May 6, 2009 Vol. 5, No. 9

As if on cue, I had an e-mail a week ago back from the purchasing chief of a prominent Canadian company looking for help with 2010 engines. Not a trucking outfit, rather a manufacturer in the food world, and with a fleet of trucks much larger than I would have guessed — a few hundred of them in several locations across the country. A mixed fleet of different brands and ages, managed locally but nowadays purchased centrally. A bit of a hodge-podge, frankly, not least because the work the trucks do changes somewhat from location to location.

Could I come to a meeting of those territory managers and address the subject of 2010 engines? Sure, I said, warning that I’m neither engineer nor chemist. And so yesterday I met them, a good bunch of guys with a ton of experience in running trucks, many of them with PTOs. All of them had been through the previous two rounds of engine emissions rules in 2002/04 and 2007. There were no rookies in that room.

But they found themselves needing help. They wanted a neutral opinion on the SCR vs EGR debate, having realized that they were unable on their own to distinguish between the claims of the various motor makers. A couple of these managers in larger centers like Toronto had been to presentations put on by the truck or engine manufacturers, but they seemed no further ahead than those in the nether regions who’d been able to do nothing but read about the coming diesels in magazines like mine.

I WROTE “AS IF ON CUE” at the start of this piece because my editorial in the May issue of Today’s Trucking covered exactly this topic of product knowledge, about engines in particular. I recalled the confusion that reigned supreme when truck operators contemplated buying new post-2002 machines. Only at the last minute, I wrote, did the majority of truck buyers realize that things were different, that they’d have to make a new kind of spec’ing decision. And they weren’t prepared. Similarly in the run-up to the 2007 EPA rules, but a little less so.

So here we are again, I wrote, fearing that people don’t really understand what’s going on with 2010 engines.

That editorial was prompted largely because I had heard that the managers of one very large U.S. fleet were full of misconceptions about the diesel technologies of next year. Normally a very savvy, buttoned-down operation, but they’re confused. So where, I asked, does that leave the 30-truck fleet in Prince Albert?

And a week ago I had my answer — it was a much bigger operation than 30 trucks in northern Saskatchewan, indeed it was a major private fleet, but they were preparing to make a big decision about buying 2010 trucks on what amounted to a wing and a prayer. So I spent a day whipping up a quick and dirty Powerpoint presentation and delivered the facts as I know them.

After a couple of hours of engine chatter, I was asked the big question: do we buy trucks now to avoid the expense and uncertainty of the new engines or do we forge ahead, stick with the existing trade cycle, and get 2010 machines?

My answer, as you might guess, was something less than black and white.

And the main lesson I took away? Right now, sadly but predictably, nobody believes anybody.

DETROIT DIESEL AIMS TO CHANGE THAT, of course, like all the other engine makers. Detroit took a major step in that direction when it delivered its first two
‘BlueTec’ customer demo units to Schneider National earlier this year. They were integrated into the fleet to deliver real-world experience with the new SCR technology. They’re Freightliner Cascadias with DD15 engines, and at this point they’ve logged about 50,000 miles each.

Steve Duley, vice president of purchasing for Schneider National, says they keep close tabs on the units and provide Detroit with feedback every day, including responses from drivers and technicians.

So far, nobody’s sending that feedback to the likes of me, but early reports from other engine makers say customers who’ve tried 2010 SCR engines like ’em just fine. Drivers especially.

That said, as I told my private-fleet audience yesterday, the slow rate of truck sales now and maybe through much of next year means that it’s going to be quite a while before there’s enough experience to judge properly. A year from now we’ll have a serious clue about 2010 motors, but I’d guess it will be nearer two years before we have a real fix on it. And maybe longer before we’re sure.

LONESTAR WINS BIG AWARD. In its inaugural ATD Commercial Truck of the Year award program, the International LoneStar was recently named the winner by a committee of journalists assembled by the American Truck Dealers association. It was one of five nominees for the new award, the others being the Freightliner Cascadia, Kenworth T660, Mack Titan, and Peterbilt Model 386.