Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/201087
WANT MORE EQUIPMENT NEWS? Scan the barcode to sign up for the CCJ Equipment Weekly e-mail newsletter or go to www.goo.gl/Ph9JK. We conducted extensive shock and vibration testing on this lamp design. – Brad Van Riper, senior vice president and chief technical officer, Truck Lite on the low-beam setting. Forward visibility is so enhanced on low beams that you easily can see reflective signs up to a half-mile away. Interestingly, the visibility "jump" from low to high beams is not as dramatic as with conventional headlamps: I wondered if oncoming traffic would find my low beams too intense, but only once did an oncoming car "flash" me with its high beams. Another nice benefit is that my eyes didn't feel as strained as they normally would during a night drive on such a dark road. Since the enhanced blue and white light pattern approximates natural light conditions more closely, your eyes don't have to work as hard to pick out details on the road, which can help reduce driver stress levels and fatigue. As I reported these impressions to Van Riper, he told me Truck Lite conducted extensive research with the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute to develop a light wavelength that's more conducive to producing daytime levels of melatonin in the body, thereby reducing fatigue. The result, Van Riper says, is a more alert driver while on duty who is less fatigued after a shift. Freightliner's move to standardize Custom LED lamps on Cascadia model trucks is a sure indicator that this technology has arrived. My impressions of the new lamps all were positive: Crisp, white light that is easy on the eyes, offers longer and wider fields of view and doesn't irritate oncoming traffic is a hard combination to beat. JACK ROBERTS is Executive Editor of Commercial Carrier Journal. E-mail jroberts@ccjmagazine.com or call (205) 248-1358. Navistar reports highest monthly truck orders since 2011 N avistar International reported roughly 5,900 Class 6-8 truck orders in September, marking its highest number of monthly orders since December 2011. The numbers came as part of a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission in which the Lisle, Ill.-based company also said it wants to issue $200 million in senior subordinated convertible notes due 2018 as a cashgeneration effort. Navistar reported it had 2,100 orders for Class 6 and 7 trucks – all with the Cummins ISB 6.7-liter engine – for a market share of about 31.7 percent in September relative to total Class 6 and 7 orders from all manufacturers, up from August's 18.8 percent order share. The company also reported Class 8 order share at 17.4 percent for the month, up from August's 16.6 percent. In addition to the $200 million in convertible notes, Navistar also is borrowing $270 million internally from its Navistar Financial subsidiary. – Staff reports DTNA building new $150M HQ in Portland D aimler Trucks North America announced plans for a new headquarters building and parking garage on its Swan Island campus in Portland, Ore. The 265,000-square-foot facility will serve two functions: to merge DTNA employees currently located in offices separated by the Willamette River, and to accommodate about 400 new positions in Portland that the company anticipates in conjunction with future business growth. The $150 million project is expected to be completed in 2016. Local and state incentives are in the process of being finalized. DTNA is placing a priority on creating an environmentally conscious plan with the goal to achieve LEED Platinum Certification through the U.S. Green Building Council. – Jack Roberts COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | NOVEMBER 2013 27