“We are working very closely with our customers, the OEs, to resolve the problem,” Barbara Gould, manager, communications & brand management for Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems, told Fleet Owner. “We are working very closely with our customers to address the issue and remedy the situation as rapidly as possible.”

Bendix notified the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration of the issue on Jan. 26, 2012.

“This potential defect has caused several vehicle manufacturers to defer shipments of trucks with the ATR-6 manufactured between Dec. 2, 2010, and Jan. 18, 2012,” Gould said.

Gould said the affected vehicles come from Paccar, Navistar, and Volvo trucks.

Jack Allen, president of Navistar’s North American Truck Group, told analysts yesterday in an earnings call that the company’s first quarter earnings would be negatively impacted due to a supplier issue with a faulty product. He did not specify the company, but Gould confirmed the product is Bendix’ valve.

“It doesn’t affect everybody in our industry and it doesn’t even affect all of our products, but it’s a serious issue,” Allen said. “As a result we haven’t shipped a whole lot trucks since Jan. 20.”

The issue, Gould stressed, is not a problem with the traction or stability control systems themselves. The affected valve, though, does impact the performance of the vehicle, resulting in pressure building within “a service brake circuit.” This pressure can “cause intermittent or – in isolated cases – continuous brake application,” Bendix said in a service bulletin on its website.

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“There’s been an awful lot of deferred capital investment on the part of carriers over the last few years and so we’re really only at the start of this replacement trend,” Kenny Vieth, president and senior analyst for ACT Research, told Fleet Owner.

“If you look at Class 8 retail sales in the U.S. for 2011, for example, our numbers indicate some 175,700 units were sold,” he said. “But our nominal replacement demand number is 180,000 units annually, so even though sales were up last year, we did not reach the industry’s nominal replacement level for the full year.”

So far in 2012, North American orders for commercial trucks are strong, with heavy-duty Class 8 orders topping 25,200 units in January, while medium-duty Class 5-7 orders were just over 13,500 units for the same month, according to ACT.

“There were no surprises with the level of order intake in January,” Vieth added, noting that both sets of preliminary net orders still support the firm’s North American production forecast of 295,000 to 300,000 Class 8 units this year, along with 175,000 to 180,000 medium-duty units.

Dan Sobic, executive vice president of Paccar, the parent company of Peterbilt Motors Co. and Kenworth Truck Co., said in the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report that annual replacement demand for the U.S. and Canadian truck market is estimated to be approximately 225,000 units.

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T. Boone Pickens, the oilman-turned-gas promoter whose BP Capital owns Clean Fuels, joined Navistar executives to announce a deal yesterday morning at the truck builder’s new headquarters in Lisle, Ill.

The agreement will see Navistar building more International trucks with natural gas engines, while Clean Energy will build more filling stations for truckers who commit to using the comparatively inexpensive and increasingly abundant fuel.

Customers who sign up will pay no extra money for trucks equipped to store and burn natural gas and filling stations for them.

“Progress is being made in alternative fuels,” said Dan Ustian, Navistar’s chairman, president and chief operating officer, who opened the press conference before slipping away to prepare for a stock analysts meeting later that morning.

“It’s always seemed to be government supported. While we hope we can get more money for research and development, this can stand on its own.”

Pickens, who’s been promoting the use of natural gas since 2010, said it’s both a financial and national security matter.

“Prices vary, but this is the cheapest fuel in the United States” at about $2.50 per diesel-equivalent gallon, or about $1 to $1.50 less than diesel, he said. “We cannot pass up this opportunity.

“Heavy trucks are the biggest users of fuel and stand to see the biggest savings” because of gas’s lower cost. “It’s a big deal for our country because we’ve got to get off OPEC oil.”

Clean Energy spent $200 million last year to build fueling stations for both compressed and liquefied natural gas, said Andrew Littlefair, the firm’s president and CEO. That effort will expand under the partnership with Navistar, with $250 million budgeted for this year.

Jerry Moyes, president of Swift Transportation, who participated in the announcement, said he’d like his company to have the first trucks in the program. “We’re very excited about the potential for natural gas,” he said. “We buy millions of gallons (of fuel) every day, so this is a big deal.”

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Sens. Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Kristen Gillibrand (D-NY) introduced The Clean Ports Act of 2011 (S. 2011). It would reverse a decision by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and grant to local governments the ability to regulate interstate and foreign commerce by trucks within the port jurisdiction. The Ninth Circuit ruled only the federal government has the power to regulate truck interstate and foreign commerce.

The Clean Ports Act would give ports the authority to regulate truck prices, routes and service in order to improve pollution, congestion and safety. It is designed to create a legal foundation for the type of concession plan the Port of Los Angeles attempted to set up as part of its clean-port program, which would have required drayage drivers to be employees and not independent contractors. That aspect of the LA concession plan was thrown out last October by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit.

This is the companion legislation to a measure introduced in the House last February by Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y. That bill was referred to the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which under Republican leadership is not likely to act on it.

The associations told Reid, “Clean truck plans that have been enacted under current law have reaped tremendous reductions in emissions. If enacted into law, this bill would void the enormous investments made by many small businesses and put them out of work.”

Joel Anderson, IWLA president and CEO, said the bill was one more example of unions pressuring elected officials for the purpose of mandating union-organized businesses. “The goal of this legislation is to handcuff private business owners into adopting a business model that only union business agents would find acceptable.”

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Pike believes the global market for hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), plug-in hybrid electrics vehicles (PHEV) and battery electric vehicles (BEV) will grow at 92% in 2012, with total sales surpassing 19,000.

In the U.S. this year, it predicts that 3,250 medium- and heavy-duty HEV trucks be sold, 790 BEV trucks will be sold and about 500 PHEV trucks will be sold.

In a slowly improving economy, driving factors of increased hybrid sales will likely be fleet owners’ desire to advertise a more environmentally-friendly fleet than their competitors’. Also pushing sales is the bottom-line cost impact from government emission regulations, says Pike.

“The performance of specific economic sectors will play a big role in the growth of electric drivetrains for trucks,” says Dave Hurst, senior analyst for Pike Research. “For example, as the retail industry rebounds, pick-up and delivery vehicle sales will rebound with it. This in turn will have a positive impact on the hybrid, plug-in, and battery electric truck markets, as well.”

In its research report, “Hybrid Medium and Heavy Duty Trucks,” Pike Research forecasted numbers through 2017. The firm expects the market to experience a compound annual growth rate of 42% between 2011 and 2017. In 2017, 100,746 hybrid and electric trucks are expected to sell globally.

In the U.S. in 2017, it’s expected that 21,675 hybrid and electric MD and HD trucks will be sold. That’s a growth rate of around 40% for hybrid and electric truck sales in the U.S. between now and 2017.

There are some obstacles that might stand in the way of growth in sales, however. One of those hurdles is the growing popularity of alternative fueled vehicles, particularly natural gas. Another is the high price tags on hybrid and electric vehicles. HEVs, PHEVs and BEVs all have higher upfront costs that are substantial enough to result in a higher total cost of ownership. Even with lower operating costs ($0.72/mile for diesel versus $0.60/mile for hybrid and $0.22/mile for BEV trucks, according to Pike), the higher purchase price for hybrids and electrics means the trucks aren’t able to recover their costs in a lifetime without government incentives.

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The rules, adopted in 2008 and amended last year, apply to all privately owned and federal government diesel trucks operating in California.

Separately, large fleets in California also face a Jan. 1 deadline to have SmartWay-approved fuel efficient aerodynamic technology equipment installed on 15% of trailers manufactured before 2011.

Fleets that signed up late for a phase-in option must have 20% of their 53-foot or longer dry van or reefer trailers equipped with the technology on that date.

For the engine rule, “fleet owners who need to get the facts should call CARB’s diesel hotline or go to CARB’s website for assistance,” CARB assistant chief of mobile sources Erik White said in a statement.

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The system consists of a coolant heater and an auxiliary AGM battery that work together to provide heat for both the truck’s sleeper bunk and the engine, keeping the driver warm and ensuring an easy start in the cold, the company said.

“By offering a system that provides heat for both the truck’s interior and the engine, we provide drivers what they need to eliminate engine idling,” said Roberyt Hoptom, CEO. “Given the current price of diesel fuel, an investment in this system today will provide a return on investment of only 12 weeks for the average over-the-road truck.”

According to Idle Free, when the vehicle is shut down, the system uses residual heat generated by the engine and circulates the heated coolant through the bunk’s heater core, the cab’s heater core, and the engine block. The electrical energy needed to move the coolant, monitor the coolant temperature, and maintain interior climate control is provided by the independent auxiliary AGM battery. When the coolant temperature falls to 140 deg., the system’s ultra-efficient diesel-fired coolant heater is automatically activated.

The system is capable of producing more than 17,000 BTUs per hour. If run continuously, the system will use less than 12 ounces of fuel per hour, the company said.

The auxiliary AGM battery can provide power to the system for more than 10 hours. It includes an optional programmable timer.

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The “remote starter disable” feature gives an authorized user the ability to shut down the vehicle’s starter entirely. In addition to vehicle recovery purposes, this feature also eliminates inappropriate after-hours use of company vehicles. When coupled to NetTrack’s scheduling application, a company can implement an automated after-hours shutdown of the fleet.

NetTrack Mobile is Track Your Truck’s own vehicle GPS tracking software, a customizable tracking option. Other features of NetTrack Mobile include the use of Google Maps with Street View, display of the last five positions with speed and heading for each vehicle, and the ability to ping any vehicle for up to the second vehicle location.

The disable and unlock features will be available for NetTrack Mobile this month and were recently introduced for the Coyote series of tracking devices in September.

“As mobile technology continues to evolve, it is becoming an increasing [larger] part of day-to-day business operations and GPS tracking capabilities,” said Robert Hall, president of Track Your Truck. “The new remote disable and unlock features for our NetTrack mobile software provide further assistance for drivers who have been locked out of their vehicles, and can better protect and recover vehicles that have been stolen.

“We’re committed to offering the most up-to-date technology for our GPS tracking devices and software,” Hall added. “Today’s advancements in mobile and communication capabilities are continually helping fleet managers and businesses secure their vehicles, save time and money, and reliably track employees and assets.”

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Electric trucks reduce fuel consumption, noise pollution and CO2 emissions, compared to traditional delivery trucks. In total, Frito-Lay will deploy 176 electric trucks this year in the US and Canada, making Frito-Lay the largest commercial fleet of all-electric trucks in North America.

“The electric vehicle program builds on a long-standing commitment by Frito-Lay North America and its parent company PepsiCo to environmental sustainability,” says Mike O’Connell, senior director of fleet for Frito-Lay North America.

“With the seventh largest privately owned fleet in the US, we have set a goal of becoming the most fuel efficient fleet in the country, and these vehicles give us an opportunity to use the latest advances in transportation technology as a significant way to reduce our environmental impact.”

The trucks, designed by Smith Electric Vehicles, generate zero tailpipe emissions and operate for up to 100 miles on a single charge. Frito-Lay’s fleet program aligns with Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer’s Green Works Orlando environmental initiatives, the City’s comprehensive plan to encourage environmentally-friendly lifestyles and business practices and encourage residents and visitors to Orlando to “go green.” Once the planned 176 electric trucks are deployed, Frito-Lay will eliminate the need for 500,000 gallons of fuel annually.

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"Low-Cost" Trucks May Develop to Offset Costs of Emissions Regulations

DALLAS, TX. A mix of major trends, from increasing urbanization to the need for greater freight transport profitability, are combining to spur the development of “low-cost” trucks – especially as mandates for expensive emissions control and safety systems continue to impact trucking operations around the world.

Sandeep Kar, global director-commercial vehicle research for global consulting firm Frost & Sullivan, stressed repeatedly recently that the term “low-cost” truck should not be interpreted to mean “cheap” truck.

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