During the Mid-America Trucking Show, executives from ArvinMeritor Commercial Vehicle Systems executives reviewed industry trends and market developments, from why military business is good for fleets to saving on fuel.

Carsten Reinhardt, president of ArvinMeritor's Commercial Vehicle Systems business, said the company expects vehicle production in North America this year to be 220,000-240,000 heavy-duty trucks, with the medium-duty trucks forecast to be 160-175,000 units, and trailer production of 195-210,000 units.
Some of the trends discussed:
• What's good for the military is good for fleets. Decades of supplying axles and brakes for military vehicles has been beneficial to the commercial vehicle marketplace. Miliary vehicle components are designed and manufactured for a 20-year life cycle, not four or six years, have to meet extreme temperature swings and operate in mud, sand and saltwater. The research and development used to design for the military benefits the design of standard commercial-use components.
• Stopping safely: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has again delayed its plans to publish a final rulemaking regarding shorter stopping distances for air-braked tractors. The current plan is for the final rule to be published in September. Based on the company's understanding of the NHTSA public comments, the rule changes can be achieved in some cases by current cam brake products, but the majority of vehicles will require either a higher performance cam brake or a disc brake to meet the anticipated reductions in stopping distances.
• Hybrid vehicles: In a discussion of hybrid vehicle adoption, ArvinMeritor's Joe Plomin, vice president-Truck, suggested that three major factors will drive this: the need to dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the fuel economy benefits and, perhaps most of all, the improved performance and functionality hybrids can offer. ArvinMeritor is a member of a consortium, along with Cummins and International, that has been collaborating on a Wal-Mart hybrid vehicle project to validate the benefits of using a hybrid system for long haul applications.
• Lightweight still "adds up." As fleets struggle with high fuel costs, lightweight components get more interest. Food Lion of Salisbury, N.C., displayed a lightweight Volvo tractor at the show, equipped lightweight components such as Meritor Liteflex steer axle composite springs, a drive axle with an aluminum carrier; lightweight SteelLite X30 drums. Automatic tire monitoring and inflation systems, such as the Meritor Tire Inflation System by PSI, also help save on fuel costs.
• Going global: Larry Burgin, vice president-Trailer Systems, detailed the trailer axles-suspensions provided globally, including full production serving the third largest trailer maker in Europe, Kogel, with a customized axle-brake design that they call Kogel Trax. ArvinMeritor opened an aftermarket sales office in Moscow earlier this year and was scheduled to exhibit at the Comtrans Exhibition in Moscow.