DPF Maintenance
By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor
Every truck manufactured with a 2007 and later diesel engine is equipped with a diesel particulate filter. Many bus fleets started using them in 2005. There are something like 2 million DPFs, as they're called, in North America already. Soon, on a phased-in program, every truck in California will also have to have a DPF, retrofitted to comply with California's mandate to reduce particulate emissions and their perceived health hazard. Other states are expected to follow California's lead.

At some point, these filters are going to require servicing, and that could well be an opportunity for independent service shops to pursue.

Some transit agencies have been using DPFs as retrofits since the mid-2000s, in duty cycles that are significantly less kind to the component than most on-highway truck applications. A linehaul truck may go 150,000 to 300,000 miles - sometimes more - before the filter needs maintenance. But transit and trash-truck managers may be looking to establish a filter maintenance program that cleans these expensive components every 50,000 miles.....

Engine of Opportunity
By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor
There have been an unprecedented number of changes and new technologies over the last few years as engine manufacturers struggled to meet the mandates of the Environmental Protection Agency's emission regulation. It's all been in a good cause - who can argue with cleaner air? - but it has not been without its difficulties.

Most of these have been kept in house and fixed under warranties as problems with cooled exhaust gas recirculation systems, turbochargers, diesel particulate filters and other aftertreatment devices have been kept as quiet as possible while solutions are sought and in-production fixes are instituted.

But there have undoubtedly been issues, and will continue to be, as trucks with engines meeting the October 2002 and now 2007 emissions regulations move into second and third ownership, and repairs shift from the dealer channel to the independent service aftermarket.....

Leveling the Playing Field: Latest in Diagnostics
By Steve Sturgess, Executive Editor
If the heavy-duty independent repair community is going to hold its own against original equipment franchised dealers, it is going to need two things: right-to-repair legislation giving it access to information needed to diagnose and repair today's vehicles - and the tools to get the job done.

The tools are the diagnostic scanners, adapters and software that allow technicians to see fault codes from increasingly complex and proprietary control systems that are proliferating on light, medium and heavy trucks. The right tools can interpret the codes and convert them into repair procedures.....

Managing Shop Waste
Have you looked in your shop's trash lately? If it's like a lot of shops, you may find aerosol cans, mud flaps, truck batteries, rechargeable flashlight and drill batteries, damaged brake chambers and shoes, old manuals, used filters, shop rags, old fluorescent bulbs, blown-out tires, even milk gallons full of used oil.

All these items could have been recycled. Some could even be classified as hazardous waste, meaning throwing them in the dumpster is illegal.

A good program to manage your shop's waste may seem like a hassle, but in the long run it can save you money and headaches.

'Those who fail to plan, plan to fail." Take this saying to heart when it comes to chemicals and waste in your shop. When the result of failing to plan could be fines that slash your profits to zero - or put your company out of business altogether - developing a plan for handling shop wastes is essential.....

Automatic Brake Adjusters: First Line Of Defense
Maintenance and repair of brakes has always been a vital, and sometimes overlooked, part of a heavy-duty PM program. Today, it's more important than ever, as new de-icers cause rust-jacking of brake linings and corrosion-induced failure of other brake parts, and as we look ahead to new stopping-distance requirements expected to be announced at any time for on-highway air-braked tractors.

Making things more challenging, automatic slack adjusters (also called automatic brake adjusters) are often misunderstood by technicians.

Brake maintenance, particularly maintenance intervals for heavy-duty trucks, depends more than anything else on the vehicle's duty cycle. There is a world of difference between a refuse truck that experiences 200 to 300 heavy brake applications in a shift and an over-the-road truck that may have two applications daily - one for lunch and the other to shut down at the end of the day.....

TMC: Not Just For Fleets
How well do you know your customers? Do you know the superficial stuff, like their birthday or which sports team they follow? Or do you really understand the equipment and maintenance challenges they face?

As I worked with the Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week education committee this summer, as I researched the story on why fleets buy that appears in this issue, one topic kept coming up: Successful distributors really get to know their customers, so they can work with them as a true partner.

What better way to learn about what makes fleets tick than to get involved with a group of fleet maintenance decision makers, helping them tackle thorny issues such as counterfeit parts and corrosion?....