Trucks at Work

Is the big shift to natural gas really underway?

Fri, 24 May 2013 14:03:00 +0000

So I’ve been leafing through a new report released this week dubbed Tomorrow’s Trucks: Leaving the Era of Oil Behind, compiled by national non-profit firm Energy Vision that purports to a show the much-talked-about shift by the U.S.

Trucks at Work

Helping hands … and trucks

Thu, 23 May 2013 16:59:00 +0000

The human suffering and destruction visited upon Oklahoma earlier this week by a series of violent tornadoes is heart wrenching to say the very least – with the vortex’s themselves frightening to behold as you can see in the clip below:

Trucks at Work

Balancing quality and price

Wed, 22 May 2013 14:25:00 +0000

It’s a battle any trucker, but mostly likely those on the smaller side of the scale, is intimately familiar with: how to delicately balance good quality service with a rate that bolsters a healthy bottom line yet that doesn’t dip too deeply into a customer’s wallet.

Trucks at Work

Of holiday traffic and highway deaths

Tue, 21 May 2013 11:12:00 +0000

No one wants to think about traffic jams and roadway fatalities when the nation goes on holiday; though in some ways Memorial Day weekend is a good time to contemplate such sobering material, as this is a time dedicated for America to pause, reflect, and appreciate military service members who gave their lives defending this nation at home and abroad.

Trucks at Work

Aiming at U.S. energy independence

Mon, 20 May 2013 12:16:00 +0000

The potential for true U.S. energy independence – as in eliminating dependency on imported oil to fuel our nation’s energy needs – seems to keep ripening, even among energy company executives, whom one would think tend to be a conservative and skeptical bunch.

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