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REVIEW: X12 fights above its weight class
JAMESTOWN, NY - Cummins' new X12 engine is slated to hit the street sometime early this year, probably shortly after its formal launch in February or March. The engine was introduced in August 2016 and I had a short drive with it then around the 11-kilometer track at the Transportation Research Center in East Liberty, Ohio. It wasn't much of an opportunity to get to know the engine, but it whet my appetite. Cummins invited me to drive the new X12 this past November on a longer real-world route, starting from the plant in Jamestown, New York, where the X12 is to be built. The X12's 11.8-liter displacement puts it smack dab in the middle of the medium-bore market, but its published ratings put it squarely in 13-liter territory for torque and horsepower. Tipping the scales at just 2,050 pounds, it has the highest power-to-weight ratio of any heavy-duty engine from 10 liters to 16 liters in size, but it's actually lighter than any of the 11-liter blocks on the market (subject to interpretation on how "dry weight" is determined).
U.S. rates push higher on tight capacity
BLOOMINGTON, IN - Spot and truck rates pushed higher this fall as the U.S. truck market tightened, analysts at FTR have found. Some of the capacity should ease in the first quarter, after holiday shipments - but the fallout from mandated Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs) will have a say in that.
ATA applauds Electronic Logging Device mandate
ARLINGTON, VA - The American Trucking Associations is applauding the arrival of mandated Electronic Logging Devices in the U.S. "Electronic Logging Devices have been legislated, promulgated and litigated - with Congress voting three times in the past five years in favor of this requirement and a federal court rejecting a challenge to the rule. The time has finally come to retire decades-old, burdensome paper logs that consume countless hours and are susceptible to fraud and put the safety of all motorists first. The benefits of this rule exceed the costs by more than $1 billion, making it a rule the ATA can firmly support and easily adopt," said Chris Spear, the associations' president and Chief Executive Officer.
Volvo expands land for customer experience
DUBLIN, VA - Volvo Trucks has added 49 acres to a customer experience track next to its 36,000-square-foot Volvo Trucks Customer Center. The land builds on the 1.1-mile track that already features on-highway and off-road areas. Another 221 acres has also been secured under a lease-to-purchase agreement for future use.
REVIEW: International’s driver-centric LT
NEW CARLISLE, IN -- Looks can be deceiving. International's new LT highway tractor may look much like the 11-year-old ProStar it replaces, but the resemblance is barely skin deep. The LT retains the signature International grille -- though it's shaped differently if you look closely -- but almost everything behind the grille was touched in some way by the sweeping overhaul of the company's best-selling highway truck. The primary drivers in the reshaping exercise were increased fuel efficiency and driver appeal. "If drivers do not want to drive the trucks, fleets aren't going to buy them," noted Denny Mooney, International's senior vice president - global product development.
TOP 10 of ’17 — Picks for the top products of the year
TORONTO, ON -- An acquaintance of mine once quipped that he hates picking winners for different contests. Sure, you'll make a friend, he said, but you're still annoying plenty of people who didn't make the cut. So it is when picking the Top 10 products of the year. Today's Trucking's annual look at the top in tech involves looking at hundreds of launches from throughout North America. Trucks themselves have been excluded, but everything else was fair game in my review of components and other offerings that have been improved, reinvented, and reimagined.
Exemption for CBs extended
TORONTO, ON - Drivers in Ontario can hang onto their CB radios for a little while longer, thanks to a temporary reprieve from a law that would have permanently silenced the units in the new year. An Ontario Ministry of Transportation representative says CBs won't be taken out of cabs until January 1, 2021 - a three-year extension on the earlier January 1, 2018 deadline - to "allow for the development of more viable hands-free technologies." As the first jurisdiction to make the wired CB radio illegal in moving vehicles, Ontario said it was doing so because the devices were a dangerous distraction to drivers. The latest delay is on top of the five-year timeline that was originally introduced to come up with alternatives. The continued exemption will allow the radios to be used by roadside assistance and service vehicles, taxis, street cars, delivery and courier vehicles, and drivers of construction or commercial motor vehicles. It applies to radios mounted on dashboards or worn on clothing. After the new exemption expires, the radios will be off limits for everyone except law enforcement officers, firefighters, and provincial offenses officers.
