TORONTO, Ont. -- Do you know who makes the motor in your washing machine? Do you care? Do you know who will make the motor on your first electric truck? Will you need to care? That's just one of the many paradigm shifts we'll be dealing with as electric drivetrains emerge in the trucking industry.
TORONTO, Ont. -- There's no such thing as one-size-fits-all in the medium-duty truck domain. You can install a body of any description on just about any chassis, provided it is compatible and engineered for the purpose. Users of the equipment range from landscapers with dump boxes to mobile heavy-duty service technicians with service bodies, and tow truck operators with the flatbeds or cradle snatcher bodies, or utility companies with cranes and booms. We probably missed a few hundred applications in there, too. It's a busy sector.
MISSISSAUGA, Ont. -- Some of the most important factors behind spec'ing decisions are those that promise better fuel economy. A panel of experts at the Canadian Fleet Maintenance Summit (CFMS) discussed how claims should be weighed, and steps that will deliver a return on investments.
TORONTO, Ont. -- In some corners of North America, the idea of adding solar power to a truck or trailer is a no-brainer. You'd be forgiven for thinking that none of those corners are in Canada. That's mostly true, but it doesn't necessarily mean that solar has no place here. Just that you must be careful in assessing manufacturer claims about what their solar gizmo can actually do. Almost all of Canada gets an average of 4.2 hours of solar sunlight a day. Two areas -- a small stretch of the southern prairies and a little ribbon of central B.C. -- crank that number up to 4.5 hours. Compare that to as many six hours in Arizona, New Mexico, and a patch of southeast California. Doesn't sound like much of a difference, but it's a big deal. A 300-watt solar setup that can help to run a tractor's electric APU in that part of the U.S. would probably have to be a 600- or 800-watt setup for a rig running, say, a Toronto-Montreal-Halifax route. It also means that manufacturer claims can be rather idealistic if calculations were based on experience in warm and sunny parts of our world. There's no subterfuge involved here, but “your mileage may vary,” as they say.
TORONTO, Ont. – The Canadian Fleet Maintenance Summit is fast approaching and will bring high-profile industry speakers from across North America to Toronto's International Centre on April 18. And there will be plenty to absorb, from electrification, to collision mitigation, spec'ing practices, fuel economy, and more.
Now that air disc brakes have taken their place in North American truck makers' order books, fleets are still asking questions about mixing discs and drums. Are there serious downsides to running discs only on the steer axle? Should I worry about mixing disc-equipped trailers with drum-equipped tractors or vice versa?
Cash-conscious fleets are often loathe to spend extra money on extra options. Their units are seen as workhorses; the no-frills machines to focus on specific tasks. But there are still plenty of bells and whistles available in the fleet spec' version of Volvo's new VNR 400.
It is impossible to talk about engine oils without tapping into the benefits that have emerged with new CK4 and fuel-efficient FA4 formulas. The story was no different when Total invited members of our editorial team to visit a blending facility in Montreal, where the world's fourth-largest oil company prepares and bottles lubricants for a wide variety of industries and applications.
Spec'ing powertrains for Canadian operations is a tricky job. Americans take their powertrain spec's pretty seriously as well, but how tough is it to get something that will move 80,000-pound loads on interstate highways? To be fair, our southern neighbors are always pushing the proverbial envelope, but tricky takes on a whole new meaning when it comes to downspeeding.
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