THE LOCKWOOD REPORT

ENGINES FUN AND OTHERWISE

June 20, 2012 Vol. 8, No. 13

Let's start with a little fun news, but it's actually more than simple amusement. Much more. Even though – no kidding -- it involves LEGO.

Cummins has launched something it calls "a grassroots effort" to motivate and inspire students to excel in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). It seems clear to me that we need all the help we can get in these disciplines, and that's the case across North America. So the engine maker has stepped up with a new initiative that kicked off last week with the 'Brickworld Build Team', which was a bunch of STEM students and their teachers from three Chicago-area high schools. On June 16, together with a few Cummins engineers, they built a replica Cummins QSK95 engine entirely out of LEGO bits.

I believe that's the biggest engine Cummins builds, a new 95-liter diesel putting out over 4000 hp. Not your average truck engine, this one is a 16-cylinder monster for use in high-hour, high-load applications like locomotives, ships, and ultra-class mine haul trucks. This new product line will soon extend to the 120-liter 20-cylinder QSK120, with output of over 5000 hp.

Can you hear the truck-racing boys talking to themselves? They're all muttering, "I wonder..."

There will be other build teams doing the same thing at Cummins headquarters in Columbus, Indiana, on college campuses, and at career fairs throughout the year.

The Chicago team built its 4-foot by 3-foot by 2-foot replica at Brickworld, a LEGO enthusiast convention taking place at the Westin Chicago North Shore hotel.

“Our Brickworld STEM initiative will help connect Cummins engineers with STEM students and their families through interactive play and discovery,” said

Richard Whitney, global employment brand leader at Cummins. “We know that engineers of all ages love playing with LEGO models so we created this program as a unique way to connect STEM students with our engineer role models.”

Students currently learning about fundamental problem-solving and critical-thinking skills taught in a STEM curriculum will use their understanding to build 40 different LEGO modules that combine to create the replica engine.

Kudos to Cummins on this one. Very cool.

STILL WITH ENGINES, I can't tell you much more than you probably already know about Navistar's difficulties with a U.S. federal court and a suit brought against the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) by Mack, Volvo, Daimler Trucks North America, Detroit Diesel, and Cummins. The competition won.

A federal appeals court ruled that Navistar's business plight was not a good enough reason for the EPA to allow Navistar to continue selling engines that don't meet EPA's 2010 emissions rules simply by paying fines. And small fines at that. EPA granted permission in January in an interim rule for Navistar to pay up to $1900 per engine while it considered a final rule.

Navistar is still working to try to get EPA certification for an engine that meets the NOx limit of 0.2 grams per horsepower-hour using only exhaust-gas recirculation and not the selective catalytic reduction technology used by other engine makers. It's been running on credits so far, quite legally, but they'll end soon. At this point, Maxxforce engines are not fully compliant, still emitting up to 0.4 to 0.5 grams per brake-horsepower-hour of NOx. Navistar told the EPA that if it was not permitted to pay a non-conformance penalty for each engine, it would be forced to stop production of its domestic Class 8 engines and trucks.

Normally such a decision by EPA requires a formal notice and public comment, but EPA said there was no time for that typically nine-month process because, without credits, Navistar's business could soon be in jeopardy.

So the agency invoked a "good cause" exception that allowed it to grant the penalties without going through the comment period.

The court said the EPA was wrong, ruling that the allowance of light fines for non-compliant engines "...does not remedy any real emergency at all, save the 'emergency' facing Navistar's bottom line.

"Simply put, it bet on finding a way to make exhaust gas recirculation a feasible and compliant technology before its finite supply of credits ran out," Judge Janice Rogers Brown wrote for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Navistar told the court the removal of exiting engine certifications would threaten the company and its shareholders, employees, dealers, suppliers, retirees and customers. It has asked for a re-hearing, and as far as I know, that's where things still sit.

"Navistar will work with EPA to fully understand the ruling and its impact on the use of NCPs (Non-Compliance Penalties) until a final rule is implemented," Navistar said in a statement. "At the same time, we will continue to cooperate with the EPA on the final NCP rule and will continue to work with the EPA on our 0.20g NOx certification.

"Navistar continues to make and ship engines and our customers will continue to receive the products they ordered with EPA-certified engines."

Both Navistar and the EPA have been backed into a corner here, and it's not at all clear how they'll emerge.

And let's not forget Caterpillar. Now building its CT15 engine, which is essentially a brand-engineered Maxxforce 15, how do they fit into this mix? The engine is EPA-certified, I understand, but not yet compliant.

More than a few observers think all this could mean the end of Navistar's EGR-only strategy. We'll see.

IS VW TO BE NAVISTAR'S SAVIOR? I'm not sure what Volkswagen could do about Navistar's EPA woes, but it's said to be looking at the idea of buying the Illinois-based truck maker. VW is known to be keen to do battle with Daimler Trucks for global commercial trucks supremacy, and it doesn't have a presence in the U.S. yet, surely a key component of that ambition.

Fiat Industrial is also said to be at least vaguely interested in buying Navistar.

And other reports suggest that a merger with Oshkosh Trucks in a possibility.

Nobody's making any formal comment, but clearly, Navistar is a company to watch.

WABCO DISC BRAKES ARE HERE by way of a deal between the Belgian company and Daimler Trucks North America. With a growing U.S. presence, WABCO has solidified its position with this long-term supply agreement. It will supply its Maxxus air disc brake technology for series production on DTNA’s trucks starting next month. As we understand things it's not an exclusive agreement, meaning Bendix air discs will also remain available.

The Maxxus brake, based  on the Maxx22 single-piston technology that the company pioneered in Europe, are claimed to be the lightest and highest

performing single-piston air disc brakes available. They're in use at OEM globally.

I've been a bit confused about WABCO's expanding presence here, given that its joint venture with Meritor is quite mature. The MeritorWABCO JV produces air compressors and dryers, hydraulic and pneumatic ABS, roll-stability systems, among many other key components on the modern truck. By all accounts The Europeans simply want a larger North American footprint. And why not?

AND SOME SHOW REMINDERS... The Great Lakes Truck Club is hosting its third annual Classic Truck Show on Friday June 29th and Saturday June 30th in Clifford, Ontario, just over two hours northwest of Toronto heading towards Lake Huron. It's easily the largest classic and antique big rig show in Ontario, probably in Canada. The spectator entry fee is $5.00 and it's $20.00 for a truck. Camping is also $20.00. Well worth every penny, I promise you. See http://greatlakestruckclub.com/truckshow.html

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 a trip to Europe, note that this is a Hannover year. The 64th IAA Commercial Vehicles show, a giant among exhibitions, 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
 

MEDIUM-DUTY DISC PADS

(June 20, 2012) -- New from Bosch is a series of premium medium-duty disc-brake pads

TRAILER SIDE SKIRT

(June 20, 2012) -- Utility announces enhancements to side skirt

DEF HOSE

(June 20, 2012) -- Gates says it's first to the aftermarket with DEF Hose

FREE-STANDING PIT JACK

(June 20, 2012) -- Stertil-Koni says obsolete concrete maintenance pits can discover a new life

IMPROVED AIR HAMMER

(June 20, 2012) -- Feedback leads Snap-on to enhance its heavy-duty air hammer