Speaker 1: This is Pet Life Radio. Let's talk Pets.
Speaker 2: Welcome to Best Pets for Pets. I'm your show host
Michelle Berne. Today we're talking about something that every pet
parent who travels with their animal needs to hear, about
pets safety on the open road. So there are more
than eight hundred thousand truck drivers that travel with their pets,
mostly with their dogs and Volvo trucks. North America just
partnered with the Center for Pet Safety to test how
safe big rig trucks really are for dogs and other pets,
and we have some surprising results. Stay tuned, we'll be
right back.
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Speaker 4: Let's talk pets on petlifradio dot com.
Speaker 2: Welcome back everyone. I'd like to welcome Chris Stadler. He
is the marketing manager for Volvo Trucks North America. Welcome Chris.
Speaker 5: Thank you for having me. Michelle, excited to be here today.
Speaker 2: Very happy to have you. I am always happy to
hear about safety for pets, especially with vehicles, because that's like,
it's one of my peeves, and especially because I live
in a warm climate and you hear a lot of
things about what happens with pets when they're in cars
and trucks and so forth. What inspired Volvo to even
think about our trucks safe for our pets, especially big
rig trucks.
Speaker 5: Well, Michelle, I think when we do a lot of
research and studies on when we're designing trucks or even
getting to put our trucks together, we do a lot
of clinics and surveys with our drivers and customers out
there in the road. And I mean we go to
truck stops, we have clinics that drivers come in, and
we even do test trucks out there today. We interact
with our customers and those drivers. The thing that we
really notice is that how much of people are taking
their pets on the road and being a part of
their livelihood driving a truck. And I think that's what
really inspired us the most, was you know, hey, there's
a connection there with our trucks and the custom the
drivers out there who have their pets with them all
the time on the road. And I think that's what
really put that inspiration to us to you know, say,
what can we do to make sure that we are
also protecting those pets that are out there with their drivers.
Speaker 2: Okay, thanks, Well, we're going to talk mostly about big rigs.
It is definitely relatable to average pet owner that because
most of us also have vehicles, whether there are autos
or trucks. And one of the things that I want
to know I have a couple of questions on on
big rigs so that we can understand when long haul
truck drivers are driving, how much of their time is
spent on the road.
Speaker 5: It can vary, of course, out there today. I think
when you get into majority of those drivers around with
their pets and they're in their sleepers, it's so much
they're home away from home, and I think they could
be on the road for months at a time, weeks
to months at the time out there, and it's great
to have, you know, that companionship, I guess with a pet,
but I think they also need to have the right
living environment when they're not driving down the road. You
know that they can live in the back of the
truck and be on those when they're on the road
those weeks at a time that they have that space
and environment that makes them comfortable and makes them feel
good when they're not driving and the everything. So I would say,
you know, it could be weeks and even months at
a time when they're on the road.
Speaker 2: So if someone's on the road and doing a hall
and I don't know, I don't want to get into
scheduling and all that. On the road for a month,
they are literally driving back and forth with the month
with maybe say what five days off. So what is
that average month twenty five days so that they're with
their pet in the truck.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean there's some limitations when it comes to
the amount of time they can drive, and then they
have to do some resets where they can maybe be
a couple of days off even while they're out on
the road. They have to take some time off based
on the number of hours that are allowed legally to drive.
But yeah, there could be times that there could be
twenty five days out on the road with their beloved pets.
Speaker 2: Okay, that just puts it in perspective for there are
those of us that are not in the industry. How
common is it for long haul truck drivers to travel
with their pets and are they mostly dog and cats?
Speaker 5: Yeah, what we've seen is probably the majority of our
dog owners out there, but there are some cats that
you know, travel with their owners. I think it's it's
more about who that person is, you know, their lifestyle
on the road, and of course it can become somewhat
lonely out there on the roses. It's a great way
to have a good campaigning there for you while you're
driving on the road. I don't know the volumes like
it's like you said earlier, it's eight hundred thousand truck
drivers out there today carry their pets with them, So
that's quite a big amount of volume of number of
drivers out there that do have their pets with them
while they're on the road.
Speaker 2: Yes, that is why are dogs and cats especially vulnerable
inside large trucks.
Speaker 5: Well, I think when you get into the larger sleepers,
I mean, the driving environment is a little more open
than say, let's say a passenger car because you had
to have that space, and it's of course a bigger
vehicle in general, so there's a lot more room up front.
And also so there's there's there's risk that they're not
strapped in safely and securely that you know, they could
move easily when the truck moves. In the living environment again,
that's another area that can be it's very big, open.
I mean, I always liked the kid that it's like
a New York loft apartment, you know, that size almost
it's got two beds in there. A great thing about
our truck itself, it's got a Murphy style bed that
you know, kind of folds up and into the wall
to give extra space for the driver when they're not
lying in their bed and relaxing that way. And then
we also have an upper bunk, so there's a lot
more room for a pet to be able to roam
around if they're not secured in the trucks, and that's
probably where the risk might be in play, that if
they're not properly secured, then they had that risk of
something if the truck is like a sudden movement or
it makes that turn that is not secured, and you
know that it can hold a position real well so
to speak.
Speaker 2: Okay, understood sides being strapped in. What else were you
most concerned about when you started this project?
Speaker 5: Well, I mean, we wanted to make sure that when
we do a lot of testing, A lot of our
testing is based upon the driver and maybe occupants that
you know, there's some team drivers out there, there's life
and husband drivers out there as partners drivers. You know,
there's a lot of that out there today, and we
do a lot of testing to make sure that we
can secure that occupant there. I think what we wanted
to make sure is that now that we know that
there's a larger volume of population out there, of drivers
with their own pets out there, we want to make
sure that the safety systems that we put in place
in these truck can also protect that type of occupant
as well. So making sure that we have hooks and
harnesses that can be strapped properly with the right enough
protect our force in there to keep it from strengthening.
You know, have the right proper restraint to make sure
that if there any type of movement, if they had
their carrier strapped in or the dog strapped in, it's
not going to move them around and harm them a animal.
So we wanted to make sure that we were ready
for that, and we had some capabilities to support that.
If they like to have their pet riding up in
the front seat with them, you know, make sure that
we can strap them in with our three point You know,
we invented the three point safety belt that's out there
in the car today, and we did that back in
nineteen fifty nine, so we gave that to the whole
in the industry when it comes to automotive. But we
also it makes an important perspective when he put it
to the pet. We're going to make sure that even
we've put the proper harness on the pet, that they're
strapped in as well with that three point safety belt.
So we wanted to make sure we were ready for that.
Speaker 2: Okay, so we have volvot thing for seatbelts, Yes you do,
thank you. Imagine how I've been saved humans, but with
the strap in for the trucks pets as well.
Speaker 5: Yes, yeah, I mean I'm a pet owner myself, I
have a five year old pit bull that I've rescued,
and you know, I want to make sure when he's
riding with me and my pickup truck, did I got
them properly strapped in. So it's great that we have
that seat built available not only in the passer's side
of the world, but also in the commercial trucking as
well in the big rigs, and they have the right
harness for them to be properly secured so they can
sit up and see the world as they travel with
their owner. That's a great thing to.
Speaker 2: Have, Okay, And what exactly does the pet safety test
inside a Class A truck look like?
Speaker 5: Well, the great thing is that we worked for the
Center of Pet Safety and they came in and visited
with us and talked to us and looked at our
design of the truck. They looked at the floor plan
of what we provide in our sleepers. They looked at
the what we call mounting points that make sure they
were properly secured and they are tested to handle any
type of force there so it has the proper safety
force capabilities things should move. The other thing they worked
with us on is the comfort when you're in the truck,
and making sure that you know, we have an integrated
parking colode that we introduced with this new truck, and
it's battery operated, so it basically can run without having
the motor running on the vehicle. So that way you know,
if the driver leaves the vehicle on, the pets inside
of that the parking cooler will help keep the truck
comfortably cool at a proper temperature without overheating. There's things
they wanted to make sure that we have that capabilities
in our truck, which we do with our new truck,
and then also having the right safety equipment strapped properly
secure these carriers or the pet themselves into the trucks.
Speaker 2: Now you hit on something that I alluded to in
the beginning of the show about temperature. Yes, being secure
in the car and our truck is important, but this
happens way too more than it should. Pet fatalities, mostly
dog because people leave their vehicle running and you can't
just leave your vehicle running, leave the AC on because
there could be danger for the dog jumping around the
car moving, and then for a big rig as well,
because you have to have a cool temperature you had
a device that's basically keeps the motor running, but everything
else is safe and secure, so the dogs can't jostle
anything and start driving a big wag or anything.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I mean there's a lot of things that we've done,
you know, because again, the drivers, when they're on the
road for those periods a long period of time, it's
their home way from home. So it's basically once they're
they're in a let's say a truck stop, our rest area,
and they sit there for a while. What we want
to do is make sure they can have the comfort
of sitting there for a period of time and maybe
not have the engine running because maybe they're going to
sit there for an hour or so, or maybe have lunch,
do their paperwork, watch TV or something like that, stay
every night. And so what we've been able to do
with the new truck is we have our battery electric
parking cooler, which allows them to turn off the truck
and basically run the parking cooler or the heater. Let's
say i they're in the wintertime, now that it's wintertime,
that they can run those without having to run the truck,
and they can also program it to get it into
a certain temperature range before they get in the truck.
We have the capabilities now with we have a my
Truck app that we have in available on our trucks
where they can go in and program their truck to
start cooling down at a certain time, certain day of
the week and allow them to do that to get
them in the right comfortable environment. And that could be
ideal for the pets as well, you know, get it
to have it in a cool environment so they can
stay in the vehicle and have that capabilities. And the
other great things that we've done is we've we have
insulated curtains. We have a way to really put the
insulation in that We've put enough installation in that truck
now that it really keeps the temperture at a good
level for a long period of time. And that's another
great feature that we've bought. It provided with the new truck.
So it's not really running the truck. That they can
run the truck that there's certain certain areas of the
country where you can't idle for a long period of time.
But this gives them that capabilities to run the air conditioning,
run the heating bent for the for themselves or for
their pets without running the vehicle. Another great thing is
with our trucks is that from a safety perspective, if
they're they have to get out of the truck and
maybe going into the truck stop to maybe get dinner
for themselves and get the supplies for their pets, is
that they can lock the truck remotely, you know, and
basically also have an alarm system in case something goes
off as well.
Speaker 2: That's amazing. I was going to say, I will never
look at a big rig Volvo truck the same. Again,
this is amazing that these features are there. And I'm
sure people that are listening because not everyone listening drives
a big rig or thinking when are these features going
to be available in all vehicles? What did you learn
that most pet parents listening would probably not expect.
Speaker 5: Well, I mean from our perspective on the Volvo in itself.
You know, again, safety is important to us. It's in
our DNA. We really focus on safety, and I think
it's important that you know, when we look at protecting
the occupants of that vehicle and even the environment they're
operating in and taking consideration that you know, these trucks
are moving down the road, they're next to you and
the car, and you want to make sure that they're safe.
The great thing is that we've done is we've put
active safety systems in the truck, so I meaning we
have ways to help the driver maintain their lanes. It's
what we call lane keep assists that can nudge them
back in the lane if they drift a little bit
out of their lanes. We have capabilities to mitigate a
forward collision because we have a radar and a camera
system that is designed in the truck that basically picks
up vehicles, picks up pedestrians and bicyclists if they're moving,
and identifies it to the drivers so they can take
the necessary extions to stop the vehicle. If not, the
system will start to take over itself. That's the great
thing about this and for me learning on the safety
side from the pet the Center for Pet Safety is
just you know, what do we have that can really
work for our customers or the drivers out there to
secure their pets firmly in the trucks, whether they're putting
them in the carrier or letting them ride up in
the front seat. What type of equipment is necessary to
make sure that they're properly secure in those trucks. So
that's a lot of things that I've learned. And then
then how we can also communicate how we can help
with the truck itself being safe on the road for
those those customers that are going to take their pets
on the right and they're driving tractor trailers, are even
driving in their cars next to the big trucks.
Speaker 2: Okay, thanks, We're gonna take a short break and moving
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Speaker 8: Pet Life Radio dot com.
Speaker 2: Welcome back, everyone. We're talking to Chris Stadler from Volvo
and we're talking about the test that Bulbo just completed
with big ring trucks and cut safety in the big
ring trucks. So let's talk about the testers. What were
the dog testers? Did you have dog testers?
Speaker 5: Actually, the Center for Pet Safety they have an engineer
that kind of studies that like said, they got to
see the drawings of our cab, the interior spacing. They
got to test out the harness straps and make sure
they were tightly secured. And they can properly secure them
into any type of carriers and then also making sure
are three point safety belt is in a good position
to secure an animal or pet into the driver's seat
if they are passengers, ex give me a driver's eat,
but passes their seed. So I think that was great
to realize that they put an engineer in their company
to help you work with the trucking industry or involving themselves.
So that was one thing that was quite interesting that
to see that they had that and then having that
collaboration with them to showcase what we can do, like
I said, from an integrated parking cooler in all our
active safety systems. To see that development and see how
what we can provide and in terms of protecting those
pets on the road.
Speaker 2: Okay, let's talk about if I'm a truck driver traveling
with my dog right now, how with hearing this information
and give a shout out to all the truck drivers
listening to my show, thank you very much, But how
would this information just change my life?
Speaker 5: I mean well, being like I said, being an owner
of a pet myself, and I have my commercial driver's
license as well, so I can drive a tractor trailer
out there today. I think how it's changed me is
it to show that you know, Volvo In themselves are
taking the steps to make sure that we can provide
safety for any occupant that's in the truck, whether it's
human beings, are animals themselves, and giving them the resource
and knowledge that, hey, that we have the capabilities to
protect anybody in that vehicle, but then also protect around
the vehicle as much as you can. So I think
that's how much it would change my life as a
truck driver or as a pet owner that's going to
drive a truck out there or be around the truck
in themselves. And then also I think what I learned
as well from my discussions with a center of pet
safety is the type of equipment that you need to
have to really harness your pet in the vehicle, whether
it's in the in the passenger seat or whether you
have them in a carrier in the back of the truck.
You want to make sure that you have the right equipment,
the right product to basically be able to do that improperly.
So that's I think that's what things would say that
information has changed my life about putting the pet in the.
Speaker 2: Truck okay, And with regards to the Center for Pet Safety,
what did they bring to Volvo that really you know,
you talked about it just before, that really made you
guys think, you know, yeah, we have to keep in
mind this and that there's commercial that's that people can
use in their vehicles, but in a big rig there's
a difference. And like you said, the perfect type of
strapping you know, has to be or containment has to be.
But what are some other things that the Center for
Pet Safety brought to Bolva that really just was was
there anything that surprising?
Speaker 5: I mean, I think it was good to know that,
you know, one animal various sizes. You know, we have
a customer that the drives trucks for us and they
care around three French bulldogs with them when they drive.
A husband and wife that drive test drive for us.
I think knowing that, you know you're going to have
various types of carriers out there, what's the right carrier
to maybe have that can properly be secured or what's
the right body harness, you know, like a body vest
that you may need have for your your animal, your
pet that makes sure they're secured. So that was some
good learnings from our perspective, and I think this is
a partnership going forward. I mean that's what we want
as a partnership going forward. So when we get into
future developments or even if we can make some modifications
to what we have today to even get even more
secured for those pet owners out there on the road,
that's what we want to do, is this partnership. And
there's a I think having this relationship with the Center
for Pet Safety is that we're going to have the
opportunities to do more with them, whether it's getting some
apps to help us link into you know, where's the
proper vet you know, maybe we have that capabilities for
the drivers can get access to know where local vets
are or the nearest vets should be if they need
the medical emergency for their pets. That kind of stuff.
We're going to have to that in development as well.
With our relationship with the Center for Pet Safety.
Speaker 2: That's great. What are the biggest mistakes people make when
they're traveling with their pets in big rings?
Speaker 5: I hope everybody takes in nes their steps to be
safe with their pets on the road. So I think
what it would be is just being aware of what
they need to do to make their vehicles safe for
pet travel. I think that could be something that's they
need They have to focus a little bit more on
is in knowing what the right equipment is to have
in their trucks and being on the road. So I
would say that would be more of that and maybe
properly securing the pets while they're traveling. It can be
a little challenging, I think, even in a passenger car,
but I think now it's a little different because you
got a different layout in the back behind the driver
and passes your seat in the truck. So it's just
understanding being aware of what you need to do to
make that pets safe while you're traveling.
Speaker 2: Absolutely, I have stories with situations with pets before I
knew better as far as making you know, my pets
secure in the car. Some people that have their dog
goes and behind the front seat sits and is perfect,
and some people do not. And then for big rigs
it's even more challenging. I would think definitely, containment would
be something of concern and I do like and probably
I'm biased because I live in a warm climate that
you have the temperature controls. Yes, yeah, That's what I
meant about fatalities that happens way more than people even realize.
And you know what you're talking about now, everything sounds
like it could probably be made in some version for
regular autos and passenger trucks.
Speaker 5: Yeah, I think I think so, I think so. I
think you're right.
Speaker 2: So how do you think the work you did with
the Center for Pet Safety will be changing or will
it be like life changing for the trucking industry.
Speaker 5: That's hard to say it. I mean, like we said,
you know, for us, we feel like it's a close connection.
And again, as I mentioned earlier, you know, Volvo's DNA
is all about safety. We have a mission here of
zero accidents, and we're going to work as hard as
we can to get to that point. The great thing
is you know that we're focused on that and we're
going to do everything we can to protect our customers,
protect the occupants in those trucks and an environment they're
working in. And you know, we can't prevent at this
point is sometimes challenging to prevent any accis from having.
But even the cab structure we sell, we have ourselves
with a high strength steelled cab. We have capabilities to
doing a little promo here, but I mean this is
things that you know, we focus on safety and that's
what we're going to do. And I think every occupant
in that truck is important. So whether it's a human
being or even the pet that they love, we want
to make sure that we can do everything we can
to protect them. And how it transfers to the industry,
I think that will it'll become important as well because
I think, as we said, there's eight hundred thousand drivers
out there that have their pets with them. I think
they'll start to see that as an important factor when
they do their development in the trucks. But for us,
it's definitely one of our key points.
Speaker 2: Okay, thank you. Do you think this could lead to
official pet safety standards for commercial trucks.
Speaker 5: That I can't say. I mean that's something we can,
I guess help promote from a revolver perspective, but you
know that's going to be something that could be I
can't say at this point.
Speaker 2: Start with the seapout and look where we are, right.
Speaker 5: Yeah, yeah, I mean, well, we'll do everything we can
from our side to help that promotion, to put some
focus on the pet safety and commercial vehicles.
Speaker 2: I think I definitely see that coming. You know, geez,
we already practically make dinner for our pets, like we're
chefs for our pets. We well, some people bless them.
There are kids, we call them fur babies. We give
them probiotics and everything. So yeah, I don't see too
far behind.
Speaker 5: Yeah, they're family members, that's for sure.
Speaker 2: I mean we give them everything, right, they're like us.
We have, you know, furry kids and too like good kids.
Speaker 5: I say, I'm a pet owner myself, and I have
a big, big boy. He's over he spiraling seventy five pounds,
So I know what you mean by you know, they're
part of your life and they're important to your life,
and I think it's important to protect the pets as well.
Whatever we can do, that's what we need to do. Yes,
part of the testing was I guess I didn't mention that,
but part of the testing was they get the ride
around with me in the truck on our test track
up in Virginia, which they were strapped into the front
seat so they got a great view of the of
the road and were very easy to ride with.
Speaker 2: That must have been fun, Yeah, it was.
Speaker 5: I hope it was fun for them. They didn't say
too much. They enjoy it. They look like they enjoyed it.
Speaker 2: So what do you think is next for Bulba when
it comes to pet friendly design.
Speaker 5: Well, I think again, the partnership that we started with
the Center for Pets Safety is the first step, and
it's going to have continuous steps. So where we can
help improve even more types of safety connection safety capabilities
in the truck, maybe you know, give a little bit
more access or more you know, capabilities when it comes
to different types of carriers or different setups, different arrangements,
or maybe how they want to properly secure their pets
on it while they're on the road. I think also
getting from you know, with apps and electronics capabilities, GPS,
you know, we can get that connection to out there
and do like I was saying, you know, maybe give
them capabilities even more strong capabilities that maybe get access
to knowing where vets are if they have to do
a medical emergency for their pets and that kind of stuff.
I think there's a lot more possibilities, and I think
with this partnership that we're going to have with the
Center for Pet Safety, it's only going to bring more
to the forefront or bring more to the capabilities of
our trucks for our customers.
Speaker 2: I think you're absolutely right. Chris. Thank you again so
much for coming on Best Bets for Pets and telling
us all about the work that BOVO is doing with
the Center for Pets Safety for big rigs. I can't
wait to hear when it comes to commercial vehicles. Thank
you so much.
Speaker 5: Thank you.
Speaker 2: I want to thank my guest Chris Stadler from BOBO.
I hope everybody enjoyed the show. This has been so enlightening.
I am so excited to see what comes next. And hey,
if you drive a big I hope it's so Volvo
because there are features for your pet that's going to
be safer for your pet and for you. I also
want to thank my crew they observed while I was
preparing for my show, So thank you, Dennis, Charlotte and Mollie.
Huge thanks to the Best Bets for Pets listening audience.
We are going on our sixteenth year. Thank you so
much for listening. And the show would not be the
same without the magic and you have no idea how
hard he works. So without the magic of Mark Winter,
my producer, he is the one who makes the shows
sound so amazing, so hey, keep listening. You never know
what we're going to have next. On Best Bets for Pets, Let's.
Speaker 4: Talk bets every week on demand only on petlife Radio
dot com.
Speaker 2: Its day past,