Navistar Updates ProStar, TranStar Specs

This story appears in the Oct. 24 print edition of Transport Topics. Click here to subscribe today.

GRAPEVINE, Texas — Truck and engine maker Navistar Inc. has tweaked the designs and specifications on its Class 8 ProStar and TranStar tractors in order to lure fleet customers with what its management sees as better ways to comply with recent federal regulations.

The Warrenville, Ill., original equipment manufacturer also said here Oct. 17 that its September surge in truck sales should be sustainable, even though the OEM must still deal with spot shortages of parts. Furthermore, management said sales results have validated the company’s decision to emphasize sales of 13-liter diesel engines with denser power output, compared with more traditional 15-liter power plants.

“We are addressing regulatory issues facing our customers . . . whether it’s CSA or hours of service,” said James Hebe, senior vice president of North American sales operations, referring, respectively, to a new rule and a proposed one from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.

In the TranStar, with 11- and 13-liter engines, the company’s Diamond Logic electrical system now activates lights in sequence to help a driver do a pre-trip inspection as part of FMCSA’s Compliance, Safety, Accountability program. The company also said it is using more light-emitting diodes, which last longer and use less power than traditional lights.

Burned-out bulbs are frequently cited as a CSA violation.

Hebe also said Navistar is offering five options on braking technology to meet the shortened federal stopping distance rule that took effect in August, a reconfigured Bendix Wingman accident-mitigation system that works better in city driving, and a cab that is easier to enter or exit.

As for the company’s sales performance, Class 8 U.S. retail sales soared 80.8% in September to 3,262 U.S. retail units from 1,804 in the same month of 2010. WardsAuto.com said Navistar’s nine-month sales grew by just 14.1% (see story, p. 44).

Daniel Ustian, Navistar chairman and chief executive officer, said during the company’s third-quarter earnings conference, covering the three months ended July 31, that he expected sales to be weighted more heavily into the second half of the year.

Jack Allen, president of Navistar’s North American truck group, said the September result is consistent with that prediction and that it

is sustainable.

“Mid- and large-size fleets are engaged in a solid replacement trend that is underway. Oil and gas customers are also doing well, although municipal and construction buyers are still slow,” Allen said.

When Navistar started producing engines compliant with 2010

nitrogen oxide standards, it offered 13-liter engines last year and a

15-liter model this year. The OEM said it could provide more power density, or horsepower per liter

of displacement, than in earlier designs. Therefore, the company has pushed customers toward

the smaller engines, saving the bigger models for the most demanding applications.

“We’ve sold 40,000 13-liter engines since 2008, and 25,000 of them this year,” Allen said.

Speaking of his updated tractors, Hebe said Navistar engineers put a larger alternator in the TranStar, which is often used for shorthaul and city work. With operations moving toward shorter hauls and less idling, Hebe said an alternator now needs to be bigger to do the same work but in less time.