Toyota opens tech-training center
The U.S. division of global automaker Toyota is opening a $3.6-million technical training center in Blue Ash, OH, to keep dealer technicians up to speed on car and light truck technology changes...
Covenant changes names, titles
Truckload carrier Covenant Transportation is changing the name of its holding company and reshuffling its executive suite as part of a multi-year realignment effort....
West turns 100
West Motor Freight, a truckload and special services trucking division of The Evans Network, is turning 100 years old this month....
Lighter, RFID-ready freight pallets
Toto Pallets has introduced its new lightweight aluminum based freight pallets designed to have radio frequency identification (RFID) tags built right into them...
Accuride hires Mow for Bostrom
Joel Mow has joined truck component maker Accuride Corp. as vp & gm of its Bostrom Seating division. ...
Large truck crash fatalities down, DOT says
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) estimates that fatalities related to large truck crashes dropped 3.7% to 5,018 in 2006 compared with 2005...
April tonnage down
Seasonally adjusted for-hire truck tonnage decreased 2.2% in April compared with March, according to the American Trucking Assns. ...
Hydraulic hybrid partnership
Bosch Rexroth Corp. and American LaFrance LLC have been selected to demonstrate hydraulic hybrid vehicle technology in a refuse truck by installing the Bosch Rexroth Hydrostatic Regenerative Brake (HRB) system in an American LaFrance Condor chassis for field testing in New York City and Baltimore...
NationaLease now offering Integrated Logistics
Following its recent merger with AmeriQuest, NationaLease is now offering Integrated Logistics to its portfolio of fleet management products and services ...
Trucking interests oppose private roads
The American Trucking Assns. (ATA) and Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Assn. (OOIDA) are united in their opposition to the privatization of highway corridors...
Mack no-idle system
Mack Trucks has announced the Idle Free Hybrid System is now available as an option on its trucks...
UPS gains next-gen HEVs
UPS has announced it has expanded its fleet of alternative-fueled vehicles with the deployment of 50 “next-generation” hybrid electric delivery trucks...
Horizon accounting module
Melton Technologies has developed an accounting module for their product suite of transportation and logistical solutions...
Data clean, operations shine
By Terrence Nguyen, web editor
IT professionals at LTL carrier Pitt Ohio Express performed a major cleanup of its customer database, slimming its initial 650,000 list...
SAF-Holland parts guide
SAF-Holland has released its Holland Master Parts Reference Guide. Parts identification information can be found in one complete printed volume containing parts information for fifth wheels, landing gear, trailer air & mechanical suspensions, and truck, bus and motor home suspensions...
Dana releases drive axle brochure
Dana Corp. has released a six-page brochure featuring the Spicer D170 and D190 series of heavy-duty, single-reduction tandem axles. ...
CVSA slates Roadcheck 2007
The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) will organize 10,000 truck and bus inspectors to conduct its annual 72-hr safety inspection blitz, known as Roadcheck...
Kenworth “No-Idle” video
Kenworth Truck Co. has posted on its website a four-minute clip highlighting the Kenworth Clean Power no-idle system available as an option on T660 models with 72-in AeroCab sleepers. ...
SkyBitz hires new CTO
Tracking provider SkyBitz has hired Abdul Rana, to be its new chief technology officer....
Food security worries may tighten transport rules
Growing government concern about food safety and security should speed up demands for fail-safe inspections to detect and prevent contamination in the nation's food supply...
Airtek, Softek now offered on Blue Bird buses
Hendrickson has announced that its Airtek front air suspension and steer axle system as well as its Softek suspension and steer axle package can now be spec’d on Blue Bird’s All American Type D school buses...
New York shows off green fleet technology
By Jim Mele, editor-in-chief
With a legitimate claim to the title “Greenest Fleet in America,” the New York City Dept. of Parks and Recreation featured hybrid and alternative fuel trucks of all sizes, biodiesel providers, electric cars and even solar-powered carts among the 130 vendors at its annual truck show yesterday...
Diesel moving back up
The national price for a gallon of diesel jumped three cents to $2.803 for the week ending May 20, according to the Energy Information Administration...
Verizon to OEMs: We want hybrids now
By Terrence Nguyen, web editor
With gasoline prices hitting new record highs even before the summer driving season has begun, field service businesses are ramping up the pressure on OEMs to roll out commercial hybrids. ...
Chrysler to build new axle plant
The recent sale of Chrysler to private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management hasn’t shaken up plans to build a $700 million car and light truck axle plant in Marysville, MI. ...
DHL expands Atlanta operation
DHL Global Forwarding is merging its Atlanta operations into a new 220,000 sq-ft facility with 18 dock doors adjacent to Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport...
Pepco fleet switches to hybrids, alternative fuels
Energy utility Pepco Holdings Inc. (PHI) plans to transition its 2,000-vehicle fleet to electric hybrids and alternatively fueled vehicles to reduce its fuel bill and curb greenhouse gas emissions...
FedEx renews deal to help boost exports
The Commerce Department’s U.S. Commercial Service and FedEx Corp. have signed a new five-year agreement aimed at boosting exports by U.S. businesses...
Highway funding medicine leaves bad taste
According to Rebecca Brewster, president of American Transportation Research Institute (ATRI), policy makers today face a conundrum in preventing the highway trust fund from going bankrupt. A sizable bump in fuel taxes is the best solution but the most politically unpopular at a time when U.S. gas prices are well over $3 per gallon.
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Clean Diesel and Bosch ink deal
Two vehicular component suppliers have made a deal to collaborate on developing selective catalytic reduction (SCR) technologies to help reduce diesel engine pollution down to EPA-mandated levels that go into effect in 2010...
The Chrome Shop Mafia goes green
By Wendy Leavitt, director of editorial development
You will want to see this little video for yourself: television’s popular Chrome Shop Mafia boys installing a SmartWay Upgrade Kit from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on a truck...
Oshkosh promotes Stawski
Ann Stawski has been promoted to vp-marketing communications at specialty truck maker Oshkosh Truck Corp...
RFID partnership for Savi
European logistics provider Unipart Logistics Limited has formed a “preferred partnership” to market the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID)-based supply chain system developed by Savi Technology ...
Bendix struts safety
Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems LLC and Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake LLC have demonstrated their commercial vehicle safety and braking technologies to insurance provider Zurich ...
Truck sales await freight lift
U.S. Class 8 truck sales in April dropped 45% to 13,373 units compared with the same month last year, according to WardsAuto.com...
