The Fleet Business Authority
Issue link: http://heavydutytrucking.epubxp.com/i/221397
Fleet demands, changing freight patterns and government regulations are driving changes in vehicle design and specs I n some ways, the truck of the future is here today. What would a truck driver from decades ago think if he were suddenly transported from his own time into one of today's state-of-the-art rigs? Smooth, quiet rides. Automated transmissions. A voice giving turnby-turn directions through in-cab speakers. Systems that warn if he's wandered out of his lane or to slow down if he's in danger of hitting the vehicle ahead. Tires that inflate themselves up automatically. The list goes on and on. The Technology and Maintenance Council of the American Trucking Associations has been looking at the future since 1984. That's when it founded its Future Truck program, which looks at what members want and expect in the trucks of tomorrow. TMC is midway through the multi-year process of developing a new Future Truck position paper. We started with those results, then spoke with truck makers and others in the industry to bring you this list of things you can reasonably expect to see on trucks in the next five to 10 years or beyond. BETTER FUEL ECONOMY More than half the fleets in TMC's survey think we'll see trucks achieving better than 9 mpg – a feat already being achieved by some fleets. Mike Jeffress, vice president of maintenance at Maverick Transportation, would like to see 10- to 15-mpg tractors. That's not out of the realm of possibility. Peterbilt is a partner in the Department of Energy's SuperTruck project, which focuses on doubling the freight efficiency of tractor-trailer technology. Peterbilt Chief Engineer Landon Sproull says its first-generation SuperTruck concept tractor-trailer achieved nearly 10 mpg. He expects even better performance out of the second-generation truck, which should be ready in the first quarter of 2014. Fuel economy is being driven both by fleet demand and by federal regula- tions to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The first tier of those GHG regs already is in effect for 2014 model year trucks. The next round of regulations, which are still being written, are expected to kick in starting in 2019, says Wade Long, Volvo Trucks director of product marketing. As equipment makers move forward, Long says cruise power demand will decrease by at least 20% on average, pushing down optimum engine size and/or allowing for downspeeding. "Decreased cruise power demand and potential for smaller engines could allow for optimizing cab aerodynamics," he says, "either for a small engine with waste heat recovery or a larger engine without waste heat recovery." Expect more trucks to have a 6x2 axle configuration where the second axle in the drive tandem is a "dead" axle, and more direct drive instead of Deborah Lockridge • Editor in Chief 36 HDT • DECEMBER 2013 www.truckinginfo.com