Overdrive Magazine | Trucking Business News & Owner Operator Info
Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/358493
Logbook 14 | Overdrive | August 2014 At least six trucking companies are involved in two class-action lawsuits against truck and engine maker Navistar, claiming its 2011 and 2012 MaxxForce engines were defective and didn't meet federal 2010 emissions standards, and that Navistar concealed engine flaws. Navistar spokesperson Elissa Mauer said the company does not comment on pending litigation. Dallas-based law firm Miller Weisbrod announced the initial litigation July 8 and represents Americorp Xpress Carriers, First Express and Floyd Blinksy Trucking. The complaints against Navistar stem from the manufacturer's reliance on exhaust gas recirculation to try to meet federal emissions standards, according to the suit filed by Americorp. The EGR systems on Navistar's proprietary MaxxForce engines reduced engine efficiency, caused them to over- heat and produced excessive soot inside the engines, the lawsuits claim. The 15 MaxxForce-powered International trucks Americorp bought in 2011 had to be taken to the shop for repairs more than 100 times, the carrier says. Navistar was the only North American engine maker to not use a combination of EGR and selective catalytic reduction to meet 2010 standards. The problems experienced with the engines included repeated illumination of the check engine lights, engine derating, EGR system failures, fuel pump failures, A/C blower and compressor failures, premature wear and clogged hoses. The second suit, brought by carriers Denis Gray Trucking, Carmichael Leas- ing and GTL Enterprises, also claims Navistar failed to repair the engines prop- erly during the warranty period, thereby decreasing their trucks' value and short- ening the engine's expected life. The class members in the suit include anyone who bought an EGR-only Maxx- Force-equipped International between 2008 and 2013. – James Jaillet Carriers sue Navistar over EGR-only engines Navistar cut production of its 15-liter engine entirely and now offers the Cummins ISX15 as its 15-liter option. Mike Parkhurst, who founded Overdrive and served as its out- spoken editor for more than two decades, died of a heart attack July 21 in Sacramento, Calif. He was 81. Parkhurst was a former owner-operator when he launched Overdrive in Sep- tember 1961 and remained its editor and publisher until its sale to Randall Publishing Co. (now Randall-Reilly) in 1986. During the 25 years Parkhurst published Overdrive, he championed the rights of owner-operators to work freely amid a complex web of Teamster pressures and overregulation. Through its early histo- ry, Overdrive called for shut- downs to protest fuel prices and anti-trucking legislation. Those shutdowns and other efforts led to deregulation in the early 1990s. "Deregulation wouldn't have happened if it weren't for him," said retired own- er-operator Don Kottchade. He served as Minnesota's state representative in the Independent Truckers Asso- ciation (later called the Road- masters), a group founded by Parkhurst in 1962 to protect truckers' interests and provide members with discounts, insurance and legal aid. The outcome of the truck- ing marketplace's evolution, starting with the early 1980s legislation that began the process of the industry's eco- nomic deregulation, remains contentious to this day. Some blame depressed rates since those times on deregulation. Others see the removal of barriers to getting carrier authority that it brought as the lynchpin of the success of their businesses. Mike Reilly, chairman and chief executive officer of Ran- dall-Reilly, recalled Parkhurst as "an icon in the trucking in- dustry. Whether you liked him or didn't, whether you were on his side or weren't, you had to admire his passion." "Parkhurst spent his entire life trying to better the trucking industry," said John Carny, a friend and business associate. "He had an un- canny ability to see through cheats, liars and lowlifes in this business" and "always A legacy of reform Overdrive's Parkhurst fought for owner-operators' independence Mike Parkhurst