DTNA’s Daum Cautious on Speed Limiters, Autonomous Expectations

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Transport Topics  /  September 7, 2016

The growing importance of fleets being able to regulate the speed of individual trucks through remote, over-the-air engine updates should be taken into account as the federal government considers a mandate requiring heavy-duty vehicles to utilize speed limiters, the president of Daimler Trucks North America said.

Martin Daum said DTNA maintains a neutral stance on the issue of a mandate and could easily comply with a final rule if and when one is issued.

However, during a Sept. 1 interview with Transport Topics after the launch of the new Freightliner Cascadia, he outlined several potential pitfalls with a mandate that left him “hesitant.”

An Aug. 26 proposal from the U.S. Department of Transportation called for a speed limiter on trucks, and sought feedback on maximum speeds of 60, 65, and 68 miles per hour. “

A market-driven, smart solution is always better than a rule,” Daum said, because with a rule comes requests for exceptions and a need for enforcement.

Daum said many fleet customers have their own set speed limits, and they gain from the “good economic behavior” of higher fuel efficiency at lower speeds.

He is concerned the effect a mandate could have on a just-in-time delivery model, which is “huge in the entire economy” and can be aided by remote engine updates.

Daum used the example of a company that has chosen 63 mph as its top speed for the entire fleet. However, he said, if a truck with time-sensitive freight gets caught in traffic, fleet managers could temporarily adjust engine parameters to boost that speed closer to a highway’s limit through a telematics system to improve the likelihood it arrives on time.

He also said a European mandate limiting large trucks to about 54 mph has created a speed differential between passenger cars and trucks that “is the biggest reason for congestion” on that continent’s highways.

In the United States, DOT’s proposal is not expected to include language requiring the device to be tamper-proof. Daum said a desire for tamper-proof limiters is well intentioned but would raise complex legal questions.

“Why should I be responsible if someone violates a law?” he asked. “I put [a limiter on a truck] which really respects the law and someone breaks the law by reprogramming it, so is it now my responsibility to assume that you are a criminal and then I make sure that you can’t do illegally what you want to do?”

Separately, Daum also sounded a cautious tone on the timeline and expectations surrounding autonomous trucks.

He said he cannot see any situation where a true driverless truck is operating on U.S. highways. He also was skeptical of a scenario in which a trucker was “absolutely not paying attention” to the road.

However, looking out six to 10 years, Daum forecasted a scenario in which drivers’ feet are spending much less time on pedals.

“A truck can brake safer and it can accelerate more economically than any human foot can do — even the most experienced one,” he said.

Daum said he “could see platooning, where the first truck is driven by a driver and in the second truck, the driver is sleeping. That is for me not autonomous because the human brain makes all the crucial decisions.”

He labeled a two-truck platoon an electronically-controlled, 160,000-pound combination that could split anytime, which is “better than a truck with four trailers and it is easier to maneuver, but the first one is making all of the decisions for the second one.”

Still, before that could become reality, the system must become foolproof so there is never a headline about a highway accident that reads: “Robot Kills Man,” he said.

During the interview, Daum also said DTNA is continuing to undertake a page-by-page review of the final rule on greenhouse gas emissions through 2027 issued in August but remains pleased it will provide a “stability for the next 14 years"

The more than 1,500-page rule from the Environmental Protection Agency and National Highway Safety Administration shows that the agencies were extremely thorough, Daum said. He also reiterated DTNA’s previously announced endorsement of the rule.

“We can reach the [emission reductions] with current technology that has to evolve certainly, but we won’t have a disruptive change,” he said.

When fully implemented in 2027, the rule seeks reductions in carbon dioxide output and fuel use of 25% by highway tractors, including engine improvements, and 24% by vocational vehicles — compared with 2017 vehicles.

 

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One on one with DTNA’s Martin Daum

Fleet Owner  /  September 8, 2016

Trucking has changed a lot in the past seven years.  When Martin Daum was named president and CEO of Daimler Trucks North America in 2009, the U.S. economy was quietly descending into what’s now recognized as “the Great Recession,” and trucking was sliding from one of its boom cycles into an extended downturn.  But the resulting fleet bankruptcies and consolidations haven’t brought the biggest changes to trucking over the last seven years, according to Daum. The biggest changes he’s seen haven’t been driven by the economy, but rather by the flood of new industry regulations.

“Regulations make it really tough” to run a fleet these days, Daum told Fleet Owner.  Whether it’s hours-of-service changes, safety recordkeeping requirements, or other newly imposed Federal regulation, “these are huge burdens for big or small fleets,” he said.

The constant pressure fleets are under to find qualified drivers only adds to that burden, Daum said, as does the ever-present possibility of a liability suit that could close down almost any fleet.  “And that burden keeps getting bigger with absolutely no easing on the horizon.” he said.

One “positive surprise” over the last seven years has been fleet response to much lower fuel prices. “I expected their fuel efficiency technology [investment] to rise and fall with prices, but it hasn’t,” according to Daum. “They continue to make the investments because they expect [fuel prices] will go up again.”

As a truck manufacturer, the biggest change over his initial seven years at DTNA has been the emergence of connectivity as a main driver in both truck technology and fleet operations. “For me, real-time information on how a truck is performing combined with smart analytics is necessary to deliver real value,” Daum said.  “Our customers need information to run their businesses smarter. They can’t wait until the truck comes back in to get it, especially if it’s safety related. They want that information immediately.”

When the company introduced its Virtual Technician remote diagnostics system four years ago, “I didn’t really see just how far it could go,” Daum recalls. “But our partner Zonar saw the possibilities, and being creative helped us, our dealers and our customers learn.”

Looking forward, Daum believes “deep integration” of all truck systems will be absolutely necessary to achieve the highest levels of fuel efficiency, productivity and safety.  “We’ll always offer choices [in vehicle specifications] because we have a diverse population of customers and our product line has to reflect that,” he says. But the gains in fuel economy promised for the next generation Cascadia and its highly advanced safety systems wouldn’t be possible without that kind of integration. “It’s inevitable,” concludes Daum.