NASHVILLE, Tenn. — An alternative-fuel truck engine from Cummins Inc. is celebrating a win.
The Cummins X15N won the Technical Achievement Award from North American Truck Writers, a committee of transportation reporters and editors from the United States and Canada. The annual award spotlights recently available products or services that show innovation, technical excellence, wide applicability, and real benefits for commercial truck operators, the writers group said.
“I am honored to receive this award on behalf of Cummins,” said Mark Ulrich, director, customer support for Cummins in Columbus, Ind., who accepted the trophy that commemorates the award. “We’re grateful for the recognition and delighted to be part of this program at TMC.” He added that the engine was was in development for about eight years, including service in China and elsewhere overseas. The engine replaces the smaller ISX12N, initially developed in a joint venture with Westport.
Cummins X15N
Cummins’ X15N, for use in heavy duty trucks, is set up to burn natural gas and renewable natural gas, the builder said last year when announcing the 14.9-liter engine. It is among a series of so-called agnostic engines that, with altered hardware, can burn a variety of clean alternative fuels to meet increasingly stringent exhaust-emissions limits. The engines are based on sophisticated Cummins diesels that are still manufactured and marketed.
Clean Fuel Based
Clean fuels like natural gas for internal combustion engines will comprise a bridge from diesels to an electric future for commercial vehicles, when fuel cells and batteries will supply the power, as they’ve begun doing, observers believe. The X15N will be an important role on the road to that future, the truck writers reasoned.
The 2025 award was announced at a March 9 awards luncheon during the Technology & Maintenance Council’s Annual Meeting and Truck Exposition in Nashville. It is the 34th award from the truck writers, who bestowed the first one in 1991, the group explained. There was no award in 2021 during the COVID pandemic, Tom Berg, panel chairman and writer for Land Line and Construction Equipment magazines.
“We feel privileged to cover the trucking industry, and aside from our reporting and writing, this is a way to honor the suppliers who continuously improve the equipment that truck operators use,” Berg said.
Fierce Competition
The X15N was among 11 products nominated by the truck writers early in the selection process. The first round of points-based voting pared the nominees to five finalists, and the second balloting established the Cummins product as the winner.
“Choice of the X15N was almost unanimous” among the 10 voting panel members during the second balloting, Berg said.
Product Finalists
Along with the X15N, three others made the finals, including:
- Dragonfly lithium-ion batteries for auxiliary power units.
- Intangles’ artificial intelligence-run diesel particulate filter monitor.
- A smart socket and from Phillips Industries.
- A rear-view camera system for trailers, also from Phillips.
Jim Winsor Technical Achievement Award
In 2016 the writers dedicated the Technology Achievement Award to James W. Winsor, a respected trucking journalist for 50 years and enthusiastic supporter of the Technology & Maintenance Council. He passed away in 2015. Since 2019 the award has been sponsored by Susan Fall of LaunchIt Public Relations.
Aside from Berg, members of the 2025 Truck Writers committee were John Baxter, Baxter Techwrite; Jade Brasher and Josh Fisher of Fleet Owner; Jason Cannon, Commercial Carrier Journal; Seth Clevenger, Transport Topics; Beth Colvin, Trucks, Parts, Service; James Menzies, Today’s Trucking and Trucknews.com; Jason Morgan, Fleet Equipment; and Jim Park and Jack Roberts of Heavy Duty Trucking.
Dana Guthrie is an award-winning journalist who has been featured in multiple newspapers, books and magazines across the globe. She is currently based in the Atlanta, Georgia, area.
