Here's How Diesel Contributes to a Green Future

Photo by Avi Richards on Unsplash

If you're a news junky you probably noticed a spate of articles lately about diesel trucks and pollution. Most of this noise is driven by an EPA report alleging that more than a half million diesel truck owners have either modified or removed their emissions control systems. 

We know it happens. It's unfortunate, however, that these stories (links to the articles at the end of this post) reinforce a one-sided view of diesel power and the strides diesel has made over the past three decades. 

Jack Hunsley is a writer who brings to light the other side of diesel that is not always talked about. The article that first caught my eye was Do not discount diesel's green trucking potential, which appeared in Autoworld magazine's online space this week. EVs, fuel cells and biofuels all have environmental potential, but cleaner diesel technologies could pave the way to a greener future, Hunsley writes.

"Like it or not, diesel has a long-term future in the commercial vehicle sector," he begins. "Regulations and customer interest favor low and zero-emission technology in the long run, but average vehicle lifespan means diesel trucks, whether pure internal combustion engine (ICE) or hybridized, will continue to be bought and operated for years to come."

The author notes that even by 2027 70% of commercial vehicles sold will still be diesel. 

Yes, every car and truck manufacturer is working to produce EVs, but even the best projections don't have electric over-the-road haulers in production mode by 2024. 

One reason diesel engines are favored is their load-carrying power, but another is their longevity, and Hunsley gets it. These are vehicles that are meant to run for 10 to 15 years in order to justify the purchase price. "Developers must continue eking every last drop of efficiency out of diesel technology, " he says.

Yesterday Hunsley did a follow up titled, Still no clear winner in trucking's green powertrain market. This article, also in Automotive World, talks about how all the world's leading truck manufacturers are working on technologies of one kind or another to create clean energy. 

The current scenario reminds me a little of the Space Race. When I was a kid NASA came to our elementary school to put on a show that would inspire young people to imagine a man on the moon, primarily to produce a new generation of engineers and physicists. Over the past several decades we've seen a growing push for breakthrough technologies in the realm of transportation. 

Hunsley's articles are a reminder that Diesel Power is not off the table. It's likely to be here a while during a transition phase and in different forms. A lot of smart people are working on these things. I'm sure we'll see and hear more in the years ahead. 

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RELATED LINKS
Modified diesel pickup trucks causing higher levels of pollution, EPA finds
Original NYTimes story about diesel trucks and the EPA study
Illegal emissions tampering is rampant and apparently a big business

The New Diesel Engine in the Ram 1500 Limited Has Better MPG and Big Torque

This Mike Parris article was forwarded to me a couple weeks ago when it appeared in the WTOP News.  WTOP is an FM radio station out of Washington D.C. with Parris in the enviable position of writing car reviews. Two weeks ago he wrote about a RAM 1500 Limited, highlighting its fuel efficiency and "a big dose of torque." 

Diesel pickups are America's workhorses and Parris begins by reminding us that they are as popular as ever and the RAM 1500 especially so since its redesign. Motor Trend magazine, in fact, named the 2019 and 2020 fifth generation RAM 1500s their Truck of the Year.

This truck is a six-cylinder turbo diesel with a couple of big payoffs. Parris was able to test drive this machine for 700 miles on one tank of gas. For a large four-door luxury pickup, he saw impressive MPG. His overall assessment? "From comfortable leather-covered, heated and ventilated-power seats to tons of space and nifty storage areas, this is a well-planned and executed design." 

The first generation RAM trucks were introduced in October 1980. They featured the Ram hood ornament that was used on Dodge cars from 1932-1954. A lot of automakers utilize nostalgia in their creative efforts to build a cool factor into their vehicles. I find hood ornaments to be one of the coolest parts of going to classic car shows. 

When Parris outlines his pros and cons on the 2020 his positives include the engine options, the luxury interior and its tough "work ready" look. The cons, for Parris, were price related and the fact that it felt "big and heavy in the corners."

Well, to that latter remark, maybe certain decisions were made because it's not a race car. 

There's a batch of photos that accompany this article and if you want to see what a luxury pickup looks like, inside and out, you can find the article here:
Ram 1500 Limited mixes luxury and brawn, adds better MPG with new diesel engine

Meantime, have a great rest of your week and enjoy the ride.

Related Stories
Car and Driver review of the 2021 RAM 1500 
Build and Price a 2020 RAM 1500
This YouTube video calls 2020 RAM 1500 the Rolls Royce of Trucks

How Big Is the Diesel Market? It's Bigger Than You Think and Getting Bigger

Photo by Tomasz Frankowski on Unsplash

From childhood I've always been interested in the future. How about you? Not that there's anything wrong with the present, but sooner or later today will be long gone and the future will be our home. As a result, we find ourselves thinking about things like will people one day live on the moon or will cars float above the ground like a hover board in Back to the Future? 

That latter image came from the bck of a cereal box when I was a boy in the Sixties. They made it seem like this would take place in the 1980s. We would not only wear out tires, but would also be able to ride across rivers and lakes. Or so we imagined.

As far fetched as that all sounds, here is something that many people could not imagine: that loud, smelly diesel engines would not only get quieter but actually reduce emissions to near zero.  

The fact that this has been happening during the course of our lifetime has hardly received any fanfare, yet it's been happening. This is one reason why diesel is still a growth market. 

According to a recent article in MENAFN,  the diesel engine market will experience a compound annual growth rate of 6.8% per year for the next four years, to more than $332 billion dollars. The article briefly explains what diesel engines are and why this growth will continue.

An article about Clean Diesel in Diesel Technology Forum goes even further out in its projects. The forum authors write:

Diesel is projected to retain a dominant role, thanks to continuous improvement in emissions reductions and improving efficiency.

Today’s cleaner diesel fuels, advanced engines and effective emission controls combine to achieve near zero emissions for fine particles and smog forming compounds like oxides of nitrogen (NOx). Clean diesel’s proven energy efficiency and ability to use renewable fuels position diesel as a key technology to achieve cleaner air, lower greenhouse gas emissions and a sustainable environment around the world.

Cleaner diesel fuel, advanced engines and effective emissions control make up a new generation of diesel. It's clean diesel.

For more information, watch the video and read What Is Clean Diesel

While reading up on all these things I came across this statement at yet another site. By 2027, heavy-duty diesel trucks in the U.S. will deliver a majority of the anticipated 1 billion tons of CO2 reductions, thanks to improved fuel economy standards.

This is a topic that I am researching right now because of a couple articles I have read that seem to be excessively critical of diesel trucks right now.  The efficiency improvements in diesel engine technology have been nothing short of phenomenal. 

Have a great day and enjoy your ride.

Towing Basics: Better Safe Than Sorry

One of the primary features of diesel engines--besides the fact that they last longer--is the power they generate for towing. Open your eyes and look around. What kinds of engines are doing all the work? It's diesel. 

So, whether you're towing horses to the county fair or hauling a bulldozer to a job site, your truck is likely a diesel powered machine.  

Having the right engine isn't the only thing you need to know about towing. While checking out the Diesel Power Products website yesterday I found this article on towing that was chock full of useful information for people who tow. Having written about towing in the past, I found it to be a fairly thorough discussion of issues you need to concern yourself with. These include:

Attaching the Load

Stopping the Load

Supporting the Load

Securing the Load

Balancing the Load

and Moving the Load

Years ago I heard a story about a bulldozer that slid off the back of a flatbed and killed two people because it wasn't properly secured. This is not an experience you want to have. When I was young I saw an inexperienced driver flip her car while towing a small house trailer. I was with my uncle who was a volunteer fireman and rescue squad worker. We were first on the scene and helped avert a bigger tragedy. 

If you ever do any towing, or plan to, this helpful article on The Basics of Towing with Your Diesel is informative and worth bookmarking.  

Related Links
A Quick Guide to Diesel Power Products 
Pickups That Can Tow More Than 30,000 Pounds

A Quick Nod to Diesel Power Products in Spokane as We March Into Cyber Monday

People have been shopping after Thanksgiving for years, even though the term "Black Friday" wasn't coined until the early Fifties. With the advent of the Internet it seems only naturally that an online counterpart would pop up. Thus, in 2005 Cyber Monday was born. And just as there are boatloads of deals luring shoppers to retail outlets on Black Friday, so also we find online retailers doing likewise. Very few shoppers will have gone this entire weekend without some form of online interaction.

The term Cyber Monday, coined by the National Retail Federation, was created by retailers to encourage online shopping. The press release announcing this new "holiday" was titled, "Cyber Monday" Quickly Becoming One of the Biggest Shopping Days of the Year. And it quickly did.

Some people have called the day Blue Monday, which seems a misnomer for two reasons. First, there already was a Blue Monday, the third Monday in January which some folks evidently believed the most depressing day of the year. (No doubt they lived in a frigid, isolated place in the far North.) Second, when people shop, they seem to get energized, whether purchasing gifts for oneself or loved ones.

According to Shop.org's Bizrate Research eHoliday Mood Study last year, "77 percent of online retailers said that their sales increased substantially on the Monday after Thanksgiving." In light of this year's hunkering down, we suspect that that number will grow even more. I've never seen so many online discounts and promotions as we're seeing this year. Cyber Monday will no doubt be one for the books.

Last year, Cyber Monday online sales grew to a record of $8.59 billion, compared with $2.98 billion in 2015. The term Cyber Monday is now international in scope. 

I mention all this to draw attention to Diesel Power Products, a top-tier diesel performance headquarters located in Washington's Spokane Valley. Their online storefront provides the most comprehensive catalogue and product support in the industry. We like it that they offer Champion Blue Flame ‘Classic” Diesel Engine Oil and Champion Blue Flame API 15w40 Performance Diesel Engine Oil.

The folks at Diesel Power Products pride themselves in being America's Diesel Superstore with over 330,000 Facebook likes and 6,000 followers on Twitter. They have a small store approach—large enough to supply you with anything you need, yet small enough to remember who you are. Their thoroughly trained team of diesel enthusiasts supports their online storefront with expertise and experience. 

What we like is that they are about both performance AND reliability. If you need diesel performance or stock replacement parts, call them and experience the Diesel Power Products difference. www.dieselpowerproducts.com or call:  888-993-4373

DPP lives up to their name as the Northwest’s Premier On-Line Diesel Distributor, carrying an unmatched parts selection from other many companies like Champion Oil.

Remember when the Monday after Thanksgiving meant back to work? Now it means back to work buying stuff on-line. This year you not only don't have to push anyone out of your way, it's nice to get at least some of your shopping done without wearing a mask or trying to figure out if you're six feet from the other people in line.

Need Some Blue Flame Diesel Oil? Visit JD Supply on Small Business Saturday

Small Business Saturday is an American shopping holiday held during the Saturday after Thanksgiving during one of the busiest shopping periods of the year. Small Business Saturday is always the last weekend in November, so falls between November 24 and November 30.

First observed in the United States in 2010, Small Business Saturday is a counterpart to Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which feature big-box retail and on-line e-commerce stores respectfully. By contrast, Small Business Saturday encourages holiday shoppers to patronize brick and mortar businesses that are small and often forgotten.

 

Founded in 2014 by Justin Lulay, JD Supply is small, family-owned business located in the heart of the Pacific Northwest. Fueled by his love of cars and background in the farming industry, Justin wanted to provide top quality parts and products to other surrounding farms and businesses. Word caught on, the business grew and JD Supply was born. https://www.jdsupplyllc.com/

 

They provide the diesel parts you need for your ride whether it's exterior, interior or performance related. Please feel free to reach out with any questions or needs you may have about their products. Located in Sublimity, Oregon; be sure to email sales@jdsupplyllc.com or call 503-551-5815 before you come.

 

They are offering the Champion Blue Flame “Classic” 15w-40 Performance Diesel Engine Oil 

 

And Champion Blue Flame API 15w-40 Performance Diesel Engine Oil  

Getting Your Diesel Truck Ready for Winter

Photo courtesy Chevrolet

It's Black Friday. It's nice to have a long weekend to get our vehicles ready for winter. What follows are a few areas to focus on, extracted from an article by Whitney Russell that I saw this week at The NewsWheel.

1) The Battery
As you head into winter you may wish to test your battery to see if it is ready for Jack Frost. According to NAPA auto parts, battery strength is reduced by 35% at 32 degrees and 60% at zero. The time to deal with an older battery is before the season, not when you get stuck somewhere and need cranking power.

If you live up north you probably know a little about the tricks diesel owners use in the winter time, but if you've just moved here from another part of the country you may want to think about getting a block heater, if your truck doesn't already come equipped. (Heated seats are nice, too, but they won't help get your truck started.)

2) Anti-Gel Fuel Additives
It depends on where you live, but for those unfamiliar it can really get frigid in winter the further North you go. Sometimes someone in Florida goes to visit family in Maine or Toronto, and is unaware of how cold it can get. You should be prepared with a suitable fuel additive to keep it from gelling before it reaches its cloud point, the point at which wax begin to form and inhibit flow.

3) Switch to Lighter Weight Oil
Unless you're a newbie you know how viscosity makes a difference between seasons. If you need help selecting the right diesel oil for your truck, you can always Ask Jake. (Hit the white Ask Jake button on the right here.) 

4) Fuel Filter
The author suggests that if it's been a while since you replaced the fuel filter, this would be a good time to deal with it. We're also reminded that some trucks have two. Replace both.

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The article is basic, but a good reminder that it's that time of year and winter's coming soon... or has already arrived, depending on where you live.

The article ends with links to more info on block heaters and how to protect the exterior of your vehicle from road salt. Don't know what road salt is? It's not for your grits. 

Here's a link to the article in full. Hope you've recovered from your feast yesterday and had a happy Thanksgiving.

https://thenewswheel.com/how-to-prepare-your-diesel-truck-for-winter/