ARLINGTON, Va — The American Trucking Associations’ (ATA) Technology and Maintenance Council (TMC) says there are more than 40 new or revised practices in its new recommended practices manual.

The group released the 2018-2019 manual was released this week with the goal of increasing equipment maintenance and engineering efficiencies for fleets. The new addition features a number of practices added since the supplement for last year’s version.

“Each recommended practice has been developed through experimentation in the field, then subjected to stringent evaluation by TMC members, so you know the information is top quality,” said TMC executive Director Robert Braswell.

The manual is available in two volumes as a digital set or three as an in-print version. It contains more than 3,500 pages of technical information TMC says represents the consensus and collective wisdom of council members on spec’ing, testing and maintaining a wide range of commercial vehicles.

Topics include everything from battery selection criteria to aerodynamic wheel cover considerations and lifting and jacking vehicles guidelines. The manual also contains key performance indicators for cost-per-mile metrics.

Member associations are eligible to receive the guide at no cost, while non-member associations can purchase the manual.