October 2014 Volume 34, Issue 10
TRUCK NEWS Should a viaduct be built on Hwy. 401 crossing the Credit River? An Ontario businessman makes the case.
Delivering daily news at trucknews.com
An industry first
Eaton has come out with the first medium-duty dual clutch transmission. We report on its performance.
Page 62
The trucking industry in Atlantic Canada wants more female drivers and has the funding to go find them.
A bump in the road
Page 58
Women wanted
Page 26
Page 18
Canada’s Trucking Newspaper Since 1981
Platooning demo
A first-hand report from Dale Amy on what it’s like to travel in a truck platoon.
Canada’s top drivers compete
Manitoba earns bragging rights at National Truck Driving Championships By Sonia Straface ST-JEROME, QUEBEC
The lightning and thunder wasn’t the only electrifying part of the weekend – if you were in St-Jerome, Quebec, that is, where the annual Truck Driving Championships took place Sept. 4-6. The competition was flooded with enthusiasm, skills and of course, lots of rain. It was no secret that the best of the best in Canada came out to clobber their competition as all participants wanted to clutch a shiny trophy at the end of the night. Much like the regional and provincial championships, the competition was comprised of three parts: a written test, a pre-trip inspection and an obstacle course. As well, no driver was allowed to drive his/her own truck on the course. Instead, competitors had to use the standardized truck provided for them on the course to ensure fairness. The first place winners in five classes from the seven provincial competitions (the Atlantic provinces pool their winners together to form one “province” for competition purposContinued on page 38
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Western Star is hoping to reach new heights with the introduction of its 5700 aerodynamic highway tractor. It’s the first time the truck maker has pursued this market.
Shooting for the stars Western Star has come out with its first aerodynamic highway tractor, which looks unlike any other truck in the segment.
By James Menzies LAS VEGAS, NEVADA The trucking industry has gotten its first look at the Western Star 5700XE, the truck that inspired Hollywood. The new aerodynamic highway tractor was used as inspiration for the Optimus Prime character in the popular Transformers movie that debuted this summer. Optimus Prime appeared at industry events and trade shows, attracting large crowds and probably leading many to believe that Western Star took its design cues from Hollywood. In fact, it was the other way around; the design of the 5700 was well underway when Hollywood came calling. So enamoured with the new model were the movie’s producers that they retained much of the 5700’s real-life design when bringing Optimus Prime to life. The 5700XE is a gorgeous truck, that retains Western Star’s distinctive look while improving fuel economy by as much as 15% compared to the 4900FE, which was until now the most fuel-efficient vehicle in Western Star’s stable. It looks markedly different than currently available aerodynamic tractors, yet can compete with them head-to-head when it comes to fuel economy. About 7% of the fuel savings come from improved aerodynamics and further gains are possible by spec’ing an integrated Detroit powertrain, including the DD15 engine, DT12 automated manual transmission and Detroit axles with a ratio of 2.41 in a 6x4 configuration. Mike Jackson, general manager of Western Star, said the
time is right to bring out an aerodynamic highway model, since even the most traditional-minded customers are indicating they plan to purchase more fuel-efficient trucks. The ‘full-aero’ segment makes up some 65% of the Class 8 tractor market and Western Star realized it needed to play in that sandbox if it was to gain share. “Image is still important but at the end of the day, customers are saying ‘I’m here to make money.’ We looked at those trends and we’re here today to step into that market for the first time,” Jackson said. “With us having been a traditional model and having a partial-aero model, we were clearly self-imposing some limitations on our growth opportunities. We recognized that, and that’s when we went to the drawing board.” The 5700 has been in development since 2009, in recent years running under disguise near Portland, where the truck has accumulated some 2.5 million customer equivalent durability miles. While sales of aerodynamically-designed highway tractors have been brisk over the past couple years, Jackson said those sales have mostly been driven by large fleets and leasing companies, which aren’t the target market for the 5700. “Now it’s time for those smaller companies, the owner/operators, those that need a badge and image type purchase as well as the ability to make money, those are the guys stepContinued on page 46
14-09-16 10:41 AM