Trucking News and Tips

For fleet managers one of the toughest parts of the job is when to rebuild or "put out to pasture" an aging piece of equipment. More often than not those decision are based upon instinct and not grounded by hard analytics. This article will shed some light on the five options feet managers can make when evaluating older pieces of equipment. Purchasing a fleet of work trucks or excavators is only half of the battle. More often than not, the heavy equipment needed to do the job, is the biggest capital expense of an industrial service company. Agriculture, Transportation, Construction, Road Maintenance, Mining, Oil and Gas and Marine industries all rely on their fleets to produce sustainable revenue. The life span of each piece of equipment should be factored into not only the initial cost but variable costs of running the equipment. When a fleet manager is evaluating what to do with an aging piece of equipment they need to adequately understand their options, factor in initial and future costs, analyze the resale and depreciation of the equipment and how to improve efficiency when they can. It is not a decision to be made lightly. ... read more »

Technology is progressing at an ever increasing rate. The future is now! It seems you can’t go a day without reading about robots, self driving cars or even the new Hyperloop projects which will transport people hundreds of miles in mere minutes. Many of those in the automotive and transportation sectors believe diesel engines best days are behind them. A team of scientists however believe there is still use left for the diesel engines in the world of tomorrow. A team of researchers at Queen’s University in Belfast, Ireland are working on a different fuel source for the engines known as Dimethyl Ether (DME). DME is a biofuel derived from methane. Methane is commonly captured from decomposing organic material, agriculture, waste and coal and reused as a fuel source. DME is viewed as a clean diesel fuel source and will be able to be used with existing diesel engines. ... read more »

Legendary diesel engine manufacturer, Cummins Inc., has unveiled a revolutionary electric powered semi-truck prototype. The declaration comes just weeks before Tesla’s anticipated announcement of their own electric tractor trailer. The Cummins electric semi-truck will be regarded as a Class 7 Heavy Duty Truck Cab with 140 kWh battery pack. ... read more »