from layover.com
KIRKLAND, Wash. - Tick, tick, tick. That's the sound of driver turnover rates ticking upward,making driver comfort especially critical in fleet efforts to retain and recruit drivers.
The turnover rate for over-the-road drivers at large truckload fleets rose to 79 percent in the second quarter, its highest level since the second quarter of 2008, according to a recent American Trucking Associations (ATA) report.
An increase in average truck driver age, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA) program, coming hours of service revisions, and new health rules for drivers are among factors contributing to a growing driver shortage, which is estimated by some industry analysts to reach several hundred thousand. It can cost thousands of dollars to recruit a new driver to replace a driver who leaves.
"We don't expect that turnover number to abate anytime soon," said Reid Nabarrete, Kenworth assistant general manager for marketing and sales. "As a result, driver comfort is becoming an increasingly critical dynamic in both driver retention and recruitment. It's imperative for fleets to operate the right quality equipment and provide important amenities in their tractors to secure and keep drivers."
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Palmer Trucks Annual Truck Show will be on November 30th and December 1st, 2011 at the Indiana State Fair Grounds Blue Ribbon Pavilion. Come see Kenworth’s new, high quality products, learn about our fabrication abilities and our service and repair departments.
A Town Hall meeting on December 1st is focused on Alternate Fuels. Palmer Trucks has emerged as the leader in the Midwest for compressed natural gas.
To learn more about the event or if you have any questions regarding the event, click here.
http://www.palmertruckshow.com/
Palmer Trucks and Fair Oaks Farms have been acknowledged as a "Greater Indiana Success Story" by the Greater Indiana Clean Cities Coalition. Clean Cities recognizes different companies that have had success in efforts to produce and transport their goods.
Fair Oaks Farms has taken great strides in improving the environmental "friendliness" of their operation and the sustainability of their energy source. Click on the link below to watch a movie explaining how Palmer Trucks and Fair Oaks Farms have done this.
http://www.afdc.energy.gov/cleancities/coalition/greater-indiana/143588#bioThis is a text version of the MotorWeek
video segment, Fair Oaks CNG Milk Delivery Trucks, which aired on August 20, 2011.
JOHN DAVIS: Our success story this week takes us to Northern Indiana and the 15,000-acre Fair Oaks farm, where a public-access compressed natural gas station is being built to service a new fleet of 42 CNG milk delivery trucks.
A majority of the fuel will come from a planned biomethane pipeline. Outlined by these yellow-flag stakes, it will stretch 4.5 miles to an underground anaerobic digester. The digester breaks down waste from the farm's 11,000 cows into methane gas.
Currently, Fair Oaks uses the biogas for power generation. This new waste-to-wheels fueling effort will help Fair Oaks reach its goal of reducing their milk long-haul carbon footprint by 25%.
MARK STOERMANN: We decided that we would try to compress the gas—use it for fuel to actually deliver our milk to the processing plants in three different states: Indiana, Tennessee, and Kentucky.
JOHN DAVIS: By working with both of the Indiana Clean Cities coalitions and the state and federal government on this project, Fair Oaks estimates CNG will displace 1.8 million gallons of diesel per year, helping the Hoosier State milk a renewable, green fuel for all it's worth.
from FleetOwner.com
Paper Transport (PTI) is now testing two tractors equipped with prototype 12L compressed natural gas (CNG) engines supplied by
Cummins.
One engine is installed in a Kenworth and the other in aFreightliner.
“The 12L CNG trucks are an important step forward for us as we look toward more widespread use of natural gas as a fuel for our trucks,” Jeff Shefchik, president of Paper Transport, said.
The engines offer horsepower and torque equal to commonly used Class 8 diesel engines, PTI said. The company said it expects the vehicles to be used in higher weight applications and environments where hills are common.
“The full use of CNG trucks had been somewhat limited by the fact that the 9L engine was all that was available for a 100% CNG power unit,” Shefchik said. “The 12L’s capability to handle steeper grades will be a nice feature.”
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Oct 24, 2011 2:43 PM
Kenworth Truck Company has expanded its medium-duty product line with the introduction of the new Kenworth K270 Class 6 and Kenworth K370 Class 7 cabovers targeted at urban-delivery companies.
“We’re excited to bring Kenworth quality to the cabover market,” said Gary Moore, Kenworth general manager. “Kenworth’s new K270 and K370 cabovers offer excellent maneuverability, durability, styling and ease of service for customers operating in urban operations.”
Applications for the K270 and K370 include pick-up and delivery, lease/rental, towing/recovery, landscaping, furniture, and food processing and distribution that require a highly maneuverable truck with 18- to 26-foot van body size, stake bed, or roll-on/roll-off bed. The 63.4-inch BBC (front bumper to back of the cab) on the K270 and K370 provides a 55-degree wheel cut for excellent maneuverability.
The 33,000-lb. GVWR Kenworth K370 cabover will be offered in a 4x2 Class 7 truck configuration, and built on a North American-based chassis very similar to that of the rugged Kenworth T370 conventional. The K370 will feature the 6.7-liter PACCAR PX-6 engine with a standard 220 hp rating and 520 lb-ft of maximum torque. Optional ratings are 240 hp and 560 lb-ft of torque and 250 hp with 660 lb-ft. The K370 will be available with Allison 2500 HS and RDS 5-speed transmissions.
The 12-volt supplied chassis will consist of 10-1/4-in., 120,000 PSI (pounds per square inch) steel frame rails; a wheelbase range of 166 inches to 214 inches; mechanical rear suspension; 45-gallon fuel tank; and horizontal aftertreatment system with a 6.6 gallon DEF (diesel exhaust fluid) tank.
from 
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Visit one of our 6 Indiana and Ohio medium and heavy duty truck dealerships today to learn more about the K270 and K370.
from kenworth.com
KIRKLAND, Wash., October 17, 2011 – It’s ingenious, it’s loaded, it’s a communication tool, and it’s an industry advancement with a big driver productivity factor. It’s Kenworth NavPlus® and all of its features and benefits are now showcased on a special Kenworth NavPlus website (www.kenworth.com/navPlus.asp) within Kenworth’s home page.
The new Kenworth NavPlus website offers a six-minute video that explains and demonstrates how the PACCAR proprietary navigation and business technology system works. The website’s interactive feature enables fleet managers and drivers to easily discover the system’s capabilities by clicking through the key menus and icons on the NavPlus system’s dashboard screen.
“The interactive demo makes it easy to explore six different audio functions, truck-specific navigation from Garmin, hands-free phoning, key gauge readings, nearest Kenworth dealer location, and optional Internet connectivity service available from Sprint,” said Judy McTigue, Kenworth
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Kenworth of Indianapolis received the TRP Bus Dealer of the Year award at this year’s Kenworth Parts and Service Meeting held in Orlando, Florida!!!
KIRKLAND, Wash., Sept. 27, 2011 – Kenworth now offers the Cummins ISX11.9 engine with rear engine power take-off (REPTO) for selected vocational applications.
“The use of the Cummins ISX11.9 with REPTO can help eliminate the need for a front-mounted or transmission-mounted power take-off, and simplifies charge air cooler and radiator design requirements,” said Alan Fennimore, Kenworth vocational marketing manager. “This latest product option for the Kenworth T800 and W900S models, is especially well-suited for vocational applications such as concrete ready mix, construction, crane and cherry picker, mining and oil well field service, refuse hauler and packer, and wrecker service.”
The Cummins ISX11.9 with REPTO is capable to 466 lb-ft of continuous torque and a maximum rating of 520 lb-ft of torque when used for intermittent load applications
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from www.kenworth.com
KIRKLAND, Wash., Sept. 26, 2011 – Kenworth has added the Neway® ADZ rear air suspension from SAF-Holland for heavy duty and severe duty applications.
The ADZ suspension is for typical heavy duty applications, such as construction trucks, loggers, and fire apparatus and emergency vehicles. The suspension also is for severe-duty applications where heavy vertical loads, high gross combination weights, high torque drive trains, high center of gravity loads, and significant off-road travel are expected.
Available in 23,000-lb. and 26,000-lb. capacities per axle, the Neway ADZ is engineered for independent single suspension mounting that allows for single, tandem or tridem axle truck or tractor applications.
The ADZ series, which replaces the AD series suspension for over-the-road applications, incorporates a simplified light weight V-rod construction that replaces the traditional track and torque rods.
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Indiana Dairy Fueling Fleet With Renewable Natural Gas
BioCycle September 2011, Vol. 52, No. 9, p. 39
Fair Oaks Farms assembles team to roll out fleet of CNG engine-equipped trucks to deliver milk using natural gas that will eventually come from the dairy digester.
Nora Goldstein
FAIR Oaks Farms, based in Fair Oaks, Indiana, has embarked on a new venture — a compressed natural-gas (CNG)-powered milk fleet that will reduce the use of diesel fuel by more than 1.5 million gallons/ year. A portion of the natural gas to be used is renewable, tapping biogas from an anaerobic digester with capacity to process manure from 10,500 cows at the Fair Oaks Dairy. Two fueling stations are being installed — a northern station in Fair Oaks, and a southern station in Sellersburg, Indiana near the Kentucky border.
“Conditioned biogas from the digester will be transported via pipeline to the Fair Oaks fueling station where it will be pressurized and either used directly for fuel if trucks are there, or go into the natural gas pipeline,” says Mark Stoermann, the project manager. “The southern fueling station in Sellersburg will use exclusively natural gas, but what is taken out will be offset by what we put into the pipeline at the northern station.”
A new fleet of 42 milk-hauling trucks, equipped with Cummins Westport 8.9L natural gas engines, started being delivered to Fair Oaks last month. The CNG fleet will transport 53, 6,000 gallon loads of milk daily, equal to 7.5 million gallons per month or 90 million gallons of milk a year. The emissions and carbon footprint of CNG from the pipeline is over 40 percent less than that of diesel fuel — and that doesn’t account for the reduced carbon footprint of using renewable natural gas.
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article from www.layover.com
SEATTLE, Wash. - Kenworth Truck Company was honored as one of the Top 50 Green companies in Washington State by Seattle Business magazine during a special awards banquet Wednesday night in Seattle.
The Green Washington Awards recognize Washington state organizations that have demonstrated leadership in sustainability by launching initiatives to cut carbon emissions, improve the environment and develop or apply clean technology. The magazine's Green 50 includes companies, government agencies and non-profits.
Kenworth received a Green 50 award in recognition of its environmentally friendly products, which include aerodynamic trucks, compressed and liquefied natural gas trucks, medium duty diesel-electric hybrids; and low-emission PACCAR MX, PACCAR PX-8 and PACCAR PX-6 diesel engines. Also recognized are the efforts of Kenworth's manufacturing facilities to build Class 8 trucks in an environmentally sustainable manner.
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Posted by Jim Pitman on Fri, Aug 05, 2011 @ 05:53 PM As truck drivers we are known by many names – some are good like “ Long Hauler”, “Parking Lot”, or just plain “Driver". There are others that are bad like “Road Hog”, “Truck Driver” (with a demeaning sneer in the voice), and other names that are not appropriate to include on this blog.
One title which is not mentioned enough is “Professional Driver”. Being a truck driver is not just a job - it is a profession, even if the media and the general public do not recognize it as such. This negative perception of our profession is something we encounter every day. The good news is - the power to change this perception is in the hands of each and every driver out there on the road – by the way we react, interact, and engage with everyone we come in contact with.
The mobile billboard we drive represents us, our company, and the overall trucking industry. Some drivers focus only on the miles at the end of the day, the hot shower at the next fuel stop, or the well deserved time off. It is the Professional Drivers who understand that along with all of this, there is the responsibility to create a better image of drivers, the company, and the industry and to make the roads safer.
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Revolutionary Navigation and Business Technology System Promotes Vehicle Productivity, Driver Comfort
KIRKLAND, Wash., Aug. 25, 2011 — Kenworth Truck Company announced today that the revolutionary Kenworth NavPlus® is now available for order on Kenworth Class 5-8 trucks.
Kenworth NavPlus, a PACCAR proprietary navigation and business technology system, is standard on Kenworth trucks with all premium interior trim offerings and on Kenworth diesel-electric hybrid vehicles. The system is available as an optional upgrade with all other Kenworth interior trim packages.
“The Kenworth NavPlus system comes at a good time for the trucking industry,” said Judy McTigue...
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Palmer Trucks has
6 Indiana and Ohio Truck Dealerships. Come to one of our locations to learn more about Kenworth's NavPlus.
Natural gas gaining traction as tank truck fleet fuel Aug 26, 2011 11:18 AM, By Charles E Wilson
On August 14, the first four truck-tractors in a 42-truck order were delivered to Fair Oaks Farms near Fair Oaks IN. Fueled with methane from the dairy farm, this milk-hauling fleet operation is being described as the largest transport-related renewable compressed natural gas (CNG) project in the United States.
Fair Oaks Farms and their partners expect to have the CNG fleet fully operational by the end of September, at the latest. Partners include Ruan Transportation Management Systems, PacLease, and Clean Energy Fuel Corp. In its September issue, Bulk Transporter will publish an exclusive in-depth profile on Fair Oaks Farms’ CNG fleet operation.
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Palmer Trucks is the proud supplier of CNG trucks to Fair Oaks Farms. Palmer Trucks the leader of CNG trucks, maintenance and sales in the Midwest. Stop by one of our 6 Indiana and Ohio Truck dealerships today to learn more.
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