Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/641412
commercial carrier journal | february 2016 23 JASON CANNON is Equipment Editor of Commercial Carrier Journal. E-mail jcannon@randallreilly.com or call (205) 248-1175. service shops, I think a technician job is as attractive now as it has ever been. The problem is that Generation Z doesn't know that. "It all comes down to the perception of diesel technicians in the minds of young people considering career options," Landair President and CEO John Tweed wrote in a recent whitepaper. "The image of a diesel technician that 'gets dirty' of- ten times does not appeal to the younger generation who might have entered the field in the past. Becoming a diesel tech- nician does not have the social status that it did 50 to 60 years ago." The sexiness of the business card is an obstacle that will have to be overcome, and clearly explaining how sophisticated the in- dustry has become since the release of High Ballin' gets that conversation started. Say what you want about this par- ticipation ribbon generation, but they certainly are tech-savvy. They may not be the most mechanically inclined population you've ever come across, but they can find, download and decipher a schematic or instructional how-to by the gigabyte. It's all they've ever known. Today's high school seniors never have lived in a world where the answers to the universe's greatest questions couldn't be found on Google. That's a skillset often confused with laziness. Finding and managing this new-generation workforce can be a challenge, but if you want to set up your shop for long-term success, you have to find prospective techs on hunting grounds vast- ly unlike where the techs currently approaching retirement age were born. WANT MORE EQUIPMENT NEWS? Scan the barcode to sign up for the CCJ Equipment Weekly e-mail newsletter or go to www.goo.gl/Ph9JK. It's up to the industry to add sizzle to the technician's image. While finding and managing today's workforce can be a challenge, fleets must set up their shops for long-term success. Peterbilt, Toyota collaborate on NG-powered car hauler D espite some de- sign challenges, Toyota Transport, the automaker's in- house vehicle trans- portation trucking company, now has its first car hauler that runs on compressed natural gas. The truck, based in Long Beach, Calif., emits 85 percent less overall particulate matter and 10 percent less carbon dioxide than a conventional diesel hauler, the company says. It was commis- sioned by Toyota and designed and built with Peterbilt and Cottrell Inc. Peterbilt and Cottrell were able to develop a tractor-trailer combination that accommo- dated the tanks without compromising the head rack space. – CCJ Staff Grab handle wins Paccar Inventor's Award A hydroformed stainless-steel truck grab handle manufactured by Athens, Tenn.- based metal fabricator Mills Products Inc. has won the 2015 Paccar Inventor's Award. The grab handle competed against submissions from Paccar's global staff of 22,000. An option on Paccar trucks since its launch in March 2014, the grab handle can withstand more than 4,000 pounds of pull force, exceeding the OEM's requirements by more than three times. Paccar said Mills' tubular hydroforming expertise not only facilitated the prod- uct's noise-reducing aerodynamic shape and contoured finger grips, it also consoli- dated tooling require- ments into a single step. – CCJ Staff The placement of alternative fuel tanks initially presented a challenge for a car hauler using a nine-car trailer with an over-the-cab head rack. Mills Products' hydro- formed stainless-steel truck grab handle is built to reduce wind noise compared to the standard grab handle offered on Paccar trucks.