Popular Posts Combating Corrosion – How trailer makers are preventing moisture from leading to higher trailer costs and shorter service life! Deciphering diesel fault codes to fix filtration issues Spruce up your shop with these seasonal truck maintenance tips Five truck trend takeaways from March Xos Inc. delivers initial EVs to UniFirst Corp. in Southern California Connect with us advertise with us
Combating Corrosion – How trailer makers are preventing moisture from leading to higher trailer costs and shorter service life!
Deciphering diesel fault codes to fix filtration issues
Spruce up your shop with these seasonal truck maintenance tips
Five truck trend takeaways from March
Xos Inc. delivers initial EVs to UniFirst Corp. in Southern California
Popular Posts Combating Corrosion – How trailer makers are preventing moisture from leading to higher trailer costs and shorter service life! Deciphering diesel fault codes to fix filtration issues Spruce up your shop with these seasonal truck maintenance tips Five truck trend takeaways from March Xos Inc. delivers initial EVs to UniFirst Corp. in Southern California Connect with us advertise with us
Combating Corrosion – How trailer makers are preventing moisture from leading to higher trailer costs and shorter service life!
Deciphering diesel fault codes to fix filtration issues
Spruce up your shop with these seasonal truck maintenance tips
Five truck trend takeaways from March
Xos Inc. delivers initial EVs to UniFirst Corp. in Southern California
Sponsored By D-A Lubricant Company, Inc.
Spend More Time With Your Customers and Less Time With Your Problems
Ever wonder how you can spend less time on the same set of day-to-day problems and more time enabling your customers to meet their objectives? It may seem obvious to say you first need to improve your operational efficiency. Easier said than done, right?
Do any of the following daily headaches sound familiar? - Roll time – what if you could count on average roll times below the industry standard? What does that mean to your reputation with your customers? - Invoice processing time – How much time do you spend chasing invoices? What could you do with the extra time you gain if you could turn the invoices around quickly and reliably? - Billing error rates – How many times do you have to deal with a single invoice? What are your experiences and expectations relative to billing error rates? - Compliance – Are your dealers following your guidelines and specifications?
During this webinar, you’ll hear first-hand observations on ways fleets can take back control of how they spend their time by focusing on: • Sustainability • Risk Mitigation • Lowering costs
Sponsored By D-A Lubricant Company, Inc.
Fleet Equipment covers all the latest industry news and in-depth features related to trucks, tractors and trailers, including detailed information on the latest equipment components. Fleet Equipment tracks industry equipment trends, focusing on the issues that help fleets run the most efficient and productive trucks on the road. Fleet Equipment’s detailed editorial focused squarely on the equipment makes it an excellent resource for every fleet. The experienced editorial staff provides insights and solutions based on their many years in the trucking industry. Access to digital editions, contests, news, and more are ready for you today!
Fleet Equipment covers all the latest industry news and in-depth features related to trucks, tractors and trailers, including detailed information on the latest equipment components. Fleet Equipment tracks industry equipment trends, focusing on the issues that help fleets run the most efficient and productive trucks on the road. Fleet Equipment’s detailed editorial focused squarely on the equipment makes it an excellent resource for every fleet. The experienced editorial staff provides insights and solutions based on their many years in the trucking industry. Access to digital editions, contests, news, and more are ready for you today!
If you’re a fleet manager, you aren’t just concerned about running a fleet of trucks. You’re also trying to grow a business, so in the...
Range! When you talk about electric trucks, the topic of range is going to come up about every time, it just is. It’s a major...
Every year as the nights the longer, the leaves start to fall, it gets a little cooler, and, inevitably, we start to talk a lot...
If you’re a fan of over-the-air updates like I am, you may be wondering: How could it get better than this? The ability to update...
Driver-facing cameras: spend any time online and you’ll know as well as I do that drivers are typically not… fond of them…Yes, I’ve talked to...
The headline of this post is easier said than done. All data-driven service providers are aiming to help fleets reduce downtime through better use of...
Part of the very small upside to the pandemic was the advancements in digital tools, or perhaps more accurately, advancements in the people actually using...
EV range anxiety is a thing. With the first generation of electric trucks on the road, working in real-world applications, the anticipated approximate 150 mile...
Advanced driver assistance systems, or ADAS, like advanced cruise control and active lane keep assist technologies are helping to improve truck safety, but these systems...
The biggest thing you should look out for is corrosion. Trucks have been rolling down the winter road, through de-icing chemicals that cling to the...
We’re taking it back to basics to talk about different scan tool options. The scan tools you have in your shop should allow you to...
Components: Thermo King to expand operations in South Carolina
Technology: Drivewyze expands e-Inspection initiative: Seven states now using automation
Technology: Anyline launches tire size scanning for websites to simplify online tire sales
Heavy-duty: Collin Shaw Named President, COO of the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association
Get the latest news, insights, and more delivered directly to you inbox.
Jason Morgan is the content director of Fleet Equipment.
Western Star aims to open up the vocational market with the expansion of its X-Series of trucks. What started with the 49X last year that was aimed at heavy haul applications like logging has grown with the introduction of the Western Star 47X that is aimed squarely at the larger construction market–offering fits and features for applications like mixers, cranes and dumps, along with configurations that can meet demanding and varied bridge laws.
With a standard 111.6-inch bumper-to-back-of-cab (BBC) length, the 47X is suited to regions or applications that require a shorter overall vehicle length, such as drywall trucks, and an optional 110.8-inch BBC aims to meet federal or local bridge law requirements. The manufacturer noted that the 47X maneuverability is bolstered by its shorter hood and a wheel cut up to 50 degrees for work on construction sites or operation in urban environments. The 47X’s hood also offers forward visibility of 24.8 feet, which is an 11-inch improvement over the 49X. Additionally Its composite construction and ISO Tech suspension system resists bending and cracking by absorbing and dissipating vibrations from road inputs.
Next to it’s bigger brother, the 47X is approximately 200 lbs. lighter than the 49X in like-for-like spec. But like the 49X, the chassis and frame rail design was just as important. The 47X offers frame rails with a resisting bending moment (RBM) of up to 3.8 million inch-lbs. A new 9.5-millimeter single channel rail option is available and features comparable strength as today’s 11-millimeter rail, the OEM noted. Standard high-strength aluminum forward, rear and end-of-frame cross members further reduce mass, as does a new two-battery option.
“A key priority was to consider how to reduce mass without compromising strength,” said Tracy Mack-Askew, chief engineer of chassis, propulsion and vocational engineering, DTNA. “From the cab to the frame rails, to powertrain and battery configurations, we examined all features to deliver weight savings.”
Powering the new vocational powerhouse is the the standard Detroit DD13 Gen 5 engine. ThermoCoasting, a stand-out DD13 Gen 5 feature noted by the OEM, prevents aftertreatment cool-down during a driving regen to keep the system at its optimum temperature and significantly reduce the need for parked regens.
For weight-sensitive applications, the Cummins L9 and X12 engines are available for the 47X. Optional front-engine power take-off (FEPTO) is offered on both Cummins engine offerings and the Detroit DD13 for applications like snowplows. Similarly, rectangular fuel tanks and a raised aftertreatment system mounting are offered with Cummins engines for better clearance for belly plows.
The 47X is also offered with the all-new DT12-V transmission, which is built on the DT12 and has more than 35 million miles of vocational-specific testing. The DT12 includes three work-ready mode applications: Rock-free mode, Off-road mode, and Paver mode for the challenges of specific vocational applications.
Standard for any 47X equipped with the DD13 Gen 5, the Detroit Assurance suite of active safety systems, which follows the 49X’s lead in bringing active safety solutions to the vocational segment, including active brake assist, side guard assist, adaptive cruise control and more to keep operators, workers at the job site, pedestrians, and other motorists safe.
Staying with the vocational-minded design, Western Star’s Samantha Parlier, vice president of vocational market development, Daimler Trucks North America, noted that the 47X along with its X-Series brethren, the 49X, was created along with input from truck equipment manufacturers (TEM) that build bodies for specific applications. Perhaps the greatest equipment evidence of this partnership is the QuickFit Interface System, which offers ready access to electrical architecture and was designed for easy TEM interface, programming and access to power. The CHEC Tool from DTNA enables TEMs and dealers to view and modify electrical configurations, giving them the power to customize inputs and outputs and change parameters within minutes.
A Flex Panel located in the dash B-panel of the truck gives TEMs the ability to mount body controllers. The Flex Panel can also accommodate additional gauges, switches, or a RAM Mount prep, depending on customer needs.
A single truck is a model number, but two (and really up to six different trucks if you’re counting 47X configurations) means that it’s a series: the X-Series. For Parlier and Western Star brand at-large, it’s a symbol of the products readiness to tackle vocational applications of all variety, not just niche applications that the Western Star name has been associated with (and still delivers in today).
“We’re here with the same tough, durable and dependable trucks that Western Star has been known, but they are now designed for the wider vocational space,” Parlier said. “With our previous trucks, there wasn’t an application we didn’t cover, but they weren’t necessarily designed for some applications. The new X-Series is designed to tackle any vocational application.”
The X-Series steel-reinforced aluminum cab further reduces mass by up to 8 percent while offering greater driver comfort with 13 percent more space than competitors. An optional two-person bench seat is available for applications demanding a large on-site crew, and a new space-optimized, in-cab battery box affords additional legroom to the operator. An optional roof-mounted condenser offers maximum airflow through the radiator for stationary applications like construction and mining while keeping operators comfortable.
All X-Series models come standard with operator-centric features such as a wrap-around dash that provides easy access to the driver command center and B-panel. On the B-panel, a flex panel can be prepped for a tablet or configured for an additional 12 switches or 10 gauges. The truck’s interior also includes upscale appointments such as metal accents, while all-metal exterior brightwork is distinctive as well as durable.
The sheet was just pulled off the 47X, but if you need a closer look at the X-Series, you can check out our 49X ride-along video. We had the chance to drive that truck last November.
Heavy-duty: KLC Financial implements Tamarack Technology’s artificial intelligence platform
Heavy-duty: What levels of automated truck driving are viable in trucking?
Heavy-duty: Equipment Finance Industry confidence eases again in March
Heavy-duty: Daimler Truck North America CEO to provide clean truck update at ACT Expo