World 2020 conference next fall. They say they have a game-changing new technology that is more environmentally friendly than conventional lithium-ion and could double the range of passenger EVs.

One thing is certain. It will be very interesting to see what batteries look like 5 years from now.

Garmin Remote Worker Navigation, Messaging & SOS

by | Dec 9, 2019 | Risk and Safety

Garmin Remote Worker

Garmin’s Remote Worker Solution, the Explorer, provides an affordable tracking and communication device. The Explorer is an adaptation developed from Garmin’s recent acquisition of InReach. Garmin has taken the device and made it better. The Explorer provides some great features for workers in remote areas which are navigating off the beaten road and need a safety and communication tool using satellite communication instead of cellular. Read more.

Garmin Remote Worker Device GIF

Top 10 Most Common Unsafe Driving Violations

by | Dec 6, 2019 | FMCSA-ELD-DVIR, Fleet Management

J.J. Keller’s List of Unsafe Driving Violations

Let’s talk about safety. J. J. Keller notes the Top 10 CSA unsafe driving violations. The FMCSA is an organization of authority in the industry. Paying attention to these scores is essential to operations.

 

No. 1: Speeding

Speeding violations range in severity from 1-10 dependent on speed and location. Speeding 1 encompasses speeding 1-5 mph above posted speed limit. Levels 2 and 3 are reserved for speeds 6-10 mph and 11-14 mph, respectively. Level 10 severity speeding violations include speeds 15 mph in excess of posted speed limit, and any speeding in construction zones. All of these speeding violations will affect your driver’s CSA score. Keep an eye out for excessive speed behaviors to protect your business!

 

No. 2: Failing to use a seat belt

This violation is an automatic level 7 for severity. Such a simple, life saving device, yet 2009 racked up over 70,000 of these violations. Failure to wear a seat belt not only affects your driver CSA score, but risks lives in the process.

 

No. 3: Failing to obey a traffic control device

We’re looking at a level 5 offense here. Failure to obey a traffic control device is a general category encompassing running stop signs, red lights, passing in a no-passing zone, and all other ignorance to road signage.

How can you avoid these violations? Simple. Make sure your drivers know the rules of the road and maintain awareness. This means limiting fatigued drivers, in addition to continuing education courses.

 

No. 4: Following too close

Categorized within “dangerous driving” this level 5 offense can be a deadly offense, and the CSA looks at it that way too. According to the FMCSA, “If you are driving below 40 mph, you should leave at least one second for every 10 feet of vehicle length… For speeds over 40 mph, you should leave one additional second”.

Watch: Dangers of Following too Closely

 

No. 5: Improper lane change

This is an automatic level 5 offense. An improper lane change is when a person changes or attempts to change lanes without an open and clear path. Essentially, it’s cutting someone off.

It’s very difficult to receive a citation for this because it requires one of two things. Either an officer has to witness to the improper lane change, or an accident resulting from the lane change with witnesses. Even with this being the case, there were still over 11,000 citations in 2009.

 

No. 6: Using/equipping a CMV with a radar detector

This level 5 offense is considered highly illegal. This is primarily because it endangers other drivers on the road. Not only is speeding dangerous overall, but speeding in a CMV can be especially dangerous because of the size of the vehicle, or the cargo. In particular, semi-truck tires are not rated for speeds above 75 mph, which means speed can lead to a dangerous blowout.

Using radar detectors is a practice that enables speeding in locations not currently under monitor.

 

No. 7: Failure to yield right of way

Failure to yield the right of way is a level 5 offense. It is considering a dangerous driving offense, and also negatively affects your driver’s CSA score. This includes intersections, multi-way stops, pedestrians, and other traffic signage. Violations can be a result of ignorance or confusion, but either way you can control violations to the law through driver education and coaching.

Unnecessarily yielding right of way can be just as dangerous, because it is often the cause of confusion.

 

No. 8: Improper turns

Improper turns are categorized under level 5 severity. This violation includes failing to make a complete stop before a right on red, improper distance from roadside when performing a turn, not utilizing turn signals, and improperly executed u-turns. Behaviors resulting in an improper turn violation also result in an impact on driver CSA score.

 

No. 9: Improper passing

Improper passing can be very unsafe. It includes endangering other vehicles while passing, blind passing at the tops of hills or around curves, and passing on the right. These behaviors result in high-speed, deadly accidents. As such, the severity level is 5, and it will absolutely impact driver CSA score.

This violation can also be issued when passing in a passing lane, or illegally crossing designated lane boundaries to pass another vehicle. In the case of most CMVs, size generally prohibits these behaviors.

 

No. 10: Reckless driving

Reckless driving is a major moving traffic violation. It ranks a level 10 on the severity index, and can result in the revocation of a license or jail time. It includes driving 25 mph over the speed limit, street racing, eluding a police officer, and even passing when visibility is limited.

Clearly, this would impact CSA score, but beyond that, it can severely damage your company’s reputation. When a potential customer sees your company vehicle weaving between lanes of traffic, they lose trust in your professional image.

 

Avoiding unsafe driving violations

The easiest way to avoid unsafe driving violations is to educate your drivers. Knowing the rules of the road can really make an impact on your driver CSA score. Abiding by the rules will eliminate the likelihood of receiving any violations at all.

Other ways to avoid violations:

  1. Stay alert
  2. Wear your seat belt
  3. Drive defensively
  4. Participate in NSC training
  5. Utilize driver coaching plug-ins

Read more about plug-ins and driver coaching here.

Fleet Tracking with Weather Radar

by | Dec 6, 2019 | Fleet Management

Weather Radar Improves Trucking Safety

Weather Radar HOS Trucking
Weather radar enables dispatchers to account for delayed delivery, slower travel times and HOS exceptions.

Weather Impacts Profitability

When Time Counts

When the weather turns bad, consider how frequently you check the weather radar. You recognize the importance of good weather radar and data in your personal life, but do you apply the same to your fleet management practices? Weather radar provides information on more than just rain and snow. There are weather services that can predict black ice, surface temperatures and even tornado several hours into the future. The impact of good weather radar for drivers and dispatchers cannot be overestimated.

National Dispatching

When a team of people in a New York call center are dispatching trucks across the country, they must understand the weather factors in areas they are unfamiliar with. When there is 5′ of snow on the ground it is foolish to attempt a delivery to some areas. When dispatchers are able to see areas of heavy snow or probable black ice, they can route vehicles around hazardous weather and produce more revenue than otherwise possible. Drivers arrive alive. Trucks are not stuck or involved in accidents and customers expectations are managed and met more consistently.

 

Predictive Logistics

Wouldn’t it be great to know what is going to be needed before you received the order so you can offer just in time delivery of inventory? Everyone is familiar with the challenge of having the right inventory on hand to meet spikes in demand. Understanding where short-term demand will take place and how to get the supplies to meet the demand, can result in significant revenue increases. Of course you have the option to continue to do business the old way and respond two weeks after the demand has passed.

With almost everything in this country moving by truck at some point, knowing how weather impacts supply on short-term demands is critical. In many industries weather impacts demand in addition to supply. If a cold snap means the corns gets picked early, having trucks available to transport the corn is vital. If more tires are needed when the temperature exceeds 110 degrees in Arizona, having a 2 day heads up to move inventory can mean a spike in revenue. Being HOS compliant means not getting stuck in a hotel for 12 hours.

 

Weather Radar Integrated with GPS Tracking

With over 17 years of experience working with fleets, Fleetistics recognizes the need for fleet operators to see the location of their vehicles on same map during major weather events. Fleetistics customers utilizing Geotab telematics devices can choose from a variety of weather map layers depending on their location and transportation needs. Companies providing roadside assistance, to truckers, can deploy their technicians in a safer manner or change the schedule based on weather conditions to keep employees safe and customers serviced.

 

Safety Tips for Female Truckers

by | Dec 5, 2019 | Risk and Safety

Truck Alarm for Safety

Truck Alarm

Female Truckers Staying Safe on the Road

Women face many challenges in the male dominated industry of trucking. Of the estimated 3,000,000 truckers, 200,000 are believed to be female truckers. This is a 50% increase in the last thirteen years. With the economy growing and the FMCSA ELD mandate reducing the number of hours that can be driven in a day, the demand for truck drivers is beyond the supply of drivers available. Women are filling this role more than every before. Women who are entering phase two of life after children, find themselves available for a life on the road making a good income. This shift in the workforce is not without risk.

Female truck drivers report a host of safety issues while being on the road. One can imagine the potential for safety issues on a truck lot with 500 trucks and needing to use the truck stop facilities late at night. Females can take several basic precautions to improve their safety.

Try these easy to take safety steps:

 

  • Maintain situational awareness at all times.
  • Avoid areas where you can be isolated.
  • Use a video camera that records inside and outside the truck and transmits to the cloud.
  • Report all incidents in writing, even if you have to get job. With the current demand, there are lots of opportunities.
  • Know how to record conversations on your phone if you feel uncomfortable with a trainer or coworker and save directly to the cloud. There are apps just for this.
  • Park in a well lit area.
  • Park on the end so you don’t have to walk between trucks.
  • Avoid inspections after dark when possible.
  • Keep your eyes, open head up and ears on alert when walking around the truck.
  • Carry a 3 D-cell flashlight with a flashing mode which can be used as a weapon, to disorient an attacker and draw attention.
  • Carry mace or better yet, bear spray. You don’t have to be a perfect shot with bear spray.
  • Put an alarm on the truck with a wireless remote. This allows you to get right into the truck when approaching or activate the panic button.
  • Keep a firearm in your truck but be aware of the risk of carrying a concealed weapon in some states.
  • Secure the doors with the seat-belts.
  • Travel in pairs and park next to other trusted drivers.