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Commentary: The Best Maintenance Tools May Not Be in the Shop at All

Deborah Lockridge

You can't maintain and repair your trucks without tools. But the tools available to you today go far beyond wrenches and multimeters, even beyond portable diagnostics tools or computer tablets.

The most powerful tools you may not be fully taking advantage of in the shop involve information.

Of course, you're holding one basic information tool in your hands. HDT has been bringing you the latest maintenance trends and practices, and basic how-to refreshers, for more than 90 years.

Last year, one of the things we told you about was using Lean and other waste-reduction systems in the shop. You don't even have to officially use Lean tools, but the ability to analyze your shop processes and make it easier and faster for your techs to do their jobs is a powerful tool.

That's just one way to use information as a tool. More data is available to the trucking industry today than ever before in its history. An amazing amount of information flows from the truck itself, much of it available at your fingertips via telematics even though the truck may be hundreds of miles away, from engine fault codes to the pressure in the tires.

In this issue's story on uptime, Randy McGregor tells about how he looked for patterns in the data to determine patterns in emissions system failures, allowing him to get ahead of potential problems before they resulted in downtime.

But it's easy to feel like you're over your head in a sea of data. One tool that can help is standardized Vehicle Maintenance Reporting Standards (VMRS) — a system that uses numbers to describe parts and maintenance activities. This series of codes is used to describe virtually every facet of the maintenance operation, from parts to manufacturers to technician work to vehicle location. Although it was unveiled in ...Read the rest of this story

How E-Commerce is Changing Trucking

In 1995, Jeff Bezos launched a website to sell books. He billed it as “Earth's biggest bookstore,” and went through ideas for names including “Cadabra” and “Relentless.” Eventually, he named it after the largest river in the world.

It turned out to be an apt name. Amazon unleashed an ever-growing, inexorable river of e-commerce. The impact of that flow on transportation and logistics goes far beyond Amazon, and far beyond the delivery drivers who were pounding up your home's front stairs at 11 p.m. the week before Christmas.

The U.S. Commerce Department didn't have holiday sales figures at press time, but it reports that for the third quarter of last year, U.S. retail e-commerce sales were $101.3 billion, up 15.7% from the third quarter of 2015. (That's adjusted for seasonal variation, but not for price changes.)

In contrast, total retail sales for the third quarter were up only 2.2% year over year.

And it's not just consumer goods like clothing and electronics. For instance, Darryl Barber, automotive segment marketing manager for UPS, says e-commerce is changing the way auto parts distributors do business.

“Consumers who are buying a part are as likely to go online and order it as drive to a local store,” he says. “The aftermarket manufacturers we deal with [report] aftermarket business is up 3.5 to 4% year over year, but it's up 16 to 20% for the e-commerce channel.”

For UPS, that means parts previously moving in palletized shipments to a warehouse or distribution center are now going out in more frequent, smaller shipments, Barber says. “A lot of times they end up in the package cars on the street — the same guys that deliver your Christmas presents.”

Much of the most direct impact of e-commerce is on package carriers such as UPS and FedEx. UPS, for instance, projects that business-to-consumer parcels ...Read the rest of this story

Diesel Prices Rise for First Time in a Month

Source: EIA

Diesel prices increased for the first time in nearly a month but have overall remained nearly flat during the same period of time, according to the latest numbers from the Energy Department.

The average price of on-highway diesel fuel fell by 0.7 cents last week, settling at $2.565 per gallon at the pump. After peaking at nearly $2.59 per gallon in early January, the price has hovered around $2.56 per gallon for the past month. Compared to the same week in 2016, the price of diesel fuel is now 58.5 cents more expensive per gallon.

The largest increase in prices hit the Gulf Coast region, where prices jumped by 2.1 cents last week. While most regions saw price increases, diesel prices fell in the Midwest by 0.5 cents.

The average price of regular gasoline was also up last week, increasing 1.4 cents per gallon at the pump. The price is now 58.3 cents more expensive per gallon than it was in the same week a year ago.

Price changes varied by region with the largest increase in prices hitting the West Coast at 3.2 cents per gallon. The largest price decrease occurred in the Lower Atlantic region with a 1.1-cent drop for the week.

Crude oil prices were down again on Feb. 13 over the prospect of increased U.S. oil production, according to a MarketWatch Report.

The major OPEC global oil producers have so far complied with an agreement to freeze and reduce oil production to stabilize the market. However, increased oil production in the U.S. has offset the expected price increases.

Related: Diesel Prices Fall, But Just Barely

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Dana to Acquire Assets from U.S. Manufacturing Corporation

Dana has agreed to purchase the axle housing and driveline shaft manufacturing operations of U.S. Manufacturing Corporation.

The purchase is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2017.

"The acquisition of USM's Warren operation allows us to capitalize on an important opportunity that will strengthen the supply chain for several of Dana's most strategic customers and programs," said Jim Kamsickas, Dana president and CEO. "The transaction also includes process technologies that augment Dana's existing portfolio of lightweighting innovations, which assist our customers in achieving their sustainability and fuel efficiency goals."

Dana plans to acquire USM's Warren, Mich., assets in exchange for 100 million in cash. The acquisition is aimed at increasing Dana's revenue from passenger and commercial vehicle manufacturers and improve the company's supply chain. It will also provide Dana with new product and process technologies for lightweighting.

Dana will also acquire USM's proprietary tube-manufacturing processes and intellectual property for lightweight thin-wall axle tubes and hollow axle shafts.

“This acquisition will also expand Dana's substantial manufacturing footprint in the U.S. and advance our strategy for developing, designing, and manufacturing products in close proximity to our customers," said Bob Pyle, president of Dana Light Vehicle Driveline Technologies.

Related: Dana Announces E-commerce Platform

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Dashboard Mount Designed for ELDs, Smart Devices

Arkon is offering heavy-duty dashboard and windshield mounts that are designed for portable electronic logging devices, tablets, or smartphones.

The mount can help fleets prepare for the upcoming FMCSA ELD mandate by providing a mount that can be adjusted to fit a variety of different devices.

The Model TAB4METKL aluminum mount is adjustable to fit tablets up to 7-10 inches in screen size, even with protective cases. The mount base can be screwed or drilled into any flat surface and a key lock keeps the tablet secured in place. The mount has 180-degree articulation and weighs in at two pounds total.

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Toyo Offers More Sizes for M920, M149 Tires

Toyo Tires has expanded its M920 dive-tire and M149 Super Single tire lines, adding more sizing options for fleets.

The M920 drive traction tire is designed for trucks that require all-season capabilities to deliver loads in any weather condition in regional or long-haul applications. The tire has wide, staggered tread blocks for improved traction and performance while other features affect wet performance, longer tire life and reduced irregular wear.

New sizes added to the M920 lineup include a 315/80R22.5 with a Load Index of L, also an 11R24.5 and a 285/75R24.5. The total M920 size range now includes:

The company has also added a new size to its Toyo M149, an all-position super single tire designed to deliver better wear performance in tough operations, ranging from urban front axles to long-haul trailers. The tire's construction and tread design promote high uniformity, even wear, and wet traction.

“The M920 and M149 have delivered great performance and a lower cost per mile for our commercial customers,” said Mike Graber, Senior Product Manager, commercial truck tires Toyo Tire U.S.A. “These added sizes will expand the applications that will benefit from longer tread life and better retreadability.”

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