Yard Truck Archives - DJ Products

Changes in Store for Calculation of Carrier Safety Scoring

Changes Are In Store for Carrier Safety Scoring

Transportation industry stakeholders are constantly searching for ways to improve safety. Our battery-powered yard trucks are ergonomically designed to reduce risk of injury when shunting trailers, while the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) is focused on safe conditions for drivers.

In 2015 President Obama signed the FAST Act, a five-year transportation funding bill. Last August, in accordance with one of the requirements contained in the bill, the FMCSA filed a report with Congress about proposed changes to the Compliance, Safety, Accountability carrier safety rating program.

Prioritizing Safety in Transportation

The FAST Act included the following mandates for the FMCSA:

– CSA’s public SMS percentile rankings were to be pulled immediately from public view.

– The FMCSA was to contract the National Academies of Science (NAS) to study CSA and offer recommendations to improve its fairness and accuracy.

– Finally, the NAS findings were to be incorporated in a corrective action plan that the FMCSA would then submit to Congress.

Opening the Channels of Communication

In addition, the FMCSA planned a public meeting in late August to get feedback from industry stakeholders about the best methods to incorporate the corrective action plan. Prospective reforms in their 10-page report include:

– Changing the methods of calculating scores using improved data.

– Making the scores more user-friendly for carriers to interpret and calculate.

– Instituting an absolute scoring program that provides a universal standard rather than relying on relative scores.

Testing of the new system was scheduled to begin in September.

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Amazon: Changing the Face of Logistics Forever

With the Growing Presence of Technology, It Makes You Wonder How the Future Will be in Twenty Years.

Are your yard trucks scrambling to catch up with Amazon’s fulfillment strategy? Amazon.com has a reputation for changing the shipping industry with its bold, innovative ideas. How will the trickle-down effect of such changes affect your business?

Rapid Response

Amazon’s dominance in the retail industry is courtesy of its uber-efficient supply chain, which it’s continuously evolving to deliver products in the quickest way possible. Their 2005 introduction of 2-day ‘Prime’ shipping changed the industry, leaving competitors scrambling to keep up. (When they did, Amazon introduced 1-hour shipping.)

Accomplished via sophisticated information technology, a vast network of warehouses, multi-tier inventory management, and unparalleled transportation has Amazon’s supply chain at the head-of-the-pack worldwide.

A Logistics & Retail Giant

Amazon’s supply chain relies heavily on outsourced inventory management: Third-party sellers comprise 82% of sales. However, it doesn’t rely on third-party shipping logistics, insourcing shipping via its own delivery vehicles for same-day/1-hour shipments.

Amazon also offers greater shipping options, including 1-hour, 1-day, 2-day/Prime, first-class and ‘free-super-saver.’ Warehouses are strategically placed with location and size key to success. Each warehouse is ever-closer to metropolitan/city centers: 70 fulfillment centers nationwide and a staff of 90,000 make the most of its ‘pure-push’ strategy for warehouse-sourced sales.

Storage is divided into 5-areas:

– Prime books/magazines

– Pallet/full-case Prime high-demand storage

– Prime high-demand items (less-than-case)

– Irregularly-shaped/low-demand inventory (reverse-storage)

– Modern-demand, small items

Amazing Automation

Amazon Robotics pick/pack without human assistance, speeding shipments. 45,000+ robots bring goods to people for picking. (Next-gen robots will pick, and drone-based delivery testing continues…)

Manufacturing to Support Retail Sales

Amazon’s realization it could provide third-party items more cheaply/quickly to customers have prompted Amazon to enter the manufacturing arena as well.

Scrambling to keep up with Amazon’s shipping standards? Give your operation a boost with yard trucks from DJProductstoday.

An Update on Amazon’s Logistics Automation Plan

Shipping with Amazon (SWA), the online giant’s fledgling delivery service, is a self-contained system that covers the entire shipping process from seller to consumer. Eventually, SWA will offer shipping services to other companies in direct competition with UPS and FedEx.

The impact of SWA on the logistics industry cannot be overstated. In addition to utilizing state-of-the-art physical equipment such as an electric yard truck, traditional carriers need to embrace automation to stay competitive in the logistics industry.

Benefits of Logistics Automation

Why should carriers integrate automated logistics?

– Most organizations have a primary goal of scaling their business, a process that’s immeasurably more difficult without automation.

– Automation makes it easier for providers to manage and coordinate the efforts of dissimilar functions, including manufacturing, distribution and transportation.

– Automated delivery management systems include robust functionality for tasks such as truck load mapping and dispatching.

– Productivity improves when less time is spent correcting avoidable errors.

Using a Workflow-Driven Approach

Conventional wisdom holds that automation is more suitable for companies with large fleets, but even those with smaller fleets can reap the advantages of automation with targeted workflows.

With a workflow-driven approach, a simple task such as scanning orders at pick-up and drop-off becomes more efficient with automation. Accuracy increases, which in turn reduces the number of time-consuming disputes.

According to Dan Stoll, technical product manager at Nintex, automation hasn’t been a priority for legacy shipping providers. Stoll believes that “the Amazon effect” will prompt many of these companies to make some long-overdue changes.

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Logistics Industry Tries to Boost Participation from Women

Having More Women In the Industrial Industry Has Its Benefits.

Our motorized trailer dollies are designed to be easily used by anyone, regardless of size or gender. Modern working conditions are just one of the strategies being used by trucking companies to recruit female employees in what is still a male-dominated industry.

Women Helping Other Women

In March, fleet management tech company Omnitracs sponsored an online roundtable discussion headed up by prominent women in the trucking industry. Talk centered on industry obstacles to recruiting women and ways to overcome them.

According to data gathered by Omnitracs, women make good drivers because:

– They stay with their companies longer than men do

– They travel nearly 1,000 miles per month more than male drivers

– They have fewer preventable accidents than men do

Educating Women About the Changing Face of Trucking

Ellen Voie, president and CEO of Women in Trucking, challenged the industry to dispel the misconceptions women may have about the truck driving profession.

– Thanks to modern technology, equipment is much easier to learn and use.

– With safety being a major concern for women, many truck stops have improved their facilities to be more female-friendly.

– Weeks-long stretches on the road are no longer the norm. Companies have slip-seating and other policies that allow drivers to be home more often.

According to Sherri Garner Brumbaugh, president and CEO of Garner Trucking, selling the job itself is only part of the process. Companies need to offer mentors and peer support to help women manage the lifestyle of a career in trucking.

DJ Products: Making Your Workplace Safer and More Productive

No special license is required to operate motorized trailer dollies such as our Electric Yard Dog. Learn more from our sales engineers by using our handy online chat feature.

eBay Invests to Speed Deliveries with Logistics Joint Venture

In the highly competitive digital marketplace, expedited shipping is one of the ways a company can set itself apart from the competition. A motorized trailer dolly and other sophisticated equipment are useful for making shipping processes more efficient.

In an effort to boost its cross-border logistics network, eBay has entered into a joint venture with Citic Private Equity Funds Management Co. Ltd. The ultimate goal is to speed delivery service to eBay’s customers around the globe.

The Debut of SpeedPAK

Orange Connect Holding, a unit of Citic, and eBay have agreed to start a company called Orange Connex Ltd. (OCL). In their first order of business, OCL has rolled out SpeedPAK, an eBay shipping program focused on cross-border activity and China-based eCommerce vendors.

Currently, SpeedPAK offers a total transit time of eight to 12 business days across all regions of the U.S. In the second quarter, the company plans to initiate service to a number of other countries. including Australia, United Kingdom and France.

How SpeedPAK Will Benefit eBay

John Lin, eBay’s global vice president of international cross-border trade, praised the partnership with OCL, saying that it will give eBay “end-to-end management of shipping processes” for a superior customer experience. He added that more buyers will be able to purchase high-quality, competitively priced products from China.

eBay is actually the second online retailing giant to take this proactive approach. In September 2017, Alibaba Group Holding announced plans for a $16 billion investment toward creating its own global logistics network.

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Do you want to improve turnaround time in your warehouse terminal? Visit our website and find out how the Electric Yard Dog can improve safety and efficiency in the workplace.

Freight Companies Book a Whopping 14.9% Increase in Sales

The 2017 numbers are in, and transportation performed even better than many thought. After growth of 3 percent in 2016, last year saw a 14.9 percent jump in freight sales. Profit margins jumped, too, nearly doubling to 6 percent.

So, where’s the money going? Large shippers have the most leverage, but small freight companies can compete with smart scaling and agile adjustments, using the tools at their disposal such as a motorized trailer dolly for efficiency around the docks.

What’s Fueling Growth in the Freight Industry?

Booming e-commerce and a healthy overall economy created strong demand for shipping and distribution. A looming driver shortage keeps prices high, as well.

As Forbes has noted, experts forecast the strong sales figures to continue for several years. As the president of KSM Transport Advisors has said, you’d have to be making mistakes to lose money right now.

Keep Operations Lean with a Motorized Trailer Dolly

Of course, things can change quickly. High margins may indicate that your competitors have room to slash prices. If a firm struggles to retain good drivers, operations could slow down. Smaller firms, in particular, need to stay ahead of the curve on efficiency gains.

At DJ Products, we know how material handling equipment can improve your bottom line. Our TrailerCaddy Terminal Tractor does just that by increasing warehouse efficiency.

A motorized trailer dolly offers more maneuverability and control than a typical shunt truck. And because it’s not a truck, you don’t need to log hours on a CDL driver. TrailerCaddy products cost less to purchase and operate while helping to keep your trucks and trailers on the road more.

Visit the DJ Products site for more info or request an onsite demo of the TrailerCaddy motorized trailer dolly.

Could the Blockchain Concept Work in the Trucking Industry?

Blockchain may be the “Holy Grail” of the trucking industry. We have enough trucks and drivers to fill demand, but matching up shippers and carriers in the right place at the right time can be tricky, even with a yard truck to position trailers where they need to be at a moment’s notice. Blockchain technology is the other piece of the puzzle necessary to make trucking the efficient industry that it should be.

Blockchain for trucking looks a bit different than Bitcoin, which runs on a public blockchain. Transportation companies use a private blockchain. Both offer a distributed ledger of highly secure data, but the private version requires an invitation.

A co-founder of Transfix, a trucking marketplace, recently laid out how blockchain is used in transportation and what needs to happen for it to be wildly successful:

– Trust: Shippers and carriers must trust the system. This requires an agreed-upon process of vetting and contracts.

– Small business participation: We’ll need to see close to universal adoption by small firms, which make up the vast majority of shippers.

– Standardization: Things will only go smoothly if everyone involved uses the same data type.

The Yard Truck for a Hyper-Efficient Trucking Industry

If your warehouse could have a driver ready to take every piece of freight to the next destination, would you even be ready for it?

While blockchain may revolutionize the data, you need boots-on-the-ground preparedness to make use of the improved warehouse efficiency.

The TrailerCaddy electric yard truck from DJ Products can tow any trailer up to 100,000 pounds with speed, safety, and incredible efficiency. Load trailers up to the dock, move them around the yard, and be prepared for the new wave of blockchain for distribution. Contact us for more info.

Congress and Senate Advance Bill to Boost Truck Weights for Some Sectors

Mississippi legislatures have passed a trucking bill (Senate Bill 2418) that increases the weight limits for hauling farm products and timber on many of the state’s roads. Supporters of the weight increase say it helps independent truckers and trucking companies by allowing them to haul more with fewer trucks.

A motorized trailer dolly from DJ Products is one of the most economical and easy ways trucking companies can maximize manpower and lower the risks of worker injuries.

Weight increase for some commercial trucks

The bill raises weight limits for vehicles with state-issued harvest permits and is scheduled to take effect July 1. Its five percent increase concerns many local officials according to Melinda McGrath, Executive Director of the Mississippi Department of Transportation.

McGrath says there is already a five percent tolerance above the weight limit on each axle for trucks with a harvest permit. Senate Bill 2418 raises the tolerance to 10 percent. Critics of the weight increase assert that allowing more weight on each axle significantly increases the weight on a much smaller pavement area, and that is highly destructive to roads and bridges that are already in need of repair.

Lawmakers also approved increased funding for bridge and road repair. The Magnolia State typically spends about $1 billion every year for needed road and bridge work. That money comes from trucking fees, an 18-cent fuel excise tax, and federal funding. Senate Bill 3046 allows borrowing an additional $150 million and moving funds from other budgets to pay for bridges, roads, and infrastructure.

How trucking companies can save money

Equipment like a motorized trailer dolly allow any employee to easily move a semi-trailer; no CDL or Health Card needed. Contact DJ Products to schedule a free demo.

Shell’s Fuel Efficient Concept Semi Truck is Sleek and Aerodynamic

One look at the new high-efficiency concept truck from Shell Rotella, and you’ll understand why they named it Starship. The sleek, sloped tractor-trailer developed in partnership with AirFlow Truck Company looks like it came from a sci-fi movie.

Starship trucks won’t be on the road immediately, but you can still get a jump on improving efficiency and cutting costs for transportation. Our motorized trailer dolly replaces the need for a shunt truck so you can maneuver trailers in and out of dock areas and keep your semi trucks on the road more.

The Shell Rotella AirFlow Starship

The Starship was built by AirFlow, a truck company founded and run a former owner/operator who’s been obsessed with aerodynamic truck design for decades.

A highly custom carbon fiber cab that looks like a cockpit highlights the sleek design of the Starship, but there’s more to it than aerodynamics:

– Cummins X15 diesel engine and Eaton transmission

– Solar panels to power the air conditioning, wipers, etc.

– Hybrid electric axle for uphill power and greater efficiency

– Automatically inflating tires to maintain even greater efficiency

Soon, the Starship concept truck will make a transcontinental trip to demonstrate its fuel ratings. We’ll be interested to see how the Starship stacks up against the Tesla semi truck.

Make Efficiency Gains with a Motorized Trailer Dolly

While distribution enterprises await the Starship, we can all benefit now from using a motorized trailer dolly at shipping docks and truck yards.

The TrailerCaddy Terminal Tractor requires no CDL or hour logging. Dock workers can easily operate it with safety and precision, so your trailers can always be ready to get back on the road.

Contact DJ Products for more info or to request a free demo of our motorized trailer dolly.

DHL Executive Touts 1.5 Year Payback on Investment on Electric Tesla Semi Trucks

Is your yard outfitted with enough motorized trailer dollies to manage the upcoming robo-trucking boom? Tesla is so sure that its autonomous semis CEO Elon Musk is already on the record touting the payback on an all-electric Tesla semi is a mere 1.5 years.

True or Tripe?

The payback period, the time it would take to pay off the difference in initial costs compared to a human-driven diesel, is based on energy and lower maintenance cost, according to DHL Supply Chain President of Transportation, Jim Monkmeyer. Given the engine’s simplicity in both complexity and number of parts, maintenance savings are purported to be enormous on the leaner, greener robo-hauler.

Presuming all goes well with the 10 Tesla units in DHL’s pilot testing program, a much larger order is expected from the shipping giant.

Potential Problems

Monkmeyer noted the industry has a few potential problems. The largest? How the shipping grid is provided, supported, and the capacity to create a nationwide network, not just across America, but globally. This is referring to the so-called ‘Megacharger’ network foretold by Tesla, which is expected to mirror the firm’s ‘Supercharger’ network for personal vehicles.

Questioning the Math

Musk’s math assumes the fuel economy and costs will remain static, however predictions of advances in diesel technology purported to boost fuel efficiency could limit the savings advantage touted by Tesla. With recent reports of diesel vehicle producers cheating the system, however, eyebrows are raising. Either way, if Tesla comes out on top with its truck, it’s expected to come down to the quality of the product and its support structure, not diesel efficiency.

Is your efficiency waning? Save time, boost manpower, and prevent injuries with the help of a motorized trailer dollies from DJ Products today.

Tag: Yard Truck