The Truck Writers of North America will present the 2016 Technical Achievement Award during next week’s Technology & Maintenance Council’s Annual Meeting & Transportation Technology Exhibition in Nashville, Tenn.
The TWNA’s Technical Achievement Award was first presented in 1991. This year, for the first time, the annual award will be named after Jim Winsor, a 50-year truck journalist and TWNA member who was active in TMC and a predecessor organization.
Winsor passed away in 2015.
Each year, the group’s award committee, which is comprised of a panel of editors representing the industry’s major publications, rank items nominated by TWNA members, and chooses five award finalists, then the winner. To be eligible, a product or service from the named year must show technical innovation, have a wide applicability and availability in trucking, and offer significant operating benefits.
The top five finalists for the 2016 Technical Achievement Award include engines, a disc brake, a steel wheel and electronic cruise control products, TWNA says. The award finalists are:
- Accuride EverSteel wheel with a special anti-corrosion treatment
- Cummins X15 Efficiency series diesel, whose advances to meet federal Phase 2 greenhouse gas emissions rules include an Atkinson Cycle combustion mode
- Mack and Volvo “wave” piston, part of engine upgrades to comply with new GHG regulations
- SAF-Holland P89 disc brake, a high-performance, lightweight and moderate-cost braking product
- Volvo iSee and Mack Predictive cruise control, which “learns” routes and operates a truck’s powertrain to gain maximum efficiency.
TWNA will announce the winner March 1 during an industry awards luncheon in Nashville.
