October 2017 Volume 37, Issue 9
TRUCK NEWS Eastern Canada’s Trucking Newspaper Since 1981
Delivering daily news at trucknews.com
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Taking to the highway
Completing the puzzle
Team effort
Reinventing the wheel
We drive the new Volvo VNL highway tractor in North Carolina.
Paccar has introduced its own automated transmission, rounding out its proprietary powertrain.
How a husband-wife team made married life work on the road for 22 years.
Truck and trailer wheels are becoming lighter, more durable, and even smarter.
Proposed sleep apnea rule canceled
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Commercial drivers in the U.S. will not have to be screened for disorder By Sonia Straface WASHINGTON, D.C. The Donald Trump Administration has withdrawn a proposed regulation that would clear up the confusion on how truck drivers should be diagnosed and treated for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). The withdrawal was announced in early August by the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration and the Federal Railroad Administration. The proposal would have screened truck drivers and train operators for the disorder that has been linked to nodContinued on page 16
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Media and other guests gathered for a surprise unveiling of a new electric powertrain from Cummins.
Power move
Cummins surprises with unveiling of electric-powered Class 7 urban tractor By Derek Clouthier COLUMBUS, INDIANA Cummins pulled the curtains back on its first fully electric Class 7 demonstration urban hauler tractor Aug. 29, taking a leap forward in the race to offer a zero-emissions electrified powertrain, and potentially stealing the thunder of Tesla, which had promised to introduced its own heavy-duty electric truck later this fall. The concept truck design, called AEOS, is a 4x2 day cab tractor that features full high energy Li-ion battery electric power with zero emissions, and boasts a range of 100 miles on a single charge, extendable to 300 miles with an optional engine generator. Current charge time is one hour plugging into a 140 kWh charging station, which Cummins hopes to shorten to 20 minutes by 2020. Intended for vocational applications such as urban delivery, port drayage, and terminal container handling, AEOS comes with a Cummins-integrated electrified powertrain and is built by Roush with a design inspired by Cummins. Julie Furber, executive director of electrification business development for Cummins, said transit buses have been the first to move on the electric powertrain offer-
ing, but several other applications are following, such as marine, underground mining, mobile cranes, and material handling. Furber believes there are four market drivers that will dictate how quickly electric-powered vehicles penetrate the industry: the total cost of ownership (TCO) calculation; charging infrastructure being in place; how quickly the technology itself advances; and regulations. “Ideally, you want them all to converge,” said Furber. “So the technology works, the charging infrastructure is in place, the TCO is great, and the regulations are there. That’s the ideal scenario, but we’ll see them moving at different paces and for different markets.” Furber said charging infrastructure is critical, and that the markets most interested in electrified power today fall under the “return to base” umbrella, where vehicles operate within a smaller area, such as the downtown core of a city, and return to their home base at end of day to charge overnight. With the current infrastructure that is in place, Furber said the “return to base” scenario is what is best suited for today, but she is hopeful it will expand in the near future. “I think companies will start to invest and put money in, whether it’s municipalities or government, or even utility companies that will start moving toward putContinued on page 30