Technology

Self-driving cars will begin taking test laps this December on the site of a famous World War II airplane factory in Michigan where Rosie the Riveter helped produce a shiny B-24 Liberator bomber every hour more than seven decades ago.

The nationwide growth in demand for fresher foods has contributed to a boom in the refrigerated transportation sector. But tighter food-handling standards and emission regulations are limiting the load flexibility and utilization options that carriers may have had in the past, and at a steeper cost, too.

Oak Ridge National Laboratory’s new director said Aug. 23 the lab is considering testing in Chattanooga related to autonomous driving and long-haul trucking.

Bridge sensor systems are becoming integrated in the engineering and construction of spans across the country to monitor everything from load stress to movement.

MOUNT VERNON, Wash. — Paccar’s new automated transmissions were put through testing and demonstrations during a daylong launch event at the company’s technical center here, as media were given the chance to experience the new units firsthand.

Less than five months from the starting date of Phase 2 of the federal rule on GHG emissions from trucks, a statement from EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt on his plan to revisit the regulation’s sections on trailers and glider kits has created confusion and uncertainty.

When the U.S. government finally got around to regulating auto safety in 1967, it insisted that every car have seatbelts and that the steering column be engineered to absorb impact so it wouldn’t spear the driver.

Nineteen fleets tracked by the North American Council for Freight Efficiency showed fuel efficiency improvements last year, for the ninth straight year, but the gain was just 1% year-over-year as some fleets dropped certain fuel-saving technologies and as other factors such as extreme summer heat played a role in fuel consumption.

Russ Elliott, senior vice president of operations at Melton Truck Lines in Tulsa, Okla., tells TT's Seth Clevenger about his carrier's experience with ELD implementation. Part of our Aug. 23 LiveOnWeb: The ELD Landscape Ahead. Watch full program at bit.ly/TT-LOW0823.