Fleet Owner

Brian Straight

Managing Editor

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Email brian.straight@penton.com

Brian joined Fleet Owner in May 2008 after spending nearly 14 years as sports editor and then managing editor of several daily newspapers. He and his staff won more than two dozen major writing and editing awards. Responsible for editing, editorial production functions and deadlines.

Articles by Brian Straight

Dealer sales incentives, boot-camp style

Tooele, Utah. As Navistar gets set to introduce a number of new products and technologies, the company has been convening over 700 dealers from across the country over the past four weeks at a Vocational Boot Camp here at the Miller Motorsports Park complex.

Navistar lays out SCR timeline

TOOELE, UT. Following the announcement that Navistar will be switching to SCR technology to meet 2010 EPA emissions regulations of 0.2 grams of NOx, the only question left unanswered is when?

Navistar acknowledges past mistakes; looks to bright future 1

TOOELE, UT. Trying to put all the rumor, speculation and confusion about its future behind it, Navistar is looking forward with a new direction and new attitude, if you will, as it ventures down the SCR path.

Local waste, local power

If you run a restaurant and need to dispose of your used vegetable oil, then Got Grease is a company to call. Got Grease doesn’t just collect this waste, though, it uses it to power those same trucks that are picking up restaurants’ discarded oils.

Got Grease, a family-owned San Francisco-based business, is turning that waste into a sustainable business powered by biodiesel. The company services about 1,800 Bay Area restaurants, delivering the waste product to a local biofuels converter and then using the finished product to power its trucks.

Navistar's Ustian steps down 2

Following a period of uncertainty as the company attempted to makes its EGR-only engine solution work to meet EPA 2010 emissions guidelines, Navistar International Corp. chairman, president & CEO Daniel C. Ustian announced his retirement, effective immediately.

Disrupting the future of freight

Growing influence of technology will continue to change how the industry conducts business.

Photos: Meritor Wabco 5

Meritor Wabco ups safety quotient

ROCHESTER, MI. In the minds of Jon Morrison and Scott Belcher, innovation comes from pushing the limits. First came anti-lock brakes for trucks, then the OnGuard collision mitigation system (CMS). Now, Meritor Wabco is taking safety to a new level with its next-generation OnGuard system as well as a new lane departure warning system, electronically controlled air suspension and a stability and traction control system called ESCsmart.

Closing the loop

Many cities and towns are either switching, or considering switching, their refuse fleets to natural gas power. In fact, more and more contracts are now specifying that fuel as a requirement for at least part of the fleet. But few cities or towns have started to make their own fuel. That’s what makes the city of Surrey, British Columbia, unique.

EPA submits rule on ‘non-conformance penalties’ for Navistar

The Environmental Protection Agency has submitted a final rule to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) that outlines non-conformance penalties to allow Navistar to continue selling its MaxxForce engines until it can get certification of its own engines to meet EPA 2010 limits or begin incorporating Cummins engines into its vehicle lineup, expected in January 2013.

ATA claims FMCSA distorted data to achieve desired HOS outcome 18

The American Trucking Assns. (ATA) filed a brief with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia yesterday in which it claimed FMCSA “distorted” data in order to support its December 2011 final rule on hours of service.

Green Fleet of the Month: Filtered savings

Being able to extend oil drains can be a real cost-saver for fleets. But to go as many as five years between oil changes on a vehicle that is used daily seemed only a pipe dream not long ago. For Ron Kleintop and the Miami-Dade County (FL) municipal fleet, though, that is a reality thanks to the bypass oil filtration system from Puradyn Filter Technologies.

Slow climb of driver wages pressuring turnover rate 18

Driver turnover is not expected to improve through the remainder of 2012 according to a new survey of carriers. According to Transport Capital Partners’ (TCP) Second Quarter 2012 Business Expectations survey, small increases in driver wages through the remainder of the year will likely result in an exacerbation of the driver turnover problem and not lead to a significant increase in drivers entering the industry.

Navistar switching to SCR 3

Navistar International is switching its 2010 EPA emissions strategy to a selective catalytic reduction (SCR) system. During a morning investor conference call, Daniel C. Ustian, chairman, president & CEO, made the announcement that the company would be adding “urea-based aftertreatment” to its Advanced Exhaust Gas Recirculation (EGR) technology to allow its engines to meet emissions standards of 0.20 grams of NOx. The new solution, to be available in early 2013, the company said, will be called ICT+ (in-cylinder technology plus).

Amid reports of switch to SCR, Navistar set to announce 'operational' changes 3

Navistar International is set to announce “operational changes” during an investor webinar on Friday morning amid multiple reports the company will be ditching its advanced exhaust-gas recirculation (EGR) technology for meeting EPA 2010 emissions requirements. The announcement was made in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) yesterday afternoon.