Fleet Future

The debates about inward-facing cameras in trucks are significant, but what's not up for debate is the fact that this camera technology has evolved significantly recently.Take one announcement from this summer, which was the launch of the AI DashCam from KeepTruckin. The technology provider partnered with Ambarella on the image processing capabilities of the camera to provide a device with ADAS and driver monitoring capabilities.Wanting to know more, I sat down with members of KeepTruckin and Ambarella to get the details. Joining me on this episode of Fleet Future are Abhishek Gupta, director of product management at KeepTruckin; and Senya Pertsel, senior director of marketing at Ambarella.

Another week, another trade show recap! The gang's all here once again as Editor Jason Morgan and Senior Editor David Sickels join the podcast to talk about last month's TMC Fall Meeting, which took place in Cleveland and was host to a bevy of OEM and supplier news. We talk about the news of the show, which heavily featured tires and smart trailers, as well as the challenges facing today's fleets, many of which were discussed at the show and heavily feature supply chain issues.

It's time for part two! For those who missed it, the last episode of Fleet Future featured Editor Jason Morgan, Senior Editor David Sickels and yours truly, Managing Editor Alex Crissey, recapping September's zero-emissions focused ACT Expo. Jason attended the show, but David and I did not, so we peppered him with questions for enough time that the conversation had to be broken into two parts.

Part 1 of 2 in which FE's Jason Morgan, Alex Crissey and David Sickels recap the ACT Expo.

In this episode of Fleet Future, FE Managing Editor Alex Crissey and Senior Editor David Sickels sit down in the podcast studio to talk about the rise of electrification in 2021.

Continental announced in July that it has been testing tires specifically built for electric trucks in Germany. When I saw this news I instantly wanted to know more – to start with, why do electric trucks need specialized tires? For that answer and several others, I spoke with Hinnerk Kaiser, head of tire development for truck and bus tires at Continental.

Tire maintenance: with tire costs being what they are, it's always going to be a hot topic. From routine checks to investing in equipment like TPMS and ATIS, it's all important when cutting those costs and making sure you don't fall victim to an unexpected roadside breakdown or another similarly nasty surprise.For more on this, I sat down with two Bridgestone representatives, Greg Kidd and Randy Patterson, to talk through everything fleets need to know about their tire maintenance. You will not be surprised to learn that the word inflation appears multiple times in our conversation.

This episode of Fleet Future features Jonathan Randall, Mack Trucks senior vice president of North American sales and commercial operations, with a bit more info on Mack's role when it comes to infrastructure, charging, and everything else that will go along with making electrification more widespread.

In today's Fleet Future podcast, I spoke with two members of Stoneridge, a company that makes MirrorEye, a system through which mirrors on the sides of trucks are replaced by cameras, which the company says provides greater visibility and improved aerodynamics.

The driver shortage is always a hot topic—and recruiting is only one piece of that; retaining is another. One overlooked aspect of retaining is in training—after all, the training process is the first impression drivers have of your company. To discuss this topic, today's guest is Jane Jazrawy, co-founder of CarriersEdge.

It has been, to put it mildly, an absolutely wild year for the US economy, and by extension, the trucking industry. So what can fleets expect from the market the rest of this year, and what's on the horizon for 2022? I spoke Don Ake, vice president of commercial vehicles for FTR, to find out how they're seeing the market.

There is a lot of excitement in the air about electrification, but also a lot of questions. And this was the subject of a recent Thermo King webinar, hosted by Paul Kroes, the company's market insights leader for North America. Paul took some time to discuss some of the biggest issues in electrification, from infrastructure and regulation to vehicle and battery development to when it will all make sense from an ROI perspective. And of course with this being Thermo King, special attention was paid to the refrigeration side of things.

Joining me on today’s podcast is Coy Jones, senior marketing manager for on road with Michelin to talk about the company's new truck tires, the technology used in making them, and why it’s so important to get the right tire for the right application.

Joining me on today’s episode of the Fleet Future podcast is Alex Osaki, product marketing manager for Here Technologies, which is a supplier of telematics, including routing and mapping technology, to the trucking industry. Alex and I had a great conversation about routing and mapping technology, the struggles of adopting telematics, and how telematics will play into electrification.

The growth of both the last mile delivery market and the ascendancy of electric trucks have rarely been out of the news for the past year. With that in mind, joining me in this episode of the Fleet Future podcast is Travis Hunt, business development manager for Ford Commercial Solutions. Our conversation focused on telematics, from how telematics can help electric vehicles succeed, to Ford’s recent announcement in March that it will be expanding Ford Telematics to serve all makes and models, not just Ford.

Electric trucks are here. At this point, every major OEM either has trucks available for order or in development, but if you are interested in adding some of these models to your fleet, there is a lot of preparation that needs to be done ahead of time. Joining me on this episode to discuss this topic is Dave Downs of CalAmp, a telematics provider.

Fleet Equipment Editor Jason Morgan and Managing Editor Alex Crissey go over the biggest trucking news of the past month, including:- The ongoing microchip shortage and its potential impacts on trucking- The newly available electric trucks from Freightliner- Driving new heavy-duty trucks from Peterbilt and Kenworth, as well as new medium-duty models from both OEMs- How fleets can prepare their shops for the arrival of an electric truck

The electric future has arrived, with several major OEMs making battery electric trucks available now, some that will be available soon, and even a growing push toward hydrogen fuel cell power.So what will the role of suppliers be in this electric future? To answer that question, I talked with Jeremy Frenznick, senior director of CV engineering at Dana. Dana is providing e-axles and/or power systems for electric trucks from Peterbilt, Kenworth and Hyliion.

Precise data: it’s one of the most important keys to running a good business, in the fleet world or elsewhere. After all, how will you know where to start improving your business if you don’t have a real sense of where the business is now?This was the theme of a recent talk by Jacob Findlay, founder and CEO of Fullbay, a provider of shop management software, at this year’s Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week.Jacob joins me on this week’s podcast to go over some of the main points of his HDAW talk, as well as a new report that Fullbay released with TMC called the State of Heavy Duty Repair.

For this episode of Fleet Future I talked with Robb Janak, director of new technologies at Jacobs Vehicle Systems, about CARB and EPA emissions regulations and the technology Jacobs is developing to meet them.

One of the worst pieces of news you can hear as a fleet manager is that one of your trucks has been in a crash. First and foremost, there’s the driver’s safety to be concerned about, and even if they’re all right, there’s the high cost of repairs. But it doesn’t end there--now you have the growing possibility of false claims, nuclear verdicts and even staged crashes. In this episode of Fleet Future I talked with Chris Orban, vice president of data science at Trimble Transportation, about video telematics systems and their role in protecting your fleet from some of these things.

The guest on this episode of Fleet Future is Chad Stepanian of Mahle, who talks about what fleets who extend their oil drain intervals need to know, and later addresses some filtration tips and important things for fleets to keep on mind.

This week was Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week, an annual event that is usually held in Las Vegas but, this year, took place virtually. And while the show was absent from its usual backdrop of the sights and sounds of Vegas, the heavy-duty aftermarket insight was as strong as ever. Here are four of the biggest takeaways from the show this year.

Let's talk DPF maintenance. If you’re like most fleets, its one of your least favorite words in your vocabulary. DPFs have been known to be a maintenance headache basically since they arrived on the scene.In today’s episode I talk with Tom Choate of Ceramex, a company with a unique method for cleaning the DPF. Tom tells us about that method, and gives more DPF maintenance tips, in the episode.

We are smack in the middle of winter, and for fleets, that means it’s time to get those winter maintenance checklists updated. If your trucks run in areas of extreme cold and snow it is a crucial month for maintenance on all components of the vehicle. Let’s zero in on one specific component today: coolant.

One of the major trends of the last few years in the trucking industry has been the growth of the regional haul segment. To talk more about this trend, my guest on today’s podcast is Chris Stadler, product marketing manager for Volvo Trucks North America.

Mike Roeth of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency joins the podcast to talk about the growth of regional haul and how regional haul fleets can spec the right equipment to maximize fuel efficiency.

All month on Fleet Future we’ve been talking engines. But this week, we’re going to talk about an engine company that is branching out to other energy sources. Listen to hear directly from Cummins leadership on their hydrogen development plans for the next decade and beyond.

FE's David Sickels joins the podcast to talk about over-the-air updates. Listen to hear why OTA is growing in popularity in 2020, what capabilities might be coming next, and the unlikely connection between OTA and Seinfeld.

Vocational fleets work in a wide variety of tough applications, and they need a powertrain to match. In this episode, Mike Stricker of Daimler Trucks North America joins us to talk about the engine and transmission the OEM chose for the new vocational Western Star 49X truck.

For our first engine-focused episode of the month, we spoke with Jim Salmon of D-A Lubricant Co., who talked about the new trends in engine oil, as well as the benefits of used oil analysis.

In a virtual call on August 11, members of Daimler Trucks North America, Shell and Penske answered some questions about the recent State of Sustainable Fleets report and about sustainability in general. Listen to hear what they had to say.

FE connected with Kenworth's John Luoma to get additional details about the new battery electric K270 and K370 trucks.

Michael Scheib, head of e-mobility at Daimler Trucks North America, joins the Fleet Future podcast to talk about the company's progress towards electrification.

Mike Roeth of the North American Council for Freight Efficiency joins the podcast to talk about NACFE's Run on Less Regional and what it revealed about the potential for electric trucks in regional haul applications.

In the latest installment of Fleet Future's ongoing series on electrification, International Trucks' Gary Horvat is our guest as he goes over the OEM's "four C's" approach to bringing electric vehicles to market.

The latest podcast episode in Fleet Future's ongoing series on electrification features Brett Pope, director of electric vehicles for North America at Volvo Trucks North America. Brett joins the show to talk about how electrification is progressing at Volvo, whether the events of 2020 have affected this progress, and what fleets who might be interested in electric trucks should do to get prepared.

Peterbilt Assistant Chief Engineer Darryl Oster joins the Fleet Future podcast to talk about the Model 220EV, which recently became available for order.

Aperia's Josh Carter stops by the Fleet Future podcast to talk about what fleets can get if they invest in tire tracking and telematics, and the importance of proper tire pressure.

You may be wondering how the soon-to-be-implemented hours of service regulations will impact your trucks. If you're a regional haul fleet, you'll have more opportunities to run them, so what does this mean for the trucks' lifecycles?To answer this, FE spoke with Jim Griffin of Fleet Advantage, who talked about this and the truck lifecycle impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Geotab's Mike Branch joins the Fleet Future podcast to discuss how data can help them navigate the coronavirus crisis and beyond.

In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, trucking has, of course, been designated an essential service, and naturally truck maintenance followed suit. Today’s guest is Kevin Bangston, general manager of distribution network development for Daimler Trucks North America, who talked about how DTNA's service network is providing for its customers, as well as some of the new service related initiatives from the company.

Chris Orban, vice president of data science for Trimble Transportation, stops by the Fleet Future podcast to talk about how telematics companies can help fleets during the Coronavirus pandemic, and to go over some of Trimble's newest offerings such as Dispatch Advisor and video intelligence.

Despite everything that's going on with the Coronavirus, trucks have had to keep running. And they rely on telematics to do that. In this episode I spoke with Sid Nair, head of product management and UX at Teletrac Navman, about the role of telematics providers in helping fleets through these times, and about other innovations in telematics and data that are helping fleets run.

In this episode, I'm joined by Tim Denoyer, vice president and senior analyst with ACT Research, who talked about the impact the coronavirus is having on the tracking industry. Later in the episode, Don Ake, vice president of commercial vehicles for FTR, filled me in on the latest projections for the industry and for the economy as a whole.

Fleet Equipment editors Alex Crissey, Jason Morgan and David Sickels discuss the state of the trucking industry during the current crisis, including which manufacturers have suspended production, the state of the freight market, and the need to keep telematics and service going as trucks continue to run their routes.

Fleet Equipment's Alex Crissey and Jason Morgan recap the 2020 TMC Annual Meeting and Exhibition, including the biggest news from the show, the trends we saw at the show and what fleet managers should be looking for at trade shows.

In the February issue of Fleet Equipment we featured Cooper Tire as our cover subject. In the story I talked with Gary Schroeder, executive director of Cooper’s global truck and bus tire business, and Phil Mosier, manager of commercial tire development, about bringing their heavy-duty Cooper-branded truck tires to market. But there’s a lot from our interview that didn’t make it into the print story. So here are a few more topics covered by Cooper’s Gary Schroeder and Phil Mosier.

Fleet Equipment Editor Jason Morgan and Managing Editor Alex Crissey discuss the magazine's 2019 Truck Trend of the Year: the new innovations and products being put forward by the trucking industry’s suppliers.

Electrification is on the truck aftermarket’s radar. At Heavy Duty Aftermarket Dialogue, held just before the kick off of Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week, a panel of technology experts took to the panel stage to talk about the biggest technology trends heading toward the aftermarket.