kscarbel2

It's a copy of the Volvo FH created back when SinoTruk (aka. CNHTC) had a joint venture with Volvo (just styled like the FH.....no Volvo technology).

Throwing an iconic American name on a Chinese A7 is over the top.

Jim Park, Today's Trucking / May 8, 2018 TORONTO, Ont. — The next round of greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations is due in 2021, but the model year of trucks affected by the rule will actually hit the road about two years from now. And while fleets that operate Class 7 and 8 heavy-duty trucks are already losing sleep over the rule, a significant share of the population operating medium-duty trucks doesn’t even know these rules exist. They’re the kinds of trucks operated by businesspeople and contractors who sees vehicle as a tool for some other business. Think electricians, landscapers, bakers, and plumbers. Their passion is their business, not the truck they use. “Back when the 2007 and 2010, soot and NOx emissions rules kicked in. We had to educate our customers on those changes, as dramatic as they were,” says Brian Tabel, executive director of marketing for Isuzu Commercial Truck of America. “Most of them didn’t know the change was in place, but they sure noticed the price jump between 2006 and 2010 [Model Year] trucks. Customers that had bought pre-emissions 2006 trucks and were shopping for another one in 2010 were shocked. They were mostly utterly unaware of the changes that had occurred over the past 10 years.” Tabel and others in the medium-duty market are hoping there will be some awareness of the next round of changes. With them will come improved fuel efficiency, which they probably will notice, and a more complex vehicle. Ensuring those vehicles comply with the new rules will be challenging. The regulation, Phase 2 of the Heavy-Duty Greenhouse Gas and Fuel Efficiency Standards, is a comprehensive set of engine and vehicle standards jointly adopted by U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). Together they promote technology to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve vehicle fuel efficiency in three stages for model-years 2021, 2024 and 2027. It builds on standards set in 2012 for Model Year 2014 and 2017 vehicles, which is where we are today. Canada has its own greenhouse gas regulation, aligning Canadian emission standards and test procedures with those in the U.S., while respecting the different regulatory environments — and to some extent, the differences in how Americans and Canadians spec’ and use trucks. By 2027, the rules that apply to Class 2B and 3 trucks, pickups, and vans will require lower carbon dioxide emissions and fuel consumption to be 16% lower than those seen in Phase 1. Class 4-6 vehicles will need carbon dioxide emissions and fuel consumption to be 24% lower than Phase 1. These are significant changes for vehicles that won’t maximize the benefit of improved aerodynamics. In the on-highway sector, a high percentage of the overall reduction in exhaust emissions will come from enhanced aerodynamics. In the medium-duty and vocational sectors, improvements will come from changes in engine and powertrain efficiency, lightweighting, Low Rolling Resistance tires, and tire pressure management. Developing strategies It’s still early in the development phase, but OEMs are establishing strategies to comply with the rules. Few were willing to share what they are working on, but Darren Gosbee, Navistar’s vice-president of engineering, says the improvement in medium-duty vehicles will come from the engine and the chassis separately. In this case, we’re talking about straight trucks and delivery vans in Class 3-6 territory. “On the engine side, OEMs will be working to improve combustion efficiency as well as the gas exchange process — how efficiently you get the outside air into the combustion chamber and back out again — and to reduce parasitic or friction losses within the engine — oil and water pumps, engine gear train, piston rings, etc.,” Gosbee says. “Mild-hybridization is going to factor in the medium-duty environment. You’ll probably see engine stop/start technology coupled with energy recovery mechanisms such as regenerative braking and more-efficient electric technology, depending on the class and duty cycle.” On the chassis side, the reductions in carbon dioxide will come from shedding weight, reducing parasitic losses in the powertrain through more efficient axles, and with Low Rolling Resistance tires and tire pressure management systems. “Transmissions have a big role to play, too,” Gosbee says. “It comes down to the relative efficiencies of torque-convertor automatics versus dual-clutch automated transmission, versus manual with direct gearing. Manual transmissions are the most efficient, technically speaking, but the least popular with medium-duty consumers.” On the heavy-duty side, customers will have options to get vehicles to comply, and the OEMs will earn greenhouse gas credits based on how efficient the vehicle turns out to be. The OEs will be incentivizing certain technologies to ensure more of them are adopted. Since there are fewer options to tinker with in the medium-duty domain, the manufacturers will be building trucks that help with their compliance pathway, with less input from the customer. “In medium duty, the choices are more limited and the OE’s choices for controlling greenhouse gas take on a different form,” says Gosbee. “Technology may have to be forced onto a truck that customers may not necessarily want.” Tabel says many of Isuzu’s traditional customer base many not be aware of the pending changes to their equipment, and they probably won’t worry about it. Where it will matter is on the maintenance and operational side. “Most of our customer base don’t know much about truck maintenance,” he says. “We went through all this with the 2007 and 2010 changes. When the check-engine-light came on they ignored it, and some face some pretty expensive repairs. We be doing a whole new round of customer training and education when the 2021 trucks hit the street.” The case for electric Battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) could be ideal candidates to replace conventionally powered light- and medium-duty trucks in segments where the technology suits the application. There’s a lot of talk about range anxiety, but a recent study by National Renewable Energy Laboratories of a delivery fleet in the Seattle area shows that matching the routes to a truck’s capability — rather than forcing the electric truck to replicate diesel duty cycles — was a better indicator of their potential to replace some diesel trucks. In studying PepsiCo’s Frito-Lay North America diesel and electric vehicles, the organization found that average daily driving time for both electric and diesel units was just 1.5 hours, with most of the electric vehicles running less than 70 km per day and consuming significantly less (55 kWh) than the battery’s 80-kWh capacity. Details of this study were described in the recently released guidance report from the North American Council for Freight Efficiency, Electric Trucks Where They Make Sense. Tabel says Isuzu customers have traditionally bought one truck for all their routes. “There’s room there to optimize the truck to the route — long routes for the diesels, and shorter for gasoline or maybe electric trucks,” he says. “When you look at the possible complexity of the 2021 and beyond vehicle, battery-electric truck could make a lot of sense for the consumer.” Isuzu now has five trucks set to go into a year-long customer field test to see if they will stand up to the way customers use them, as opposed to building a truck based on expected or theoretical algorithms. There are already many viable electric vehicles in medium-duty service bearing nameplates like Mitsubishi, Isuzu, Chanje, BYD, Workhorse, and others. We now have electric refuse vehicles from Mack, Volvo, and Daimler. But where are the medium-duty freight trucks from the big-four? Navistar has announced that, in partnership with Volkswagen Truck & Bus, it will have a medium-duty BEV truck and an electric school bus available “probably by the 2020 timeframe.” Volvo has just announced two BEV platforms the will run in Europe by 2019. It’s pure speculation on our part, but could those trucks, with VNR cabs, be ready for North America by 2021? Today’s Trucking contacted several OEM for this story, including General Motors, Fuso, Paccar, and others, but they declined to offer comments. BEVs & GHG Phase 2 Greenhouse Gas (GHG) Phase 2 rules for 2021 could be what jump starts the electric revolution. It won’t be Tesla’s Electric Semi that first hits the streets, but more likely a panel van or delivery truck from the likes of Workhorse, Chanje, Mitsubishi Fuso, Isuzu, or even Volvo or Navistar. Within the medium-duty domain, hundreds of Class 4,5 and 6 trucks and vans are already in revenue service in many parts of the U.S. (few if any are here in Canada so far), with big carriers like United Parcel Service, FedEx, Frito Lay, and others. As regulations put the squeeze on carbon dioxide emissions for vocational and medium-duty trucks, truck makers will be looking for ways to generate emissions credits and to offset any potential credit imbalance. Through the magic of credits earned on more-efficient vehicles — like battery-electric vehicles (BEV) — manufactures could afford to apply less drastic measures to their fleet of conventionally powered vehicles. The U.S. and Canadian regulations for BEVs include credit multipliers as incentives to OEMs thinking about qualifying advanced technologies into their vehicles. “For every battery electric vehicle an OEM puts into the medium-duty domain, there is a multiplier that can offset, I believe, up to five diesel trucks,” says Darren Gosbee, vice-president of engineering at Navistar. “It will be very advantageous to an OEM to have electric vehicles in their portfolio to help with corporate averaging.” According to the California Air Resources Board (CARB), “… adopting multipliers in this range would make these technologies much more competitive with the conventional technologies, and could allow manufacturers to more easily generate a viable business case to develop these technologies and bring them to market at a competitive price.” Producers of electric vehicles will also be earning greenhouse gas credits on electric vehicles they sell, but they are useless to the producers because there’s no need to offset non-conforming vehicles. They can, however, sell those credits to companies that make diesels. “Valuation of credits in the averaging, banking and trading model has been questioned because why would a company sell a credit to a competitor,” says Rick Mihelic, North American Council for Freight Efficiency program manager and co-author of the recently published guidance report, Electric Trucks Where They Make Sense. “In the case of a company that makes just electric vehicles, it’s a great opportunity to help offset the cost of those electric trucks by selling their useless GHG credits to manufacturers that need them.”

Heavy Duty Trucking / May 8, 2018 According to Volvo Group's European division, just three weeks after the unveiling of Volvo Trucks’ first all-electric truck, the FL Electric, the OEM is expanding its product range with yet another electric truck. The Volvo FE Electric is designed for heavier city distribution and refuse transport operations with gross weights of up to 30 tons. Sales will commence in Europe in 2019. “With the introduction of the Volvo FE Electric, we have a comprehensive range of electrically powered trucks for city operations and are taking yet another strategic step forward in the development of our total offer in electrified transport solutions," said Claes Nilsson, president of Volvo Trucks. "This opens the door to new forms of cooperation with cities that target to improve air quality, reduce traffic noise, and cut congestion during peak hours since commercial operations can instead be carried out quietly and without tailpipe exhaust emissions early in the morning or late at night,” he added. The first Volvo FE Electric, a refuse truck with a superstructure developed together with Europe's leading refuse collection bodybuilder, Faun, will start operating in early 2019 in Germany’s second-largest city, Hamburg. “Hamburg, which in 2011 was named European Green Capital of the EU, has worked long and successfully on a broad front to enhance green and sustainable urban development. This applies not least in the transport sector, where electrified buses from Volvo are already being used in the public transport network," said Jonas Odermalm, product line vice president for the Volvo FL and Volvo FE. "The experiences and ambitions from this venture make Hamburg a highly interesting partner for us.” s Rüdiger Siechau, CEO of Stadtreinigung Hamburg, the city's largest waste-removal provider, sees large potential for environmental benefits with electric trucks in the city. “Today, each of our 300 conventional refuse vehicles emits approximately 31.300 kg carbon dioxide every year," he said. "An electrically powered refuse truck with battery that stands a full shift of eight to ten hours is a breakthrough in technology. Another benefit is the fact that Stadtreinigung Hamburg generates climate-neutral electricity that can be used to charge the batteries.” The new Volvo FE Electric will be offered in several variants for different types of operations. For instance,Volvo’s low-entry cab makes it easier to enter and exit the cab and gives the driver a commanding view of surrounding traffic. Volvo also said the working environment is improved thanks to the low noise level and vibration-free operation of electric power. Battery capacity can be optimized to suit individual needs, with charging taking place either via main power lines or quick-charge stations. “Our solutions for electrified transport are designed to suit the specific needs of each customer and each city," said Volvo's Oldermalm. "In addition to the vehicles, we will offer everything from route analysis to services and financing via our network of dealers and workshops throughout Europe. We also have close partnerships with suppliers of charging infrastructure." According to Volvo, features of its electric trucks include: Volvo FE Electric Fully electrically powered truck for distribution, refuse collectio,n and other applications in urban conditions; GVW of 30 tons. Driveline-- Two electric motors with 370 kW max power (260 kW cont. power) with a Volvo 2-speed transmission. Max torque electric motors 626 lb-ft. Max torque rear axle 28 kNm. Energy storage-- Lithium-ion batteries, 200–300 kWh. Range-- Up to 124 miles. Charging--: Two different charging systems are available. CCS2: Maximum charge power 150 kW DC. Low Power Charging: Maximum charge power 22 kW AC. Charging time-- From empty to fully charged batteries (300 kWh): CCS2 150 kW appr. 1.5 hours, low power charging approximately 10 hours. Volvo FL Electric Fully electrically powered truck for distribution, refuse collection. and other applications in urban conditions; GVW of 17 tons. Driveline-- Electric motor with 185 kW max power (130 kW cont. power) with a Volvo 2-speed transmission. Max torque electric motor 313 lb-ft. Max torque rear axle 16 kNm. Energy storage-- Lithium-ion batteries, totaling 100–300 kWh. Range-- Up to 186 miles. Charging-- Two different charging systems are available. CCS2: Maximum charge power 150 kW DC. Low Power Charging: Maximum charge power 22 kW AC. Charging time-- From empty to fully charged batteries: fast charge 1-2 hours (DC charging), night charge up to 10 hours (AC charging) with maximum battery capacity of 300 kWh. .

Related reading: https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/35887-transpower-unveils-their-latest-generation-electric-heavy-truck/?tab=comments#comment-247157 https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/44484-a-100-electric-class-8-truck/?tab=comments#comment-328672 https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/38865-transpower-electruck/?hl=transpower

Transport Topics / May 8, 2018 LONG BEACH, Calif. — Peterbilt Motors Co. displayed its all-electric Model 579 day cab tractor at the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo, which was held April 30-May 4. The drayage application tractor — slated to go into service at the Port of Long Beach after the show — is one of 12 tractors built by Peterbilt in collaboration with TransPower, the California Air Resources Board and the Port of Long Beach. Meritor, through its strategic alliance with TransPower — in which it has invested — is collaborating with Peterbilt to equip the day cab tractors, plus three refuse trucks, with all-electric drivetrain systems. Meritor will supply high-efficiency and lightweight axles, drivelines and brakes. The anticipated operating range for the drayage trucks is 125 miles and up to 95 miles for the refuse haulers, according to Meritor. The all-electric Model 579 produces up to 490 horsepower, has up to a 200-mile range, recharges in less than five hours and has a battery storage capacity of 350-440 kWh. “These demonstrator vehicles will be used to test the performance of an all-electric powertrain in a real-world environment,” Scott Newhouse, Peterbilt’s chief engineer, said in a company release. “Electrification is not a new concept to our industry; however, the advances made in battery and electric technology can make this a real possibility moving forward.” Funding for the tractors was provided, in part, by California Climate Investments, the state’s climate change-fighting, cap-and-trade program. .

So what was Martin Weissburg's answer to your question, "Is there any chance Mack will offer Cummins in its heavier trucks"?

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DAF Trucks Press Release / May 4, 2018 Learn more about the experiences of the owner and drivers at St. van den Brink with The New CF and XF. .

Renault Trucks Press Release / May 3, 2018 Discover the Renault Trucks C specialized in containers hauling in Russia. Thanks to its robustness, the Renault Trucks C can tow very heavy loads even on difficult roads. .

Anheuser-Busch orders up to 800 hydrogen-fueled big rigs Reuters / May 3, 2018 SEATTLE – [Foreign-owned] beer maker Anheuser-Busch said on Thursday it reserved up to 800 hydrogen-fueled semi-trucks from Nikola Motor Co. as part of plans to convert its dedicated long-haul fleet to renewable powered trucks by 2025. The order would be large when compared to pre-orders so far for Tesla Inc’s all-electric Semi and is further evidence that fleets needing to move cargo hundreds of miles are willing to give nascent, costlier technologies a try. Truck makers such as Daimler AG, Navistar International Corp. and its partner Volkswagen AG are also investing in electric models in a bet that the market will shift over the next decade. Anheuser-Busch expects to integrate the trucks into its fleet beginning in 2020, it said, but both companies declined to say how much if anything Anheuser-Busch plunked down to reserve the trucks or how many would ultimately be added to the beer maker’s network. Salt Lake City, Utah-based Nikola said its trucks will have a range of between 500-1,200 miles and take about 20 minutes to re-fuel, shaving minutes off the average time it takes to fuel up a diesel rig. Time-tested diesel trucks are capable of traveling up to 1,000 miles on a single tank of fuel and cost about $150,000 on average. Nikola said it plans to charge $400,000 on average for its trucks, but tractors can be leased as well. Truck leasing firm Ryder System Inc. will be providing the dealer network for sales and service, Nikola said. Nikola CEO Trevor Milton said the company plans to build more than 700 hydrogen stations across the United States and Canada by 2028 and the company has nearly $9 billion worth of pre-orders, though its trucks are still in the prototype phase. “We are building to order, not speculation, and are very excited for what’s to come,” Milton said, in a not-so-veiled dig at Tesla, which announced plans for producing its all-electric Semi in November. Tesla promises its Semi will be delivered next year with a range of up to 500 miles on a single charge. It has more than 450 reservations so far -- including 40 from Anheuser-Busch -- but faces skepticism over range, payload, and cost. The fight between Nikola and Tesla -- companies named after the Serbian inventor Nikola Tesla -- spilled from the highway to the courtroom this week when Nikola sued Tesla alleging design patent infringements.

Related reading: https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/44045-how-navistar-became-a-rolling-stock-manufacturer/?tab=comments#comment-376237

Bloomberg / February 27, 2018 CHICAGO -- FreightCar America, Inc. announced today that it has entered into an asset purchase agreement with Navistar, Inc. (“Navistar”) to acquire substantially all of Navistar’s operating assets associated with its railcar operations at the Shoals facility in Cherokee, Alabama. The transaction is expected to close on or around February 28, 2018 subject to the conditions set forth in the asset purchase agreement. “This acquisition will allow us to now control our own destiny and benefit from the full economics of all future railcars built within the Shoals facility,” said Jim Meyer, President and Chief Executive Officer. “This is good news for our customers, our brand, our products, our people and the Shoals community. I want to thank Navistar for the prior relationship and the Retirement Systems of Alabama, the owners of the facility, for its support in this transaction.” Meyer concluded, “We are making important investments in people, technology, equipment and infrastructure to enhance our state-of-the-art facility and world-class workforce, which will increase our operational efficiencies and create long-term value for our shareholders. The opportunities afforded to us upon completion of the acquisition, together with the organizational changes and manufacturing best practices that we have already begun to implement, will significantly strengthen our long-term competitive positioning, reduce our costs and allow us to be more responsive to customer needs.” FreightCar has subleased a substantial portion of the Shoals facility since 2013. As a result of this transaction, FreightCar will become the sole tenant of the approximately 2.2 million square foot facility, which was purpose-built for the manufacture and repair of railcars. Additionally, FreightCar will be offering employment opportunities to the majority of Navistar’s approximately 200 employees on site. FreightCar will purchase select operating equipment and inventory at the Shoals facility, and receive a one-time up-front payment to cover future operating costs including rent payments at the facility. Net proceeds to FreightCar will be approximately $3 million at closing. About FreightCar America, Inc. FreightCar America, Inc. manufactures a wide range of railroad freight cars, supplies railcar parts and leases freight cars through its JAIX Leasing Company subsidiary. FreightCar America designs and builds high-quality railcars, including coal cars, bulk commodity cars, covered hopper cars, intermodal and non-intermodal flat cars, mill gondola cars, coil steel cars and boxcars. It is headquartered in Chicago, Illinois and has facilities in the following locations: Cherokee, Alabama; Danville, Illinois; Grand Island, Nebraska; Johnstown, Pennsylvania; Roanoke, Virginia; and Shanghai, People’s Republic of China. More information about FreightCar America is available on its website at www.freightcaramerica.com.

Heavy Duty Trucking (HDT) / May 1, 2018 ROUSH CleanTech will offer a Ford F-650 medium-duty truck that's powered solely by a battery-electric powertrain, the vehicle modifier has announced. With the move, the company expands its alternative fuel offerings to include zero-emission electric vehicles. ROUSH CleanTech has been converting trucks and vans to run on alternative fuels such as propane autogas and compressed natural gas. Built on the Ford F-650 chassis, ROUSH CleanTech’s new fully electric vehicles will have a lithium ion battery system of up to 225 kilowatt hours and 700 volts. Depending on the vehicle’s GVWR, the average range will be up to 120 miles with a top speed of 75 mph. The AC permanent magnet motor will have a continuous-rated power of 150 kilowatts (200 horsepower), with a peak-rated power of 250 kilowatts (335 horsepower). “An electric battery option for medium-duty trucks and buses is a great fit as there is increasing demand in this gross vehicle weight range with very few OEM solutions,” said Todd Mouw, president of ROUSH CleanTech. “This builds from our robust foundation already in place at ROUSH CleanTech that supports more than 1,200 customers and 19,000 propane and natural gas units on the road.” .

Transport Topics / May 1, 2018 LONG BEACH, Calif. — Daimler Trucks North America presented two new Freightliner Cascadia trucks fueled on compressed natural gas as examples of its further expansion into alternative-fuel options. One of the new Cascadia CNG vehicles shown here at the ACT Expo during April 3-May 3 was developed in collaboration with UPS Inc. The new Cascadia day cab is equipped with a Cummins Westport ISX12N Near Zero NOx natural gas engine and Eaton Fuller Advantage Series automated manual transmission, which, when combined with the model’s aerodynamic design, can result in fuel-efficiency gains of up to 3% compared with similarly spec’d original Cascadia CNG truck models, according to the Portland-Ore.-based truck maker. The ISX12N engine meets the California Air Resources Board Low NOx standard of 0.02 gram per brake horsepower-hour — a 90% reduction from engines operating at current U.S. Environmental Protection Agency NOx limit of 0.2 gram standard. “By partnering with companies like UPS to pilot innovations such as the new Cascadia CNG truck, we can continuously evaluate and enhance our products,” Kelly Gedert, director of product marketing for Freightliner Trucks and Detroit Components, said in a statement. “Our proven experience in developing alternative-fuel technologies for applications ranging from longhauls to vocational jobs demonstrates our commitment to environmentally sustainable solutions that increase productivity and efficiency for our customers,” Gedert said. The DTNA booth also featured the medium-duty Freightliner M2 112 equipped with a Cummins Westport L9N Near Zero NOx natural gas engine, the propane-autogas S2G chassis from Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp. and the Thomas Saf-T-Liner C2 all-electric school bus. .

Edsel Ford II says Ford board may take up train station plan May 10 Automotive News / April 30, 2018 DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. board member Edsel B. Ford II said Monday that the automaker's board of directors "has been briefed" on fast-moving plans to purchase the long-vacant Michigan Central Station as part of a "big redevelopment" of downtown Detroit's Corktown neighborhood. Ford's comments mark the first time a member of the Ford family or any company official has confirmed the automaker is pursuing purchase of the train station, which Crain's Detroit Business first reported March 19. CDB is an affiliate of Automotive News. Ford, the great-grandson of company founder Henry Ford, commented on the automaker’s efforts to establish a Detroit campus to develop electric and autonomous vehicles following a ceremony at the city’s Campus Martius park downtown. Edsel Ford II was honored Monday for his work with the Detroit 300 Conservancy group that was instrumental in creating Campus Martius. The Ford Motor Co. board plans to discuss the train station deal at its May 10 meeting and could take action on the major real estate acquisition proposal, Edsel Ford II said. "It doesn't need a vote, but it requires buy-in," Ford said. Internally at the automaker, Executive Chairman Bill Ford has been said to be driving the push for the company to re-establish a major presence in Detroit some two decades after the automaker's last employees left the Renaissance Center, whose construction was led by Edsel Ford II's father, Henry Ford II. "Bill's excited about it, and I'm excited about it," Edsel Ford II said, calling it a potential "big redevelopment of southwest Detroit." Ford cautioned there's no done deal yet to purchase the train station from the family of billionaire trucking mogul Manual "Matty" Moroun. "There's T's to cross and i's to dot and nothing is -- as you know -- officially announced yet," Ford told reporters. The push to establish a campus in Corktown beyond the building Ford purchased in December at the corner of Michigan Avenue and Rosa Parks Boulevard is driven by a desire to "cluster" the autonomous and electric vehicle units in one spot, Ford said. "I think that's what's really driving it," he said. The Michigan Central Station has sat vacant since the last Amtrak train left the station in January 1988 and become an internationally recognized symbol of the city’s late 20th century decline. The Morouns have said they spent $8 million installing 1,100 new windows in the building in 2015. But there’s an unknown cost of rehabilitating the station and its 13-floor office tower atop of the 110,000-square-foot first-floor concourse that sat open to the elements for years -- a challenge the Ford scion acknowledged Monday. "I don’t know how long it’s going to take to redevelop all of that if we did buy the building," Edsel Ford II told reporters. "But it seems to me that the building is in somewhat disrepair, so we would have to spend some time and effort and redo it all."

Rough ramp-up for Ram Larry Vellequette, Automotive News / April 30, 2018 DETROIT — Quality and supply problems plaguing the redesigned Ram 1500 pickup's launch are not enough to make Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Sergio Marchionne spend the night on the factory floor, a la Tesla's Elon Musk. "I'm not sleeping on the floor," Marchionne said during the company's earnings call last week. "You need to be Elon's age to do that. I'm too old for that crap." But Marchionne, 65, is not above spending more than $300 million to fix the problems that have put the 2019 truck's ramp-up well behind schedule. Marchionne conceded that the pickup's launch — key to FCA's strategy to hit aggressive 2018 financial targets — has been fraught with problems. He said FCA's Sterling Heights Assembly plant, which began building the truck in mid-January, is "probably running today at 60 percent of cycle. That's not where we need to be. We allowed enough time in 2017 to get that installation up, but it's proven to be challenging." Supplier and internal sources at the plant said late last week that the factory was building about 1,000 trucks per day toward a run rate of 1,400 per day. The plant is operating two 10-hour shifts per day, seven days a week, to get the production rate up to speed, the sources said. A revised production calendar from March shared with Automotive News indicates that FCA plans to run the plant every weekend and every holiday through Labor Day to get production of the new-generation Ram up to speed. FCA dealers have begun receiving the 2019 pickups, but they have been limited to versions with the 5.7-liter V-8 engine, which are rated at the same 15 mpg city/22 highway/17 combined fuel economy as the previous-generation truck. As of late last week, neither the 3.6-liter V-6 variant nor the 5.7-liter mild hybrid variant, both with a belt-drive generator and 48-volt battery, had received a fuel economy rating from regulators. Marchionne told analysts that while the automaker is working out the kinks in the launch, it is relying on the previous-generation Ram 1500, which will continue to be built in the Warren Truck Assembly plant about 10 miles from Sterling Heights at least through 2018 and possibly into 2019. Still, sales of the previous-generation truck have not been stellar. In fact, FCA this month is offering incentives to U.S. dealers who add new trucks to their service loaner fleets and count them as sales. In March, U.S. sales of the Ram pickup fell 11 percent, and volume is down 13 percent through the first three months. Sales of the Ford F series increased 7 percent last month and are up 4.3 percent through March. Chevrolet Silverado sales rose 24 percent in March and are up 5.5 percent for the year. A union source in the plant told Automotive News that suppliers are having difficulty "keeping up" with building two versions of the Ram 1500 simultaneously. The source said the Sterling Heights plant was still undergoing construction, even as workers built new Ram 1500s, and that some workers still lacked proper training. The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said more than 2,500 2019 Ram 1500s were in holding areas near the plant awaiting repairs before they could be shipped. A supplier source indicated that the problem is electrical, but did not elaborate. Marchionne has said FCA needs the launches of the 2019 Ram 1500 and redesigned Jeep Wrangler to go smoothly to help the company achieve its financial goals for 2018, his last year as CEO. He and CFO Richard Palmer confirmed the company's 2018 guidance last week that it would end the year with more than 8.7 billion euros ($10.5 billlion) in adjusted earnings before interest and taxes, and with more cash on hand than debt for the first time since Fiat took control of bankrupt Chrysler in 2009. In the first quarter, FCA posted adjusted earnings of 1.61 billion euros ($1.96 billion), an increase of 5 percent, and cut its debt in the quarter by $1.6 billion.

Look at the 313GC fuel pump assembly breakdown at your Mack brand distributor.

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Scania Group Press Release / April 27, 2018 Swedish owner-driver Magnus Persson has just invested in a new Scania R 410. Although the truck comes equipped with the latest technology, Persson will not be fully satisfied until he’s added a state-of-the-art hi-fi system. So, before heading off to the bodybuilder, he makes a detour to his "sound guy." .

Scania Group Press Release / April 26, 2018 Kobelco’s huge new cranes reach farther and lift loads of 300 tonnes or more. Scania engines provide these massive machines with the power they need. Our world is growing ever larger. Taller buildings, wider bridges, more colossal goods. To handle them we need bigger and bigger equipment. For Kobelco Construction Machinery Co., the size revolution has led to its own challenge. After years of dominance in the market for small-to-mid-sized cranes with lifting capacity under 250 tonnes, Japan’s leading crane manufacturer is now staking a claim among the heavyweights. In January, the company shipped its largest-ever multi-purpose crane, a giant crawler with a maximum lifting capacity of 300 tonnes as standard (350 tonnes in the super heavy lift, SHL, specification). That’s a load moment, or point of overturning, that is 40–60 percent higher than that of a 250-tonne crane. It is also enough to rival machines from the 400 to 500-tonne class, thanks in part to the torque and power efficiency of Scania’s 13-litre, six-cylinder, 450 hp engine. “Almost 90 percent of mobile cranes sold worldwide are in the 250-tonne class and under, where we’ve been very strong, but the last 10 percent brings in almost as much revenue,” says Koichi Shimomura, senior manager in the crane engineering department of Kobelco Construction Machinery. “That top 10 percent requires lots of customisation,” something that results in higher prices and sales. Having spent years perfecting hydraulics, cabins and lifting technologies in its smaller devices, Kobelco felt it was time to apply them to the upper echelons of the crane world. The company decided to focus its new model, designed from scratch, overseas – on the North American market, as well as on South-East Asia and Europe. Japan, which accounts for 40 percent of Kobelco’s crane sales, will have to wait awhile for the new offering. “We are strong in Japan, which also has quite different needs,” says Shimomura. Now, the firm wants to make a bigger impact globally. Making the jump in weight is by no means easy. A team of 10 requires two weeks to assemble the new CK3300G model, which boasts a boom length of 90 metres (295 feet). The crane has to be delivered to clients in more than 25 pieces, none of which must exceed a width of three metres (10 feet) for the sake of easy transportation. What’s more, all work has to be done by hand, without recourse to an assembly line or the specialist welding robots that Kobelco employs for smaller devices. “The size of it… it just wouldn’t fit on an assembly line right now,” Shimomura says as we tour a Kobelco Construction Machinery factory to the west of Kobe City. The cavernous facility, which employs 500 factory staff, reverberates with a cacophony of thuds, grinds and drilling. We walk past a safety centre outfitted with its own maneki-neko figurine, a golden lucky cat associated with fortune. In the separate area for large-crane assembly, men in brown aprons fix pipes inside a lattice tower, ready for welding. Rows of wrenches and spanners hang neatly at designated desks. So far, Kobelco has shipped two of its new cranes to a rental firm and a dealership in Texas. A further two will be delivered to Indonesia during the first half of this year. It is the first time that Kobelco has used Scania’s engines, and the company hopes that with Scania’s help the new crane will become the ultimate all-rounder in its category, used as much for the building of bridges and the hammering of pylons into the ground, as for the moving of materials around construction sites. Scania is confident that it can help Kobelco meet its needs. “Working with a crane demands a lot of precision and a lot of power, so good driveability and good response are vital, as are smooth and consistent power and torque,” explains explains Haruyuki “Cookie-san” Mayama, Engine Sales Manager for Scania Engines, Japan. “Reliability is also key, because in the construction industry cranes are very often used in very expensive, one-time contract jobs that have a very tight time schedule; in essence, time is money. However, we believe that Scania’s 13-litre, six-cylinder, 450 hp engine can certainly provide what’s required.” So far, Koichi Shimomura and Kobelco agree. “We have faith in this device… and we are not done with the 300-tonne class. We see that Scania has the vision to go higher in weight capabilities,” says Shimomura. Both Kobelco and Scania are known for reliability, which will be key in the follow-up after sales. Given Scania’s responsiveness so far and the ability of the two to communicate easily, Shimomura says he feels this is the start of a great partnership. “It’s our first time working with Scania. But, I already feel we can be partners, and we need to move together to make this a success.” The engine Scania’s 13-litre, six-cylinder, 450 hp engine is powering the new CK3300G model crane, which boasts a boom length of 90 metres (295 feet). “The engine has good and smooth power and torque. An excellent driveability and response is needed for accurate, precise crane work. The reliability is crucial since construction jobs are on very tight schedules,” says Haruyuki “Cookie-san” Mayama. The company Kobelco is a global company manufacturing excavators and cranes. .

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