November 11, 2012
What's this? A modern reiteration of a 1930s truck-and-trailer combination? Sort of. It's a high-capacity tractor-trailer combination recently assembled in Ontario for possible use by Walmart Canada, which calls it a "super cube" truck. And it's generating a bit of controversy
Tags: Dry Vans
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Sunday, November 11, 2012 10:44 PM | » Comments(3)
October 30, 2012
"Just in time for Hurricane Sandy," said a message Monday from Wabash National spokeswoman Celeste Stanley
Tags: Specialty
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Tuesday, October 30, 2012 6:16 PM | » Comments(0)
October 22, 2012
There's much work ahead if the idea of automating pre-trip inspections of trailers is to become reality. That was the feeling during a session on the subject at the fall meeting of the Technology & Maintenance Council of ATA
Tags: Maintenance
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Monday, October 22, 2012 1:58 PM | » Comments(0)
October 12, 2012
Brian Layfield, president of Laydon Composites Ltd. in Ontario, Canada, read our recent Trailer Talk about the MAN-Krone aero tractor-trailer shown at the IAA show in Germany
Tags: Fuel Economy
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Friday, October 12, 2012 7:00 AM | » Comments(0)
October 5, 2012
The huge IAA commercial truck show in Hanover, Germany, late last month included this eye magnet, the "aerodynamically optimized road train" from MAN and Krone, both prominent vehicle builders in Europe
Tags: Trends
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Friday, October 5, 2012 7:21 AM | » Comments(0)
September 28, 2012
In August I wrote about Peckham Materials and its use of extra-heavy rigs to gain productivity
Tags: Specialty
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Friday, September 28, 2012 7:32 AM | » Comments(0)
September 19, 2012
HANOVER, GERMANY - Thirty years of aerodynamic research is behind a streamlined semitrailer displayed this week at the huge Hanover truck show in Germany, says a Daimler Trucks executive who briefed a crowd of journalists on the efforts behind the vehicle
Tags: Fuel Economy
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Wednesday, September 19, 2012 2:22 PM | » Comments(0)
September 10, 2012
In July's "Trailer Trends" article, we mentioned Hendrickson's new TireMaax Pro automatic tire inflation system, but did not do a good job of explaining it.
Tags: Trends
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Monday, September 10, 2012 8:17 AM | » Comments(0)
September 6, 2012
The handsome tractor and shiny tank trailer in this photo are more than they seem. Instead of the typical 75,000- to 80,000-pound, five-axle rig you'd find in many areas of the country, this one weighs 102,000 pounds.
Tags: Tankers, Trailers
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Thursday, September 6, 2012 12:00 AM | » Comments(1)
August 22, 2012
Clean air is neither cheap nor simple
Tags: Reefers
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Wednesday, August 22, 2012 11:10 AM | » Comments(0)
August 1, 2012
Plugging motorized pallet jacks into warehouse power supplies is so old. There's a new solution to the battery charging chore. Leave it in the trailer and charge it right there
Tags: Maintenance
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Wednesday, August 1, 2012 9:24 PM | » Comments(0)
July 25, 2012
About twelve years ago, while on a real-life run with a produce-hauler, I watched as he drove 19 miles off route to weigh his load -- at the consignee's request. While he backtracked, I thought that this was a great argument for on-board scales
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Wednesday, July 25, 2012 4:41 PM | » Comments(1)
July 11, 2012
German graphic artists are at it again, vinyl-wrapping semitrailers with eye-boggling images of products on their way to market. But wait..
Tags: Specialty
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Wednesday, July 11, 2012 8:18 AM | » Comments(0)
July 3, 2012
ATDynamics in South San Francisco, Calif., is among the most active makers of trailer aerodynamic improvers, both in designing and selling its products and in promoting them via the media. Its website, www.atdynamics.com, now includes testimonials from happy customers, including a Canadian featured below.
Tags: Trends
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Tuesday, July 3, 2012 11:57 AM | » Comments(2)
June 27, 2012
Did you know that Mack Truck at one time built trailers? I didn't until last week when, along with other truck writers, I toured the Mack Museum in its recently established Customer Center in Allentown, Pa
Tags: Flat Beds
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Wednesday, June 27, 2012 6:43 PM | » Comments(0)
June 15, 2012
Please understand that I still believe that something significant happened near Roswell, N.M., back in 1947, in spite of what the public was told.
Tags: Specialty
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Friday, June 15, 2012 12:20 PM | » Comments(0)
June 11, 2012
Cleanup crews needed more than knives and forks to clear a mess made by a semi that sideswiped a barrier on Interstate 71 and 75 in Fort Mitchell, Ky., just south of Cincinnati
Tags: Dry Vans
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Monday, June 11, 2012 3:16 PM | » Comments(0)
May 31, 2012
With more than 2,700 trailers scattered across the lower 48 states and Mexico, conducting regular trailer inspections and repairs has been a daunting task for Paschall Truck Lines. But a contract service adopted more than a year ago has effectively complemented the fleet's effort
Tags: Safety
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Thursday, May 31, 2012 10:38 AM | » Comments(0)
May 24, 2012
Streamlined "teardrop" trailers are saving enough fuel money for Tradeteam, a British beverage distributor, that it's buying a second set of them
Tags: Fuel Economy
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Thursday, May 24, 2012 12:28 PM | » Comments(0)
May 16, 2012
Let's say you and your boss want to go "green" by trying out some natural gas-fueled trucks or tractors that you're getting on loan or lease, but you want to fuel them at your terminal, where diesel fuel islands already are
Tags: Trends
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Wednesday, May 16, 2012 3:48 PM | » Comments(0)
May 9, 2012
An ambitious and dedicated French Canadian fleet owner has taken a detour with a miniature tractor-trailer that is making the rounds on YouTube
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Wednesday, May 9, 2012 5:00 PM | » Comments(0)
May 2, 2012
You won't hear many reefer diesels running in the yard at Witte Brothers Exchange in Troy, Mo., because the trailer-mounted units are plugged into electrical outlets and running on so-called standby power
Tags: Reefers
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Wednesday, May 2, 2012 10:01 AM | » Comments(0)
April 25, 2012
"Save a tree," environmentalists preach. That's not an option when you're building anything with wood, like a hardwood-composite floor for a van trailer.
Tags: Trends
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Wednesday, April 25, 2012 9:26 AM | » Comments(0)
April 5, 2012
How much power does it take to pick up a semitrailer and throw it hundreds of feet through the air? That question must've been on the minds of everyone who watched TV news video shot during the passage of a savage tornado through Dallas last week
Tags: Dry Vans
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Thursday, April 5, 2012 4:33 PM | » Comments(0)
March 28, 2012
During a stroll through the trailer areas at last week's Louisville truck show, I turned a corner and encountered a chemical tanker. Its rear access cover was open, and people were pausing to peek inside. "What's in there?" I wondered
Author: Tom Berg | Posted @ Wednesday, March 28, 2012 12:50 PM | » Comments(0)