Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/846064
20 commercial carrier journal | july 2017 • Nearly 700 Freightliner Cascadia and West- ern Star 5700 trucks equipped with NFD rear tandem axles are being recalled due to a possible defect in the powertrain axle as- sembly. Daimler Trucks North America said that during the hardening process, the axle assembly's output shaft could have been made brittle, and if it were to break while the truck is going down a grade, the compres- sion braking would be ineffective. Contact Daimler customer service at 800-547-0712; the recall number is FL-738. • Michelin agreed to acquire telematics provider NexTraq from Fleetcor in an all-cash deal to accelerate its telematics growth and provide synergies to increase its scale, expand its geographic footprint and strengthen its overall competitiveness in U.S. fleet management technology and services. NexTraq provides solutions that help enhance driver safety, fuel manage- ment and productivity for small fleets with Class 3-5 vehicles . • International Truck announced the availability of the heavy-duty Fabco FSD-20K right-hand offset axle option on WorkStar 7400 and 7500 models. The offset bowl axle is designed to allow for an increase in load capacity to 20,000 pounds without sacrificing ground clearance or cab height. The front driving axle reduces ride height compared to center bowl drive axles by greater than 4 inches. • Volvo Trucks North America debuted its Genuine Painted Parts Program that delivers factory-built replacement parts custom-painted for pre-order or quick turnaround. Customers and dealers can order more than three dozen different parts, including hoods and bumpers, for both the VNL and VNM models. The program also of- fers full-cab options and bulk part ordering for all models, as well as fully dressed hoods for the VNL that come with the mirrors, headlights and grille. • Volvo Trucks is testing a self-steering truck in a Brazilian sugar-cane operation. Used by the Maringá-based Usina Santa Terezinha Group to transport newly harvested sugar-cane, the truck is steered through the fields to avoid compacting the soil and damaging the young plants. Volvo Trucks' driver assistance system automates steering, and with the help of GPS receivers, the truck follows a coordinate-based map. Two gyroscopes ensure that not only the front wheels but also the entire vehicle is steered with precision. • Cummins Inc. announced that its B4.5, B6.7 and L9 medium-duty engine platforms are compatible with paraffinic renewable diesel fuels meeting the EN 15940 specification. Both the on-highway and off-highway versions of the B6.7 and L9 platforms and all vintages are approved to use paraffinic diesel fuels in North America. Cummins said the move helps further reduce the carbon footprint of its engines. • Ancra International partnered with Cell- Tech Metals for a new line of bonded truck and trailer wall systems. Track from Ancra's Lift-A-Deck II and Vers-A-Deck captive beam decking systems now is available preassembled with CellTech's patented metal sandwich wall panels prior to vehicle assembly to provide cost and installation labor savings. • Ryder System Inc. launched Ryder NaviShare, a cloud-based platform designed to provide real-time shipment visibility, pre- dictive alerts and exception dashboards to enable real-time exception handling, routing and analytics. The technology is accessible through both a customer-facing website and a mobile app. • Ritchie Bros., a heavy equipment auction- eer, completed its acquisition of IronPlanet, an online marketplace for heavy equipment and other durable assets, for about $758.5 million, subject to closing adjustments. • GCR Tires & Service launched a Route Planner tool at GCRTires.com/locations designed to locate GCR stores along long- or short-haul routes and select store locations based on specific service needs. Users can select how far they want to deviate to visit a store and share directions to their mobile device and with other drivers in the field or save the route for later trips. • PacLease unveiled its redesigned easy-to-navigate PacLease.com website optimized for mobile users to find informa- tion on the company's full-service leasing, rental and contract maintenance programs. PacLease offers medium- and heavy-duty Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks through its franchise network that consists of more than 450 U.S. and Canadian locations. • Fumoto announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office approved its trademark applications for the visual appearance of its Fumoto Engine Oil Drain Valve. The Santa Rosa, Calif.-based company said the trademarks prove that the valve's design is recognized as distinctive by consumers and as a source of identifying the product. • PurePower Technologies and Alliant Power entered into a joint distribution agreement in which Alliant will distribute PurePower's new and remanufactured die- sel fuel injectors to the Association of Diesel Specialists market. INBRIEF Many fl eets are switching to 10W-30 engine oils from traditional 15W-40 oils. The reason is fuel economy. Thinner viscosities mean the engine doesn't have to work as hard and uses less fuel. Think of it like swimming through honey vs. water. Honey is thicker than water, so more energy is used to move through it. The same goes for an engine's moving parts. A 15W-40 oil requires more energy to move through it whereas 10W-30 oil produces less drag on your engine. But can a 10W-30 protect as well as a 15W- 40? You bet. It comes down to quality additives and composition of base oil. In fact, Shell ROTELLA ® T5 10W-30 can protect as well or better than industry-standard 15W-40 oils. Give it a shot in your fl eet. To learn more go to ROTELLA.com/products ROTELLA ROUNDUP The 411on10W-30 By Dan Arcy, Shell Lubricants Comments, questions or ideas? Email us at RotellaRoundup@JWT.com 1151572_SB01_ROTroundup_2_25x9_5 f.indd 1 6/15/17 1:49 PM