Kevin Rutherfrauds $200000 Signature glider truck has complete engine failure!!!

Oh I've seen a lot, which is why I like seeing documents which actually talk about their methodology so you can judge for yourself how valid the experiment.

First, I categorically dismiss any claim based on mpg improvement (e.g. 0.6mpg improvement). Improvements will be percentage based -- a 10% improvement could be 0.6 at 6mpg or 1 at 10mpg...

But even if I don't have the time or inclination to do my own research, I give a fair amount of weight to the EPA's smartway classifications. Everything listed there had to undergo third party scientific study to verify the mpg claims.

Is it perfect? Not at all -- we know that there are diminishing returns on subsequent modifications. And the EPA certainly wouldn't promote removing a dpf, which even they admit would improve mileage. But the EPA has nothing to gain from promoting snake oil (to the contrary).

So why are airtabs not smartway certified? Do they not offer at least 1% improvement?

Why is microblue not smartway certified? "0.6-1mpg" ought to be easy to prove...

Why is the FASS system not smartway certified?

Turbo3000d?

Pittsburgh Power turbos? tunes? Mufflers?

Fleet air filters?


Michelin tires are. Smart truck undertray systems are. And those are products that would get my money...

Sounds like more ###### PP service, but as someone who drives out west without any engine brake at all, I offer this:

 

This driver swapped out a lot parts for 32k with a ex Schneider truck, he could have bought another truck or trailer for that price. How long will it for him recoup $32k? was he leased to a carrier or own authority? who knows. Not a good business decision IMHO.


http://solutions.letstruck.com/Answe...Power+did+what

 

Have you ever really looked into what Smartway is? Its the government putting their chop on products, and choosing winners and losers in the marketplace. That's how we got saddled with trailer skirts, for instance, mandatory emissions controls, DPF filters, and now government mandated fuel economy standards. Think you'll ever see a "hood" built again as a truck body style?

Why don't you ask them? Sounds like a business decision that ought to involve whether the marketing potential associated with the certification will increase sales enough to pay for the testing.

A better question might be why a company needs to seek government approval for their product in a marketplace that winnows out ineffective products through lack of performance.

If you'd look, that wonderful government program only covers tires, aerodynamic devices, idle reduction devices and "retrofit" devices... meaning DPF filters. If your stuff doesn't fit into the predetermined government categories, you're out of luck. Maybe its "WE" are out of luck due to our short sighted government foisting another useless waste of taxpayer money on the public.

 

The smartway program isn't choosing winners and losers, it is objectively measuring products. Those that produce measurable results are included in their list. Aside from engine emissions on new trucks, the EPA isn't mandating adoption...

FWIW, I think the EPA does a decent job on the whole. Cleaner air is important, and their gradual phase-in of new standards was a reasonable step. CARB, on the other hand, was not so reasonable in mandating the accelerated adoption/retrofitting of the latest EPA standards. They're the agency that botched this...

I like my smartway trailer; I went from 8.1mpg to about 9 after getting it. I'd prefer California not mandate adoption of smartway features -- why force my competitors to be more competitive?

A responsible company with nothing to hide would have done the testing on its own. If they don't want to participate or if they tried and failed to show a 1% improvement -- that speaks volumes.

From ivory towers I love free markets. But free markets only function properly when two conditions are met:

1) Everyone has equal access to information
2) Everyone acts rationally and in their own best long term interest

Sadly neither of those conditions are met in the trucking industry. I would actually prefer that someone other than the EPA published objective measurement of various modifications, be it the Society of Automotive Engineers, OOIDA, ATA, Let's Truck, or TTR. Sadly none have stepped up to aggregate and disseminate that information so, for now, the EPA is the best we have.

You're right, there are no categories for powertrain or chassis improvements. All the more reason for SAE or ATA or whomever to step up...

 

DY If you bought a new tractor in 08 I bet you'd feel differently ....


And I'll hug trees with the best of them...

 

i posted in that thread that I had no improvement in power or Mpg's and I run a very constant route and keep track of every tank.

 

Well, option 1 is "never" seeing as he said he went from 6.5 mpg down to 5.9. In fact, the more he runs the more he loses... sad.

Option 2 is an extra $128,000 in revenue if he has a 25% profit margin. How long do you think it will take to earn $128,000 over-and-above his regular revenue? Many years. Except for the fact that it costs him more money to run those miles than before, so the profit is less. It gets ugly.

So, the moral of the story is to stop burning $100 bills looking for $0.10 in savings.

 

At the rate things are going, I think this thread is gonna last longer than that pp engine did.

 

This is how it should be done Small block

 

Almost any electronic engine driven slow enough pulling light one way and empty to other can darn near Acheive 10 mpg in a areo truck 200 k is overkill wowww. I listen occasionally to kr but noticed a lot of no brainer ideas changing over the years and flip flopping by his industry partners ... Md used to recommend crazy air pressures but now lean more to what the manufactors recomend . Quite a few guys calling about fass pump failures .. Scan gauges that mess with the trucks electronics etc etc... The most common answer is its your truck that has a issue not their product ... We have a kr junkie working here with a coranado glider a pp 3406 which pulls hard but only gets 6 to 6.5 mpg about a full mpg less than my stock mx .. Maybe guys should spend more time driving properly if they are after fuel milage then chasing big dollar magic solutions on things that need to go half way across country to be fixed if a issue arises