test drives

By Tom Berg, Senior Equipment Editor

Almost since pickup trucks began outselling automobiles in the 1980s, the domestic Big Three auto makers - who still dominate light-truck sales with their full-size models - have been leapfrogging over each other with redesigned and refined products

Tags: Test Drive

By Tom Berg, Senior Equipment Editor

T. Boone Pickens, the billionaire investor and big-time oilman, is hawking his "Pickens Plan" in TV commercials, personal appearances and a web site (www.pickensplan.com)

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By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

A much-anticipated first drive of International's new LoneStar confirms it's more than just a pretty face

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By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

Big changes to Peterbilt's aero 386 make it more wind-cheating and enhance overall fuel economy

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By Tom Berg, Senior Equipment Editor

Until recently, hybrid-drive commercial trucks have been, almost by definition, straight trucks. These are often the ones used in urban stop-and-go operations, where hybrids offer the greatest fuel savings achieve

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By Tom Berg, Senior Equipment Editor

Severe Duty version of Freightliner's FLD proves a joy to drive, but get one while you can, because production stops in late 2009.

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By Tom Berg

There's a funny story about the Sterling 360's name. In a short bull session following a press conference last year, a couple of Sterling executives related that they considered calling the truck "AC 360," as in a circular 360 degrees, because the truck is "better all around," which became its marketing slogan.

By Sean Lyden

The test truck was the International TranStar in the new nomenclature - 8600 in the past. But the other new badges, high on the side of the hood, told the story: MaxxForce. This tractor was one of the International validation units for the new big-bore engines, destined for a high-mileage fleet to get fast results before the engine becomes commercially available around mid-year.

Tags: MaxxForce, Test Drive, International TranStar

By Tom Berg

This Kenworth T300 with its Eaton electric hybrid system uses a third less fuel than similar trucks in a fleet operated by a building supply retailer.

Tags: hybrid, Kenworth, Green Vehicles

By Jim Park

We're witnessing a huge change in the way trucks and engines come together. We saw it first with Volvo's D-platform engines (shared with Mack and Renault). We'll soon see International take a similar approach, sharing an engine platform between International trucks in North America and MAN chassis in Europe.

Tags: Mitsubishi Fuso, diesel engines, Detroit Diesel, Freightliner, Daimler

By Tom Berg

The point of Volvo Trucks' latest model, the VHD 430, is its sleeper compartment. While previous VHDs have daycabs and work as dumpers, concrete mixer chassis and equipment haulers, the 42-inch-cab addition, with its 36-inch-wide by 79-inch-long bunk, provides a comfortable place for a driver to rest and to legally overnight no matter where he and his rig are.

Tags: Volvo, Test Drive, sleepers

By Sean Lyden

The C15 was very responsive, showed great throttle modulation and made gearshifting a joy. And at the event, the 387 it powered also gave pause. I hadn't driven one in several years and the new dash appealed enormously.

Tags: Peterbilt, Test Drive