ACOFAS Presentation Teaches Technicians About DOT Inspections

ACOFAS is offering training for technicians on DOT vehicle inspection compliance. Photo: Evan Lockridge

The American Council of Frame and Alignment Specialists is offering a presentation demonstrating and educating technicians on how to properly inspect a vehicle.

The one and a half day presentation is being given by Andy Blair, a former Pennsylvania Police and Department of Transportation Enforcement Officer and independent instructor. Blair will help attendees understand what enforcement officers are looking for during inspections.

The presentation aims to help technicians do their job thoroughly so that customers will not get an out-of-service violation after leaving the shop. It will include a classroom session, as well as hands-on demonstrations using actual trucks, trailers, and school buses.

The DOT Technician Training presentation will take place from April 30 - May 2 at Frame Service Inc., in Ft. Wayne Indiana. Sessions will take place on May 1 and 2. To register online go to acofas.com. To find out more information, contact Gordon Botts at [email protected].

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Kenworth Offers New Standard Track Front Axle Options

The Paccar front axle comes in wide track configurations rated at 20,000 pounds and 22,800 pounds. Photo: Paccar

Kenworth is offering new standard track options for its Paccar proprietary front axle lineup available for Class 8 vocational models.

Designed for construction and vocational application, the Paccar says its front axle enhances vehicle payload-carrying capability and complements the performance of Paccar's MX-11 and MX-13 engines. The Paccar front axle was introduced last year with wide track configurations rated at 20,000 pounds and 22,800 pounds.

Paccar front axles use an specially designed, tapered, kingpin roller bearing, which simplifies the design and delivers improved steering efficiency and offers steering angles up to 50 degrees. The axles have a five-year / 750,000-mile warranty.

“The Paccar front axle with standard track is an important addition for the vocational market as it provides the best axle/wheel/tire combination to achieve a 20,000-pound rating with 425-series tires, while also offering excellent wheel-cut and maneuverability,” said Kurt Swihart, Kenworth marketing director.

Certified Pre-Owned Vehicle Website

Kenworth has also launched a new, dedicated, website for its Kenworth Certified Pre-Owned program at www.KenworthCertified.com. The website features a listing of pre-owned certified trucks from participating Kenworth dealers.

Available in the United States and Canada, the program offers top-condition Kenworth Class 8 trucks. To qualify, each Kenworth Certified Pre-Owned Class 8 truck must be four model years of age or less, have mileage under 450,000 miles, and pass an extensive 150-point inspection completed by Kenworth certified technicians.

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Friday Apple Rumors: Apple Halts iPhone 8 Plus Production

Leading the Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) rumor mill today is news of iPhone 8 Plus production halting. The reason is that the company may have been be using components that were not approved for use in the iPhone 8 Plus.

Valhalla Rising With Volvo Trucks

A glimpse of Volvo's work on future transportation technology is apparent in this model of an autonomous concept truck on display at the company's Customer Center in Dublin, VA. Photo: Jack Roberts

If I could take a time machine and travel back to visit my ancestors running around in Wales, in the British Isles, a thousand or so years ago, at some point I suspect they would get around to telling me what a major buzzkill it was to see a bunch of Scandinavians – Vikings, they would have called them – showing up on their doorstep.

Vikings, they would no doubt warn me, are violent, reckless, boastful braggarts, always going on about their great deeds in their Sagas, and primarily interested in burning, pillaging and stealing anything they could get their hands on.

The facts are much more nuanced, of course. Given my family history, I seriously doubt my forbearers were up to much good themselves back then, and probably didn't have a whole lot of room to talk. But they would still be aghast to learn that historians today consider the Viking's contribution to world history to be far more important than the occasional ransacked village. And despite the contemporary charges of heathenism and debauchery, the Norsemen were also skilled engineers whose long boats were wonders of the age.

Whatever anybody thinks about the Vikings today, it does seem they did get all the violence and boasting out of their system after terrorizing my ancestors all those years ago. The Scandinavians today are quiet, well-mannered and modest about their accomplishments.

If you visit Volvo Trucks, either here in the States, or in Europe, you see that reserved Swedish pragmatism on display as well. The engineering heritage pioneered a millennia ago by their ancestors is very much alive and well in the cutting edge ...Read the rest of this story

White House: Sen. Schumer is weaponizing Senate procedure…

At the daily press briefing, Marc Short, White House director of legislative affairs, speaks to the press about the process of approving presidential nominees.

Scania Inks Historic Platooning Agreement

Scania cabover tractor-trailers conduct a platooning test on a track in Europe. Photo: Scania

Swedish truck maker Scania has finalized a deal with a Finnish fleet to begin testing platooning technology on Scandinavian highways, the company has announced.

Scania is owned by Volkswagen and has been a European leader in truck platooning technology, which uses advanced vehicle safety systems, wireless communications, and autonomous vehicle controls to allow long-haul tractor-trailers to travel in convoy formations with decreased following distances to boost fuel economy thanks to increased vehicle aerodynamics.

According to reports, Scania has signed an agreement with Ahola Transport to use both Scania trucks and autonomous vehicle technology to test semi-autonomous platooning operations involving three or more vehicles on public roadways. According to reports, the first vehicle will be operated in cruise mode with a human driver steering. All the following trucks in the platoon will be operated under full autonomous control with human drivers monitoring driving operations.

Scania cited the agreement as a “landmark” in the development of autonomous vehicle technology, noting that it is the first such agreement in Europe between a truck OEM and a fleet.

Scania officials said the trials in actual traffic situations and varying weather conditions are essential for building public acceptance and confidence in the technology.

In a statement, an Ahola spokesperson noted that the fleet's very first truck purchase, in 1959, was a Scania model and that it looked forward to extending that long-term cooperation toward finding new transportation solutions for the trucking industry.

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FMCSA: A Driver Found Lacking Required ELD May Finish Trip

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration has advised how the electronic logging device mandate will be enforced beginning April 1, 2018, when the period of “soft enforcement” ends, according to a post by Daren Hansen, senior editor of Transportation Safety for J.J. Keller & Associates.

Once full enforcement begins on April 1, drivers required to operate with an ELD but found to be lacking a device will be placed out of service (OOS). That OOS order will be in effect for 10 hours for truck drivers.

At the end of the OOS period, the driver will be allowed to continue to his or her next scheduled stop using paper logs. But the driver should not be dispatched again without an ELD.

And if the driver is dispatched again without an ELD, he or she may be placed OOS yet again and “the motor carrier will be subject to further enforcement action,” FMCSA said.

Also starting on April 1, any ELD violations recorded on roadside inspection reports will count against the driver's and the carrier's scores in FMCSA's Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) system.

Related: ELD Mandate Enforcement Kicks in for Real April 1

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