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Volvo’s Iron Knight Truck Sets New Speed Record
Volvo is again using high-profile stunts and viral video to highlight its engineering skills, and the latest is The Iron Knight, the world's fastest truck, breaking the record set by a previous special Volvo truck.
The record-breaker, which has the DNA of Volvo's FH on steroids, is custom-built in every respect – except for a modified Volvo D13 engine and the series-manufactured I-Shift Dual Clutch transmission. The engine has 2,400 hp and the truck can accelerate from zero to 100 km/h in 4.6 seconds.
Nigel Atterbury, Volvo Trucks Senior Designer, explains in the video, “We've pretty much taken a standard gearbox and packaged it into this fantastic beast behind us.”
On a closed-off airfield in Falifors, Sweden, the Iron Knight set two FIA world land speed records. Its two one-kilometer runs averaged 21.290 seconds or 169.083 km/hour (or about 105 mph), and the half-kilometer average was 13.710 seconds and 131.291 km/hour (about 82 mph).
The truck was piloted by Boije Ovebrink, who has more than 30 years' experience of both car and truck racing. He has previously beaten five speed records and in 1994 was European Truck Racing Champion.
“Volvo Trucks' The Iron Knight can be summarized in one single word: perfection,” said Ovebrink. “It's beautiful to look at and is an unparalleled powerhouse when you floor the accelerator. This is the third record-breaking truck I've driven, and I can't think of a better follow-up to Wild Viking and Mean Green,” says Ovebrink.
The last time we reported on Ovebrink, back in 2012, he was driving Mean Green, said to be the world's fastest hybrid truck. Nigel Atterbury, Volvo Trucks Senior Designer, explains that compared to Mean Green, the Iron Knight is 1,000 kilos lighter and puts out 600 horsepower more.
Of course, the point was to demonstrate the I-Shift Dual Clutch, which allowed the ...Read the rest of this story
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Love’s Donates $25,000 to Louisiana Flood Relief
<img width="150" src="http://www.automotive-fleet.com/fc_images/news/m-love-s-flooding-1.jpg" border="0" alt="
The flooding in Lousiana has affected some Love's locations and directly impacted 5 of its employees. Photo: Love's Travel Stop
">The flooding in Lousiana has affected some Love's locations and directly impacted 5 of its employees. Photo: Love's Travel Stop
">Loves Travel Stops has donated $25,000 to the Salvation Army to help with relief efforts in Louisiana after severe flooding devastated the region.
The truck stop chain has been impacted directly by the flooding, including five of its employees from the Port Allen location losing everything. The slow-moving storm system killed at least 13 people so far and displaced thousands of others from their homes.
Port Allen is 7 miles west of Baton Rouge, which received as much as 2 feet of rain over the course of three days. The storm shut down major interstates running through the region and forced Love's 523 in Duson to close overnight.
According to Love's blog, two employees lost their homes, one lost a vehicle, and two more have been displaced and aren't allowed to return home yet. Love's has an assistance program in place to help employees most directly affected by the flooding.
Love's employees are also acting as guides to travelers coming through the region, helping both professional and non-professional drivers navigate around the high waters as well as provide hot food and clean showers.
"We give them directions, help them with maps, show them alternative routes they can take," said Jacob Kibodeaux, operations manager of Love's 243 in Lake Charles. "We want to go above and beyond to take care of our customers."
Related: Spot Truckload Rates Fail to Gain Except in Louisiana Flood Zone
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Dual Shield Protects Power Sources on Trucks
Purkeys has developed the Dual Shield designed to simplify adding additional electrical devices to heavy-duty vehicles and protect the source that powers them.
The Dual Shield provides a single source with multiple protected ports for electrical devices. It gives the vehicle two levels of protection to help counteract parasitic loads from electrical systems like a low voltage disconnect and a timed disconnect.
Other Purkeys products, such as the DC to AC 1500 Watt Power Inverter, have LVDs that protect the vehicle from parasitic loads by shutting off the device when a set voltage is reached. This keeps batteries from becoming too discharged to start the vehicle. In addition to the LVD, the Dual Shield has a timed disconnect that will shut off running devices within an hour after the ignition is turned off.
The Dual Shield has LEDs that can show drivers when there is power running through the system or when devices have been shut off.
This electrical accessory simplifies adding necessary electrical devices to heavy-duty vehicles by providing a centralized, protected location for technicians to connect these supplementary devices. The Dual Shield safety features can stop vehicle batteries from becoming severely discharged, thus keeping them in better condition.
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