Nearly 1,000 Vendors Display New and Updated Equipment
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LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Despite the drop in attendance and the number of exhibitors at the Mid-America Trucking Show, the aisles of the Kentucky Exposition Center’s three main halls — containing the products of nearly 1,000 vendors — included an astounding array of new products and updated equipment.
Among the highlights were:
• After demonstrating a new 15-liter MaxxForce engine based on a Caterpillar Inc. model on March 18 (3-23, p. 5), Navistar Inc. also introduced a special edition of its Lone-Star highway tractor.
LoneStar, introduced at last year’s Mid-America, is aimed at the owner-operator market, but this model is designed in collaboration with Harley-Davidson, and contains design elements based on products from the famous motorcycle manufacturer.
Senior Vice President James Hebe unveiled the Harley-Davidson model for reporters and the company’s dealers wearing a leather biker’s jacket.
The Warrenville, Ill., manufacturer also emphasized its new PartSmart line for the owners of used trucks.
“We were losing business to [warehouse direct operations],” said Kathy Seegebrecht, a vice president in the Navistar parts group. “We’re creating a brand from scratch. This is not a premium brand. We don’t make any of these parts, but they are spec’ed for International trucks and there is a one-year warranty.”
The PartSmart line is available through International dealerships, which also carry Navistar-brand parts for new trucks. Seegebrecht said PartSmart expanded into Canada on March 23 and will go into Mexico on March 30.
Seegebrecht conceded that PartSmart will probably cannibalize some of the company’s higher-margin premium parts business, but with fleets trying to save money during the recession, it ultimately was more important to try to take business away from discount parts chains.
• R.L. Polk & Co. is expanding its work in the aftermarket truck parts field, said Gary Meteer, director of the research firm’s commercial vehicle group. The company has done market projections on local demand for truck tires, brakes, engine oil and filters.
Meteer said, though, Polk is adding a variety of parts including valves, turbochargers, engine control modules, water pumps and replacement engines.
Polk’s main source of information is a vehicle registration database compiled from state motor vehicle departments. Meteer said Polk complements that with a fleet survey on maintenance intervals.
When combining the two, Meteer said Polk can estimate annual de-mand for aftermarket parts by areas as small as counties. The firm also can provide parts vendors with lists of “ideal customers” in a given area.
• Alcoa Wheels unveiled its LvL One wheels for all 18 positions. The company said they are lighter than previous models by two pounds each, or 36 pounds combined for a whole tractor-trailer.
Compared with a set of steel wheels, company executive Victor Marquez said, the LvL Ones will save 650 pounds. Marquez said LvL One is a base-level product and that will replace the company’s satin or brush finish line.
He said Alcoa was able to shave off the two pounds per wheel through a combination of de-
sign, materials and manufacturing process improvements.
• Dometic Corp. displayed two types of battery-powered air conditioners for truck cabs: a 7,000 Btu-per-hour model for day cabs, and a 10,000 Btu version for sleepers. The Richmond, Va., manufacturer installs them on an aftermarket basis, but Senior Vice President Louis Siegel said he is also looking to gain business on original equipment installations.
The sleeper-cab model has eight batteries and can cool for 10 hours or more, depending upon the thermostat setting. The day-cab version has two batteries and will run for about two hours when the truck is not in motion.
• Kinedyne Corp., a cargo se-curement products supplier, had two product launches. The company said it has improved its Series E/A decking beams with a new KwikLatch release head and a safety lock security pin.
The manufacturer also demonstrated its StrapPak system for consolidating excess cargo strapping.
• Electric Vehicles International, Austin, Texas, offered rides here in its electric trucks on March 19, the same day President Obama saw a demonstration in California of an Eaton Corp. prototype electric power system for trucks that the company will launch next year.
“We’re ready now,” said Art Robins, EVI vice president of U.S. operations. “We have 2,000 electric and natural gas-electric hybrids in Classes 3-6 on the road right now.”
Robins said that EVI buys truck shells from original equipment manufacturers and installs its own power system.
“We have a modular design with a lithium-phosphate battery,” Robins said. “It can get 60 to 65 miles before it has to be recharged, enough for many local delivery operations.”
The company advises owners to lease the battery for five years rather than buying it.
“They are too expensive, but then again, no trucker is going to buy five years of diesel ahead of time,” Robins said. “The leasing will come down to about $1,500 a month, while the electricity costs about 3 cents a mile.”
EVI will start offering Class 7 and Class 8 trucks by the end of the year, but only in hybrid natural gas-electric models, Robins said.
• Utility Trailer Manufacturing Co. presented its new 4000D-X composite dry van. The company said it features a polyurethane foam core that structurally bonds the interior lining panels with the outside skin panels to provide “improved sidewall durability and strength and a lower . . . weight.”
The company said the trailer’s interior is fitted with fully recessed, vertical logistics posts on 24-inch centers. The interior lining panels are squeeze-riveted to the outer skin and side posts to form a patented “snag-free” wall system. The rear frame is made of stainless steel, Utility said.
Staff Reporter Frederick Kiel contributed to this report.
