Derick, Author at Gerry's Truck Centres

Author Archives for Derick

What does Volvos rock free technology do?

As any truck driver or heavy rig operator knows, in the course of getting the job done, truckers often encounter various challenges and obstacles. One of these challenges arises when your rig gets stuck due to terrain issues or inclement weather conditions. Regardless of the cause, these issues can be at the very least frustrating, and at the very worst a time-consuming and costly nightmare.

Fortunately, Volvo has an innovative solution called Rock Free Technology. In this post, we will discuss the functionality of this feature, which not only helps free your rig when it gets stuck but also enhances your safety. To put it simply, Volvo’s Rock Free Technology works by creating a controlled rocking [...]

Technology Volvo is currently testing to help electric trucks go even further.

Electric trucks (and electric vehicles in general for that matter) are still a bit of an anomaly for many people. From this, there are countless misunderstandings, half-truths and even outright falsehoods that many people believe to be fact when it comes to these new rigs.

Probably the ultimate current example of this is that electric trucks don’t have the ability to travel long distances on a single charge. This is completely false. The fact is that currently electric Volvo trucks can cover an outstanding distance. One one single charge, you can travel up to 440 kilometres! Thats basically the distance from Toronto to Ottawa, and again thats on one single charge!

How Volvo is working to ensure their electric trucks are safer in the event of accidents

As they say, accidents happen. This is a reality of life and thankfully most accidents are not a big deal… but when heavy trucks and rigs have accidents, their size and dimensions quickly turn even small incidents into a big deal. Thankfully Volvo is aware of this and spends quite a bit of time, energy and money to engineer their rigs so that they offer a higher degree of safety for everyone on the mean streets we all traverse.

Today we’ll discuss some of the ways Volvo is working to ensure their electric trucks are safer in the event of an accident.

Let’s start by touching [...]

Is the trucking industry currently a wise career choice?

The open road is an alluring thing. Jump behind the wheel, turn on your favourite music and just drive!

See new places, new things and just generally enjoy the experience. Many people love this. Some actually make it a career. Actually LOTS of people do! The truck driving industry is a major employer in Canada. The trucking industry plays a vital role in the Canadian economy, transporting goods to businesses and consumers across the country. According to Statistics Canada, there were over 400,000 people employed in the trucking industry in 2020, making it one of Canada’s largest employers.

Truck drivers make up a significant [...]

Should truck drivers be concerned about self driving trucks taking their jobs?

While no one can see the future (if you could you wouldn’t be reading this post), we can try to make predictions.

A great question that has been circulating for years now with prospective truck driving candidates is will self driving trucks eventually eliminate the need for truck drivers? Today we’re going to try and shed some light on this, and we’ll start with by saying that no, we do not think this is something truckers really need to be concerned with. While we understand the fear, the prevailing thinking is there several reasons self driving trucks will not eliminate truck drivers.

Let’s [...]

Powertrain engineering Volvo uses to increase fuel efficiency

In a recent blog post we discussed how Volvo uses aerodynamics into their optional fuel efficiency packages to help reduce air resistance, which when combined with the power train can increase fuel efficiency from 12 – 16%.

As any trucker knows, improvements of that magnitude will leave a small fortune in the pocket of the truck driver and not the diesel fuel companies. Today we’ll discuss how the power train contributes to this massive savings. For this, we’ll have to start with the D-13 TC (turbo compound) engine. It is the most fuel efficient engine Volvo offers. It utilizes a waste heat recovery system whereby it takes normally wasted heat and turns it into power and energy.

Aerodynamic engineering Volvo uses to increase fuel efficiency

Simply put Volvo knows that to succeed they need to put their customers interests first and foremost.

They do this in countless ways, but one of the ways is through their relentless drive to improve their vehicles fuel efficiency with the goal of leaving more money in the pocket of the driver. But increasing fuel efficiency is no simple task. This has caused Volvo to take a unique approach to this challenge by which they take into account both powertrain as well as aerodynamics in their efforts to improve efficiency. The results that have come from their efforts are nothing short of outstanding, as Volvo now offers different packages that can improve fuel efficiency anywhere from [...]

How Volvo’s I Shift transmission and even transmission fluid save truckers money

Has the time for gear jamming finally come to a close?

Hey, we get it, some people love the act of shifting for themselves, but the fact is that there is a better option available.

Volvo’s I-shift transmission.

Lets quickly touch on some of the benefits that any automatic transmission offers when compared to manual before delving into some specifics of the Volvo I-shift transmission.

They’re easier to use on a daily basis, particularly in congested traffic or city driving.

What benefits do Volvo Reman replacement parts offer when compared to rebuilt parts?

No one likes having to replace parts on their rig.

No one. But when it happens truckers will naturally want to find the most cost effective way to get the issue solved so they can get back out onto the road and get earning money again. Historically when truckers had a worn out or damaged truck component they could choose between replacing it with new parts, or they could opt to reduce the cost by buying rebuilt or refurbished parts.

While rebuilt parts are typically cheaper, the concern/ issue is rebuilders often only repair the specific failed or worn pieces, and they don’t always bring [...]

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