Trucks at Work Blog

“We will not reduce service levels or scale back on snow-removal efforts regardless of how much it costs this year. Our crews will be out in full force this week and for the rest of the winter no matter what the impact is to our budget. We will not cut back on our work to make Virginia’s roadways safer for drivers, despite our funding challenges.” –Gregory Whirley, acting commissioner, Virginia Department of Transportation

It is one thing to read about history, quite another to live through it – especially when we’re talking about Mother Nature and her delivery of over three feet of snow to areas of the country not used to handling such high volumes of the white stuff.

Dubbed “snowmaggedon” by President Obama, a record 32 inches of snow socked in Dulles International Airport near where I live – an amount that broke an 88-year old record, set back in 1922 during the so-called “Knickerbocker” blizzard. So far, this storm is pegged to be the fourth largest blizzard in U.S. history.

Highway crews across the mid Atlantic, in Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, and my home state, the Commonwealth of Virginia, are still battling to clear all the roads despite depleted snow-removal budgets.

[Below you can see a clip of Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) crews as they started fighting this massive storm over the weekend.]

VDOT already expended the $79 million it allotted statewide for snow-removal efforts by Feb. 1, largely the result of a pre-Christmas blizzard that struck the Mid Atlantic back on Dec. 18, dumping 20 inches of the white stuff on the region (and giving my kids an extended two-week winter holiday in the bargain due to school closings.)

[Here’s a glimpse of VDOT battling last year’s monster storm. While not a record breaker, it packed quite a punch.]

The agency is now tapping into a $25 million emergency maintenance reserve fund to pay for snow removal, but once that is exhausted – and it’s closing in on empty – VDOT said it will move money from non-safety-related maintenance programs to cover any additional snow removal needs this winter.

Though VDOT has 2,314 pieces of snow removal equipment, 3,146 crew members, 62,000 tons of sand and 239,000 tons of salt available to keep roads clear, this storm is so big newly-installed Governor Bob McDonnell activated the National Guard to help out.

Pennsylvania’s Governor Edward Rendell declared a statewide disaster emergency as a result of the storm, authorizing state agencies to use all available resources and personnel as is deemed necessary to cope with the magnitude and severity of this emergency situation.

Declaring a “state of emergency” also temporarily deep sixes the time-consuming bid and contract procedures and formalities normally prescribed by law – all done to help speed up state agency response times.

Governor Rendell also called out the National Guard is his state, not just to help clear roads but assist the State Police in patrols and incident response.

[Here’s an inside look at how state agencies – in this case, VDOT – typically prepare for big winter storms.]

Delaware Governor Jack Markell also announced a state of emergency, noting that the intensity and duration of the snowfall confined snowplowing activities at least initially to major highway routes. He, too, called out the National Guard in his state to fight this huge blizzard.

“Motorists are still strongly advised to stay off the roads. In some areas, local restrictions remain in place, so drivers should check with local authorities,” he said in a press release.

“While some travel is becoming necessary, many roads are still not safe,” Markell added. “Please do not put yourself and others at risk by driving needlessly. Our teams are working very hard. Staying off the roads will help them do their jobs more safely and effectively.”

[In this clip, Roy Harrell – a snowplow driver for Maryland’s State Highway Association (MSHA) – offers tips on how to operate motor vehicles around plows.]

Maryland’s Governor Martin O’Malley also declared a state of emergency, calling up National Guard units to beef up his state’s effort s to fight the storm.

“Maryland National Guard Units are prepared to assist local emergency managers and first responders around the state, and have already begun deployment to throughout Maryland,” Governor O’Malley said. “We urge residents to avoid driving except for the most urgent reasons. If drivers stay off the roads it will help the dedicated state and local highway crews clear the rods in a safe and efficient manner.”

Maryland’s National Guard has more than 100 Humvees, 5-ton trucks and military ambulances helping the state deal with the storm – augmenting MSHA’s and the Maryland Transportation Administration’s (MdTA) fleet of 2,400 pieces of equipment and 2,700 personnel available for snow removal efforts.

Maryland officials also monitor storm from MSHA’s Statewide Operations Center in Hanover where it has centralized communications and access to over 150 traffic cameras located around the state.

[Here’s a quick look at what such a “command center” looks like – in this case, VDOT’s Traffic Center, pressed into service to help guide snow removal efforts across the Commonwealth.]

For everyday citizens like me, it’s been an extraordinary time. I’ve spent close to 12 hours in total shoveling my driveway and sidewalk. We lost power for a few hours (THAT makes your heart skip a beat, let me tell you, when the temperature is hovering around 22 degrees Fahrenheit) but on the whole we’ve fared well in this Northern Virginia neighborhood.

It helps, too, to live as we do right on a vital transit bus route – that means the plows kept the street clear, down to the pavement, day and night, One street over, the neighbors are staring at roads choked with three feet of snow – reduced to walking and cross-country skiing to get around.

This is certainly living through history – I just wish I could close the book on this story right about now.

“We’re not suggesting this dynamic fifth wheel is a ‘silver bullet’ – but it could play a big part in helping significantly improve a tractor-trailer’s aerodynamic footprint.” –Rich Carroll, vice president-sales & marketing, JOST International

So I’m heading to the Technology & Maintenance Council’s annual convention in (hopefully!) sunny Tampa, FL, next week, with a chance to examine a variety of new and updated products being rolled out for the trucking industry.

One such product is what’s being dubbed a “dynamic” fifth wheel. Though still in the prototype phase, it’s a fifth wheel design that’s got the potential to help solve one of trucking’s trickier aerodynamic issues – how to efficiently yet safely reduce the gap between the tractor and trailer.

“We call it the ‘Smart Gap System’ or ‘SGS,’” Rich Carroll, vice president-sales & marketing of JOST International, which is getting ready to start field testing this new “dynamic” fifth wheel.

“Imagine if you will a fifth wheel slider assembly controlled by sensors and an ECU [electronic control unit] programmed to sense when it is both safe and much more fuel efficient to close the gap between tractor and trailer at certain speeds and under certain conditions,” he explained. “Then, when conditions indicate the need to return to a more conventional position, such as to allow for trailer swing clearance, the fifth wheel does so automatically and quickly – without involving the driver.”

[Here’s a video clip showing a tractor-trailer equipped with a JOST SGS fifth wheel in action. At the very end of the clip, you’ll see a close up of the system working while the truck is parked.]

Carroll said that initial collaborations with OEMs and fleets to date show that there is strong potential for aerodynamic gains – and, subsequently, significant fuel savings – from the ability to shrink the gap automatically between tractor and trailer using JOST’s SGS system. How much of a fuel savings, though, is still up in the air, he told me.

“That gap also varies, depending on whether the trailer being hauled is equipped with a refrigeration unit or not, for example. So it doesn’t completely close the tractor-trailer gap for that reason,” he said.

“But by using SGS, you’re looking at shrinking that gap from say an average of three feet down to one foot; that changes everything when you look at the entire rig from an aerodynamic perspective,” Carroll added. “Now, instead to trying to manage air flow around a three foot gap, you only have a foot to deal with – and you can finish closing that gap more easily, perhaps, with other solutions.”

He noted that specific fuel efficiencies for the SGS-equipped fifth wheels are going to be determined by JOST through fleet testing and SAE test track results planned for the 2nd quarter of 2010.

Another interesting point: Most of the components used in the SGS package are “off the shelf,” so to speak, meaning they are currently commercially available and have been proven to hold up under “real world” conditions.

Carroll also pointed out that the platform for the SGS technology is JOST’s Pro Tech integral angle inboard style slider assembly, which also incorporates a cab-actuated air release for the king pin locking mechanism.

What’s the price tag for this new “dynamic” fifth wheel? That’s something JOST is keeping close to vest for now. “The caveat is that SGS remains in development and we are not in full production at this time, so we can’t provide final system costs and weight information,” Carroll said. “However, we are designing the system with an ROI [return on investment] target of 12 to 18 months in mind.”

In essence, then, the fuel savings achieving from the improved aerodynamic footprint offered by JOST’s SGS package should pay for any additional costs over the nominal price tag of a fifth wheel in about a year to a year and a half. That would be pretty impressive, if JOST can prove it out – something we’ll learn over the course of their field tests this year.

“While the economy in 2009 was the worst our company has experienced since the Great Depression, we continue to see signs of economic improvement, particularly in China and most developing countries. We are also seeing signs of improvement in North America, Europe and Japan, but these economies remain weak and have not rebounded as quickly as developing countries.” –Jim Owens Caterpillar’s chairman and CEO

The road ahead – economically speaking – remains very troubled to say the least for truckers, if not for everyone else in the good old U.S. of A. Still, a mix of good and bad spots is always better than a whole slate of rotten news, to my way of thinking, and for some of the companies that not only use trucking services but also provide equipment to this industry things seem to be improving out there.

Jim Owens, Caterpillar’s chairman and CEO, recently laid out his company’s views on where the economy – both for the U.S. and the world as a whole – seems to be heading. Of course, his crystal ball – a conglomeration of data points and figures compiled by Cat’s staff of top thinkers – may be just as cloudy as anyone else’s, but at least it gives us a starting point for mapping out the economic road before the trucking industry.

“We expect 2010 will be a better year than 2009,” Owens said during Caterpillar’s fourth quarter and year-end earnings conference call. He said the company expects 2010 sales and revenues to be up 10% to 25% from 2009, with profit expected to be about $2.50 per share – the midpoint of the sales and revenues range.

“We’re encouraged by signs of improving demand. Dealer sales to end users are up, order rates are up, dealer inventories came down in 2009, and we’re seeing stronger service parts sales,” Owens noted. “As a result, we are focused on increasing production levels in our plants and with our suppliers. Although we expect efficiency improvements in 2010, higher production will require selective increases in employment; we’ve already recalled more than 500 previously laid-off production employees.”

Yet it’s not coming up all roses, either. Owens noted that housing starts are projected to reach about one million units in 2010, up from 554,000 units in 2009. Yet this increase, though large, would make 2010 the third-lowest year for housing starts since 1945 – only 2009 and 2008 would be lower.

“Historically, housing starts have been volatile; for example, housing starts rebounded from 1.1 million in 1982 to 1.7 million in 1983, a bigger unit increase than we project in 2010. But builders have completed fewer new single-family homes than they have sold since August 2006, and the inventory of unsold new homes is the lowest since April 1971,” he said.

“Single-family homes under construction, as well as the total for all housing units, are at a record low. The severe recession caused household formations to slow sharply the past two years to about half the normal rate,” Owens added.

Still, though, the aggregate economic data is looking much, much better – not a salve to those unemployed, I am sure. But the advance estimate of real gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the fourth quarter last year reached a 5.7% annual rate, the second consecutive GDP advance and the strongest increase since the third quarter of 2003, so perhaps this is the start of better days.

“The latest data is starting to turn in a decidedly positive direction; GDP numbers are the best in over a year and a half, suggesting that the recession is in clear retreat,” said Chris Kuehl, economist for the National Association of Credit Management (NACM).The bulk of this growth is attributed to manufacturers starting to replenish inventories, mostly since the beginning of December, he noted.

“The jump in manufacturing was stark and unexpected and, since the decline registered in the last iteration of the index, there has been a major leap in some critical areas,” he added. “The combined CMI [credit managers’ index] saw a jump from 52.9 to 55.1, which is impressive enough, but the real movement came from the manufacturing side.”

Reinforcing the message coming from the economy as a whole, the manufacturing sector jumped from 52.1 to 55.1, reversing the trend from the December index when the sector stagnated and slipped in terms of positive factors, Kuehl noted.

“There was an improved atmosphere in both manufacturing and service sectors resulting with the most activity in the combined index’s favorable factors, specifically sales and new credit applications,” he pointed out. “Sales in the combined index jumped from 56.7 to 60.7, marking the first time this figure has been above 60 in 18 months. There was also progress in new credit applications—a jump from 54.2 to 57—signaling movement in the credit sector despite ongoing issues in the financial community.”

The same pattern can be seen in amount of credit extended, now standing at 58.8 after sitting in the 40s just five months ago, Kuehl said.

“The past pattern in the index suggests that this is developing into a classic recession exit,” he added. “The deterioration of inventory and the dramatic reduction in capacity utilization meant that any spark of demand would propel business out of this predicament and, as in past recessions, the months following the end of these strategies would show substantial growth. The trillion-dollar question is whether this growth surge can be maintained throughout the rest of the year.”

Thus far, these are the highest numbers seen in the index since February 2009 when the initial impetus of the recession was broken. Since then, growth has been even, but not dramatic, and Kuehl warned that trend of slow growth is likely to return, but he said the suggestion from this month’s data is that there will be pretty substantial gains for the bulk of the first quarter.

Yet truckers aren’t buying into the good news yet – and neither are consumers. According to CK Commercial Vehicle Research’s first quarter 2010 fleet sentiment report (FSR), its Equipment Buying Index fell 21% from the fourth quarter last year to a reading of 54.5 – reflecting a major reluctance on the part of for-hire, private, and government fleet buyers to place orders for power units or for trailers.

U.S. consumer confidence has cooled this month as well as worries over every facet of their financial situation mounted, according to the most recent results of the Royal Bank of Canada’s (RBC) Consumer Attitudes and Spending by Household or “CASH” Index.

Economic attitudes soured across the board, with consumers viewing the current economy negatively and displaying increased pessimism about the future – resulting in an RBC Index for February 2010 of 39.4, down 18.9 points from January’s 58.3 reading.

“Although numerous economic indicators are trending in a favorable direction, it’s evident that ‘less-bad’ is just not good enough for U.S. consumers,” said RBC Capital Markets U.S. economist Tom Porcelli. “This month’s reading suggests that consumers continue to feel financial pressure from recent volatility in stocks and a soft job market.”

Not pretty, but then again, not surprising: things are still bad, albeit larger economic improvements, so John Q. Public is still keeping the hatches down and locked tight. Not too much different from truckers, I must say, that must continue to long slog forward towards better days.

“Enzyme technology is ready for market. What we need now is commercialization and deployment of advanced biofuels in order to help meet our country’s most pressing energy and environment challenges.” –Adam Monroe, president, Novozymes North America

Get this: turning paper and cardboard waste into sugars that are then fermented into fuel for cars and light trucks. Pretty slick, eh? The key ingredient are man-made enzymes in this process that literally “eat” waste paper products, with the sugary byproduct then capable of being refined into an ethanol-like fuel that can be mixed with a little gasoline to power vehicles.

I got an up-close look at this waste-to-fuel process at the recent Washington Auto Show held here in the nation’s capital. A company named Fiberight uses a sequence of pulping, pre-treatment and washing combined with enzymes (basically fast-reproducing microorganisms) from Novozymes that turn paper and cardboard waste into sugars that are then fermented into ethanol-like biofuel. They then mix it with gasoline to make “E85” – a blended fuel of 85% ethanol and 15% gasoline.

Fiberight believes its process has the potential to unlock the 85 gallons of biofuel contained in every ton of non-recycled trash. So, for the 170 million tons of excess trash generated each year in the U.S. – contaminated paper, food wastes, yard discards and other organic degradeables – could translate into over 10 billion gallons of renewable biofuel.

The funny part about all of this is that Fiberight’s key “fuel production” concepts largely come from CEO Craig Stuart-Paul’s association with the “micro-brew” side of the beer industry – and work with the waste industry as well. Combining refuse and beer brewing expertise – what they dub “special biotech knowledge” – they came up with a means to efficiently sort, pulp, process, digest and refine organic waste materials to produce high yields of glucose, which is converted into alcohol and then into the end product – cellulosic ethanol.

The Novozymes’ microorganisms critical to this fuel-making process are the result of several years of experimentation. Novozyme received two contracts from the Department of Energy (DOE) for its research efforts; the first contract in 2002 for $2.2 million, and the second in 2008 for $12.3 million. As a result of this work, Novozymes said it’s been able to achieve significant reductions in enzyme costs over the years, notably the 50% reduction as of 2009. Most recently, the company received a $28.4 million tax credit toward the construction of its enzyme manufacturing facility in Blair, NE.

Sounds like a nice research project, I’m sure, but there’s an important timeline driving all of this – the implementation of federal government mandates requiring higher use of renewable fuels. Under the EISA Renewable Fuel Standards (RFS2), the use of such “cellulosic ethanol” fuels must increase from 100 million gallons annually in 2010 to over 16 billion gallons by 2022.

This is a big worry for those following the “food versus fuel” debate, as almost all the ethanol used in the U.S. comes from agricultural sources; mainly corn and similar feedstocks. So the ability to generate fuel from non-agrarian sources would short circuit that debate in a hurry.

There’s another neat corollary to Fiberight’s “fuel brewing” process: the “refineries” required to make this stuff can be small and located in urban areas, right next to refuse transfer stations and landfills – and thus a mere hop, skip and jump from local filling stations.

The company uses what it calls efficient “mini-mill’ style facilities – a 50,000 square foot operation – that thus can be constructed at much lower initial capital investment due to the smaller scale. Lower plant investment cost enables initial market viability at reasonable feedstock input and production rates, with transportation and feedstock logistics also much simpler to manage, Fiberight said.

Now, two other companies at the Washington Auto Show – Ricardo and Growth Energy – are joining forces to take full advantage of high-ethanol content fuel by “re-optimizing,” in their words, gasoline engines to run more efficiently on ethanol.

The companies showed off a couple of demonstration vehicles equipped with Ricardo’s new ethanol-boosted direct injection (EBDI) engine package to highlight that, even for larger vehicles, extreme optimization of ethanol combustion can enable engine downsizing of the order of 50% while still delivering substantial fuel economy improvements – up to 30%, Ricardo estimates – with no loss of power or performance.

Ricardo and Growth energy are testing a Ricardo EBDI flex fuel engine built off a production 3.2-litre V6 gasoline engine to repower two GMC Sierra 3500 HD pickup trucks, each with a curb weight of 6, 000 pounds.

“We are substituting a 3.2-litre V6 engine in a 1 ton pickup truck vehicle usually powered by a 6.0-liter V8 gasoline or a 6.0-liter diesel engine,” noted Rod Beazley, director of the Ricardo’s Spark Ignited Engines Product Group. “The EBDI platform takes full advantage of ethanol’s properties of high octane and latent heat of vaporization to deliver near-diesel levels of engine efficiency, whereas a standard gasoline engine might suffer a fuel economy penalty of about 30% when operating on higher ethanol blends such as E85.”

And, according to DOE estimates, ethanol use reduces the price of gasoline by as much as 20 to 35 cents per gallon, potentially saving the average American household $150-$300/year.

“If we are ever to achieve the energy independence that is vital to the economic and national security of our nation, we must begin to put more ethanol into our fuel tanks – and less gasoline from foreign oil,” noted Retired Gen. Wesley Clark, co-chairman of Growth Energy.

“As science moves from making ethanol from corn to producing it from corn cobs and other plant materials, ethanol will provide even greater sustainability,” he added. “Through this project with Ricardo we aim to be able to put potential customers in the driving seat and demonstrate to them that with EBDI technology, ethanol can deliver performance and fuel economy and offers an attractive and sustainable transport solution using an American produced renewable fuel. Consumers should have a choice at the pump – and domestic ethanol should be one of those options for fuel.”

“We have meticulously designed a trucking network referred to as the ‘Spider Web,’ which targets specific traffic lanes based on the pricing and volumes associated with those lanes. Once we transition our business from many of the less profitable lanes we currently serve to the ‘Spider Web’ lanes, we expect considerable improvements in our base revenue per mile, among other factors.” –Cliff Beckham, president and CEO of truckload carrier USA Truck Inc.

It’s an interesting concept truckload carrier USA Truck is trying to bring to life: a “Spider Web” of interconnecting network of short-haul routes that should – if all goes well – allow the company to increase profitability.

I tried talking to Cliff Beckham, USA’s president and CEO, about the “Spider Web” concept but (not surprisingly) he’s been busy with other things – which include, at the moment, keeping USA’s head above water long enough for its new lane structure to start reaping benefits.

Like for everyone else in the trucking business, 2009 proved a tough year for USA. It lost $2.5 million on 8.3% lower revenues of $85.1 million in the fourth quarter last year compared to the same period in 2008. For all of 2009, the company lost $7.2 million on 16.6% lower revenues of $331.5 million, compared to profits of $3.1 million on revenues of $397.6 million in 2008. Not happy numbers, for sure.

Still, USA’s been working gamely over the last few years to retool its entire operation as part of its “Vision for Economic Value Added” or “VEVA” strategic plan, which includes – among other things – significantly reducing accidents to drive down the cost of insurance and claims.

[That safety effort – dubbed by USA as a War on Accidents – is definitely reaping big rewards. Launched almost three years ago, it’s resulted in USA reducing its frequency of our DOT reportable accidents by 33.3%, when comparing fourth quarter 2009 numbers to fourth quarter 2007 numbers: helping the carrier reduce insurance and claims expense by 210 basis points year-over-year, or approximately 11 cents per share. That’s not too shabby, if you ask me.]

Yet the big ticket item in USA’s plan to return to fiscal health – and stay there – is the “Spider Web” plan, which again amounts to shifting the company’s focus from long-haul to short-haul freight; redesigning its freight lane structure accordingly, shrinking the number of lanes it serves down from a once-lofty 6,000 to merely 1,400.

“We are transitioning our trucking operations to shorter length-of-haul traffic lanes where freight is more abundant,” Beckham noted in the company’s year-end earnings report. “Year-over-year, our length-of-haul declined 14.2% to 594 miles. To counter this decreased length-of-haul, in early 2008 we launched Project Velocity to enhance our ability to dispatch more loads; a necessity in a shorter-haul operation.”

Project Velocity – a key part of the “Spider Web” concept — measures the number of times USA loads its fleet each week. During the fourth quarter of 2009, USA said it improved its “Velocity” metric 13.2% to 3.0, though that is still short of its goal of 3.8. “While we have yet to win enough freight through the customer bid process to counter the falling length of haul, we are making progress,” Beckham said.

This is where the “Spider Web” process comes in, as it then creates specific traffic lanes based on the pricing and volumes associated with those lanes. “We introduced this network to our employees in August 2009 and once we transition our business from many of the less profitable lanes we currently serve to the ‘Spider Web’ lanes, we expect considerable improvements in our base revenue per mile and Velocity, among other factors,” Beckham noted.

To date, the carrier is starting to see results from this endeavor. Year-over-year, its trucking base revenue per loaded mile and trucking base revenue per total mile improved in the fourth quarter last year, up 0.7% and 2.8%, respectively – actually increasing in every quarter of 2009, despite the economic downturn.

“Our lane density, a critical factor in our network design, currently consists of approximately 4,500 lanes; however, it is still well above our goal of 1,400 lanes,” he said. “Before we introduced the Spider Web [concept] in August, approximately 34% of our loads were moving in Spider Web lanes. By the second half of December, that percentage improved to approximately 39%.”

Yet Beckham is also well aware that many challenges remain to making this concept a success. “Our ability to transition to the Spider Web is dependent on our ability to win the right freight through customer freight bids,” he stressed. “To date, the results of our fourth quarter bids have been encouraging. The number of loads moving in Spider Web lanes in early January has continued to improve. We have added volume in the right lanes, and industry conditions are slowly improving.”

In fact, Beckham noted that seven of USA’s 10 largest trucking base revenue weeks in 2009 occurred during the fourth quarter, with utilization trends turning positive in late November. During the first three full weeks of January 2010, the carrier also experienced trucking base revenue growth when compared to the same weeks in 2009.

“We believe industry conditions have bottomed. However, tractor capacity remains abundant and pricing pressure remains severe,” cautioned Beckham. “We anticipate our first quarter results will be similar to our recent quarters and there will likely be sequential downward pressure on industry pricing as lower priced third and fourth quarter bids take effect. However, we also believe the imbalance between industry tractor capacity and freight demand will gradually improve throughout 2010 as businesses begin restocking inventories and as unsustainably low freight pricing and rising fuel prices begin thinning industry capacity.”

Needless to say, USA’s effort to shrink the size of its lane network, while also shortening its length of haul, all while boosting profitability, will be tough to accomplish in this still-difficult economic environment we’re in. It’ll be interesting to see if they can pull it off.

“When using the driver support system, improvements in fuel consumption of up to 10% were noted immediately. Variations in fuel consumption were also dramatically reduced from 15%-20% to around 5%, indicating a much more consistent driving style.” –Scania Group, detailing the benefits of new technology packed into its redesigned R-Series line of trucks

Though the trucking needs of Europe and North America are very different, truckers on both sides of the pond (a trite euphemism for the Atlantic Ocean) share very similar desires as to vehicle performance expectations.

Right at the top these days is fuel economy – yet fuel economy improvements are demanded without sacrificing vehicle performance and power, while giving fleets trucks that allow even its most rookie drivers to gain maximum fuel efficiency.

Those are tall orders for any truck OEM, regardless of which side of the pond they reside upon. And yet they’re all doing it – North American and European truck makers alike.

One manufacturer in particular, Scania, is nailing the tricky combination of fuel economy, performance, and simplicity so well at the moment that it bagged Europe’s “International Truck of the Year” award for 2010 its redesigned R-Series line – a makeover Scania says focused on ways to drive fuel efficiency gains without skimping on power, performance, driver comfort, and other factors.

[Below you can view a video of Hasse Johansson, former head of Scania’s research and development team, accepting the award – and also listen to jury chairman Gianenrico Griffini of Italy’s Tuttotrasporti magazine explain why this truck won; in a word, for improved vehicle “efficiency.”]

One of the big reasons the R-Series garnered “truck of the year” honors wasn’t for slick styling, big engines, or other “iron related” features. No, it’s the technology that caught the eyes of the judges – specifically the Scania Driver Support (SDS) system onboard these vehicles.

[Here’s a quick overview of what SDS is and what it does.]

SDS is system designed to give truck drivers real-time feedback and tips on ways to refine their driving style in order to improve both fuel economy and safety. It continually analyses data from various sensors on the vehicle to monitor driver performance based on parameters developed through information gathered from Scania’s vehicles operating in Europe, as well as on extensive field tests with operators.

The goal of SDS is to encourage the driver to keep an eye on his style, making him aware of mistakes and potential improvements – allowing him or her to use the vehicle and its controls as safely and efficiently as possible. Here are some of the metrics the system follows and analyzes:

• Hill driving: Evaluates how the accelerator pedal and vehicle’s momentum are used in varying topography.

• Anticipation: Heavy accelerations and decelerations, as well as the interval between accelerating and braking, are used to assess how well the driver anticipates different situations.

• Brake use: Evaluates the frequency and harshness of brake applications as well as efficient use of the auxiliary brake system (meaning Scania’s retarder and exhaust brake components.)

• Choice of gears: Matches gear selection and engine revs to save fuel.

The system also provides “tips” to the driver, displaying a “score” continuously in percentages for each category, enabling the driver to monitor progress on the trip computer. The driver can choose to receive a total score or split the score into the four categories.

It works like this. After driving over a hill, for example, a hint may be displayed: “Next time, release accelerator pedal before top.” At the same time, a star rating from zero to five will appear. The picture shows a half-star rating. The driver who does everything right will get an encouraging “Exemplary Driving” note in the display.

Scania noted its SDS system is standard on all vehicles specified with an electronic braking system (EBS), range-splitter gearbox (12- or 12+2-speed manual or with Scania’s automatic Opticruise tranny) and Scania’s brake retarder.

[Here a ride and drive showing how the SDS works in everyday trucking life over in Europe.]

As noted in the quote at the start of this story, Scania calculates that when drivers use the SDS system, improvements in fuel consumption of up to 10% were noted immediately, with variations in fuel consumption reduced from 15%-20% to around 5%, indicating a much more consistent driving style.

Helping drivers of ALL skill ranges improve, especially in terms of obtaining to fuel economy across their working day, is critical to trucking fleets everywhere – especially when it comes down to controlling costs. Scania’s research, for instance, determined how costs break down for the typical European long-haulage operator:

• Salaries 33%

• Fuel 27%

• Vehicle 14%

• Repair and maintenance 9%

• Administration 7%

• Tyres 3%

• Other 7%

So, at the end of the day, the driver’s skills have a decisive influence on at least 40% of a fleet’s ongoing costs. Scania believes that, in a truck driven 200,000 kilometres per year (nearly 125,000 miles), it can save a fleet some 6,000 Euros ($8,347) annually while cutting carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 16 tonnes per year (due to reduced fuel consumption, largely).

Yet a dashboard display with pretty colors and numbers can’t do it all – which is why Scania spent a lot of time and effort developing a new version of its Opticruise transmission that can achieve all the fuel economy gains fleets want, while allowing drivers to keep both hands on the wheel and their full attention on the road.

[Here’s an overview of Scania’s Opticruise for you to peruse.]

The latest version of Scania’s Opticruise comes either fully automated or in manual format. But it’s the fully automated version – using an electro-hydraulic clutch control for maximum precision – that offers maximum fuel savings.

Scania believes an automated gearchanging system benefits drivers and operators in several ways. Besides improving comfort and eliminating the need to watch revolutions per minute (RPMs) and change gears, it enables the driver to devote more attention to handling the vehicle and to other traffic. Even an untrained driver can achieve substantial fuel savings compared to manual driving, the company stressed, while wear-and-tear is reduced on the clutch and other powertrain components, increasing service life.

Scania said its Opticruise got a big-time makeover for the new R-Series. After with four years of development, the concept of a standard mechanical gearbox remains, but the system has been extensively modified, said Scania, with improved mechanical components, entirely new software, and a fully automated clutch option. Here are the highlights:

• The automatic clutch has a high-precision electro-hydraulic control system, an industry first that offers exact clutch control even without a clutch pedal.

• Maneuvering mode provides extra fine clutch control, accelerator resolution and smoother engine control, for example during sensitive shunting.

• The automatic clutch is disengaged briefly during gear changes, making shifts faster and smoother.

• Comprehensive electronic protection keeps clutch wear to a minimum.

Other new features on Opticruise, available on Scania’s 8-, 12- and 12+2-speed gearboxes (the latter also with overdrive), includes: a “hill-hold” function that is standard on the fully automated version; a new shift strategy strives to maintain speed uphill without fuel penalty; gear-changing that adapts to individual driving style, the load and the inclination of the road; and a new “power mode” for extra performance.

[Here’s an Opticruise ride and drive, showing how the system works in everyday use.]

All of this technology – the modified Opticruise transmission and SDS system – all combines to give the driver better tools with which to achieve maximum efficiency, both in terms of fuel economy and vehicle safety.

Scania packed a lot of other goodies into its retooled R-Series – new interior materials, new aerodynamic tractor side skits that improve fuel economy up to 0.6% compared to previous models, high-pressure headlamp cleaners, etc. – but it’s the technology being placed at the driver’s disposal that really will make the biggest difference over the life cycle of the vehicle … especially in terms of fuel efficiency.

“The laws aren’t reducing crashes, even though we know that such laws have reduced hand-held phone use.” –Adrian Lund, president of both the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety and Highway Loss Data Institute

I’m again today reminded of that old but oh-so-true saying: “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.”

It’s quite apropos for a study released the Highway Loss Data Institute (HLDI), an affiliate of the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS), that finds laws banning cell phone use and texting while driving aren’t changing crash rates one iota – again proving that you can’t legislate human behavior.

The HLDI compared insurance claims for crash damage in four U.S. jurisdictions before and after such bans and found claim rates remained steady when compared with nearby jurisdictions that never put such laws on the books. Month-to-month fluctuations in rates of collision claims in jurisdictions with bans didn’t change from before to after the laws were enacted, the group reported, nor did the patterns change in comparison with trends in jurisdictions that didn’t have such laws.

HLDI researchers calculated monthly collision claims per 100 insured vehicle years (a vehicle year is one car insured for one year, 2 insured for six months each, etc.) for vehicles up to three years old during the months immediately before and after hand-held phone use was banned while driving in New York (Nov. 2001), the District of Columbia (July 2004), Connecticut (Oct. 2005), and California (July 2008), with comparable data collected for nearby jurisdictions without such bans.

This method controlled for possible changes in collision claim rates unrelated to the bans — changes in the number of miles driven due to the economy, seasonal changes in driving patterns, etc.

While HLDI’s database doesn’t identify drivers using cell phones when their crashes occur, reductions in observed phone use following bans are so substantial and estimated effects of phone use on crash risk are so large that reductions in aggregate crashes would be expected, the group said.

In New York, HLDI researchers did find a decrease in collision claim frequencies, relative to comparison states, but this decreasing trend began well before the state’s ban on hand-held phoning while driving and actually paused briefly when the ban took effect. Trends in the District of Columbia, Connecticut, and California didn’t change.

“So the new findings don’t match what we already know about the risk of phoning and texting while driving,” noted Adrian Lund, president of both the HLDI and IIHS. “If crash risk increases with phone use and fewer drivers use phones where it’s illegal to do so, we would expect to see a decrease in crashes. But we aren’t seeing it. Nor do we see collision claim increases before the phone bans took effect. This is surprising, too, given what we know about the growing use of cell phones and the risk of phoning while driving. We’re currently gathering data to figure out this mismatch.”

HLDI researchers also went a step further – comparing the District of Columbia’s collision claim frequency trend not only with statewide trends in Virginia and Maryland but also with the trend in nearby Baltimore. Again, the group’s findings were no different; there wasn’t a change in the pattern of collision claims. Nor were any differences apparent when the researchers applied a time-based regression model to claims data for each of the study and comparison jurisdictions.

Lund pointed to factors that might be eroding the effects of hand-held phone bans on crashes. One is that drivers in jurisdictions with such bans may be switching to hands-free phones because no U.S. state currently bans all drivers from using such phones. In this case crashes wouldn’t go down because the risk is about the same, regardless of whether the phones are hand-held or hands-free.

While 21 states and the District of Columbia do prohibit beginning drivers from using any type of phone, including hands-free, such laws are difficult to enforce, he said. This was the finding in North Carolina, where teenage drivers didn’t curtail phone use in response to a ban, in part because they didn’t think the law was being enforced.

“Whatever the reason, the key finding is that crashes aren’t going down where hand-held phone use has been banned,” Lund said. “This finding doesn’t auger well for any safety payoff from all the new laws that ban phone use and texting while driving.”

So what does this research tell us? That we should junk all these cell phone and texting ban efforts? No, that’s not the lesson here. What we need to realize here is that laws in and of themselves don’t restrict or change human behavior – rather, it takes a lot of time and effort to accomplish a behavioral shift of this magnitude.

Can it be done? Of course – just look at seat belt usage rates among truck drivers. Five years ago, the barely reached 50%. Today, they are well up over 72%. Why? Not just because laws are on the books mandating seat belt use; fleets reinforced the need for them through ongoing safety training, while drivers themselves incorporated seat belt use as part of their professional creed.

More importantly, I think this study touches on a much larger and more pervasive issue among motorists – taking driving for granted. Operating a motor vehicle just doesn’t seem to be a big deal anymore; it’s just another routine of daily life, from brushing one’s teeth to sitting on the couch to watch TV.

How else to explain the willingness of people to jabber on the phone, email one another, watch movies, change clothes, apply makeup, shave, read the newspaper, etc., while driving thousands of pounds of machinery at speeds fast enough to kill and/or cause significant property damage if they lose control of them?

Deaths due to drunk and/or drugged drivers offer another point. In 2008, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), an estimated 11,773 people died in drunk driving crashes involving a driver with an illegal blood alcohol (BAC) level of .08 or greater – deaths constituting 31.6% of the 37,261 total U.S. traffic fatalities in 2008. People still seem to think it’s OK to get behind the wheel completed wrecked out of one’s mind – as if driving a motor vehicle is child’s play, which it certainly isn’t.

Until the motoring public reacquaints itself more firmly with the dangers driving entails, and stops being so nonchalant about operating motor vehicles of all shapes and sizes, then we’re not going to see big changes in cell phone or texting use behind the wheel – no matter how many laws we put oin the books.

“We are committed to making strides to revitalize the American auto industry and supporting the development of clean energy vehicles. This is an investment in our clean energy future. It will bring the U.S. closer to reducing our dependence on foreign oil and help lower carbon pollution.” –U.S. Energy Secretary Steven Chu

I suspect many folks out in the trucking community think the billions in taxpayer funds being dispersed by the Department of Energy (DOE) of late to fund a variety of vehicle-related projects is money being thrown out the window. I mean, let’s face it: we’ve got trillions in public debt being piled up at an astronomical rate (this year’s federal deficit alone is equal to $4,500 for every man, woman and child in the U.S.) so I’m in no way surprised that many feel we oughta turn off the vehicle research funding spigot pretty quick here.

And yet all this money from the DOE – funding everything from the new “SuperTruck” fuel efficiency project to automaker loans for re-tooling factories – could, in the end, be the decisive factor in our nation developing a new generation of cars, light trucks, and commercial vehicles that use far less petroleum and leave us far less exposed to the vagaries of world’s oil markets.

Take the recent $1.4 billion loan agreement DOE just finalized Nissan North America to retool its Smyrna, Tennessee, factory to build electric automobiles and a new EV battery manufacturing facility. Those two projects are expected to create up to 1,300 American jobs and, potentially, conserve up to 65.4 million gallons of gasoline per year if electric vehicles are widely adopted by motorists – an amount equal to six times the oil spilled by the Exxon Valdez in 1989, DOE stressed.

Nissan plans to use the proceeds from the loan to produce its all-electric vehicle, the LEAF (above at right), at its existing Smyrna, Tennessee plant — eventually offering electric vehicles to fleet and retail customers, and plans to ramp up production capacity in Smyrna up to 150,000 vehicles annually.

In fact, Nissan said it is pursuing a global strategy of transitioning to electric vehicles, with its Smyrna plant expected to produce 200,000 battery packs annually. Nissan is also trying to lay the groundwork in developing an infrastructure in the U.S. to support electric vehicles, forming partnerships with states, counties, municipalities, and electric utilities to prepare markets for the introduction of electric vehicles including the installation of charging stations.

This isn’t the first such EV investment DOE’s made, it should be noted. Last week, DOE also signed a $465 million loan agreement with Tesla Motors – makers of the Model S all-electric roadster — to build manufacturing facilities in California for electric power-trains and Tesla’s slick car (the cool red machine at left) as well. DOE also signed a conditional commitment with Fisker Automotive to build plug-in hybrid electric vehicles and slid Tenneco funding in October last year to support EV technology component manufacturing.

DOE also loaded $5.9 billion to Ford Motor Company in September last year to help transform the automakers factories across Illinois, Kentucky, Michigan, Missouri, and Ohio so it could build more fuel efficient models. That deal is part of Obama Administration’s effort to boost corporate average fuel economy (CAFÉ) standards up to 35.5 miles per gallon in the year 2016; a standard expected to reduce oil consumption by an estimated 1.8 billion barrels, saving motorists some $3,000 a year in average fuel costs, while preventing greenhouse gas emissions of approximately 950 million metric tons annually.

Ford said its using that money to improve the efficiency of light vehicles with technologies to improve internal combustion engines and transmissions, reduce vehicle weight, reduce vehicle drag with more aerodynamic designs, and improve vehicle efficiency through the development of hybrid and plug-in electric vehicles. The loan proceeds will enable Ford to raise the fuel efficiency of more than a dozen popular models, representing close to two million new vehicles annually, and save more than 200 million gallons of gas a year.

Altogether, DOE’s loans to Ford, Tesla, Nissan and others total more than $8 billion – not chump change in my book, at least.

On another front, DOE is shifting nearly $80 million from funds it received through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act [the big $787 billion “stimulus bill” passed by Congress in Feb. 2009] for research into biofuels research and refueling infrastructure.

Two biofuels consortia – the National Alliance for Advanced Biofuels and Bioproducts (NAABB), with $44 million, led by the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis, Missouri, along with the National Advanced Biofuels Consortium (NABC), with $33.8 million, led by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Pacific Northwest National Laboratory – are getting the lion’s share that funding, mainly to research algae-based and other next-generation biofuels.

“Advanced biofuels are crucial to building a clean energy economy,” said Energy Secretary Steven Chu recently (seen here at left).

“By harnessing the power of science and technology, we can bring new biofuels to the market and develop a cleaner and more sustainable transportation sector,” he explained. “This investment will help spur the creation of the domestic bio-industry, while creating jobs and reducing our dependence on foreign oil.”

Now, will all of this pay for the U.S. taxpayer, in terms of less fuel consumption and greater energy security? That’s the real trick in all of this. I for one hope it does.

“Our commitment to working with companies that develop zero-emission trucks is another important strategy in our plan to grow Los Angeles green by being a catalyst in testing and bringing to market the most promising emission reduction technologies.” –Antonio Villaraigosa, Mayor, Los Angeles

So the port of Los Angeles is in the midst of testing a new kind of “green” truck, if you will: a fuel cell-electric hybrid drayage tractor designed for short and medium distance cargo-hauling operations.

This tractor prototype, retrofitted by Vision Industries of Los Angeles, is being put through a series of on-road and laboratory tests to mimic a variety of drayage duty cycles, including different loads, road conditions and travel distances.

The port says local drayage trucking companies are expected to assist with the demonstration over the next 12 to 18 months, with the University of California at Riverside’s college of engineering center for environmental research and technology (CE-CERT) laboratories will help guide the data collection and analysis.

[Here’s a video walk-around of this new hybrid tractor, courtesy of Los Angeles’ port authority.]

The powertrain for this tractor, as noted, is very from what’s typically brought to mind by the word “hybrid.” Instead of a diesel engine linked to an electric motor and battery pack, Vision’s hybrid trucks are powered by the combination of a hydrogen fuel cell, electric motor, and lithium batteries — with a purported range of up to 400 miles. In essence, the truck runs on hydrogen, which emits nothing more than water vapor out the tail pipe. Frankly, you can’t get much cleaner than that.

The key, however, is sustainability – from an economic standpoint, I stress. Hydrogen fuel cells to power vehicles don’t come cheap. It’s been rumored that the value of Honda’s FCX Clarity fuel cell passenger cars, for example, is about $10 million a copy – a price tag that incorporates the millions in research Honda has spent developing a fuel cell-powered vehicle. Indeed, Honda’s been researching fuel cells since 1989, but only released a prototype vehicle back in 2003 powered by this technology.

[Here’s an overview of the 2009 model Honda FCX Clarity – the only production-level fuel cell vehicle to my knowledge.]

Obviously, with water vapor as the only emission from such a vehicle, it garners a lot of interest from a lot of different areas. Indeed, Honda is taking the next step in making fuel cells more convenient for the average motorist with the testing of a solar hydrogen generation station prototype (appropriately located in Los Angeles, the home of Honda R&D Americas Inc.’s main reserach center) intended for ultimate use as a home refueling appliance capable of an overnight refill of fuel cell electric vehicles.

Designed as a single, integrated unit to fit in the user’s garage, Honda said its next generation solar hydrogen station reduces the size of the system, while producing enough hydrogen (0.5 kg) via an 8-hour overnight fill for daily commuting (10,000 miles per year) for a fuel cell electric vehicle.

Compatible with a “Smart Grid” energy system, Honda said its solar hydrogen station would enable users to refill their vehicle overnight without the requirement of hydrogen storage, which would lower carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by using less expensive off-peak electrical power. During daytime peak power times, the solar hydrogen station can export renewable electricity to the grid, providing a cost benefit to the customer, while remaining energy neutral.

You can see why this innovation would convince fleet operators to perhaps look more closely at fuel cells for trucks – for if you could build a solar-powered hydrogen generating system at a terminal with enough capacity to refuel your trucks overnight, presto! Kiss OPEC and local diesel filling station goodbye.

But as the old British seafaring song says, “It’s a long way to Tipperary.” These are but the very first baby steps on a very long road to making fuel cells sustainable from an economic perspective for fleets. For starters, while solar power generation looks good on paper, but as we all know, the sun doesn’t shine 24/7 across the U.S.

Indeed, on the trucking side, Vision Industries has been marketing its Class 8 zero-emission hydrogen fuel cell hybrid-electric truck for more than a year and is just now getting to work with the port of Los Angeles to further evaluate its performance in the rigorous port trucking environment.

Though Martin Schuermann, Vision’s president and CEO, noted that these fuel cell hybrid tractors are 30% to 40% less expensive to operate than diesel trucks, the sticker price is a different story – as is the lack of convenient refueling infrastructure. In time, these obstacles can be overcome, but at the end of the day, fuel cell-powered commercial vehicles can’t just be “green” trucks from an environmental perspective alone – they have to economically “green” as well to convince fleets to try them, buy them, and then keep them for the long haul.

“We want to make it crystal clear to operators and their employers that texting while driving is the type of unsafe activity that these regulations are intended to prohibit.” –Anne Ferro, Administrator for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA)

It’s official now: texting while driving a big rig or bus is now expressly prohibited under the law, effective today by order of the Department of Transportation (DOT) and its commercial vehicle regulatory body, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA).

U.S Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said at a press conference in downtown Washington D.C. today that this action – banning texting while driving big rigs – results from interpretation of standing DOT regulations. And there’s big fines attached to this new rule as well: Truck and bus drivers who text while driving commercial vehicles may be subject to civil or criminal penalties of up to $2,750.

“We want the drivers of big rigs and buses and those who share the roads with them to be safe,” said Secretary LaHood. “This is an important safety step and we will be taking more to eliminate the threat of distracted driving.” He added that regulatory guidance on this new ruling will be on public display in the Federal Register January 26 and will appear in print in the Federal Register on January 27.

Now, there’s good reasoning behind this band – snicker though some of us might do. FMCSA’s research shows that drivers who send and receive text messages behind the wheel take their eyes off the road for an average of 4.6 seconds out of every 6 seconds spent texting. At 55 miles per hour, this means that the driver is traveling the length of a football field – including the end zones, the agency stressed – without looking at the road.

As a result, FMCSA said drivers that text while operating a vehicle – and not just a commercial vehicle, it should be stressed – are more than 20 times more likely to get in an accident than non-distracted drivers.

The agency pointedly noted at the press conference announcing this new rule that, due to the safety risks associated with the use of electronic devices while driving, it’s also working on additional regulatory measures that will be announced in the coming months.

Most of the trucking community is in favor of these rules with some caveats here and there. I mean, come on, let’s face it: truck drivers KNOW how much chaos exists on our roadways today, and most try to keep their eyes glued to the asphalt outside their windshields and reflected in their mirrors.

Look, the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety itself found that when trucks and cars have accidents, in almost two-thirds of the cases, a mistake by the CAR driver caused the crash to occur. To me, that means much of the “driving while distracted” issue isn’t going to found or solved in the cabs of big rigs.

There’s also the ticklish matter of bypassing the nominal regulatory process to make this ban on texting the rule of the road – something that particularly bothered the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA).

“We support where they are going, but not how they got there,” said Todd Spencer, OOIDA’s executive vice president. “Making their action effective immediately bypasses normal regulatory rulemaking processes. Those processes allow actions to be vetted for unintended consequences, as well as potential implementation and enforcement problems. We very much share in their goal, but their legal justification for taking immediate action raises many concerns.”

Spencer said professional truckers have a vested interest in highway safety as their lives and livelihoods quite literally depend on it. “Every day on roadways across America, professional truckers’ witness drivers operating vehicles while engaged in activities that significantly impede their ability to attend to the task of driving safely,” he pointed out. “Experience has shown these professionals that, in particular, drivers sending text or e-mail messages while operating a vehicle are a significant hazard to themselves and to other roadway users.”

That’s why OOIDA supports government efforts to prohibit ALL motorists from sending text or email messages while operating a moving vehicle, not just truck drivers. And it’s getting fire support for its position from an often-times opponent of trucking issues, the American Trucking Associations (ATA).

“ATA recognizes that texting while driving substantially elevates the risk of being involved in a crash and, to promote highway safety, and further improve the trucking industry’s continually improving safety record, we support DOT’s action to ban the use of handheld wireless devices by commercial drivers to send or receive text messages,” noted Governor Bill Graves, the group’s president and CEO.

Yet he cautioned that it is important to study the DOT’s regulatory guidance to know the full effect of this change on truck and bus drivers, while also broadening its scope to include all motorists.

“This prohibition would be enforced against drivers of commercial vehicles, including trucks and buses. ATA would like to see a ban on texting extended to all automobile drivers as well. DOT could influence the states to do so,” Graves added.

Funny enough, the association representing motorists wants to see this ban expanded, too. “This action reinforces the fact that any form of distracted driving by any driver is a serious traffic safety issue,” noted AAA Vice President of Public Affairs Kathleen Marvaso. “[Yet our] state advocacy agenda for 2010 includes enacting texting while driving bans in all 50 states, as texting while driving presents a danger to ALL road users … in addition to the mental distraction caused by taking one’s mind off the task at hand.”

AAA is strongly urging all drivers – not just truckers and bus operators – to focus on driving and avoid all behaviors that result in distractions while at the wheel, Marvaso added.

That, of course, will be the real trick; for as the old saying goes, “You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.” Eliminating texting while behind the wheel is easy to do on paper, but not so in real life. And yet … in the space of just five years, the use of seat belts by truckers jumped from under 50% to over 72%, and it’s still climbing. That tells me truckers can and will change their habits behind the wheel – the question is, will the rest of the motoring public follow their example?