Fleet Equipment News

Many of tomorrow’s truck tires are actually on the road today. They are being tested by private fleets hauling food and picking up trash. They are being run on test tracks in South Carolina and Texas. They are being driven over snow-covered roads in northern Canada and on logging trails in Central America.

Commercial vehicle supplier Wabco Holdings Inc. has acquired Laydon Composites Ltd., a manufacturer of aerodynamic devices for heavy-duty trucks and trailers.

Cass Information Systems’ freight index, based primarily on trucking, dipped 1.5% in March on a year-over-year basis, but gained 1.4% from February of this year.

As the trucking industry prepares for the federal electronic logging mandate, carriers and equipment providers are grappling with one of the murkier aspects of the regulation — how to use the technology in lease and rental vehicles.

If fleets were expecting to see lower prices for trucks, trailers and components as the cost of raw materials continued their downward trajectory, they may be waiting for some time if comments from industry executives are accurate.

Not that long ago, the mindset of many fleet operators was to get as much muscle power in engines as they wanted or could afford. That often meant 15-liter engines that could deliver a whole lot of horsepower. But times have changed.

Safety guidelines for inflating truck tires have been in place for decades, but fleets, service providers and tire makers say those best practices are no less important today for keeping technicians and drivers out of harm’s way.

Not everyone thinks 11- and 12-liter engines are right for their fleets and operations.

As they seek to expand, many carriers eye opportunities in new markets. One potential and unexplored area for U.S.-domiciled carriers could be north of the border in Canada, but carriers must consider truck spec’ing factors to make the most of those opportunities.