Issue link: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/718131
18 www.bigrigowner.com S E P T E M B E R 2 0 1 6 COVER STORY > Trucking's future is digitized, electri- fied and connected. That was the message relayed by researchers and executives this June in Aachen, Germany, at a major global press event held by ZF Friedrichshafen AG, a global supplier of axles, trans- missions and steering components in both the automotive and trucking sectors. But the Friedrichshafen, Germany- based company did more than just talk about those three trends converging in the world's trucking industry: It pulled the curtain back on a concept tractor- trailer designed from the ground up with those concepts in mind. ZF built the Innovation Truck 2016 to show off next-gen truck technologies it says will be vital to the industry's evolution in the coming two decades. The futuristic combo will be on display at this fall's IAA trucking trade show in Hannover, Germany, to give a world- wide audience a concrete view of the technologies tomorrow's tractor-trailer will employ. Those technologies include not only the Evasive Maneuver Assist (EMA) system ZF announced in June (and showed off in a track demo in Aachen), but also an advanced hybrid drivetrain that runs exclusively on electric power at speeds below 30 mph and a Level 3 autonomous system that lets the truck ZF concept truck offers a glimpse of trucking's connected, high-tech future By James Jaillet ZF's Innovation Truck 2016