Today’s Pickup: ELDs, sensing technology, and trucking

Good day,

We are a few weeks into the ELD hard enforcement date of April 1st. There has not been a noticeable impact to market pricing after that time, but as Brian Straight reports this morning it has not been a completely smooth ride. Technology is the reason we as a society have progressed as far as we have. We reap the benefits of many advances without knowing the amount of time, effort, and struggle those who developed the devices and algorithms we take for granted today. It is just like when you were a kid learning to ride a bike. You fell a few times before you were able to fly down the hill with a speed you had not felt before. ELDs could be a gateway to a more efficient trucking network, but a few bumps and bruises are inevitable. 

Did you know?

80-85% of highway incidents involving trucks and cars are found to be the fault of the driver of the car.

Quotable:

“The sensing is at the core of self-driving technology and we need an orders of magnitude improvement if we’re going to reach anywhere near human levels of safety.”

-Austin Russell, CEO and founder of Luminar

In other news:

FAA to order inspections of jet engines after Southwest blast

The US Federal Aviation Administration said it will order inspection of 220 aircraft in response to the Southwest incident. (Reuters)

Hyperloop wants to bring its futuristic people-mover to the MIddle East — and it wants to do it soon

Hyperloop Transportation Technologies wants to build a transportation system in the Middle East. (CNBC)

Ford launches on-demand medical transportation service

Ford is launching an on demand transportation service for non emergency medical needs. (TechCrunch)

Blockchain is about to revolutionize the shipping industry

The new technology offers solutions to an industry drowning in paper. (Bloomberg)

OOIDA says bill to open interstate trucking to younger drivers is unsafe

The Owner Operator Independant Drivers Association has come out against the recent proposals to lower the age requirement for a CDL. (FleetOwner)

Final Thoughts:

Luminar, a sensing technology developer among other technology driven projects, has figured out how to produce a cost effective version of LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) sensing device that can potentially be used on autonomous vehicles. This is one of many technologies developed around computerized sensing and learning propelling trucking into the future as an increasing rate. The question of how is not as relevant as when at this point. 

Hammer down everyone!

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