Technology Briefs — July 11 - July 17

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The Latest Headlines:

• Terion Upgrades FleetView Tracking System
• DriverTech, Air-Weigh Offer New Service
• Skills Technician Contest Set For TMC’s Fall Meeting
• RigMaster Says APUs Burn ULSD
• Delphi Hits Milestone For Flexible Fuel Cell

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Terion Upgrades FleetView Tracking System

Trailer tracking firm Terion Inc. said it added new features to its FleetView3 system to help carriers improve the monitoring of units.

Todd Felker, Terion’s vice president of marketing and product development, said FleetView3 users can use SpatialFX, a system from Object FX Corp., that can provide location information, travel history, load status and expected delivery time. Transport Topics

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DriverTech, Air-Weigh Offer New Service

Technology firms DriverTech and Air-Weigh said July 12 they signed an agreement to deliver onboard, real-time information about vehicle axle and payload weight to carriers.

The agreement allows DriverTech, which makes onboard computers for heavy-duty trucks, to retrieve weight information from Air-Weigh’s onboard electronic scales, the companies said. Carriers can transmit the information to remote office computers through wireless networks. Transport Topics

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Skills Technician Contest Set For TMC’s Fall Meeting

The Technology & Maintenance Council of American Trucking Associations will hold its 2006 Fall Meeting and National Technician Skills Competition Sept. 18-21 at the Renaissance Austin Hotel in Austin, Texas.

TMCSuperTech2006, which is organized by TMC’s Professional Technician Development Committee, will be the second annual skills contest, designed to determine the industry’s top technician through various troubleshooting tests during a two-day event.

Top winners will receive prizes.

For more information about participating in or sponsoring the technician skills competition, contact TMC at 703-838-1763 or visit their site, or visit their site, www.truckline.com/aboutata/councils/tmc. Transport Topics

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RigMaster Says APUs Can Burn ULSD

RigMaster Power Corp., Toronto, announced that all current models of its auxiliary power units are capable of operating on the ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel that is now coming on the market.

RigMaster models built with either the Perkins 402.05 Series Engine or the Caterpillar C0.5 engine are capable of burning ULSD, the company said.

This means the APU will be able to draw fuel from the same tank as the main engine in 2007 and later truck models.

ULSD is the required fuel for ’07 engines, which will meet stricter clean-air standards. Transport Topics

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Delphi Hits Milestone For Flexible Fuel Cell

Delphi Corp., Troy, Mich., said it has reached a milestone in a joint effort with the Department of Energy to bring a fuel-flexible solid oxide fuel cell to market by 2011.

Working with the department’s Office of Fossil Energy, Delphi completed the phase one test in April and received DOE validation in May.

According to Delphi, the prototype system produced peak power of 4.24 kW from methane, the primary constituent of natural gas; reached peak efficiency of 37%; and matched the durability goal with power degradation of just 7% over 1,500 hours of operation.

At an estimated $770 per kilowatt, the unit met the phase one goal for factory cost, assuming volume production. Transport Topics

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