Record-high prices for gasoline and diesel fuel have been on everybody's mind for more than a year, making motorists wince and commercial users struggle and sometimes fail. Truck builders have been stung by a serious downturn in business and besieged by ever-increasing costs of materials, but are countering by offering equipment that promises to save fuel money for operators, emphasizing comfort and convenience, and plugging safety to try to inject new interest among potential truck buyers.
Class 8 truck sales are down seriously for the second year in a row. The current slowdown began in early 2007, with the advent of expensive EPA-'07 diesels. Customers' needs were satiated by a frantic pre-buy in 2005 and 2006, when sales reached 282,792 and 284,008, respectively. Then buyers began staying away in droves. Sales fell by more than 40 percent, to 150,008, according to the Truck Manufacturers Association. That walking pace, exacerbated by high fuel prices and a general economic slowdown, continues this year.
Original equipment manufacturers are reluctant to talk about current sales conditions, yet they appear to have prepared better for this downturn than previous ones. They scheduled production cutbacks and layoffs and generally tightened staffing, and should emerge from this dark period healthier than before. Those with European ties are buoyed by generally strong economies and truck sales there.
North American OEMs and component makers hope that customers will have to replenish worn-out vehicles soon. Some probably will, but the resumption in volume purchasing will probably be more measured. A few major fleets have said they won't go on another pre-buying spree leading up to 2010, when another set of cleaner-burning diesels are scheduled. That, along with the generally slow economy, could delay a recovery in truck building but spread it out over a longer period of time, which overall would be more healthy.
Here are glimpses of what's happening in the Class 8 business, especially equipment trends affected by high fuel costs:
SmartWay specifications as outlined by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency are now available as tractor and trailer packages from many builders, and the EPA has begun helping to arrange financing on such vehicles. To get a SmartWay sticker, a tractor must have a basic aerodynamic design and be equipped with roof and side fairings, including skirts that cover the fuel tanks, plus low-rolling-resistance tires (either duals or wide-base singles). SmartWay-approved trailers must have those tires and aero fairings.
The EPA announced in March that it has linked up with more than 300 lenders to make acquiring fuel-efficient commercial vehicles easier. The program features an online application process that takes only 10 minutes (www.SmartWayFinanceCenter.com). EPA says it doesn't back the loans or leases and applicants need decent credit to qualify, but many deals will have favorable interest rates. SmartWay items plus idle-reduction devices and tire-inflation systems are among equipment that can be financed.
Smaller-block diesels - 11- and 13-liter sizes compared to 15-liter models - have been used for years in regional tractors and vocational trucks, but more over-the-road tractors are now getting them, some builders say. Smaller engines make increasing sense because their lower displacements allow them to consume less fuel under most conditions. They also weigh less and usually cost less to buy. Drivers are more likely to accept them because advanced electronics, air-handling and combustion techniques enable them to produce healthy horsepower and torque. Yet 14- and 15-liter diesels are still favored for their longevity, and two builders offer 16-liter engines for specialty applications.
Auxiliary power units are gaining popularity as a way to save precious fuel, and builders say customers are asking about them and in some cases buying them. An APU usually costs $6,000 to $8,000 but avoids most idling of a truck's engine, and at today's fuel prices a unit can pay for itself in well under two years. For example, Wal-Mart Transportation bought thousands of Thermo King TriPac APUs and is saving millions of dollars a year in fuel.
Many OEMs will install mechanical APUs powered by small diesel engines, which provide full stand-alone capability no matter how harsh the weather and as long as there's fuel in the tanks, say their builders. However, diesel APUs require regular maintenance and repairs, and are newly subject to exhaust emissions limits in some states. Start-stop systems like Temp-A-Start can provide many of an APU's benefits at less cost, says its maker.
Electric idling-reduction systems are attractive because they are simpler and quieter than diesel-powered units, and are emissions-free and reasonably capable under most conditions, say Kenworth and Peterbilt, which offer one. Called Clean Power by KW and ComfortClass by Pete, the device will keep a sleeper comfortably cool for 10 hours in 95-degree outside heat. A Peterbilt test in Phoenix last summer showed that during daylight, a light-colored truck will stay cool inside for about an hour longer than a dark-colored one. Freightliner says it will offer an electric heating-ventilation-cooling system next year.
Fuel cells seem the ultimate anti-idling device, as they can silently convert hydrogen or diesel fuel into electricity - or would if they were available. Slow development has kept them in the future, but Delphi says it is testing an advanced diesel-fired fuel cell that produces 1 kilowatt, and soon will test a 3-kw version. Continued development should bring the products to market sooner rather than later, the maker says.
Automatic and automated mechanical transmissions continue to catch on because they cause engines to operate more efficiently and also make trucks easier and safer to drive. Peterbilt reports that 10 percent to 15 percent of its Class 8 trucks are now ordered with Allison automatics and Eaton AMTs, and the builder is preparing to offer Eaton's UltraShift in several vocational models. U.S. Xpress Enterprises has used Eaton and Meritor-ZF AMTs for years, and Schneider National is converting to UltraShifts because tests showed that automated manuals cut accidents by nearly 30 percent.
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Aerodynamic design, long considered an important factor in achieving good fuel economy, is getting more attention from buyers, even if there'll always be a market for traditionally styled trucks, says Peterbilt. Meanwhile, Freightliner and International have been skirmishing with conflicting claims of aero superiority, the former using results from wind tunnel testing and the latter touting numbers gotten in track and on-road testing of competing models. Both suggest that possible fuel savings could go right to prospective customers' bottom lines, though previous industry studies and much fleet experience has shown that factors such as drivers' habits and traffic conditions have greater effects on fuel economy.
Safety is getting more emphasis from some manufacturers, which are promoting various electronic safety devices while preparing to offer others. Volvo, for instance, has made electronic stability control standard on VHD mixer chassis, while sister company Mack has made the Bendix-produced products optional. Meritor Wabco electronic stability products are offered by tractor and trailer builders, while Eaton's Vorad collision-warning device has long been optional on many highway trucks. Lifeguard Technologies' RollTek, which combines side-curtain air bags with a seat-and-seat-belt restraining system, is a new crash-protection option on Freightliner's Cascadia.
Adaptive cruise control, which alters a vehicle's speed as radar sensors react to traffic conditions, is available from some builders, and there's at least one aftermarket product. Even more advanced is a "predictive cruise control," which uses GPS and topographic mapping to establish a truck's location and modulate its throttle based on terrain. For instance, the system will know when the truck is approaching a downgrade and reduce power before it begins rolling downhill. Daimler Trucks North America (Freightliner, Sterling and Western Star), which will offer it starting early next year, says it can improve fuel economy by 2.5 percent.
Comfort and convenience items continue to proliferate, partly for driver appeal but also with the idea that comfortable and well-rested people are safer and more productive. Lighter-weight but effective air-ride suspensions, including several new types for steer axles, are being introduced. Kenworth and Peterbilt now offer a front air suspension; Freightliner, which has offered a Hendrickson front air suspension, says it's coming out with a proprietary one early next year.
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Volvo was an originator of the "shore power" concept, whose electrical equipment allows truckers to plug in where 110-volt outlets are available, and still offers this as an option, along with an inverter to charge batteries, in many VN sleeper models. Some VNs can also be ordered with a Dometic diesel or electric APU.The VN series includes the VNM (medium-length hood) and VNL (long hood). The VT series, with its high and wide hood, includes the VT800 daycab and VT 880 sleeper.
Volvo also has mid-roof sleepers designated VT830 and VN730; both sleeper compartments are 77 inches long but 2 feet shorter in height to save weight and better match trailer and load heights for tractors pulling tankers and flatbeds. Adhering to its tradition as a safety leader, Volvo makes electronic stability control standard in VHD mixer chassis. The VHD vocational model has an optional short sleeper, built primarily for Canadian loggers who must camp in the woods. Volvo Powertrain in Hagerstown, Md., builds D11, D13 and D16 diesels (and similar MP engines for sister company Mack); the D engines are used in various models, and VNM and VHD use them exclusively. Cummins' ISX is available in VNL and 800/880 models.
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