Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/678459
22 commercial carrier journal | may 2016 price point needs to fall by well more than half on a per-truck basis compared to a standard drum brake. "Disc brakes really need to be no more than a $500 to $600 upcharge over [the stan- dard drum brake configuration]," he says. "The interest is there. The understanding of the product is there. The confidence in the product is there, but we have to get the cost-value equation in the right range." W abco has seen adop- tion of its air disc brakes surge from 5 percent to 20 percent over the last five years, and that's a trend that Jon Morrison, the company's president of the Americas, expects to continue. Admittedly, a growth rate of 300 per- cent isn't sustainable without a few major changes in the market – among them, the price point. "I think it comes back to the per- ceived value and return on investment for fleets," Morrison says. "As we move into more mainstream truckload type of fleets, they have a certain payback and [return on investment] threshold that you really have to meet." For disc brakes to move into a position where they are more standard than not, Morrison says their premium PRODUCT REVIEWS, OEM & SUPPLIER NEWS AND EQUIPMENT MANAGEMENT TRENDS BY JASON CANNON No price too high for disc brakes? The big picture can make the higher cost more affordable An increasing number of fleets are realizing that more expensive air disc brakes can lead to long-term savings.