TWNA Announces 2010 Technical Achievement Award Finalists

Tampa, Fla. – (February 10, 2011) – The Truck Writers of North America (TWNA) today announced the finalists for the top technical achievement of 2010 during the annual Technology & Maintenance Council (TMC) meeting.

The Technical Achievement Award finalists were recognized by Paul Abelson (Road King and Land Line magazines) and Tom Berg (Heavy Duty Trucking and Construction Equipment magazines), both members of TWNA's award committee along with John Baxter (Randall-Reilly Publishing), Peter Carter (Today's Trucking), Paul Hartley (AddMedia), James Menzies (Truck News and Truck West), and Jim Park (Heavy Duty Trucking).

The review process began with candidates nominated by the press members of TWNA. Using a point system based on each committee member's ranking of the candidates, the four highest scoring products were selected as finalists for the 2010 Technical Achievement Award. The "Top Four" finalists are the HMP Thermal De-Icer from Heat Matt, Wheel Torque Solutions from Alcoa & Partners, the 14X Tandem Drive Axle from Meritor, and the Bose Ride System from Bose.

The winner of the 2010 award will be announced at TWNA's Industry Awards Banquet on March 31st at the Mid American Trucking Show (ticket info at www.twna.org).

The very first Technical Achievement Award was presented in 1991 to Grote Industries for its red LED marker light. Since receiving the inaugural award, Grote has sponsored the annual trophy. To be eligible, a product or service has to clearly exhibit technical innovation, have a wide applicability in the trucking industry, offer significant benefits and be widely available. While complete vehicles are not eligible, components and systems are.

This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Technical Achievement Award. "In 20 years as the sponsor of the trophy, we have seen the positive impact it has had across all manufacturing sectors," said John Grote, VP of Sales & Marketing for Grote Industries. "I want to praise TWNA for highlighting worthy technical advancements and for raising industry-wide awareness of the importance of technological innovation."

Founded in 1988, TWNA is a professional organization whose membership is composed of writers, editors, public relations specialists, marketing personnel and others involved in the business of creating or producing information related to the world of trucking.

TWNA congratulates all the finalists and thanks the members of the Tech Award Committee, as well as to those who took the time to suggest entries.

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Previous winners of the annual TWNA Technical Achievement Award are:

- ArvinMeritor's PlatinumShield Brake Shoes - 2009

- Detroit Diesel DD15 Engine Turbo Compounding - 2008

- Michelin's Durable Technologies - 2007

- Cummins Filtration's Fleetguard User Friendly Filters - 2006

- Carrier Transicold's Deltek Hybrid Reefer - 2005

- ConMet's TruTurn Brake Drum - 2004

- Meritor-WABCO's anti-rollover system - 2003

- Bendix XVision (night vision system) - 2002

- XM Satellite Radio - 2001

- ZF Meritor's fully automated mechanical heavy duty truck transmission without a clutch pedal - 2000

- Donaldson's Silent Partner muffler - 1999

- Cummins' Signature 600 engine - 1998

- Eaton Fuller's Autoshift transmission - 1997

- Rockwell Automotive's ESS (Engine Synchro Shift) transmission - 1996

- Navistar International's flat floor of its International 9800 cabover - 1995

- Caterpillar Engine and Navistar International (joint award) for the HEUI (Hydraulic-actuated Electronically-controlled Unit Injectors) fuel system for diesel engines - 1994

- Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company's G300 tire - 1993

- Cummins Engine's ESP variable power engine line - 1992

- Grote Industries' LED marker lamp - 1991

- In 1990, the predecessor of the TWNA Technical Achievement Awards, then called the "Most Significant Awards", were given to:

Most Significant Vehicle - Freightliner Corp., for the "Business Class" series of Class 6, 7 & 8 trucks and tractors.

Most Significant Product - United Marketing International Inc., for its Oberg Oil Filter Press.

Most Significant Service - Suspension Specialists Assn., for its sponsorship of clinics & training programs for its repair shop members.