DC Velocity - July 2016

inbound

Women make up about 6 percent of America’s truck driving work force, with more than 200,000 female company-driv-ers and owner-operators delivering goods to every corner of the nation, according to Truckers News. The job offers variety, freedom, and a solid paycheck, and now it offers one additional benefit—a weekly newsletter designed to address the unique needs and interests of female drivers.

She Drives Trucks is sent weekly to 50,000 female drivers, addressing the issues that women face on the road, such as personal safety, health concerns, and job conditions.

“These are professionals who made a conscious decision to pursue a career in a male-dom-inated industry, even knowing the challenges they would face. She Drives helps them address those challenges and have a little fun at the same time,” said Linda Longton, senior vice president, editorial, for Randall-Reilly, which publishes both magazines.

Future editions will include profiles of women drivers, guest commentaries from female drivers, and stories on topics such as health and fitness, equipment and products tailored to women’s needs, and ways to make a big rig a home away from home. Through the newsletter, website, and social media, She Drives will also offer a community for women drivers to share their experiences and tips for surviving and thriving in a challenging industry.

Women truckers
get their own
newsletter

To keep their fleets of planes running smoothly, airlines need ready access to replacement parts. But stocking the tens of thousands of parts that make up an aircraft interior is an expensive proposition—especially given the small quantities that are often involved. Now, one company is using a 21st century technique to cut the cost of obtaining replacement parts. Air New Zealand is using 3-D printing—also known as additive layer manufacturing technology—to make the fold-down cocktail trays that form part of its “business premier” passenger seats.

The Kiwi company launched the project through a collaboration with Auckland University of Technology, whose 3-D Printing Lab works with students, staff, and industry on projects that demand quick production of complex three-dimensional prototypes and on-demand manufacturing.

“Aircraft interiors are made up of tens of thousands of parts,” Air New
Zealand Chief Operations Officer Bruce Parton said in a release. “Not
only can’t we hold stock of every replacement part we might need, we
often only require a small number of units, which can be really expensive
to produce using traditional manufacturing methods and can involve
frustrating delays while a replacement part is delivered.”
The airline hopes to start installing its 3-D-printed cocktail trays on
aircraft soon and is already exploring new applications for additional
components.

Air New Zealand knows when to fold ’em Ocean carriers have experimented with a variety of techniques to cut costs and improve efficiency in recent years, from slow steaming to giant megaships to “bulbous bows” that reduce drag. Now comes help from an unexpected source, as GE Marine starts adapting engine technology from its jet plane division to oceangoing freight vessels.

At first glance, there appears to be little overlap between nimble, high-revving jets and muscular, plodding megaships. But GE argues that heavy containerships can benefit from the same gas turbine technology that drives planes such as the Boeing 767 and the Airbus A310 aircraft.

This COmbined Gas turbine Electric and Steam (COGES) system is 80 percent lighter and 30 percent smaller than an equivalent slow-speed diesel engine, freeing up valuable cargo space in ships that are always looking to load one more TEU (twenty-foot equivalent unit), GE claims.

Configured to run on either liquid natural gas (LNG) or marine gas oil (MGO), the 25-megawatt gas turbine also runs cleaner than the standard ship engine, producing fewer greenhouse gas emissions, according to the company.