Overdrive

2 | Overdrive | July 2017 July 2017 | Vol. 57 | No. 7 CONTENTS EDITORIAL Editorial Director: Max Heine Equipment Editor: Jason Cannon Senior Editor: Todd Dills Managing Editor: Dean Smallwood News Editor: James Jaillet Associate Editor: Matt Cole Contributing Editors: Jill Dunn, Paul Hartley Contact: truckingeditorial@gmail.com DESIGN & PRODUCTION Art Director: Kenneth Stubbs Production Designer: David Watson Quality Assurance: Timothy Smith Advertising Production Manager: Leah Boyd Contact: production@overdriveonline.com TRUCKING MEDIA Vice President of Sales, Trucking Media: Brad Holthaus Director of Content Marketing Services: Carolyn Mason Special Projects Manager: Kathleen Craft Web Developer/Analyst: Marlin Caddell Contact: sales@truckingmedia.com 3200 Rice Mine Rd NE | Tuscaloosa, AL 35406 800-633-5953 | randallreilly.com CORPORATE Chairman: Mike Reilly President/CEO: Brent Reilly Chief Operating Officer: Shane Elmore Chief Financial Officer: Russell McEwen Senior Vice President, Sales: Scott Miller Senior Vice President, Editorial and Research: Linda Longton Senior Vice President, Acquisitions & Business Development: Robert Lake Senior Vice President, Data: Prescott Shibles Vice President of Events: Stacy McCants Vice President, Digital Services: Nick Reid Vice President, Marketing: Julie Arsenault EDITORIAL HONORS Subscription inquiries: For subscripton info call 800-517-4979 in the U.S., or 847-763-9610 outside the U.S. Rates for non- qualified subscriptions: US & possessions $34.97; Canada/ Mexico & foreign $65.00, payable in U.S. dollars. Single copies are available for $6 US, $9 Canada/Mexico, and $12 foreign. Four-time Magazine of the Year finalist plus 57 other awards. Only trucking magazine to win five Editorial Excellence Awards Overdrive (ISSN 0030-7394) is published monthly and is a registered trademark of its publisher, Randall-Reilly Publishing Company, LLC., 3200 Rice Mine Road N.E., Tuscaloosa, AL 35406. Periodicals postage-paid at Tuscaloosa, AL, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: SEND ALL UAA TO CFS. (SEE DMM 507.1.5.2); NON-POSTAL AND MILITARY FACILITIES: send address corrections to Overdrive, 3200 Rice Mine Rd NE, Tuscaloosa, AL 35406. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without written permission is prohibited. Copyright (c) 2017 Randall-Reilly Publishing Company, LLC. ® ® ® ® overdriveonline.com For change of address and other subscription inquiries, please contact: overdrive@halldata.com Join all our friends at facebook.com/ OverdriveTrucking Follow breaking news and commentary at twitter.com/ OverdriveUpdate Subscribe to our YouTube channel at youtube.com/ OverdriveMag Subscribe to daily newsletter or monthly magazine at overdriveonline.com/subscribe/ Exercise your trucking business mind at "Overdrive's Trucking Pro"group at Linkedin.com Share industry headlines via the "Overdrive magazine" page at plus.google.com Share and comment on photography from around the trucking world at Instagram.com/overdrivetrucking. Six-time winner of Jesse H. Neal Awards, including 2014 Grand Neal Award VOICES 4 Options few after ELD challenge stalls. 5 Pulse: "The real problem" with ELDs. 6 Another reason shippers should deal direct. 8 Reader majority opposes hair-sample testing. LOGBOOK 14 Obama-era contractor status memo rescinded. 16 Trucker Talent Search finalists headed for Dallas. 16 FMCSA study to assess split sleeper options. 19 GATS to showcase free music and famous trucks. CUSTOM RIGS 46 "Service and sacrifice" '88 Freightliner COE. 48 Owner-operator's self-built "RisslerBilt" 379. 49 "88 Mike" Morgan earns first Bandit Series win. 50 Reader Rigs: '13 T800 a stainless dream; '90 K100 a farming COE; salute "The General" '17 W900L Icon; '96 W900L pretty in pink; respect "Big Tex" '15 122SD; '02 W900L goes by "Black Betty." 30 COVER STORY: Jump start The electrified truck concept has taken on a real life, with players large and small vying for future shares of the Class 8 market. It's not only large fleets that are placing orders. 35 Presenting logs at roadside Running with an e-logs device is one thing. Communicating e-log data to an inspector is quite another. With five months to go, states' data transfer plans vary widely, and an ambitious federal program remains untested. 40 Broker ratings Not only have the internet and mobile technology made finding loads quicker and easier than ever, those same resources also can provide more in- depth, current information on broker perfor- mance. 44 Drive Test: Best of both worlds Volvo's regional workhorse trac- tor, the VNM, having been on the market for more than two decades, was overdue for a refresh. But Volvo designers did much more than modernize its body lines in producing the VNM's successor, the VNR. 28 BUSINESS Log data might not cover IFTA, IRP. 52 GEAR GUIDE All-position tire, mudflap, locks, more. 56 FLEET NEWS Decker's Driver of the Year gets Harley. 68 5 APPS FOR THAT Podcast players for on-the-road listening. TWO-BUCK TRUCKERS Wendy Parker backs a driver's plan to highlight trucking issues and show the general public how much the industry contributes to the economy. Page 10. DEPARTMENTS Cover design by Kenneth Stubbs

• Cover
• COVER STORY: Jump start The electrified truck concept has taken on a real life, with players large and small vying for future shares of the Class 8 market. It’s not only large fleets that are placing orders.
• Presenting logs at roadside Running with an e-logs device is one thing. Communicating e-log data to an inspector is quite another. With five months to go, states’ data transfer plans vary widely, and an ambitious federal program remains untested.
• Broker ratings Not only have the internet and mobile technology made finding loads quicker and easier than ever, those same resources also can provide more in-depth, current information on broker performance.
• Drive Test: Best of both worlds Volvo’s regional workhorse tractor, the VNM, having been on the market for more than two decades, was overdue for a refresh. But Volvo designers did much more than modernize its body lines in producing th
• Options few after ELD challenge stalls.
• Pulse: “The real problem” with ELDs.
• Another reason shippers should deal direct.
• Reader majority opposes hair-sample testing.
• Obama-era contractor status memo rescinded.
• Trucker Talent Search finalists headed for Dallas.
• FMCSA study to assess split sleeper options.
• GATS to showcase free music and famous trucks.
• “Service and sacrifice” ’88 Freightliner COE.
• Owner-operator’s self-built “RisslerBilt” 379.
• “88 Mike” Morgan earns first Bandit Series win.
• Reader Rigs: ’13 T800 a stainless dream; ’90 K100 a farming COE; salute “The General” ’17 W900L Icon; ’96 W900L pretty in pink; respect “Big Tex” ’15 122SD; ’02 W900L goes by “Black Betty.”
• BUSINESS Log data might not cover IFTA, IRP.
• Gear Guide All-position tire, mudflap, locks, more.
• FLEET NEWS Decker’s Driver of the Year gets Harley.
• 5 APPS FOR THAT Podcast players for on-the-road listening.
• TWO-BUCK TRUCKERS Wendy Parker backs a driver’s plan to highlight trucking issues and show the general public how much the industry contributes to the economy.