Four years ago, many believed Navistar was headed towards an almost certain bankruptcy. The truck maker had squandered billions on a diesel engine that didn’t win the approval of the Environmental Protection Agency, in a move insiders likened to “betting on the diesel version of Betamax when the rest of the world is going to VHS.” One of Navistar’s top shareholders, Carl Icahn, would often refer to then-CEO Daniel Ustian as a “crazy…
Read MoreELD Mandate May Cost Fleets 15-20% More
Large fleets that have adopted electronic logging devices (ELD’s) in recent years learned that productivity dropped, said Todd Amen, president of owner-operator financial services provider ATBS. “You lose 10 to 20 percent of your ability to run miles,” said Amen, on Friday at the Great American Trucking Show in Dallas. Most small fleets and independent owner-operators will wait until late 2017 to comply with the mandate, which takes effect in December…
Read MoreCaterpillar May Close its Belgium Plant
Caterpillar Inc. has started a consultation process that may lead to closing its plant in Gosselies, Belgium, and the loss of 2,000 jobs there, as part of a global restructuring and cost-savings plan announced a year ago. The Peoria, Ill.-based heavy equipment maker on Friday said the construction equipment manufactured at the site may be shifted to its facility in Grenoble, France, and other sites outside Europe. The company also…
Read MoreU.S. Proposes Speed Limiter on Trucks
A national association of small-business truckers claims the government’s proposal to mandate speed-limiting devices on large commercial trucks would be dangerous for all highway users. The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association (OOIDA), the nation’s only organization representing professional and small-business truckers, says such devices create speed differentials that lead to more crashes and promote road rage among other motorists. The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) and the National Highway Traffic…
Read MoreDOC Issues 40% Tariff on Chinese Truck Tires
The U.S. Department of Commerce (DOC) says truck and bus tire manufacturers in China are dumping tires in the U.S. at less than fair market value, and those tires should be subject to tariffs of at least 20%. The tariffs are retroactive. The DOC announced its preliminary results Aug. 29. In every tariff investigation, the DOC selects manufacturers to serve as mandatory respondents. Those companies then provide data and answer…
Read MorePeterbilt Hendrickson New Suspension Steer System
Hendrickson Truck Commercial Vehicle Systems has launched its Softek NXT integrated monoleaf suspension and steer axle system as an option on both Peterbilt 579 and 567 set forward axle models. Softek NXT is the next generation of Hendrickson’s road proven, weight-saving Softek monoleaf suspension and steer axle system. Softek NXT combines the Steertek NXT axle and monoleaf spring technology with an advanced integrated clamp group design. Setting the benchmark for…
Read MoreYounger Driver Military Pilot Program
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is proposing a pilot program allowing a limited number of drivers between the ages of 18 and 21 to operate commercial motor vehicles in interstate commerce if they received specified heavy-vehicle driver training while in military service and are sponsored by a participating motor carrier. The program is required by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act. During the three-year pilot program, the safety…
Read MoreU.S. Releases New Rules on Truck Emissions
U.S. regulators on Tuesday announced new standards aimed at cutting greenhouse gas emissions from medium- and heavy-duty trucks by up to 25 percent by 2027. The final rules issued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency tracked proposals issued last year, although there were new provisions that won support from truck and engine makers, as well as environmental groups. Medium- and heavy-duty vehicle and engine manufacturers were given until 2027 to…
Read MoreNissan’s New Gas Engine May Replace Diesel
Japanese automaker Nissan Motor Co. has come up with a new type of gasoline engine it says may make some of today’s advanced diesel engines obsolete. The new engine uses variable compression technology, which Nissan engineers say allows it at any given moment to choose an optimal compression ratio for combustion – a key factor in the trade-off between power and efficiency in all gasoline-fuelled engines. The technology gives the new…
Read MoreNew Kenworth T680 DayCab Increases Fuel Economy
Kenworth will extend its T680 fuel economy Advantage package into vocational applications soon with the launch of two new, T680 Advantage Day Cab models, but will cut production of the T660 by the end of the year. The announcement came Friday at Kenworth headquarters in Kirkland, Washington, ahead of a demonstration of Bendix’s new Fusion Advanced Vehicle Safety system. Kenworth Chief Engineer Kevin Baney said the new trucks will help…
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