Commentary: Technician Training Alliance Aims to Improve Repair Process

Denise Rondini

Earlier this year, independent repair garages and fleets were given access to service information for model year 2010 and later trucks and buses over 10,000 pounds sold in the United States and Canada. Manufacturers had to make available — for a fee — as-built information that links to the vehicle's VIN, and they had to make available the specialty tools needed to fix vehicles.

But the memorandum of understanding did not mean that the truck makers had to provide training.

“We were left with a hole in how to deal with this issue,” says Marc Karon, chairman of the Commercial Vehicle Solutions Network. “We now had all this access to technology, but how were we going to be able to use it if nobody was going to teach us?”

So the CVSN formed an alliance with three companies that provide technician training: ProMech Learning Systems, Service Professionals Inc., and WheelTime University.

“We decided this needed to be an industry-wide effort, not just for CVSN members,” Karon says. “The whole industry is suffering from this problem, including dealers in many cases because they are only getting training on their own particular nameplate, yet many dealers are all makes so they don't know how to use software that applies to a truck they are not a franchise of.”

Mike Compisi, vice president of operations for ProMech Learning, explains, “There is a tremendous need for technical training, whether it is related to right to repair, ECM reflashing, etc. If you don't know how to use the tools and complete the repairs, it can be detrimental and ultimately cost the fleet more money.”

Each training company in the alliance offers different options. Training is available on site, regionally and via the internet. The training is modular and includes beginning courses, ASE certification and things like engine repair ...Read the rest of this story

Training military drivers for off-road work

Driving trucks on pavement is very different compared to piloting them across off-road, hard-scrabble, even sandy landscapes while under fire. That's why the U.S. military devotes serious training time to those soldiers and sailors tasked with operating big rigs – and we do mean “big” – in often unforgiving environments all over planet. (Photos courtesy of the U.S. Department of Defense)

Ford’s F-650/F-750 Sales Increase 59%

Photo courtesy of Ford.

Sales of Ford's medium-duty F-650 and F-750 trucks have increased 59% year-over-year through August, the best year-to-date sales through August since 1997, according to Ford.

So far this year, Ford has sold 10,160 F-650 and F-750s, including Regular Cab, SuperCab and Crew Cab body styles as well as straight-frame, kick-up frame Pro Loader and a new dedicated tractor model for heavy-towing applications.

“We're seeing growing interest in the new tractor from beverage and hauling fleets,” said Kevin Koester, Ford medium-duty truck and Super Duty fleet marketing manager. “Giving our customers the choice of two exclusive powertrains, available across all body styles and designed specifically for the unique needs of the vocational truck market, has really helped drive sales of our new trucks.”

Ford offers a gasoline engine option for both the F-650 and F-750 with its 6.8-liter V-10 with 320 horsepower and 460 lb.-ft. of torque, a unique offering in the medium-duty truck segment according to Ford. The engine can be factory-prepped for converting to compressed natural gas or liquid propane gas alternative fuels.

Ford also offers a 6.7-liter Power Stroke V-8 turbo diesel engine with 270 horsepower and 675 lb.-ft. of torque with available higher output options. The engines are paired with the company's TorqShift six-speed automatic transmission.

“Towing and rental customers have embraced the gas engine, and others are looking at this powertrain for more severe service applications,” Koester says. “Our diesel customers are praising the quietness of the 6.7-liter Power Stroke diesel engine.”

Related: Ford's New F-650 Looks, Feels Familiar

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Average Diesel Prices Drop by 1 Cent

Source: EIA

The price of diesel fuel fell by a small amount for the fourth straight week, maintaining a downward trending, but nearly-flat pattern for the past month, according to the Energy Department.

The national average price of on-highway diesel fuel fell by 1 cent last week, settling at 2.389 per gallon at the pump. The price is a little more than 10 cents cheaper than it was in the same week in 2015.

Prices were down in all major regions with the largest price drops coming to the West Coast and Gulf Coast at 1.4 cents. The smallest drop in prices was in New England where diesel prices dropped by 0.5 cents.

Average prices for regular gasoline increased this week, jumping 2.3 cents to a per gallon price of 2.225 at the pump. Despite the increase, the price is still 10.2 cents cheaper than it was in the same week a year ago.

The largest price increase was in the Lower Atlantic region at 7.7 cents per gallon. The largest decrease in prices was in the Rocky Mountain region at 0.9 cents per gallon.

The rumored deal to freeze oil production between oil producing countries continues to affect the crude oil market with a slight increase in prices on Sept. 19, according to a MarketWatch report.

Venezuela recently indicated that a deal was likely to happen between oil producing nations, both in and out of OPEC that could have the effect of stabilizing the oil market. Venezuela has been hit hard by low crude oil prices in the past year. There are also conflicting reports that a firm deal was unlikely to happen soon. Prices were also affected by fighting in Libya which is delaying an expected increase in oil production for that country.

Related: Alternative Fuels in the Age of ...Read the rest of this story

Daimler Trucks Taps NorthStar for Pure Lead AGM Batteries

Daimler Trucks North America has chosen the Swedish-American energy storage manufacturer NorthStar Battery Company as the supplier of Ultra High Performance Pure Lead AGM batteries on its next generation Cascadia truck.

NorthStar underwent Daimler's comprehensive audit and testing process in competition with other well-known brands to gain approval, according to DTNA. NorthStar puts its own batteries through rigorous testing to ensure a consistent product.

In addition to its inclusion in new Cascadia models, the NorthStar battery is also available as an extended life option on the majority of DTNA platforms.

“Effective today, NorthStar is available as a replacement battery through the DTNA dealer network across North America,” said John Semeniuk, president, Transportation Products, NorthStar Battery Group. “NorthStar is also the primary supplier of batteries on the ParkSmart truck platform, and can be ordered as a factory option upgrade on most other models, providing DTNA customers the most powerful performance today.”

For more information on NorthStar, click here.

Related: Next-Gen Cascadia Emphasizes Fuel Economy, Connectivity, Drivers

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Mack to Develop Fleet Management Offerings for Concrete Mixer Fleets

Photo: Tom Berg

Mack Trucks has reached an agreement with WheresMyConcrete to develop future service options for Mack Fleet Management Services.

WheresMyConcrete's additions to Mack's fleet management offerings are designed to help improve asset visibility and dispatch efficiency for concrete mixer fleets. WheresMyConcrete provides real-time data for concrete mixer fleet dispatchers to improve transparency and service to customers and analytics designed to improve operations.

“With the ability to view critical fleet information in real-time, WheresMyConcrete gives our concrete mixer customers the tools they need to be successful,” said David Pardue, Mack vice president of connected vehicle and uptime services.

Mack Fleet Management Services connects proprietary data from Mack's integrated telematics hardware with third-party solutions to help customers manage operations. Mack's GuardDog Connect telematics serves as the enabling platform for Mack Fleet Management Services and is standard on Mack Pinnacle, Granite, Titan and TerraPro concrete pumper models.

Related: Connectivity Step by Step

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OWL Detects Overhead Obstacles for Oversize Loads

LSA Autonomy's Overhead Wire Laser-Detector, the OWL, is a 3D LiDAR sensor-based technology and software system designed to detect overhead obstacles for oversize transports.

By applying LSA Autonomy's sensor processing software to Velodyne's LiDAR's HDL-32E real-time 3D LiDAR sensor, the Owl detects any overhanging obstacles that might interfere with special transports of oversize objects.

When the system detects that a clearance is insufficient it alerts the operator in real-time with audible and visual warnings while providing photographic imaging for clarity. The system is designed to replace measured poles that are in common use for detecting obstacles for oversized loads. Some companies have cars with telescopic poles attached to the front bumpers while others poles are carried by employees on foot.

The OWL is magnetically mounted to the roof of a vehicle and plugged into a laptop on the passenger side. A threshold is keyed into the system based on the height of the object being transported to set parameters for the system. The OWL then takes 32 measurements across the road 10 times per second to provide precise height measurements of any potentially threatening clearances.

The system works at highway speeds, making it a useful tool for pre-transport route surveys. However, when in use for real-time alerting, the driver must drive at 25 miles per hour or slower to allow for sufficient stopping times.

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