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Heavy Duty Trucking (HDT) / May 27, 2020 Mitsubishi Fuso Truck of America announced it is discontinuing new truck sales. The move is a result of a re-evaluation by Daimler subsidiary Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corp. of its business situation in the United States and Canada. Going forward, the company will only provide service in these markets. Truck sales will continue until remaining stock, both dealership inventory and MFTA inventory is gone and there are no additional new Fuso trucks to retail. MFTA plans for Fuso customers in the U.S. and Canada to remain supported through an authorized Fuso service network for warranty repairs, maintenance services, and replacement parts until 2028. MFTA will continue to support the eCanter all-electric trucks that are in operation in the United States under the terms of each customer’s respective special lease. Customers such as J.B. Hunt and A. Duie Pyle have been testing the electric eCanters in last-mile delivery fleets. The intention is to have current Fuso dealerships in the United States and Canada remain operational, and for new vehicle sales locations to have the option of continuing to retail available truck stock for a period of time. MFTA plans to re-align its organizational focus towards service operations in the coming months, and to work with its U.S. and Canadian dealer partners to transition sales dealerships into parts and service-dedicated locations. The company plans to maintain its headquarters in Logan Township, New Jersey, along with its parts distribution and technical training centers, while continuing to employ a majority of its employees in the near term. MFTA, part of Daimler Trucks Asia, celebrated its 35th anniversary in the United States earlier this year. The corporate office was founded in Logan Township in 1985, where it resides today. In late 2019 the company started shipments of the Fuso FE180 Gas truck, marking the start of sales for the gasoline-powered cabover Class 5 work truck. “Working with Fuso dealers, we have developed a strong team throughout the United States and Canada that always places the customer first,” said Justin Palmer, president and CEO, Mitsubishi Fuso Truck of America. “MFTA is fully dedicated to making this transition a smooth one for our customers, and we remain committed in supporting a parts and service network for many years to come.”

Heavy Duty Trucking (HDT) / May 26, 2020 Enhancements to the Detroit DD15 engine, combined with an expanded lineup of the DT12 automated manual transmission, have resulted in improved fuel economy, performance and durability, according to the company. The DT12 transmission has evolved into the DT12 On-Highway Series to offer three purpose-built options to meet the unique needs of various on-highway applications, all of which are now available to order: the DT12-HE, DT12-H, and DT12-HL. The DD15 Gen 5 engine has also been updated and engineered to improve efficiency for the Freightliner Cascadia, and it will be available for January 2021 truck builds. The new DT12 Transmission Lineup The all-new DT12-HE transmission option offers higher overall ratios for improved downspeeding and an improved oil system design, both contributing to increased efficiency. It will debut with Cascadia production beginning in early 2021, with additional model applications to be announced soon. The DT12-HL is a lightweight carry-over option intended for weight-sensitive applications. The DT12-H is a revised designation that retains the same characteristics of the previous DT12. Both the DT12-H and DT12-HL are currently available for order in Cascadia builds. The Detroit DD15 Generation 5 engine The new DD15 Gen 5 engine includes increased downspeeding, improved combustion, and a new swirl piston design. A combination of almost 50% new componentry and fine-tuning by Detroit’s engineers results in up to a 3% improvement in fuel efficiency from propulsion alone, according to the company. A new ball bearing simple geometry turbocharger reduces friction and allows peak power and torque to be reached faster in the Cascadia. Peak horsepower is now reached at 1,500 rpm versus the prior generation’s 1,625 rpm, and peak torque is achieved at 900 rpm versus 1,075 rpm. Modified inlet ports in engine cylinders and a new piston bowl shape combine to create a swirl effect that creates a fuel spray pattern for better atomization. Along with an ultra-high compression ratio, the new swirl design piston makes combustion cleaner and more efficient than the previous generation of the DD15. A new EPA GHG21-compliant aftertreatment system for the DD15 Gen 5 debuts a smaller unit design to reduce weight by more than 60 pounds while increasing nitrous oxide conversion and, dependent on duty cycle, allowing increased diesel particulate filter service intervals. The DD15 Gen 5 also debuts ThermoCoasting, a new feature that prevents aftertreatment cool=down during a driving regen to keep the keep the system at the optimum temperature. To accomplish this, ThermoCoasting will engage engine brakes when necessary between 900 and 1,500 rpm while the engine mimics coasting by maintaining zero torque at the flywheel to balance power delivery.

Canadian government orders 10 million face masks from GM Greg Layson, Automotive News / May 26, 2020 General Motors Canada says employees at its factory in Oshawa, Ontario, will manufacture 10 million masks over the next year for the government of Canada. Production began Tuesday. GM Canada originally announced in late April that it would use its idled assembly plant to make face masks for health care workers battling the COVID-19 pandemic. The automaker said Tuesday that it will manufacture the face masks at cost for the Public Health Agency of Canada. Minister of Public Services and Procurement Anita Anand said the agreement ensures “a steady and reliable domestic supply of this vital equipment.” David Paterson, vice president of corporate and environmental affairs at GM Canada, would only say that the price was “very competitive” and that the automaker could offer an “assured supply” of masks, and do so quickly. Paterson said the world is scrambling to manufacture personal protective equipment and that Canada alone will need an estimated three billion masks per year. “The most valuable thing we offer is a guaranteed source of material,” he said. Mask making in Oshawa is based on the process GM is using at its plant in Warren, Mich., that began a month before the work in Ontario. Paterson said the automaker has no plans to make masks for its own employees, saying the Oshawa-made masks will be “100 percent for Canadians.” “We already have other sources for face masks [for GM Canada],” he said. “We have our PPE requirements covered for Canada.” It’s all part of the automaker’s global supply chain. GM Canada President Scott Bell called the deal with the federal government “one of the proudest moments in our history.” The company said it received its medical device establishment license on April 22. Over the course of a little more than three weeks, and with support from GM’s global supply chain, the company sourced materials, built a ‘Canadian Mask Making (CMM)’ clean room with enhanced safety protocols, installed the required equipment and recalled and trained 60 workers for two shifts of production in Oshawa in partnership with Unifor. “Unifor members in Oshawa are highly skilled and proud to help GM make whatever our country needs to get through this pandemic,” Unifor President Jerry Dias said in the same statement. The modern Oshawa assembly plant that produced its last vehicle on Dec. 19 dates back to 1953 and has produced everything from the Chevrolet Bel Air to the Chevrolet Silverado. The plant has been reduced to a stamping operation, building parts for discontinued models, although GM Canada said that work had not started yet. However, until the pandemic struck, it had been stamping parts for the CAMI plant in Ingersoll, Ontario, where the automaker builds the Chevrolet Equinox. The parts program gives the Oshawa plant a lease on life, albeit one that employs just 300 or so people, instead of the 2,600 that had been assembling cars and trucks for years. Each aftermarket part produced there will be built for 10 years.

Ford throws lifeline to suppliers facing cash crunch Keith Naughton, Bloomberg / May 21, 2020 The automaker is helping keep key component suppliers afloat by paying invoices early. Ford plans eventually to expand the program to other manufacturers across its supply base. DETROIT -- Ford Motor Co. is helping some of its suppliers survive a cash crunch by paying its bills early to ensure that critically needed parts keep flowing to its auto factories. The Detroit 3 are restarting production after shutting down for two months to slow the spread of the coronavirus. That has caused a cash-flow crisis at many suppliers that don’t have deep capital reserves. Ford burned through $8 billion in the first three months of the year, but it has built up a substantial cash pile by suspending its dividend, drawing down its credit lines and selling junk bonds. Now it is helping keep key component suppliers afloat by paying invoices early. “In light of current market conditions, Ford is creating an early-payment program for our supply base,” Jennifer Flake, a company spokeswoman, said in an emailed statement. “This new voluntary program creates access to cash flow and working capital to Ford suppliers.” The automaker, which is projecting a $5 billion operating loss for the second quarter, said it is making these early payments to a small group of key suppliers it declined to identify. The company plans eventually to expand the program to other manufacturers across its supply base, Flake said.

That is a beast. Thanks for posting.

You're right.

Congratulations and appreciation to Jim Kirkwood and Statewide Concrete Pumping who just received their brand new dual-steer Autocar ACX84 with a mounted Schwing America 46M Concrete Pump in Columbus, Ohio. All Autocar products include factory-direct technical support from our Autocar Solutions Team for life. Always Up - Autocar Trucks .

Yes.

Ford plant worker tested positive for Coronavirus, sending thousands of factory workers home early after second day open CBS Chicago / May 20, 2020 Chicago’s Ford assembly plant sent thousands of workers home early on Wednesday only two days after reopening because an employee tested positive for the novel Coronavirus. The unexpected dismissal came after Ford reopened Monday. Production was set to resume Tuesday night. Ford had implemented temperature checks, installed social distancing reminders and redesigned work stations for safety. Ford said the company has been cleaning and disinfecting all areas that the ill employee might have touched. “I’m worried right now,” said employee Timothy Shy. “This is the second day, and we are already hearing about this. Production was temporarily halted at part of the facility and the main plant. “Social distancing doesn’t really work,” said employee Billy Cowart. There are changes from the social distancing reminders outside to temperature checks and re-configured work stations inside. Ford provided a video highlighting some of the updated health changes COVID has brought along to their plants “All these people are crowded and on top of each other,” said Michael Hopper while wearing his Ford issued face mask. “I lost a brother to Coronavirus May 6th,” Hopper said. Hopper along with others describes an experience inside the plant that doesn’t sound or look like the polished video. “I cleaned my own workstation myself,” said Hopper. “How our jobs are set-up, if one person gets in the hole that would affect the person behind him.”

"You can kick their balls, but you can't touch them." .

The second generation (RWI) Super-Liner entered production in 1985. (The MH Ultra-Liner entered limited production in 1984........there were quite a few last minute changes)

The 2nd gen RW with rectangular headlights was known internally as the RWI model. The RWI (on the Ultra-Liner chassis) replaced the Hayward, California-built RWS (steel frame) and RWL (aluminum frame).

The second generation Super-Liner, produced in Macungie, with the 4 rectangular headlights (H4651/H4656), built on the previously introduced MH Ultra-Liner chassis, was known internally as the RWI model. We didn't spend money to improve the Cruise-Liner chassis because the Ultra-Liner was in the development pipeline to replace it before the first Cruise-Liner rolled off the Macungie assembly line. While the Cruise-Liner's death was planned, we wanted to continue on with the Super-Liner product.

Ford Trucks Spain / May 18, 2020 They say good things are kept waiting, but the COVID-19 has made it longer than expected!! Happy to announce that our dealer Vehinva has delivered their first F-Max on Friday to Fernando Zapata. Fernando, we hope you enjoy your shiny new truck! Thank you for choosing us! #PoweredbyFordTrucks 😊 #SharingtheLoad

Spanish haulier San Jose used the Mack emblem Paul. We didn't care......free advertising. https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/30466-when-mack-roamed-europe-the-middle-east-africa-and-western-asia/?page=3&tab=comments#comment-180054

The way they're printing money scares the heck out of me.........a recipe for disaster.

Based on the news fed to us from the entire spectrum of media (I don't know anyone in government today personally), I can't argue with you.

I never mentioned Trump or Obama. Okay? I only said that all government, by design is corrupt (and has been for hundreds of years). In 1887, John Dalberg-Acton wrote: Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Great men are almost always bad men, even when they exercise influence and not authority, still more when you superadd the tendency or the certainty of corruption by authority.

All government, by design, is corrupt to varying degrees, and inefficient in functionality.

The RWL/RWS was produced at Hayward. The MH chassis-based RWI was produced at Macungie.

F-150, Bronco programs delayed 2 months Michael Martinez, Automotive News / May 15, 2020 DETROIT — Plant shutdowns due to the coronavirus will result in roughly two-month delays for several of Ford Motor Co.'s key vehicle programs, including the redesigned F-150 pickup and new Bronco SUV, but a top executive said the automaker doesn't envision additional postponements. "Given our inability to work in our assembly plants during the shelter-in-place restrictions, it will have an impact to program timing, in terms of the launches, but we expect the launch delays to be commensurate with the duration of the shutdown period," Hau Thai-Tang, Ford's chief product development and purchasing officer, said Friday in a Bank of America presentation. Ford on March 18 said it would shutter its North American facilities as the coronavirus spread across the globe. It plans to resume limited production at most plants Monday. Ford has already delayed public unveilings of the Bronco, Bronco Sport crossover and F-150 this spring. The Bronco Sport, F-150 and Mustang Mach-E electric crossover are due in showrooms in the second half of 2020. The Bronco is expected to go on sale in early 2021. Bronco Sport output was originally planned to start July 13 but then was pushed to Sept. 7 because of the coronavirus outbreak. Suppliers have been told production now will begin Aug. 31 at a plant in Mexico. The vehicles represent popular, high-margin nameplates that Ford hopes are key to a financial turnaround. Despite the delays, Thai-Tang said Ford planned no further postponements, even as money gets tight. "We're not going to do any additional delay to these launches beyond the impact of COVID-19 as a mechanism to conserve cash," he said. "I know that's something some of the other OEMs are doing." The virus has upended launch plans for a number of automakers. Ford has said it has enough cash to make it to the end of 2020, even if none of its assembly plants resumed production. In the case of the Bronco family of vehicles, Ford is betting not only on robust sales — it's targeting 200,000 in 2021 — but also revenue from a large number of accessories. Ford is hoping the Bronco subbrand can do for it what Jeep has done for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. "FCA has nine Jeep products; last time I counted, it accounts for at least half of their revenue and profit, all underpinned by the Wrangler," Thai-Tang said. "We think we have the same brand strength with Bronco and Mustang, and series like Raptor, that we need to really capitalize on. You're seeing the initial us dipping our toes in the water, but we think there's tremendous upside there."

Yes. If I recall correctly, Chapel Hill, North Carolina-based Kenan Transport ordered RD tractors when the R model was discontinued. In their spec, basically the same truck except with the stronger deeper rails. The weight difference was actually negligible. The ultimate money-making tractor for a tanker fleet.

Read of the week ------------------------------------------------------ In the early days of the pandemic, the US government turned down an offer to manufacture millions of N95 masks in America Aaron David, Washington Post / May 9, 2020 It was Jan. 22, a day after the first case of covid-19 was detected in the United States, and orders were pouring into Michael Bowen’s company outside Fort Worth, some from as far away as Hong Kong. Bowen’s medical supply company, Prestige Ameritech, could ramp up production to make an additional 1.7 million N95 masks a week. He viewed the shrinking domestic production of medical masks as a national security issue, though, and he wanted to give the federal government first dibs. “We still have four like-new N95 manufacturing lines,” Bowen wrote that day in an email to top administrators in the Department of Health and Human Services. “Reactivating these machines would be very difficult and very expensive but could be achieved in a dire situation.” But communications over several days with senior agency officials — including Robert Kad­lec, the assistant secretary for preparedness and emergency response — left Bowen with the clear impression that there was little immediate interest in his offer. “I don’t believe we as a government are anywhere near answering those questions for you yet,” Laura Wolf, director of the agency’s Division of Critical Infrastructure Protection, responded that same day. Bowen persisted. “We are the last major domestic mask company,” he wrote on Jan. 23. “My phones are ringing now, so I don’t ‘need’ government business. I’m just letting you know that I can help you preserve our infrastructure if things ever get really bad. I’m a patriot first, businessman second.” In the end, the government did not take Bowen up on his offer. Even today, production lines that could be making more than 7 million masks a month sit dormant. Bowen’s overture was described briefly in an 89-page whistleblower complaint filed this week by Rick Bright, former director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority. Bright was retaliated against by Kadlec and other officials — including being reassigned to a lesser post — because he tried to “prioritize science and safety over political expediency.” Emails show Bright pressed Kadlec and other agency leaders on the issue of mask shortages — and Bowen’s proposal specifically — to no avail. On Jan. 26, Bright wrote to a deputy that Bowen’s warnings “seem to be falling on deaf ears.” That day, Bowen sent Bright a more direct warning. “U.S. mask supply is at imminent risk,” Bowen wrote. “Rick, I think we’re in deep shit,” he wrote a day later. The story of Bowen’s offer illustrates a missed opportunity in the early days of the pandemic, one laid out in Bright’s whistleblower complaint, interviews with Bowen and emails provided by both men. Within weeks, a shortage of masks was endangering health-care workers in hard-hit areas across the country, and the Trump administration was scrambling to buy more masks — sometimes placing bulk orders with third-party distributors for many times the standard price. President Trump came under pressure to use extraordinary government powers to force the private industry to ramp up production. In a statement, White House economic adviser and Coronavirus task force member Peter Navarro said: “The company was just extremely difficult to work and communicate with. This was in sharp contrast to groups like the National Council of Textile Organizations and companies like Honeywell and Parkdale Mills, which have helped America very rapidly build up cost effective domestic mask capacity measuring in the hundreds of millions.” Carol Danko, an HHS spokeswoman [and employee of the American people], refused to comment on the offer by Bowen and other allegations raised in the whistleblower complaint. Wolf also refused to comment on the whistleblower complaint. A senior U.S. government official with knowledge of the offer said Bowen, 62, has a “legitimate beef.” “He was prescient, really,” the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity to describe internal deliberations. “But the reality is [HHS] didn’t have the money to do it at that time.” Another HHS official, also speaking on the condition of anonymity, said: “There is a process for putting out contracts. It wasn’t as fast as anyone wanted it to be.” A voice in the wilderness Two decades ago, the low-slung factory in Texas was part of a supply conglomerate that produced almost 9 in 10 medical and surgical masks used in the United States. Bowen was a new product specialist at the plant back then, and he watched as industry consolidations and outsourcing shifted control of the plant from Tecnol Medical Products to Kimberly-Clark and then shuttered it altogether. In less than a decade, almost 90 percent of all U.S. mask production had moved out of the country, according to government reports at the time. Bowen and Dan Reese, a former executive at Tecnol, went into business together in 2005 and eventually bought the plant, believing a market remained for a dedicated domestic manufacturer of protective gear. In the wake of the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Congress appropriated $6 billion to buy antidotes to bioweapons and the medical supplies the country would need in public health disasters. An obscure new government organization called the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority, or ­BARDA, was among the agencies purchasing material for what would become the Strategic National Stockpile. Bowen began studying ­BARDA, attending its industry conferences and searching for a way in to press his case. In the parlance of BARDA, Bowen was seeking a “warm base” contract. The government would pay a premium to have masks manufactured domestically, but his company would keep its extra factory lines in working order, meaning production could be ramped up in an emergency. Bowen said he soon concluded that BARDA’s focus was trained elsewhere, on billion-dollar deals to induce manufacturing of vaccines for the most exotic disasters, such as weaponized attacks with anthrax or smallpox. Still, as Bowen moved down the supply chain, appealing directly to hospitals to buy his domestic-made masks, his sales pitch often ended with a plea to call BARDA. Bowen often carried PowerPoint slides from a 2007 presentation by BARDA and its parent division at HHS, the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. One had a table showing that, in the event of a pandemic, the country would need 5.3 billion N95 respirator masks, 50 times more than the number in the stockpile. The presentation concluded: “Industrial surge capacity of [respiratory protection devices] will not be able to meet need and supplies will be short during a pandemic.” Bowen said he felt like a voice in the wilderness. “The world just looked at me as a mask salesman who was saying the sky was falling,” he said, “and they would say, ‘Your competitors aren’t saying that in China.’ ” After Trump’s election, Bowen hoped the new president’s America-first mentality might trickle down to operations like his. He wrote a letter to Trump and addressed it to 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue: “90% of the United States protective mask supply is currently FOREIGN MADE!” it began. “I didn’t think Trump would read it, but I thought someone would and take note,” Bowen said. He also called Bright, who had been appointed to lead BARDA just before Trump took office. “In 14 years of doing this, there have been maybe four people in government who I felt like really understood this issue,” Bowen said. “Rick was one of them.” In Trump’s first year, however, Bowen grew newly disillusioned. During a week when the White House touted its “Buy American, Hire American” initiative, Bowen lost a military contract worth up to $1 million to a supplier that would make many of the masks in Mexico, he said. "Shame on the Department of Defense! One of these days the Bowen wrote on Aug. 17, 2017, to Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Clark, a senior official with the Pentagon’s Defense Health Agency. The US military will need America’s manufacturers to help win another war or fight another pandemic — and they will not exist,” Proposal to produce goes nowhere For Bowen, the first signs of trouble came in mid-January. Online orders through his company’s website, typically totaling maybe $2,000 a year and accounting for only a fraction of his business, suddenly skyrocketed to almost $700,000 in a few days. On Jan. 20, Bowen also fielded a call from the Department of Homeland Security, urgently seeking masks for airport screeners. Bowen said he did not have masks in stock to fill the order, but the call led him to contact Bright to tell him about the surge in demand for masks. “Is this virus going to be problematic?” Bowen wrote. Inside HHS, Bright quickly passed Bowen’s on-the-ground observations to a group that included Wolf, the director of the agency’s Division of Critical Infrastructure Protection. “Can you please reach out to Mike Bowen below? He is a great partner and a really good source for helpful information,” Bright wrote on Jan. 21. “Thanks Rick,” she replied. “We are tracking and have begun to coordinate with fda, niosh, and manufacturers today. More to follow tomorrow. Thinking about masks, gowns (inc those in shortage), gloves, and eye protection.” Within a day, Bowen sent an email to Wolf laying out what Prestige could do. The company’s four mothballed manufacturing lines could be restarted with large noncancelable orders, he wrote. “This is NOT something we would ever wish to do and have NO plans to do it on our own,” he wrote. “I’m simply letting you know that in a dire situation, it could be done.” Over the next three days, Bowen kept HHS officials informed as orders for a million masks came in from intermediaries for buyers in China and Hong Kong. On Jan. 26, he sent the email warning that the U.S. mask supply was at “imminent risk.” Bright forwarded it that day to Kadlec and others, urging action: “We have been watching and receiving warnings on this for over a week,” he wrote. The next day, Bright wrote to his deputy asking him to explore whether BARDA could divert money earmarked for vaccines and other biodefense measures to instead buy masks. From his end, Bowen said his proposal seemed to be going nowhere. “No one at HHS ever did get back to me in a substantive way,” Bowen said. The senior U.S. official said Bowen’s idea was considered, but funding could not easily be obtained without diverting it from other projects. Bowen started talking to reporters about the mask shortage in general terms. He was soon invited to appear on former Trump adviser Stephen K. Bannon’spodcast: “War Room: Pandemic.” On the Feb. 12 podcast, the two commiserated over the beleaguered state of U.S. manufacturing. “What I’ve been saying since 2007 is, ‘Guys, I’m warning you, here’s what is going to happen, let’s prepare,’ ” Bowen said on the program. “Because if you call me after it starts, I can’t help everybody.” Bowen said Bannon put him in touch with Navarro, the White House economic adviser. Navarro was quick to see the problem, Bowen said. After talking with Navarro, Bowen wrote to Bright that he should soon expect a call from the White House. “I’m pretty sure that my mask supply message will be heard by President Trump this week,” Bowen wrote. “Trump insider reading yesterday’s Wired.com article, the ball is screaming toward your court.” According to Bright’s complaint, he soon began attending White House meetings and helping Navarro write memos describing the supply of masks as a top issue. Emails and memos attached to the complaint show Bright reporting back to Kadlec and others about his work with Navarro. None of it turned the tide for Bowen. Nearly a month after his emailed offer, Bowen received his first formal communication about possibly helping to bolster the U.S. supply. The five-page form letter from the Food and Drug Administration — one Bowen said he suspected was sent to many manufacturers — asked how his company could help with what was by then a “national emergency response” to the shortage of protective gear. Bowen responded on Feb. 16, by firing off a terse email to FDA and HHS officials. He directed the agencies to a U.S. government website listing approved foreign manufacturers of medical masks. “There you’ll find a long list of . . . approved Chinese respirator companies,” he wrote. “Please send your long list of questions to them.” In March, Bowen submitted a bid to supply masks to the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which by then had taken over purchasing. The government soon spent over $600 million on contracts involving masks. Big companies like Honeywell and 3M were each awarded contracts totaling over $170 million for protective gear. One distributor of tactical gear — a company with no history of procuring medical equipment — was awarded a $55 million deal to provide masks for as much as $5.50 a piece, eight times what the government was paying months earlier. On April 7, FEMA awarded Prestige a $9.5 million contract to provide a million N95 masks a month for one year, an order the company could fulfill without activating its dormant manufacturing lines. For the masks, Prestige charged the government 79 cents a piece. .