Friday, May 3, 2024

Opinion/Column

On the Road with Mike MurchisonOpinion/ColumnTrucking

The quality of longevity: instant gratification seems to mean near-instant breakdown, too

Mike Murchison

We, as a country that formerly manufactured things like freezers, lawnmowers, drills, vehicles and a lot of other things, traded our “quality control” overseeing for “ease of convenience” strategies. 

Things are not built to last anymore. They are built to give us a sense of immediate gratification, only to be followed by that horrendous sound of silence. That thing we just bought won’t turn on, light up or go whoosh when the switch thingy is flicked.

Read More
Guest ContributionsNewsRide Hailing newsTaxi industry newsTrucking

Millions of Americans Were Assigned ‘COVID-19 Violation’ Scores Based on Cellphone Data Collected During Lockdowns

Guest Contributor

A voter analytics firm harvested data from millions of Americans’ cellphones during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdowns and used the data to assign phone users a “COVID-19 decree violation” score and a “COVID-19 concern” score, according to a whitepaper released by PredictWise, the firm that harvested the data.

Read More
Launched to the public November 2nd, Whitby's "self-driving shuttle" pilot project made a 6 kilometre loop from the GO station around to the lakeshore, through residential and industrial areas. Running in live traffic lanes in real, unpredicatable traffic conditions, it had a maximum speed of 20 kilometres per hour and did not operate in heavy rain or snow. Photo: Colin Williamson
Delivery/Courier newsFeature/ProfileGuest ContributionsRide Hailing newsTaxi industry newsTrucking

Autonomous vehicles: cross jurisdictional regulatory perspectives update

Guest Contributor

Since the release of our regulatory perspectives article in 2021, there have been a variety of regulatory and policy developments around the world regarding the use of autonomous vehicles (AV or AVs).

In addition to highlighting recent developments for the operation of AVs in Japan, the U.K., the European Union, the U.S., and China, jurisdictions of South America, Australia, New Zealand and India are poised to make significant strides in developing regulatory landscapes conducive to the development of autonomous vehicles.

Read More
Guest ContributionsLaugh a LittleOpinion/ColumnTrucking

Ottawa secrets: Cops actually posed for photos with the most famous protest vehicle

Guest Contributor

I have to tell you about the morning Alexis and I left for Ottawa.

It started in Oshawa on an extremely cold morning on the Thursday, January 27th. We threw our bags in the wagon and off we went in a 1981 Kenworth W900A day cab with too much wheelbase. As we rolled on down the road laughing about our rolling billboard behind us, Alexis kept me updated on any new convoy news.

Now ya gotta remember, we thought there were people already there from pics we had seen. We stopped in Joyceville where we grabbed a drink and yes, got flipped off. Little did I know, little Miss Alexis liked being in the big truck and would later go get her “Class A”…oopsy, my bad.

Read More