Commercial market outlook unchanged, automotive sees chip improvements
According to ACT Research’s latest release of the North American Commercial Vehicle Outlook, the setup for the entire commercial vehicle industry remains unchanged from its recent trends, strong demand and constrained supply, but major automotive CEOs recently reported that they believe the semiconductor shortage bottomed in the September-October period. “Despite rock-solid demand metrics across the
Diesel engine oil analysis cannot be overlooked
OEMs and oil providers agree: Fleets that aren’t taking advantage of used oil analysis are potentially setting themselves up for premature wear, added downtime and thousands of dollars in repairs. The fact is that used oil analysis provides invaluable information when it comes to knowing the health of your trucks’ components, as well as perfecting
How lithium power can boost uptime and productivity
If you’re a fan of comic books, you’re no doubt familiar with the adage, “With great power comes great responsibility.” But when it comes to the trucking industry and the potential of combining lithium-ion and solar technologies, the axiom is, “With great power comes great reliability.” Many fleets are seeking power solutions that represent clean
Are pusher axles positioned for a lift in spec’ing popularity?
When I caught up with Joel Morrow, senior driver and vice president of equipment procurement at Ploger Transportation, for a deep-dive into 6×2 axle configurations and downspeeding, he made a surprising axle comment that stood out when it came to address the stigma 6×2 axle configurations face when it comes time for truck resale. “Resale
The case for 6×2 axle spec and faster ratios with Joel Morrow
Joel Morrow has long been a proponent of pushing fuel efficiency possibilities. He’s what I’d call a Super Spec’er. Morrow charges headlong into the nitty gritty equipment details to eke out another fraction of a percentage of fuel efficiency because if he does that enough times throughout a spec, it turns into big bottom-line savings.
Inside the magic of automatic VMRS Encoding
The magic of VMRS is that it organizes your truck service events into uniform data that can be analyzed and used to bring down repair costs. The catch is that it’s complicated. Enter Decisiv’s VMRS Encoding wizardry. On a high level: when service information is recorded at the dealer and routes through the Decisiv platform
The value of VMRS in your shop
It’s important to have everyone involved in the truck repair process speaking the same language. This may seem obvious, but it’s easy to overlook how much time is saved when there is consistency across your fleet, your service providers and even the OEMs. It’s for this exact reason that the Technology and Maintenance Council (TMC)
Cummins talks hydrogen generation, the Daimler medium-duty engine deal (plus more outtakes from our executive interview)
There was a lot to talk about with Jennifer Rumsey, Cummins president and chief operating officer, during our interview for our executive story on diesel, decarbonization and the path forward for Cummins. There were a number of interesting power-driven topics that we couldn’t cover in that story that found their way here. You can read
Hendrickson Watchman trailer wheel-end sensor technology launch plans move forward
Hendrickson Trailer Commercial Vehicle Systems is moving forward with launch plans for Watchman wheel-end sensor technology for trailers that operate on the vehicle area network developed by Sensata Technologies. The initial product offering will include trailer tire pressure and wheel-end temperature data that is communicated to the fleet via the trailer telematics system. It is
The smart trailers cometh (and three other takeaways from TMC’s Fall Meeting)
It was the “technology” portion of ATA’s Technology and Maintenance Council’s namesake that took center stage at its 2021 Fall Meeting recently held in Cleveland. While that should come as no surprise, the focus of the technology might: trailers. From electrification to service to telematics, trailers saw a huge focus in boosting fleet productivity. Several
