Silly love songs, overpriced chocolates, and bouquets of red roses are all well and good, but for those who live and breathe the world of heavy-duty trucks, there’s nothing quite like the love and passion they have for these powerful machines. Here at Fleet Equipment, we love what we do; so it would only make sense that we celebrate the holiday by sharing some stories we hold near and dear to our hearts.
A match made in heavy-duty heaven
Tess Lovrak, associate editor: Some things just go together so perfectly, so seamlessly that it’s almost as if they were destined to find each other. I’m a firm believer in soulmates and that everyone has one. A great example of this was when Navistar unveiled its International S13 Integrated Powertrain introduced back in August. The S13 engine pairs perfectly with the T14 transmission to deliver up to 15% increased fuel efficiency compared to the previous model, according to the OEM; This is the definition of a relationship glow up.
This fairly new connection may still be in what some consider the “honeymoon phase” but they are the last of its kind because from here on out, International is turning its sights to zero-emissions love. The S13 integrated powertrain, designed from the ground up to ensure performance and sustainability, is the last internal combustion engine International will design.
Is it too soon for love?
Jason Morgan, content director: It’s that story that you can’t get out of your head. You’re thinking about it all the time. It’s just so cool, so interesting, so alluring. But is picking a story from the past two weeks is too soon? “You’re crazy, FE content director!” you scream at me. “You just wrote the thing! How do you know you love it?! It has only been a week?”
When you know, you know. And when I fall, I fall fast. Just ask my wife, who insisted we were “just friends” for six months. So here’s a story that I’m not, “just friends” with, at least for my part. I’ll tell you why.
Two weeks ago when I took a huge next step in my relationship with autonomous trucking technology. It was that moment when we weren’t just having fun talking about the possibilities of autonomous truck technology–we were talking about our future. Daimler Truck and Torc sat down to discuss autonomous truck business realities like system and equipment redundancy, business models, and appropriate application and routes–real world, “Where do you see yourself in five years?” kind of conversations. And that’s when I knew things were getting serious about autonomous Level 4-driving.
I get carried away
David Sickels, senior editor: It’s easy to get carried away when you love something. I play a new board game once and love it, so I buy a second copy with the die-cast pieces (which I never end up playing). Last year I became infatuated with a new sushi place and decided to eat only that sushi for the next week straight. (A year removed, I can now say I don’t recommend sushi before an international flight.)
So it goes with sustainability. Reporting on the subject, it didn’t take me long to fall in love with it. Lower emissions is better for your environment and, in many cases, better for your bottom line. What’s not to love? Conclusion: Everyone should electrify everything!
Wait. No. That’s not right. There I go, getting carried away again. The reality is that electrification is a great alternative for some fleets, but it won’t work yet for others. In some cases, the savings on fuel and maintenance isn’t going to offset the cost of the vehicle, infrastructure investment and more. The question is, how do you know if you’re leaving money on the table?
A suitability assessment is a good place to start. Late last year, we sat down with Charlotte Argue, senior manager of fleet electrification at Geotab to talk about the impact electric pickups could have on light-duty fleets. And you know what? This conversation just made me love the topic even more. Click the link below to sit in on our conversation.
Other stories we were pining over to bring to you
Here are a few other stand-out stories that are near and dear to our editorial hearts from the past several months.
