Trucking news and briefs for Thursday, April 1, 2021:
FMCSA shuts down Nevada-based trucker following two DUI arrests
Julio Perea Ayala, a Nevada-licensed truck driver, has been effectively shut down by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration after being arrested by the Nevada Highway Patrol for driving under the influence of alcohol while driving a commercial vehicle on two separate occasions 12 days apart in March.
On March 5, Ayala was stopped for erratic driving. FMCSA said his blood alcohol content measured 0.337 during this stop. Less than two weeks later, on March 17, he was pulled over again, this time with a BAC measuring 0.282. The legal BAC limit while operating a commercial vehicle is 0.04.
On both occasions, FMCSA said Ayala was also charged with having open containers of alcohol and operating a vehicle with expired registration.
Failing to comply with the provisions of the federal imminent hazard order could result in civil penalties of up to $1,928 for each violation. Knowing and/or willful violations may also result in criminal penalties.
Ayala cannot operate a commercial motor vehicle until he successfully completes the statutorily required return-to-duty process overseen by a substance abuse professional.
Embark unveils universal self-driving interface for truck OEMs
Autonomous trucking tech developer Embark has launched its Embark Universal Interface (EUI), which is a set of standardized self-driving components and interfaces necessary for truck OEMs to integrate Embark’s tech into their vehicles.
By focusing on the intersection of four major OEM platform specifications, instead of designing to one OEM platform, Embark is building the industry's first universal system that is intentionally designed to integrate into any platform. The company has designed its system from the beginning to work across platforms.
The EUI achieves its universality through a two-part design. Part one consists of a standardized components package – sensors and compute system – which have been determined through thousands of hours of design, testing and analysis. Between these standardized components and the truck is part two of the EUI design – a set of physical, electrical and software interfaces that enable the standardized components package to connect to and communicate with any OEM platform's steering, braking, throttle, telematics, power, chassis and HVAC.
"We absolutely believe that integrating with OEMs is the path to market for self-driving trucks," said Alex Rodrigues, co-founder and CEO of Embark. "We also believe that being cross-compatible and easy to integrate into all OEM's vehicles as their level 4 platforms continue to develop gives us a competitive advantage."
Yokohama increasing tire prices
Yokohama Tire Corporation announced Wednesday that due to various economic factors and market dynamics, it will implement a price increase on all its consumer replacement tires and commercial truck tires sold in the U.S., effective May 1.
The company did not specify how much of an increase consumers would see.
