Nationally recognized journalist, author and editor, Jim Mele joined Fleet Owner in 1986 with over a dozen years’ experience covering transportation as a newspaper reporter and magazine staff writer. Fleet Owner Magazine has won over 45 national editorial awards since his appointment as editor-in-chief in 1999.
Up to this point, most of the attention has been focused on how a fringe energy source for vehicles is turning into both a practical and irresistibly attractive option for truck fleets. In the past few years, a great deal has been written about the development of new natural gas (NG) engines capable of drawing acceptable performance for trucking applications and about better on-vehicle storage opertions.
Las Vegas. Congressional inaction on the “fiscal cliff” - expiration of tax cuts and automatic budget reductions schedule to take effect in January - is creating overall economic uncertainty that could limit GDP growth to under 2% next year and limit freight growth, according to Bob Costello, chief economist of the American Trucking Assns. (ATA).
Las Vegas. With orders slowing after a fast start, truck sales in North America “are too good to complain, but not good enough to dance on the table,” according to Martin Daum, president and CEO of Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA).
Class 6-8 sales for this year will total 332,000 trucks, up 9% from last year’s 305,000, he said at a press briefing during the American Trucking Assns. (ATA) annual management conference and exhibition.
Las Vegas. The American Trucking Assns. (ATA) is asking member fleets to educate their drivers on spotting and reporting human trafficking activities they might witness while traveling on American highways and roads.
Las Vegas. A 2013 Navistar ProStar heavy-duty tractor with a Cummins ISX 15-liter engine and selective catalytic system (SCR) aftertreatment is on public display for the first time at the 2012 American Trucking Assns. (ATA) convention.
Last month I talked to a fleet manager who’s running 14 plug-in electric trucks, all Class 5 box trucks making deliveries to company retail stores. And he’s so enthusiastic about them that he envisions converting the entire 54-truck fleet to EVs.
Global cross-brand platforms for powertrain components support the high levels of investment needed to develop world-class technology while preserving economies of scale and optimizing worldwide production operations, according to the Daimler Trucks executive charged with overseeing those operations.
Hannover, Germany. Continuing development of its global powertrain platforms, Daimler Trucks has introduced an all-new 7.7L diesel with ultra clean emissions and outputs as high as 350 hp.
Hannover, Germany. Having optimized the aerodynamics of its new European flagship Actros tractor, Daimler Trucks has turned its attention to the trailer and will begin selling add-on trailer devices developed as part of a new design study.
Hannover, Germany. Adding to its portfolio of global diesel emissions offerings, Cummins Engine announced three truck engines meeting the upcoming Euro 6 emissions standards for the European market at the IAA 2012 Commercial Vehicle Show. At the same time, company CEO & chairman Tom Linebarger introduced a nanotechnology fuel filter for high pressure fuel systems, a new waste heat recovery system and a motor/generator for hybrid truck applications.
Hannover, Germany. Despite challenging conditions in Europe and Brazil, and a slowing market for commercial vehicles in China, Daimler Trucks likes the long-term outlook and expects to see global medium and heavy truck sales reach nearly 4 million units by 2020, according to Andreas Renschler, the head of that business unit.
The use of GPS-based mobile resource management (MRM) systems has expanded over 50% since 2009, with local fleet operations leading that growth over the last two years, according to a new report. Declining prices for in-vehicle hardware, better cellular data coverage and “growing awareness among local fleet operators of the high return on investment” are driving the move to MRMs among service, delivery, municipal and transit fleets, according to the 2012-13 U.S.
DENTON, TX. With production of Peterbilt Motors’ all-new Model 579 now under way, the company extended an invitation to Fleet Owner to spend some time with its premium over-the-road tractor at the Peterbilt heavy-truck factory just north of Dallas.
Systems to make ordering and controlling parts inventory are a great boon to fleets, but given the wide variety in parts choices and prices, there’s still one important question a fleet manager needs to answer: “What’s in that box I bought?”
The array can be bewildering and the differences substantial even if they may not be readily apparent, so it’s important fleets understand the differences if they want to choose the best balance of initial price, quality and reliability for their particular applications.
