In addition to differences that must be smoothed over with what the Senate will likely put forth, chief among those being that the current Senate proposal would provide $109 billion over two years, the House version will likely include a controversial oil pipeline project – the Canada to Texas Keystone XL oil pipeline - already rejected by President Barack Obama earlier this year. (more…)

OK, maybe it’s not that simple. But according to research from the University of Buffalo, driving along surface streets rather than along highways could potentially reduce carbon monoxide emissions. The research, led by UB researchers Adel Sadek and Liya Guo, is part of a larger project the duo is undertaking evaluating the likely environmental benefits of green routing in the region.

According to computer simulations of traffic in Buffalo, NY,’s Niagara region, so-called “green routing” could reduce emissions of carbon monoxide by 27% for area drivers, while increasing the length of trips by an average of just 11%. (more…)

But what if range was not part of equation? Certainly electric vehicles provide many benefits over their gas and diesel counterparts – fewer emissions and quieter to name just two. But with a limited range, the market for such vehicles is restricted to routes such as pickup and delivery where the vehicle returns to a fixed charging station each night.

Federal Express and UPS have been deploying the vehicles in city environments with great success. Many other companies are as well. But the market for electric vehicles could mushroom if only there was a way to charge a vehicle en route. (more…)

The Wedway Refrigeration Power System does this through kinetic energy. For all of us who remember learning about kinetic energy in school but never thought there would be a need to use it again, kinetic energy is the energy that is stored in an object while it is motion. That energy remains constant until the velocity of the object is changed. (more…)

“I’ve enjoyed my time here,” she said. “I consider everyone here part of my family.”

Spending 65 years working is not often seen these days, let alone spending those years with a single company. She joined the company, which was called Timken Axle at the time, in 1946 as a file clerk/typist. It didn’t take her long to make her mark on the company.

(If you’d like to see a video from the company celebration, visit Troy Patch here.)

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New York State will make $10 million available next year as part of a five-year incentive program to encourage the purchase of electric vehicles. The federally funded electric vehicle buyer incentive program will be funded by the through federal Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality funding. It will be administered by the New York State Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA). (more…)

Give2TheTroops is designed to encourage the delivery of care packages to active duty troops. Through the program, more than 13,000 Estes employees and their families will be able to donate items for the care packages through Dec. 2. Children will make cards and color pictures as well. (more…)

Now it’s not surprising the U.S. Tolling Coalition is in favor of making it easier to install tolls, after all, the organization supports tolling as a way around Washington gridlock.

Along I-95 alone, Virginia has been given approval to place tolls. Rhode Island has asked for permission to toll 95 in that state and each year the idea of tolling 95 in Connecticut gains ground. Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Missouri, Alabama, and North Carolina are among the other states that have either started, or are looking to toll their highways. (more…)

As a result, more and more fleets are finding they either have to spend valuable time training new drivers – and losing those trainees who find it too difficult to learn how to drive a manual – or purchasing a vehicle equipped with an automatic or automated transmission.

I am like many of these new drivers – no experience with a manual truck transmission. In fact, I have no experience with an automatic or automated truck transmission either. So I think I am a perfect representative to speak to how easy it is to drive one of Volvo’s trucks equipped with an I-Shift.

The answer: It’s much like driving my “little” SUV, just a little bigger.

I had the chance to test-drive a Volvo FH16 750, a 750-horsepower cabover, just introduced in Europe at the beginning of September, during a press event this week in Gothenburg, Sweden. Having never driven a big rig like this one, coupled to a semi-trailer, the I-Shift allowed me to speed right through that learning curve.

Now by no means am I a professional truck driver – in fact I barely touched 60 km on my short test-track journey, but not having to worry about getting the vehicle into the correct gear meant I could focus on the truly important chores at hand – not driving the vehicle off the edge of the road or hitting anything, or anybody, on the corners.

The transmission has a number of driver-friendly features, including a very smooth engine brake that downshifts the vehicle several gears at a time while allowing the driver to maintain the same control as under normal driving conditions.

Of course, there is a hill-start aid that gives the driver 1 ½ seconds to press the accelerator before the truck starts moving – in either direction. And the automatic gear selection skips unnecessary gears while accelerating – in all, only six of the 12 speeds are needed to reach highway speed.

Add in the fuel efficiency gains achieved with an I-Shift – as much as 1.5% - and it’s clear to see why we are starting to see a slow shift away from manual transmissions.

Even someone inexperienced like myself can see the advantages, which should only serve to open more doors to careers in truck driving for the younger generation.

The Ex Awards are put on by Event Marketer magazine. (more…)