John G Smith

John G. Smith is the editorial director of Newcom Media's trucking and supply chain publications -- including Today's Trucking, trucknews.com, TruckTech, Transport Routier, and Road Today. The award-winning journalist has covered the trucking industry since 1995.

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Dirty Secrets: Carriers call for emissions crackdown preview image Dirty Secrets: Carriers call for emissions crackdown article image

Dirty Secrets: Carriers call for emissions crackdown

TORONTO, Ont. -- Clean air comes at a cost, and it involves the emissions-related changes to exhaust systems and engines, sometimes introducing added maintenance costs and reduced fuel economy in the process. That’s led to one of the trucking industry’s worst-kept dirty secrets. Many truck owners are reprogramming electronic control modules to bypass SCR (selective catalytic reduction) systems, which reduce unwanted NOx by introducing diesel exhaust fluid to the combustion process.
DAF adds to Europe’s electric trucks preview image DAF adds to Europe's electric trucks article image

DAF adds to Europe’s electric trucks

EINDHOVEN, the Netherlands -- DAF Trucks, Paccar’s European counterpart to Peterbilt and Kenworth, has unveiled its first series of CF Electric trucks – adding to the battery-powered nameplates on the other side of the Atlantic. The 4x2 tractor is developed for urban distribution applications. It’s based on the company’s DAF model, with a 210-kW electric motor at the heart of the powertrain. Power is stored in a 170 kWh lithium-ion battery pack, offering a range of about 100 km, which the company says is appropriate for high-volume distribution applications. Torque reaches up to 1,475 lb-ft. Quick charges can be completed in 30 minutes, while full charges are possible in 1.5 hours. The trucks for field tests will be manufactured by DAF, and the full electric installation will be completed by VDL Groep.
Trucking industry delivers for Humboldt survivor preview image Trucking industry delivers for Humboldt survivor article image

Trucking industry delivers for Humboldt survivor

CALGARY, Alta. – Connecticut and Saskatchewan are more than 30 hours apart by truck, but news of the collision that killed 16 members of the Humboldt Broncos hit close to home for Chris Pisani. The Pisanis are a hockey family as well. They have climbed aboard countless buses just like the one that collided with the tractor-trailer on a prairie highway. After watching an interview with Ryan Straschnitzki, one of the 13 crash survivors, he wanted to help. And he wondered – maybe the used motorized wheelchair that had come into his hands could be put to good use.
Can the hot trucking market continue? preview image Can the hot trucking market continue? article image

Can the hot trucking market continue?

NEWPORT, R.I. – It is a good time to be in trucking in the U.S. The economy is strong, freight needs to move, and rates are on the rise. Eric Starks, the chairman and CEO of FTR, pointed to several indicators during a business symposium for Volvo dealers and customers. The ATA Tonnage Index and FTR Loadings Index, which track absolute freight levels, are both trending upward. The flatbed market in particular has been going “crazy”, in part because of increasing demand to move pipe and fracking sand, the latter of which is moved in boxes, he said. “It’s eating up a huge amount of capacity.” Everything from consumer spending to home sales are adding to the demand.

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