The brand new Volvo VNL
Volvo Trucks North America
Volvo Trucks The Legacy Long-Haul North American truck was built on a platform used since 1996. the vnl – announced last year and started production in October. This week, Volvo Trucks called several journalists covering the transfer to Michelin Laurens that prove reasons in southern Carolina. Here we were able to try the truck in controlled conditions and spend the night in the cabin. The Volvo brand is synonymous with safety and the new truck provides significant fuel profits. But Volvo wanted to prove that the new truck also offers a significant improvement in the driver’s comfort.
Driver comfort is important to maintain the driver
The driver’s turnover exceeds 80% per year, Magnus Koeck, vice president of strategy, marketing and brand management at the Volvo Trucks, told assembled journalists. “And this is actually an improvement! A few years ago, it was over 100% turnover per year.” The fleets also spend on average $ 10,000 a year to board a new driver, a statistical element that Mr Koeck believes he underestimates the real cost. A comfortable driving environment can help fleets attract new drivers and maintain drivers.
R&D conducted thousands of driver interviews. What drivers appreciate the most, which determine, is the visibility, the comfort of the seats, the climate control, the comfortable bunk, the spacious interior and the abundant storage.
VNL delivers to all measurements. In terms of visibility, the new camera monitoring system offers superior visibility compared to the mirrors on the side of the truck. Vertical screens are placed between the pillar that supports the windshield and the door. Overcoming red technology creates better visibility at night. There are reference lines that indicate the back of the trailer. The cameras watch the rear corners of the trailer, providing visibility to how close the trailer is approaching the side of the road during stricter turns.
In my tests, I found that the screens are superior to the side mirrors. There was no blind spot. By the end of the movement, I ignored the mirrors and focused exclusively on screens. I asked Maddie Sullivan, the Volvo Trucks security manager, because the side mirrors needed at all. Mrs Sullivan said that in Europe, these systems can replace mirrors, but in the US, fleets need to demand discharge to remove mirrors. Removing the mirror will undoubtedly improve aerodynamics.
The comfort of the seat is a big deal for distant truck trucks. The seat can bounce up and down. When the road is smooth, the seat remains stationary. On the rough roads and during sudden stops, it bounces. Basically, the seat serves as an additional shock absorber.
I get a painful after driving four or five hours. They said the seat has a feature that can be activated, which involves rollers in the seat. These cylinders move up and down. In short, the seat provides a back massage.
I got Volvo in the cabin to sleep. I can assert good climate control, a comfortable bunk, a spacious interior and plenty of storage.
I slept well. The mattress is comfortable. In some ways, the experience is superior to sleep in a motel room. In a motel room, you can’t get the room completely dark. There is always an environment light. The truck has tanning curtains and I was able to sleep in full darkness.
The truck was designed to accommodate drivers ranging from 5th at 95th centimeter in size. Women, of course, tend to be smaller than men and less powerful. Drivers must check under the hood for inspection before driving. With the VNL, the hood consists of the entire front of the forward truck, leaving easy access to the engine. Volvo proved that the hood opened using only two fingers.
I expect that driving experience is much more difficult than it was. I was anxious. I manually visited by shifting a bunch of gears, steering wheel vibration and a noisy environment. VNL is automatic. No tool displacement is required. There was no steering wheel vibration, even on rough patches. And the interior was quiet. I was able to chat with the CDL driver in the front passenger seat without increasing my voice.
Finally, the system has a good cruise control system, much better than cars. In my car, cruise control causes a car deceleration due to a car slowing down the next lane. I was sure that this didn’t happen for VNL.
In addition, my cruise control stops operating below 30 miles per hour. This cruise control works up to 0 mph. So in the stop-and-go traffic, if the car in front of you stops, the truck stops. When the car starts forward, if less than 2 seconds have passed, the truck automatically moves forward. If more than two seconds have passed, all the driver has to do is hit “repeat” on the Cruise Control button.
I found the driving of this semi -lesser naturally demanding than I expected. Indeed, it was very similar to driving a car, but with better visibility and cruise control.
VNL is efficient fuel
Volvo Trucks claims that the new VNL will save customers 10% or more above the replacement truck. For a truck traveling 120,000 miles a year, this is equivalent to burning 1,300 fewer gallons of diesel, saving about $ 5,500 a year. Of course, depending on the age of the replacement truck, savings can be significantly higher. The new Halvor Lines and Lemon and Cynthia Soza-Wives-Supreme Customers-Subscribe-were overturned over 20% and 30% respectively.
Volvo Trucks yields about 7% of aerodynamic improvement and 3% to a more effective drive system.
But Joel Mancy, owner of Alpha Drivers Transportation, were also present. In a conversation with Mr Morrow, Mr Morrow pointed out other features that can contribute to fuel saving. Mr Morrow, who paid about $ 200,000 for his fully characterized VNL, now usually takes 10 miles per gallon or higher. The truck he replaced was to get about 8 miles per gallon.
Mr Mancy highlights Advanced Cruise Control as one of these features. Volvo Trucks has worked with Sygic Navigation to improve fuel efficiency. The cruise control system receives an advanced warning, based on GPS mapping, when the truck approaches a hill or is going to accelerate it. The motion transmission system can automatically start recovering before climbing a hill or touch when it comes to go down. Some drivers do it themselves. Others do not. But no driver can do it very well at night. “This,” Mr Morrow said, is the first truck I could not overcome. ”
Mr Morrow asks his drivers to go 58 miles / h to save fuel. Conservation of Cruise Control control ensures that this is happening. Mr Mancy uses Advanced Analytics that come with the connected Volvo Trucks services to ensure that this is happening. Mr Mancy shared some screenshots. Analytics shows a projection map of the route taken from a truck from its origin to its destination, along with the speed of the truck all the way.
Avoiding vacant miles is another way to reduce greenhouse gases. Blank miles represent about 16 % of truck functions. Volvo Trucks North America now offers Finder Finder, a consolidated cargo panel. Finding load collects data from over 40 loading tables on a single platform. Finder Load, unlike other cargo boards, is available at no cost for Volvo customers. Mr Morrow intends to carefully consider this recent announcement of the offer.
Security has undervalued investment performance
Ms Sullivan, director of security products, and I had a discussion of how to invest in the ROI with security is often underestimated. Ms Sullivan pointed out that a judicial settlement, in the event of a truck death, on average about $ 11 million. It refers to them as “nuclear decisions”, the verdicts are easily capable of erasing the life of a carrier. He reported all the billboards along the highways, asking drivers in a truck accident to communicate with the lawyer whose person is on the sign. The legal environment is not easier.
Trucks have about 1.9 accidents per million miles. In 0.5 accidents per million miles, there is an injury or death. 11% of these accidents include pedestrians. They, of course, often include deaths.
THE VNL Driving System has improved pedestrian detection. This system warns the driver to pedestrians or cyclists on their path and can activate frontal automatic emergency braking when the objects are directly in the journey. The system can also feel pedestrians and cyclists who may appear in blind spots immediately on each side of the truck and trailers.
Meanwhile, the Volvo Active Driver Assist Plus Solution provides support for stripe changes and active stripe centering, as well as various notifications to help drivers reduce the risk of side conflicts.
The company also gave the participants an advanced look in a press release to fall. The company will announce the introduction of new built -in airbags that will be developed in the event of overthrow. The twists are the most serious type of conflict. These accidents represent about half of all the deaths of truck passengers, according to the National Traffic Security Service.
The truck market 8 is in recession. With the economy showing signs of discomfort, it is unlikely to improve soon. However, VNL is an impressive truck. I have no doubt that Volvo Truck North America is ready to earn significant market share profits.
