The FueLite tandem axle from Meritor made its debut at the Mid-America Trucking Show on Tuesday. It is the first member of its SoloDrive Series axles which features 6x2 tandem rear axles.

Based on the proven Meritor 160 series drive axle, the FueLite tandem axle is designed for line-haul applications to maximize weight savings and increase fuel efficiency.

The FueLite tandem axle delivers nearly 400 pounds in weight savings and approximately a two-percent increase in fuel efficiency when compared to a traditional 6x4 configuration.

Features and benefits of the Meritor FUELite tandem axle include:
* Meritor's 160 DualTrac housing that allows the option of running wide-based single tires or duals for enhanced efficiency and improved residual value;
* A 2.50 to 4.10 ratio range available to match your application;
* A 12.7-mm wall housing that is compatible with all current 40,000-pound tandem air suspensions;
* All SoloDrive Series axles use the same rear-tag axle for simplified maintenance and are designed to work best with Meritor brakes and options.

"We engineered the FueLite axle to accommodate all 40,000-pound linehaul suspensions, delivering an optimum solution that is lightweight yet heavy on performance," said Charlie Allen, general manager, Rear Drive Axles, Meritor. "The Meritor SoloDrive Series is designed to provide lightweight axle solutions with greater efficiency by providing one driving axle in a tandem configuration."

The Meritor axle warranty for linehaul applications is five years or 750,000 miles with parts and labor included, and every claim is fully supported by its industry-leading online warranty claim system. Meritor Advantage Plans offer extended coverage up to seven years in linehaul applications.

Meritor also launched two advanced technologies now available to the public: an enhanced second-generation Meritor Mobile application and a new web portal called the Meritor BullPen.

"Meritor's BullPen and Meritor Mobile offer our customers two innovative technology solutions to easily access Meritor product and training information," said Matthew Stevenson, general manager, North American Field Operations and Marketing, Meritor. "These tools serve as an extension to our field sales and service organization, Meritor DriveForce, and help deliver high quality customer support."

The Meritor BullPen is a convenient web portal designed for dealers, fleets and service garages to access Meritor's product information and training in one central location. Users have access to more than 1,000 documents including product presentations, sales literature, product videos and photos, service bulletins, parts books, web-based training, Meritor on the Move (MOTM), a Meritor Mobile application link for easy downloading, Meritor and industry news, and more.

Meritor Mobile, a sales and service information application for the Apple iPad, has been enhanced in its second generation to offer users "real-time" updates, the capability to customize content by selecting from seven applicable Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM) brands, and the ability to email content stored within the application.

The Meritor Mobile app provides a detailed portfolio of Meritor's sales, maintenance and technical information in an intuitive and easy-to-use format. Users will now also have the ability to download the full version, which stores videos locally, or a smaller remote version, which only requires a fraction of the device storage capacity.

For more information, or to download Meritor Mobile, visit www.meritorbullpen.com, or download the application directly from iTunes.

Existing users of Meritor Mobile will need to download this updated version to obtain these new features.