Fleet Management News & Business Info | Commercial Carrier Journal
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INBRIEF • Göran Nyberg was appointed president of sales and marketing for North America within Volvo Trucks Americas, succeeding Ron Huibers, who was appointed president of Volvo Penta of the Americas. Volvo also an- nounced delivery of the first trucks equipped with its new Remote Diagnostics aftermarket service to Purolator Inc. • Detroit engines ranked highest in customer satisfaction and performed well in the engine reliability and depend- ability factor, according to the J.D. Power and Associates 2012 U.S. Heavy-Duty Truck Engine and Transmission Study. Cummins ranked second and Caterpillar third. • The Kenworth Truck Co. and Paccar Financial Ex- tended Warranty Program is available through Dec. 31 for U.S. customers who purchase new Kenworth Class 8 factory trucks that meet eligibility requirements and choose Paccar Financial to finance purchases. • Mack Trucks launched new interior upgrades to its Mack Granite and Titan by Mack models designed to offer driv- ers a more comfortable and ergonomic environment. • Daimler Trucks North America's www.servicesupport- network.com Website focuses on its Elite Support dealer network, a collaborative program between DTNA and its truck dealers focused on improving the customer experi- ence at Freightliner and Western Star branded dealer- ships. • Eaton Corp.'s UltraShift Plus automated heavy-duty transmissions are certified for use with the Westport HD 15-liter high-pressure direct-injection liquefied natural gas engine made by Westport Innovations Inc. • FleetPride Inc. acquired the assets of Great Lakes Truck & Trailer, which include a 15,300-square-foot facility in Westland, Mich.; terms were not released. • Fras-le North America launched its air disc brake pad program for the North American aftermarket that includes 11 Extreme Service-branded part numbers covering more than 59 applications on 12 brake systems. • Freightliner Trucks celebrated the 500,000th vehicle produced at its plant in Mount Holly, N.C. – a Business Class M2 106 with a utility body. 32 COMMERCIAL CARRIER JOURNAL | OCTOBER 2012 Engine innovation Cummins employs new tech, outside-the-box ideas for next year's ISX15 A BY JACK ROBERTS s a young man, Clessie Cummins worked as a chauffeur for a banker and gained a reputation for mechanical aptitude. In 1919, he founded a small-engine com- pany in Columbus, Ind. His early efforts – small diesels for farm applications – fared poorly. His engine sales to yacht makers dried up with the Depression. But once he struck a deal to convert a supermarket's fleet of trucks to Cummins diesel engines, his company's future was secured. Today, Cummins has more than 6,000 dealers in more than 190 countries. Cummins continues to innovate, taking a leading role in the development of heavy-duty natural gas engines for trucking. But the company's roots are with the diesel truck engine, and Cummins' cre- ative design continues there. Now that the drawn-out emissions war of the past few years is settled, Cummins is preparing to launch its next generation of heavy-duty diesels. The new ISX15, which will appear in new trucks early next year, is amazingly smooth and surprisingly quiet. Because it's a smart engine, a driver might have to break a habit or two in terms of shifting pat- terns or gear selection to get the most out of it. But Cummins has designed it to coach drivers to get the best fuel economy possible while delivering plenty of power – all while making the driver safer and more productive. Lou Wenzler, on-highway communications director for Cummins, says that Cummins today is all about boosting fuel economy in its engine designs, with targeted improvements of up to 2 percent over its current engines. Since the engines burn less fuel, the improvements allow the new ISX15 to already meet 2014 federal greenhouse gas emissions regulations. Continued on page 34 The new Cummins ISX15 is a "smarter" engine, which means more electronically controlled driver enhancement features.