The ever-evolving truck By Homer Hogg Manager, Technical Development TA Truck Service (www.ta-petro.com/amenities/ truck-repair-maintenance) has a network includes 242 truck service facilities, more than 1,000 repair bays and more than 3,000 technicians with ASE (National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence) and TIA (Tire Industry Association) certifications. You don’t have to look very hard to see change on board the modern truck. From form to function, the industry standard vehicle is in a constant state of evolution. Fuel optimization requirements alone have changed the appearance, and in some cases, the function of most tractors and trailers on the highway. Couple the required fuel use targets with stringent emissions regulations and you’ll fi nd an ever-evolving truck, both outside and under the shell. Truck manufacturers are scrambling to design and produce a vehicle that has little resistance from the tires to the windshield and molding, and these trends are dramatically impacting how and who performs maintenance on current and future trucks. AFTERTREATMENT Aft ertreatment systems maintenance is quickly moving up the maintenance cost ladder for many trucking companies – both large and small. It is estimated that the current industry spend on aft ertreatment systems is about $200 million – and it’s forecasted to climb to $2 billion by 2020. Th is increase is staggering and serious. Th e main source of the increase is the diesel particulate fi lter (DPF), which must be serviced when it nears its capacity. Once that DPF light illuminates, or the truck reaches a preset mileage based on a company’s PM program, there are multiple options for service – a contributing factor to the increase. Some prefer to have their fi lter liquid cleaned, some replace the fi lter, while others want their fi lter baked, pressured cleaned and reinstalled. Whatever the choice, downtime is required, meaning less productivity for the truck and the operator. FUEL Truck and engine manufacturers are also changing trucks to reach the rigorous fuel effi ciency targets set by both the U.S. EPA and the market. Powertrain integration is trending, with engines and transmissions working through onboard electronic networks to optimize the amount of fuel needed to move the load at the desired speed. Automatic transmissions will continue to evolve and dominate the Class 8 truck market. Couple these systems with smart cruise control soft ware and suddenly we see the average fuel economy topping seven miles per gallon – and that number will climb exponentially over the next fi ve plus years. Another strategy to improve fuel economy is to get the engine to perform better at lower rpms. Th is is accomplished with sophisticated fuel mapping strategies and a fully integrated approach with the engine, transmission and drive axles. Additionally, truck and engine manufacturers are looking for ways to remove weight from the truck. Evolving engine metals that reduce the weight, a shift in gear ratios in the rears and 6X2 axle confi gurations are just a few of the many enhancements that will continue to take hold of the North American truck market over the next several years. More trucks are also coming off the assembly lines with tire monitoring and/or infl ation systems. If the air pressure in a truck’s tires does not match the load on the vehicle according to the tire manufacturer’s guidelines, too much resistance will be the outcome, resulting in a loss of fuel effi ciency. Th ese new systems help prevent that loss. ONBOARD TECHNOLOGIES In order for truck manufacturers to eff ectively ensure these new trucks and onboard technologies are serviced properly and in a timely manner, we will see more remote monitoring and diagnostics of vehicles. Most of the top truck makers in the U.S. have migrated to some sort of onboard telematics that transmit needed information to a call center or designated technical center. Th is allows for proactive analysis of the truck and truck systems, especially if the vehicle experiences a fault or potential fault that must be corrected. A remote technician can analyze data or fault codes transmitted from the vehicle and apportion the vehicle to the nearest servicing facility as necessary. Th e name of the game is uptime, which is a premium in this competitive truck space. TECHNICIAN SKILLS If truck service organizations intend to be competitive working on this new equipment, their technicians’ skills must evolve. Some trucks roll off the assembly line with more than 40 computers on board. In fact, it will soon be diffi cult to locate an electrical device on a truck that is not computer controlled. Th is means service technicians must develop their skills. Th ey must be able to analyze the condition of multiplex signals, data bus quality and quickly decipher the root cause of communication errors and erratic computer inputs or outputs, regardless of what form the signals are in. Once upon a time technicians commonly used a test light to check for voltage in a circuit. Th is practice is quickly disappearing. Th e modern technician needs information and must use a digital multimeter. Some electronic circuits are very sensitive to test lights, which can allow too many amps to fl ow in these very tiny computer-controlled circuits that can only take milliamps or 1,000th of one amp. ENGINE OIL It is likely we will see zero weight oils over the next fi ve years in order to meet the design of the modern engines. Again, it is all about gaining fuel effi ciencies. Horsepower is consumed in an engine by the engine itself trying to move the oil from place to place. Th inner oil is easier to move and reaches the top of the engine easier during cold starts. If the zero weight oil is also a synthetic, then you have oil that is stronger and more consistently protects sensitive engine components. Viscosity of oil is the oil’s resistance to fl ow. Th e more resistance oil has, the more energy the engine must use to move it. Th e fi rst two numbers in an oil’s description is how the oil fl ows in cold temperatures, and the “W” stands for “Winter.” Th e last two numbers determine the oil’s viscosity at operating temperatures. Th e high torque, close tolerance engines will require engine oils to evolve over time. Whether it’s adding miles per gallon or new technician expertise, one thing is for sure: Change in the fl eet maintenance industry is eminent from the front bumper to the tail lights. Hogg Diagnosing engine and component issues is becoming easier and near real-time monitoring gives maintenance technicians the data to better understand the severity of the fault issue, as well as the diagnostic details to help repair the issue correctly the fi rst time. Photo courtesy of Rush Enterprises Cover Story | VehicleServicePros.com ❚ NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2016 ❚ FLEET MAINTENANCE 19
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