What’s your rig?
Drivers display brand loyalty
Idon’t know, but I think it must have been a commercial truck driver who coined the phrase “who’s new in the zoo?” as the zoo could very well be an indirect reference to my profession.
That’s because those of us who make a living employed behind the wheel are all strange and different animals. For one, we believe we have all the answers to all the problems of the world until five minutes after we start another day’s work, and we are learning all over again. We also have strong opinions, but most of us are willing to listen to reason.
And we all definitely have rig-brand loyalty. Most of us will only drive one make of rig and poo-poo anyone who drives anything different. Me? I’ve driven them all, except a Mack, and I think my time limit to do that deed has since expired.
But, as I just mentioned, drivers will adapt, as I did with my feeling toward those who drove and lived to drive only a Peterbilt. I was a diehard Freightliner driver for years and years, but now, I find my tush in the seat of a Pete. Doesn’t feel any different, but for some unknown reason, I look at Freightliner drivers a little differently today. Don’t ask me why. I just do. Aside from my personal seat choice, both those truck makers are having a fine year, both at the factory and on the highways in North America.
Brand loyalty first. Freightliner, or as they are known in the industry by us drivers, Freight-shakers. The Daimler Corporation owns the brand, and they are no doubt still smiling about their sales of last year when they could rightfully claim 40 per cent of the class 6-8 truck market in North America. Their biggest seller is the New Cascadia unit, with more than 46,000 rolling down the roads. The vast majority of those are powered by Detroit diesels, while nearly three-quarters have automatic transmissions.
Interestingly, Freightliner officials are also reporting that drivers request that the average ‘down time’ of new units be reduced from 24 to 10 hours.
One way Daimler hopes to achieve this down-time goal is by continuing to open more parts distribution centres so that no truck showroom is more than 600 kilometres from the parts they need. Therefore, available within a day or less.
So far this year, the company is spending millions of bucks on research into such things as allowing fleet managers to update their truck computer systems in minutes instead of taking the rig out of service for the same task.
They are also working on driverless units by using desert test tracks to work on 35 different braking scenarios with 54 different realworld driving manoeuvres varying the distances to make sure the rigs can handle every driving situation. Live testing, where it is legal, is slated to get underway very, very soon.
Now, about the big red oval. Peterbilt suits are aiming for sales of around a quarter of a million or better this year, and then hoping to add another 90,000 slightly smaller trucks to be sent down the road with new owners. Those officials are quick to point out that the economy in North America is rising steadily, so much so that the manufacturing environment is strong and motor sales quickly follow suit, creating a healthy economy.
Another contributing factor to the rosy forecast is rising crude oil prices. The Alberta oilsands, the U.S. Midwest oilpatch and even some renewed oil reserves being tapped back east in Pennsylvania are all helping fuel the barrel price and drive the economy, which in turn calls for more freight movement, and which in turn calls for more rigs to be built to meet the growing demand.
These factors are good news to the manufacturers of the Red Oval, as they have watched their market share climb to over 15 per cent last year, one full per cent jump in 12 months. Sales were so strong, the suits so happy, they added 25 more dealerships to keep the rigs moving.
Like the competition, they are also spending big bucks toward the future, focusing on advanced driver assistance systems such as adaptive cruise control, lane departure warnings, blind spot monitoring, platooning, autonomous docking and driverless driving.
These changes are definitely coming to a roadway being shared with you and me, but don’t expect it to happen overnight.
I will guarantee you one thing that you can take to the bank. I won’t be spending any time sharing the road with any driverless rig, thank you very much. The thought alone, regardless of brand, just scares the you-knowwhat outta me.