Dealer's Rig Demos

摘要

Most semitrailers with product-promotion messages are freight vans, whose broad sides provide a big canvas for words and images. This one's an end-dump to better suit its audience. Its graphics proclaim, "Powered by Quality...Paccar MX," and that refers to the MX diesel in the rig's tractor, a Peterbilt 365. Tractor and trailer comprise a demonstration rig owned by Las Vegas Peterbilt in southeastern Nevada. It's for sale, of course, but in the meantime it's there for truckers to drive and experience the recently introduced engine. "The Paccar MX tour came through Las Vegas last year with highway tractors, but we wanted something to show to the construction guys," explains the dealer's sales manager, Wes Gayhart. So he ordered the vocationally oriented Model 365. It has western specs, including a forward-set steer axle, a long 227-inch wheel-base, and a wet kit to tip the trailer. The MX is mated to an Eaton Fuller 13-speed manual transmission, which helped make it a pleasure to drive.