Daimler launches Height Control to slash fuel consumption
We’ve just attended the North American Commercial Vehicle Show (NACV Show), which took place at the very end of October in Georgia, Atlanta. And yes, we can confirm that everything is indeed bigger (if not necessarily better) in the USA.
NACV Show: still a newbie
The first NACV Show took place in 2017 and it happens every two years – so this was its second running. We expected to need to fight it out with millions of Americans for peeks at their glorious trucks, but this never happened. Yes, there were lots of glorious trucks and tech on display (more about that later). However, the really nice thing about the NACV Show is that it’s a trade show. Accordingly, it’s attended by fleet owners, managers and decision makers – and not what we always call “tyre kickers” (the guys who flock to shows to admire the trucks but would never actually buy one). Practically, this means it’s relatively easy to get up close and personal with all the highly chromed trucks. It’s also a great event because all the industry experts are there – and they have the time and energy for some really meaningful discussions.
Who was there?
About 470 companies showed their wares and there was lots of interesting stuff on display (once again, more about that later). However, the stars of the show were undoubtedly the Class 8 trucks. Lest you’re unfamiliar with the categorisation of trucks in the USA, there are eight classes in total, made up of light-duty, medium-duty, and heavy-duty vehicles. As is the case here in South Africa too, they’re divided into classes based on weight rankings. In the USA, this is called a gross vehicle weight rating – or GVWR. Class 8 trucks – with a GVWR of greater than 33 001 pounds or 14 969 kilograms – are the big boys of trucking. They’re those magnificent chromed creatures that we see on the highways of Trump Land.
Daimler dominates
One of the stars of the show (no pun intended; you don’t see the three-pointed star in the USA anyway) was Daimler, which had a 13 106 m2 exhibition booth designed to resemble a US dealership. It had 20 Freightliner, Fuso and Western Star trucks on display – and the one was more magnificent than the next.
For us, the most noteworthy truck on display (trust us, this was a hard call to make) was the Freightliner Cascadia – because it’s the most advanced truck Freightliner has ever designed… by far. It has so many clever and impressive features. However, its industry-first Aerodynamic Height Control is really something special. It electronically lowers the suspension height by one inch (2,54 cm) at 55 miles per hour (88.5 km/h) to optimize airflow. The Cascadia can also be equipped with optional Aero and AeroX packages. These provide lower chassis fairing skirts, wheel well closeouts, a low ground clearance bumper, a roof deflector and updated proprietary designed drive wheel fairings… all in the name of lowering fuel consumption.
We interviewed Roger Nielsen, President and CEO of Daimler Trucks North America, and he revealed that the new Detroit DD15 Gen 5 engine will be launched in 2021. It’s going to be good news for trucking companies and the environment alike – because the DD15 will boast better fuel economy and lower emissions. More Detroit-related news is the fact that the DT12, Detroit's automated manual transmission (AMT), will gain higher overall ratios in 2020. Practically, this will translate into fuel efficiency improvements and better low-speed manoeuvrability.
Navistar and Scania tackle Canada
Right next door to the Daimler stand was the Navistar booth, which also featured a number of magnificent trucks. The star of this stand was most definitely a battery-electric drive version of the International MV medium-duty truck, dubbed the eMV, which Navistar will start producing in 2021. Coinciding with the world reveal of this truck was the announcement that the company will launch a new business unit called NEXT eMobility Solutions. It will “deliver customised electrification solutions in the truck and school bus markets”. NEXT will also be there to support customers; as Persio Lisboa, Navistar executive vice president and Chief Operating Officer, rightly pointed out: “Companies interested in operating electric trucks have more questions than answers; they are looking for a partner who also brings clarity.”
However, for us, there was another vehicle exhibit that aroused our curiosity even more: a Scania XT heavy dump truck which, while also part of the growing Traton family, seemed a tad out of place. All was revealed during the press conference, with the announcement that Navistar had “signed a memorandum of understanding with Scania to explore opportunities for Navistar to support mining customers in the Canadian market”. In simple English, this means that Navistar will sell Scania trucks in Canada. Scania is, of course, a subsidiary of Navistar’s global alliance partner, the Traton Group. So, it’s very much a case of keeping things in the family.
This announcement is very significant for Scania, Navistar and Traton too; we will watch future developments with great interest.
- Part two of our NACV Show report appears next week: don’t miss it! We will bring news of some really cool futuristic trucks.
Photographs by Fabien Calvet.
