Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/993011
22 commercial carrier journal | june 2018 INBRIEF • Eaton's Endurant 12-speed automated transmission, the product of the compa- ny's joint powertrain venture with Cum- mins, now is available for order on International LoneStar and LT Series trucks equipped with Cummins' X15 engine. • Kenworth Truck Co. announced delivery of its first near-zero-emissions 12-liter natural gas truck to AJR Trucking, a port drayage and mail delivery fleet. The T680 is powered by the Cummins Westport 12-lit- er ISX12N engine, which is certified by the California Air Resources Board as meeting its toughest optional low-NOx standard, which is 90 percent cleaner than current federal U.S. Environmental Protection Agency emissions standards. AJR will use the T680 to deliver mail from Santa Clarita to the Los Angeles International Airport. • Autocar, a provider of refuse vehicles, will add Cummins' X12 engine to its ACX model starting in the fourth quarter. Brett Merrit, vice president of Cummins' on-highway engine business, said the X12's power-to-weight ratio is suited for the refuse market and other weight-sen- sitive vocational applications. The engine weighs 2,050 pounds, provides up to 500 hp and uses Cummins' Single Module aftertreatment system. • Meritor Inc. acquired AA Gear & Manufac- turing Inc. and its subsidiaries; terms were not disclosed. AAG, based in Howell, Mich., provides low- to medium-volume batch manufacturing for complex gear and shaft applications, as well as quick-turnaround prototyping products and emergency plant support, for the agriculture, construc- tion, heavy truck, diversified industrial and automotive markets. • Trillium, a provider of alternative fuels systems and renewable fuels, announced a partnership with EV Connect, a provider of electric-vehicle charging systems, to install EV charging infrastructure at three existing Love's Travel Stops stores in California in Tulare, Ripon and Coachella. • Goldhofer and Trail King Industries announced a collaboration to promote and support each other's heavy-haul trailer products, both in the United States and around the world. Goldhofer manufactures dual-lane transporters for on-road special transports, off-road modular trailers and self-propelled units for extremely heavy loads. Trail King manufactures open-deck and materials-hauling trailers. Musk puts Tesla Semi range at 600 miles, debunks doubters W hen electric carmaker Tesla official- ly entered the world of trucking last November, Elon Musk promised to deliver an all-electric tractor with a 500-mile range. During the company's May 2 earnings call, the chief executive officer forecasted actual produc- tion units – slated to begin assembly next year – will exceed that distance. "We're going to do better than 500 miles," Musk said. "I think the actual production unit will be about a 600-mile range." J.B. Straubel, Tesla's chief technical officer, said the technology needed to produce a 500-mile tractor already is within the company's abilities. "We basically have what we need in-house and understand how to do those specs today or better," Straubel said. Musk's claims of the tractor's range have been met largely with skepticism from the trucking world, most notably Martin Daum, head of Daimler Trucks. "He (Daum) doesn't know much about physics," Musk said on the May 2 call. "I'd be happy to engage in a physics discussion with him. I actually studied physics in college." "If Tesla really delivers on their promise, we'll obviously buy two trucks — one to take apart and one to test, because if that happens, something has passed us by," Daum said earlier this year. – Jason Cannon San Diego startup testing Level 4 autonomous truck T uSimple, a 30-month-old San Diego-based autonomous truck company, said it currently is testing three Class 8 Peterbilt trucks in Arizona and has achieved more than 15,000 Level 4 autonomous test miles. Level 4 autonomy (on a scale of 0 to 5) doesn't require any action by a human driver unless an emer- gency occurs and is widely considered the first level of fully autonomous driving. Chuck Price, TuSimple vice president of product, said the company's advanced computer vision system uses up to 10 cameras in conjunction with sensors, GPS, three radar units and automated HD mapping to achieve a sensing range of up to 300 meters – three times the range of standard LiDAR. TuSimple's goal is to deploy a system that allows fleets to travel autonomously dock- to-dock, bypassing needing a driver – either in-cab or remotely – to pilot the truck on any stretch of its route. Since regulations in most states require a person in the cab, the company deploys a driver with its test units. Later this year, TuSimple will begin real-world testing by hauling freight with a fleet of 25 trucks through its shipper partners, Price said. – Jason Cannon Tesla has yet to confirm the number of Semis on reserve since the order books opened last year, but CEO Elon Musk pegged that number at about 2,000 units. TuSimple's advanced vision system uses up to 10 cameras in conjunction with sensors, GPS, three radar units and automated HD mapping.