Okay, I admit, I was a little disappointed with the “ride ‘n’ drive” event I attended last week in Joliet, IL. I had been invited by the folks at Meritor WABCO to see a demonstration of their latest safety systems, including Electronic Stability Control, Roll Stability Control, Roll Stability Support, and the OnGuard (TM) Collision Safety System with adaptive cruise control, and the demo was to take place at the Route 66 Drag Strip–how cool is that?

Well, it turns out that demo didn’t actually take place on the drag strip itself, but in the parking lot adjacent to the strip. But the disappointment was fleeting, because once I got into the demo trucks to experience Meritor WABCO’s systems first-hand, I was greatly impressed. First came a ride in a truck with the full complement of tractor and trailer stability control systems, and it was amazing… The company driver took a tractor-trailer up to about 40 mph and took us through first an emergency lane-change maneuver and then an offramp J-turn maneuver, to show us how well the truck would behave. Now, 40 mph isn’t very fast, but it’s not hard to imagine how dangerous a Class-8 truck and trailer can be if they go out of control even at that speed. In fact, at first the driver took us through the maneuvers with the systems off, and the trailer outriggers were the only things keeping the rig on its feet. But the next time around, with the safety systems on, they activated in time to decelerate the vehicle and keep it stable… The systems cut in at the last possible moment, so as to give the driver every chance to make corrections him or herself, but once they activate they keep that truck pinned to the pavement like nobody’s business.

Next up was the OnGuard system with adaptive cruise control. Imagine bearing down on a vehicle in a Class-8 rig, and having to react when that lead vehicle suddenly decelerates, or stops. With this new system, the truck maintained a safe distance behind the vehicle, and ground to a safe, stable stop when the lead vehicle made an emergency stop. Once again, the system cut in at the last moment, but when it did it left no doubt as to who–or in the case, what–was in charge.

Does this technology have a place in every heavy-duty fleet? Of course not. But for over-the-road fleets that can benefit from reduced collision losses, this type of system seems to be a no-brainer. Hats off to Meritor WABCO for bringing this technology to market, and for making the highway safer for all of us. But next time, how about just one run down the quarter mile?

I’ve said before in the pages of Fleet Maintenance Magazine, and I’ll say it again here: I have nothing but praise for the work done by the Emergency Vehicle Technician Certification Commission, Inc. (EVTCC). This group, operating out of Dundee, IL, has been setting certification standards for the technicians who maintain fire apparatus, rescue vehicles and ambulances for many years, then testing those technicians and certifying them to serve in their field. I recently received a newsletter from EVTCC announcing that 30 maintenance technicians had recently been certified or recertified as Master Technicians, and once again I am completely impressed that such professionalism is encouraged and rewarded in this industry.

The newsletter also had some interesting news stories that deepened my respect for this group. The stories described how last year the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) had issued NFPA 1911, a new standard for “Inspection, Maintenance, Testing and Retirement of In-Service Automotive Fire Apparatus,” and how EVTCC is now incorporating the NFPA 1911 standards in their new maintenance exams for fire apparatus and ambulances.

These guys don’t let their standards gather any dust, and neither should the rest of the industry. If you work in the emergency vehicle arena, you should be sending your technicians to the next round of EVTCC certification exams (they’re coming up on June 7th and October 18th), and if you don’t, you should study up on how EVTCC (www.evtcc.org) maintains its high standards for maintenance technicians. You could learn a lot from this group!

Today the American Trucking Associations unveiled an ambitious new Sustainability Program designed to lower CO2 emissions and save millions of gallons of diesel fuel. Announced at a press conference in Washington, D.C., by ATA President and CEO Bill Graves, the new program consists of six major initiatives that could revolutionize the trucking industry and the country’s transportation system. The six items, developed by a 25-member Sustainability Task Force led by Tommy Hodges, Chairman, Titan Transfer, Inc., are:

One: The American Trucking Associations recommends enacting a new national speed limit of 65 mph for all vehicles, and setting speed governors on new trucks at no more than 68 mph.

Two: The American Trucking Associations recommends pursuing a federal solution that reduces non-discretionary idling through highway infrastructure improvements and reduces discretionary idling through incentives for new technology.

Three: The American Trucking Associations recommends that shippers and carriers join the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) SmartWay(SM) Transport Partnership Program in order to achieve greater national gains in fuel efficiency and carbon reduction.

Four: The American Trucking Associations advocates initiatives to improve highway infrastructure and reduce congestion.

Five: The American Trucking Associations recommends introducing truck fleet combination changes as ways to reduce emissions, relieve congestion and conserve fuel.

Six: The American Trucking Associations supports setting technologically feasible national fuel economy standards for medium- and heavy-duty trucks that reduce fuel consumption if they do not compromise the performance of the vehicles.

The program, referred to as “Trucks Deliver a Cleaner Tomorrow,” is an aggressive effort, and it includes some very specific, and very interesting, proposals. We’ll be writing a lot more about this program over time, but for now we want to get your initial impressions of these six proposals. Will they help? Will they hurt? Are you already doing some of these things? Let us know!

I’ve been reading up a little on the “Super Warranty” issue, which, I must admit, I had never heard of until my Assistant Editor mentioned it. Super Warranties are being mandated by more and more states to cover automotive emission-control systems for 15 years or 150,000 miles, and independent repair shops in those states are not pleased.

The idea was hatched in California, where the Air Resources Board (CARB) decided that it would be a good idea to keep emissions-control hardware under warranty longer. And it is a good idea: People are keeping their vehicles longer, so it makes sense, from CARB’s point of view, to do everything it can to ensure that those vehicles will be running clean for their entire lives. Super Warranties can make sure that this happens, and 11 other states seem to agree, because they’ve adopted similar regulations as part of their clean air initiatives.

But where does that leave the independent service provider, who currently makes a lot of coin repairing emissions-control systems? If vehicle owners are compelled to return to the dealer to get their emissions-control systems maintained, the logic goes, they are likely to have all their service needs taken care of at the dealer, killing two birds with one stone. The independent shops lose out twice: once on the emissions-control work, and twice on the additional service work.

I’m not sure where I come down on this. As I said, I do think the Super Warranties make sense, from a clean air point of view. But I also understand why independent service providers might feel they have had the rug pulled out from under them. It just goes to show you how hard it is to find solutions to the complex issues facing our transportation industry, and our country. Can there possibly be a way to have clean air that doesn’t make someone unhappy?

My blog post from last week, “Squeezed Out,” has aroused some bad feelings in some parts of the fleet world. In that post, I described a chat I had with a vendor who had dropped out of the Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) because they felt that a competing vendor had dominated the proceedings of a particular TMC Task Force that had developed a new Recommended Practice (RP). One reader thought that I was unfairly accusing TMC of allowing some vendors to run roughshod over Task Force proceedings, and that I should have gotten “both sides of the story” before writing my post.

What I actually said in that blog post was that TMC’s process seemed to have broken down in this particular case, and that it was hard to say why (in my book that’s not exactly pointing a finger of blame at anyone… but I digress). I went on to speculate in the post that the problem might have been that the vendor that had been complaining may not have been willing to volunteer as much time and effort as their competitor. I also said that if this had happened on one Task Force, it has probably happened on others, and it was a shame that TMC wasn’t addressing these issues.

Well, I just got off the phone with Robert Braswell, TMC’s Technical Director, and he made the case that his organization actually does all it can to address problems such as these. For one thing, attendees always have an opportunity to fill out an anonymous meeting evaluation immediately after every Task Force session, so if they have any complaints that’s the easiest and most effective way to get a response from TMC staff. Beyond that, every RP developed by every Task Force is put up for balloting before going on the books, so any member has an opportunity to bring up objections to the content at that time. In addition, even non-members can contact TMC to comment on RPs, and TMC is happy to get the additional input.

So, I stand corrected. The gentleman who felt “squeezed out” could have addressed his issues with TMC in a number of ways, but Robert Braswell told me that he is not aware of anyone lodging any formal complaint. My apologies to TMC.

I had an unusual conversation at the Mid-America Truck Show a few weeks back that keeps rattling around in my brain for some reason (a lot of things rattle around in my brain, but that’s another story). At MATS, I was talking to specific component suppliers about a specific Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) Recommended Practice (RP). Not only did I assume that all of the component suppliers would be familar with the RP (they were), I also assumed that many of them would have taken part in developing the RP (they weren’t.) And therein lies a problem.

For those of you who don’t follow TMC activities, an RP is a maintenance standard developed by a Task Force that ideally consists of both fleet maintenance professionals and technical experts from OEMs and component suppliers. I said ideally, because it doesn’t always work out that way.

I found that out the hard way when I asked representatives of one of these component suppliers about this particular RP, and I was told that they had wanted to participate but had backed out of the Task Force in question… I asked why, and they said that the Task Force had been more or less “taken over” by a competing component supplier, and that the RP was essentially a reflection of that one company’s needs and concerns. Because of this, the folks I was talking to had pulled their company out of the TMC and never looked back.

Now, obviously, something about the way the TMC goes about its work has failed in this instance, although it’s hard to say just what. TMC Task Forces are volunteer-driven, and the spoils often go to to those who are willing to volunteer. Still, I imagine the type of falling out and disillusionment that was described to me is quite common, and it seems to me that the TMC should be taking a close look at these issues. Losing membership over turf wars is not an acceptable option.

This week I had the pleasure of attending a meeting of the Indiana Motor Transport Association in Indianapolis, IN, and to get to the meeting I drove six hours from Wisconsin to Illinois to Indiana, and then six hours back again. For the most part it’s a boring drive, along boring stretches of Interstate highways, so it gives me a lot of time to think. There was something different going on along the Interstates this time, however, that gave me a whole new thing to think about.

At first I thought it was my imagination, but after a few hours I realized it was very real: trucks are driving slower. It came to my attention because I was making an effort to drive five to ten miles an hour slower than usual, in order to save fuel. I expected the big-rigs to be roaring past me more than ever, but they weren’t… In fact, even at my reduced speed, I was passing most trucks. Now, it’s true that I was driving on stetches of the I-system where the posted speed limit for trucks is five miles an hour slower than it is for cars, but honestly, when in the past has that made much of a difference? The trucks were definitely driving slower than normal.

I mentioned my observation at the Association meeting, and sure enough, virtually all the fleet guys nodded and said that they had recently reduced their fleet’s top speed by at least five miles per hour. And no one was giving any indication that this was a temporary measure…

Sure, at first it’s a little annoying, especially when there are only two lanes, and you’ve got a truck going 65 in the right lane, and another truck passing him in the left lane and going 66… But, hey, if it just makes us all go slower, we’re going to save that much more fuel in the long run…

Has your fleet lowered speeds? If so, how much has it helped? And, if you haven’t lowered your fleet’s speed, why haven’t you?

It really happened. Countless truck drivers across the county shut down their rigs on Tuesday, April 1st, to protest against high diesel fuel prices. Many more slowed to 20 miles per hour on Interstate highways. This event, unorganized as it was, has managed to make headlines around the country and get at least a few people talking about the difficulties faced by truck owners and drivers who lose money every time they start up their rigs.

I’ve been Googling to find some comments on the shut-down from politicians, and so far I can’t find a thing. Not one word from the Presidential candidates, not one word from the Congress, not a thing anywhere. Oh, a few days ago Congress did call the oil company CEOs to explain why they are making such obscene profits while the rest of the economy is on the skids, but that was just a dog & pony show–Congress can’t do a thing to big oil, and big oil knows it.

So, what impact did Tuesday’s slow-down have? The impact may have been small, and it may have been scattered, but its true impact may be on the symbolic level. Truckers are finally saying “enough is enough,” and, judging from one blog entry I found online, they are not simply seeing this as a “trucking problem.” This blogger wrote:THIS IS NOT A STRIKE OR WORK STOPPAGE! THIS IS NOT AN ATTEMPT TO ORGANIZE TRUCK DRIVERS. THIS IS A WAKE UP CALL FOR THE U.S. CITIZEN TO EXAMINE A SYSTEM SO OUT OF BALANCE THAT OUR POLITICIANS & NATIONAL MEDIA REFUSE TO ACKNOWLEDGE & EXAMINE THE ISSUES. AS AN AMERICAN CITIZEN, IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO HOLD YOUR GOVERNMENT RESPONSIBLE & URGE OTHERS TO DO THE SAME! THIS WILL BE EACH AND EVERY COMPANY OWNER/MANAGER & DRIVER LOOKING IN THE MIRROR, SAYING WITH SINCERITY, “THIS IS NOT ABOUT ME OR MY BUSINESS. THIS IS ABOUT MY COUNTRY! THIS IS MY OWN PROTEST!”

I couldn’t agree more. This isn’t about trucking. It’s about our country, and who’s really in charge. I don’t care if you believe in big government or small government, you ought to believe in government that looks out for every American, not just the fat cats.

A week from, now, the staff of Fleet Maintenance Magazine will be in Louisville, KY, for the Greatest Show on Earth, otherwise known as the Mid-America Truck Show, or MATS. It’s a great chance to meet with professionals in the industry, and find out what the OEMs are up to as far as new product development. There are more new trucks and products introduced to the press and the publis in three days at MATS than there are at pretty much any other event of the year. This really is The Big Show.

All the big names will be there: Bendix, Kenworth, Caterpillar, ArvinMeritor, Freightliner, Mack, Roadranger and many more, all of them introducing new or enhanced products. But while the big OEMs and component suppliers are working overtime to create excitement around their new and improved products, I can’t help but wonder if the mood of the show will be one of excitement or one of gloom…

Why gloom? Well, this week’s headline on Transport Topics reads “DIESEL JUMPS TO $3.819–Average Tops $4 in Some States as Crude Soars.” Now, MATS is heavily attended by owner/operators who drive in from all points to the Kentucky Fairgrounds to take part in the festivities, but with diesel prices so high, I wonder if that parking lot will be empty this year…

Will you be going to Louisville, or staying home? We’d like to know.

More news from the front: today I’m writing from Charlotte, NC, where I’ve just attended a Transportation Technology Summit hosted by Panasonic, makers of Toughbook computers. Panasonic brought together a diverse group of experts to talk about advances in wireless service information, a type of technology that can, of course, be easily exploited with Toughbook computers.

The keynote speaker of the Summit was Mary-Beth Kellenberger, senior automotive & transportation consultant for Frost & Sullivan, who talked about the current state of the heavy-duty maintenance industry. Among many nuggets of wisdom she shared with the audience, once stood out: Kellenberger’s research has found that ten technologies will be affecting the heavy duty market more than any others in the coming years. They are, in no particular order: Auxiliary Power Units (APUs); Automatic and Automated Transmissions; Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR); Collision Warning Systems; Telematics; Air Ride Suspensions; Anti-lock Brakes (ABS); Electronic Stability Control; Tire Pressure Monitoring Systems (TPMS); and HVAC Systems. These technologies will have the greatest impact on your future maintenance planning in terms of technicians, facilities and parts, according to Kellenberger.

Coincidentally, these are all topics that have been covered in the pages of Fleet Maintenance recently, or will be in the very near future, so I feel that we’re right on the nose with our editorial content. Would you agree? Are these the ten top technology drivers that are changing your world? Are there others that you think will have a greater effect? I’m all ears.