Across the province and country, sub-zero temperatures make winter a potentially treacherous time for those who earn their living on the road. While winter trucking in Canada is never a walk in the park, knowing how to conquer the cold can keep your fleet going without interruption all season long.
Here’s how to prepare your diesel engines to keep the rigs road-ready and able to handle all the elements!
The governments of Ontario and Canada as a whole have taken quite a few measures in support of the trucking industry. Some of these supports include classifying trucking as an “essential service” so they can keep driving, reducing weight and municipal by-law restrictions, and allowing goods to continue moving over the border with the United States.
All this is to keep the delivery of goods going round-the-clock to all corners of the country. However, more can and should be done to help drivers and the industry as a whole.
Diesel engines are durable, fuel-efficient and provide the necessary power and torque for moving big loads. As these engines have become more powerful, they have become cleaner! Recent improvements in technology have reduced emissions, made exhaust cleaner, and improved the fuel efficiency of trucks, even as the loads have become larger.
Now, commercial semi-trucks no longer expel black smoke, leave a lingering diesel stench as they pass, or sound loud and aggressive. Pound for pound, they are some of the cleanest vehicles available. Two major advancements went into making diesel engines cleaner than they have ever been before: better fuel and exhaust after-treatment technologies.
Semi-trucks are built to work: their engines are six times bigger than the average car engine, letting them get over a million kilometres more on average. But can you get bigger than an 18-wheeler here in Ontario? Across Canada, weight standards are pretty uniform, give or take a tonne or two, but the length of the truck can vary.