The Trucking World On Instagram

Diesel News looks at the trucking world on Instagram and finds some talented sharp shooters looking to show the trucking industry at its best. This is great shot, taken at night of one of th V8 Supercars teams transporter at Willowbank Raceway in Queensland.
Read More

Truck Show Snapshots

Last week was Brisbane Truck Show, here are the Diesel News’ Truck Show Snapshots, if you couldn’t make to the event.There were unveilings by Scania, UD Trucks, Mercedes Benz, International and Hino. Crowds surged around the new Kenworth T610 and the old school limited edition T900 on the Paccar stand. Freightliner harked back over the 75 years since the founding of the company with a rare 1950 A64-800 ‘Bubblenose’ truck.
Read More

Driving New Cascadia

Diesel News’ US Correspondent, Steve Sturgess, driving New Cascadia from Freightliner in the US, took the truck on a 125-mile route heading out into the Mojave Desert to the south of Las Vegas, then looping back around to join the main artery into Las Vegas from the south (Interstate-15). This loop encountered Interstate and two-lane driving and a significant climb over the mountains at Crescent Peak. The Cascadia is scheduled for introduction into the Australian market, in the next couple of years.
Read More

New Cascadia in Camo

Freightliner in the US have launched the new Cascadia in camo, mixing metaphors about camouflaged trucks on test and also emphasising the importance of the military to the US. Here is a run through on all of the electronic safety systems to be fitted on the next generation of the Freightliner Cascadia, as it was launched last week.
Read More

Daimler Dealership Ownership Change

This week has seen the announcement of a Daimler Dealership ownership change in the Melbourne area. Automotive Holdings Group, fast becoming a major player in both truck sales and the trucking industry, announced it has agreed to acquire the Mercedes‐Benz Commercial Vehicles dealership in Laverton, Victoria from Mercedes‐Benz Australia/Pacific.
Read More

International Hype

Stolen trucks on the streets of Las Vegas, followed by TV News helicopters. Of course, it has to be a truck launch. This one is for the new International HX range for the US market which Diesel News reported a couple of weeks ago. This is part of the new trend to the spectacular which is happening within the truck manufacturing industry, it’s not just a launch event, it has to look good on YouTube.
Read More

Cat’s latest stunt

Here is another of what is becoming a growing trend, truck manufacturers making stunt videos with their trucks and posting them up on YouTube. The videos rarely have any real relevance to the act of trying to sell the truck to the customer. They are often about engaging the viewer, upping awareness of the brand and, perhaps highlighting one of the features of the truck. Of course, this is followed by the obligatory behind the scenes video:
Read More

Self driving truck premiered

In a launch at the Hoover Dam on the border of Nevada and Arizona in the US, Freightliner premiered its newest innovation. The spectacular dam was the scene of a massive projection display on the dam wall itself, powerful enough to get into the Guinness Book of Records. The crowd, including TV crews from all over the USA, watched from the edge of the dam as the projection show lit up the night. Then the spotlights picked out the new autonomous truck as it crested the mountain in the distance and weaved its way towards the dam, through the desert landscape.
Read More
Fatigue and Safety - Talking Turkey About Trucking

Who’s liable?

The release of the Freightliner Inspiration autonomous truck took place with a great deal of pizazz, here in the US, this week. Apart from the YouTube clips and TV news stories, there was also a great deal of comment on social media about just what the implications are of the introduction of such a truck onto our highways. Of course, there is the usual rubbish about banning driverless trucks from the highway and drivers being deprived of their jobs. However, there is one issue which does need to be addressed, and that is just who or what is liable if there is an accident.
Read More