The North American Truck Writers, a panel of truck writers formed each year to select the winner of the Jim Winsor Technical Achievement Award, recently revealed the top three finalists. In the view of the panel’s 11 members, the three selected products are the best from a field of eight parts and components offered to the trucking industry in the last year.
Panel members nominated the eight products because they show significant technical advancement, wide applicability to commercial trucks, and available for sale to customers during calendar-year 2023, the organization said in a news release. The panel’s chairman, Tom Berg, said that voting by the writers for the finalists “was very close, with only a few points separating the three.”
They are:
- Aperia’s Halo Trailer Connect, a tire pressure monitoring, inflation, and reporting system
- Fontaine’s Smart fifth wheel, which monitors parts wear and warns a driver if a trailer’s kingpin has not been securely engaged
- Phillips’ AC47 tractor-trailer connector, which links data from multiple functions in a trailer but also works with legacy trailers
The other five nominees were:
- Cobra FM-CB radios, which add entertainment to two-way voice communications
- Motive 360-degree multicamera system, which provides around-the-truck views to drivers
- P.S.I. Digital ThermAlert, which senses and warns of abnormally high wheel-end temperatures
- Stemco AutoTorq, which automatically sets wheel-end bearings during installation
- Valvoline Blue Restore Gen2 motor oil, which removes carbon deposits on piston rings
The winner of the award, chosen from the three finalists, will be announced March 6 during the Technology & Maintenance Council’s Annual Meeting in New Orleans. A trophy commemorating the win accompanies the award. Criteria for nomination include significant technical advancement, wide applicability in the industry, and availability to customers during the previous calendar year.
The panel of journalists descends from the former Truck Writers of North America, which bestowed the first Technical Achievement Award in 1991. The award is now named in honor of the late James W. Winsor, a long-time trucking journalist and active member of TMC who passed away in 2015. It is sponsored by LaunchIt Public Relations.
Panel members represent the trucking industry trade press in Canada and the United States. Aside from Berg, who writes for Land Line and Construction Equipment, members include John Baxter, a freelance technical writer; Jason Canon, Commercial Carrier Journal; Seth Clevenger and Michael Freeze, Transport Topics; Beth Colvin, Truck, Parts, Service; Josh Fisher, Fleet Owner; James Menzies, Today’s Trucking and Trucknews; Jason Morgan, Fleet Equipment; and Jim Park and Jack Roberts, Heavy Duty Trucking.