Volvo announces 2007 Engines
Volvo Trucks North America will meet 2007 emissions standards with a complete family of diesel engines that includes new 11- and 13-liter models, in addition to the
16-liter Volvo D16 introduced earlier this year.
The engines will be unveiled in early 2006.
Volvo also will continue to offer customers the option of Cummins ISX engines, says Peter Karlsten, president and CEO of VTNA. Currently, about 60 percent of Volvo’s truck customers spec Volvo engines, 40 percent Cummins engines.
The new Volvo engines are designed with both 2007 and 2010 emissions standards in mind, Karlsten says. Volvo will meet 2007 standards with high-performance exhaust gas recirculation and a diesel particulate filter.
The use of EGR technology in 2010 is still being explored, Karlsten says. The new engines will be adaptable to selective catalytic reduction in 2010 if Volvo opts for that technology, Karlsten says.
Other features of Volvo’s 2007 engines include:
- Advanced high-pressure fuel injection;
- Increased peak cylinder pressures;
- Single-stage variable geometry turbocharger;
- Reinforced base components to handle internal loads;
- Fully integrated high-capacity cooling ; and
- Advanced centrifugal crankcase ventilation.
— STAFF REPORTS
Reunion time
Charles Simmons of Gainesville, Texas, whose rig boasts $30,000 of added lights and chrome, won the Best X in Show during the X Family Reunion at the Ozark Empire Fairgrounds in Springfield, Mo. Eighteen Peterbilt 379X owners gathered with friends and family to display their special-edition trucks during the event, hosted by the Larson Group, which owns seven Peterbilt dealerships.
Randall publishing announces sale to wachovia
Overdrive publisher Randall Publishing Co. announced Nov. 1 that its controlling shareholders, the family and estate of H. Pettus Randall III, have sold all their interests to Randall-Reilly Publishing LLC, a new entity formed by F. Mike Reilly, chief executive officer, top managers and Wachovia Capital Partners of Charlotte, N.C.
“The management of Randall Publishing Co. is excited to begin a new chapter in the company’s history and believes that this partnership with Wachovia Capital Partners will enhance the company’s profitability, security and growth,” Reilly says.
Randall Publishing Co. was founded in 1934 by H. Pettus Randall Jr. His son, H. Pettus Randall III, assumed the leadership of the company in 1976. Reilly joined the company in 1975 and became president in 1984. Under the leadership of Randall III and Reilly, the company grew into one of the country’s fastest-growing business-to-business publishing firms. Randall also publishes eTrucker, Truckers News and Commercial Carrier Journal and owns the Great American Trucking Show.
Upon the death of her husband in 2002, Dr. Cathy J. Randall became chairman of the company, and Reilly was appointed CEO.
“We are convinced that Wachovia understands the culture of partnership, mutual respect and expectation of high performance that we, as owners, have been proud to create,” Randall says. “They also have the expertise and resources to help Mike and his management team, along with Randall’s 400 associates, lead Randall to even greater heights.”
Wachovia has invested in more than 200 businesses since 1988, many of them in publishing, says Sean Smith, principal of Wachovia Capital Partners.
Reilly continues as CEO of the new company. Headquarters will remain in Tuscaloosa, Ala., and no staffing changes are planned.
– STAFF REPORTS
Star quality
Western Star Trucks was a sponsor for the first tour of the Road Hammers, who rocked across Canada during November. Named 2005 Group of the Year in the Canadian Country Music Awards, the band plays country, Southern rock and blues with a number of trucking songs in the mix. For more information, visit this site.
ATA ENDORSES MANDATORY RECORDERS, WITH CONDITIONS
The American Trucking Associations approved a policy that endorses mandatory use of electronic on-board recorders.
ATA’s endorsement stipulates that the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration use a pilot program to determine recorder effectiveness, efficiency and cost.
“There should be sound, consensus-based evidence that EOBR use leads to enhanced fleet safety performance by such means as accident rate reduction and improved compliance, therefore increasing the credibility of EOBR systems as a cost-effective technology for motor carriers,” the ATA board says.
ATA says before FMCSA requires recorder use, it should address such issues as:
- Laws to protect drivers and carriers from the seizure of recorder data by courts;
- Holding drivers responsible for operating recorders in compliance with regulations;
- Tax incentives for recorder use;
- That any recorder requirement should simultaneously affect all vehicles of affected motor carriers;
- That carriers using compliant recorders be relieved of the burden of retaining supporting documents for hours compliance and enforcement purposes.
The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association does not support mandatory recorders, says Rick Craig, OOIDA director of regulatory affairs. Recorder technology will not ensure hours compliance, he says.
FMCSA Administrator Annette Sandberg says the agency will publish a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on recorders in early 2006. The agency has continued to review feedback on the issue and to analyze cost and benefits.
– JILL DUNN
MAGAZINE ARTICLE NOT AS NEGATIVE AS INDUSTRY HAD FEARED
Parade magazine ran its third truck-safety article in nine years Oct. 30. Written by Bernard Gavzer, the brief article headlined “Do Trucks Make You Nervous?” was not the assault the industry had feared.
While the article was quick to point out that tired truckers are a major safety issue on the road, it also noted that fatalities and injuries from crashes involving commercial trucks have not significantly increased in the past nine years.
The article didn’t mention how many of those crashes were the big rig drivers’ fault.
American Trucking Associations spokesman Mike Russell, who was quoted in the article, said that it painted a fair picture.
“For the first time, thanks in large part to the efforts of the trucking industry and professional truck drivers, they seemed to make an effort to include the straight scoop on trucking safety, pretty much disproving the usual unsubstantiated charges from the usual truck bashers,” Russell said. “While there were some comments that could be challenged, overall, Parade gave the industry a pretty fair shake.”
An illustration headlined “How To Share The Road” showed four-wheelers how to pass a truck, how far to stay behind a truck and how to avoid a truck’s large blind spots.
– LANCE ORR
ATA BACKS 5 PERCENT BIODIESEL blend
As of Oct. 21, the American Trucking Associations endorses the use of 5 percent biodiesel blends as part of the national diesel fuel standard.
The decision by the board of directors will help combat rising fuel prices and form a national energy plan, the ATA says.
ATA is working with the National Biodiesel Board to promote the use of the alternative fuel and ensure its use nationwide.
Made from soybeans, agricultural oils and fats or recycled restaurant grease, biodiesel burns up to 75 percent cleaner than fossil fuels. It can be blended with petroleum diesel for use in diesel engines with little or no modification.
ATA’s energy policy calls for a single national diesel fuel. ATA says biodiesel meets the accepted quality standard and will help ensure that diesel maintains adequate lubrication as the nation transitions to low-sulfur diesel in 2006.
– LANCE ORR
EPA funds study of idle reduction
The Texas Transportation Institute won a $3 million EPA grant to study idling reduction at truck stops and ports.
The institute, a Texas A&M University system member, will use the funds to eventually deploy engine idling reduction technologies at truck stops and ports.
The grant is part of a $5 million U.S. Environmental Protection Agency SmartWay Transport Partnership grant. Additional funds were awarded to Ohio, Oregon and the American Transportation Research Institute for studies involving idling and auxiliary power units.
– JILL DUNN
SHORT HAULS
TECHNOLOGY to meet 2007 emissions standards will add $7,000 to $10,000 to the cost of a new truck, says Dee Kapur, president of the International Truck and Engine Co. truck group. Additional charges will apply to engines with higher horsepower
that require dual aftertreatment.
THREE TRUCKERS were among four KBR contractors killed Sept. 20 in Duluiyah, Iraq, according to media reports. One of the truckers was doused with petroleum and burned alive by Sunni Arab civilians, including children who threw hay onto the man to fuel the flames. The attack came after the convoy took a wrong turn, news reports said. At least 20 privately employed truckers have been killed in Iraq.
RUAN TRANSPORTATION announced it would buy Kings County Truck Lines, a regional food carrier based in Tulare, Calif., and its affiliates, Cal Western Transport, Fluid Transport, California Milk Transport and MSM Trucking. The deal is expected to close by year’s end.
INTERNATIONAL opened its new Used Truck Center in Shreveport, La., earlier than expected to help in hurricane recovery.
ROTELLA SUPERRIGS calendars for 2006, featuring trucks that participated in the 2005 SuperRigs competition at the 75 Chrome Shop in Wildwood, Fla., are free with any
Shell Rotella T oil change, or $10.95 plus shipping and handling from this site.
KENWORTH TOOK the top slots in over-the-road, pickup and delivery, and dealer service categories of the 2005 Heavy Duty Truck Customer Satisfaction Study released by J.D. Power and Associates. Kenworth led in six of the seven service categories: dealer attitude, dealer facility, service delivery, service initiation, service adviser and price.
E-Z Pass users in delaware now pay sharply lower tolls on I-95 from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. An 18-wheeler that pays $8 by day now pays $2 by night. The discount does not apply with cash payments.
INTERNATIONAL donated a specially built tractor to the Meenakshi Mission Hospital in Tamil Nadu, India. It will carry a mobile CAT scan, the first of its kind in India, to remote populations along the coast.
HIGHWAY HAPPENINGS
ILLINOIS. The South Beloit toll plaza on I-39 and the Belvidere and Marengo toll plazas on I-90 will be converted to open I-Pass tolling in simultaneous construction projects through the end of 2006. Expect delays, especially when detouring around the closed McCurry Bridge.
MISSOURI. The widening of five miles of I-70 just east of Kansas City, between Missouri highways 291 and Missouri 7, is finished, two years after the project began.
SOUTH CAROLINA. New radiation scanners large enough for 18-wheelers to drive through will
check each container leaving the Port of Charleston.
VIRGINIA. I-66 traffic in Manassas is no longer being detoured, though nighttime lane closures can be expected until the widening project is complete in October.
WYOMING. More Web cameras have been installed along I-25 and I-80. Images updated every five to 10 minutes at www.wyoroad.info.
