Equipment Issues

October 2012, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Corrosion: Why Put up With It?

By Guest Commentary Richard A. Nay, CEO, Van Nay Corp.

Take a look as you drive the highway. Look at the trucks and trailers representing major corporations. See the corrosion?

Tags: Equipment Issues

March 2012, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Refurbishing Works for This Fleet

Money was tight, so Steph Sabo at Norrenberns Truck Service bought 29 used tractors and refurbished them, saving $40,000 to $50,000 per truck.

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

A few years ago, Steph Sabo looked at the latest truck diesels and didn't like what he saw

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March 2012, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Automated Mechanical Transmissions Gaining Steadily in Class 8 Trucks

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

Talk about transmissions in commercial trucks, and you'll talk a lot about Eaton. The Michigan-based manufacturer continues to dominate the business in Class 8 and remains strong in Classes 6 and 7. However, there are other names in the busines

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March 2012, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Regional Trucks Have Room to Optimize and Specialize

Aerodynamics matter on short hauls. A penny saved is a penny earned.

By Jim Park, Equipment Editor

Chances are, within the next five years you'll be in the market for a regional-spec tractor or maybe a whole fleet of them. The North American supply chain is changing

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March 2012, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Which Engine Displacement is Right for Your Regional Truck?

Engine choices are application specific. An 11-liter may save fuel, but you might need a 13-liter or bigger to get the job done.

By Jim Park, Equipment Editor

The powertrain is a necessarily large part of the spec'ing exercise, and a great deal goes into the decision: anticipated lifecycle; annual miles; average horsepower per mile; vehicle weight; terrain and more

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January 2012, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

How Much Will the Engine of the Future Resemble Today's Powerplants?

Achates Power in San Diego says its opposed-piston engine, now in dyno testing, has achieved fuel efficiency that's 21% better thatn a benchmark V-8, the latest 6.7-liter PowerStroke from Ford, and meets 2010 emissions limits.

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

The engine of the future is probably similar to the one in your current truck. It's an internal combustion engine with pistons, valves, crankshaft and other familiar parts, an inline 4 or 6, or a V-6 or V-8

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November 2011, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Volvo's 750-Horsepower Truck and Sweden's Longer, Heavier Trucks

By Sven-Erik Lindstrand, HDT European Editor

What makes a truck and engine manufacturer want to launch a 750-horsepower engine for standard trucks? Volvo already offered its 16-liter inline six cylinder engine with overhead camshaft, four valves per cylinder and unit injectors, capable of 700 horsepower

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September 2011, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

It Might Be Time for a 6x2

By Commentary Tom Berg, Senior Editor

The scene was a frozen lake in central Sweden in the early 1980s. On the ice in the midst of powdery, freshly fallen snow sat a municipal snow-plow truck, a Volvo N10 conventional-cab dumper fitted with a V-plow up front and a wing plow on its right side

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September 2011, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Wide-Base Tires Gaining Popularity: Are You Ready to Make the Switch?

By Jim Park, Equipment Editor

So maybe you're thinking something like this: "The market is improving, getting credit is easier, business is looking up. Maybe it's time to retire a few older rigs and get some new iron into the fleet. Maybe we should go to wide-base single tires while we're at it

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July 2011, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

When a 13-Liter Diesel Engine is Right for You

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

One of the smartest ways to cut weight and cost out of a new truck is to specify an engine that's smaller than what's always been used. But it's smart only if it works the way the operator wants. Some want million-mile life as well as good pulling power

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July 2011, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Is There a Glider Kit in Your Future?

By jim Park, Equipment Editor

Remember the glider kit? You buy a brand-new cab with a steer axle and frame rails, and install your own drivetrain - usually pulled from a wrecked truck or an older truck that has seen better days. Well, it seems they are making a bit of a comeback

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July 2011, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Pushing Out Trade Cycles Can Save Money, But It Isn't for the Ill Informed

By Jim Park, Equipment Editor

Many fleets have discovered in recent months that you can't put 10 pounds of rocks into a 5-pound bag. Pushing trade cycles for highway trucks to squeeze a few more months or a year out of an asset may seem feasible, but the unplanned costs can eat you alive

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June 2011, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

The Facts about Lumen Ratings

By Ryan Mayrand, J.W. Speaker Corp.

When considering the purchase of LED lights, be wary of the "lumen" rating

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October 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Kenworth Offers Advice on Specs for Dump Trucks

Anyone who knows anything about dump trucks understands that specifications are very regionalized.

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June 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Daycab A/C Units Offer Quick Payback

Because daycabs idle so much, payback can be quick on an auxiliary A/C unit.

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

Dump trucks sit in a line waiting to load or unload, and the line moves every few minutes, trucks idling all the while

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April 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Lift Axle Considerations

Pusher axles and the "flying tag" on this mixer truck are raised for crawling through deep sand in eastern Minnesota. While on road, the lift axles are lowered to spread the truck's weight, protecting pavement and bridge spans. (Photo by Tom Berg)

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

State laws are the biggest factor governing use or non-use of auxiliary lift axles on trucks and trailers

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April 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

An Automatic Yes: Transmission Trends

Once they're used to work-saving AMTs, drivers usually like them. One happy cruiser is Perry Allen, who drives a Volvo VHD dump truck with an I-Shift for Klink Trucking out of Ashley, Ind. (Photo by Tom Berg)

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

It's not driver laziness that's pushing buyers to order more automatic or automated transmissions, say manufacturers

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February 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Hybrid Yard Jockey Delivers

This trailer is loaded to gross 110,000 pounds to replicate the heaviest containers at the docks as they come off the ships. PHETT drives like a conventional yard jockey, but quieter.

By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

The terminal tractor - yard jockey, hostler, whatever you call it - has to be one of the most used, abused and under-regarded vehicles in any fleet

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February 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Used Truck Volumes Up; Prices Still Lowest Ever

Many fleets that have never bought used before are looking at it as an option to replace older trucks. (Photo courtesy of Arrow Truck Sales)

By Diana Britton, Managing Editor

While the used truck market is seeing some strong improvement in demand and volumes, prices are at their lowest levels ever, according to Carl Heikel, president and CEO Arrow Truck Sale

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January 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Heavy Duty Dialogue Looks at Trucks in the Next Decade

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor

What does the next decade hold for the commercial vehicle industry? How will trucks and the way they are marketed change? What will be the driving factors behind those changes? Heavy Duty Dialogue '10 tried to answer that question

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January 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Why the U.S. Military Went to LEDs

Military patrols and supply convoys face increased danger at night, and better headlamps have been helping soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. (Photo: convoy at Ft.Irwin; Credit: AM General Corp.)

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

Humans have been cursing the darkness and the real and imagined horrors it hides since before recorded tim

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November 2009, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Behind the Scenes at Fontaine Fifth Wheel R&D

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor

Fifth wheels often get taken for granted.

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August 2009, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Class 8 Update: In the Trenches

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

If it weren't for what's being nicknamed "The Great Recession," news in the Class 8 truck business would be all about engines

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August 2009, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

The Future of Heavy-Duty Mobile A/C Refrigerants

The average long-haul tractor-trailer will have its engine running for 21 hours a day, including six to seven hours at idle so the driver can heat or cool the cab during a rest period

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June 2009, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

The Real Cost of Trucks

By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

If you think about what you bought for a tractor in 1980 and what you get when you buy a tractor today, you quickly realize they're not even the same animal. Why 1980

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June 2009, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Dealer of the Year: Customer Service Key

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor

These days, truck dealers can't rely solely on the sale of trucks to stay in business. So the successful one

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June 2009, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Running Lean: Lightweight specs no longer just for payload

By Jim Park, Equipment Editor

Weight, and what we're willing to pay to shed pounds, is relative. Tare isn't quite as critical to a typical truckload carrier as it is to a bulk or beverage hauler

Tags: Equipment Issues