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Motor Trend
3 days ago
- Automotive
- Motor Trend
Can Hydrogen Save the Internal Combustion Engine? Yes, According to These Engineers
Tesla Semi updates and autonomous trucks might have garnered headlines at this year's Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo, but behind such electrification a hydrogen-powered future was on full display. Honda unveiled a hydrogen fuel-cell concept big-rig, Hyundai announced the latest evolution of its fuel-cell-powered Xcient Semi, and Toyota revealed plans to run its own fleet of hydrogen fuel-cell trucks in Southern California. However, amidst all the fuel-cell news, we spotted a trend that, if it develops, could save the powerplants traditional car enthusiasts love: internal combustion engines. 0:00 / 0:00 During a seminar focused on hydrogen-powered internal combustion engines (H2 ICE), Volvo, Bosch, Cummins, and Cespira executives highlighted the work their companies are doing to advance H2 ICE development and why the trucking industry in particular is interested in the technology. The arguments in favor of H2 ICE, as far as the trucking world is concerned, center on a few key points: existing mechanical know-how, higher efficiency than fuel cells or EVs in high-speed, high-load, long-haul situations, and less tailpipe emissions than existing diesel- and natural-gas-powered trucks. These efforts mirror those of manufacturers like Toyota, which is developing hydrogen internal combustion engines for passenger vehicles and race cars. The 'Fuel of the Future,' Today? More than a few people are familiar with these promises. Many of a certain age grew up reading about hydrogen as the 'fuel of the future.' The most common element in our galaxy, this incredibly combustible fuel was showcased under the hoods of concepts like 1966's GM Electrovan and roadgoing demonstrators like the BMW Hydrogen 7, Mazda RX-8 Premacy, and Toyota Highlander FCHV, all from the 2000s. While the Electrovan and Highlander used hydrogen fuel-cell technology not unlike what's found in today's Toyota Mirai or Hyundai Nexo, the BMW and Mazda were unique because they were powered by internal combustion engines modified to run on hydrogen. In an era when electric cars were far from a sure thing, hydrogen-powered cars seemed like a safe bet. Theoretically, the conversion from petroleum-based engines to hydrogen ones is easy. Hydrogen engines effectively work the same way as gas or diesel engines do: Hydrogen in either its gaseous or liquid form is injected into a cylinder head via port, direct, or high-pressure direct injection. It's then ignited, with the resulting explosion turning chemical energy into mechanical energy, helping move the vehicle. Suck, squeeze, bang, and blow—the same principle that's propelled cars and trucks for a century. This is indeed one of the main benefits of H2 ICE that Bosch, Cummins, and Cespira—a joint venture between Volvo Trucks and Westport Fuel Systems—cite. 'One of the big advantages of H2 ICE is technology commonality,' said Cummins fuel delivery system engineering and integration leader, Chad Fohne. 'These engines can be integrated internally in a chassis with minimal modification, so they're shareable with diesel and natural gas engines.… The similarities between H2 ICE and diesel and natural gas products enable repair locations to quickly adapt to supporting H2 ICE vehicles.' Brett Keppy, a manager/engineer in Bosch's power solutions department, agreed during the seminar. 'When we talk about the different aspects of technology that need to be addressed, calibrated, and refined with a hydrogen engine, you notice all of those different topics are exactly the same as any of us old engine guys have been working on for years,' he said. There are other advantages besides existing institutional knowledge. From a regulatory standpoint, juridistictions such as the European Union consider H2 ICE vehicles to be 'zero emissions,' while logistically hydrogen fuel can be transported by truck. The latter makes it theoretically easier to supply to some regions where electrical infrastructure is nonexistent and EVs aren't viable, such as large parts of Africa. The biggest plus as far as drivers are concerned is that the experience of H2 ICE is largely the same as gasoline and diesel internal combustion. Because hydrogen combusts quicker than gasoline, Toyota touts H2 ICE's responsiveness and its ability to 'relay the fun of driving, including through sounds and vibrations' as one of the technology's chief benefits. Cummins' Fohne reports 'diesel-like torque curves' from his company's hydrogen engines. Cespira promises more than just matching the characteristics of existing engines with its high-pressure direct-injection technology, which is used to convert diesel engines into hydrogen ones. The HPDI system—it injects a small amount of diesel as a pilot fuel along with hydrogen—boosted the power output of Scania's CBE1 12.7-liter turbocharged inline-six from 560 hp and 2,065 lb-ft of torque to 600 hp and 2,213 lb-ft while improving engine responsiveness, said David Mumford, the company's senior director. (Of course, this approach does not qualify as zero-emissions.) Too Good to Be True? Despite near uniform optimism from industry leaders, many of the issues that have stymied hydrogen development remain in place. There's a laundry list of roadblocks in H2 ICE's way, beginning with hydrogen on the molecular level. Hydrogen might be abundant, but it has a pesky tendency to attach itself to other elements. That's why you never find a singular 'H' in nature; it's sometimes 'H2,' but hydrogen prefers to be paired with other elements—especially oxygen, forming H2O (water). Or, if we can tap into that final bit of high school chemistry we retained, carbon and another three hydrogens forming the natural gas methane (CH4). Separating the H molecule from its carbon buddies is incredibly energy intensive and expensive. Today this occurs most commonly via a process called steam-methane reforming, which applies a high amount of heat to natural gas to produce steam that runs through a catalyst to separate it into hydrogen, carbon monoxide, and carbon dioxide. The carbon monoxide and dioxide are then separated from the hydrogen and either released into the atmosphere or stored via carbon-capture technology (though the former is more likely), while the hydrogen remains. Hydrogen produced in this method is called gray hydrogen when the excess carbon is released into the atmosphere along with steam, and blue hydrogen when it's stored via carbon capture. Like electricity produced via natural gas or coal, neither can truly be considered 'zero emissions.' According to MIT's Climate Portal, about 12 kilograms of CO2-equivelant emissions are released into the atmosphere for every kilogram of gray hydrogen produced, while blue hydrogen emits about 3 to 5 kg of CO2-equivelant emissions for every kilogram of hydrogen. It is now possible to process hydrogen from water via renewable sources like solar or wind power (green hydrogen) using electrolysis. Electrolysis uses electricity to split hydrogen atoms from oxygen in water, but the process is costly and not done on a significant scale. Producing green hydrogen typically results in about 1 kg of CO2-equivalent emissions for every kilogram of hydrogen produced. That's Not All And those are just the hurdles with hydrogen production—there are plenty on the vehicle side of the equation, too, no matter what grade of hydrogen is used. The challenges begin with the form hydrogen fuel takes and continue all the way into the cylinder-head level. Let's start with the tank: Hydrogen fuel comes in two forms, gaseous or liquid. Gaseous hydrogen fuel is relatively easy to plumb directly from tank to engine, but it must be stored in a pressurized cylindrical tank that's difficult to package in a car. It's also the least energy-dense form of hydrogen fuel—liquid hydrogen is 1.7 times denser than gaseous hydrogen, allowing for longer vehicle range (though neither is as energy-dense as gasoline). Liquid H2, however, has problems of its own. Liquid hydrogen must be kept at a constantly cooled –423.4 degrees Fahrenheit (–253 degrees Celsius) or it will boil off and turn into a gas—that's just shy of the ambient temperature of space, which is approximately –455 degrees F. This presents a few problems: Gaseous hydrogen takes up more space than liquid hydrogen, so without a place to go it'll increase the pressure inside the fuel tank and explode. This is why early liquid hydrogen cars like the BMW Hydrogen 7 couldn't use more than 80 percent of their fuel tanks for fuel and why they incorporated an elaborate pressure release mechanism that vented gaseous hydrogen into the atmosphere from the roof if the tank started boiling off. The need to keep liquid hydrogen cooled efficiently requires the use of an oval cross-section fuel tank, somewhat negating the fuel's density advantages versus gaseous hydrogen; Toyota says it can fit 1.5 times more liquid hydrogen in an oval tank than it can gaseous hydrogen in a cylindrical tank in automotive applications. Liquid hydrogen's journey into a cylinder head is also somewhat more complex than gaseous hydrogen's. Fuel pumps are a particularly thorny issue: Hydrogen's small molecular size and the extreme cold combine to make pumping liquid hydrogen incredibly difficult. The pump's piston must be made to extremely tight tolerances and forgo any lubricating oil as it would otherwise foul the fuel. Even then, H2 has a pesky tendency to slip past the pump's piston and eventually break the pump. During its first 24-hour race with the liquid-fueled version of its GR Corolla H2, Toyota had to replace its race car's fuel pump twice. There are also some hurdles under the hood regardless of which form of this fuel is being used. Hydrogen can be combusted using either port injection or direct injection. The former is easier to implement in existing engines, but hydrogen's higher combustibility and lower density versus gasoline makes backfiring a problem and power output significantly less than comparable gasoline engines. Direct injection requires hydrogen to be pressurized nearly three times higher than port injection, making it more difficult to engineer and eventually homogenize. The benefit, however, is near gasoline-like power output. Most companies working on H2 ICE appear to be focusing their efforts on further developing direct-injection hydrogen engines. Passing Gas Then there are emissions, the other hurdle for those looking to hydrogen ICE as an eco-friendly alternative to gasoline. On the engine side, Cespira says its hydrogen powerplants have been shown to have up to 52 percent thermal efficiency in lab settings without parasitic losses, meaning 48 percent of the hydrogen fuel the engine consumes is turned into waste heat. The company says as a point of comparison that the same engine running diesel can be up to 50 percent thermally efficient. Gas engines are about 25 percent thermally efficient in the real world, while hydrogen fuel cells come in at about 60 percent thermal efficiency (for references, EVs are closer to 91 percent). There are also tailpipe emissions. Hydrogen engines primarily produce water and oxides of nitrogen (NOx), the former a refreshing drink and the latter a major pollutant. Though produced at a lower level than petrochemical-powered engines, the latter still requires hydrogen engines to be fitted with an exhaust aftertreatment system like diesel exhaust fluid to reduce the amount of NOx emitted. And, annoyingly, trace amounts of carbon pollution are still emitted from hydrogen engines, too, due to their need for lubricating oil. Fueling is another hurdle for hydrogen's future. While EVs have benefitted greatly yet still not enough from existing electrical infrastructure, hydrogen infrastructure is nearly nonexistent in the U.S. There are just 54 public hydrogen stations in the U.S., with 53 of them in California and one in Hawaii. As a point of comparison, there are 55,568 DC fast-charging stations throughout the country, and more public hydrogen stations have closed than have recently opened. Hyundai is building hydrogen fueling stations for its own use in factory trucks in Georgia, and Toyota has committed to building some for its own fleet of trucks in Southern California, but beyond that, there's been no real movement in making the fuel of the future attainable to average consumers. Why Now and What's Next? While H2 ICE supporters face many challenges in front of them, they're also making steady progress with some of the largest technological hurdles. Toyota, which has competed in numerous races with its GR Corolla H2, introduced a new technology last year it says could solve liquid hydrogen's boil-off problem. It fit the GR Corolla H2 with a self-pressurizing system that collects boiled-off hydrogen in a pressurized tank that's powered by a small hydrogen fuel cell, converting a portion of the hydrogen back into a liquid fuel. The fuel cell is fed by the hydrogen that doesn't get converted, turning that gaseous hydrogen into electricity that powers the pumps needed for the system. The excess is then run through a catalyzer that releases it outside the car as water. Toyota hasn't said how efficient its novel system is and says it is actively seeking partners to help it commercialize and develop its tech. Aside from racing, Toyota is also trialing a liquid-hydrogen Corolla Cross and gaseous-hydrogen HiAce on roads in Europe and Australia, respectively. Back in its home country of Japan, Toyota, Mazda, Subaru, Kawasaki, and Yamaha have announced a partnership to collaborate further on H2 ICE development. The first result of that collaboration will be a new 5.0-liter V-8 hydrogen engine developed by Toyota and Yamaha. Truck makers and suppliers are bullish, too. Some look at H2 ICE as the optimal solution for long-haul interstate freight trucking, and as the needed push to help speed development of hydrogen infrastructure for fuel-cell trucks, which industry experts agree is the more mature technology. Others look at it as just a way of leveraging existing expertise and surviving in a 'decarbonized' future. Absent governmental regulations, fleet owners we spoke with at the ACT Expo expressed ambivalence about H2 ICE; their primary concerns are operational costs and vehicles' ability to do the job at hand. For many of them, electric, natural gas, and existing diesel trucks appear to be their preference. As for enthusiasts dreaming of hanging onto the emotionally satisfying experience of an internal combustion engine while lessening their environmental impact, H2 ICE could have the potential to scratch that primal itch, but it's going to take serious investment in advancing the technology, commercializing green hydrogen production, and figuring out hydrogen infrastructure to have a chance of overcoming the inertia of electrified vehicles.
Wall Street Journal
6 days ago
- Business
- Wall Street Journal
Trump's Trade War Sends Chill Through Southern California Port Economy
LOS ANGELES—Ruben Diaz typically hauls two container loads of goods a day in a rented big rig between Southern California's sprawling ports and warehouses dozens of miles away. Now, the 38-year-old is struggling to find two loads a week, and is being paid less for them, following a sharp drop in imports into the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Late one afternoon, he refueled at the Sunshine Truck Stop after dropping off a single empty container at the port. He figured he would be left with about $50 after deducting costs for truck rental, insurance and diesel and was considering giving up as a self-employed driver.
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Former Jack Cooper driver launches car hauling startup after Ford contract loss
Four months ago, McKinley Archie was blindsided by the reality that his six-figure job with a trucking company where he'd worked for about 20 years was coming to a screeching halt. Archie, 46, had been working at the now-defunct car hauling company Jack Cooper since 2004. He started there as a driver. He drove big rigs loaded with new Ford Motor Co. vehicles out of the automaker's Louisville Assembly Plant and Kentucky Truck Plant to dealerships across the nation. He had worked his way up to steward at the Jack Cooper facility that served Louisville Assembly. Life was good. Then came Jan. 2, the day that Ford — Jack Cooper's second-largest customer behind General Motors — gave a 30-day notice to Jack Cooper that it was terminating its decades-long business with the hauler. Ford did not provide a reason. Archie and about 105 colleagues in Louisville suddenly knew they'd be losing what had been lucrative jobs. "It wasn't McDonald's wage jobs — those were good jobs," Archie said, noting most of the drivers were earning more than $100,000 a year. Then, one month later, GM ended its relationship with Jack Cooper after failing to reach a new contract. That put the nearly 100-year-old vehicle hauling company out of business, eliminating about 2,500 jobs nationally. In Michigan, more than 350 jobs ended when Ford and GM severed their contracts with Jack Cooper. Through it all, Archie put on a brave face to mask his fear about how he'd provide for his family. "As the steward, my coworkers looked to me for leadership and guidance, so I had to be strong for them on the outside. But internally, I didn't know what I was going to do either," Archie said. "Then, when I saw my mom, she said, 'What's wrong? Your face looks heavy?' I broke a couple tears and said, 'I don't know if I'll have a job.' She reminded me that I'm a child of God. He will take care of me. She said to suck it up, keep moving and it will all work out." Archie said he listened to his mother's advice, drew on his faith and started mulling over a plan to survive this setback. He knew that on Jan. 31, the Jack Cooper trucks had to be empty, so he wasted no time. In early February, he gathered together his lifelong band of "brothers from another mother" and proposed an idea. "We've been doing business for years, and we sat down and had a roundtable on how we can mitigate these losses," Archie said. "We decided to launch into the car hauling business." Recent car recalls: Ford F-150, Broncos among over 280,000 vehicles recalled The group has launched other business endeavors, such as in 2020, when they started bourbon-maker Black Bred Distillery in Louisville. They also run a home renovation business, Knox Construction, in Atlanta. In February, the group launched Squirrelly LLC. The goal is to haul Ford vehicles from the Kentucky Truck Plant to dealerships anywhere in the nation. Archie is the company's cofounder and chief compliance officer. The newly established hauler is based in Stone Mountain, Georgia, where some of the group live. The business group consists of Archie, two other men and a woman. The three men grew up together and have known each other "from the cradle," Archie said. They went on first dates together and Archie even taught one of them how to drive. They met the woman later through friends. She brings with her an expertise on logistics, he said. Archie describes the group as "multi-preneurs," meaning that they try to find opportunities across a range of fields. His two male partners have degrees in finance and one is a youth pastor with a master's degree in divinity, Archie said. They decided on the name Squirrelly 'because we are all over the place. That's our slogan," Archie said. But they knew it would be no easy feat to start their own car hauling business. Archie said the plan has been to buy lightly used rigs from Jack Cooper. But each one carried a whopping price tag of $260,000. Then there is the cost for insurance on the rigs and for employees. He said they were able to lease some of the trucks to start, which helped get them going. So far, Squirrelly has bought 10 trucks and is scheduled to buy 25 more, he said. "So it was quite a lot we had to raise, an arduous task for us," Archie said, saying all the capital came from the group's own resources, no outside funding. "We had go into my backyard and dig up all my savings. It's hard to go even to a bank and say give me $3 million to start a dream. Now that we're actually moving cars, maybe we can go back to them and show them proof of concept. But we bootstrapped all of it.' Squirrelly moved its first load of Ford vehicles April 22 from Kentucky to Texas. Since then, it has hauled nine loads of the Ford Expedition SUV and F-Series Super Duty pickups from Kentucky Truck Plant to dealerships in Texas and 17 loads to dealerships in Michigan. Archie said that's about 120 vehicles. 'It's a great start for us," Archie said. "Of course, we want to get to the point where we're moving 36 loads a day or better. Once we get our own inventory straight from the (automakers), that'll be better." Ford spokeswoman Ursula Muller declined to comment about Squirrelly hauling Ford vehicles because the automaker has a policy to not comment on supplier contracts. But Squirrelly is currently transporting the overflow work from other hauling companies because under the Teamsters union contract, haulers must give overflow work to other unionized carriers, Archie said. Late last month, Squirrelly employees voted to join the Teamsters, the union confirmed. A week later, a second unit of former Jack Cooper haulers rejoined the Teamsters Union. In a media release, Teamsters Local 964 in Ohio said a group of carhaulers in Avon Lake, employed by Fleet Transport Corp., unionized with Local 964. Fleet Transport was launched last month to fill the void in that market left by Jack Cooper's bankruptcy, the release said. Ford's Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake builds the F-Series Medium Duty and Super Duty pickups. Squirrelly has six employees beyond the 10 former Jack Cooper drivers Squirrelly has hired, Archie said. "My goal is get most of those (drivers) back to work. Cassens Transport took a few of them," Archie said, noting that besides Cassens, other haulers for the Louisville plants include Precision Hauling and RCS Transportation. 'We're the new kid on the block," Archie said. "Before Jack Cooper went out, those carriers were already there.' Archie said Squirrelly is looking to negotiate a direct contract with the Detroit automakers. In the meantime, he said it feels satisfying to be working again and able to employ others. "It's a lot of pride to me personally to help my fellow brothers get back to work," Archie said. "I just thank God that He put me in a position to be able to do it. When it was happening and we were losing our jobs, I thought, 'I'll be all right because I'll start my own car hauling company.' Four months later, here we are actually moving vehicles.' Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@ Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Former Jack Cooper driver starts Squirrelly LLC, hauls Ford vehicles
Yahoo
6 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Former Jack Cooper driver launches car hauling startup after Ford contract loss
Four months ago, McKinley Archie was blindsided by the reality that his six-figure job with a trucking company where he'd worked for about 20 years was coming to a screeching halt. Archie, 46, had been working at the now-defunct car hauling company Jack Cooper since 2004. He started there as a driver. He drove big rigs loaded with new Ford Motor Co. vehicles out of the automaker's Louisville Assembly Plant and Kentucky Truck Plant to dealerships across the nation. He had worked his way up to steward at the Jack Cooper facility that served Louisville Assembly. Life was good. Then came Jan. 2, the day that Ford — Jack Cooper's second-largest customer behind General Motors — gave a 30-day notice to Jack Cooper that it was terminating its decades-long business with the hauler. Ford did not provide a reason. Archie and about 105 colleagues in Louisville suddenly knew they'd be losing what had been lucrative jobs. "It wasn't McDonald's wage jobs — those were good jobs," Archie said, noting most of the drivers were earning more than $100,000 a year. Then, one month later, GM ended its relationship with Jack Cooper after failing to reach a new contract. That put the nearly 100-year-old vehicle hauling company out of business, eliminating about 2,500 jobs nationally. In Michigan, more than 350 jobs ended when Ford and GM severed their contracts with Jack Cooper. Through it all, Archie put on a brave face to mask his fear about how he'd provide for his family. "As the steward, my coworkers looked to me for leadership and guidance, so I had to be strong for them on the outside. But internally, I didn't know what I was going to do either," Archie said. "Then, when I saw my mom, she said, 'What's wrong? Your face looks heavy?' I broke a couple tears and said, 'I don't know if I'll have a job.' She reminded me that I'm a child of God. He will take care of me. She said to suck it up, keep moving and it will all work out." Archie said he listened to his mother's advice, drew on his faith and started mulling over a plan to survive this setback. He knew that on Jan. 31, the Jack Cooper trucks had to be empty, so he wasted no time. In early February, he gathered together his lifelong band of "brothers from another mother" and proposed an idea. "We've been doing business for years, and we sat down and had a roundtable on how we can mitigate these losses," Archie said. "We decided to launch into the car hauling business." Recent car recalls: Ford F-150, Broncos among over 280,000 vehicles recalled The group has launched other business endeavors, such as in 2020, when they started bourbon-maker Black Bred Distillery in Louisville. They also run a home renovation business, Knox Construction, in Atlanta. In February, the group launched Squirrelly LLC. The goal is to haul Ford vehicles from the Kentucky Truck Plant to dealerships anywhere in the nation. Archie is the company's cofounder and chief compliance officer. The newly established hauler is based in Stone Mountain, Georgia, where some of the group live. The business group consists of Archie, two other men and a woman. The three men grew up together and have known each other "from the cradle," Archie said. They went on first dates together and Archie even taught one of them how to drive. They met the woman later through friends. She brings with her an expertise on logistics, he said. Archie describes the group as "multi-preneurs," meaning that they try to find opportunities across a range of fields. His two male partners have degrees in finance and one is a youth pastor with a master's degree in divinity, Archie said. They decided on the name Squirrelly 'because we are all over the place. That's our slogan," Archie said. But they knew it would be no easy feat to start their own car hauling business. Archie said the plan has been to buy lightly used rigs from Jack Cooper. But each one carried a whopping price tag of $260,000. Then there is the cost for insurance on the rigs and for employees. He said they were able to lease some of the trucks to start, which helped get them going. So far, Squirrelly has bought 10 trucks and is scheduled to buy 25 more, he said. "So it was quite a lot we had to raise, an arduous task for us," Archie said, saying all the capital came from the group's own resources, no outside funding. "We had go into my backyard and dig up all my savings. It's hard to go even to a bank and say give me $3 million to start a dream. Now that we're actually moving cars, maybe we can go back to them and show them proof of concept. But we bootstrapped all of it.' Squirrelly moved its first load of Ford vehicles April 22 from Kentucky to Texas. Since then, it has hauled nine loads of the Ford Expedition SUV and F-Series Super Duty pickups from Kentucky Truck Plant to dealerships in Texas and 17 loads to dealerships in Michigan. Archie said that's about 120 vehicles. 'It's a great start for us," Archie said. "Of course, we want to get to the point where we're moving 36 loads a day or better. Once we get our own inventory straight from the (automakers), that'll be better." Ford spokeswoman Ursula Muller declined to comment about Squirrelly hauling Ford vehicles because the automaker has a policy to not comment on supplier contracts. But Squirrelly is currently transporting the overflow work from other hauling companies because under the Teamsters union contract, haulers must give overflow work to other unionized carriers, Archie said. Late last month, Squirrelly employees voted to join the Teamsters, the union confirmed. A week later, a second unit of former Jack Cooper haulers rejoined the Teamsters Union. In a media release, Teamsters Local 964 in Ohio said a group of carhaulers in Avon Lake, employed by Fleet Transport Corp., unionized with Local 964. Fleet Transport was launched last month to fill the void in that market left by Jack Cooper's bankruptcy, the release said. Ford's Ohio Assembly Plant in Avon Lake builds the F-Series Medium Duty and Super Duty pickups. Squirrelly has six employees beyond the 10 former Jack Cooper drivers Squirrelly has hired, Archie said. "My goal is get most of those (drivers) back to work. Cassens Transport took a few of them," Archie said, noting that besides Cassens, other haulers for the Louisville plants include Precision Hauling and RCS Transportation. 'We're the new kid on the block," Archie said. "Before Jack Cooper went out, those carriers were already there.' Archie said Squirrelly is looking to negotiate a direct contract with the Detroit automakers. In the meantime, he said it feels satisfying to be working again and able to employ others. "It's a lot of pride to me personally to help my fellow brothers get back to work," Archie said. "I just thank God that He put me in a position to be able to do it. When it was happening and we were losing our jobs, I thought, 'I'll be all right because I'll start my own car hauling company.' Four months later, here we are actually moving vehicles.' Jamie L. LaReau is the senior autos writer who covers Ford Motor Co. for the Detroit Free Press. Contact Jamie at jlareau@ Follow her on Twitter @jlareauan. To sign up for our autos newsletter. Become a subscriber. This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Former Jack Cooper driver starts Squirrelly LLC, hauls Ford vehicles Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
7 days ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
Young truckie shares job secrets amid major warning for Aussie industry: 'Massive problem'
She might have more than 200,000 followers across social media, but just don't call her an influencer. She's a truck driver who happens to make videos, taking Aussies behind the wheel to show what life is like on the road and behind some of the country's biggest vehicles. Casuarina Smith isn't who you would expect to be driving big rigs or road trains in mining sites, but she's worked her way up in the industry dominated by older men. At the age of 26 she threw in her job at an insurance company and a "miserable" corporate career to follow her dad and sister into the truckie life. "We're farmers, turned truck drivers," she told Yahoo News Australia of her family. "There's just no money for the small guys anymore [in farming]." The change from sitting behind a desk to sitting behind a wheel instantly suited her. "When I transitioned ... I was taking home more money every week from driving trucks," she said, recalling that she was "blown away" by the potential money that could be made. Better known as CJ, some nine years later and she's now become one of the most prominent faces in the more than $70 billion Aussie trucking industry. In a previous trip driving from Adelaide to Coober Pedy when she was still fresh in the industry, her dad came along for the ride and CJ filmed parts of the journey for her own recollection. It helped spark an idea, and eventually – about two years ago – she began posting videos of her job because she couldn't see anybody else out there doing it. "Typically in our industry we're not allowed to post anything online," she said. "It's very shunned, and I guess it's seen as a liability." "I thought that was really disappointing because how do we encourage other people to get in the industry if we're not actually showing what's involved?" So she went to HR and showed them a video of the trip she drove with her dad and got permission to post about what she's doing on the road. Since obtaining the "top licence" and navigating the world of fuel tankers and road trains she's turned the unique role into a small social media empire and become the de facto representative for a new generation of truckers. "I had all these questions that I had no idea about, and I thought if I can learn something and share that with others, then others don't have to feel stupid in asking those questions," she told Yahoo. With so many drivers about to retire "and take that knowledge with them", CJ is trying to ask as many questions as she can to pass on the insights from older colleagues before it's too late. It's a service that could prove vital for the hugely important sector in Australia. Earlier this month, a report revealed that about 28,000 heavy-vehicle driving jobs went unfilled in Australia last year, prompting truckies to call for an industry overhaul to attract more young drivers. The same report, from the International Road Transport Union, found that nearly half of drivers in the country were over 55 and therefore nearing retirement, while a meagre five per cent of drivers were under 25. Sad sound in truckie footage shows brutal reality of Australian roads Aussie truckie praises caravanners for simple road act that saves lives Calls to end major $250 million loophole amid destructive car buying trend It's a worrying state of affairs, says Wade Lewis, who is the vice president of the Australian Livestock and Rural Transporters Association. "State and federal governments are going to have to step up and say we are going to start putting a lot more focus on this because it's really important we have young people coming through," he told the ABC, adding that long-distance truckers can comfortably earn as much as $150,000 a year. "We already have a massive, massive problem. Every single trucking company is on trouble with drivers – they can't get them," CJ told Yahoo News about the headwinds facing the industry. "Truckers have got a bit of a dirty name," she said. "I think at schools, no one encourages someone to be a truck driver." CJ doesn't just share videos relevant for those interested in the industry, but also for everyday drivers, highlighting potential road mistakes that could end in serious disaster – like trying to overtake a turning truck. Particularly when she's driving on remote roads where she's able to get a drone up to perfectly illustrate the potential dangers of not giving trucks the requisite space. "My god, it happens all the time," CJ said. "There's an overwhelming naivety about how much space we need... People just don't know. "People see a tiny gap and jump in it not realising we actually had that space on purpose." It's advice that is echoed by the Executive Director of the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator (NHVR), Michelle Tayler. Speaking to Yahoo News recently, she said the one thing truckers want to convey to drivers is to always remain respectful of sheer power and size of Australia's transport trucks. "We've got more than 200,000 truck drivers across the country ... and they're on the road all the time," she said. "It's a two way street... As a truck driver they need to respect the fact that they're in a much larger vehicle and it can be quite intimidating to smaller cars. "But also as a smaller vehicle, if you're putting yourself in danger, you're really leaving your life in the hands of that truck driver," she said. Do you have a story tip? Email: newsroomau@ You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube.
