Archive for November, 2007
Saturday, November 24th, 2007
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Most of us - even dyed-in-the-wool truck guys - would think that Dodge’s latest take on semi-truck styling imbues the Ram with sufficient big-rig credibility (especially when equipped with the Cummins diesel). Greg Severt apparently does not, and that’s probably because his day job involves playing with the real thing. So he did what seemed right, removing the cab and bed from a 2005 Ram 3500 and replacing it with sheetmetal from a 1994 Peterbilt. Rounding out the conversion is a bed from a ‘53 Chevrolet pickup, with a set of Peterbuilt front fenders replacing the original stepside quarter panels.
The stock Cummins engine remains intact, and resides under the forward-tilting hood. That particular feature required shortening the front frame rails by two inches - a move that had to be rather nerve-racking on a brand new pickup. The look is rounded out by a set of 40″ tall Mickey Ts on some 20″ Weld Racing wheels, with a mild lift providing the required clearance.
Interestingly enough, the conversion actually resulted in a weight reduction, as the cab and hood are aluminum (weight being very important in the Heavy Truck industry, where every pound of truck is one less pound of cargo).
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Friday, November 23rd, 2007
Freight Truck maker International has become the first company to enter line production of Hybrid commercial Trucks, according to a report in US-based trade newspaper Truck News.
The report says the company is now producing the International DuraStar Hybrid, a diesel hybrid electric medium-duty truck designed to provide customers with improved fuel efficiency and reduced engine emissions.
“We believe that hybrid technology is an important development for the commercial transportation sector,” said Daniel C. Ustian, president and CEO of Navistar, parent company to International.
“Increasing fuel efficiency and reducing emissions for the nation’s commercial trucks results in significant benefits for all of us. We strive to be the leader in developing energy efficient transportation solutions in the commercial truck, commercial bus and school bus industries.”
Officials say the DuraStar has been proven to provide dramatic fuel savings of about 30-40% on a standard in-city pickup and delivery application, and 60% in utility-type applications when the engine can be shut off, but electric power still operates the vehicle. Diesel emissions are completely eliminated when the hybrid truck operates equipment (like overhead utility booms) solely on the truck’s battery power, instead of allowing the engine to idle, the company says.
In 2006, International built and delivered 24 developmental hybrid units to 14 major utility companies across North America. “These units are now successfully operating giving us confidence in the quality and reliability of our new hybrid electric product,” said Jim Williams, director of sales and distribution, new products.
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Friday, November 23rd, 2007
A rebound in US freight truck sales is unlikely to begin until the second quarter of next year, but global truck sales are set to rise in 2008, the head of Daimler AG’s trucks business has said.
US Truck sales have been hit by new emission standards that pulled forward demand, and a recovery there is expected “not before the second quarter”, Andreas Renschler told reporters.
But Reuters reported that he said global sales in 2008 look in good shape, with the US market turning up primarily in the second half of the year, European sales expected to keep rising thanks to brisk demand in eastern Europe, and China and India adding to demand, he said.
The Japanese market was set to remain flat, he added.
At a conference call last month following Daimler’s third-quarter results, Renschler had said he thought the US truck market would pick up in the first quarter of 2008 at the earliest, Reuters added.
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Friday, November 23rd, 2007
Unions at Jaguar and Land Rover are backing Tata Motors’ offer for the brands, which are being sold by Ford Motor, according to published reports.
The Financial Times and Wall Street Journal reported that workers at both brands have decided to support Tata’s bid over rival offers from Indian group Mahindra & Mahindra and private equity firm One Equity Partners.
The unions prefer to remain part of Ford, but believe Tata would be best suited to manage the luxury brands should a sale go through, the reports said.
Union support could give Tata a boost in winning the politically sensitive deal, the newspapers said.
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Friday, November 23rd, 2007
Vehicle apparently swerved to avoid school bus, overturned on Northern Parkway
Two Baltimore Department of Public Works employees were injured yesterday when a Trash Truck overturned at Northern Parkway and Falls Road, knocked down a tree and hit four cars, city officials said. The intersection was closed to traffic for hours.
The workers, including the driver, were taken to Maryland Shock Trauma Center. Police said their injuries were not considered life threatening.
Details of how the accident occurred were not immediately available. It happened shortly after noon and may have been triggered when the Truck driver swerved to avoid hitting a school bus,” said Kurt L. Kocher, a spokesman for the Department of Public Works.
Two lanes of westbound Northern Parkway were closed through 6 p.m., causing significant backups during the evening rush hour.
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Friday, November 23rd, 2007
A man is dead after an accident involving a tree and a Garbage truck in Bushnell Township. Montcalm County sheriffs say it happened at 10 Wednesday morning on Sessions Road, just east of Staines Road. They say 27-year-old Brandon Austin of Sheridan was driving a garbage truck west on Session when it crossed the center of the road and struck a tree. The tree pinned the driver in the truck. Austin died at the scene.
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Friday, November 23rd, 2007
Waste Management, the nation’s largest trash hauler, has settled with the California Air Resources Board for more than $1 million for failing to properly inspect its diesel truck fleet to assure state emission standards were met.
The waste company settled for air quality violations that occurred in 2004 and 2005 throughout the state.
“Trash pick-up is a critical service, but emissions spewed from uninspected Trucks are not something Californians should pay for with their health,” said ARB Chairman Mary Nichols. “Our enforcement teams will continue to ensure clean air laws are taken seriously.”
California’s Periodic Smoke Inspection Program, which requires annual smoke opacity tests of vehicle fleets based in California, in conjunction with a roadside smoke inspection program, is used to ensure that all of California’s Heavy-duty vehicles are properly maintained, tamper-free and free from excessive smoke emissions.
In addition to the settlement monies, Waste Management has agreed to comply with the smoke inspection program. The company and will require all fleet staff responsible for compliance with the ARB’s regulations to attend classes conducted by the California Council on Diesel Education and Technology. Waste Management must also supply to the Air Resources Board all smoke inspection records for 2007 and the subsequent four years.
All monies are being paid to the California Air Pollution Control Fund, which was established to mitigate various sources of pollution through education and the advancement and use of cleaner technology.
This fund, upon appropriation by the Legislature, uses compliance settlement fees to support various pollution research projects and related programs.
The state has more than 12,000 diesel-fueled commercial and residential solid waste and recycling collection vehicles. Waste collection is a weekly event in most areas, and in some cases, neighborhoods are served by three collection vehicles each week.
Unchecked, emissions from these trucks contribute to toxic diesel particulate matter levels that are a danger to public health, says the ARB, adding diesel emissions contribute to poor air quality throughout the state.
Waste Management is a nationwide, Fortune 200 company.
As part of a new company initiative, announced in October, Waste Management will direct its capital spending of up to $500 million per year over a 10-year period to increase the fuel efficiency of its fleet by 15 percent and reduce fleet emissions by 15 percent by 2020.
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Wednesday, November 21st, 2007
A federal appeals court has overthrown the National Transportation Safety Administration’s new fuel standards for some SUVs, minivans and light trucks.
The Ninth District Court of Appeals Thursday sided with California, 10 other states and environmental groups that the agency’s standards did not fully address the risk of carbon dioxide emissions from such Vehicles. Carbon dioxide, as a greenhouse gas, is widely considered to play a role in global warming.
The new standard, set to take effect with the 2011f model year, would require the fuel mileage of SUVS, minivans and Light Trucks to increase to 24.1 miles per gallon.
The court also ruled the new regulations don’t address why Light Trucks are allowed to pollute more than passenger cars. In addition, the court said heavier trucks used for commuting should also be subject to the new fuel standard.
Critics of the new standard maintain better fuel mileage can be achieved in large part with current technology. Defenders of the new fuel standard maintain manufacturers need lead time to implement changes.
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Wednesday, November 21st, 2007
A sport utility vehicle crashed into a Chick-fil-A in Edgewater yesterday afternoon, injuring five restaurant patrons, two seriously, an Anne Arundel County fire official said.
The SUV crashed through the brick-and-glass exterior of the restaurant at 3220 Solomons Island Road about 12:30 p.m. and into the dining area, said Battalion Chief Michael Cox, a Fire Department spokesman.
A 67-year-old customer who was sitting directly where the car struck, in front of a handicapped parking spot, suffered serious injuries and was flown to Maryland Shock Trauma Center. A 6-year-old boy also was hurt and was taken by ambulance to Anne Arundel Medical Center, Cox said.
Three state troopers who were having lunch at the restaurant suffered “very minor” injuries, said 1st Sgt. David Jones, a Maryland State Police spokesman. They refused medical treatment and returned to work, he said.
“They just picked the wrong place to eat lunch,” Jones said.
The driver of the SUV was uninjured, Cox said. No additional information was available.
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Wednesday, November 21st, 2007
A Commercial Truck rumbles down Bonaparte Avenue in East Baltimore despite a law forbidding it. John D. Brown, a longtime Bonaparte resident, said he’s been told to write down license plate numbers and report them to police. But, he said, they move too fast.
THE PROBLEM Large Trucks use Bonaparte Avenue in East Baltimore even though doing so is prohibited.
THE BACKSTORY Bonaparte Avenue is a residential street that runs through the East Baltimore-Midway neighborhood. Truck drivers seem to like it as a convenient shortcut to industries at the eastern edge of the city, ignoring signs that bar them from using the road.
“The Trucks are shaking our houses and knocking our pictures off the walls,” said John D. Brown, who has lived on Bonaparte for 21 years. “We’ve called 311 many times to no avail. The trucks just go all day long, off and on, all day long.”
Baltimore police do enforcement stings to catch trucks rumbling on city streets from which they are barred. The most visible is the yearly crackdown on Boston Street in an operation dubbed Shake, Rattle and Roll. Truckers use Boston Street to avoid tolls and the long trek around the Beltway.
Brown said he is convinced that police concentrate on routes such as Boston Street, which go through affluent Canton, and ignore the inner city where he lives. “They don’t come here because of the neighborhood,” he said, adding in an e-mail, “If this incident happened in Roland Park or Guilford or Federal Hill, something would have been done immediately.”
Watchdog has no way of knowing whether Brown’s street is not getting as robust enforcement as he would like because of where it is situated. How to allocate limited police resources can be debated forever.
Sterling Clifford, the spokesman for the Baltimore Police Department, said Trucks illegally using Bonaparte Avenue “is an ongoing problem” and that his department is getting help from the Maryland Transportation Authority to do more enforcement on city streets.
He denied preferential treatment in how the rules are enforced but said there is a significant problem on Boston Street and that the no-trucking-zone law can be used to go after other crimes. Clifford said various police agencies do regular enforcement and patrols “to discourage Truck traffic in areas where truck traffic is prohibited.”
The spokesman advised residents to copy down license plate numbers of offending trucks and report them to 311. That is exactly what Brown said he was told to do by his city councilman. “That’s just about impossible because they’re driving so fast,” he said.
WHO CAN FIX THIS Clifford declined to say who in the Police Department was responsible for this issue, saying that not only is it part of the traffic enforcement unit but also must be dealt with by patrol officers and the Maryland Transportation Authority Police.
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