Not very long ago, product and process changes originated primarily with the manufacturers -- truck OEMs and component suppliers. Their engineers looked at their existing product offerings and considered improvements, enhancements and spin-offs.
     Then, their sales people took the good news to their customers.
     Carriers, in turn, introduced shippers to new product changes as a means of improving cost and hauling efficiencies.
     So sales people just had to know the product, stay current and know how to build good relationships so customers would stay loyal. (And, customers were loyal, unless you ran them off with shoddy goods or careless service.)

What's Changed?

The pressure to innovate and with it, the flow of technological change, has reversed the course.
     Think of technology as flowing through a funnel. When innovation started in the manufacturing segment of our industry, the pool of ideas and possibilities was relatively small because the focus was so tightly concentrated on the product line.
     Today, the funnel has turned over.
     Suddenly, shippers are calling the shots for the carriers and the carriers are putting the pressure back on manufacturers.
     One good example is something called ECR, or Efficient Customer Response. Bill Foltz, Director of Logistics for Foster Farms, introduced ECR at a recent National Private Truck Council meeting. Imagine this scenario, he explained: "Your customer tells you he's going to quit ordering. From now on, you will do the ordering for him. You will also manage the inventory and keep turns within your customer's parameters. He expects to know where his loads are at all times, but don't give him any paperwork or he'll charge you for it. And, he expects 100% on-time delivery." That's the gist of ECR.
     Now, it's up to you to figure out what kind of help and technological innovations you're going to need to do that.
     Simply, customers are now demanding product and system innovation to match their own new ways of doing business more efficiently. That's one reason why new ideas are starting to come into our industry from chemistry, biology, physics, medicine, entertainment, banking and even from defense and aerospace.
     The variety is dazzling. The velocity is daunting. And the pressure on manufacturers right there at the tight little end of the funnel...well, the conclusion is obvious.
     Rather than pry these innovations loose, let's view some innovations as we find them--stuck fast to specific customer needs.

 Virtual Reality is not a game. It is a computer-generated world that people can interact with through a "non-programming interface." In English, that means the computer has a huge vault of images -- each with a wide variety of motions and characteristics. The computer creates those images in real time in response to your actions -- which reflects the physical world. There's no fixed sequence of events the way there is when you play a video game.
     This technology enables people to behave as if they were some place, or doing something they are not. And consider how that might be used in vehicle engineering and spec'ing.
      As fleet customers require higher degrees of specialization, VR can involve customers in the spec'ing and design process much sooner. Changes are much easier, faster and cheaper to make before the order starts down the assembly line.
     And VR is being used right now in our industry--throughout the world.
     For example, Ford began VR work in their HIVE (Human Interface Virtual Environment) lab last October. According to Ford, the day may not be far off when customers can do a virtual walk-around of their truck far in advance of the build date. They can swap components and check the results of the change. Does one tire perform better in wet conditions than another? Does one kind of tire provide better gripping power at higher speeds or with heavier loads? Is one tire more stable in off-road conditions than another? These, and many more questions can find answers in the VR experience.
     VR helps manufacturers too. Engineers can check out new ideas before going to the expense and time of building pre-production, physical prototypes. Virtual drivers -- from short to tall -- can inspect and even drive virtual vehicles in all types of operating conditions. In fact, VR is a technique Kenworth used to build the new T2000 truck.

Mission-Specific Vehicles

New technological innovations are making vehicle customization more reasonable and affordable so that fleets can cut operating costs by using vehicles perfectly suited to their application -- no wasted power, no underutilized space, no inefficiencies or complex procedures.
     We're beginning to see new vehicle types designed for specific work applications, with innovative component technologies as well. At the 1994 truck show in Germany, many of these vehicles were on display. For example:
     The curtain-sided Mercedes truck that can be dropped down over a single frame rail to ground height so hand trucks can easily roll on or off, and the vehicle can be loaded from any angle.
     The "swap" body that fits over the frame rails of a full truck, but can also be detached and left behind so it can be a warehouse for a customer, or transferred from truck to rail to barge.
     An ultra-low garbage packer that looks more like a fugitive from a Star Wars set.
     A gravity-dumping trailer that's especially handy for cargo that's difficult to pump or for things that should be protected from contact with oxygen. You can fill the empty space at the top of the tank with an inert gas as the cargo empties out of the bottom.
     And this is just the beginning of mission-specific vehicle engineering.

Alternative Power Sources

Clean air used to be taken for granted, but today gas and diesel powered engines are the primary source of pollution. So clean air is a political and social priority throughout the world.
     In the U.S., carriers in urban areas (such as L.A.) will be required to have alternative fuel vehicles in a portion of their fleet before the decade is over.
     To meet this need, our industry is working on the technologies right now. Kenworth has production units that run on natural gas. Propane and compressed natural gas are already in use in California. The Fishel Company in Ohio has test trucks running on a mixture of 20% soybean fuel mixed with 80% diesel. And Volvo has developed an environmental truck, the ECT, that uses a turbine, high-speed generator, electric motor and batteries. On highway, the turbine propels the truck through the electric motor, burning gasoline, ethanol or almost any other liquid fuel. In city conditions, the batteries provide zero emissions and operate in a range of 15.5 miles.
     The important point is that alternative fuels will further diversify the design of vehicles and components and increase the pressure to innovate.

Safety Technologies
Highway safety is a critical social and political issue that's attracted a whole variety of new ideas and technologies.
     Stopping trucks has always been a focus. But in this post anti-lock brake era, however, other collision-avoidance technologies have evolved. Such as Eaton's VORAD radar-based warning system that's now used in fleets, city buses and in the military. And Bridgestone's new R227 tire technology that dramatically improves stopping in wet conditions.
     Suspensions may also become safety systems. Volvo's ECT has an "active" suspension that keeps the vehicle horizontal -- regardless of the road surface -- and raises or lowers the truck in the front, in the back or by the entire chassis. This system is regulated by a network of sensors that also indicate tire conditions, tire punctures, overloading or potential roll-over conditions. And the active suspension fits hazardous material haulers, fleets carrying fragile goods, valuable cargo and fleets that wish to market their ability to deliver without damage.
     As I said at the beginning, new ideas and technologies are flowing into our industry from everywhere. Things that were literally impossible in the past are suddenly becoming realistic and affordable. And companies with a better idea on how to use new technologies can change the shape of the market overnight.
     It's an exhilarating time, full of possibilities and opportunities. In fact, for people of energy and imagination, there's never been a more rewarding time to be in this industry, to be a player, make a difference and help shape a future for us all.

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