UPS has announced an expansion of its large alternative vehicle fleet with the addition of hydrogen fuel cell delivery trucks. The vehicles will be in operation in California later this year.

To highlight the impact weather can have on trucking, and to highlight their new partnership, TransFX, which is seeking to offer trucking freight futures contracts, and Riskpulse, a supply chain risk analytics firm, have produced an infographic that provides a few surprising facts about weather-related delays.

Unlike autonomous vehicles, a driver remains in ultimate control of a truck while in platoon formation. Because of this, it is likely that two-truck platooning will be available to fleets later this year. 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has been teasing audiences for months on the company’s secretive electric truck project. At a TED Conference in Vancouver, Musk posted this shadowed picture of what the truck may look like.

This Week in Trucking, the EPA has filed a court brief seeking a delay in a challenge to its greenhouse gas regulations, leading to speculation that the agency may review the upcoming Phase 2 rules. Also, the government has acknowledged it is lacking answers for regulating automated vehicles, Amazon jumps into the driverless vehicle arena and the economy is off to a slow start in 2017.

Whether you are a large or small trucking company, or even a driver, there is a lot to like about President Donald Trump’s proposed tax plan, even if many of the specifics are lacking at this point.

President Donald Trump’s decision to place softwood lumber tariffs on Canada this week might be an indication that the administration is set for a reset on the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It is a gamble that potentially puts billions of dollars in NAFTA trade shipments at risk – much of it hauled by trucks.

Much has been written about Tesla’s electric truck project and while opinions vary on the viability of a heavy-duty electric semi, some are wondering if the truck is only a vehicle to reach a different end game for Elon Musk.

Toyota Motor North America announced its Project Portal hydrogen fuel cell powertrain this week. The engine produces 670 hp. and can pull an 80,000-lb. pound, the company said. Vehicle tests will take place at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, hauling cargo between the two sites.

This Week in Trucking, the CEO of Old Dominion Freight Line suggests boosting federal fuel taxes to pay for infrastructure improvements and Texas is the first state to require ELDs for intrastate commercial drivers. Also, Toyota unveils a hydrogen fuel cell Class 8 tractor.

For anyone in the trucking industry, there is one constant: change. Rates change. Customers change. Freight flows change. But why is there so much change? This graphic answers some of those questions.

Is the trucking industry over-regulated? Good luck finding anyone in the industry that would say no. But ask which regulations should be repealed and chances are each one will be mentioned at least once. But will repealing regulations actually make the industry safer?

Trucking fleets have been hit with a series of equipment price increases in recent years due to new government regulations, including thousands of dollars for tractors due to greenhouse gas regulations. The new electronic stability control regulation, though, may be one where the benefit far outweighs its minimal cost.

Since last summer, Elon Musk has been teasing Tesla fans with word the company is building an electric “semi truck.” What form, shape and size that truck will take is still under wraps, but at least now we have a more definitive timeframe.

This Week in Trucking, President Donald Trump’s infrastructure plan is hitting some bumps in the road; economic indicators continue to favor improving conditions for the nation’s trucking fleets and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association is making a last-ditch effort to stop the upcoming ELD mandate.

A futures market will react to the underlying fundamentals of its physical market because in the end, the futures price is linked to the physical market. But, the opposite is also true. A physical market can look to a futures market for transparency and guidance on rate structure. A developing trucking freight futures market might be the answer to solving these industry issues. 

The upcoming electronic logging device (ELD) rule is a great example of the type of mandated technological change coming to the trucking industry, and yet it serves as a great reminder of the importance to perform due diligence before adopting such technologies.

In a stock swap valued at $6 billion, truckload operators Knight Transportation and Swift Transportation have agreed to a merger. The new company, Knight-Swift Transportation Holdings, will have approximately 23,000 tractors, 77,000 trailers, 28,000 employees and control approximately 5% of the nation’s truckload market.

Schneider National Inc. is the first transportation provider to issues shares in an initial public offering since 2010, according to data compiled by Dealogic. But, will it be the last? The time may be ripe for more companies to dip their toes in the water. 

This week in the Week in Trucking, we look at improving truck orders and optimism among carriers, why consumer GPS devices don’t work in trucking, GE’s approaching to training workers and how one carrier is finding success by offering its drivers video.

Rate volatility is something that every broker, carrier and shipper must deal with. But, sometimes knowing how shipping rates will react to an event can be a guessing game. The I-85 bridge collapse in Atlanta is a case in point. 

The transportation industry is ripe with startups hoping to be the one that disrupts a $726 billion industry, but without help, most don’t last. Dynamo is a Chattanooga-based venture capital firm that specializes in the logistics space and is helping a few of these startups gain a solid foothold in transportation.

In a world which carriers want to be paid quickly for their services, brokers have long turned to factoring as an option. Technology, though, is changing the payments business, and that means quicker payments for carriers and more cash flow flexibility for brokers. 

Unlike some technologies, blockchain technology is not likely to displace many workers in the trucking industry. It does promise, however, to streamline financial operations and compliance reporting to make those operations more seamless, potentially saving fleets tens of thousands of dollars.

Once a disparate group of entities, the modern supply chain is becoming more akin to a well-oiled machine thanks to technological advances. As it becomes more digitized, the business case for blockchain technology becomes more powerful. 

“The potential here is phenomenal. The match between what blockchain offers and the industry pain points is incredible,” says Bridget McDermott, vice president of Blockchain Business Development for IBM. So what exactly is blockchain? 

Blockchain is a relatively new term used to describe a series of distributed databases that act as a tamper-proof, verifiable ledger. As with any new technology, blockchain has its own terminology. Here is a listing of some of the most important terms and their meanings.

While most people assume that drones will someday be making home deliveries, there are other possibilities including droids and even mobile parcel lockers. Whatever method or combination of methods are chosen, though, last-mile delivery may never be the same.

In this week’s edition of The Week in Trucking, the trucking industry gets an audience with President Donald Trump, drivers may not be needed in California, are robots are set to take over warehousing and FMCSA pulls a controversial safety-focused rule.

As many drivers and small fleets worry about the impact on productivity and cost with the upcoming mandate to install electronic logging devices, one overlooked aspect is what impact ELDs will have on their insurance rates. 

Since the dawn of the shipping industry, brokers, carriers and shippers have struggled with rate price swings, sometimes due to conditions outside their control, such as weather or politics. TransFX, a Chattanooga-based company located in Freight Alley, is trying to help change that by offering “freight futures contracts.”

As the next generation of the Fuller and Quinn families take on leadership roles of U.S. Xpress, data is becoming more important than ever. Eric Fuller, who succeeds his father Max as CEO, says that technology is poised to change the industry in ways never before imagined.

Each week, the industry sees the introduction of new technologies and regulations along with information that affects how each carrier, shipper, and 3PL operates. Each Friday, FreightWaves will provide a look back at some of the industry’s top stories you may have missed. 

With truck driver turnover approaching and even surpassing 100% at times, costing carriers thousands of dollars to replace them, many fleets are doing what they can to keep their current drivers. This includes increasing pay and benefits, but one company thinks it has a better way and it starts with communication. 

Amazingly, there’s one area of the country where more than 80% of the nation’s freight travels through on its way to its final destination. It’s not Chicago, New York or Dallas. It’s not even in the center of the U.S. Meet Freight Alley. 

Weather disruptions such as Winter Storm Stella that is dumping up to 2 feet of snow on the Northeast today can have a ripple effect throughout the supply chain, driving up rates as freight pickups and deliveries are delayed and cancelled.

A University of Michigan study found that only 9.7% of those surveyed said they have no concerns about fully autonomous vehicles. But what about driving alongside an 80,000-lb. autonomous big rig? These are already being tested on roads and could be operational within five years. Is the industry ready for the disruption autonomous trucks will cause?

While much attention has been paid to autonomous trucks recently thanks to startup companies such as Otto, Embark and Startsky Robotics, many forget that the first company to test an autonomous vehicle in highways was truck manufacturer Daimler Trucks North America. Here is a look at the Freightliner Inspiration.

In a world of volatile diesel fuel prices that rise and fall on a daily basis, the biggest operational variable for any trucking fleet is not within their control. Nikola Motor is promising to change that with its hydrogen-powered electric tractor. U.S. Xpress, is one fleet that believes the future may be hydrogen.

For anyone involved in the movement of goods, weather plays a great unknown. It can cause delays and even cancelled orders, which means lost revenue. But one company is trying to help identify potential weather issues so vehicles can be safely rerouted. 

The required implementation of electronic logging devices later this year has created plenty of worry within industry circles. Beyond the logistics of installing the devices, though, carriers and shippers need to be worried about the business impact: specifically lost productivity and rising rates.

Those on both sides of the freight business have struggled for years with volatile shipping rates. Contracts get locked in for months or more with no assurance that the contract will reflect current prices when loads are delivered. TransVix believes part of the solution to this problem is the creation of a Trucking Futures Exchange. 

From drones to the Internet of Things (IoT), technology is pushing the boundaries of what is possible in the world of business. It is no different for transportation entities, especially shippers and carriers who are embracing technology while remaining mindful of ever-slimming margins.

Steve Sashihara, CEO of Princeton Consultants, recently spoke about disruptive technologies and Big Data in the transportation space. Here are 9 areas of impact he identified. Each slide represents the belief that industry stakeholders surveyed have in digital disruption. (Click the arrow to scroll through). 

E-commerce is forcing radical changes on the world of freight, led by innovations from Amazon. From shorter lengths of haul to equipment changes, carriers and shippers are scrambling to stay in front of the changes.

As President Donald Trump ramps up the pressure on Mexico and U.S. companies doing business there, at risk is billions of dollars of freight that moves between the countries. 

“There are some trucking-specific changes that will benefit the industry in 2017. The last year and a half was a classic industry recipe for disaster.” That is Bob Costello’s summary of the past year in trucking. He is predicting a turnaround in 2017.

As transportation providers begin reporting their earnings for the 4th quarter, a common theme is developing – while profits are down slightly, the outlook for 2017 remains positive.