Magazines
Magazines
Truck of the Year & Truck Innovation Award 2023 handed over at IAA Transportation
With the third trophy win in a row DAF completes the hattrick. After the Truck oft he Year 2022 for XF, XG and XG+ and the Truck Innovation Award for the Hydrogen Combustion Engine in the DAF XF the next big win goes to Eindhoven. The new midsize truck range DAF XD wins the Truck of the Year 2023. The Truck Innovation Award is taken home by the Mercedes-Benz eActros LongHaul. Much more IAA news to discover in this report by 1TRUCK Editor in Chief, Florian Engel, from Hannover…
Daimler Trucks and Torc Robotics are pushing autonomous trucks
Since Daimler purchased a majority stake in Torc Robotics in 2019, the pair have been working together to develop autonomous truck technology to navigate for long-haul, hub-to-hub transport. Commerciqal Motor, GB, and TIR (CH) together with Michael Fleming, CEO Torc Robotics and Peter Schmidt, Head of autonomous Technology Group, Daimler Trucks, finds out how it’s going
Foton EST Super Truck Development
Asian Trucker magazine takes a deep dive into the development of the Foton EST Energy Super Truck. While the vehicle itself maybe a China-made product, there is more to it than meets the eye. The Fotoon EST ist he result of four years of development, based on European standards. And there is a lot of European, Japanese and US technology underneath.
In the article about Scania Super, I show the importance that Diesel engines still have for the swedish brand and for the truck industry and business. The text talks about the characteristics of the engine, displacement, power and torque and the vantages of using it. Also wrote about the feeling behind the wheel, driving inside and outside the Demo Center in Sodertälje. I depth de theme writing about the new gearbox and comparing it with the old one. In the same text it is possible to read about the efficiency of the engine, the weight and the contribution to the decarbonization of the road transport.
Leithem and Kirsty Harte chose MAN's big power 26.640 for their nightly 820km return run from Nelson in the top of the South Island, to Christchurch. Harte Transport Ltd contracts to TSI, the logistics arm of New Zealand grocery giant Foodstuffs. Read what it takes to get the milk and groceries through, and why this truck makes sense at sub-40 tonne GCM's.
Also in this issue, a Scania truck and trailer with Trout River walking floors is revolutionising life on the farm, and a big Iveco X-way running the line-haul freight routes takes the Top Truck title for the month; plus much much more.
About the story: It is a typical opening story of Lastbil Magasinet - with a spectacular new truck delivered to a Danish haulier - with photos and interview with the truck owner and driver, story behind the building of the truck, its features, background of the company etc. - in this case it as about a new Volvo FH 500 tractor delivered to the Danish haulier Flemming M. Larsen from Stege, Denmark. The truck is a fine piece of body building and also decorated as a tribute to the most famous Danish singer-songwriter ever, Kim Larsen, who died in 2018.
Battery electrical driven heavy-duty eActros was the hightlight of the event organized by Mercedes- Benz Trucks in Woerth, Germany. Snejina Badjeva is sharing a story about the novelties in eActros like second generation of MirrorCam as well as her impressions of driving eActros. To make a long story short – driving eActros is easy and pleasant. And the range of 400 km is enough for daily distribution.
Remote Running in Queensland
This operation is one which is typically found in the remote areas of Australia. Mt Isa Carriers don’t actually leave the state of Queensland, but travel massive distance at massive overall weights.
These trucks are distributing freight along a road corridor of almost 2,000km, on roads which are mostly two lanes, but which are fragile. This is further than the drive from Paris to Belgrade in Europe.
The vagaries of the weather in these parts of Queensland can cause havoc to the road surfaces. The temperatures above 40 degrees start to see the road surface melting and trucks in danger of losing grip on any inclines. This is often followed by massive rain storms, which can flood hundreds of kilometres of roads in the very flat country. Often the road can be washed away completely.
The trucks have to be capable of pulling three trailers fully loaded up to a gross weight of 140 tonnes. The trailer connections are those used in Europe. They are being used well beyond their design parameters, but they are capable of handling the incredible forces put onto the couplings, with highly skilled drivers minimising the risks of damage.
The drivers who do this work are very much like Kent Baillie, who was interviewed for this story. They are very self reliant and know how to fix their trucks if something goes wrong. In places along the road they can be hundreds of kilometres from any mechanical workshop, and carry spare tyres and other basic components.
What surprises me most about the people who handle this work is how they think of this as a perfectly normal way to work. They have no airs and graces, don’t think they are superstars, but their daily job is beyond the imagination of most of the truck drivers around the world.
They live and working in a climate which can be very hot, very wet and sometimes very cold and handle it all with a shrug of the shoulders, and then just get on with the job.
