RoadwayR

Absolutely right, there "is no magic between classes". But, these new heavier class 5's like the Ford F-600 and Chevy 6500 are going to take significant sales from traditional class 6 trucks. The have comparable GVW's in most cases, too much power if anything, and are cheaper and easier to handle.

That sounds like the logical solution to me too.

Can you get a Cummins B in a tandem? I though Cummins wouldn't let OEM's do that.

This will be fun to watch. If the trucks are on a dedicated route with no other traffic no one should get hurt. "You don't need to over-engineer this". Why does the self driving truck have a sleeper? Or a cab for that matter?

Speaking of the F-150, I was really hoping the Bronco was going to offer the base F-150's naturally aspirated 3.3L V-6. I guess Jeep is going to dump the Hemi into the Wrangler now, that ought to be interesting.

I really like it, but it sure looks like a Scout to me!

We had a lot of them. Early gas engine mediums, severe service dumps with DT466's, and a few Cummins powered tandems with cranes on them. Tough, trouble free trucks, particularly with the non-electronic 466's. Best wipers of any truck I have ever driven, thanks to that flat windshield. Remember those short-nose S series tractors with the really wide cabs?

I remember back in '80-'81 is was awfully easy to buy an International. Walk in front of an IH dealer and the salesmen would grab you and lock you into some S series. Wouldn't let you out until you signed the sales contract. Wasn't that bad of a truck but still........

Which is odd because I have not heard much bad about the A26. Bad sentiment from the MaxxForce days?

Saying if the Traton deal falls through, what would be next for NAV? I agree that the stock would take a huge hit, and that could make them a good acquisition target.

No question VW is a mess, their all-or-nothing BEV program is in deep trouble, tremendous infighting between different factions in management, the unions, and those who really own the mess, and falling market share in key markets. But, why are these issues spilling over into the successful and well-run commercial truck operation? If anything you would think that would be the last thing VW would want to mess with at a time like this. And to think that Ford wants to partner up with these clowns. If I were Navistar I still might shack up with Traton, but only after they are spun off of VW. BTW, NAV did slump yesterday but the whole market was off.

I wonder how Troy Clarke and the rest of the Navistar people are going to take this.

What make is that red dump?

Coincidence, just saw a plastering contractor with a new one this morning.

Remember you can drive an hour and a half out of Los Angeles and be up to your arse in snow. Have a lot of friends with AWD and FWD vehicles because they enjoy winter sports. But, many do buy for no reason. I guess why there a 2WD Wranglers now.

Ford's getting a handle on some of the Explorer's problems, but I don't think they are quite out of the woods yet. Aviator has been just as bad if not worse. Could have done better in the IIHS small overlap crash test (didn't earn a Top Safety Pick rating) but otherwise performed well. I wouldn't buy one for another year or two. Ford probably isn't making a dime on these things yet, I hear after assembly Ford sends them to another plant for 'quality control'.

They need to do a much better job rolling out the new F-150, Bronco, and Bronco Sport than they did with the new Explorer. The Explorer is a disaster.

I think the taxpayers came out fine just in income tax revenue from all the 1,000's of GM employees, suppliers, and dealers that didn't lose their jobs. The ones that got screwed were the GM stock and bond holders. True GM didn't react to the banking crisis fast enough like Ford did, but if you wnat to blame someone start with Barney Frank and Lehman Bros. and go from there.

I think many remaining GMC dealers could care less these days. Selling high priced premium light trucks and SUV/CUV's is far more profitable and a lot ;less hassle than selling commercial trucks. One old and successful GMC commercial dealer near me eventually went with Isuzu back when GM dropped medium trucks. Other GMC commercial dealers were truck centers selling multiple makes. Interesting than some Chevy dealers that sold medium before 2009 went right back into it with the new trucks, while some dealers that never sold medium before are giving it a shot. There are also a number of dealerships that have both Chevy and GMC franchises.

Medium duty conventional with U.S. sourced components..........

Conrock and Livingston-Graham had them in Southern California.

I remember a lot of 'Donald Duck' Transtar mixers back in the day. Lots of Mack R's too, and some GMC J series and Stars. In the 70's more Peterbilts, short hood Generals, Paystars, a few Brigadiers, a few Ford L's.

I think there were different air cleaners available on those trucks.

GMC General?

I am starting to wonder if the Traton deal will happen after all. NAV's silence after the offer was made was a surprise, and now Traton seems to be back peddling. They may come to the conclusion cooperation and joint ventures gives both parties the advantages of a merger without the headaches. I also have a suspicion the VW as a whole is in very serious trouble, they may very likely be the least efficient auto manufacturer on the planet and the current crisis isn't helping. Still, Traton spun off of VW and acquiring NAV sounds good.