Trucking news and briefs for Wednesday, July 24, 2024:
10 mph was average speed for Kodiak company's first driverless run in the oilfield
Kodiak Robotics recently completed a driverless truck run with Atlas Energy on Atlas' private lease roads in Texas' Permian Basin.
Autonomous truck developer Kodiak Robotics earlier this year delivered its first commercial driverless freight in the oilfields of Texas, the company announced Tuesday.
Kodiak and Atlas Energy Solutions on May 2 completed their first driverless delivery of frac sand in West Texas’s Permian Basin. As reported by Overdrive sister publication CCJ’s Jason Cannon, the 21-mile route was on Atlas’s existing infrastructure of private lease roads with no driver in the cab. The duration of the haul was two hours and seven minutes. The average speed was 10 mph (the average traffic speed on the private lease roads is under 20 mph), and the max speed was 15 mph.
The companies said the hot and dry climate in the Permian Basin makes it one of the world’s most challenging environments for truck drivers, but Atlas noted the Kodiak Driver can handle driving through harsh conditions, including extreme heat and dust storms that impact visibility.
[Related: Calif. bill requiring human operator in-cab breezing through legislature]
As part of the partnership between the two companies, Atlas next year plans to launch commercial operations using two trucks equipped with the Kodiak Driver package, which Kodiak will provide via a driver-as-a-service licensing agreement. Atlas will own the trucks, and Kodiak will provide the hardware and software stack designed for driverless deployment. Kodiak will also provide operational support services, including remote monitoring from its operations center in Lancaster, Texas.
Other autonomous truck companies, including Aurora Innovation and Daimler’s Torc Robotics, are also making moves. Aurora’s recently partnered with Uber Freight, and Torc’s got testing ongoing of autonomous trucks in real-world operations.
Earlier this year, Kentucky lawmakers overrode a veto from Gov. Andy Beshear that clears a regulatory path for autonomous trucks to operate in the Bluegrass State. In California, for the second year in a row, lawmakers are advancing a bill that would block what Kodiak just performed in Texas -- driverless operations. California's bill would require a human operator inside a truck at all times. Last year, the state legislature passed the same bill, but it was ultimately vetoed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
[Related: Uber Freight partners with another autonomous truck developer]
Truck busted with $540K in liquid meth in fuel tanks
A 31-year-old Mexican citizen was arrested by El Centro (California) Sector Border Patrol agents for allegedly attempting to smuggle some 450 pounds of methamphetamine into the U.S. in a truck.
El Centro Sector Border Patrol agents seized 450 pounds of liquid meththat was hidden in the fuel tanks of a tractor-trailer.U.S. Customs and Border Protection
Agents tested the liquid in the fuel tanks and confirmed the presence of methamphetamine. The total value of the drugs seized is estimated to be $540,000.
“I tend to think large shipments of methamphetamine such as this pose a risk to Americans on several levels, including increases in crime and decreases in health and safety,” said El Centro Sector Chief Patrol Agent Gregory Bovino. “Agents in the Premier Sector will continue to take the fight to smugglers of all types with one goal in mind: winning on behalf of the taxpayer.”
Cocaine, meth found in hidden frame compartment
On Tuesday, July 16, U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Calexico Port Cargo Facility discovered 148.28 pounds of cocaine and 12.08 pounds of methamphetamine concealed within the frame of a tractor-trailer.
CBP officers at the Calexico Port Cargo Facility discovered narcotics concealed within the frame of a tractor trailer.U.S. Customs and Border Protection
During secondary inspection, non-intrusive scanning technology was used to perform a thorough scan of the truck, where irregularities within the frame were detected. A cursory inspection was conducted, which led to the discovery of a non-factory compartment within the frame.
CBP officers discovered and extracted a total of 56 packages concealed within. The contents of the packages were tested and identified as cocaine and methamphetamine.
“Our dedicated CBP officers used their keen instincts and thorough inspection techniques to uncover these dangerous narcotics,” said Roque Caza, Port Director for the Area Port of Calexico. “This significant seizure exemplifies our proactive approach in our border protection measures while ensuring the smooth facilitation of lawful trade and travel.”
The driver was turned over to the custody of Homeland Security Investigations for further investigation. The narcotics and tractor-trailer were seized by CBP officers.
Truck tonnage was down in June, but up for Q2
ATA's For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 1.6% in June after increasing 3% in May.ATA
Despite a dip in tonnage hauled in June from May, the American Trucking Associations’ Truck Tonnage Index was higher on average in the second quarter from the first quarter.
ATA’s advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 1.6% in June after increasing 3% in May. In June, the index equaled 113.5 (2015=100) compared with 115.3 in May.
How do owner-operators and small fleets survive and thrive in tough economic times?Find out in this webinar.
Join us for a live webinar Aug. 22 at 1 p.m. CT and hear from owner-operators and small fleets as we discuss how they prepared during the good times to weather the storms.
“While giving back some of the gain from May, it appears that truck freight tonnage is slowly going in the right direction since hitting a recent low in January,” said ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello. “Despite June’s decline, the second quarter average was 0.2% above the first quarter and only 0.2% below the second quarter in 2023, which are good signs that truck freight might be finally turning the corner.”
Compared with June 2023, the index decreased 0.4%. In May, the index was up 1% from a year earlier, which was the first year-over-year gain since February 2023.
The not seasonally adjusted index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by the fleets before any seasonal adjustment, equaled 113.1 in June, 5.5% below May. ATA’s For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index is dominated by contract freight as opposed to traditional spot market freight.
