Could COVID-19 vaccines carry fraud risk? — WHAT THE TRUCK?!? (with video)

Dooner and The Dude talk to a health expert about how vaccine logistics will work to prevent counterfeits 

https://vimeo.com/488212191
This Episode is brought to you by Reliance Partners-the nation’s premier commercial insurance agency for the transportation and logistics industry. Focus on your destination. Let us watch your back. Learn more about Reliance Partners at reliancepartners.com

Headlines

Nikola is progressing on its electric truck plant in Coolidge, Arizona, despite its troubles with General Motors and its massive stock losses.  

Spot rates are through the roof for trucks hauling produce, with rates topping $10,000 in some lanes for reefers. 

Stord, a startup in Atlanta, is building its own form of distribution service that’s being called an Amazon “for everyone else.”

Preventing COVID-19 vaccines from fraud

Taylor Wilkerson, principal in health systems engineering at MITRE, joins WTT?!? to talk to Dooner and The Dude about vaccine distribution.

Wilkerson says that even though the process of vaccine production has been expedited, “the vaccine will be perfectly safe.”

He says two types of counterfeits typically are seen in medicine: placebo products that won’t hurt you and those that are actually malicious. 

Wilkerson says careful logistics plans to take the vaccine straight from factory to clinician will be essential in preventing opportunities for tampering. 

Port congestion continues on both coasts

Port X Logistics founder Brian Kempisty joins WTT?!? to discuss how continued port congestion affects over-the-road logistics on the back end. 

He says due to backups in unloading ships, drivers are missing pickup times and having to make more dry runs, but the real shortage is in the human capital to support solving the problems. 

“It’s this whole ripple effect and it’s not just about how many drivers you need. We’ve had to add on logistics support staff,” says Kempisty. 

Locomation shoots for trucking autonomy

Locomation has plans for a two-truck automation model to move forward in autonomous vehicle technology. 

Co-founder and CEO Çetin Meriçli highlights how his company plans to use a paired convoy of one fully self-driving truck and one manned truck to move freight in a safe and efficient manner.

Ending the year on a high note

TheFreightCoach Chris Jolly joins the show to talk about finishing the year strong to guarantee a good 2021.

“If I have anything I want to change in 2021, I’ve already started it in December,” says Jolly, who thinks that with anything in life, making small incremental changes will better serve you than waiting for a catalyst to start. 

You can find more WHAT THE TRUCK?!? recaps and recaps for all our shows here.

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Kaylee Nix

Kaylee Nix is a meteorologist and reporter for FreightWaves. She joined the company in November of 2020 after spending two years as a broadcast meteorologist for a local television channel in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Kaylee graduated from the University of Oklahoma in 2018 and immediately made the Tennessee Valley her home. Kaylee creates written summaries of FreightWaves live podcasts and cultivates the social media for FreightWaves TV.