Equipment: In Brief
34 Commercial Carrier Journal October 2008 equipment its Roadranger.com website, which the company says will eliminate telephone calls for many Eaton repair authoriza-tions. The program covers Eaton trans-missions and clutches, as well as Vorad collision warning systems. n availability of Detroit Diesel's DD15 engine in targeted Western Star voca-tional market segments. n East flatbed, refuse and dump trailers now can communicate critical intelligent data to the driver through an optional Power Line Carrier (PLC) communication system that utilizes MeritorWABCO Vehicle Control Systems' Infolink Gateway Communications Capabilities. n be spec'd with Eaton Fuller UltraShift Highway Value 6-speed transmissions as optional equipment. n Kenworth will make a new full-synthetic axle lube standard on its Class 5-8 models in the United States and Canada starting this summer. Paccar says the Cognis Emgard FE 75W-90 axle lube, which also will be available on Peterbilt models, offers major advantages over conventional gear lubricants, including better operating performance, increased gear life, extended drain and all-season lubrication, and reduced maintenance and downtime. n that prices of its trailer products will increase an average of 5 percent effective for new orders booked on or after Oct. 1, with an additional increase ranging from 3 to 5 percent effective Jan. 1, 2009. in brief (Continued from page 32) better fuel economy. Monitoring performance. Volvo Link and Sentry allow fleet managers to monitor critical functions of individual trucks so they can identify and readily make adjustments to enhance fuel economy. Volvo Link also provides access to services for optimizing operations, such as fuel tax reporting, vehicle location tracking and route planning. And all customers gain uptime support through Sentry's access to Volvo Action Service, a 24/7 roadside assistance program. Volvo Link, with two years of Sentry service, is standard on all new Volvo trucks. Driver development. In addition to the forthcoming driver training, Volvo offers drivers many aids. Volvo's Performance Guide is a ride-along coach that tells the driver how to operate the engine for maximum fuel economy. Performance Guide is visible in the Driver Instrument Display and uses icons to guide the driver on correct RPM, acceleration and staying in the engine's sweet spot. This can be combined with Volvo's Performance Bonus to pro-vide the driver with incentives for maximizing time in the sweet spot. Mack now offers Bendix ADB22X heavy-duty air disc brakes on its Pinnacle Axle Forward and Pinnacle Axle Back trucks in 12,000-pound front and 40,000-pound rear supplier axle configura-tions. The brakes will be one of a trio of Bendix vehicle systems included on Pinnacle models, along with Bendix adaptive cruise control and vehicle sta-bility (anti-rollover) systems. Jerry Warmkessel, highway products marketing manager for Mack, notes that although air disc brakes have been available in North America for about two decades, Mack customers only recently have begun requesting them. Compared to conven-tional drum brake systems, Warmkessel says air disc brakes offer fleets and drivers a wide range of advantages and will become a more attractive option when the next generation of drum brake standards comes into effect in 2010. Currently, according to Warmkessel, air disc brakes weigh about 11 pounds more than drum brakes in some configurations, but the standards will increase the drum brake weight signifi-cantly, making air disc systems as much as 150 pounds lighter than drum brakes. Of all the advantages air disc brakes offer over drum brakes, Warmkessel says stopping distance is the most impressive. The fact is, the faster a truck is going, the better air disc brakes work, Warmkessel notes. At 65 mph, conventional drum brakes offer a truck stop-ping distances from 255 to 292 feet. Air disc brakes stop the truck between 185 to 210 feet a difference of 60 feet. At 75 mph, drum brakes will stop a truck in 450 to 518 feet. Air disc brakes will stop the truck in 305 to 325 feet a difference of 145 feet. Mack Pinnacle gets heavy-duty air disc brakes Bendix heavy-duty air disc brakes will be as much as 150 pounds lighter than the next generation of drum brakes one of several reasons Mack now will offer them on Pinnacle Forward and Axle Back truck models. (Continued from page 32)