kscarbel2

Bob, note the F-series at 1:31 .

Looks as though it was assembled yesterday Bob. .

Mnuchin is convening the “Plunge Protection Team.” What is he worried about? Stay alert for a negative market reaction.

Top Trump official calls bankers, will convene 'Plunge Protection Team' Jason Lange, Reuters / December 23, 2018 U.S. President Donald Trump’s Treasury secretary called top U.S. bankers on Sunday amid an ongoing rout on Wall Street and made plans to convene a group of officials known as the “Plunge Protection Team.” U.S. stocks have fallen sharply in recent weeks on concerns over slowing economic growth, with the S&P 500 index on pace for its biggest percentage decline in December since the Great Depression. “Today I convened individual calls with the CEOs of the nation’s six largest banks,” Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said on Twitter shortly before financial markets were due to open in Asia. U.S. equity index futures dropped late on Sunday as electronic trading resumed to kick off a holiday-shortened week. In early trading, the benchmark S&P 500’s e-mini futures contract ESv1 was off by about a quarter of a percent. The Treasury said in a statement that Mnuchin talked with the chief executives of Bank of America, Citi, Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Morgan Stanley and Wells Fargo. “The CEOs confirmed that they have ample liquidity available for lending,” the Treasury said. Mnuchin “also confirmed that they have not experienced any clearance or margin issues and that the markets continue to function properly,” the Treasury said. Mnuchin’s calls to the bankers came amid a partial government shutdown that began on Saturday following an impasse in Congress over Trump’s demand for more funds for a wall on the border with Mexico. Financing for about a quarter of federal government programs expired at midnight on Friday and the shutdown could continue to Jan. 3. The Treasury said Mnuchin will convene a call on Monday with the president’s Working Group on Financial Markets, which includes Washington’s main stewards of the U.S. financial system and is sometimes referred to as the “Plunge Protection Team.” The group, which was also convened in 2009 during the latter stage of the financial crisis, includes officials from the Federal Reserve as well as the Securities and Exchange Commission. Wall Street is also closely following reports that Trump has privately discussed the possibility of firing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. Mnuchin said on Saturday Trump told him he had “never suggested firing” Powell. Trump has criticized the U.S. central bank for raising interest rates this year, which could further dampen economic growth. The Fed’s independence is seen as a pillar of the U.S. financial system. Mnuchin’s calls come as a range of asset classes have suffered steep losses. In December alone, the S&P 500 is down nearly 12.5 percent, while the Nasdaq Composite has slumped 13.6 percent. The Nasdaq is now in a bear market, having declined nearly 22 percent from its record high in late August, and the S&P is not far off that level. Corporate credit markets have been under duress as well, and measures of the investment grade corporate bond market are poised for their worst yearly performance since the 2008 financial crisis. The high-yield bond market, where companies with the weakest credit profiles raise capital, has not seen a deal all month. The last time that happened was in November 2008.

HAVI and Scania accelerate drive for green supply chain for McDonald’s in Spain Scania Group Press Release / December 20, 2018 As key players in the McDonald’s supply chain, HAVI and Scania are responding to growing consumer demands for more sustainable transports. In Spain, the companies are accelerating the five-year roadmap that aims to cut CO2 emissions from the restaurant chain’s delivery vehicles. McDonald’s logistics network transports food products more than 250 million miles every year. As well as ensuring thousands of products arrive at McDonald’s restaurants each day safely and in the best condition, McDonald’s is committed to work with its suppliers and their partners to minimize the environmental footprint on its logistics activities. HAVI Spain plans to add 14 gas-fueled vehicles to deliver product to McDonald’s restaurants from HAVI’s distribution centers in Madrid and Barcelona, by the end of this year. 12 of them run on liquified natural gas (LNG) and two run on compressed natural gas (CNG). Previously HAVI Spain had two CNG trucks making the new total 16 gas trucks. The trucks are designed to generate virtually zero air pollution and significantly reduce carbon emissions in cities. LNG and CNG reduces carbon emissions by about 20 percent. With gas engines, the McDonald’s supply chain is also future-proof for liquified and compressed biogas which can be blended into the natural gas or replace it entirely, enabling possible reductions of CO2emissions by up to 90 percent*, once broadly available in the market. Equipped with low-noise engine and cooling equipment, the trucks are also much quieter than conventional delivery vehicles, helping to further reduce the impact of urban deliveries. In Madrid, the vehicles will be fitted with special electrically-driven cooling equipment to cut carbon emissions and noise levels even further. The HAVI-Scania greener fuels roadmap aligns directly with MOVALT, a Spanish government scheme that promotes the transition of road transport fleets to low-emission vehicles. This initiative supports McDonald’s Scale for Good initiative, focusing on priority areas to drive industry-wide change on some of the most pressing environmental and social challenges the world is facing today: Beef Sustainability, Commitment to Famillies, Climate Action, Packaging & Recycling, and Youth Opportunity. In March 2018, McDonald’s became the first restaurant company in the world to address global climate change by setting a verified target by the Science Based Target initiative to significantly reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. As McDonald’s lead logistics provider, HAVI recognizes that it has a critical part to play in the success of McDonald’s sustainability efforts and truly use our Scale for Good. With this in mind, HAVI joined forces with vehicle manufacturer Scania to roll out a five-year roadmap towards significantly reducing the carbon footprint and overall environmental impact of McDonald’s supply chain. In Spain, the two businesses are pushing the boundaries even further by accelerating the deployment of alternative fuel delivery vehicles. John Alves, Managing Director, McDonald’s Spain, says: “Innovation is absolutely critical to our sustainability journey and to use our scale for good. Our work with companies like HAVI and Scania takes a proactive approach to finding and implementing more sustainable supply chain solutions, and contributes to our global supply chain and sustainability strategy.” Rafael Gómez, Senior Vice President, Operations and Freight Management, HAVI: “As McDonald’s lead logistics provider, we have the clear commitment to support the business’s Scale for Good and all their associated sustainability initiatives. We want to be a frontrunner at changing towards new standards for urban deliveries and implementing specific measures to benefit the environment and communities where we operate.” Sebastián Figueroa, Managing Director, Scania Iberia: “This partnership is an example of how transport companies, logistic provider and trucks manufacturers can work together to lead the shift towards a sustainable transport system. It is encouraging to see more and more customers and customers’ customers demanding this type of solution.” .

The truck side of Janesville 1882—The Janesville Machine Co. was founded manufacturing farm machinery. 1918—General Motors bought the Janesville Machine Co., merged it with Samson Tractor Co. of Stockton, Calif., and built a new plant for Samson operations in Janesville. 1987—GM announces that Janesville will receive the remodeled version of its medium-duty truck, which will be transferred here from Flint, Mich. Total employment, hourly and salaried, stands at 6,500. 1989—Medium-duty truck production starts here with about 1,200 jobs, not 1,800 originally announced by GM. 1994—GM and Isuzu Motors work together to make commercial low-cab forward medium-duty trucks in Janesville. 600 workers from other idled GM plants transfer to Janesville. 2002—Production of medium-duty trucks moves back to Flint, Mich., taking 800 jobs from Janesville. 2008—GM officials announced that the medium-duty Isuzu truck line in Janesville will end production by the end of 2009. It employs fewer than 50 workers. GM also said it will close a plant in Toluca, Mexico with 400 hourly workers producing Chevrolet Kodiak medium-duty trucks.

A decade later, Janesville confronts life after GM Nick Bunkly, Automotive News / December 23, 2018 JANESVILLE, Wis. - For years, this city refused to give up on the General Motors plant that had boosted the fortunes of blue-collar southern Wisconsin for generations and then closed, clinging to a sliver of hope that its shutdown during the Great Recession was only a temporary setback. GM promised the plant might reopen once the economy turned around. Many in Janesville were convinced that was inevitable. But despite years of surging auto sales, swelling GM profits and the comeback of big SUVs - the moneymakers that used to roll out of Janesville Assembly - that good news never came. "I think I was the last person in the whole state to give up on it," said Mike Sheridan, who served for two years as speaker of the Wisconsin State Assembly after retiring in 2008 as president of the UAW local in Janesville. "I said, 'I'm not going to give up on it until they start bulldozing it.' Well, guess what — they started bulldozing it." A decade after GM abandoned Janesville, the city of 64,000 people is in many respects a model of Midwestern resiliency. Home foreclosures here in Rock County, after spiking in 2010 through 2012, have since dropped more than 80 percent. Bankruptcy filings, which doubled from 2009 to 2010, have fallen back to pre-recession levels as well. The local unemployment rate — a bleak 13.6 percent in March 2009 — dipped to just 2.8 percent in October. That's better than the national average and even below the norm when Janesville Assembly was flourishing in the 1990s. County officials say $2 billion in private-sector investment since 2010 has created more than 5,000 full-time jobs. The local economy no longer hinges on the ups and downs of a single industry or employer. But those numbers tell only part of the story. Few of the jobs that have come to town since the recession pay as much as GM did, especially for those without a college degree or specialized training. One of Janesville's biggest newcomers, a Dollar General distribution center with about 500 employees, advertises pay of $15 to $16 an hour. Contrast that with about $28 an hour, plus ample overtime, that a job on the GM assembly line provided a decade ago. "You're just never going to match that," said Gale Price, the city's economic development director. "We're not going to bring car manufacturing back here." On GM wages, families could afford nice vacations and maybe a boat or a camper. These days, more households are having a tough time merely covering the basics. Last year, 53 percent of students in the Janesville school district were eligible for free lunches, according to state data, up from 28 percent the year before GM left. Extreme commutes Many of the laid-off workers concluded that the best option to maintain their income was to transfer hundreds of miles away. That often meant leaving their families behind so spouses could keep working and children weren't uprooted from school, and also because it was nearly impossible to sell a house in Janesville at the time. Older GM castoffs just needed to get in a few more years so they could retire with a full pension. Younger ones hoped they'd have to withstand the separation only for a little while before coming home when Janesville reopened. "I've never seen anything like it," Price said. "A lot of families have been able to do it. Not every family survived it, unfortunately." Many Janesville " '86ers," named for the year GM hired 1,200 people here, began making weekly or biweekly commutes to Fort Wayne, Ind., or Fairfax Assembly in Kansas until they could qualify for 30-and-out benefits in 2016. Some went as far as Arlington, Texas, to keep building Chevrolet Tahoes and Suburbans at what had become GM's only remaining U.S. SUV plant in a market turning increasingly to car-based crossovers. John Dohner, who was the shop chairman at Janesville Assembly when it closed, still makes the four-and-a-half-hour drive every other weekend from GM's pickup plant in Fort Wayne to Wisconsin, where his wife and two grown children live. He could have retired in 2015 but plans to stay at least through next year's contract talks. "There's a small bunch of us left," said Dohner, now a second-shift committeeman at Fort Wayne, which is running overtime to build Chevy and GMC pickups. "It hurt for a long time, but life moves on." Life in limbo As the economy crumbled in late 2008, Janesville Assembly built its last GM vehicle, a black Tahoe LTZ, two days before Christmas. GM also closed an SUV plant in Moraine, Ohio, the same day, and Chrysler shut down an SUV plant in Delaware four days earlier. Combined, the closures put 3,300 assembly line workers out of a job, as Congress and the George W. Bush administration debated bailing out Detroit's automakers. Six months later, a potential lifeline for Janesville materialized as GM reorganized in bankruptcy. Unlike the other closed factories that GM wanted off its books, Janesville became part of New GM as one of three plants put into an unusual limbo called "standby." One of those plants, in Lake Orion, Mich., soon got a reprieve in exchange for huge tax incentives — Michigan offered a package worth five times the offer assembled by Janesville and Wisconsin officials — and union concessions that allowed lower wages. The flexible plant in Spring Hill, Tenn., started back up in 2012, when GM needed more capacity for the crossovers that had become huge sellers. But with each year that passed, Janesville stayed dark. No one wanted to give up hope, but having the situation unresolved for so long began to hinder the city's efforts to move on under the far more likely assumption that GM was gone for good. Price said companies considering coming to town would invariably express concern about GM restarting production. Many liked Janesville's location and business climate but didn't want the auto plant to drive up wages and monopolize the best workers. In 2015, GM finally slammed the door on Janesville, declaring the plant permanently closed in the new four-year contract ratified by GM's UAW members. Dohner said local union members recently discovered a document signed by GM and UAW officials on Nov. 28, 2012, stating that Janesville Assembly would be formally closed when the next contract was signed. But no one told Janesville it could stop holding its breath. 100-year legacy May 1, 2019, represents a big milestone for Janesville: the 100th anniversary of GM starting production here. The plant originally built Samson tractors before switching to Chevrolet cars in 1923. It was GM's oldest remaining plant when it closed and employed 7,000 people in its heyday. Blackhawk Community Credit Union, founded within the plant in 1965 to provide workers with loans, aims to mark the centennial by breaking ground for a new headquarters along the Rock River that also will serve as a monument to Janesville Assembly and its influence on the area. It will be called the Legacy Center, said Dona Dutcher, its executive director, to celebrate "the legacy of our community — what we grew into because the plant was here." "Even though it was closed, seeing it demo'd creates a whole other set of feelings," she said. "People need to know that not all is lost." Dutcher made half a dozen trips inside the building to rescue memorabilia and said it had become an eerie time capsule while awaiting the revival that never came. File cabinets were full of papers, tool cribs and parts shelves were stocked, and 2008 calendars hung untouched on the walls. The UAW office still had a kitchen full of dishes and campaign buttons from the Local 95 elections in 2008 stuck in the ceiling. By late November, the wrecking crew hadn't yet reached the plant's art deco-style front facade, but sunlight and twisted metal were visible through the glass front doors. Around the corner, debris was piled high behind a busy lot selling Christmas trees. The plant's narrow smokestack, a landmark visible across much of south Janesville, remained untouched, but its square blue GM logo had weathered off over 10 Wisconsin winters to faintly reveal "Samson" painted underneath. Andrew Sigwell, who owns Zoxx 411 Club, a tavern bordered on three sides by the factory fence, has thoroughly documented the teardown with a drone camera nearly every day since it started. "They move at a very rapid pace," said Sigwell, who bought a work table at the plant auction and installed it outside the bar for some nostalgia. "Once this front building comes down is when it's really going to make an impact. It will be really odd seeing that massive acreage open." One recent video revealed a newly exposed line of ghostly white SUV body shells left behind on the plant's second level as if production had just stopped for the day. Dutcher said she wants to get one of the shells for the Legacy Center. "I'm just about ready to give up hope that they will reopen," one former worker wrote below a Facebook photo showing a large section of the building down to the concrete foundation. "I guess maybe I'm stuck at Fairfax just a few more years." Filling the void After the rubble gets hauled away, the 250 acres GM occupied a block south of the meandering Rock River is to become an industrial park. The state approved a $500,000 grant to help speed the $10 million demolition along, and Commercial Development, the plant's new owner, has promised to give away bricks salvaged from the building as keepsakes. Commercial Development's project manager for the site told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that Janesville Assembly is the ninth GM plant he's razed in a 37-year career. The company has not disclosed any potential tenants for the Centennial Industrial Park, but city officials hope to eventually have up to 2,000 jobs on the site, which is served by two rail lines and a shortcut to the freeway that the city built for GM four years before the shutdown. That's about how many employees GM had in Janesville at the start of the plant's final year. But most other manufacturing and industrial facilities don't create the sort of economic spinoff that auto plants do. And bringing new businesses to town often depends on state and local tax breaks or other incentives that can add up quickly. Although most of the jobs don't have GM-caliber wages, Price said residents benefit from the area's low cost of living. "People can make a go of it," he said. Castle Metals created 100 jobs in Janesville by consolidating two facilities in Minnesota and Illinois in 2015. Dollar General now serves about 850 stores in seven states from the aspirationally named Innovation Drive on the south edge of town. Upper Lakes Foods, which distributes to fast-food restaurants, has hired 100 people since coming here late last year. General Manager Craig Ryan said the company leased a warehouse that the city already had built in anticipation of a tenant, making Janesville an easy choice. "At every hiring event, we've had plenty of applicants," Ryan said, though he wouldn't discuss wages because "there is some competition for workers in the area." A soup-packaging company relocated to Janesville, and United Alloy, a longtime local business that makes generator fuel tanks, has expanded multiple times. W.W. Grainger, an industrial supply company, has added about 500 jobs in the last couple of years, Price said. Among the projects that has local officials most excited is SHINE Medical, which is planning a $100 million plant in Janesville to manufacture a cancer-detecting, radioactive isotope. "After all the pain and suffering, knowing where we're at today feels good," Price said. "Eventually, there's going to be another recession. We're hoping we're going to be a lot more diverse when it comes to that." Moving forward The restructuring bombshell GM dropped Nov. 26 — 14,000 job cuts, including the probable closure of five North American plants and a 15 percent reduction in salaried head count — created flashbacks for many people in Janesville. Sheridan recalled being a week into retirement as president of Local 95 when a GM vice president called with devastating news. "He said it came down to a choice between Janesville and a plant in Michigan," Sheridan said. "They'd suffered a lot in Michigan, and he was a Michigan boy, and that all sort of played into it." "We worked so hard to try and save that plant," Sheridan said. "We carried the whole corporation for a lot of years because we were the only ones building [big SUVs]. That was the only thing selling for years, and we couldn't work enough overtime." When GM closed Janesville, dominoes cascaded through the community. Lear Corp. closed its Janesville seating plant, putting 800 more people out of work. Local charities that depended on sizable contributions from GM and its employees suffered. "What middle class looked like in Janesville really changed," said Tim Perry, administrator of Crossroads Counseling Center, which used to get a third of its business from the GM plant, courtesy of the automaker's generous insurance benefits. "This was a town where General Motors employees lived next to doctors and lawyers. Now, there's more of a separation." As laid-off workers began accepting far-off transfers to keep their paychecks coming in, the stress and distance took its toll on many families. Perry saw couples divorce and poverty increase. "Those employees missed a lot of sports activities, school stuff, birthdays," he said. "It was real hard on them." In the last couple of years, though, Perry said, he is "starting to feel a little bit of hope in the community." The economy has improved greatly, home values are higher, more jobs are available, and downtown Janesville has gotten busier again. Many of the workers who transferred have come back home for good, though Perry said some have found that readjustment stressful, too. "That was such a monstrous institution," he said. "It felt like it was never going to go away. Now, to watch it get torn down, it's a surreal experience for a lot of people. A lot of people's lives were in there." .

Truly sustainable solution to transporting cattle Scania Group Press Release / April 1, 2015 Lateral thinking on the subject of transporting livestock has inspired Scania to make use of energy from a surprising source – the cattle themselves. Tens of millions of head of cattle are transported by road every day, requiring the consumption of many millions of litres of fossil fuel. But what if the methane that the animals produce while on the road could be captured and used to power the vehicles used to transport them? Scania has taken this intriguing idea and used it to produce its new Mobile Gas Generation (MGG) system, a breakthrough technology that uses the methane generated in livestock transport to power Scania gas engines. “While it’s not viable for all forms of road transport, this technology could make a significant contribution to reducing greenhouse gas emissions,” says Björn Dung, Head of Powertrain Development at Scania. Huge potential Scania sees huge potential for using the methane (CH4) generated by human activity to fuel its wide range of gas-powered engines. It is estimated that each cow annually releases between 70 and 120 kilograms of methane. According the climate experts, agriculture is responsible for 18 percent of the total release of greenhouse gases worldwide, more than the entire transport sector. Scania took these facts to heart and following extensive testing has developed the technology to capture methane and use it in its proven gas engine. The engine has through smart, but surprisingly simple, measures been adapted for using excess methane as fuel. The methane generated by the MGG system is stored in rooftop tanks and from here it is filtered through an intricate piping system and fed directly into the Otto gas engine’s injection system. Results from trials suggest an energy efficiency of 49 percent, which is well in line with normal natural and biogas operations. Safe for livestock The specially designed livestock trailer used with the MGG technology has a closed ventilation system, with an exhaust system channelling methane to the tanks on the trailer roof. Unlike present-day livestock trailers, the space is insulated and wholly sealed. Large windows provide an adequately light and airy environment for the cattle. A ventilation system ensures continuous air circulation and the intake of fresh air. “Initially, there were concerns over animal welfare, but these have been fully addressed,” says Dung. Scania is increasingly seeking more sustainable solutions in transport and is presently piloting biogas-fuelled buses in Brazil and Colombia. In Brazil, the biogas is generated using farmland manure, making good use of waste products. European pilot study The MGG concept will initially be piloted in two, as yet to determined, European countries. Following a full-scale assessment, Scania is confident that this new product will be adopted by the livestock industry. .

The two leading Class 6 trucks by sales are the Freightliner M2 106 and the international M<V Series (DuraStar. replacement. Both are available with the competent fleet-minded Cummins ISB/Allison drivetrain that the Ford F-650 is lacking. But why does the M2 have to look like a droopy "Eeyore" of a truck that only a mother (or bean counter0 could love. I'd buy the International. .

Daimler Delivers Electric eM2 Truck to Penske Truck Leasing Steven Martinez, Heavy Duty Trucking (HDT) / December 20, 2018 Daimler Trucks North America on Dec. 20 delivered the first vehicle in its new Electric Innovation Fleet to Penske Truck Leasing in Carson, California, the result of a nine-month collaboration between the two companies to produce and test electric commercial trucks in real-world applications. The vehicle is an electric version of the Freightliner M2 106 medium-duty truck, dubbed the Freightliner eM2. The event marked the culmination of a year of work for Daimler, partially funded by a $16 million grant from California's South Coast Air Quality Management District, an agency focused on improving air quality in the ports region of Los Angeles. DTNA President and CEO Roger Nielsen called it, “a historic step in the real-world application of electric vehicles. With increased hauling demands and regulatory pressures, combined with ongoing concerns over energy resource depletion, it is more important than ever that DTNA continues to rigorously test and research electric vehicle solutions together with our customers,” said Nielsen, who was on hand to deliver the keys to Penske CEO Brian Hard. Penske plans to take on an additional nine eM2 trucks as well as 10 of the Class 8 Freightliner eCascadia model, which will be launched next year. The company will offer the electric trucks to customers to use in regular service for one to two years. The electric trucks won’t be available to all Penske customers, only those that have an "actual use case" for them. Hard didn’t disclose which of Penske’s customers were interested in the truck, but said the company has “a good handle on whom the first customers will be” and that they represent a broad spectrum of applications. The reason for the limited offering is that the rollout is not a full launch of the technology. Daimler referred to the trucks as "Gen 1 vehicles." As part of Daimler’s e-Mobility initiative, announced earlier this year, the company intends to use this limited deployment as a real-world testing ground, with all of the ups and downs of a product that is still very much in beta phase. A One-Year Startup Project within Daimler The Freightliner eM2 project was headed by senior eMobility lead Andreas Juretzka, who brought together a crack team of engineers to take the concept of an electric heavy- and medium-duty truck from drawing board to reality in just a year’s time – an incredibly short period compared to the company’s usual five-year development time for vehicles. The eM2 has three large battery packs that straddle the bottom of the vehicle, providing an expected range of 200 miles. The batteries can be charged to 80% of capacity within an hour, but need an overnight charge to completely top off. Rather than selling chargers to each customer, Penske will have the chargers at its facilities and will provide technicians to work on the unique vehicles. Juretzka told HDT that the trucks will be ready to perform and have been thoroughly tested for safety. He said his team used knowledge they had coupled with what other companies had done with their electric vehicles – "We can steal with pride," he told HDT – to produce something that was more thought-out than just strapping an electric powertrain to an existing truck. They had to consider all of the components and technologies that tie all the pieces together – the chassis, the electric motor, the batteries, the air compressor – to come up with a system that could be as usable as a traditional truck in certain applications. The engine was spec'd to meet the power needs of a typical medium-duty truck in pickup and delivery, local distribution, and food and beverage delivery service, with 480 peak hp, according to the specs Daimler gave at the vehicle's announcement in June. But the batteries are the key component, Juretzka said. The company will be using batteries from multiple manufacturers to see which performs the best during this two-year deployment. At the end of two years, Daimler plans to launch its Gen 2 version of the truck. Daimler assembled a group called the Freightliner Electric Vehicle Council, composed of 30 customers with strong use cases for an electric commercial truck. The company is working with council members on the launch of these trucks. Members of the council will benefit from co-development of deployment strategies for electric trucks, including applicable use cases, current legislation and requirements for facilities, charging infrastructure and service support. It's still early days for commercial electric vehicle technology and costs are still three or four times that of a comparable diesel model, Nielsen told HDT. While component costs are coming down Juretzka said it is likely too expensive to completely replace diesel trucks without government incentives. "The industry is right at the tipping point," he said of commercial electric trucks. "But it still needs funding." The event concluded with Daimler and Penske honoring the eM2 team, all dressed in green and wearing green Santa hats. They loaded small trees into the back of one of the eM2s for delivery to a company called TreePeople. As the first customer of the Freightliner eM2, TreePeople will use the seedlings to help replant the areas in California that were burned in the recent wildfires. The eM2 was driven off Penske's lot by a man dressed in a green Santa suit. It moved with complete silence, in stark contrast to the constant noise eminating from the nearby highway, a reminder that the coming electric-vehicle future could also cut down on noise pollution considerably. After the festivities ended, Juretzka said he was glad to finally deliver the first eM2 just before the end of 2018, a goal of his and Daimler's. "If I could dance in front of you, I would do a dance," he said. .

I'm a deep admirer and scholar of history. I'd argue that the situation today is different from our 1930s posture, apples and oranges. We should be "known" as strong with a global reach, but doing a good bit less reaching. We need to stop trying to be the world's policeman. Clearly, that path has failed, again and again. Where did we succeed? Iraq? Somalia? Europe collapsed in the face of German aggression because nobody would stand up to them. Japan was starved for raw materials. Japan should have been chased out of China by a League of Nations army, but it was gutless and the western world didn't care that Asians were dying. There was a huge problem brewing, but in those days, Asia was regarded as a place far, far away. Today with real-time news via the internet and 9-12 hour flights, Asia is just a step away. I've long felt that we need to fix our own problems before we run around the world lecturing other sovereign countries on how they should change. We were taught that principle as children. Until we prevent illegal immigrants from entering the country (and milking our tax money), until we eradicate foreign (and domestic) drug cartels in our country (and schools), until we fix our "cultural decay and declining standards of behavior", we obviously are in no position to be a global role model.

So Mattis has resigned.....big news. (but hey, we now have a FOX News presenter, Heather Nauert, as our new UN ambassador) From a distance, Mattis seemed okay. I'm all for our troops coming home. It's not our neighborhood. It's up to the locals to stand up and fix their homeland, rather than run away to Europe and the US as economic migrants. It appears that we partnered with many questionable groups in the war on terror, including the one squad that decapitates young boys on the back of pickup trucks. The Soviet Union couldn't sort out Afghanistan.....we thought we could? The French couldn't sort out Vietnam.....we thought we could? And we were marvelous with the Iraq show.....what a costly mess. What have we gained by trying to be the world's policeman? Over the last 20 years or so, our reputation around the world has crashed (recall how good our reputation was post-WW2). We had a chance to work with Russia against ISIS and improve the relationship. We shared a common goal, but threw that opportunity out the window.

Truck emissions rules get green light from EU capitals, tough talks loom Sam Morgan, Euractive / December 20, 2018 EU environment ministers agreed on heavy-duty vehicle CO2 emission rules on Thursday (20 December), teeing up difficult talks with the European Parliament in January. The EU has never regulated carbon dioxide emissions from heavy vehicles before but took a big step towards doing so at a meeting of environment ministers in Brussels yesterday. Member state representatives agreed on a joint negotiating position and will now lock horns with MEPs and the European Commission behind closed doors in the new year. As part of their agreement, the EU Council of Ministers decided to tweak the Commission’s initial proposal. Although sticking with the EU executive’s 15% and 30% reduction targets for 2025 and 2030, the Council decided to make the latter a binding benchmark. Only the 2025 target was binding until now. In order to help tackle the transport sector’s problematic contribution to climate change, the EU’s heavy-duty vehicle fleets will have to make emission cuts compared to a baseline level to be taken next year. Austrian sustainability minister Elisabeth Köstinger, whose nation’s chairing of the rotating EU presidency draws to a close this week, said that the rules will cut 54 million tonnes of CO2 in the next decade, “which corresponds to the total yearly CO2 emissions of Sweden”. The Council acknowledged the risk of regulating trucks and buses for the first time by agreeing that the rules should be reviewed in 2022. Not only could the ambition of the overall targets be altered at that time but the 2030 goal could also be downgraded to an indicative-only mark if progress is deemed insufficient. The International Road Transport Union (IRU) welcomed the Council’s “sensible approach”. In a statement, it said “setting the target before knowing which technologies can meet this ambition is unrealistic”. IRU added that the 30% target can only be met by using a “well-to-wheel (WTW) approach that takes into account the role of advanced renewable and synthetic liquid and gaseous fuels used in internal combustion engines”. The association called on the EU to make sure that WTW is implemented during the 2022 revision. But the Council’s common position was given short shrift elsewhere, with the European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) voicing their concerns about the timeline and strictness of the overall targets. ACEA boss Erik Jonnaert insisted that “what is possible for cars is often not an option for trucks”, citing this regulation’s light-vehicles equivalent, which was belatedly finalised by negotiators earlier this week. Jonnaert also warned that the use of 2019 as a baseline does not give manufacturers an early enough indication of what targets they will have to work towards and added that refuelling points for alternatively-powered vehicles are still not sufficiently in place. “Truck makers are willing to further cut carbon emissions but this should happen at a pace that is realistic, as it will not be possible with today’s technology alone,” Jonnaert said in a statement. ACEA has lobbied for far lower reduction targets for trucks of 7% by 2025 and 16% by 2030. Its main argument is that the potential for electrifying truck fleets is far lower than for cars and that it would only really work for short trips within cities, but not for long-haul transit. ‘Supercredits’ to be scrapped in 2024 Green mobility NGO Transport & Environment also took issue with the Council’s work, saying it is an important step in agreeing the EU’s first-ever CO2 reduction targets for trucks but warning that it is not enough to live up to the EU’s Paris Agreement commitments. “A majority of countries, including key truck manufacturing nations such us France, Sweden and the Netherlands, called for more ambition and incentives for zero and low-emission trucks but accepted this compromise to avoid a blocking minority led by Germany,” T&E said in a statement. T&E also denounced the Council’s backing of a ‘super-credit’ system, whereby sales of zero-emission trucks are counted double towards meeting the CO2 targets. But it did acknowledge that ministers agreed to review it in 2024 and replace the system with sales targets for zero and low-emission as of 2025. “T&E welcomes that supercredits will be deleted because they are an accounting trick,” it said, adding: “The sales target is also supported by big businesses including IKEA, Unilever, Carrefour and Nestlé, as well as logistics companies and hauliers, because it will expand the supply and bring down costs of these vehicles.” Truck expert Stef Cornelis said “the upcoming [Romanian] Presidency should now move towards the European Parliament position and adopt higher CO2 targets and sales targets for zero-emission trucks”. MEPs already agreed on their negotiating position in mid-November, signing off on a report penned by Greens lawmaker Bas Eickhout. Parliament and Council on a collision course Parliament went for reduction goals of 20% and 35%, as well as sales targets for zero and low-emissions vehicles (ZLEV) of 5% and 20% for 2025 and 2030, putting MEPs on a collision course with the Council and even the Commission. MEPs initially wanted to exclude buses and coaches from the ZLEV targets but the amendment was struck down in a final vote. Ministers did manage to preclude them from their super-credit system though. Eickhout told EURACTIV that he is “looking forward to the negotiations”, suggesting that more progressive member states held back during the Council horse-trading, in order to circumvent a blocking minority helmed by Germany. After a short Christmas break, the file will be back on the table during trilateral talks penciled in for 8 January. Given that the Parliament goes on unofficial recess in April due to the upcoming European elections, it could be a hard ask for the regulation to be done and dusted under the Romanian Presidency.

Philip Blenkinsop, Reuters / December 20, 2018 Ministers from European Union countries agreed on Thursday to reduce carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions from trucks and buses by 30 percent by 2030, albeit with the potential to review this in 2022, the EU’s Austrian presidency said. Environment ministers struck the deal, balancing the interests of Germany and the continent’s largest auto sector with other countries, such as Sweden, which pushed for a sharper cut. The countries, collectively known as the Council, will still have to negotiate next year with the European Parliament, which envisages a tougher 2030 target of a 35 percent cut. The government representatives also agreed on Thursday to an interim target of a 15 percent reduction by 2025, relative to 2019 levels. The parliament is pushing for 20 percent. The EU currently has no limits on emissions from heavy-duty vehicles, unlike other countries such as the United States, China, Japan and Canada. Trucks account for almost one quarter of the bloc’s transport-related emissions. Curbs on the transport sector, the only one in which emissions are still rising, aim to help the bloc meet its overall goal of reducing greenhouse gases by at least 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030 under the Paris climate accord. The EU agreed on Monday on targets for cutting emissions from cars and vans. The European Automobile Manufacturers’ Association (ACEA) has lobbied for far lower reduction targets for trucks of 7 percent by 2025 and 16 percent by 2030. ACEA has said that the potential for electrifying truck fleets is far lower than for cars and that it would only really work for short trips within cities, but not for long-haul transit. Volkswagen’s truck brand MAN has warned the new CO2 limits could cost tens of thousands of jobs.

https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/19433-another-company-developing-fuel-efficient-opposed-piston-engine/?tab=comments#comment-79822

DTNA delivers first battery-electric commercial truck to Penske Trailer-Body Builder / December 20, 2018 Making good on its promise to put an electric commercial truck in customer hands in 2018, Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) on Thursday delivered the first vehicle in its Freightliner Electric Innovation Fleet – a Freightliner eM2 – to Penske Truck Leasing. This delivery is a milestone in the real-world application of battery-electric commercial vehicles, as well as an important step towards emissions-free mobility, according to DTNA. Also noteworthy, the introduction of the eM2 into Penske’s fleet is a first in DTNA’s “co-creation” approach with customers as it co-develops technology to shape the future of transportation. In June, Daimler executives presented the eM2 and the Freightliner eCascadia to investment analysts and business media, and announced plans to deliver an Electric Innovation Fleet of 30 vehicles to customers this year for further testing under real-world operating conditions. In Thursday’s ceremony, Roger Nielsen, president and CEO of DTNA, handed over the eM2 key to Brian Hard, president and CEO of Penske Truck Leasing, during an event in Carson, CA. “With increased hauling demands and regulatory pressures, combined with ongoing concerns over energy resource depletion, it is more important than ever that DTNA continues to rigorously test and research electric vehicle solutions together with our customers,” said Nielsen. “Electric commercial vehicles present a real opportunity to advance the ideal of emissions-free mobility while improving our customers’ real cost of ownership (RCO).” The eM2 has up to 480 peak horsepower. The batteries provide 325 Kwh of usable capacity, a range of up to 230 miles and can charge up to 80% (providing a range of 184 miles) in about 60 minutes. The eM2 is Freightliner’s electrified solution for local distribution, pickup and delivery, food and beverage delivery, and last-mile logistics applications. “Penske is honored to be the first company to put this new medium-duty electric truck into service,” said Hard. “I commend and thank Roger Nielsen and his team at Daimler Trucks North America for their outstanding collaboration and spirit of co-creation with us over the last nine months to bring this innovative technology to market. Penske is committed to providing the most effective vehicle technologies to our customers and driving innovation and sustainability when it comes to mobility.” As the first step in its infrastructure deployment, Penske Truck Leasing will install 20 high-power charging stations across five of its California locations starting this month. Next year, Penske will put an additional nine medium-duty electric eM2 trucks and 10 heavy-duty eCascadia electric trucks into targeted service in California and the Pacific Northwest. Penske will place the electric vehicles into service within its expansive logistics, truck leasing and truck rental fleets. Also participating in the ceremony was Judy Mitchell, a governing board member at the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), which focuses on improving air quality in the South Coast Basin. The Freightliner Electric Innovation Fleet is partially funded with a nearly $16 million grant from SCAQMD. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach also contributed to the grant. “SCAQMD is using every tool in its tool box to bring cleaner and more efficient technology to the marketplace to reduce harmful mobile and stationary source emissions to our region,” said SCAQMD Governing Board Member Judy Mitchell. “SCAQMD is proud to be a part of this innovative and ground-breaking project and we look forward to seeing some positive results from these efforts in the coming year.” Following the ceremony, the keys to the eM2 were turned over to Santa Claus to make a holiday delivery of native plant seedlings to help restore communities that continue to suffer from devastating wildfire damage. Along with the seedling delivery, DTNA and Penske Truck Leasing made a joint $50,000 donation to the TreePeople, a local non-profit organization that plants and cares for trees throughout Los Angeles County and nearby mountain forests. “Trees truly make Los Angeles livable,” said Cindy Montañez, CEO of TreePeople. “Through the generosity of Daimler Trucks North America and Penske Truck Leasing, we can create climate-resilient neighborhoods lined with trees, which produce healthy, clean air.”

Big Silverados on their way to dealers Fleet Owner / December 20, 2018 Slide Show - https://www.fleetowner.com/trucks/big-silverados-their-way-dealers/gallery?slide=1

Commercial Carrier Journal (CCJ) / December 20, 2018 Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA) on Thursday delivered the first vehicle in its Freightliner Electric Innovation Fleet – a Freightliner eM2 – to Penske Truck Leasing, fulfilling the truck maker’s commitment to put an electric commercial truck in customer hands in 2018. DTNA President and CEO Roger Nielsen handed over the eM2 key to Penske Truck Leasing President and CEO Brian Hard during an event in Carson, Calif. The two companies collaborated over nine months in the effort to bring this technology to market. The introduction of the eM2 into Penske’s fleet is also a first in DTNA’s co-creation approach with customers as it co-develops technology to shape the future of transportation. “With increased hauling demands and regulatory pressures, combined with ongoing concerns over energy resource depletion, it is more important than ever that DTNA continues to rigorously test and research electric vehicle solutions together with our customers,” Nielsen says. “Electric commercial vehicles present a real opportunity to advance the ideal of emissions-free mobility while improving our customers’ real cost of ownership (RCO).” As the first step in its infrastructure deployment, Penske Truck Leasing will install 20 high-power charging stations across five of its California locations beginning this month. Next year, Penske will put an additional nine medium-duty electric eM2 trucks and 10 heavy-duty eCascadia electric trucks into targeted service in California and the Pacific Northwest. Penske will place the electric vehicles into service within its expansive logistics, truck leasing and truck rental fleets. Also participating in the ceremony was Judy Mitchell, a governing board member at the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD), which focuses on improving air quality in the South Coast Basin. The Freightliner Electric Innovation Fleet is partially funded with a nearly $16 million grant from SCAQMD. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach also contributed to the grant. “SCAQMD is using every tool in its tool box to bring cleaner and more efficient technology to the marketplace to reduce harmful mobile and stationary source emissions to our region,” says SCAQMD Governing Board Member Judy Mitchell. “SCAQMD is proud to be a part of this innovative and ground-breaking project and we look forward to seeing some positive results from these efforts in the coming year.” Following the handover ceremony, the keys to the eM2 were turned over to Santa Claus to make its first holiday delivery of native plant seedlings to help restore communities that continue to suffer from devastating wildfire damage. Along with the seedling delivery, DTNA and Penske Truck Leasing made a joint $50,000 donation to the TreePeople, a local non-profit organization that plants and cares for trees throughout Los Angeles County and nearby mountain forests. This holiday delivery brings much needed resources for cleaning the air, creating green spaces, and cooling the city. Earlier this year, DTNA formed the Freightliner Electric Vehicle Council composed of 30 customers with strong use-cases for electric trucks, including Penske Truck Leasing, to further drive its sustainable transportation program. The company is working with the council members to ensure a holistic approach to launching electric trucks. Members of the customer council benefit from co-development of deployment strategies for battery electric vehicles including applicable use cases, current legislation and requirements for facilities, charging infrastructure and service support. The Freightliner eM2 truck is an electrified solution for local distribution, pickup and delivery, food and beverage delivery, and last-mile logistics applications. The Freightliner eCascadia is a Class 8 tractor designed for local and regional distribution and drayage. Both trucks enter series production in 2021. The Freightliner eCascadia and eM2 are part of Daimler Trucks’ global electrified truck initiative, joining the company’s Thomas Built Buses all-electric Saf-T-Liner eC2 school bus, the FUSO eCanter, and the Mercedes-Benz eActros.

Bob, why does a US state have to source from an Austrian company? (however good AVL may be) Not a single American company can meet CARB's requirements? Has US Inc.'s expertise portfolio sunken that low.

MarketWatch / December 20, 2018 “I’m watching the U.S. economy implode,” says Euro Pacific Capital head Peter Schiff. “We’re in a lot of trouble,” he said. “This isn’t a bear market, we’re in a house of cards that the Fed built,” he said. Indeed, despite recent attempts to rebound, the Dow Jones Industrial Average is on track for its worst year since 2008 — down by about 3.5% — when the financial crisis brought global markets to their knees. The same goes for the S&P 500 index which would also notch its worst year in a decade, if its roughly 4% decline thus far this year hold. Schiff is a polarizing figure on Wall Street, a man that critics say has harbored a persistent and unrealized post-crisis narrative for the Fed’s monetary policy, with predictions of soaring inflation and a dollar collapse. However, the prominent investor should be worthy of investors’ attention, on the back of his prescient calls ahead of the 2008 financial crisis, which earned him plaudits as one of the few able to spot a global economic crisis emanating from the housing market. Signs of inflation in the broad economy have been elusive still, but Schiff says inflation has taken hold in the lofty prices of stocks and other assets and predicts that they will gradually shift to higher prices for consumers. Meanwhile, the most recent reading showed that the 12-month rate of inflation was flat at 2%, as measured by Federal Reserve’s preferred PCE, or personal consumption expenditures, gauge. Schiff says that this time the crisis part deux will be worse and that policy makers have essentially papered over problems and set the stage for an economy that is unable to cope with higher interest rates after a decade of easy-money policies. “Markets are starting to crack as this debt is getting more expensive to service,” he said. “We built this gigantic bubble on this unprecedented amount of cheap money and quantitative easing, and now the hangover will be much worse,” Schiff said. The Wall Street Journal’s editorial board on Tuesday made the case that the Fed needs to pause its interest rates hikes. Schiff says it won’t matter what the Fed does Wednesday (policy makers tightened as expected), with a rate increase of a quarter percentage point anticipated. “I think what’s going to happen is the Fed is ultimately going to take rates back to zero,” he said. Schiff thinks the Fed isn’t just making policy mistakes, he thinks that Powell & Co. doesn’t appreciate how fragile the economy currently is: “They don’t realize how bad the economy is just like they didn’t realize how bad it was in 2007.”

Richard Truett, Automotive News / December 19, 2018 AVL Test Systems Inc., the U.S. arm of Austria's AVL List, will provide the hardware and software test equipment for a huge emissions testing lab being constructed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB). The $368 million lab, scheduled to open in the first quarter of 2021 in Riverside, Calif., will have 18 dynamometers for chassis, engine and powertrain testing and more than 90 emissions measurement devices and systems -- along with areas for evaporative emissions testing, AVL said. The lab combines work that has been done at multiple CARB locations. CARB officials said they believe the lab will be one of the world's most advanced. Not only will engineers there test internal combustion engines used in cars and trucks, but also gasoline-electric hybrid powertrains and battery-electric vehicles. "Developing clean, efficient propulsion technology is the driving force behind everything we do," said Kyle Kimel, president of AVL Test Systems, which is headquartered in Plymouth, Michigan, west of Detroit. Although vehicles powered by gasoline and diesel engines are likely to account for much of the lab's work, testing of electrified vehicles will grow in the coming years. CARB last week mandated that the state's bus fleet must be all electric by 2040. And although electric vehicles don't emit carbon dioxide or other harmful pollutants, they must still be tested for range, battery performance and durability. CARB says the lab will have about 450 employees. .

DAF Trucks Press Release / December 18, 2018 DAF Trucks has today delivered its first fully electric truck to Dutch supermarket chain, Jumbo. The CF Electric has been developed in a joint venture between DAF and VDL, and will be used by Jumbo to supply its supermarkets in the south of the Netherlands. Jumbo CEO Frits van Eerd was handed the keys to the DAF CF Electric by DAF Trucks President Harry Wolters alongside Willem van der Leegte, President and CEO of VDL Groep. The first DAF CF Electric to enter in-service operations represents a significant milestone for DAF Trucks, VDL and Jumbo. Delivery of the fully electric DAF commercial vehicle marks the start of a series of long-term field tests using both fully electric and hybrid trucks. Electric trucks for urban areas "The transport sector is about to undergo a major transformation, " says Harry Wolters, "Electric trucks look set to become the norm for deliveries in urban areas. Not today and not next year, but definitely within the foreseeable future. I am particularly proud that today marks the beginning of a large-scale field testing project that will see DAF working in collaboration with VDL and Jumbo. This project, "he adds, "will allow us to gather useful data and experience in relation to both the technology and the operational aspects. We can then use our findings to ensure that the final series-production model provides the ideal solution to future market requirements." The next step towards sustainability "Introducing this new electric truck is the next step towards our goal of implementing a sustainable strategy for our vehicle fleet", says Frits van Eerd. "Our business puts us right at the heart of the community, and our ultimate goal is to be using electric vehicles to supply 45% of our shops. By 2020, we hope to have reduced CO2 emissions from Jumbo's vehicle fleet by 50% compared with 2008." Emission-free and low-noise Willem van der Leegte from VDL Groep explains, "It is truly wonderful to see three companies from the Brabant region come together in this way. Today's events put Jumbo, DAF and VDL at the forefront of work to develop emission-free transport and reduce noise levels. We are working on the basis that this approach will become the norm in urban areas. The DAF CF Electric featuring E-Power Technology from VDL provides transporters with the ideal solution to their needs and represents a major step forward in terms of achieving sustainability in goods transport and distribution." VDL and TNO assess potential for green charging The DAF CF Electric is capable of deliveries within a radius of about 50 kilometres with zero local emissions and with minimal noise pollution. A charging station to charge the truck has been installed at the Jumbo distribution centre in Veghel. V-Storage, a joint venture between VDL Groep and Scholt Energy Control, is working with Dutch research body, TNO, to assess the feasibility of fitting solar panels to power the charging station. The DAF CF Electric The DAF CF Electric is a 4x2 tractor unit developed for road haulage at up to 37 tonnes in urban areas, for which single-axle or dual-axle trailers are standard. The vehicle is based on the DAF CF—named ‘International Truck of the Year 2018’—and is electrically operated using VDL's E-Power Technology. The centre of this intelligent powertrain is a 210-kW electric motor powered by a lithium-ion battery pack with a current total capacity of 170 kWh. The CF Electric has a range of approximately 100 kilometres, making it suitable for high-volume transport in the urban distribution market. The battery has a 30-minute quick-charge feature and a full charge takes just 1.5 hours. DAF CF Electric — Technical specifications Tractor weight 9,700 kg Electric motor 210 kW Torque 2,000 Nm Battery capacity 170 kW Range of fully charged truck 100 km Battery quick-charge 30 minutes Full charge 1.5 hours .

Scania Group Press Release / December 19, 2018 Scania is testing a new generation autonomous transport system at Rio Tinto’s Dampier Salt operations in Western Australia. The first phase of the trial started in August 2018 and involves a Scania XT 8×4 autonomous tipper truck working separately from Dampier’s active operations. During this initial stage, a safety driver rides in the vehicle to observe the truck’s performance and, if necessary, intervenes. In subsequent phases, additional autonomous Scania trucks will be added to develop vehicle-vehicle awareness and intelligent fleet supervisory controls. Rio Tinto head of Productivity & Technical Support, Rob Atkinson said, “We’re pleased to be trialling this technology in trucks that are smaller than our traditional haul trucks. This has the potential to give us more flexibility in the way we operate in a number of areas across Rio Tinto. We have seen automation create safer and more efficient operations in our business and this is a next step in evaluating options for delivering further improvements through the use of technology.” Björn Winblad, Head of Scania Mining said, “Mining sites given their high vehicle utilisation rates are ideal for testing new autonomous technology. The industry can reap the safety and productivity benefits of automation, and the experience gained here will be instrumental in developing fully autonomous solutions for other transport applications. It is very encouraging to note that the truck has been performing in a safe manner and in accordance with expectations with regards to the operations.” Rio Tinto has pioneered the use of automation in the mining industry, with the largest fleet of driverless trucks, the world’s first fully-autonomous heavy haul, long distance rail network, and fully autonomous production drills. .

First Medium-Duty Chevy Silverado Trucks Ship to Dealers Heavy Duty Trucking (HDT) / December 19, 2018 The Chevrolet Silverado 4500HD, 5500HD, and 6500HD chassis cab trucks — the first-ever medium-duty Silverado trucks — are in production and on their way to dealerships starting Dec. 19. The trucks were first shown to the public at the 2018 NTEA Work Truck Show. “When we decided to get back into the medium-duty segment, we were determined to build the truck our customers have been asking for,” said Ed Peper, U.S. vice president, GM Fleet. “We listened to the needs of fleet managers, truck drivers, technicians and dealers to design a truck that’s easy to upfit, easy to drive, easy to service and easy to own.” The new Silverado trucks feature clean, straight frame rail design with no rivets, brackets, or welds. Additionally, the seven cab-to-axle lengths can work for a variety of upfits. Some of the strongest interest has come from the housing and highway construction, landscaping, and utility industries, according GM. .