We know it’s not easy to keep up with everything that happens in the world of trucking. So here are the biggest stories from August focused on the latest truck trends, all in one place.
5. When it comes to electrification, you’re not late, but you’re not early
“As electrification makes its way into heavy-duty truck drivelines, the integration of the truck’s components will go even deeper than we see in today’s powertrains. It’s a result of moving to one electrical-power infrastructure as opposed to today’s trucks, which draw from diesel power to provide electrical energy.”
Editor Jason Morgan talked with Jeff Lowinger, president of Eaton’s recently established eMobility business, about the importance of integration and why the time might be right to take advantage of electrified technology.
4. Technology is impacting truck tires
Technology is taking over the trucking industry. That much is clear across every aspect of the truck—from the state-of-the-art features of the engine to the tracking software that lets you know where your trailer is at all times. Naturally, it’s true for the tires as well. It might not be the most immediate area you think of when it comes to sexy new technology, but there’s a lot going on in the tire technology segment to make fleet managers’ lives easier. Consider this a primer on today’s truck tire technology.
3. How to integrate all your truck’s data into one dashboard
There’s no sign of truck data slowdown. In fact, data is only going to come more fast and furious as component manufacturers start streaming information and data sets become richer and deeper. Managing a multitude of trucks is difficult enough without a multitude of data dashboards telling you different things. So here’s a quick guide for consolidating your truck telematics and remote diagnostics dashboards.
2. Hydrogen trucks could be getting their infrastructure
“Many alternative energies are exciting to dream about, but you go crashing back to reality when confronted with one word: infrastructure. The “how” of putting together a network of charging stations for electric cars and trucks or hydrogen fueling stations is always much more difficult than the “how” of making those trucks available in the first place. Bosch and Nikola have been working on hydrogen truck solutions for some time now, and just as important as the work on the truck has been the ideas for hydrogen fueling infrastructure. And they have a few.”
With this in mind, Senior Editor Alex Crissey talked with Bosch about their work on hydrogen electric trucks, and how that infrastructure could come together.
1. Improving the service experience to keep trucks productive
Tell me more.
Tell me sooner.
Fix my truck faster.
This is what the service experience boils down to for fleets. This month’s cover story focuses in part on Daimler’s efforts to improve the service process with these three points in mind—you can read about what they’re doing on that front here.