Expanding lineup: Chevrolet unveils medium-duty low-cab-forward models
Recently, returning the brand to a segment of the commercial vehicle market, Chevrolet announced it will begin offering low-cab-forward medium-duty trucks in the United States in 2016. The news followed an agreement between General Motors and Isuzu Motors, under which Isuzu will produce the low-cab-forward models based on its N-Series vehicles, and GM will continue
Just thinkin’ out loud (about fuel economy)
Readers who know me know I’m a physicist given to radical, long-term thinking about fuel economy. Recently, I’ve been thinking about the fuel economy research done by truck OEMs in cooperation with our federal government. Cooperative research like this can accomplish some really great things. Want more insight from John Martin? Click here to read
The secret to fleet success: An interview with Mitsubishi Fuso’s new President, CEO
There’s a clear theme that seems to run through all of the stories in the August issue of Fleet Equipment: From OE partners to maintenance and service providers, it’s the relationships you build that help you navigate the maze of known and unknown equipment issues in your daily fleet duties. That’s true in the medium-duty world
Upgraded dealer service relationships
What do you expect from your dealership? I’ll bet top on your list is throughput time; in other words, how much time it takes for the vehicle to enter the shop, be serviced, and get back on the road making money. Also on your list might be parts availability, quality of repairs and service, attitude
Employing buisness intellegence for maintenance
It’s just basic: Fleets want to improve asset utilization, lower rental costs, boost PM performance and reduce breakdowns—and eliminate costly road calls. One of the best ways to do is to use reliable data. In the age of “more information than we can possibly use,” it is important to find the business intelligence solution that
Transportation electrification: Investing in the future
At the 2015 Electric Utility Fleet Managers Conference (EUFMC), an annual educational conference for fleet representatives from investor-owned electric utilities, electric cooperatives and electrical contractors, fleet electrification was the subject of a presentation by Kellen Shefter, manager of sustainable technology at the Edison Electric Institute (EEI), an association representing investor-owned electric companies. Providing highlights of a
Automatic transmission fluid requirements
For several years, members of the S.14 Study Group (light- and medium-duty vehicles) of the TMC have requested a single automatic transmission fluid (ATF) for use in their various fleet vehicles. Now, I’ll explain why OEMs can’t give fleets what they have requested. To begin with, it’s currently not possible due to all the different
The Phase 2 impact on OE R&D
We now have the proposal for Phase 2 of the joint EPA/NHTSA proposal and, in truth, I was disappointed by the time I had reached end of the first page—1,339 pages is not a proper Government discussion document. I had expected—and had $10 on— the tome weighing-in north of 1,500 pages; to come in shy
Conducting your truck fleet in 2015
I’ve always had a soft spot for classical music. There’s something about all the individual instruments coming together to make moving, powerful music. It’s not unlike spec’ing a truck. As a fleet manager, you carefully determine what truck equipment instrument goes where to create an application-specific, street-savvy rolling symphony. Taking the first step into the
Fleet maintenance is not a democracy…
The headline may appear to be somewhat strong limiting a sense of team work, committee-type leadership, group building, etc., but it is a reaction to a mission statement I saw on a wall poster of a huge company that read: “Everyone get involved in everything.”
Battle destructive corrosion with routine maintenance
With the rugged operating conditions that many heavy-duty trucks endure, it’s no surprise that operators and maintenance staff need fast, easy solutions to protect vehicles from road debris, salt and rust. In addition to rust from excessive moisture, heavy-duty trucks often experience the damaging effects of corrosion due to rock salt, magnesium chloride or calcium
Dimethyl ether: Fuel of the future?
Dimethyl ether (DME) may be the most promising fuel of the future, this statement is based on research carried out by Daniel Kauffman, president of Terracel Energy, who is an energy technology entrepreneur, investor and consultant and Bob Riedford, president of Riedford Management Inc. The ATA projects as many as 5% of the Class 7
