Trucks at Work

Even the old world runs on trucks

Fri, 17 May 2013 15:37:00 +0000

Got the good fortune to take a brief stroll through Dusseldorf, Germany, earlier this week – the capital city of the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, center of the Rhine-Ruhr metropolitan region, and home to some 1.5 million souls; making it the 7^thlargest city in Germany.

Trucks at Work

Digging into the new Sprinter van

Thu, 16 May 2013 14:25:00 +0000

One of the interesting things about Mercedes-Benz’s revamped 2014 model year Sprinter van is how “hauling cargo” remains the primary function envisioned for this vehicle – with said function thus driving many of the design changes made to what the OEM dubs the “third generation” of its hard-working van platform.

Claus Tritt, general manager of commercial vehicles for Mercedes, touched on such themes during his overview of the new Sprinter, as you can see in the video clip below:

Trucks at Work

Building vans to meet demand

Tue, 14 May 2013 20:59:00 +0000

I got to spend a few fortunate days in and around Dusseldorf, Germany, this week test-driving the new Sprinter being rolled out by Mercedes Benz’s van division this year – a vehicle that will reach the U.S. market in September this year.

Trucks at Work

Steadier shall the Sprinter go

Tue, 14 May 2013 03:57:00 +0000

So Mercedes Benz introduced an interesting new safety system for its new Sprinter vans this week here in Dusselsorf, Germany – a technology called Crosswind Assist, which is designed to detect forces acting on the van via data supplied by sensors for yaw rate and lateral acceleration connected to the vehicles electronic stability program (ESP) braking system.

Trucks at Work

It’s still a mixed bag

Fri, 10 May 2013 12:20:00 +0000

In a lot of ways, the reluctance on the part of truckload carriers to expand their fleets is completely understandable, mainly because the overall economic environment remains weighed down by uncertainty.

Trucks at Work

Glum outlook offered by owner-operators

Thu, 09 May 2013 14:46:00 +0000

I’m kicking myself this morning because I could dial in and listed to a presentation yesterday by Todd Spencer, executive VP for the Owner-Operator Independent Driver Association (OOIDA) hosted by Wall Street investment firm Stifel Nicolaus.

Trucks at Work

Crashes due to cell-phone use: worse than thought?

Wed, 08 May 2013 13:58:00 +0000

A new study released by the National Safety Council (NSC) this week claims that the number of fatal vehicle crashes caused by driver distraction due to cell-phone usage could be much higher than many think – largely due to “coding errors” on the part of regulators.

Trucks at Work

Of ethanol and gasoline

Tue, 07 May 2013 10:11:00 +0000

There’s been a lot of debate recently about blending higher levels of ethanol with gasoline, not in the least revolving around how higher levels of ethanol could affect older model engine components.

Trucks at Work

Debating the direction of transportation policy

Mon, 06 May 2013 12:13:00 +0000

So last week AAA (the former American Automobile Association) released the results of a survey incorporating the responses of 1,008 U.S. adults (503 men and 508 women, of which 817 were identified as “current motorists”) regarding what transportation policy initiatives the federal government should focus upon when it comes to motor vehicles.

Trucks at Work

Are strong pickup sales a recovery signal?

Fri, 03 May 2013 14:05:00 +0000

A post to the “Driver’s Seat” blog on the Wall Street Journal caught my eye the other day, as it postulated that the sustained strength of pickup truck sales here in the U.S. may be a “top indicator” of an economic rebound.

Trucks at Work