LOUISVILLE, KY -- After briefly celebrating the return of the company's name to Meritor, executives of the commercial-truck components manufacturer issued a "report card" on one of its products, the 14X axle assembly.

At a press conference during last week's Mid-America Trucking Show, executives also discussed stronger brakes and a "concept" single-drive tandem for 6x2 tractors.

About 30,000 of the high-tech 14X axle and differential assemblies have been sold since its introduction the year before, said Joe Plomin, Meritor's vice president, trucks. And customers are pleased with its performance thus far.

The 14X, designed with wide-base wheels and tires in mind, is now available with wide-track axle carriers specifically for the WBS assemblies, while a dual-track version remains available. Also, an aluminum carrier option cuts 100 pounds compared to a standard ductile-iron carrier.

Federal regulations requiring shorter stopping distances for heavy vehicles go into effect this summer, and Meritor will help truck builders and users meet the limits with either air-drum or air-disc brakes, Plomin said. The old limit of 350 feet at 65 mph will drop to 250 feet, but the company's Q Plus drums will stop a rig in 225 feet while discs will stop it in 215 feet.

Meritor continues development of future products, and showed off the concept tandem for a 6x2 axle configuration. The tandem uses one 17X driving axle and an adjustable non-driving tag axle. With no interaxle or rear-rear axle differential, the tandem would save 1,000 pounds compared to a twin-screw tandem, said Charles Allen, global service director.

Helping would be a titanium bracket that secures a torque rod to the drive axle. That very lightweight but comparatively costly part might or might not be included in a production model.

The Meritor concept tandem's differential lock and weight adjustment functions are done automatically, when the integral ABS and traction control sense wheel slip in the drive axle, Allen explained. Previous tandems for 6x2 tractors required drivers to throw a switch to go to diff lockup, which also triggers reduction of pressure on the tag axle and transfer of weight to the driving axle.

Besides saving weight, a 6x2 system can save fuel because power has to churn through fewer gear sets before reaching the drive wheels. Such systems, usually with manual lifting dead axles, have been used by some fleets here, and are especially popular in Europe, Allen noted.

That most truckers in North America won't buy 6x2 tractors, with a resulting poor resale value for those few that are built, might be a matter of education, he said. Drivers who operate 6x2s know that traction with them is usually superior to a 6x4 when weight is transferred to the powered axle. Meritor will continue evaluating the concept.