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28 • SEPTEMBER 2023 Equipment & Tech Thetrucker.com trailers cont. from Page 25 “An electric Freightliner eCascadia has somewhere around 600 kilowatt hours,” Javidan said. “Our trailer has about 200 kilowatt hours, and that allows us not to impact the loaded weight very much. “We’ve scaled our charging solution so it actually plugs right into the shore power that’s at the loading dock, or you can charge on a regular 220-volt, 70-amp circuit overnight, just like you would your electric car, and it works great, he added” The system also works with modern quick-charging systems used for larger vehicles. For ease of use, the unit is equipped with a driver interface that’s similar to the display panel on a refrigerated trailer. “You have some LEDs in the rearview mirror — you know if the system is working or if it’s in a fault state,” Javidan said. If the system should fail, the trailer will function like any standard trailer. The Ranger power system, including batteries, adds about 4,000 pounds to the weight of the trailer — a drawback that won’t help carriers that frequently max out on weight. While electric trucks are granted an additional 2,000 pounds of gross vehicle weight, that exemption doesn’t apply to trailers yet. This is something Javidan and Range Energy are working to change. Driving with the Range package has produced some interesting comments. “On one run, our driver, with a fully loaded trailer, stopped at an intersection with an uphill pull on the other side,” Javidan said. “He said that the torque curve was so smooth that he could accelerate smoothly right on through.” Another example involved Southern California’s infamous “Grapevine,” a 6-mile section of Interstate 5 that’s known for its dangerous grade. “It can be scary in a passenger car,” Javidan said. “You’re either overheating on the way up or burning your brakes on the way down. Our driver, with a fully loaded trailer, throttled up the hill, passing everyone else and then didn’t touch the brakes at all on the way down. At the bottom of the hill, he had cold brakes — and all that energy went back into the battery.” A dry van trailer with the Ranger power system is expected to have a price point roughly equivalent to a refrigerated trailer. With a recent point-of-sale incentive of $80,000 from the California Air Resources Board (CARB), the cost drops to that of a typical dry van trailer. With or without incentives, the trailer is expected to pay for itself in fuel savings. Because of the need for charging, Range-equipped trailers are currently best suited for out-and back or local runs, although they can be pulled indefinitely without charging. 8 Pilot, Kodiak open autonomous ‘truckport’ in Villa Rica, Georgia KNOXVILLE, Tenn., and MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. — It may sound like something out of the latest sci-fi film, but Georgia’s new truckport is the reality of an ever-changing landscape of trucking. It’s the brainchild of self-driving trucking firm Kodiak Robotics and truck stop giant Pilot Co. The facility, located at the Pilot travel center in Villa Rica, Georgia, will be used by Kodiak to launch and land autonomous trucks and will serve as a hub for drivers to pick up and drop off first-and last-mile deliveries, according to a news release. The Villa Rica truckport will support Kodiak’s 18,000-mile-long autonomous deployment network, the industry’s largest and most robust set of mapped routes for self-driving trucks. “Partnering with Pilot Co. to build the Villa Rica truckport ensures that we have access to the truckport services we need, utilizing Pilot’s industry-leading travel center network,” said Don Burnette, founder and CEO of Kodiak. “This partnership, combined with Kodiak’s flexible technology stack, enables our scalable, asset-light approach to building our truckport network. The freight lane between Dallas and Atlanta is critical to the nation’s supply chain and THE TRUCKER NEWS STAFF economy, and this truckport enables us to refine our operations model as we continue to grow.” The new truckport in Villa Rica will serve as an eastern satellite hub for Kodiak’s network, while the company’s Dallas-Fort Worth hub will continue to serve as the main terminal for its autonomous truck fleet. It also serves as a model for future Kodiak truckports, which are designed to be highly scalable due to lean infrastructure requirements. Additional comprehensive services at the truckport will include refueling at the Pilot Travel Center, light maintenance and pre-trip inspections, including Enhanced Inspections specifically designed for self-driving trucks. “Pilot Co. rigorously tests ways to integrate new technologies, including autonomous trucks, to maintain our safety-first focus and continue fueling the trucking industry,” said Brandon Trama, director of strategy and business development at Pilot Co. “Working with Kodiak aligns with our emphasis on improving the quality of life for professional drivers. Autonomous trucks focus on the long, repeatable highway miles, leaving the more enticing local, first- and last-mile deliveries for professional drivers who can stay closer to home.” 8 LOOKING TO GET YOUR CDL? Check out .com’s ALL NEW comprehensive TRUCK DRIVING SCHOOL DIRECTORY to find the best CDL training facility near you. .com is your source for: 4 truck driving schools with easy to use search functionality 4 the latest CDL training regulation changes starting February 2022 4 truck driving job listings 4 truck driving job resources 4 truck driving job news articles Visit GoTruckers.com/schools If you are a representative from a truck driving school or CDL training facility and would like to add, update or enhance your school’s complimentary listing with additional information, please contact us at info@GoTruckers.com.
Thetrucker.com SEPTEMBER 2023 • 29 FEATURES Shattering stereotypes Hazmat hauler Liana Castro never takes the easy way out DWAIN HEBDA | SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT Liana Castro heard the word “can’t” a lot growing up, as in “You can’t be a truck driver.” She also heard “aren’t” a fair amount, specifically, “Women aren’t supposed to be in the tucking business.” And, every so often, a “won’t” would bubble to the surface, like, “You won’t be successful competing with men.” Even so, Castro discovered a love of trucking at a young age. “I’d see trucks rolling down the highway as a kid and I always thought they were just big and cool,” she said. “But it was always looked down upon in my family because that was a guy’s job. That’s how it was viewed. When I did mention having an interest in it, it was like, ‘Whoa, you can’t do that! That’s only for men. You can’t be in a male-dominated industry. Would you even like those things?’ That kind of deterred me for a bit.” These statements presented challenges that Castro was determined to overcome. She worked up the nerve to dive into driver’s school, over the disapproval of her family. And while CDL training WAS as tough as they said it would be in some respects, she stuck with it. “I was completely out of my element. Honestly, the first day of truck school, I wanted to quit” she recalled. But she did not quit. Today, the only negative terms the California-born driver, who now drives for LGT Transport, retains from her younger days are “didn’t” and “isn’t” — as in, she didn’t listen to her naysayers then and she isn’t about to start now. “I tell people all the time, ‘Keep applying yourself,’” Castro said. “No matter what you get in life, you have to stick with it.” Castro applied this dogged determination to overcome the many challenges that faced her early on in her career. With each job she held, she learned a little more about what her strengths were in trucking and what type of driving best suited her life and personality. By the time she got to LGT, Castro had a strong sense of self, as well as a clear vision of what she wanted to accomplish in her career. “I’ve been with LGT about five and a half years, and a cryogenics hazmat tanker driver for about six years,” she said. “I just find it interesting and, I guess, the danger of hazmat is part of that. It’s challenging to you as a driver and it’s a completely different ballgame than anything else. “It’s always challenging,” she continued. “There are always new things that come up. It never stops. It always keeps you on your toes. I like that.” At age 33, Castro finds herself at the top of her game. Typically hauling throughout the See Shattering on PAGE 30 Courtesy: Liana Castro Liana Castro, a driver for LGT Transport, was named Women In Trucking’s July 2023 Member of the Month. Driver honored as Highway Angel for helping rescue children from traffickers iStock Photo The Truckload Carriers Association has named a trucker who helped rescue a group of children from human traffickers as a Highway Angel. THE TRUCKER NEWS STAFF ALEXANDRIA, Va. — The latest Highway Angel recognized by the Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) is honored for helping authorities rescue children from human traffickers. It was the middle of the night, about 1 a.m., to be more precise, on June 18, 2023, and Michael, a truck driver whose full name has been withheld for safety, was parked at a dark rest stop, catching up on his rest. A white pickup truck, which had what appeared to be a cage for large animals, covered with a tarp, in the back, pulled up in front of him. A man and a woman got out of the truck, and the woman walked around to the back. “She raises the tarp, and there’s a padlock on this cage,” Michael said. “She takes the padlock off and opens (the cage), and out come three or four little girls. They didn’t pull all the kids out (of the cage); they put the lock back on and they forced the (girls) into the restroom.” The girls who were taken from the cage appeared to be about 3 or 4 years old, Michael said. When the adults and girls returned to the truck, the children were forced back into the cage, which was then locked and re-covered. Worried, Michael called the police. In addition, he was able to quietly exit his truck in the dark and walk around to make a note of the pickup’s license plate. However, he says, the man and woman must have noticed him, because they quickly started the engine and left the rest area. Michael followed. “They got about 2 or 3 miles ahead of me, but I was on the phone with the dispatcher,” he said. “Next thing you know, the police pulled them over. Cops came out of everywhere.” Michael pulled over at the scene, out of the way, and waited until the police were ready to take his statement about the events. He was horrified to hear, “This kind of thing happens all the time.” “In the cage, there were hammocks with kids draped across the top, and the entire bottom of the cage was filled with children,” Michael said. Several of the children had been reported missing. Michael was told by the police that, for his own protection, he should leave the scene, in case someone else affiliated with the human traffickers was watching. As the father of two young children — one of them a girl — Michael was emotionally distraught after the nightmarish discovery. “It’s really scary,” he said. TCA’s Highway Angels program, founded in 1997, has recognized nearly 1,300 professional truck drivers for displaying exemplary courage, kindness and courtesy while on the job. For information about the program or to nominate a deserving trucker, visit highwayangel.org. 8
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