WattsMack

B-67 Periodic Update: This week I got the rear end disassembled (for the 2nd time) to fix a nagging little leak between the carrier and the axle housing. Next time I'll know better than to try and skip this step. There was no other need to take the carrier out, so I didn't the first time around. And I didn't know it leaked. Oh well. And at the same time, I got to do a super cleaning out of the axle housing. I'm really happy with the apparent condition of the rear end in general. The gears are all perfect - no wear marks, no high spots, nothing! Just shiny clean patterns with no sharp teeth. Looks like it always was cared for pretty well. Got the rear end reassembled, and the front end completely reassembled and got the frame flipped over to right side up. (That's easier said than done) Putting together the clutch linkage now. That took a fair amount of machining and fabrication. It was really all botched up. Works good now, though. Gathered up all of the necessary hardware, bolts, brackets and assembly stuff to start the air system plumbing this week. It feels good to be moving along. I'll get some new pictures on my gallery ASAP. Bought my tickets to Huntsville this week. The building business is actually doing quite well, at the moment. We've got a lot of ground to make up, but at least we are actually making some up, finally! Still I can't help but wonder about the long range economic picture. Automakers and other large industries going BK, car dealers forced to close, big and little farmers going out, continued heavy borrowing and increased government spending just don't paint a real nice rosy picture. View the full blog entry

The Petroleum Equipment Institute (PEI), the trade association for petroleum-marketing and liquid-handling, and NATSO, which represents travel plazas and truckstops, have added several industry experts to present at the Diesel Exhaust Fluid Conference on June 5.View the full article

Kenworth is the first truck manufacturer to earn the Environmental Protection Agency's Clean Air Excellence award.View the full article

Pilot opened a new travel center today in Tyler, Texas, at the intersection of Interstate 20 and Farm-to-Market 14.View the full article

A bill to allow a uniform 65-mph speed limit on rural interstates in Illinois now rests in the hands of the governor.View the full article

Diesel fuel prices are up slightly from last week, to $2.231 national average, but that's less than half where they were a year ago.View the full article

The Motor Vehicle Owners' Right to Repair Act garnered further support in Congress this week with the addition of Reps. Shelley Berkley (D-NV), Corrine Brown (D-FL) and William Lacy Clay (D-MO) as co-sponsors.View the full article

Inspectors and law enforcement officials will be patrolling North America's highways as part of the annual "Roadcheck" starting June 2, an event sponsored by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance.View the full article

Stoops Specialty Trucks has been awarded SmartWay certification status on its new Freightliner Cascadia Custom Sleeper Tractors, the only custom sleeper conversion units to achieve the honor. View the full article

The Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association filed a lawsuit challenging a Minnesota State Patrol's arbitrary enforcement program used to declare truck drivers fatigued and place them out of service.View the full article

Increases in truck weight and length would have a direct beneficial effect on the challenges facing American businesses, according to a study conducted by the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute that was commissioned by the National Private Truck Council.View the full article

The federal Freight Transportation Services Index fell 3.3 percent in March from its February level, falling to its lowest level in more than six years, the U.S. Department of Transportation's Bureau of Transportation Statistics reported.View the full article

Congress should eliminate redundant rules and ensure uniformity across jurisdictions in the regulation of transportation of hazardous materials, Con-way Freight Vice President of Safety Robert Petrancosta told a House committee last week.View the full article

The Motor Vehicle Owners' Right to Repair Act (HR 2057) gained two more co-sponsors last week.View the full article

Real-time asset data is viewed as the most critical information in effectively managing fleet operations, according to recent findings from a GE Capital Fleet Services' survey.View the full article

Navistar will optimize its dealers' parts inventory and speed up customer repairs through parts supply chain and intelligence tools provided by OEConnection LLC, a leading online parts and service exchange in the automotive industry.View the full article

The Truckload Carriers Association is honoring truck driver Kerry Hammond as a Highway Angel for providing authorities with information that quickly led to the recovery of a missing teenage girl.View the full article

Mack Trucks and the United Auto Workers reached a tentative agreement on terms of a new 40-month Master Agreement that would cover about 1,700 UAW members at seven facilities in three states.View the full article

The Teamsters have appointed At-Large Vice President Fred Potter of New Jersey as Director of the union's Port Division.View the full article

Not much good to report. Been at home since Tuesday, but just got a load going to Orchard Park, N.Y. And how about the ticks this year? More around here than i've ever seen. Can't get Diazanon any more, but I tried some other kind of poison and it doesn't seem to have any affect. But everything i've planted so far came up, and the garden is growing like crazy. Attached thumbnail(s) // View the full blog entry

Deal activity dropped significantly during first quarter 2009 in the global transportation and logistics (T&L) industry, according to a report released today by PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP.View the full article

Trailer production will continue at current depressed levels through the end of 2009 before beginning a slow recovery, Eric Starks, President of FTR Associates recently told members of the Truck Trailer Manufacturers Association (TTMA) at their annual meeting.View the full article

What TravelCenters of America believes is the first operating retail bulk dispenser of diesel exhaust fluid (DEF) in the U.S. unveiled this morning at TA's location in Ann Arbor, Mich.View the full article

The credit crisis and its devestating effects on the nation's vehicle builders has also injured thousands of small parts suppliers, and many could fail, one of their executives told Congress yesterday.View the full article

Innovation Fuels, a New York-based renewable energy company, has begun selling biodiesel to customers from its Midwestern fuels hub at the Port of Milwaukee, Wis., on Lake Michigan.View the full article