Fuel Rules Will Shape Future Truck Design, Navistar’s Clarke Tells Truck Dealers

This story appears in the Feb. 18 print edition of Transport Topics.

ORLANDO, Fla. — The trucks of tomorrow will be shaped by tougher fuel-efficiency standards and efforts to improve driver comfort and ease of operation, while the emergence of natural gas could potentially revolutionize the industry, the chief operating officer of Navistar International Corp. said.

No matter what advancements truck manufacturers make, “fuel efficiency will never be good enough,” Troy Clarke said Feb. 9 at American Truck Dealers’ annual convention and exposition here.

Clarke predicted that fuel prices will experience less volatility over the next two decades, but regulations will continue to raise the bar for efficiency.

“The fact is, we will see more stringent fuel-economy standards,” he said. “When further regulations come — not if, when — the customer will pay the price. Manufacturers will need to invest and to engineer new technology.”

The parallel of cost and technology was an issue for those at the conference.

ATD Chairman Dick Witcher touched on it by referring to a 2012 ATD study that found that the price increase from emissions-reduction technology for model year 2004-2010 trucks was two to five times greater than the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency had estimated.

These price increases present a challenge for dealers.

“The problem we have right now is sticker shock,” said Sheila Horwith, CEO of Horwith Trucks Inc., a Freightliner and Western Star dealer in Northampton, Pa. “Some people haven’t bought in six, seven years. The older their equipment is, the more they just do not understand why the trucks cost so much.”

She added, “Everybody’s in the same boat, no matter what brand you are. We’ll just continue to show the benefits of fuel economy — that you’ll get your money back sooner.”

Another factor that will drive truck development in the future is the shrinking driver pool, Clarke said.

“I will bet that due to the shortage of drivers and the high turnover our customers experience as a result, manufacturers will press forward with features that make trucks easier to drive, shortening the time it takes to train drivers to be productive and safe,” he said. “Many of these features exist today, but will become more prevalent and sophisticated.”

Clarke pointed to automated transmissions, lane-departure warning systems, blind-spot cameras and satellite connectivity as features that can make the driver’s job easier and safer.

“It’ll be our responsibility as manufacturers to build products that are more driver-centric,” he said. “And it’ll be the responsibility of the dealer network to recognize the increasing importance that drivers will play in future purchase decisions.”

Just as important to the purchase decision will be vehicle maintenance that requires increasing skill.

Ryan Donald, general manager at Mack of Nashville in La Vergne, Tenn., said service providers must keep up with evolving truck technology.

“The next generation’s technician is going to have to be at a much higher level,” he said. “Where are we going to get them? Are they going to come from the blue-collar segment or will they be college graduates?”

Chuck Bingham, service manager at Truck Sales and Service Inc., a Navistar dealer headquartered in Midvale, Ohio, said it’s a challenge to train technicians to service the myriad systems on modern trucks.

“You might have an International truck with a Cummins engine in it and an Eaton transmission and Meritor brakes, and every one of those systems takes a different form of diagnostics,” he said. “To learn each and every single thing is tough.”

Navistar’s Clarke also highlighted the potential of natural gas in trucking.

“We may be on the cusp of one of the most significant changes the industry has seen in decades,” he said. “In the 1950s, there was a shift from gasoline to diesel-powered commercial vehicles, and many believe this might be a similar transition.”

However, significant hurdles remain for the widespread adoption of the fuel, he said, starting with the price premium for natural gas-powered trucks.

“Right now, the price difference between equipment with natural gas versus diesel is just too large . . . especially for longhaul applications, where the price of a [liquefied natural gas] tank and things like cryogenic pumps is very significant,” Clarke said.

Despite those challenges, natural gas holds promise because it is a plentiful domestic fuel that is cleaner and costs less than diesel, Clarke said. “We are convinced that it will come. Natural gas is not going away.”