15Jan
2024–Global logistics company C.H. Robinson has developed new technology that creates a major efficiency in freight shipping: removing the work of scheduling an appointment at the place a load needs to be picked up and scheduling another appointment where the load needs to be delivered. Across the U.S. trucking industry, more than 1 billion of these appointments are made each year, commonly through phone calls and emails.
With touchless appointments, the entire process is automated and can be done 24/7 with no manual intervention. The technology also uses artificial intelligence to determine the optimal appointment—based on transit-time data from C.H. Robinson’s millions of shipments across 300,000 shipping lanes, facility data such as peak dwell time, and the most convenient time windows for carriers.
When C.H. Robinson first tackled this challenge, the company’s research showed that 74% of shippers wanted greater automation in their supply chains. In a 2024 C.H. Robinson customer survey, shippers indicate that more-efficient appointment scheduling is their second-biggest tech priority for supply chains this year.
“Achieving touchless appointments is a big step forward for automating supply chains,” said Michael Castagnetto, C.H. Robinson’s President of North American Surface Transportation. “It’s far more efficient for technology to find an appointment slot that’s open, that works for both the loading dock and the carrier, and gets the freight where it needs to be on time. Touchless appointments liberate shippers and their receivers from that work, and because we have the largest dataset in the industry, our system is choosing a smarter appointment than our competitors can.”
C.H. Robinson, which moves more truckload freight than anyone in North America, is doing touchless appointments for 2,545 customers so far at more than 25,000 facilities. Retailers and food companies are among the biggest beneficiaries."
While tools such as a TMS, load board, ELD and back-office systems are not new to the trucking industry, TMS solutions have not typically been available for small carriers who often don’t have access to the same technologies enjoyed by large carriers. A new partnership between DAT and Axele aims to correct that.
Axele is the industry’s first intelligent TMS built specifically for the small-to-mid sized TL carrier, and its seamless integration with the DAT load board creates a one-stop-shop for carriers to find the best loads and manage their business without ever leaving the Axele TMS.Approximately 52% of semis on the road today are run by small fleets (< 50 trucks) who make up 99% of the country’s for-hire carriers. Many carriers struggle to source loads, streamline business processes and capitalize on new business opportunities due to a lack of affordable, comprehensive technology platforms.
Truck drivers help keep the flow of goods moving around the world and can make good money doing it.However, pay rates fluctuate on a regular basis, making it difficult to nail down the exact range of income a driver might earn in a given year.In the United States, specialized truck drivers at major companies can make upward of $70,000 to $100,000 a year, depending on their load type, mileage, licensing and experience. The median annual wage for U.S. truck drivers in 2020 was just over $47,000, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. In Canada, the average salary for truckers is around $43,000. Ice road truckers in Canada are some of the highest-paid drivers in the world, averaging around $100,000.Mexico had the lowest average salary for truck drivers in North America, earning about $13,800 a year, according to the Mexican Social Security Institute.
China, which has one of the largest economies in the world, pays truck drivers on average around $15,000 to $17,000 a year.
Russia, one of the largest countries geographically in the world, pays truck drivers on average about $6,800 to $11,000 a year.
Qualcomm Inc. today announced the availability of OmniOne, a low-cost transportation application for digital mobile phones, and Qtracks/Web, a Web-based interface to the OmniTRACS and OmniExpress mobile communications systems.OmniOne will provide trucking companies, affiliate fleets and subcontractors a portable communications tool that enables drivers and dispatchers to receive and send load assignments, status updates and other information. The OmniOne application is designed to run on Qualcomm’s Binary Runtime Environment for Wireless (BREW) platform."OmniOne is a high-value tool that empowers owner-operators and affiliate fleets to work more productively while on the road," said Chris Wolfe, president of Qualcomm Wireless Business Solutions. Wolfe said more than 80% of owner-operators rely primarily on public pay telephones and personal mobile phones to receive their work assignments and to report status to their customers.
OmniOne, which seamlessly integrates with current Qualcomm OmniTracs and OmniExpress systems, was designed to eliminate that process while allowing drivers and logistics companies to communicate information with greater efficiency.
Qtracks/Web is a Web-based interface to the OmniTracs and OmniExpress mobile communications systems that helps trucking companies manage two-way data communication with their fleet. The secure Web-based product allows companies to access their fleet data through a Web browser and view current and historical vehicle locations, and display them on a scalable, street-level map.
To ensure the progress needed on cleaning trucks and buses and to harness improvements in vehicle technologies, EPA will issue two major regulations over the next three years—the “Clean Trucks Plan” that will result in decreasing emissions from new heavy-duty vehicles, including long-haul tractors, buses, commercial delivery trucks, and many other types of trucks.
Heavy-duty trucks and buses continue to contribute significantly
to air pollution at the local, regional, and national level, often
disproportionally affecting communities of color and low-income
populations.
To ensure the progress needed on cleaning trucks and buses and to
harness improvements in vehicle technologies, EPA will issue two major
regulations over the next three years—the “Clean Trucks Plan” that will
result in decreasing emissions from new heavy-duty vehicles, including
long-haul tractors, buses, commercial delivery trucks, and many other
types of trucks. These new rules will be major steps towards improving
air quality and addressing the climate crisis
EPA’s Clean Trucks Plan
The Agency is working on the following actions over the next three years.
By December 2022, EPA will propose and finalize new stringent emissions standards to
reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx) pollution from trucks starting in model year 2027. This
action will include an update of current greenhouse gas (GHG) standards to capture
market shifts to zero-emission technologies in certain segments of the heavy-duty
vehicle sector.
EPA is also working on new stringent GHG emissions standards for heavy-duty engines
and vehicles starting as soon as model year 2030.
Taken together, these new multi-pollutant standards will improve public health in
our communities and set the U.S. on a course to achieve ambitious levels of GHG
emissions reductions from commercial highway transportation over the long term.
EPA looks forward to working with all stakeholders as we move forward with these plans.
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