P.M. Executive Briefing - Feb. 24
This Afternoon's Headlines:
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A Web Site for Finding Loads
Beaverton, Ore.-based DAT Services, provider of freight-matching transportation services, has developed a website for owner operators that provides a freight-matching database. Other services at the site include a job service that lists carriers seeking owner operators, owner-operator forums, email, a page for owner operators to post ads for other drivers, and a service that offers a credit profile on any company that ships freight in the United States and Canada.According to DAT's director of Internet services Susan Little, DAT's website is better than other similar Internet sites because the DAT site is faster, easier to use, and has a larger and more current database. However, owner operators will have to figure out for themselves whether or not the cost of DAT's services can be offset by additional profits gleaned from the load-matching or credit services. Owner Operator (02/00) Vol. 30, No. 1; P. 10; De Marco, Tony
Advanced Manufactures Truck Monitoring Items
Advanced Concepts Manufacturing, a Saint Louis, Mo.-based company that develops high-tech products for the trucking industry, is braced for tremendous expansion after receiving its necessary loans.Advanced received $300,000 in business expansion loans from the Missouri State Bank and an additional $200,000 from the Saint Louis Business Development Fund and the St. Louis County Economic Development Council after increasing its own revenue by 500% over the last four years.
The company manufactures Audit, an electronic automotive auditing system that monitors tire tread levels, tire pressure, and other truck functions; and Equal, an electronic tire balancing system in which a sand-like polymer is injected into tires, evening them out and balancing them. The two systems allow companies to save money by increasing work speed and efficiency. Advanced also holds the patent on a new type of tire stem core. St. Louis Business Journal Online (02/16/00); Fuerst, Frank
Reducing Diesel Emissions: An Impact Analysis for 2002-2007
Last year the Environmental Protection Agency predicted that smog-producing oxides of nitrogen (NOx) emissions could be reduced by half without exhaust aftertreatment – so heavy-truck OEMs will not be replacing mufflers with soot traps and/or catalytic converters until model year 2007, says the Engine Manufacturers Association's Glenn Keller.The EPA forecasts that NOx will generally be reduced in 2002 by three other emission-control strategies, which could add $700 or more to the sticker price of a Class 8 power unit. These include wastegated variable-nozzle turbochargers (VNT) with adjustable turbine nozzle vanes, costing about $300; high-pressure-loop exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), which combined with the VNT can reduce soot and NOx together, and costing about $400; and super-smart injection systems that can modulate injection rate, pressure, timing, and duration, which cost about $150.
Common-rail systems and those that use mechanically or hydraulically-actuated, electronically controlled unit injectors are well-suited for rate shaping, and they are already in limited use. Nearly all heavy-duty-diesel makers will have to adopt the EGR by Oct. 1, 2002; EGR can eliminate 60% to 90% of all NOx, but generates sulfuric acid and dumps extra-fine soot into the crankcase.
According to the EPA, the EGR cooler will be prone to corrode, among other problems, and Bill Leasure of the Truck Manufacturers Association notes that some diesels may need a larger radiator. But the EPA also thinks that the risk of EGR-induced corrosion will be largely reduced by using tougher materials, controlling EGR cooling, and improving additive packages.
The EPA is not predicting losses in fuel economy, increased maintenance, or engine durability, saying that EGR's potential to diminish fuel economy will be more than offset by improvements in fuel injection and the use of the turbochargers – and potentially by lower fuel consumption. However, industry experts do not consider the latter prediction to be realistic because of tougher compliance requirements.
The industry hopes that in the worst case, EGR for 2002/2004 will require tolerating a slight mpg penalty, using oil analysis, changing to more soot-and-acid-tolerant oils, and relying more on secondary oil filtration. Completing extended drains on schedule will be critical for many diesels made after Oct. 1, 2002. Commercial Carrier Journal (01/00) Vol. 157, No. 1; P. 44; Cross, Rich
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