Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/678459
commercial carrier journal | may 2016 23 JASON CANNON is Equipment Editor of Commercial Carrier Journal. E-mail jcannon@randallreilly.com or call (205) 248-1175. Driving down the cost isn't a volume proposition. Higher take rates and competition in the market won't necessarily lead to lower prices. That Wabco is now able to build and source in North America thanks to its facility in Charleston, S.C., also will come into play as the company seeks to drive down costs, but the quest to Buy American will go only so far. The added perceived value for disc brakes is going to take fleets recognizing that higher upfront expenses can be a long-term investment. "Bumping into one [passenger] car, regardless of whose fault it is, is going to cost me a minimum of $20,000," says Ralph Lo Priore, director of fleet assets and processes for Seattle-based Stoneway Concrete. "If I can stop quicker and stop safer, who cares about how often you have to replace a brake rotor? It's a $200 rotor. So what? If disc brakes prevent only one accident per truck, they've paid for themselves that many times over." Within reason, Lo Priore told me he didn't care what the cost difference was between disc and drum brakes, adding he won't spec drum brakes on any new orders. "I don't know why anybody would," he says. Lo Priore has clearly done the math. While he told me arithme- tic was never his best subject, the equation for him was pretty easy: Sticker cost of the truck + premi- um for disc brakes - $20,000 in po- tential litigation fees, body damage and downtime = sign me up. David Hillman, vice president and general manager of Navistar's vo- cational product line, says an increasing number of fleets are finding the same solution. For fleets that haven't seriously put the pencil to paper on disc brakes, Lo Priore and Hillman both suggest looking back at recent Compliance Safety Accountability inspections. Hillman adds the potential to eliminate brake-related CSA violations and the downtime that comes with them has emerged as one of the biggest drivers he's noted in the adoption of disc brakes. In big-picture math, a few thousand dollars up- charge on the dealership lot could be a giant savings in disguise. 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. STANDARD POSITION: For disc brakes to become the dominant spec, their higher price point needs to fall. NO VOLUME DISCOUNT: Higher take rates and competition won't necessarily lead to lower prices. ALL THINGS CONSIDERED: Fleets must realize that higher upfront expenses can be a long- term investment. Tapp, 2011 Career Leadership Award recipient, dies C arl Tapp, former vice president of maintenance for P.A.M. Transportation Services and a leader in the truck maintenance community, passed away at his home on March 28. Tapp, 59, had battled Multiple Sclerosis since 2002. As a former Technol- ogy & Maintenance Council task force chair- man and Silver Spark Plug recipient, Tapp dedicated his professional career to working with engineers to improve truck-related components and technician proficiency. In 2011, CCJ honored Tapp with the Technology & Maintenance Career Leader- ship Award, given annually to an individual in the trucking maintenance profession for exemplary service to the industry. – Jeff Crissey Engine starting system available for big trucks I oxus Inc. announced that its uStart engine starting system, a drop-in replacement product designed to operate without special wiring, now is available for heavy trucks. The ultracapacitor-based product is engi- neered to increase the vehicle bus voltage by greater than 10 percent during crank, reduce cranking time by more than 20 percent, reduce peak current to the starter by more than 15 percent, reduce the cycling seen by the battery by more than 40 percent, increase starter life by more than 30 percent and pro- vide a built-in jump-start system that charges the capacitor from adjacent "dead" batteries. One of the existing lead-acid or AGM Group 31 batteries can be replaced by the two-terminal uStart system via the drop-in- and-reconnect terminals. – Jason Cannon Carl Tapp dedicated his professional ca- reer to working with engineers to improve truck-related compo- nents and technician proficiency.