All The Supply Chain News You Need To Know 3.29
Freight about to plunge into recession? Not so fast, say some experts. At the ACT Research Seminar 60 in Columbus, IN recession talk was in the air, and while nobody has declared that we are headed towards one, ‘it came up in nearly every presentation’ according to FreightWaves. “The freight side is pretty good,” said Craig Kendall, a manager with Peterbilt. “The carriers have added capacity and they’ve gotten paid for it, but now the capacity has caught up with demand, and usually when that happens, we see [rates] start to come down.” Even though 2018 skewed most comparisons, and 2019 has tempered optimism, carriers don’t seem too concerned. “It’s been good, but not as good as expected,” added Jeff Bronson of Atlas trucking company.
Driverless truck ubiquity could still be decade away in US. Although driverless tech costs are shrinking and investments are growing by 11.5% per year by 2030, rollout in the US has been slowed by strict safety regulations. Platooning, an automatic braking system to allow semis to retain formation, ‘will bridge automated and autonomous trucks,’ according to the report by Navigant. “High-level automation will not eclipse 1 percent of annual sales until 2028,” Navigant’s report goes on to say. However, once the tech matures, adoption could accelerate to 90% compound annual growth, Trucks.com reports.
Target sets sights on supplier emissions. The big box behemoth’s new mantra is, ‘do as I do’, as their new climate goals target both their own emissions and their suppliers’ as well. Target’s supply chain currently accounts for 96% of the company’s total emissions, they aim to improve that by reducing emissions by 30% by 2030. In turn, they also expect their suppliers to meet 80% of the retailer's suppliers set science-based reduction targets by 2023. This move will help keep the company at pace with Walmart, who already track emissions via Project Gigaton.
AOBRD’s GTFO in December as new ELD regs go into effect. The mandate makes a couple significant changes to the current regulations. Namely, AOBRD’s will no longer be grandfathered in, which will require fleets to update legacy systems. A change that could affect 50% of the 3.5 million Class 8 trucks now in commercial use, according to DAT. In addition, Class 3 – 7 trucks will now require the digital trackers.
Crater causing chemical explosion blows up semi, kills driver. A truck carrying a highly combustible chemical erupted Wednesday morning in Arkansas, taking the life of it’s 63-year old driver, Randall McDougal of El Dorado. “It looks like a bomb went off,” Camden Fire Chief Robert Medford told the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, The Trucker reported. “There’s a big hole in the ground on where the truck was at.” The driver was hauling ammonium nitrate for Blann Trucking Company.
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