November 2014 Volume 34, Issue 11
TRUCK NEWS Kriska has teamed with Mullen Group to form a new growthoriented trucking business. We break down the deal.
Delivering daily news at trucknews.com
Epic fuel savings
We travel to Denton, Texas to be among the first to drive Peterbilt’s Model 579 EPIQ package.
Page 47
A top UPS exec explains how and why the global courier company is expanding its alternative fuels usage.
Kriska doubles down
Page 44
Brown goes green
Page 37
Page 12
Canada’s Trucking Newspaper Since 1981
All-in on aluminum
We drive the new Ford F-150 with aluminum body, to see first-hand the benefits of a lighter-weight design.
Canada does truck convoys
This Fall, convoys rolled across Canada for various worthy causes By Sonia Straface PARIS, ONTARIO
For many, September marks the end of summer and back to school. But for the trucking industry, September is the month the truck convoys across the country begin to roll. From the east coast to the west coast, trucking organizations raised money and awareness for different causes by organizing truck convoys. In Saskatchewan, on Sept. 13, 57 truck drivers made their way from Saskatoon to Regina to raise money for children and adults with intellectual disabilities who want to participate in sport in the province. At the end of the day, more than $39,000 was raised for Special Olympics Saskatchewan. “Special Olympics Saskatchewan could not do what it does without the generous support of the trucking industry,” said Carissa Trenton, administrative and operations coordinator, Saskatchewan Special Olympics. Sept. 13 was also the Ontario Special Olympics convoy. This year marked the convoy’s tenth anniversary for the province so they celebrated Continued on page 23
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Daimler has taken the cover off its Future Truck 2025, which in addition to debuting the company’s Highway Pilot autonomous driving system, also exhibits other technical achievements.
Is this the future of trucking? Daimler recently provided the first complete look at its self-driving Future Truck 2025. The Highway Pilot autonomous driving system may not even be the most remarkable thing about this rig.
By James Menzies
I
HANNOVER, GERMANY t has no headlights, no rearview mirrors and virtually no grille. Yet this, according to Daimler, is the future of truck transportation. Daimler, for the first time, has removed the mask from its Mercedes-Benz Future Truck 2025, which was first demonstrated for industry journalists on a stretch of German Autobahn in July. At that time, the truck’s identity was mostly concealed by a camo-style paint scheme designed to tease the eye and keep secret the more intricate details of the design. That mask came off Sept. 22 in front of more than 500 industry journalists from 30-plus countries from around the world, on the eve of the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hannover, Germany. Dr. Wolfgang Bernhard, the head of Daimler trucks globally, made a gutsy entrance to the press event, piloting the Future Truck in autonomous Highway Pilot mode into an airport hangar where the unveiling took place. “This night was a very special one for me,” said Bernhard, who used to oversee Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz passenger car division. “It’s the first time I was driven on stage and not driving. That’s what our truck has in common with all those airplanes out there in the airport – both can run on autopilot.” While the technology built into the Mercedes Future
Truck 2025 has already been demonstrated, the focus on Sept. 22 was on its interior and exterior design. “Tonight, we are showing you the complete package of all the features together,” Bernhard said. “If technology is the heart of the Future Truck, the design is the soul.” The Future Truck has a clean front end with no visible headlights. They are hidden underneath the skin of the cab and shine out from beneath the paint. There is no traditional grille on this truck; instead there are lights underneath the paint that turn on when the truck is started. The grille displays white LED lights when the truck is manually driven and pulsating blue lights when it’s on autopilot. Instead of traditional rearview mirrors, the Future Truck has a camera system that gives the driver a more complete view down the sides of the vehicle via 12-inch displays mounted inside the cab. This not only reduces aerodynamic drag, but also improves visibility. The cameras even self-adjust depending on the course the truck is taking to provide the driver with the most important sightline. “We have verified our aerodynamic improvements in wind tunnels and can see clear and significant benefits,” Bernhard said. They also provide better nighttime visibility and are less sensitive to rain and dirt. The interior of the Future Truck was equally intriguing. Continued on page 30
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