THE LOCKWOOD REPORT

May 23, 2012 Vol. 8, No. 11

Some big news from this week and last though I’m not going to dive as deeply into them as I might ordinarily do. I’m on holiday, though that seems rather hypothetical since I’m here at the keyboard, aren’t I?

Whining aside, Volvo just told the world about its LNG engine coming in 2014 and Caterpillar announced that its 15-litre CT15 diesel will be ready for delivery in a very short time, namely the first week of June. The Cat launch is somewhat earlier than expected, I think.

Volvo actually made another interesting announcement, about remote diagnostics, at a press gathering in Miami Beach attended by my able colleague Jason Rhyno, and discussed the future of DME fuel – that’s dimethyl ether – in North America. The Swedes have been talking about DME for several years now and I’ve written about it many times, but the subject hasn’t arisen in the North American context until now. Since it can be produced from either natural gas or any number of biomass sources, I think it’s bound to stay in the news. Volvo seems firm in the belief that it will be a major player in the European fuel future.

As for the LNG engine, Jason reports that it’s just one part of Volvo's new ‘Blue Power’ strategy, and is intended to compliment the company’s compressed CNG-powered VNM and VNL model daycabs. It will also be available in Mack trucks, of course.

Trace amounts of diesel will ignite the natural gas in the new 13-litre LNG engine, delivering a claimed 30% fuel-efficiency improvement over spark-ignition engines, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 20% compared with diesels. Volvo is aiming the engine at long-haul applications and says that it can meet the above numbers without cutting into power, torque or fuel efficiency.

While the engine will be a certified Volvo motor, the company is working with Westport in its development.

 

"We're not putting all our eggs in one basket," said Olof Persson, Volvo Group president and CEO, during a roundtable discussion with trucking journalists.

"We don't know where it will go," he said bluntly on the topic of new fuel alternatives. Volvo still has some questions regarding CNG and LNG as viable long-term fuel options.

While Persson stressed that they want to bring the technology that Volvo customers are asking for, the immature natural gas infrastructure, as well as the fact that it’s not a renewable fuel, has given them pause in diving headfirst into CNG and LNG.

"None of these fuels is a slam dunk," added Ron Huibers, president of Volvo Trucks North America.

SO, ENTER DME, A VOLVO FAVORITE. "Tests are very positive in Europe," Persson told Jason and other warm and happy reporters in Miami Beach. "We have vehicles running on it."

In fact, the company has about a dozen trucks running DME in Sweden, with the fuel sourced from ‘black liquor’, I believe, a pulp-and-paper-mill waste product

Volvo likes the DME option as its tanks are like those used with propane, cheaper and lighter than CNG and LNG tanks. DME needs a tank pressure of just 75 psi versus CNG's 300 psi and LNG’s cryogenic requirement. No DEF is needed, and possibly no SCR. Non-toxic, DME burns with a blue flame (hence "Blue Power").

The Swedish outfit has made this point before and repeated it in Florida: "We must be prepared for everything," Persson said in regards to new fuels. The company would love to see some standardization but will prepare for all possibilities.

THERE'S HYBRID NEWS TOO, as if to prove this option hasn't disappeared. And it comes from an unlikely place, California's Yosemite National Park. Visitors now enjoy being hauled through the park’s 760,000 acres in the Sierra Nevada mountain chain aboard new low-emission, fuel-friendly vehicles powered by Eaton’s hybrid electric systems.

Eaton worked with the U.S. General Services Administration and Delaware North Companies Parks and Resorts, which handles the majority of the park’s transportation needs, in delivering four new class 8 tractors with the Eaton diesel/electric hybrid systems to pull the visitor trams. An additional seven vehicles – 37-passenger shuttle buses – are on order and awaiting delivery.
 

The low-speed, low-mileage and stop-and-go duty cycles at Yosemite provide the perfect operating conditions for a hybrid truck, says Eaton's Kevin Snow, chief engineer for hybrid applications.

And Dan Anthonijsz, village garage manager at Yosemite, reports serious fuel-consumption reductions -- now averaging about 6.7 mpg with the hybrid tram tractors compared to just 1 mpg with the propane-fuelled trucks that the new vehicles replaced.

Eaton has published a case study on the Yosemite project -- publication number TRSL2517 -- that's available for download here.

FINALLY, NHTSA PROPOSES A STABILITY CONTROL MANDATE. A week ago the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration proposed a federal motor vehicle safety standard to require electronic stability control (ESC) systems on large commercial trucks and buses. Note, not RSC but ESC. More on that in a bit.

The rule would affect vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating of more than 26,000 lb, and would take effect between two and four years after the standard is finalized, depending on the type of vehicle. The proposal also includes standards for performance testing of the technology.

Agency research shows the technology could prevent up to 56% of rollover crashes each year and another 14% of loss-of-control crashes.

An extensive NHTSA research program to determine how available stability control technologies affect crashes involving commercial vehicles found ESC systems to be the most effective tool for reducing the propensity for heavy vehicles to rollover or lose control.

Most observers expected the proposal would call for a mandate of electronic stability control, or ESC, and that's what we got. Compared to the less expensive roll stability control (RSC) it's simply more effective.

In both systems, when sensors detect the risk of rollover or instability, the control module slows the vehicle by breaking torque and applying the brakes automatically.

RSC is triggered only when the system detects roll instability, which might occur when a truck is going too fast into a turn. ESC, on the other hand, reacts to both roll and yaw instability, such as a skid that could lead to a jackknife. In addition to slowing the vehicle to prevent a rollover, it applies braking force on the specific wheel that needs to be slowed to counteract the skid. Or wheels plural.

Studies have demonstrated that ESC would prevent more accidents. In 2009 the University of Michigan Transportation Institute concluded that if all 5-axle tractor-trailers had RSC, there would be 3489 fewer crashes and 106 fewer deaths each year. If all of these trucks had ESC, there would be 4659 fewer crashes and 126 fewer deaths.

In this proposal, NHTSA estimates that a standard requiring ESC on the nation's large trucks and large buses would prevent up to 2,329 crashes, eliminate an estimated 649 to 858 injuries, and prevent between 49 and 60 fatalities a year.

ESC is more expensive, however. Costs range from $800 to $1600 for RSC, while ESC might go for $1800 to $2300. But discounts are common and prices should go down due to economies of scale after the mandate takes effect.

NHTSA's cost estimates in this proposal are slightly different, as they always are. It puts the average ESC cost at $1160. Its estimate of the incremental cost of ESC over RSC is $520 per vehicle.

Many carriers have already adopted stability control systems. In fact major suppliers Bendix and Meritor WABCO estimate that as many as 25% of new trucks have these systems.

NHTSA's Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is being published in the Federal Register and members of the public will have the opportunity to comment on the proposal for 90 days. NHTSA will also hold a public hearing on the proposed safety standard to solicit further public comment. The date and location of that hearing will be published in the coming weeks.

See the full Notice of Proposed Rulemaking here.

AND SOME SHOW REMINDERS... The 59th Electric Utility Fleet Managers Conference will be held June 3-6, 2012 at the Williamsburg Lodge and Conference Center in Williamsburg, Virginia. Bob Lutz, the driving force behind many vehicle advancements in a nearly 50-year career in the automotive industry, will be the guest speaker at the big dinner on Wednesday June 6. Register at www.eufmc.com or call 1-800-261-9530.

On June 21 and 22, it's Green Fleet Expo VII, hosted by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation and Niagara Region in partnership with the City of Toronto, Fleet Services Division, Electric Mobility Canada and Fleet Challenge Ontario. Day 1 presentations are being webcast live. As the name suggests, you'll learn about the latest developments in low-emission vehicles and equipment being used by Canada's leading green fleets. There's a small trade show and a ride-and-drive. It's at the Four Points by Sheraton in the Niagara region, specifically at 3530 Schmon Parkway in Thorold, Ont.  The  2-day registration fee is $150, 1-day fee is $75, and you can register for the webcast of Day 1 for $35. See http://www.toronto.ca/fleet/expo.htm

The TMC 2012 Fall Meeting & SuperTech12 schedule has been published. The event runs from Sunday September 9 through Thursday the 13th at David L. Lawrence Convention Center, Pittsburgh, PA. Call 703-838-1763, e-mail tmc@trucking.org, or register online at www.trucking.org/abs/Pages/2012TMCFALL.aspx

At the same time, namely September 10-12, you may want to attend the fifth International Environmentally Friendly Vehicles Conference in Baltimore, MD. Hosted in the U.S. for the first time, this one is about shaping the market for clean and fuel efficient vehicles, sponsored by EPA, the U.S. Department of Energy, and Environment Canada, and supported by the Truck & Engine Manufacturers Association, Society of Automotive Engineers, the International Council on Clean Transportation and others. Sponsorship opportunities and exhibit space are available. Abstracts for papers and presentations will be accepted until April 30. Visit www.efv2012.com

And if you want to justify a trip to Europe, note that this is a Hannover year. The 64th IAA Commercial Vehicles show will be held from September 20 to 27, 2012 in Hannover, Germany. See www.iaa.de/en/

THIS NEWSLETTER IS PUBLISHED every two weeks. It's a heads-up notice about what's going on with trucking technology. I also write here about interesting products that may not have had the 'air play' they deserved within the last few months.

I should remind you that I don’t endorse any of the products I write about in this e-newsletter, nor do I have the resources to test them. What you’re getting is reasonably well educated opinion based on more than three decades in trucking.

If you have comments of whatever sort about the Lockwood Report, or maybe you've tried a gizmo I should know about, please contact me at rolf@newcom.ca
 

REMOTE DIAGNOSTICS

(May 23, 2012) -- Volvo Trucks launches remote diagnostics aftermarket service, standard on all Volvo-powered VN models

CAT'S CT15 READY

(May 23, 2012) -- New Caterpillar CT15 engine offers up to 550 hp in CT660 vocational truck

CARGO SECURITY

(May 23, 2012) -- ATA publishes Practical Cargo Securement: Guidelines for Drivers, Carriers and Shippers

TRAILER MONITORING

(May 23, 2012) -- Blue Tree and McLeod combine to monitor trailer location and temperature in real-time

STEER AXLE

(May 09, 2012) -- New Hendrickson axle available on select International trucks