PRODUCT LAUNCHES IN MONTREAL

April 25, 2007 Vol. 3, No. 8

Don’t want to boast, but the Expocam 2007 truck show held in Montreal April 12-14 – a show we now own here at Newcom Business Media, and which we operated for the first time – was a pretty big success. Sure, there were nearly 18,000 folks milling about amongst the trucks and trailers and shiny things, and that figure blew previous records out of the water, but here I’m judging success by the number of new products introduced at the show. Namely, quite a few, which is unique for Canadian shows.

GM of Canada unveiled its all-new 2008 GMC W-Series medium-duty trucks at the show. The Isuzu-built low-cab-forward truck delivers more cab room, enhanced safety features, and more power. And for the first time in Canada, the market-leading series now offers a gas engine in the W3500 and W4500 in addition to diesel models. There’s a four-door crew cab version too, pictured here.

Interestingly, just a week later Isuzu announced that its line of class 3-5 low-cab-forward trucks will be available across Canada under its own name starting in June. The company has established a Canadian distributor, Isuzu Commercial Truck of Canada Inc. Based in Toronto, ICTC will import and sell Isuzu commercial vehicles and provide parts and service support after establishing a dealer network -- in addition to the existing GMC W-Series outlets. The vehicles will be imported from the U.S., with projected 2007 sales for the combined GMC and Isuzu networks of 1000 units. The goal is 2000 sales by 2010.

The little Japanese Jimmy wasn’t the only introduction at Expocam. Seen for the first time anywhere was the Volvo VHD 430, a version of the company’s rugged vocational model with the addition of a 42-inch sleeper. The VHD was previously only available as a daycab. The VHD 430 is highly customizable and comes as a 6x4, 8x4 or 8x6 tractor or truck, in axle-forward and axle-back configurations.

I’ve offered further detail on these two trucks in the individual items below.

Show visitors also saw two other trucks on display for the first time in Canada: the Peterbilt 389, which replaces the venerable and much desired but now discontinued Model 379, plus the class-4/5 Sterling Bullet based on the Dodge Ram 4500/5500 pickup, with the Cummins 6.7L ISB engine that already satisfies EPA 2010 emissions standards.

Then there were major announcements by each of two communications giants, Rogers and Telus.

The Rogers launch was of a wireless asset-tracking and logistics tool called mFleet. Powered by the Quadrant software system developed by WebTech Wireless Inc. of Burnaby, B.C., it services everything from transportation and logistics fleets to service and municipal vehicles. It’s a complete turnkey fleet-management system, providing vehicles with GPS locators to communicate over the Rogers Wireless network in real-time to a secure, hosted software application that can be accessed on any Internet-connected computer. It includes remote diagnostics, among many other features.

The Telus Fleet Tracking Bundle is an especially simple and affordable GPS-based management system for even the smallest trucking fleets. Suitable for short- or long-haul trucking, service/delivery vehicles, and couriers, its components include: a Telus wireless data plan; ‘Fleet Complete’ GPS software from Complete Innovations; and a GPS modem, professionally installed by Best Buy Canada or certified Telus dealers.

On a much smaller scale but interesting nonetheless, there was the first showing of a locking fuel-tank cap from Robond, a Quebec company more often known for its truck wheel spacers. The idea arose after a truck driver, frustrated by constantly having his fuel tanks emptied or vandalized – think banana peels and sugar -- at truckstops, began to search for a more secure fuel cap that could also handle Canadian weather.

Locking caps aren’t new, but I think this one really does take security to a new level. First off, the lock itself is made by Abloy, a company known for its high-security locks used in such places as RCMP offices. With a twist of the key, the cap’s body expands within the fuel-tank pipe and secures itself to the pipe such that it just won’t come off.

I had a close look at this gizmo and it seems well made. At a few hundred bucks it’s not cheap, but neither is a tank of diesel fuel.

SPEAKING OF FUEL but from a different angle altogether, I had a few chats at Expocam about biodiesel fuel. With the recent announcement by Cummins that it will now approve B20 biodiesel – that’s a 20% blend of organic fuel with 80% diesel – in all its engines made since 2002, interest has been piqued. CTA chairman Claude Robert of Transport Groupe Robert, for one, told me he’s keen to know more about B20, and he’s not alone.

But, Claude asked me, where the heck do I get it?

That’s a good question, one for which I don’t yet have an answer. Nor do the Canadian engine people I talked to. There’s a reasonably broad network in the U.S., with about 500 biodiesel outlets and something like 150 production facilities in action or being developed, but not so up here in the frozen north. Not yet.

Last time out, in my April 11 Product Watch newsletter, I may have inadvertently misled you, writing that “The popularity and use of biodiesel fuel continues to climb, both in Canada and the United States.” That’s true south of the border, but it’s only interest that’s climbing here. We’re actually way behind the U.S. in producing or using or even exploring the fuel. And even further behind the European Union, where rapeseed-based biodiesel is very, very common, even in blends approaching 100%.

With just a quick search, I couldn’t find production figures newer than 2005 that included Canada, but they’re instructive and the proportions apparently haven’t changed since then – Europe produced 800 million gal of biodiesel fuel that year, compared to just 75 million in the U.S. And in Canada? A measly 26,000 gal.

Do we know something the others don’t? Or are we just being our conservative selves? Regardless, the figures are bound to climb here and elsewhere.

Frankly, I’m not convinced about biodiesel. Not least because there aren’t sufficiently rigorous standards in place to guarantee its quality across the board. And given our rapacious thirst for fuel in general, what happens to the price of food if we encourage farmers to turn themselves into new-age oil barons?

On the upside, biodiesel by all accounts has a lubricity advantage over diesel fuel, and especially over our new but not much loved ultra-low-sulfur stuff. ULSD has a lubricity problem, and that means engine wear. Not incidentally, homegrown Canadian diesel fuel is said to have about the lowest lubricity levels found anywhere in the world. According to the U.S. National Biodiesel Board, anyway.

I’ll have to leave this discussion for another time, fascinating though it is. With luck I’ll be able to come back with useful biodiesel sourcing information next time out. Hold on, Claude.

This newsletter is published every two weeks. It's a heads-up notice about what's going on with trucking technology as well as what you can see at www.todaystrucking.com where you'll find in-detail coverage of nearly everything that's new. Plus interesting products that may not have had the 'air play' they deserved within the last few months. Subscribe today!

And while you’re there at www.todaystrucking.com, check out the Decision Centers. They’re essentially libraries on specific subjects like Engines or Braking Systems. We’ve gathered all manner of information from maintenance manuals to research reports – and we’re always finding more – to help you make decisions about spec’ing, operating, and maintaining trucks and truck systems.

If you have comments of whatever sort about Product Watch, or maybe a gizmo I should know about, please contact me at rlockwood@newcom.ca.

THE 2008 GMC W-SERIES

(April 25, 2007) -- GM shows off new LCF trucks at Expocam

VHD GETS SLEEPER

(April 25, 2007) -- Volvo's vocational truck sports a bed

ROGERS FLEET MANAGEMENT

(April 25, 2007) -- Rogers introduces wireless mFleet asset-tracking, logistics tool

TELUS FLEET TRACKING

(April 25, 2007) -- Bundle is a one-stop GPS-based system for fleets of any size

LOCKING FUEL TANK CAP

(April 25, 2007) -- Secure locking cap from Robond counters fuel theft and vandalism