Clevite

MAHLE Clevite has been involved in the Heavy Duty aftermarket now for over 50 years and offers a wide range of replacement parts for Heavy Duty engines found in Agriculture, Construction, Trucking, Marine and Oil Field operations.

Click Here for more information about Clevite!

Drive and Deliver

In Drive and Deliver, brought to you by International Truck, Academy Award-nominated director Brett Morgen journeys into your world, and over far reaches of open road, where the realities of family, business and brotherhood converge into one inspiring story. Click on the banner above to get your copy of the DVD.

Isuzu Commercial Truck of America announced on Dec. 29 that it intends to use selective catalytic reduction (SCR) to achieve the 2010 standards for emissions of nitrogen oxides (NOx) by diesel engines.

SCR is an after-treatment technology that involves injecting a water-based solution containing urea into the hot exhaust stream of an engine. This Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF), working with a catalyst in the exhaust after-treatment system, breaks down the NOx into harmless nitrogen and water vapor, says the company.

DEF contains an organic nitrogen compound used as a fertilizer in agriculture. It is classified as a non-hazardous substance by the Environmental Protection Agency.
Isuzu intends to continue to use both a diesel particulate filter (DPF) and exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), which it introduced in its trucks in 2007. The new technology will be used in Isuzu engines sold in its trucks in the U.S. under the Isuzu, Chevrolet and GMC trademarks.

According to Shaun Skinner, executive vice president, general manager, “Isuzu has been developing after-treatment technology in Japan for many years. We’ve studied different systems, and found SCR to be highly reliable under even the most extreme applications and conditions.”

Clevite

MAHLE Clevite has been involved in the Heavy Duty aftermarket now for over 50 years and offers a wide range of replacement parts for Heavy Duty engines found in Agriculture, Construction, Trucking, Marine and Oil Field operations.

Click Here for more information about Clevite!

Drive and Deliver

In Drive and Deliver, brought to you by International Truck, Academy Award-nominated director Brett Morgen journeys into your world, and over far reaches of open road, where the realities of family, business and brotherhood converge into one inspiring story. Click on the banner above to get your copy of the DVD.

The Port of Los Angeles announced it has begun distributing an estimated $44 million in incentive checks to its Clean Truck Program concessionaires that already have committed to deploying new privately funded clean trucks into drayage service in advance of CTP schedule requirements.

The port said the early infusion of 2007-compliant trucks enables it to achieve immediate and significant emissions reductions – well ahead of the progressive truck ban deadline.

Paying participants $20,000 for each U.S. Environmental Protection Agency 2007-compliant truck used at the port, the port projects that the incentives will result in an incremental reduction of 419 tons of nitrogen oxide emissions in the first year of the CTP. The ’07-compliant trucks further will reduce particulate emissions by 22 tons over original projections, the port says.

“We are very pleased to deliver on our commitment to the 107 Licensed Motor Carriers that signed on as concessionaires and made an early financial investment toward cleaning our regional air through their purchase or lease of 2007-compliant trucks,” said Geraldine Knatz, the port’s executive director. “In these tough economic times, we are especially gratified to distribute incentive payments to the many local, small- and medium-sized trucking companies that have served our port for decades. These companies have made significant investments to purchase more than 2,200 low-emission trucks with the goal of participating in a future trucking system that is greener, safer and more efficient.”

To qualify for the incentive program, trucks had to be funded privately and be committed to make an average of six trips per week for five years. Incentive program participants also could apply to receive a cash “Efficient Use” incentive payment of $10 per port dray with their ’07-compliant truck if they achieve a target of 600 qualified drays in and out of the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and 300 of those drays are for Port of Los Angeles cargo during the first year of the CTP (Oct. 1, 2008-Sept. 30, 2009). The per-truck payout limit for this additional incentive would be $10,000.

The CTP program immediately banned trucks built before 1989 – more than 10 percent of port trucks as of Oct. 1 – and requires that all trucks meet 2007 emissions standards by 2012.

The American Trucking Associations on Dec. 19 filed its reply brief in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in its effort to secure an injunction against the enforcement of the ports’ concession plans. ATA’s litigation focuses on the ports’ requirement to force carriers to sign concessionaire agreements with the ports. The association argues that the concessions would impose a broad range of operational requirements that recreate a regulatory environment comparable to state intrastate economic regulation, which is federally preempted. ATA also says it is especially troubled by the Port of Los Angeles’ plan to ban independent contractors within five years.

With the courts refusing to block the concession agreements initially, 598 companies had signed up as of Oct. 1 to participate in the concession program.

Firefly Energy announced that it has begun deploying the first prototypes of its Oasis deep-discharge advanced battery to the nation’s trucking fleets. “We’ve nurtured and developed this technology for more than five years, and to see it deployed in products is a testament to the exceptional execution of the talented team at Firefly Energy,” says Ed Williams, the company’s chief executive officer.

The Oasis Group 31 battery is designed to provide additional sustainable capacity by delivering consistent long run times at consistent throughput levels over a longer number of discharge cycles, providing a solution for numerous applications that require repetitive deep discharges of a battery — most notably the “key-off” power required for supporting truckers’ overnight hotel loads.

Firefly says it has achieved performance gains by removing portions of the lead metal used in traditional lead-acid batteries and replacing it with a microcell composite material that enhances the chemical performance in the battery while resisting degradation. The batteries are recyclable through the existing industry infrastructure, according to the company.

Bergstrom Inc., provider of a no-idle battery-powered HVAC system, is co-marketing the Oasis battery.

Maryland’s plans for congestion relief near Washington, D.C., recently got a boost from the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) through its approval of a $516 million loan for the Inter-County Connector. “The ICC will make the commute easier for drivers who suffer each day through some of the most congested highways in the nation,” says Federal Highway Administrator Tom Madison.

The loan, announced Dec. 23, will help the Maryland Transportation Authority build the ICC, an 18-mile six-lane limited-access toll highway linking Prince George’s and Montgomery counties. ICC tolls will vary according to traffic levels throughout the day, and drivers will pay tolls electronically to avoid waiting at tollbooths.

The ICC also will connect the Interstate 270 and I-95/US 1 highways in the two counties where no contiguous high-capacity facility exists to accommodate east-west travel, and where local roads are experiencing extremely high traffic volumes. “Open road, variable electronic toll roads are clearly the wave of the future,” Madison says. “By using prices to manage capacity for this road, we can ensure that it never becomes congested.”

The Maryland Transportation Authority will secure the loan and repay it with revenue from a number of toll facilities throughout Maryland, in addition to revenue generated by the ICC. Flexible loan terms available through TIFIA make it possible to finance a broad variety of projects. The ICC loan is one of the largest ever made under the TIFIA program. The total cost for the project, estimated at more than $2.5 billion, also will be funded through GARVEE and other revenue bonds and state funds.

Madison says the project was a priority project under President Bush’s executive order on environmental streamlining and stewardship. It is also one of the longest planned road projects in U.S. history.

As the U.S. military moves forward with industry proposals for the next generation of lighter, more mobile Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles, Navistar Defense recently was awarded 400 additional MaxxPro Dash units designed for urgent operations in Afghanistan.

Navistar says it will complete delivery of all 400 units while the testing and evaluation of vehicles for the MRAP All-Terrain Vehicle (M-ATV) program is under way; the U.S. military announced its M-ATV program in November. The company says it also will deliver a previous September award of 822 MaxxPro Dash vehicles a full month ahead of schedule at the end of January; work on the additional 400 units is to be completed by the end of May.

“The M-ATV is an exciting evolution of the military’s MRAP vehicle program — an off-road, lighter and more maneuverable vehicle with MRAP-level protection,” says Archie Massicotte, president of Navistar Defense, based in Warrenville, Ill. “From the advent of MRAP vehicle program to today, Navistar continues to leverage our manufacturing and engineering expertise to quickly adapt our MRAP vehicle for the evolving threats in theater. It’s our core strength.”

The contract for 400 MaxxPro Dash units is valued at $362 million. Production of the units will begin at the company’s West Point, Miss., plant in late January, shortly after the company completes delivery of the original 822 units.

The company also will support the renewal of field service representatives in Iraq and Afghanistan with a $53.6 million contract award from the U.S. Marines. The award also will be used to provide parts, engineering enhancements and FSR publications needed for MaxxPro vehicles in theater.

Ryder System announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire substantially all the assets of the full-service truck leasing, commercial truck rental and contract maintenance businesses of Edart Leasing Co., a Northeast U.S. regional transportation services company based in Hartford, Conn. The acquisition, terms of which were not announced, is expected to be finalized in January 2009 and is subject to customary closing conditions.

“Edart Leasing is a well-known and respected family-owned transportation service provider that has been a strong competitor in the Northeast,” says Greg Swienton, chairman and chief executive officer of Miami-based Ryder. “By building on the best practices and unique qualities of each company, we can strengthen our network and product offering in the Northeast to bring more business resources and value to customers of both companies.”

Per the terms of the transaction, Ryder will acquire Edart’s fleet of about 1,450 full-service lease and 150 rental units, serving more than 340 contract customers from Edart’s nine Northeast locations in Connecticut, Massachusetts and New Jersey. Also per the terms of the transaction, Ryder will acquire about 600 vehicles that will be remarketed pursuant to specific terms of the agreement.

“Ryder has been a reputable market leader for 75 years, and we are confident in their ability to provide our customers with new resources, increased product offerings and a large network of service locations to help them grow and prosper in the competitive marketplace,” says Mark Siegal, Edart Leasing president and CEO.

“We are pleased to expand our network in this important Northeast market and have the opportunity to provide customers with new locations and services that will contribute to their future growth and success,” says Tony Tegnelia, Ryder’s president of Fleet Management Solutions. “Maintaining high-quality customer service is and will remain our highest priority throughout the transition and beyond.”

At the request of American Trucking Associations President and CEO Bill Graves, the American Transportation Research Institute has completed a comprehensive study of the effects of snow and ice accumulation on vehicles.

In regions with significant snowfall, snow and ice can accumulate atop vehicles and can become dislodged. Snow and ice falling from motor vehicles create a variety of safety issues that can result in property damage or injury to other motorists. Based on its findings, ATRI determined that challenges for the trucking industry include the hazards that workers face when manually clearing snow and ice from the tops of trailers, the limited availability and effectiveness of snow removal devices, and the lack of available vehicle-based solutions.

Graves has issued a “call to action” for ATA to work with the American Automobile Association and other industry partners to create comprehensive solutions to snow- and ice-related safety problems. The multistage plan calls for several initiatives, including the education of operators of all types of vehicles, studies of the feasibility of snow removal devices at weigh stations and ports of entry, and investigating vehicle-based solutions to prevent or reduce snow and ice accumulation.

Clevite

MAHLE Clevite has been involved in the Heavy Duty aftermarket now for over 50 years and offers a wide range of replacement parts for Heavy Duty engines found in Agriculture, Construction, Trucking, Marine and Oil Field operations.

Click Here for more information about Clevite!

Drive and Deliver

In Drive and Deliver, brought to you by International Truck, Academy Award-nominated director Brett Morgen journeys into your world, and over far reaches of open road, where the realities of family, business and brotherhood converge into one inspiring story. Click on the banner above to get your copy of the DVD.