Korea moves down south
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Commercial Motor normally restricts its US truck exhibition coverage to mega-events, such as the Mid-America Show. But it is important to seize any chance to see a new range of Korean trucks that could end up in Britain (see news extra, page 17). Reason enough, then, for Brian Weatherley to visit the Southern Trucking Expo in Atlanta to check out Bering, the first all-new US truck manufacturing company for 70 years.
When it comes to road transport the Americans still do things differently, not least when running bonneted tractors and semitrailers up to 16m. Truck shows are also a good place for major fleets to recruit drivers at a time when an annual driver turnover of SO% is common. But at bedrock level, the problems of making money out of haulage are the same on both sides of the Atlantic.
• The Korean-designed Bering HD8OST tractor has cab comfort usually found in European trucks (inset). While the US cab-over market is small, Bering hopes to win over vocational market buyers with an American driveline of Cat or Cummins engines and Fuller/Mentor gearboxes and axles. Bering trucks will be built in the US from semiknock-down kits and local components (see Vehicle News Extra on page 17). • The Automatic Remote Control Mirror unit fits on the front of the fifth wheel and uses a roller-wheel mechanism to detect the rotation of the trailer's rubbing plate as a truck turns. A signal is then sent to the control motor of the electrically operated wing mirror to adjust the mirror's angle in relation to the trailer, so acute junctions and blind spots can be viewed more easily. The system costs about £600, but using wider European-style mirrors wouldn't hurt, either!
• Borings six-wheeler mixer will come with a 7m3 steel barrel and ZF powerpack already fitted, ensuring prompt delivery at a time when US truck makers are already well on their way to filling their 1999 production schedules and delivery times are long. The show model had a big Korean naturally-aspirated engine; US production models will have the CI 2 Cat rated at 335hp.
• Up to 3,000 self-discharging trailers are bought in the US every year with live-floor systems from the likes of Keith Walking floor and Hallco. MAC Trailer Manufacturing of Ohio showed a 48ft (15.8m) tandem bulker at Atlanta with aluminium planking on a KWF moving deck.
• America Trailer Manufacturer, of Rockport, Indiana. exhibited an ultralightweight dump trailer at the Hanover Show (CM10-16 Sept). It sold five off the stand and is supplying another 134 to European operators. ATM's 13.2m semi-frameless 15.8m3 tandem dump shown at Atlanta tares at just 4.4 tonnes. • UK operators who want Cummins 600hp double-overhead-cam 15-litre Signature engine will probably have to wait until Euro-3, when it will replace the old N14—unless ERF and Foden relent and offer it sooner. Only Paccar has a lower (565hp) rating in the US, although in the second quarter of 1999 Cummins will launch the ISX range, based on the Signature but with ratings of 400hp-plus.
• Do you need more go from your 14-litre Cat? Great Lakes Diesel will rebuild an old 3406 block, complete with a special twinturbo setup, to deliver up to 880hp; V8 (seen here) and V12 Cat rebuilds provide up to 1,400hp. Typical customers are owner-drivers who want more power but with old-style, mechanically fuelled engines. Great Lakes offers an 800,000km warranty and says its rebuilds meet emission tests anal, by American standards at least, deliver good economy. • Trinity Trailer's Eagle Bridge self-unloading conveyor trailer has a steel "exo-skeleton" frame around its veeshaped body, which is said to provide greater structural strength than a conventional chassis when running off-road. The chain-driven conveyor belt has multiple flaps to carry the load to the end of the trailer, while the hydrostatic drive can be powered by a donkey engine or wet-pack/PTO on the tractor. Originally developed for potatoes, it can also handle grain, manure and other loose materials.
• The bonneted 12004 is Kenworth's flagship tractor. Neat switches on the steering wheel (inset) handle cruise control and Jake Brake functions. Instead of using slip-rings and brushes to maintain electrical contact between the steering wheel and column, Kenworth uses a cable system with the wire wrapped around the column like a watch spring to provide a constantly fixed connection. • Chaparral all-bolted, allaluminium trailers offer impressive tare weights. The straight deck on the lop of the pile weighs just under 4.0 tonnes, while the drop deck with a steel neck comes in at 4.5 tonnes. Extruded-alloy side raves have neat channels for an integrated load-securing system. The standard 14.6m model with a 3mwide US-style bogie can carry up to 22.7 tonnes.
• Freightliner, owned by Daimler-Benz, is the heavy truck market leader in the US. The Cl 20 Century Class tractor shown at Atlanta has a 12.7-litre Detroit Diesel 60 Series rated at 500hp. The attractive wraparound dash includes a removable rubbish bin in the binnacle. The hinged exhaust stack mounted on the back of the cab (inset) overcomes the problem of the exhaust trunking flexing when the cab and chassis move independently.