Diesel News – A Rough Week for the Auto Industry
Truck Of The Week
Finally, A 6.7L Power Stroke Dominates A Truck Pull
We’ve all known about the 6.7L Power Stroke’s potential since it debuted more than a decade ago. Now, we may be seeing Ford’s V-8 platform rise to the occasion in the Pro Street Diesel Truck Class (i.e. 2.6-inch smooth bore). Sheldon D’Huyvetter’s late-model 6.7L Super Duty took the win at the Full Throttle Shootout in Lancaster, Wisconsin over the weekend, beating out a tough field of 900-plus horsepower trucks. After dropping his first hook, the F-250 coined “Renegade Reman” returned at the end of the class and moved the sled 321.93-feet for the W. Look for D’Huyvetter and his Super Duty at the Scheid Diesel Extravaganza in August, where it will be competing against the best-running 2.6 trucks in the country.
Source: https://www.wtpapull.com/
It’s All In A Days’ Work
Speaking of Ford winning in the dirt, Tommy Hassler of Hassler Diesel Performance had a big weekend campaigning his fleet of blue ovals out east. His Saturday night started with a trip to Buck Motorsports Park in Quarryville, Pennsylvania (a.k.a. The Buck), where his 6.4L Power Stroke took the win in the Strictly Street class. Then a quick exit with a trip back to the shop to load the 3.6 smooth bores (Pro Stock) truck, Twisted Addiction, and he was on the road to his second destination, a test hook. His night ended at around 2 o’clock in the morning. In case you were wondering what truck pull season looks like, in a nutshell, this is it!
Source: https://www.hasslerdiesel.com/
Highlights
Derek Rose’s Million-Dollar Idea For U.C.C. 2023
Leave it to former U.C.C. champ, Derek Rose, to propose what could possibly be the most exciting change to diesel’s ultimate competition. What if a hub dyno challenge could be arranged, along with a 10-truck buy-in and a field that’s open to all takers, Pro Mods, Super Stock pullers, and the like… Taking the traction (or lack thereof for some competitors) factor out of the chassis dyno equation alone makes this highly appealing to many. After posing the question and tagging Dynomite Diesel Products’ Lenny Reed (the new owner of a state-of-the-art Dynocom hub dyno) on Facebook, Dynocom Industries even chimed in—offering to sponsor it…
Source: https://ultimatecalloutchallenge.com/
Emissions
Big Trouble Is Brewing In California
A California law taking effect last week is expected to remove 70,000 independent owner-operator trucking operations from the Golden State’s supply chain. According to an AmericaFirstReport.com article, the law (AB-5) essentially makes it illegal for independent contractors to operate transport trucks in the state of California. Cost increases, shipping delays, and logjams are all expected as a result. According to FreightWaves.com, Harbor Trucking Association CEO, Matt Schrap, believes “tens of thousands of truck drivers will be driven out of established business relationships within a week.” Soon, owner-operators who are contracted out by hundreds of shipping and transport companies will cease to operate in the state.
NOTE: Upon further investigation, we learned that there is much more to this than the below-linked article describes (go figure). It’s not all doom and gloom as the law hopes to sway/force companies like Swift or Knight (which lease their trucks and routes to drivers) to provide more benefits to their drivers. Independent contractors are not in jeopardy as a whole, only a small percentage looks to be impacted by this change.
Source: https://americafirstreport.com/truckpocalypse-begins-in-california
Not A Good Week For EV’s
Electric F-150 Tow-Test Ends In Disaster
A recent towing exhibition between an electric F-150 and a gas-powered GMC Sierra 1500 did not end well for the Ford. The test, put together by Fast Lane Truck, entailed both trucks toting an identical toy hauler, each weighing roughly 3 tons, from north of Denver to Pueblo, Colorado. Immediately, the F-150’s range was questionable, and it soon had testers scrambling to find a fast-charging station only halfway through the trip. Long story short, the F-150 never even came close to making it 147 miles to Pueblo. The other truck, the GMC powered by the thirsty 6.2L V-8, not only made it to Pueblo but also back to the original starting point on the same tank of gas.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-e55Vued028
Another EV Road Trip Fail
Rachel Wolfe, a journalist employed by the Wall Street Journal, took a road trip recently from New Orleans to Chicago in a new Kia EV6. The purpose of the journey? To investigate America’s current public charging infrastructure for electric vehicles. In summation, Wolfe experienced what most of the automotive press and its followers often fail to divulge: shorter range than expected (and advertised), slower-than advertised public charging stations, quirky charging cords at said public charge stations and a lack of fast-charge stations in many areas of the country. Perhaps most telling was when Wolfe revealed she spent more time waiting to charge the EV6 than she did sleeping. Ouch.
OEM News
Ford Outperforms Auto Industry In June
With sales up 31.5-percent in June over where they were a year ago, Ford bested the automotive industry last month. Despite ongoing semiconductor chip and supply chain shortages, the automaker’s numbers totaled 152,262 units, 79,823 of which were trucks. In particular, F-series sales were up 26.3-percent over a year ago, an increase that represents 37.9-percent of Ford’s overall sales mix. According to Ford, demand for new vehicles remains exceptionally strong, with the number of retail sales coming from previously placed orders continuing at a record pace of about 50 percent in June.
Source: https://media.ford.com/content/dam/fordmedia/North%20America/US/2022/07/05/salesjune2022ford.pdf
https://bankspower.com/https://dieselnet.com/news/2022/03iqair.php
