Big Trucks, Little Features – How Heavy-Duty Trucks Adopt Lightweight Features for Driver Comfort
In today’s trucking industry, the name of the game is helping fleets be more efficient while exploring budding technology. In addition to focusing on bettering gas mileage, decreasing costs and maximizing efficiency, the main focus for many fleets is ensuring driver comfort. It’s for this reason OEMs and fleet managers are working to spec heavy-duty fleets with features that maximize comfort for their drivers, and they are pulling from light-duty trucks for help in doing so.
Big Trucks, Lightweight Features
As technology advances in the trucking industry, OEMs are learning new ways to incorporate features and options that are typical for light-duty trucks in heavy-duty standardization. Because of this, smarter technology features and performance enhancers are becoming widespread for heavy-duty vehicles. Features as simple as the I-shift transmission from Volvo Trucks mimic light-duty options while increasing the ease of driving for heavy-duty trucks. In addition to engine and transmission upgrades, extended fuel-economy packages are being released regularly as the focus shifts to parallel light-duty efficiency.
Changing the industry standard for heavy-duty trucks
By introducing new baseline technology to heavy-duty trucks, OEMs are able to offer fleets with more powerful options that maintain an elevated level of driver comfort and fleet productivity. For example, electronic control modules and safety monitoring systems offered by Mack Trucks, equip fleet managers with the insight they need to expand operations with heavy-duty trucks while retaining the insight of a light-duty, local delivery service. The same goes for telematics and transportation management system options beyond factory standards. These expansions are allowing heavy-duty fleets process ease for large scale operations that are typically only available for light and medium-duty local fleets. Managers are able to predict and prevent potentially massive and costly service and efficiency hiccups that could otherwise derail heavy-duty deliveries as if they were small-scale jobs utilizing, albeit easier to, fix lightweight trucks.
These light-duty features can lower the bar when it comes to the difficulty of operation and help entice new drivers into the industry. OEMs are able to offer more power and payload with innovative capabilities, cutting-edge technology and feature-rich driving environments and ensure that these standards are the norm in the industry moving forward.
If you would like to take a look at the newest technology available to heavy-duty trucks and enhance your fleet operations and productivity Nextran Truck Centers can help. With locations in Georgia, Florida and Alabama, we’re here to keep you moving. Give us a call at one of our 16 locations.
