Maintenance tips for truck brake friction
In terms of brake friction maintenance, there is a lot more to look out for beyond whether the pads or friction is worn. The surrounding parts should also be checked in any inspection. For our in-depth story on brake friction, we interviewed brake experts from Bendix, Haldex, Hendrickson, Meritor, SAF-Holland, TMD Friction and WABCO. These
How Melton Truck Lines improves operations, enhances safety
“We don’t make equipment decisions without taking financial considerations into account, but we always look first at the safety and driver benefits a technology may offer,” says Russ Elliott, senior vice president of operations for Melton Truck Lines. “ROI is important but it’s not generally our first concern. “It’s not getting any easier to find
Matching axles, ratios and loads to increase fuel efficiency
A major initiative in the trucking industry continues to be the concept of downspeeding, or maximizing available engine torque while minimizing engine RPMs and fuel requirements. “By focusing on maximizing downspeeding, the fleet owner has the best chance of improving fuel efficiency,” explains Tom Lehman, product manager for Detroit Components. “Along with Detroit DD15 or
Pressure points: Relieving the pain of inflated tire costs
There’s no getting around tire costs—this is where the rubber meets the road, literally. It’s a constant. However, keeping your tires properly inflated is one of the most important operational efficiencies that you can monitor and control to keep your tires rolling as cost-effectively as possible to get the most out of your tires and
Schneider’s investment in safety technology pays dividends
Take one look at the numbers and it’s easy to see why Tom DiSalvi, vice president of safety and loss prevention at Schneider, says the company’s first core value is “safety first and always.” Every day, he notes, the truckload, logistics and intermodal services provider’s fleet of 10,120 tractors travels 8.2 million miles hauling 19,318
Applying the brakes: Ensuring the future of truck safety
Advanced safety systems that employ radar- and camera-based technologies that enable adaptive cruise control and even autonomous truck operation rely heavily on one specific component—the brakes. The safety of these futuristic collision mitigation systems rests squarely on proper brake application, operation and maintenance. “It’s important to keep in mind that advances in collision mitigation technology
Aftermarket brake friction: Know what you need and what you are getting
When replacing brake friction material, Dan Dunkleberger, Haldex Friction’s product manager, says that fleets “need to understand the application, duty-cycle and environment in which the vehicle in is performing. These three key things will give the end-user the necessary information needed to spec the correct friction material for the job. Application and duty-cycle are also
Five truck trend takeaways from July
1. The summer months spell trouble for truck tires Rubber on the road, more commonly called “road alligators,” increase dramatically on the nation’s highways during the summer driving season. The majority of the motoring public clearly believes that these road alligators are caused by bad retreads; this is just not accurate. The alligators on the
UPS adopts innovative safety features for their fleets
UPS, which operates one of the nation’s largest commercial trucking fleets, is making collision mitigation technology standard equipment on on all of its new Class 8 trucks. The company plans on ordering more than 2,600 new Class 8 tractors in 2015 that will feature Bendix accident mitigation technology, which alerts drivers to moving and stationary
Protecting tire PSI: Adding TPMS, ATIS, TiS helps protect your investment
Fleet managers are well aware of the importance of proper tire inflation to protect tires. Many are earlier adopters of tire pressure monitoring systems (TPMS) and/or automatic tire inflation systems (ATIS or TIS). Choosing the right systems for each application is important part of protecting your investment, but which one to choose? Picking the right
