Western Star

Truck Sales Take Off, Flynn Liquidation, Isuzu Bullbars and Penske Expansion

The news in the world of trucks this week includes Truck Sales Taking Off, Flynn Liquidation, Isuzu Bullbars, Groeneveld Takeover and a Penske Expansion. The latest sales figures released by the Truck Industry Council (TIC) suggest an optimistic trucking industry is starting to invest in more new trucks at the heavier end of the market. Although the light- and medium-duty markets have been relatively strong in recent years, the heavy-duty segment has been less dynamic.
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Ravaglioli Commercial Vehicle Wireless Mobile Column Lifts

In-House Skill Set

The organisation within Wakefield Trucks feels like a family business, which has its own in-house skill set. Like many of its clients. Eighty per cent of the people working on the floor in the workshop
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Truck Cabin as Media Lounge

Sitting in the Western Star Roadstar, we can get an idea of the truck cabin as a media lounge, in the custom-built show truck from the US truck maker. Sit down on the lounge and pull out the desktop to play with your laptop, or flick the switch to activate the entertainment system. This system includes a few different elements to give the driver that extra feeling of luxury. The array of speakers fitted around the cabin evidence the 5.1 Surround Sound system, which is part of the whole entertainment set-up. Above the driver’s head, in the driver’s seat, is a control system to adjust volume and the source for the audio coming out of the speakers.
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Getting Smart About Repairs

For some workshops it’s all about straightforward servicing, for others, handling more repairs can strengthen the business. Diesel News has been talking to one such workshop in Adelaide. South Australia is tough on trucks. They pull high masses at high average speeds for long trips, this makes plenty of work for repair shops. Engines, turbos, diffs and transmissions need to be replaced and if the truck does crash at high speed the body shop has a major task on its hands.
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Comfort for the Truckie

Since when has comfort for the truckie become a priority? One of the changes which still rankles for me is the way the fixtures and fittings in trucks became so much better just after I had ended my full-time truck driving career, nearly twenty years ago. After a long career dealing with cramped cabins, unsuspended seats and under-powered engines, it seems that the contemporary driver gets all of the latest creature comforts. Of course, this is not necessarily the case and many drivers are driving something twenty years old, or older. However, a lot of the latest line-haul trucks are well appointed and comfortable places to live. They have to be if the drivers are expected to live in them week in, week out.
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Aerodynamic Western Star 5700

Driving the new aerodynamic Western Star 5700 on a test was enjoyed by Diesel’s US correspondent, Steve Sturgess. Launched at the 2014 Mid America Trucking Show, the truck was also a transformer, Optimus Prime, for the movie Transformers: Age of Extinction, it is unlikely to make it to Australian shores any time soon. Since launch it has reached full production for the US market as Western Star’s aero model with aero performance second only to the Freightliner Cascadia Evolution. The 5700 is very much a Western Star with all the ruggedness, which has made it a favourite in the world’s wilder places.
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