Tried and True Tire Repairs

The first, and most crucial step in any tire repair process is to completely remove any foreign material from the damaged area. Photos: Jim Park

The flat tire is arguably motoring's oldest nemesis. Check out any film or photography from the early Automotive Age, and sooner, rather than later, somebody is going to roll their sleeves up and get to work patching a tire.

Early automotive tires were essentially scaled-up versions of bicycle tires. But they evolved quickly to meet the more rigorous demands put on them by early cars and trucks. Improvements to roads and highways made a big difference, too. So today, full-on tire failures are relatively rare compared to those early years behind the wheel.

But flat tires remain a serious threat for fleets today. And, of course, when flats do occur, they rarely happen in front of your local tire dealer's store. And fixing a truck tire is a complicated, safety-focused affair. Unlike an enterprising passenger car driver, pulling out a set of tire plugs and setting to work just isn't going to get the job done.

And, of course, tires aren't cheap. Smart fleet managers understand that wringing every possible mile from a truck tire saves money. Which means that getting tires fixed properly after failures do occur is vital for both vehicle productivity and fleet profitability.

As with so many things in fleet operations, your drivers are your first line of defense when it comes to tire repairs. And this defense should begin every day with a thorough pre-trip inspection with a focus on good tire health.

The quickest and surest way to determine if there's a slow leak in a tire is by checking tire pressure with an accurate, properly calibrated tire gauge. Unfortunately, many drivers still believe that whacking a tire with an ax ...Read the rest of this story

The Quest for Uptime

While the complexity is increasing, the reliability of the current generation of trucks and engines is the best we've seen in several years. Photos: Jim Park

We're learning. We're doing a better job at keeping trucks out of the shop and out on the road earning money, but it's been a long, steep learning curve. Ever since the first diesel particulate filters appeared in 2007, fleets have been struggling to diagnose problems and make the necessary repairs. One of the greatest hurdles has been confusing messages and sometimes misleading information. Various sensors are often the culprit, but for the technicians working through the problem, the troubleshooting exercise was at first new and unfamiliar.

Each new generation of engine, and indeed mid-generation updates, brought new fault codes, new troubleshooting trees and more complexity in making the diagnosis. How much more complex? About tenfold.

“If you go back to pre-EPA-07, you'd get about 200-300 codes out of the [electronic control module],” says Gregg Mangione, senior vice president of maintenance at Penske Logistics. “Compare that to an engine [meeting 2014 greenhouse gas emission regs], with over a dozen different controllers. Some trucks are throwing between 2,000 and 3,000 different fault codes.”

However, Mangione says equipment manufacturers have learned to scale back on what information they present and how they present it. Previously, he says, “every time they turned on the dashboard light it created a problem for the driver. And that in turn created a problem for the shop. They had to decide whether the problem was serious enough to force the driver to stop.

“Now, with inexpensive telematics and truck-to-terminal communications becoming commonplace, we can more easily sort through the codes and message the driver accordingly. So while the trucks are throwing off more data than ever before, fleets are learning to use that information.”

One can imagine ...Read the rest of this story

Rush Truck Centers Opens Third New Mexico Dealership

Photo via Rush Enterprises

Dealer group Rush Enterprises opened a Rush Truck Center in Farmington, New Mexico, to strength the company's service capabilities in the region.

The 14,000-square-foot facility features a parts showroom with a parts inventory and eight service bays with the latest technology. This is the third Rush location in New Mexico, joining more than 100 total Rush Truck Centers in 21 states.

“We are proud to extend our nationwide presence to Farmington, New Mexico,” said W. M. "Rusty" Rush, chairman, CEO, and president of Rush Enterprises. “With this one-stop parts and service location, we can continue to support our customers in New Mexico and keep them up and running.”

Rush Truck Center in Farmington is located at 1111 Madison Lane, Farmington, N.M., 87401. For more information, call 505-599-8900 or click here.

Related: Third Time the Charm for Rush Tech Rodeo Champ

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Mack Names Vision Truck Group Dealer of the Year

John Slotegraaf, president of Vision Truck Group (center right), accepts the award from Dayle Wetherell, Mack regional vice president, Canada (left), Jonathan Randall, senior vice president of sales, Mack Trucks North America (center left), and Dennis Slagle, president, Mack Trucks (right). Photo: Mack Trucks

Mack Trucks has named the Vision Truck Group of Cambridge, Ontario, Canada, its 2016 North American Dealer of the Year.

Vision Truck Group had an outstanding 2016, achieving 189% of its sales goals for the year while also attaining 25% of the market share in its region. The dealer group also made significant investments in facilities, services, and people while celebrating its 50th anniversary, according to Mack.

The company was founded in 1966 and now operates six commercial truck centers in southwestern Ontario. The dealership offers a certified and solutions-based modifications team for enhancing vocational trucks for better performance and is focused on sales, service, and parts.

"Vision Truck Group exemplifies the kind of organization customers are drawn to, and for good reason," said Jonathan Randall, senior vice president of sales for Mack Trucks North America. "The service, support, and dedication they provide keeps their customers on the road and earning, and Mack Trucks is proud to be their partner."

Mack Trucks also named 2016 winners for its regional sales divisions:

The Mack Leasing North America Dealer of the Year Award went to Nextran Rental and Leasing, Jacksonville, Florida. Mack of Nashville, Nashville, Tennessee, received the North America Remarketing Dealer of the Year Award, and the overall Customer Service Award went to Vision Truck Group.

Related: Volvo, Mack ...Read the rest of this story

PeopleNet Names Vice President of Product Management

PeopleNet has appointed Eric Witty to the role of vice president of product management, overseeing product lines and setting the product vision and direction for the company.

In his new role, Witty will be part of the PeopleNet Transportation group. The Transportation Group is focused on the integration of vertical segments across PeopleNet and its corporate parent Trimble, including PeopleNet Truck Solutions, Trimble Construction Logistics, Trimble Oil & Gas Services and Trimble Final Mile Solutions. Witty previously served at PeopleNet as the director of product management.

Prior to joining PeopleNet, Witty served as vice president of product management for Cadec Global, which was acquired by PeopleNet in 2015. He has an extensive background in the fleet mobility industry, previously working in product roles at both XRS Corp. and Omnitracs.

“The rapid evolution of technology is changing the entire landscape of the transportation industry,” said Witty. “We want to accelerate this evolution by continuing to create solutions that enable fleets to increase efficiencies, improve safety and compliance and make their drivers' jobs easier.”

Related: PeopleNet Taps Rodi to Head New Transportation Group

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Trucking Alliance Pulls Hard for Hair-Testing

J.B Hunt is among the member companies of the Trucking Alliance seeking an exemption to let them conduct hair-testing for pre-employment drug testing of driver applicants. Photo: Drivewyze

The Alliance for Driver Safety & Security (a.k.a. “Trucking Alliance”) has submitted a set of detailed comments to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that strongly support a petition calling for motor carriers to be exempt from having to use urinalysis to test for drug use by CDL driver applicants. Four of the six petitioners are member companies of the Trucking Alliance.

If the exemptions are granted, the petitioning carriers will not have to wait for FMCSA to initiate and complete a rulemaking that would allow hair-testing in lieu of urinalysis or one that would mandate hair-testing instead of urinalysis.

According to a Feb. 16 letter to FMCSA containing the comments (Docket FMCSA-2017-0002) and signed by Trucking Alliance Managing Director Lane Kidd, the petitioners seek to instead use hair analysis to meet federal drug test requirements for commercial driver job applicants.

“Hair-testing is a more reliable (albeit twice as expensive) method for identifying lifestyle drug users, than the less expensive and less reliable urine exam,” states Kidd.

Kidd notes in the letter that the Alliance “concurs with petitioners in their stated reasons for deserving an exemption, but adds that “in the broader context, the petitioners are utilizing a more reliable method [hair-testing] for identifying drug users than the vast majority of U.S. freight and logistics carriers.”

He then contends that the petitioners are “deserving of an exemption and for the following public safety reasons:”

The role drugs play in large-truck accidents. “'Lifestyle drug users' have no place in the commercial truck driver profession. Truck driving is an occupation that exposes the general public to possible safety risks, because motorists share the highways with thousands of commercial ...Read the rest of this story

SmartDrive Announces 94% Growth In 2016

Driving performance solutions company SmartDrive Systems, announced its business results and operating highlights for its revised fiscal year reporting period that ended Dec. 31, 2016, and reported 94% organic subscription growth year-over-year and almost 400% over the past three years.

According to the company, its Transportation Intelligence Suite, market leading usability, ongoing platform expansion and unmatched customer satisfaction were the key growth drivers.

"As we look at the company growth rate over the last three years, it is clear that fleets are saying 'good enough is not enough,' first by investing in video safety and then by selecting SmartDrive's proactive programmatic approach that brings a new level of transportation intelligence to fleet safety and operations,” said the company's CEO Steve Mitgang.

In the second half of 2016, the company grew its customer base by adding fleets like TMC Transportation, Interstate Distributor Co., Alabama Motor Express, BCP Transportation, Cincinnati Bell Connector, and more. It has also retained 98% of contracted units. The company has been ranked as one of the fasted growing companies by the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 for the past three consecutive years.

Related: Video-Based Safety Systems: Worth A Closer Look?

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