Articles - Maintenance - TruckingInfo.com

October 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

CSA 2010: Maintenance Musts

By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

Vehicle maintenance is one of the top areas where fleets are at risk under the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's new CSA 2010 program

Tags: Managing The Shop

October 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

All Pressured Up: Automatic Tire Inflation Systems Offer Protection from Underinflation Woes

Automatic tire inflation systems are now available for 19.5-inch wheels and wide-base single tires. (Photo by Jim Park)

By Jim Park, Equipment Editor

As I write each month on the latest advancements in tire development and improvements in technology to prolong tire life and reduce operating costs, one single theme remains front and center: the need to keep tires properly inflated

Tags: Tires

August 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Suggestions for Meeting CSA 2010 Regulations in the Shop

The FMCSA's new Comprehensive Safety Analysis 2010 program identifies 10 different groups of parts and accessories that the government considers critical for safe operation. (Photo by Paccar Parts)

Checking out idled trucks used for spare parts during the economic downturn before they return to service will be particularly important after new federal safety regulations go into effect in the fall of 201

Tags: Managing The Shop

August 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Synthetic Oils & Lubes: Made to Measure

Synthetic engine lubricants are not new, but their cost has made them unattractive. That may be changing.

By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

Synthetic oils make up only a small part of the lubricant market, but they are set to take on a more significant role

Tags: Under The Hood

July 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Friction In Focus: Trends in Brake Friction Manufacturing

There's always activity in developing new brake friction material. But new legislation and new players are forcing the pace. (Photo by Bendix Spicer Foundation Brake)

By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

Brake manufacturers are continually working with their friction material suppliers on new materials that satisfy the market's demand for noise, cost and wear with no compromise in performance. But there are also external pressures for change

Tags: Chassis & Brakes

June 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

EGR Cooler Maintenance

By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

The Technology and Maintenance Council has a Task Force looking in to EGR cooler maintenance

Tags: Under The Hood

June 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Running Cool: Maintaining Your Cooling System

Your coolant/antifreeze is the heart of your cooling system - and there are more choices to keep on top of than there used to be. (Photo by Jim Park)

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor

Twenty years ago, putting coolant in a heavy truck could be a bit like a kid's chemistry experiment. You started out with silicate-based coolant/antifreeze designed for cars and light trucks

Tags: Under The Hood

May 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

The Weight is Over: New Front-End Introductions

Trucks are getting heavier, especially on the front axle. But help is at hand with new weight-saving front-end introductions. (Photo by Jim Park)

By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

Fleets spec'ing new trucks are suffering several stages of sticker shock. For one, the price has just jumped another $10,000 for EPA 2010-compliant engines

Tags: Chassis & Brakes

May 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

The Pressure of Events

By Commentary Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

With limited opportunity to walk the Mid-America Trucking Show due to the number of press conferences and the vast number of exhibitors, it was gratifying indeed to turn up an innovative new technology that could transform a fleet's tire maintenance

Tags: More Maintenance

April 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Tips to Avoid Vehicle Fires

Truck fires have always been with us, but they have taken on a greater significance for their far more comprehensive and catastrophic nature.

By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

"I don't know if there are more truck fires today or just that, now, they are catastrophic when they happen," says Bruce Purkey of Purkey's Fleet Electric. He's a major contributor to the efforts of the Technology and Maintenance Counci

Tags: More Maintenance

April 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Ceramic Roof Coating Saves Fuel for Food-Hauling Fleet

Super Therm can be sprayed over large areas or rolled onto smaller surfaces. Coating needn't be cleaned to stay effective and lasts more than 20 years. (Photo by Curt Lundberg)

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

Sunshine brings warmth and happiness, but to refrigerated trailers it brings only heat, and too much of it

Tags: Trailers

March 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Fifth Wheel Maintenance

No-lube fifth wheels are gaining acceptance, but they still require periodic inspection, and perhaps adjustment. (Photo by Jost International)

By Jim Park, Equipment Editor

While the calendar says we've just about made it through another winter, as these words materialize on my screen, the Northeast is digging out from three days of record snowfall

Tags: More Maintenance

March 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Tracking Tire Performance

So many brands of tires, so many wheel positions, so many options. Data tracking can help evaluate tire performance. (Photo by Jim Park)

By Jim Park, Equipment Editor

If you were serious about getting the best odds on a pro basketball bet, you'd research the heck out of the starting lineups, and know in advance that Kobe Bryant's sprained ankle doesn't seem to be much of a liabilit

Tags: Tires

March 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Vertical Integration: Friend or Foe?

As truck manufacturing gets increasingly global and the costs for new components spiral, chassis like this Freightliner being assembled in Saltillo, Mexico, carry an increasing number of in-house components. (Photo by STF)

By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

There is a creeping vertical integration in North American truck manufacturing

Tags: Managing The Shop

March 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Four Ways to Make Onsite Product Training More Effective

When you spec a component, often training is part of the package. Training helps established suppliers set themselves apart from those selling cheap parts without any customer support, and generally there's no out-of-pocket expense to the fleet or dealer

Tags: Managing The Shop

February 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Pursuing a Tank Rust Mystery

Rust forming inside steel saddle tanks might be caused by ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel, some maintenance people believe. This rusty tank was on a Ford truck operating in northern Georgia. (Photo by Chris Sands)

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

Is ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel causing rust in steel fuel tanks? A shop foreman in Georgia believes that the relatively new fuel, or perhaps biodiesel blends, are to blame for the damaged saddle tanks he's seen in the last yea

Tags: More Maintenance

February 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Make Supplemental Filters Pay

A supplemental filter must be carefully mounted so it works effectively and allows the engine's oil circulation system to continue its job.

By Tom Berg, Senior Editor

Cleanliness is next to godliness, so some truck operators change motor oil religiously according to manufacturers' recommendations. Others extend drain intervals but use supplemental filtration and oil analysis to do it safely and make sure the oil stays clea

Tags: Under The Hood

January 2010, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

The Path to Parts Savings: Five Ways to Get the Most Out of Your Budget

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor

Times are tough. Fleets are scrambling for freight to fill trucks, shippers are beating up carriers on rates, and truckers are keeping their equipment longer because they can't afford to buy new

Tags: Managing The Shop

December 2009, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Where Does Underhood Heat Go? Into the Cab

By Gary Hansen, Vice President, Red Dot Corp.

As engineers, one of our biggest challenges is how to deal with underhood heat. Because of aerodynamics and other styling changes, the engine box on trucks is smaller and more densely packed than it ever has been

Tags: Under The Hood

December 2009, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Rush Technicians Compete For Top Spots in Skills Rodeo

By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

In the by-now familiar holidays ritual, Rush Enterprises held its fourth Technician Skills Rodeo, drawing techs from across its far-flung 62-facility truck center empire

Tags: More Maintenance

December 2009, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Suspension Maintenance

Keep everything pointing in the right direction: retorque your fasteners.

By Jim Park, Equipment Editor

The key to keeping suspensions working for you rather than against you is to keep everything tight. When suspension components work themselves loose, tires wear badly, springs break, fuel economy suffers, and drivers complain

Tags: Chassis & Brakes

December 2009, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

What's Killing Your Tires?

Look after your tires; your tires will look after you. Photo by Jim Park

By Jim Park, Equipment Editor

Tires are under constant attack, from the normal dynamic forces acting on the tread rubber, to a barrage of scrubbing and scraping actions caused by misaligned axles, unbalanced rotation, loose wheel bearings, and more

Tags: Tires

December 2009, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

10 Ways Fleet Maintenance Software Can Help Manage Costs and Boost Profitability

A robust maintenance software system can help a shop be more efficient and productive.

Kenworth offers this information to help truck fleet operators with their own maintenance facilities reduce parts inventory, decrease operating costs and increase productivity

Tags: Managing The Shop

November 2009, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Maintaining APUs

APUs have come a long way in the past five years, but you can't ignore the maintenance. (Photo by Jim Park)

By Jim Park, Equipment Editor

The auxiliary power unit has come a long way since the first commercially available units hit the streets in the late 1980s

Tags: More Maintenance

November 2009, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Outside Shops Demand 'Right To Repair,' But That's Not Fair to Dealers, One Says

The "right to repair" one's vehicle wherever one chooses isn't in the U.S. Constitution or Bill of Rights, but many people in the maintenance and parts business believe it almost should be

Tags: More Maintenance

October 2009, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Making Short Work of Corrosion

By Commentary Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

One of the main concerns in front of the Technology and Maintenance Council of the American Trucking Association is corrosion caused by road chemicals. The problem has escalated in recent years with the adoption of magnesium and calcium chloride

Tags: Under The Hood

October 2009, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Air Disc Brakes: You Can't Inspect What You Can't See

The caliper is nearly impossible to see without removing the wheel, leaving CVSA inspectors at a loss on how to determine brake functionality.

By Jim Park, Equipment Editor

Imagine having a brand new truck sidelined during a roadside inspection because the inspector didn't understand what he was looking a

Tags: Chassis & Brakes

October 2009, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Maintaining Air Disc Brakes

Air disc brake systems (pictured) don't look anything like drum brake systems. Inspection standards and procedures are not the same either.

By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

The new federal mandate requiring shorter stopping distances dictates more brake torque for the front axle of trucks and tractors. The regulation can be accommodated by bigger drums, but it may stimulate a faster acceptance of the air disc brake for steer axle brakes.

Tags: Chassis & Brakes

October 2009, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

EGR Engines and Oil Control

By Commentary Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

One of the planks in Caterpillar's argument for its Acert technology was that no particulate-heavy exhaust was recirculated into the inlet, as is the case with other exhaust gas recirculation technologies

Tags: Under The Hood

September 2009, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

The Right Oil Now: Improving Your Engine Lubrication Program

A well-run maintenance program can help you extend oil drain intervals.

By Deborah Lockridge, Editor

The recession has everyone pinching pennies. Close management of your engine lubrication program can offer cost savings in a number of areas - if done properly

Tags: Under The Hood

August 2009, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Four Tips To Help Prevent Potentially Deadly Wheel-Off Accidents

What do a pregnant woman from Maryland, a 48-year-old man from Ontario, and a driver in Seattle have in common? They are all victims of truck wheel-off

Tags: More Maintenance

August 2009, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Choosing the Optimal Tool Cart

Tool carts are available in just about every possible variety, from a simple two tray unit, to super wide units with six or more drawers and a flip lid, not to mention roll cabinet

Tags: Managing The Shop

August 2009, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Tire Report: Telematics and Tire Pressure Monitoring

By Jim Park, Equipment Editor

You don't need me to tell you that maintaining correct tire inflation pressure across a fleet of trucks and trailers is a challenge of biblical proportion

Tags: Tires

August 2009, TruckingInfo.com - Feature

Column: Keep Your Cool

By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor

I like cool old cars. I happen to have a couple of extra-cool, extra-old cars in a Jensen Interceptor II and a Porsche 928. But while they are cool, they don't cool very well. However, I have discovered Evans Cooling'

Tags: Under The Hood