This experiment was conducted to assess the effects of either low or high trailer stocking density (SD) on cattle behavior. British x Continental steers (n = 200; mean BW = 361.53 ± 54.4 kg) were loaded onto one of two truck-towed trailers. Steer behavior and positional orientation were recorded by video camera (8 h). Aggressive behaviors were more frequent (P < 0.0001) in low (178 ± 34.46 kg BW/m2) than high (333 ± 31.84 kg BW/m2) SD. Chin-resting occurred more often (P < 0.05) in low SD, yet there was no difference (P = 0.98) between SD for mounting. There was a SD × trip effect for loss of balance (P < 0.05), ruminating (P < 0.0001), and lying behaviors (P < 0.0001). At both SD, side-left and side-right were the preferred (P < 0.05) standing orientations. These results suggest that SD can affect cattle behavior and orientation en route.

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Thesis (MA)--University of Montana, 2009. / Contents viewed on April 30, 2010. Title from author supplied metadata. Includes bibliographical references.

This study was a concurrent validation of a paper and pencil test battery used at a national trucking company. Forty-eight driver managers were rated by their immediate supervisors with the performance appraisal covering 12 dimensions of job behavior that was developed by the experimenter. The driver managers were also administered the Wesman Personnel Classification Test, the Watson-Glaser Critical Thinking Appraisal, and the California Psychological Inventory (CPI). A biographical information blank was also developed and validated. Most validity correlations were nonsignificant, with the exception of the Dominance scale r = .25 (p < .05), the Self-control scale r = -.25 (p < .05), the Communanlity scale r = .29 (p < .05), and the Flexibility scale r = -.39 (p < .05), with overall performance.

An independent pilot study suggested that the Retail Employment Inventory (REI) might be predictive of subjectively and objectively measured Over the Road (OTR) truck driver performance. The present validation study consisted of three parts. First, an examination of the relationship between REI scores and 11 objective, performance criteria revealed weak and non-significant correlations. Second, a comparison of subjective ratings and REI scores failed to replicate the findings of the pilot study. And third, to confirm that the task components of the OTR job were correctly identified in the pilot study, a second job analysis was performed. Possible reasons for the failure of the REI to predict OTR performance and directions for future research are discussed.

Master of Science / Department of Civil Engineering / Sunanda Dissanayake / One-ninth of all traffic fatalities in the United States (U.S.) in the past five years have involved large trucks, although large trucks contributed to only 3% of registered vehicles and 7% of vehicle miles traveled. This crash overrepresentation indicates that truck crashes in general tend to be more severe than other crashes, though they constitute a smaller portion of vehicles on the road. To study this issue, fatal crash data from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) was used to analyze characteristics and factors contributing to truck-involved crashes. Driver, vehicle, and crash-related contributory causes were identified, and as an extension, the likelihood of occurrence of these contributory causes in truck-involved crashes (with respect to non-truck crashes) was evaluated using the Bayesian Statistical approach. Likelihood ratios indicated that factors such as stopped or unattended vehicles and improper following have greater probability of occurrence in truck crashes than in non-truck crashes. Also, Multinomial Logistic Regression was used to model the type of fatal crash (truck vs. non-truck) to compare the relative significance of various factors in truck and non-truck crashes. Factors such as cellular phone usage, failure to yield right of way, inattentiveness, and failure to obey traffic rules also have a greater probability in fatal truck crashes. Among several other factors, inadequate warning signs and poor shoulder conditions were also found to have greater predominance in contributing to truck crashes than non-truck crashes. By addressing these factors through the implementation of appropriate remedial measures, the truck safety experience could be improved, which would eventually help in improving overall safety of the transportation system.

Volvo Group Truck Technology has the ambition to automate parts of their routine service. Therefore a project was launched to investigate which parts of the routine that could be automated. The idea of this project is to lower the time spent on the service and also improve the working environment for the personnel. The purpose of this thesis is to develop and build a conceptional prototype for a low-cost crack detecting sensor. This thesis is a part of a larger proof of concept project which Volvo GTT runs in cooperation with Robotdalen and Robot Application Center (RAC). The work done in this thesis has been based on literature studies, interviews and company visits. The gathered knowledge and observations was translated into what would be required to fit the needs. This thesis covers different techniques that could be used to detect flaws in braking discs. However, this thesis is mostly focused on one non-destructive method technique based on induced eddy currents. Several non-destructive techniques and conceptual designs has been tested and evaluated with varying results during this project. The result of this thesis was a design that reacts to discontinuities in conductive materials, such as the grey cast iron material used in the Volvo trucks braking discs. The results are represented as a voltage drop change and can be visualized by an oscilloscope. This study shows that the method of choice has the potential to be used as a crack detecting system and that the system can be built reliable with rather cheap components. Further development should aim towards making the design even cheaper and the components should be assembled on a PCB instead of a breadboard in order to make the system less sensitive to noise and easier to assemble alongside the trucks braking discs.

Seminario para optar al título de Ingeniero Comercial, Mención Administración / Autores no autorizan el acceso a texto completo de su documento. / Este trabajo busca aprovechar la creciente demanda por la ingesta de comida luego de los eventos nocturnos, así como la fuerte tendencia hacia la comida más sofisticada y el emergente mercado de los Food Truck que está aumentando cada vez más en Chile. Éste último rubro, a través de la Asociación de Emprendedores de Gastronomía Móvil e Itinerante (ASEGMI), trabajando junto a Seremi están logrando mejorar las regulaciones y condiciones para que los diferentes propietarios de venta de comida a través de Food Truck en el país puedan operar de manera fácil y eficiente. Las personas entre 16 y 29 años gustan de salir en la noche a bailar y, esto no termina ahí; cada vez más es mayor moda el seguir pasando el tiempo con los amigos comiendo algo luego de las largas horas de ayunas en el lugar escogido para la fiesta. Este es el llamado “Bajón”. Es así que este trabajo plasma una solución a esta necesidad creciente en Chile a través de la elaboración de un Food Truck que vende uno de los platos preferidos para este grupo a esas horas de la noche, papas fritas. Además con ricas salsas que le otorgan la sofisticación que la competencia no posee, así como la cercanía al lugar del evento por ser formato camión y no estar en un local fijo. La metodología empleada para desarrollar este proyecto es la de un plan de negocios según M. Porter, que consiste en un análisis externo e interno del país e industria para luego determinar los elementos que logran que la estrategia supla las necesidades del mercado objetivo. El análisis del contexto político, económico, social y tecnológico mostró resultados positivos para este proyecto. Las principales oportunidades identificadas son; la estabilidad y crecimiento de la industria, la falta de una actual oferta de comida en modelo Food Truck(s) y el aumento de la tendencia de consumo de comida rápida y gourmet. Dentro de las principales amenazas está la falta de marco legal específico para Food Truck(s) y la alta presencia de cadenas extranjeras en el mercado nacional. Para poder conocer mejor al mercado se realizaron 459 encuestas y alrededor de 20 entrevistas que incluyen a los miembros de ASEGMI, potenciales clientes y propietarios de los estacionamientos de las discoteques del sector nororiente de Santiago. A partir de esta información se obtuvo; que la industria de restaurantes de Chile es rentable. El principal actor según presencia física en el mercado es la cadena internacional McDonalds y el precio promedio de consumo para esta industria es de $862. La industria es concentrada por lo que hay espacio para competidores con estrategia en nichos. De acuerdo a esta característica de mercado se determina seguir una estrategia de enfoque con elementos diferenciadores. El mercado meta se determinó con el apoyo de la investigación de mercado realizada por el Equipo Emprendedor en donde se definió un perfil de consumidor y posicionamiento para la propuesta de valor. El mercado está compuesto por jóvenes del grupo socioeconómico ABC1 en primera instancia (con ambición de escalar a otros grupos), que salen a bailar en semana y fin de semana y gustan de “bajonear” luego de este evento nocturno. El proyecto se muestra rentable con un VAN de $70.127.892 y una TIR de 99%. La ventaja financiera que tiene este proyecto ante sus competidores es la menor inversión, donde se requiere solamente $10.000.000 como inversión inicial. Esto sin considerar que los gastos operacionales son menores en similares proporciones que la competencia. El resultado de esta tesis es que es un proyecto sumamente rentable y vale la pena realizarlo.

Within the world economy, the automobile industry is the largest industrial sector and has since a long time reached a level of overcapacity. The majority of components used in a vehicle is produced by subcontractors and the competition on the market is large. To survive on the market, the companies need to be competitive and often need to offer high quality products with low prices. There are a lot of methods to be more cost effective in an industrial environment and many companies’ choses to use the method Lean which focuses on minimizing waste. Internal transportation is one costs that does not increase the value of the product and is therefore seen as a waste. With this in mind it is important to optimize the internal transportations in order to lower the costs related to them. A case study has been performed at Gestamp Hardtech since they had identified shortcomings within their internal transportation. These are shortcomings such as low utilization of the forklifts and that the production is limited due to the fact that the drivers does not have time to perform their tasks on time. Further, Gestamp Hardtech also has a focus on reducing costs within their manufacturing which leads to their need to increase the utilization on the transportation and shortening the lead times. Having that in mind, the purpose of this study is to see how the utilization of the internal transportations can be increased and lead times can be reduced by an improved logistical organisation. The study is limited to studying the current logistical organisation at Gestamp Hardtech. Further, the study is also limited to current machine and stock positions. The study was started by illustrating the entire logistical organisation. That is, five different forklift areas in the factory. During the study the utilization of the frequently used forklifts were established. The utilization of the mainly used forklifts in the organization were around 50 percent of the total work-time and the utilization of the lesser used forklifts were lower then 10 percent. Further, the total time machines are forced to wait due to a forklift being late and how frequently tasks are performed together with how long time it takes to perform a task is established. To complement the data gathered from the case company two benchmarking studies were performed at two other manufacturing companies in the same branch. Analysis of the data collection showed that the forklift positions used ad the case company is based on geographical areas which are compressed. However, all of the forklift positions also includes trips which forces the driver to leave the main geographical area. Machines are forces to stand in order to wait for the forklifts but the utilization of the transportation is low. The fact that the drivers are leaving their main area does not conform with how the competitive companies organizes their internal transportation. These deviant routes also create a problem is one of the machines were to stop producing whilst the driver performed a task outside of the main area. Because of these two areas are combined and later divided into two new forklift positions. One of the forklifts are to handle the material which is connected to the machines and one forklift are to handle the material which is carried of the main area. In Gestamp Hardtechs case this is emptying scrap tubs, stock and package handling. In theory the forklift that are to handle the machines were to be utilized up to maximum 90 percent whilst the forklift handling deviating routes would be utilized to less than 50 percent. In reality, both of the forklifts would be utilized less than this which will enable for adding more tasks onto the deviating are. A suggestion is to ass other deviating routes from the other forklift positions or other types of scrap handling. / Inom världsekonomin är fordonsindustrin den största industriella sektorn och har sedan länge nått en nivå av överkapacitet. Majoriteten av de komponenter som används i ett fordon härstammar från underleverantörer och konkurrensen på marknaden är hög. För att överleva på marknaden krävs konkurrenskraft, ofta i form av låga priser och god kvalitet på produkten. Det finns många metoder för att kostnadsbespara i en industriell miljö och många företag väljer att använda sig av metoden Lean som fokuserar på att minimera slöseri i verksamheten. Interna transporter är en kostnad som inte ökar produktens värde och ses därför som ett slöseri. Av den anledningen är det viktigt att optimera och effektivisera för att kunna minska kostnader relaterade till interna transporter. En fallstudie har utförts vid Gestamp Hardtech eftersom de har identifierat brister inom deras interna transport. Detta är brister såsom låg utnyttjandegrad av truckarna samt att produktionen begränsas då truckförarna inte hinner utföra sina arbetsuppgifter i tid. Vidare har även Gestamp Hardtech stort fokus på kostnadsreduceringar i tillverkningen vilket leder till att de vill öka utnyttjandegraden maskinerna och minska ledtiderna. Av den anledningen var studiens syfte att utreda hur den interna transportens utnyttjandegrad kan ökas och ledtiden minskas med hjälp av en förbättrad truckorganisation. Studien avgränsades till att enbart studera den nuvarande truckorganisationen vid Gestamp Hardtech. Studien begränsas även till nuvarande lager- och maskinplaceringar i produktionen. Till en början studerades och illustrerades hela truckorganisationen, det vill säga fem olika truckområden i fabriken. Under studien fastställdes utnyttjandegraden på de maskiner som används frekvent. Utnyttjandegraden på de huvudsakliga truckarna i organisationen var ungefär 50 procent medan mindre belagda truckar hade en utnyttjandegrad på mindre än 10 procent. Vidare kontrollerades även den totala tiden maskiner står i väntan på truck samt arbetsuppgifternas frekvens tillsammans med tidsåtgången. Utöver detta utfördes även benchmarking vid två olika tillverkande företag för att fastställa hur de arbetar med truckorganisationer och truckpositioner. Analys av datainsamlingen visade att de truckpositioner fallföretaget använder baseras på ett begränsat geografisk område. Dock hanterar även samtliga positioner arbetsuppgifter som tvingar föraren att avvika från det huvudsakliga området.  Maskiner står i väntan på att bli betjänade av truck trots att utnyttjandegraden på resurserna är låg. Att truckförarna avviker från sitt huvudsakliga geografiska område överensstämmer inte med hur konkurrenterna organiserar sina interna transporter. Dessa avvikande rutter skapar även problem ifall en maskin skulle stanna i väntan på betjäning när föraren är utanför det geografiska området. Av den anledningen slås två närliggande truckområden samman för att sedan bryta ut de körningar som avviker från området. En truck hanterar allt material direkt mot maskiner på området och en annan truck hanterar materialhanteringen som avviker från området. I Gestamp Hardtechs fall handlar det om lager- och emballagehantering samt tömning av skrotbyttor. I teorin skulle trucken som hanterar maskinområdet maximalt beläggas till 90 procent medan trucken som hanterar avvikande körningar skulle beläggas till mindre än 50 procent. I verkligheten skulle båda truckarnas utnyttjandegrad bli lägre vilket gör det fullt möjligt att i framtiden addera arbetsuppgifter till avvikande truckområdet. Förslagsvis addera avvikande transporter från övriga truckområden eller annan form av skrottömning.

Master's Thesis is dealing with cost calculation in truck transport in view of smaller freight and spedition bussines firm which is operating on Czech territory. The main point is to break down cost calculation for all kinds of vehicles, which are owned by analysed firm, relative to the monitored period. Created cost calculation will serve to the employees by price setting for the transport services in future.