ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — Volvo Trucks North America expects market shifts that range from the expanded Panama Canal to the strongest construction market in a decade to lift demand for its new VNR regional- haul model, company representatives said.

The mobile device revolution, started by the release of the first Apple iPhone 10 years ago this summer, has transformed the way fleets communicate with their drivers. For many years, fleet telematics relied solely on proprietary, fixed-mount units in the cab to serve as driver interfaces, but today many telematics vendors offer fleets the ability to communicate with their drivers through mobile devices, ranging from personal smartphones to proprietary tablets that can be easily removed from the cab.

A second straight month of stagnant orders for business equipment in April indicates investment in capital goods could slow in the second quarter, Commerce Department data showed May 26.

The American Petroleum Institute has licensed about 400 oil marketers to sell the new CK-4 diesel engine oil since Dec. 1 and more than 60 to sell its slightly lower-viscosity relative, FA-4. These new oils, collectively labeled PC-11 during development and testing, promise fuel savings and, in most applications, longer oil-change intervals.

Today, the use of electric trucks is confined mostly to niche specialty and shorthaul operations, but the advances made in those applications could carry over to the longhaul Class 8 market.

Technological advances soon could make electric Class 8 tractors feasible for longhaul applications, but rather than relying solely on plug-in battery systems, those trucks likely will incorporate other power configurations such as hybrid solutions and hydrogen fuel cells.