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Former Senior Contributing Editor
Well-known in the industry for his wealth of knowledge, folksy style and straight talk, Tom Berg covered vocational and medium-duty applications, maintenance and alternative fuels for Heavy Duty Trucking for several years.
He is a commercial driver’s license holder and a recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Truck Writers of North America and 11 Jesse H. Neal honors.
He has covered trucking since 1978.
Drayage operators will soon obtain more container chassis from trucker-owned pools than from ship lines and railroads, which signals part of a transition under way in the intermodal industry. A recently formed North American Chassis Pool Cooperative has won government approval and has begun purchasing chassis.
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Every day, thousands of used trucks change hands. Last year, 190,000 were sold, and though this year's tally might be lower, it's still a healthy business that sometimes mirrors new-truck sales. That this market is intrinsically tied to new trucks becomes more apparent at times like now, when supplies of late-model power units are growing scarce.
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Glider kits — new trucks and tractors that get rebuilt or remanufactured powertrain components — make up a small percentage of total new-truck purchases, partly because most truck operators know little about them.
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Heavy-haul equipment has always fascinated me, ever since I was a little boy watching “steam shovels” dig basements in our then-expanding neighborhood in post-World War II Milwaukee. The shovels (which were actually gasoline- and maybe diesel-powered) were carried to job sites on low-slung pull trailers. The trailers were pulled by dump trucks which, after parking the trailers on the street, also carried away some of the dirt from the new holes.
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In his latest Trailer Talk blog, Senior Editor Tom Berg takes a closer look at what first glance might look like an ordinary equipment trailer.
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Here’s a novel approach to making trailer skirts: Use reclaimed materials, consult with a veteran fleet executive to be sure you get the design right, and employ U.S. military veterans to assemble them while they attend school.
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Here’s a new twist on aerodynamics: curved blades inside a rectangular structure that smooth air flow as it leaves a trailer’s surfaces. Called the VorBlade Invisible Fairing, the device is combined in rows at the trailing edges of a box trailer, reducing turbulence and the suction effect at the vehicle’s rear.
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Last week a tractor-trailer carrying a memorial to veterans of the Vietnam War came to town, reports Senior Editor Tom Berg in his latest "Trailer Talk" blog. It was part of ceremonies marking the 40th anniversary of the United States’ official withdrawal from Vietnam.
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Is it time to replace your old truck or tractor? Is it old enough that its engine has none of the exhaust-emissions equipment that’s been giving people fits in recent years? Have you decided to take the plunge anyway because your vehicle is just plain worn out? Here's what you need to know about emissions equipment when buying a used truck built in the last decade.
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Kenworth designers have turned to the trailer part of their T680 Advantage rig, integrating the smoothly styled tractor's aerodynamics into the lines of a 53-foot Utility van. The tractor has mechanical and electrical equipment meant to save fuel, but reducing air drag across the entire vehicle is almost as important, they said.
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