Maintenance

By January of 2016, you'll see a new API diesel engine oil classification, designed to help meet federal greenhouse gas/fuel economy standards. In fact, you may, for the first time, see two separate categories

If there's a problem with your truck's electrical system, simply replacing the bad batteries with fresh ones may consign those to the scrap bin, too

Weather forecasters are predicting not only one of the coldest, but the snowiest winters in the last five years. Here are a few simple tips to help maintain your equipment and fuel tanks

For years, some fleets have turned to synthetic engine oils for easier starts in cold-weather climates and to help them extend oil drain intervals

Dye-Lite TP-3100 fluorescent dye pinpoints oil leaks easily and efficiently in diesel engine lubrication systems

For the third time in his career, Jason Swann of Rush Truck Centers in Dallas was named the All Around Winner in the Heavy-Duty Division in the Rush Truck Centers Skills Rodeo

Uptime and utilization are everything, so you don't want a truck sitting on the shop floor during basic battery maintenance. Most fleets pull the batteries at the first sign of trouble and replace them with fresh batteries to get the truck moving again, planning to deal with the bad batteries later. But what killed the batteries in the first place

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

There's nothing like a smack up side the head with a two-by-four to get your attention. That's what the Federal Motor Carrier Administration is doing to maintenance with its Compliance, Safety, Accountability program

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

Tires are expensive and prices keep rising, so they're worth protecting by keeping them properly inflated. That's not easy with a large fleet's trailers, which can be scattered around the country and don't often pass through its inspection and maintenance stations

If something on a reefer unit is going to fail, it's likely to happen when components are working hard to overcome summer heat

Imagine that you banged up your car and you've sent it to the factory for fixing. You can't do that, but if you own a dump or flatbed trailer, you can

With more freight moving as the economy revives, fleets are pulling dormant trailers away from fences and putting them into service. But those trailers probably sat through at least one harsh winter and summer, and maintenance on them may have been neglected.