Inspectors look for safety violations that could sideline your rig
When a commercial motor vehicle inspector selects your truck to inspect at the side of the road or at the scale, something has probably already caught the officer's eye. Most inspecting agencies... DOT, state and local police, and others sworn to uphold the North American Uniform Vehicle Roadside Inspection Criteria... often pre-screen to single out trucks with obvious problems.

"If we see a vehicle with obvious problems, we would select that one over a vehicle that doesn't appear to have any problems," says Sgt. Vincent Babich, Motor Carrier Coordinator, Pennsylvania State Police. Last year in that state, about 43,000 commercial vehicles were inspected, and Babich expects the number to increase this year.

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance made up of government and private industry representatives from the U.S., Canada and Mexico has standardized the inspections, based on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Regulations. The Level 1 inspection, the most comprehensive of six types, is the North American Standard Inspection. It examines driver documentation and the total vehicle.

The 37-step inspection looks at 13 areas on the vehicle that the CVSA considers critical for safety. They include: the brake system, coupling devices, exhaust system, frame, fuel system, lamps and turn signals, steering mechanism, suspension, wheels and rims, tires, wipers, and loading practices. Inspectors are looking for missing or loose fasteners, components that are cracked, loose, broken, or out of adjustment, leaks, and excessive water.

New Caterpillar Engine Operates on Diesel/Natural
Even though truck engines now run cleaner than they ever have, ever-tightening restrictions in many western states have made it necessary for trucks to look at alternative fuel options. Caterpillar, Inc. has developed an engine technology that combines natural gas and diesel without giving up performance.

"A Caterpillar Dual-Fuel engine primarily runs on natural gas up to 85 percent in most applications with a small volume of diesel injected to provide ignition," said David Semlow, marketing manager of Caterpillar Truck engine division. "Dual-Fuel engines satisfy extremely challenging emissions but don't sacrifice performance to do so."

The unique technology has proven its worth in tests against traditional diesel and spark-ignited natural gas engines, according to John Campbell, truck product manager. "Results have shown dual-fuel engines to have similar power and performance to diesels and better fuel efficiency than sparking engines," Campbell said.

Only Caterpillar offers the electronic Dual-Fuel option. Engine ratings available with the "Dual-Fuel" technology are the 3126B 190 hp and 250 hp, 305 hp and C-12410 hp.

Caterpillar says converting an existing engine to Dual-Fuel requires minor changes and can be done by a Cat engine dealer. The engines can also be ordered in many models of new trucks.

Value of Used Equipment Continues to Drop
There is probably more used equipment on the market today than we have ever seen before. Today's market of used equipment is showing repercussions of the record-breaking new truck sales of 1992 through 1995. In 1995 alone, 201,000 new trucks were added to the U.S. fleet. Trailer sales in 1995 topped the 270,000-unit mark.

The lust for new equipment comes from several factors such as low interest rates, new emission standards, increased freight, higher efficiencies, and the attempt to retain drivers by providing better equipment. The end result: the lowest average truck age ever recorded (6.4 years.) The down side however is a huge inventory of used equipment. Supply is up, the demand is down, and the value of the equipment continues to decline. From an insurance perspective there are several different issues associated with declining equipment values that add to the complexity of the customer/agent/company relationship. When equipment loses value at an accelerated pace there is potential of several economic difficulties. Most significant for the insured and the lender may be the question of sufficiency of value assets as collateral. However, other ramifications might come to light should the unit have a loss. Equipment that would have been worth repairing one year ago may now be a total loss. Likewise a total loss may have an actual value that is less than the amount owed on the equipment. Any of these situations, if they are a surprise, could potentially be harmful to a relationship. The depressed market values of used equipment needs to be discussed. Awareness is a big part of satisfying the insured.