Is Your Electrical Maintenance Doing the Job?

It's a thankless and time-consuming job, but basic electrical maintenance requires a high level of discipline and the willingness to follow procedure. Photos: Jim Park

Most electrical maintenance isn't rocket science — but let's not confuse basic electrical maintenance with electronic troubleshooting, which truly is a science.

The idea is to keep the electrons flowing to where they are needed in the appropriate voltages and current. That means doing everything humanly possible to prevent restrictions to current flow, such as not allowing corrosion to eat away at a wire or a connector. Corroded wires do not conduct electricity very well at all, and that limits current flow to the component, such as an electric actuator on a turbocharger or the shifter servos in an automated manual transmission.

“I have seen AMTs pulled and overhauled for erratic shifting when it was actually a low-voltage problem,” says Darry Stuart, fleet maintenance consultant and frequent moderator at the Fleet Talk and Fleet Forum sessions at ATA's Technology & Maintenance Council meetings. “That's an expensive mistake.”

Basic electrical maintenance done right requires disciplined techs following proper procedures. Stuart says it's easy to take shortcuts, and since most techs don't really like doing battery maintenance, you have to require them to do the work properly.

“Whether or not to disconnect the cables, clean the connectors and load test the batteries should not be left to the technician's discretion,” Stuart says. “That work has to be done at each and every PM. No ifs, ands or buts.”

Cleaning the terminal posts and the cable connectors, along with inspecting the cables for corrosion and wicking, has to be done right or you're wasting your time.

However, Stuart says, somewhat controversially, that dielectric grease and anti-corrosion compounds should not be used on battery terminals.

“You can lose two volts right at the terminal posts just due to ...Read the rest of this story

With Video-Bases Safety Systems Seeing is Believing

Camera-based safety systems offer monitoring, analytical and training benefits, say providers. 

Photo: MiX Telematics

Fleets are still not making much use of video recorder-based systems that aim both to monitor and improve at-the-wheel safety performance of truck drivers. The current penetration of such technology is “superficial at best,” according to Mike Nalepka, CEO of VideoProtects.com, a consultancy that focuses on such technologies, in a speech at October's Bobit Business Media Fleet Technology Expo.

“Our estimates suggest only about 6% of fleets have fully integrated video cameras and recording systems into their safety infrastructure management systems,” he said. “That means 94% of fleets are not there at all or are just starting to investigate the possibilities. They are kicking the tires, doing their due diligence, talking to other carriers and trying to determine where the value lies.”

Providers of camera-based systems point to how the monitoring and analytical capabilities of their systems can be leveraged to address issues of concern raised about specific driver behaviors and to more effectively provide remedial training and “coaching” very soon after a recorded safety event. The aim is to address and correct bad habits to help drivers operate more safely over the long term through real-world lessons starring themselves.

Many providers recently announced improvements, including new technological advances they say further enhance the business case for adopting video recorder-based systems. New providers have entered the marketplace as well.

The latest release of SmartDrive's video-based analytics platform and safety program includes new capabilities for capturing and delivering videos, improving the video-coaching process and driver-performance analytics as well as custom policy configurations.

According to the company, the enhancements “target high-priority areas for fleets and deliver on top requests from existing customers, providing new levels of productivity and protection with an even faster ROI.” The system improvements include a range of features that provide ...Read the rest of this story

Trailer Orders Finish Strong in December

Photo: Tom Berg

The trailer industry closed 2016 on a high note, with increases in dry van and reefer orders yet was down compared to November, according to ACT Research.

Dry van orders were up 26% and reefer orders climbed almost 140% compared to 2015. Despite the positive year-over-year performance, new and net orders were down 5% from November. The impact of higher energy prices boosted the vocational segments, such as flats, dumps and bulk tanks.

But weaker trailer orders earlier in the year offset the gains in November and December. So, 2016's total orders were down significantly compared to 2015.

“For the full year, industry net orders of just under 229,000 units were down 28% versus 2015,” said Frank Maly, ACT's director of commercial vehicle transportation analysis and research. “Dry vans and reefers, both off 30% to 31% year-over-year, were the major factors in that total market performance, although net orders for every trailer category in our group of ten were down from 2015.”

Related: December Heavy Truck Orders Hit 6-Month High

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Safe Fleet buys Randall the reefer customizer

Everco Heavy Duty Releases Complete A/C Repair Kits

Everco Heavy Duty has released 67 air conditioning repair kits for the heavy duty market that include everything that a technician needs to complete a job.

Each kit contains all of the components needed for a complete A/C repair in one box, including a new A/C compressor, filter drier, expansion device, premium oil, and all gaskets and O-rings. The kits come with a 100,000-mile warranty.

Everco Heavy Duty A/C repair kits are available for:

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Loadlink reports surge in loads, drop in trucks

CarriersEdge releases Spanish courses

CarriersEdge announced the first of a series of training courses that have been translated to help meet the needs of Spanish speaking drivers.

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