Trucks at Work Blog

“We are convinced that liquefied gas is one of the most important future alternatives to today’s vehicle fuels.” –Lars Mårtensson, director-environmental affairs, Volvo Trucks.

The effort to make natural gas a more efficient fuel for powering long-haul freight trucks increased this week as Volvo Trucks – a division of Sweden’s AB Volvo – officially revealed a production-line ready heavy duty model that runs on a mixture of 75% liquefied natural gas (LNG) and 25% diesel fuel. This is a truck that Volvo’s been working on in the prototype stage for some time.

The interesting twists to Volvo’s new FM MethaneDiesel model is that is can use either LNG or “biogas” refined from, say, the methane vapors generated from landfill decomposition as the main ingredient in its fuel cocktail, the company said. That’s because both natural gas and biogas share methane as the “base stock” in their composition, noted Lars Mårtensson, director-environmental affairs for Volvo Trucks.

He noted that Volvo uses a conventional 13-liter diesel engine generating 460 horsepower and roughly 1,696 ft-lbs. of torque. It’s equipped with gas injectors, a special Thermos-like fuel tank that keeps the gas liquefied and chilled to minus140 degrees Celsius (roughly minus 284 degrees Fahrenheit), plus a specially modified catalytic converter so it can operate on blended methane/diesel fuel. more

“Without critical driving comprehension, many drivers run the risk of increased accidents or near accidents, where they often come to the realization of their lack of knowledge on rules of the road.” –Scott Eckman, chief marketing officer, GMAC Insurance

When it comes to knowing the rules of road, we all think we’ve got it down pat … right? Well, that might be so for most truck drivers (lord knows, driving is their livelihood, after all) but it seems that ain’t the case for a good chunk of the “four wheeling” populace out there – nearly 1 out of five of them, to be exact.

At least, that’s what the 2011 GMAC Insurance National Drivers Test survey purportedly determined.

The seventh annual such survey conducted by GMAC polled 5,130 licensed drivers ages 16-65 across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. The company said its 2011 test gauged driver knowledge by administering 20 questions taken from state Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) exams – a test administered online by TNS, the world’s largest custom research agency. more

“This bill will assist carriers and owner operators to specify safety technologies needed to prevent thousands of crashes annually involving commercial vehicles. Highways would be safer for fleet drivers and passenger car drivers alike.” –Jon Morrison, president and general manager, Meritor WABCO

There’s an old saying that while you can lead a horse to water, you can’t make it drink. And that increasingly seems to be the case with the U.S. Congress when it comes to establishing a tax credit to spur wider adoption of various safety technologies for commercial trucks.

Two bills were sent to Congress in 2008 and 2009 to try and win such tax credits, all to no avail. Now our national legislators are getting a third opportunity by way of the Commercial Motor Vehicle Advanced Safety Technology Tax Act of 2011, introduced by Congressman Geoff Davis (R-KY) and Mike Thompson (D-CA) this month as H.R. 1706.

The proposed bill would speed up the deployment of advanced safety systems by providing tax credits to purchasers of commercial vehicles of up to $1,500 per safety system and $3,500 per vehicle, while installing a cap of $350,000 annually per taxpayer. more

Put about 300 miles on the odometer last night, rolling west on I-66 and then south on I-81 to within hailing distance of the Virginia/Tennessee border.

I’m down here to visit Volvo Trucks North America’s New River Valley factory here just outside Dublin, Va., (and is there any Guinness about my friends?) but two things stood out in my mind during my late night journey: gee, is it crowded out there on the highways, and man, is there a lot of construction going on as well. more

It really doesn’t surprise me anymore that when disaster strikes or there’s a need for aid in combating terrible problems, like human trafficking, truckers and the industry that supports them always lend a helping hand.

Take the recent outbreak of tornadoes down south – the most recent batch cutting a wide swath of devastation across Missouri and parts of Tennessee. The hail, rain, and devastating winds had hardly died down when the appeal for help went out – alongside please for trucks to haul relief supplies to devastated areas.

U.S. Xpress Enterprises is one of many fleets that answered the call, working with one of its vendors to purchase and transport two truckloads of water – over 72,000 bottles in all – to two hard hit areas around Chattanooga, TN, which is the carrier’s home base.

“Additionally, we moved 5,000 gallons of bleach as donated transportation for an American Red Cross clean-up effort,” Greg Thompson, the company’s public relations manager, told me. “We’ve also collected over $3,500 donations for the Red Cross – and $1,000 from our drivers, after an appeal on our Facebook page.” more

One fundamental question that dogs many fleets seeking to dig up information on alternative fuel options for their operations is this: where does one start looking?

There are many association websites, of course – NGVAmerica for natural gas vehicles is on that springs to my mind – but ones that give a quick snap-read concerning electric vehicle (EV) options out there are far and few between.

That’s changing, however – and GE Capital Fleet Services provides a great example. The company recently launched what it’s dubbed an “Eco Website” dedicated to reviewing EVs and various services associated with these vehicles.

GE Capital said its website provides information, tools and educational materials to serve as a resource to help companies with greening their vehicle fleets – along with sections dedicated to what it calls “Business Solutions” and “Driver Solutions” to educate fleets and drivers on alternative vehicles and environmental performance. more

“No service technician can keep track of every single part of a truck. Whenever we’re unsure, we can find the necessary information here. This is sort of our Bible or telephone book.” –Mattias Roos, a Volvo service technician based in Gothenburg, Sweden, talking about Volvo Trucks’ new smart phone device

There are tens (if not hundreds) of different technological devices truck technicians use to conduct their work – laptop computers, diagnostic code readers, handheld scanners, plus a plethora of software packages to boot.

Now Volvo Trucks in Europe – a subsidiary of Sweden’s AB Volvo, which is also the ultimate parent company of Volvo Trucks North America – is experimenting with a different, yet quite familiar, technological pathway: making the plain old “smart phone” a sort of ultimate reference book for technicians.

“Firstly, consumer products are produced in larger volumes, resulting in a significantly lower price than industrial made-to-order devices,” noted Kerstin Hanson, project manager at Volvo IT – another AB Volvo division.

“Secondly, users already have prior knowledge of the way this technology works and are therefore more likely to embrace it as a new way of working,” she added. more

“Strategic acquirers’ have shifted their focus from internal initiatives – bolstering balance sheets and increasing their cash positions – to executing on M&A [merger and acquisition] strategies to help drive their growth.” –Kenneth Evans, U.S. transportation and logistics leader for global consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers

Freight is plentiful and capacity is tight – or, in other words, trucks and the companies that operate them are in high demand right now. Thus, now is a time when some fleets are looking to expand their operations, while some want to sell in order to escape what’s become a business of extreme ups and downs in the last few years.

Yet regardless of whether a trucking company wants to buy another carrier or sell itself off, the ultimate question is HOW to engage in either strategy so as to obtain the most benefit.

For that reason, I got together with Dick Clepper (at right), a senior M&A adviser with the Woodbridge Group, LLC, and a longtime vetern of the trucking industry, to get some advice for carriers contemplating the buy or sell options.

“Assuming an owner is interested in selling his or her transportation company, there are some basics you need to consider,” he told me.

“The first is to be able to make an objective decision about the sale, what I call ‘letting go’ so you try and minimize the emotional component of the decision process,” Clepper said. “Second, understand that selling the company is a process; an event that will take place with planning, effective marketing, and professional assistance.” more

“There’s a growing likelihood there will be no recession over the next 12 months, with economic growth continuing for the rest of 2011 and possibly into 2012 as well.” –Robert Dieli, president and founder of RDLB, Inc., an economic research and management consulting firm specializing in economic forecasting and analysis.

Good things come to those who wait, or so the saying goes, and despite the slow pace of the U.S. economic recovery, truckers should look forward to a continued run of good times. At least, that’s what the forecasts are saying at this particular moment in time.

For example, the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) recently released an updated – and very upbeat – outlook for the U.S. manufacturing and non-manufacturing sectors this week. The group projected that U.S. economic growth will continue throughout 2011 at a pretty healthy pace and offered some robust figures as well.

In the manufacturing sector, revenue is expected to increase 7.5%, capital investment should rise 17.9%, and capacity utilization will expand to 83.2%. Non-manufacturing business growth is also expected to continue in 2011, with revenue expected to increase 2.1%, capital investment to grow by 1.4%, and capacity utilization to expand out to 83.7%. more

There should be a quip in here about how “yellow” is fast becoming the new “green,” but despite trying, looks I’m coming up empty today, sad to say.

Yet that certainly isn’t the case when it comes to the ubiquitous yellow school bus – a staple of the American education system, yet also one that consumes a heck of a lot of fuel.

Chew on these numbers for a moment, courtesy of the American School Bus Council:

• Number of school buses operating in U.S.: 480,000

• Average annual miles per unit: 12,000

• Total annual mileage: 5.74 million

• Average fuel mileage for a diesel-powered bus: 7 mpg

• Average gallons consumed per year per unit: 1,714

• Total gallons consumed per year: 822 million

For that reason, many school bus operations – both public and private – have for years tested (and re-tested) a variety of different alternative propulsion technologies, using fuels such as natural gas, propane, and biodiesel, alongside a variety of hybrid systems. more