August 2015 Volume 35, Issue 8
TRUCK NEWS Taking on the best
On-road editor Harry Rudolfs competes in the truck driving championships. It was a humbling experience.
Delivering daily news at trucknews.com
Getting in shape
Success stories from two participants in the latest Healthy Fleet Challenge.
Page 49
We visit the Clifford Truck Show and single out a favourite classic rig from the show.
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Classics in Clifford
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Canada’s Trucking Newspaper Since 1981
PC-11 update
Shell has good news to share about the upcoming PC-11 heavy-duty engine oil category.
Phase 2 of GHG regs won’t come cheap But you’ll get the $10-12K cost increase back through fuel savings, regulators say
By James Menzies WASHINGTON, D.C. The long-awaited proposal for Phase 2 of the joint NHTSA/EPA greenhouse gas/ fuel economy standards for heavy trucks was unveiled in late June, and will pursue an ambitious target of improving fuel economy by 24% by 2027 compared to 2018 model year trucks. The new standards will reduce CO2 emissions by about a billion metric tons and slash fuel costs by US$170 billion over the lifetime of the vehicles sold under the program. The fuel saved will be equal to a year’s worth of OPEC imports to the US, according to Janet McCabe, EPA’s acting associate administrator, who spoke on a conference call. The bad news is, Class 8 trucks are expected to climb in cost by US$1012,000 under the Phase 2 rules, which will affect model years 2021 to 2027 vehicles. However, officials insisted Continued on page 9
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Chris Iveson’s approach to maintenance is simple: Treat drivers like they’re your customers.
‘Drivers are our customers’ Fleet Maintenance Manager of the Year’s unique perspective on the role of the maintenance department By James Menzies CAMBRIDGE, ONTARIO
R
unning a fleet maintenance department can be a thankless job. Many fleets look at maintenance as a non-revenue-generating – albeit necessary – expense, while drivers often think the department is out to get them with every breakdown. However, Chris Iveson, the 2015 Canadian Fleet Maintenance Manager of the Year, has fostered a strong relationship with drivers at Challenger Motor Freight, by looking at them as his department’s customers. “Our customer in maintenance is the driver,” Iveson told Truck News during a lengthy interview at Challenger’s shop after winning the award. “If our mechanics take good care of the equipment, that in turn will allow our customer – which is the driver – to go out and service our customer. We understand the driver is our customer, so we have things like surveys. Every time a truck comes into the shop, we put a five-question survey into the truck. We have the driver rate his experience – how he felt the service was – and then we rate ourselves. We measure ourselves against it. It becomes one of our KPIs that we look at on a weekly basis. That’s big for us. I don’t walk across the parking lot, ever, without having a conversation with a
driver. We make sure that we’re fully engaged. We put on barbecues for them that are maintenance-sponsored barbecues and we let them know we’re here to support them.” Iveson was selected as the Canadian Fleet Maintenance Manager of the Year, an award sponsored by Volvo, which aims to recognize an exceptional fleet maintenance manager. They’re graded on “the scheduled maintenance program of the company, the quality and frequency of training programs, the major accomplishments and innovations of the individual and the nominee’s contribution to the industry and community in general.” Iveson oversees more than 150 staff and 4,500 pieces of equipment across Challenger’s network of four maintenance facilities. He actively promotes the profession, which should come as no surprise given his own background. “I had a fantastic high school auto shop teacher who I’m still in contact with today,” Iveson recalled. “He got me really interested in the automotive business and fixing things.” Iveson’s first job fixing trucks came soon after completing high school, completing an apprenticeship at Larry’s Continued on page 24
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