The Lockwood Report

 

Let’s have a look at the Mid-America Trucking Show that drew thousands of folks to Louisville, Kentucky last week.  I’ve been posting online some of the new trucks and other things that were introduced there, and covered a bunch of them in the Product Watch newsletter. But what about the larger picture?

 

Sadly, I was advised not to stress my post-surgery spine by being there in person, but my colleagues Peter Carter and Jason Rhyno made the trip and I’ve talked to quite a few other people who also headed to pork-sandwich headquarters. It seems clear that just about every press conference presenter and a whack of exhibitors were touting products that in some way or other help truck operators achieve better fuel economy. No surprise, I guess.

 

Frankly, though, you have to go back quite a few years — 15, 20, 25? — to find a time when that wasn’t the case. Or a time when owners of anywhere from one to a thousand trucks didn’t want improvements on the fuel front. And ever since we entered what I’ll call the EPA era — in 2002, when emission controls took designers and engineers away from a focus on simple efficiency — truck operators have been wailing about what they’ve lost in the way of fuel economy. Or what they’ve spent — been forced to spend — in the name of cleaner air.

 

Now, I haven’t done any polling on this, not even a dozen or two phone calls, but I listen and read all the time and I’ll bet I know what the user side of this industry really wants most: uptime. Just plain uptime. 

 

Sure, give me better fuel economy, they’ll say, that’s a given. But they won’t care about a 5% improvement in fuel efficiency if the truck’s spending serious time getting 0 mpg in the shop while generating zilch in the way of revenue.  

 

The modern EPA-era truck is in a maintenance or repair bay more often and possibly for longer periods of time than it used to be. It’s an unavoidable result of the complexity brought on by the demand to cut emissions. Not just the engines are wildly complex these days, but whole trucks.

 

Another cause of lost uptime is the dearth of skilled mechanics to do the fixing when an EGR valve or some sensor goes south. We hear talk all the time about the driver shortage but I promise you, the shortage of properly trained technicians is just as big a productivity killer. I keep hearing tales of trucks marooned in a dealer’s yard for days on end awaiting repair.

 

There’s nobody to blame here. In terms of mechanics — OK, OK, technicians — that’s just demographics and the problem is not unique to trucking. And much as I love to rant about the Environmental Protection Agency and its wrongheaded, hamfisted approach to planet saving, at least they meant well. They’re the ones who gave us these ‘difficult’ power plants but, yes, individual engines are indeed much cleaner than ever before. I could argue about the overall result of their well-meant efforts but I’ll save that for another day. Mini-rant complete.

 

WHICH LEADS ME TO CUMMINS TURBO Technologies. The Cummins division offered broad hints about next-generation engines and coming fuel-saving technologies at the Mid-America show. It showed several near-market and future solutions said to be capable of improving the fuel efficiency of any modern diesel engine by at least 6%.

 

As Cummins explains it, the shift in focus — from emissions-driven innovation toward a fuel economy priority — highlights the company’s belief that the industry has now reached the tipping point at which global engine and vehicle manufacturers are developing products designed to insulate customers from rising fuel prices. I hope that’s true.

 

Among the next-generation technologies shown by Cummins was a Waste Heat Turbine Expander prototype, which captures what would otherwise be lost energy in the form of heat, from a number of sources onboard the vehicle, and turns it into useful mechanical power — 34 hp worth — that can reduce vehicle fuel consumption on its own by 5%, says Cummins.

 

There was also a next-generation VGT (variable geometry) turbocharger based on a platform that can be tailored to meet the needs of individual customers easily. It’s 4.4 lb (2 kg) lighter than the model it replaces and is said to lower initial cost substantially while featuring a high-efficiency compressor stage, delivering improved fuel economy.

 

An inverse impeller that replaces conventional designs and, through the use of flow-optimization software, can improve compressor stage efficiency by 1 percent on its own, says Cummins, delivering a $160 per-annum fuel savings for on-highway applications. Every dollar counts.

 

Among other coming things on display were rolling-element bearings. Cummins Turbo Technologies has developed its own high-durability, low-friction, ball bearings that improve both transient response and lower fuel consumption, delivering a 1% improvement in overall turbocharger efficiency.

 

And so on. Clearly, the turbocharger is still a potential source of significant new efficiencies.

 

A BIGGER SOURCE MAY BE AERODYNAMICS, and while it didn’t get the massive play at Mid-America that it’s had in the recent past, the subject is never too far in the background any more. And one very small trailer skirting outfit has caught my eye recently. 

 

The Aerosmart trailer skirts made by Sustainable Aerodynamic Concepts just received EPA SmartWay certification as a product that shows verifiable improvement in fuel efficiency.

 

That’s newsworthy but it’s the nature of the company that intrigues me. These skirts are manufactured in northwest Arkansas exclusively by military veterans, and they’re made with materials reclaimed from scrap semi-trailers. The lightweight, durable, and cost-effective re-purposed aluminum comes from donated decommissioned trailers, saving material costs.

 

SA Concepts is a non-profit veteran transition program created to help keep military veterans enrolled in school.

 

Other features of the Aerosmart trailer skirting include: aluminum sheet construction allows for custom colors and logos; 3-panel, dock-friendly design accommodates easy installation while streamlining replacement of damaged panels; and the 6-in. flexible and durable rubber edge decreases contact damage and increases the skirting’s life cycle (it comes from tired mining conveyor belts). The skirting comes with a 1-year warranty.

 

The company has no distribution in Canada but manager Drake Vanhooser tells me they’d be happy to ship north.

 

SPEAKING OF UNIQUE, HOW ABOUT FREIGHTLINER’S in-cab exercise training system? Launched at Mid-America, it’s the first-ever OEM-designed and integrated in-cab exercise and flexibility system. The Freightliner In-Cab Training (FIT) System provides drivers with full body-strength-and-conditioning workouts in the comfort of their own cabs. Cool.

 

Developed in collaboration with Rolling Strong – a leader in driver wellness programs, we’re told – the FIT System provides a simple and convenient exercise solution that encourages physical activity.

 

Freightliner says recent studies by The Journal of the American Dietetic Association, Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA), and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health revealed that something like 90% of truck drivers in the United States are overweight or obese, and many also suffer from chronic health conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and sleep apnea. It can’t be too much different in Canada.