kscarbel2

As you can see, the Meritor (Rockwell) AC6S was available as recently as 2007 in the Super-Liner and Titan, as well as both Trident configurations (axle forward and axle back). Super-Liner HD Tractor 6x4 (2007).pdf Titan (2007).pdf Trident - Axle Back (2007).pdf Trident - Axle Forward (2007).pdf

The PDF is Australian market, where the AC6 was VERY popular on all brand trucks including Mack. ArvinMeritor AC6 Series 6-rod suspensions.pdf

Certainly stop-and-go situations like refuse and municipal transit are great targets, given the frequent ability to regenerate, and make brake shoe replacement a rarity.

Tesla Lists Electric Truck at $150K for Base Model Heavy Duty Trucking (HDT) / November 27, 2017 Tesla has posted the prices for its upcoming electric truck, the Tesla Semi, showing a base price of $150,000 for the base model. The base model will have a 300-mile range, less than the 500-mile figure given by company founder and CEO Elon Musk at the Tesla Semi’s introduction in late November. The 500-mile range version will sell for $180,000. The company is already accepting reservations for the vehicle at $20,000 a pop. The truck is expected to go into production in 2019. If you balked at the aforementioned base prices, Tesla will also offer a limited-edition Founders Series truck for $200,000, requiring a $200,000 reservation. Tesla will only produce 1,000 Founders Series Tesla Semis. Tesla’s vice president of truck and programs, Jerome Guillen, gave a presentation at an electric truck conference in Europe. While he was speaking about the Tesla Semi’s future in the European market, he did offer a few more details about the truck. For one thing, Guillen said Tesla would be its own first customer, using the Tesla Semi to haul cargo between its facilities in Freemont, Calififornia, and its Gigafactory just outside of Reno, Nevada, a route of about 260 miles. Most of what Guillen presented to the audience in Europe was a rehash of specs and expected performance marks that were given at Tesla’s official launch. However, he did comment that the truck would have a similar cargo capacity to diesel trucks, implying that the weight of the Tesla Semi would not be significantly more or less than an average Class 8 truck – something many skeptics doubt is possible. Guillen did not give an expected launch date for the Tesla Semi in the European market, but promised a vague timing that would come after “things are good in the U.S.”

Blowin’ in the wind Paul Menig, Fleet Owner / November 27, 2017 One of my favorite songs over the years is Blowing in the Wind by Peter, Paul, and Mary. I thought of this line while considering the specifications given for the new Tesla Semi. Before I go further, a confession. I worked with Jerome Guillen, the manager for the Tesla Semi, when he was at Freightliner, now Daimler Trucks North America. At first he was a consultant from McKinsey helping with cost reduction. Then he became the program manager for the Freightliner Cascadia, which hit the market in 2007. I have a lot of respect for Jerome. He’s got a doctorate in physics, so he knows his stuff both technically and from a business perspective. Like some other editors, I’ve got a few questions regarding the specifications on the new product from Tesla. I was impressed, almost to the point of disbelief, by the aerodynamic spec of a CdA of .36. In the work I’ve done, I usually see percentage improvements in aerodynamics. Few, if any, have revealed publicly their aerodynamic performance specification. I’ve worked on reviews of GHG2 regulations and thought that was way beyond realistic. But, it turns out it is much better than the results for the average production vehicle, but not beyond what has been demonstrated in concept vehicles. It is in the GHG2 rules as meeting the highest aerodynamic level of Bin VII. The images in the release show a truck with cameras instead of mirrors. Well, that’s not legal. I’m not sure our government is about to change that. Certainly, not in time for a production release in 2 years. The government cannot work that fast. I look forward to having an independent, respected group run a test. What’s missing for me, is the wind average aerodynamic performance. Winds hit a truck at all angles at the same time that they slice through the air going forward. Come to think of it, the truck is so good, it might make sense for another truck maker to buy into Tesla to use some of those trucks to help with its average for GHG2 production. But, then, why did Toyota and Daimler sell their stakes in Tesla in the last few years. I heard Elon Musk talk about jack knifing of semi’s. I’ve been working on braking systems and advanced safety systems for many years. Most jack knifing accidents were eliminated with the advent of ABS. Further improvements in semi safety were made with those fleets that chose roll stability control, a different accident. Finally, as of August 1 of this year, all semis should have ESB (Enhanced Stability Control) with braking at each individual wheel end to avoid loss of control. I don’t see the claim for the Tesla Semi as any better than every other semi in production now. (As a side point, in Europe it’s called ESP for Enhanced Stability Pneumatics. But it acts as if it has ESP and can understand what the truck is thinking.) Price may not be as prohibitive as some are suggesting. This vehicles saves the cost of an engine, transmission, driveline, and two axles. That’s a lot of expensive metal and electronics that are eliminated. They are replaced by expensive batteries, and 4 wheel end motors. Costs of those items are decreasing. Europes coaches and buses are moving to electric quite quickly, which should help with the wheel end motors. Batteries are decreasing in cost as well. Cost might not be as bad as you think. The claims made about no breakdown in a million miles seems a bit of an overoptimistic marketing ploy. I believe I heard some disclaimers such as regular maintenance and such. Electrical connections almost always have some issues along the way. One more comment on the specs. What will it mean for a fully loaded tractor/trailer rig to go from 0-60 mph in just 20 seconds? You better have that load in the trailer secured exceptionally well. Next up? The Nikola product introduction. Stay tuned. It likely will not be as electrifying.

Tesla announces Semi prices, raises reservation cost to $20,000 Neil Abt, Fleet Owner / November 27, 2017 Tesla announced on its website the price for its Semi Class 8 electric truck will start at $150,000 for a model with a 300-mile range, and $180,000 for a 500-mile range. The company also said it increased the per-order reservation price for the trucks to $20,000. At the unveiling event earlier this month, CEO Elon Musk said that figure was $5,000 per vehicle. In addition, Tesla said it was offering a “Founders Series” model for an upfront charge of $200,000, which guarantees receiving one of the first 1,000 Semis produced. Tesla claims the truck will have the lowest cost of ownership when it hits the road in 2019. It said electric energy costs are half of diesel and that the Semi will provide at least $200,000 in fuel savings over the life of the vehicle. Additional information such as the weight of the vehicle and other specifications have not yet been released. Separately, officials with the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach told the Daily Breeze they have met with Tesla engineers to learn about the truck. It is part of the effort to reach zero emissions for all on-road equipment by 2035, said Chris Cannon, director of environmental management for the Port of Los Angeles.

Tesla’s Newest Promises Break the Laws of Batteries Transport Topics / November 27, 2017 Elon Musk knows how to make promises. Even by his own standards, the promises made last week while introducing two new Tesla vehicles—the heavy-duty Semi Truck and the speedy Roadster—are monuments of envelope pushing. To deliver, according to close observers of battery technology, Tesla would have to far exceed what is currently thought possible. Take the Tesla Semi: Musk vowed it would haul an unprecedented 80,000 pounds for 500 miles on a single charge, then recharge 400 miles of range in 30 minutes. That would require, based on Bloomberg estimates, a charging system that’s 10 times more powerful than one of the fastest battery-charging networks on the road today—Tesla’s own Superchargers. The diminutive Tesla Roadster is promised to be the quickest production car ever built. But that achievement would mean squeezing into its tiny frame a battery twice as powerful as the largest battery currently available in an electric car. These claims are so far beyond current industry standards for electric vehicles that they would require either advances in battery technology or a new understanding of how batteries are put to use, said Sam Jaffe, battery analyst for Cairn Energy Research in Boulder, Colorado. In some cases, experts suspect Tesla might be banking on technological improvements between now and the time when new vehicles are actually ready for delivery. “I don’t think they’re lying,” Jaffe said. “I just think they left something out of the public reveal that would have explained how these numbers work.” Here are four of Tesla’s most provocative battery claims—and an attempt to puzzle out how they might be achieved. Truck Range: Haul 80,000 Pounds for 500 Miles When Musk took the stage in an airport hangar in Hawthorne, California, his first proclamation was the Tesla Semi’s range: A fully-loaded truck would be able to travel at highway speeds for 500 miles. The previous record-holder, unveiled by Daimler in October, is a truck that maxes out at 220 miles. A heavy-duty, long-range truck is the toughest vehicle to electrify while still turning a profit, said Menahem Anderman, president of Total Battery Consulting Inc., in Oregon House, California. Tesla may be doing it to prove a point. “If you can make a semi truck with batteries,” Anderman said, “then you can make everything else with batteries.” Tesla is making its trucks more efficient by reducing wind drag to levels that are comparable to those of sports cars. But even if Tesla achieves record-breaking efficiency for the truck, it would still require a battery capacity somewhere from 600 kilowatt hours to 1,000 kilowatt hours to deliver on Musk’s claims, according to estimates from Bloomberg New Energy Finance. Split the difference, at 800 kWh, and it would mean a battery that weighs more than 10,000 pounds and costs more than $100,000—even before you build the truck around it. Tesla has priced the truck with 500-mile range at $180,000, less than the estimated prices of seven analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, and says fuel savings will result in a two-year payback when compared to diesel. One thing Tesla has going for it is the falling price of batteries. Musk may be banking on battery improvements between now to the early 2020s in order for its truck to make financial sense. The first Tesla Semis won’t hit the road until late 2019; even then, production would probably start slowly. Most fleet operators will want to test the trucks before considering going all-in. By the time Tesla gets large orders, batteries should cost considerably less. Tesla Megachargers: 400 Miles in 30 Minutes Musk’s claim that the truck will be able to accumulate 400 miles of charge in 30 minutes would allow the Semi to achieve the first true long-haul ranges in the industry. A driver might start the day with 500 miles of range, top off the battery at lunch, and be able to complete driving the U.S. legal limit of 11 hours in a day with range to spare. But doing so would require a charger unlike anything seen before. “I don’t understand how that works,” said Salim Morsy, electric vehicle analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance. “I really don’t.” Tesla is claiming charging speeds that are faster than anything available now, and its customers will pay well below average market rates to access the network. Tesla’s current generation of high-speed Superchargers have a power output of 120 kilowatts and can add about 180 miles to the battery in a Model S sedan in 30 minutes. But that’s for a passenger car, not a loaded truck. To meet Tesla’s claim of 400 miles in 30 minutes for a semi carrying 80,000 pounds would require its new Megachargers to achieve output of more than 1200 kW—or more than 10 times better than Tesla’s fastest chargers available today. Joe Fath, fund manager for T. Rowe Price Group Inc., Tesla’s seventh-largest shareholder, said that prior to the unveiling he thought Tesla’s heavy-duty truck might be able to address about a quarter of the hauling tasks performed by the largest heavy-duty freight trucks, known as Class 8 semis. In North America alone, these big trucks account for about $30 billion in sales each year, according to industry data tracked by Bloomberg. The promises in Musk’s presentation persuaded Fath that Tesla will be able to compete in nearly two-thirds of the Class 8 market. “If they execute,” he said, “they have a very big opportunity.” Guaranteed Charging Rates of 7 Cents per kWh The sticker price of any electric truck, regardless of size, is going to be higher than its diesel equivalent because of the batteries, which alone can cost as much as some standard diesel trucks. The $180,000 Tesla Semi will compete with diesels that cost as little as $100,000. The trick is to offset those higher upfront costs through lower maintenance and fuel savings. Perhaps Tesla’s most head-scratching revelation is that it will guarantee truckers electricity rates of 7 cents per kilowatt hour. That could result in fuels savings of more than $30,000 a year for some truckers, according to Bloomberg estimates. Partly, Musk said, this will be done by adding solar power and massive battery packs at the charging stations. While the economics of such a plan vary by region, under any scenario that BNEF’s Morsy expects, Tesla will be heavily subsidizing those electricity rates for customers. He estimated that Tesla will pay a minimum of 40 cents per kilowatt hour, on average, for every 7 cents paid by a trucking company. “There’s no way you can reconcile 7 cents a kilowatt hour with anything on the grid that puts a megawatt hour of energy into a battery,” Morsy said. “That simply does not exist.” That may sound like a disastrous financial plan, but it’s no different from what Tesla does for its current Supercharger network. Tesla offers free electricity to most of its Model S and Model X customers while paying almost $1 per kilowatt hour to produce it, Morsy said. That amounts to a subsidy of as much as $1,000 per car in 2017. Many electric utilities base their commercial rates on the peak amount of electricity that a customer draws at one time, even if that peak occurs only for a brief period. Tesla’s Megacharger stations would incur extremely high charges by drawing so much power so quickly. The best chance for mitigating those charges are to build Megachargers at existing truck terminals that already draw a lot of power, Morsy said, and by adding massive battery packs that can spread demand over time. From another perspective, these subsidies to support Megachargers could be a boon to Tesla’s balance sheet as it wades into an entirely new industry. It allows the company to maximize its upfront revenue by charging a lot for the trucks while spreading out the cost of building and operating the charging network over time.

Trailer-Body Builders / November 27, 2017 In October, commercial vehicle registrations across the EU gained momentum, showing positive growth (+10.7%) compared to one year ago, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA). Demand was sustained across all segments, except for buses and coaches. Among the five big markets, Spain (+20.9%), France (+18.6%) and Germany (+14.5%) recorded the highest gains, while the United Kingdom (-9.8%) performed significantly less well than in October last year. From January to October 2017, demand for new commercial vehicles remained positive in the EU, with almost 2 million new vehicles registered – up 4.0% compared to last year. Spain continued to drive growth (+15.1%), and so did France (+7.7%), Germany (+3.3%) and Italy (+1.8%). UK demand, however, contracted (-3.9%) over this period. New heavy commercial vehicles (HCV) of 16 tonnes and over In October, demand for new heavy commercial vehicles grew by 5.3% after posting a decline in September. Results were diverse across the five big EU markets, with registrations falling in the UK (-18.3%) and demand going up in France (+20.7%), Italy (+7.3%) and Germany (+5.7%). In total, 28,521 heavy trucks were registered in the EU last month. So far in 2017, the HCV market posted a modest increase (+0.9%), counting 247,065 new vehicle registrations. The Italian market saw the strongest gains (+13.7%), followed by France (+6.0%). Demand for heavy commercial vehicles remained relatively stable in Germany (+0.1%) and Spain (-0.04%). New medium and heavy commercial vehicles (MHCV) over 3.5 tonnes October 2017 registrations of new trucks were 3.9% higher than in October last year, totaling 34,336 new units. Growth was sustained across all major EU markets, except for the United Kingdom. From January to October 2017, 305,259 new trucks were registered in the EU – a stable performance (+0.3%) when compared to last year’s results. Italy (+10.7%) and France (+5.8%) did very well so far in 2017, while truck registrations decreased in the UK and Germany (-4.5% and -1.2% respectively). New medium and heavy buses & coaches (MHBC) over 3.5 tonnes In October, demand for new buses and coaches fell for the second consecutive month, down 13.4% and totaling 2,703 units. Demand contracted strongly in the five big EU markets except for Spain, which posted double-digit growth (+22.4%). Over the first 10 months of 2017, the EU bus and coach market remained more or less stable (+0.3%), counting 32,859 new vehicles registered. The UK and France saw demand fall by -17.7% and -11.8% respectively, while new bus and coach registrations increased substantially in Italy (+31.6%) and Spain (+13.1%). New light commercial vehicles (LCV) up to 3.5 tonnes October 2017 results show a robust increase (+12.7%) in EU demand for vans. All major EU markets contributed positively to last month’s growth, except for the United Kingdom. The Spanish and German markets accounted for the strongest growth (+25.0% and +19.9% respectively), while LCV demand contracted in the UK (-7.4%). Ten months into the year, more than 1.6 million new vans were registered across the European Union, up 4.8% compared to the same period in 2016. Spain (+17.2%), France (+8.3%) and Germany (+5.1%) maintained momentum, while demand for light commercial vehicles declined (-3.5%) in the United Kingdom.

I suspect there is/was a cover-up. But they ensured that it's impossible for us to connect the dots.

Did you call John Chalmers? Two other suppliers that come to mind are: http://www.restorationspecialties.com/ http://metrommp.com/

Ford Trucks Press Release / November 24, 2017 Masters of the burden! Thanks to the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF) in your Ford Cargo truck, harmful particles are cleansed via an exhaust filtering process. Moreover, you can easily track the occupancy rate in the exhaust filter from the exhaust information screen and safely continue on your way. Ford Trucks and You – "Sharing the Load" At Ford Trucks, we’re serious about trucking. It's why we designed the new 2017 Cargo heavy truck range from the ground up to meet your needs and expectations. See your authorized Ford heavy truck dealer for details. .

Ford Trucks Press Release / November 24, 2017 Automatic descending auxiliary axles are now mandatory in many countries. In your Ford Cargo truck, you can depend on Ford’s “AutoDrop” automatic descending auxiliary axle system for trouble-free, high-performing operation. Ford Trucks and You – "Sharing the Load" At Ford Trucks, we’re serious about trucking. It's why we designed the new 2017 Cargo heavy truck range from the ground up to meet your needs and expectations. See your authorized Ford heavy truck dealer for details. .

Scania Group Press Release / November 27, 2017 Scania Touring has swept the board in the leading Italy-based European newsletter ‘BusToCoach’s’ comparative test of eleven 2-axle coaches from six bus builders. With 18.2 litres/100 km, Scania Touring’s fuel consumption was an impressive 12-percent lower than the runner-up and all of 31 percent better than the coach that performed poorest. BusToCoach lined up coaches from Irizar, Iveco, Mercedes, Setra and Temsa for a fuel duel that included 347 kilometres of varied road conditions in Lombardy, Piacenza and Liguria. The results for the Scania Touring HD 12.1-metre coach surprised even seasoned bus experts. “The results have exceeded all expectations in terms of consumption, plus a remarkably interesting purchase price,” the publication writes. “The consumption turned out to be better than any optimistic prediction.” The newsletter asks itself how this outstanding result was at all possible. It admits that the test was carried out in a relatively moderate average speed of 77.4 km/h and that the air conditioning was only in operation half of the time. Notwithstanding, BusToCoach found that the low fuel consumption could primarily be attributed to Scania’s 13-litre SCR-only engine, the automated Scania Opticruise and Scania Active Prediction. In addition to the fuel consumption, the newsletter praised Scania Touring for its “very good interior quietness for both passengers and the driver, and the well-finished trim.” .

I have installed this Jegs relay kit on my vehicles and found a significant difference, even with stock bulbs. http://www.jegs.com/i/Painless-Performance-Products/764/30815/10002/-1 I use Philips X-tremeVision bulbs because of the quality, enhanced range, and their being legal. (They're available on Amazon) https://www.powerbulbs.com/us/product/philips-xtreme-vision-130-h4-twin

Earhart was held on Saipan USA Today / November 26, 2017 HAGATNA, Guam — A man with ties to Saipan shared information that promotes a theory that Amelia Earhart was brought to the island and held prisoner 80 years ago. William “Bill” Sablan, who lives on Chamorro, said his uncle Tun Akin Tuho worked at the prison where Amelia Earhart and Fred Noonan were taken prisoner in Saipan. The History Channel shared the theory that the two were taken prisoner in a recent TV special called Amelia Earhart: The Lost Evidence. The theory says Earhart was captured and executed on Saipan by the Empire of Japan. The U.S. government and military knew it (and even found and exhumed her body). And both governments have been lying about it ever since. Sablan’s uncle’s story fits this theory. In 1971, he was speaking with his uncle and cousin about his dream of becoming a pilot when his uncle mentioned the people that were held prisoner in Saipan. His uncle described an American woman and man taken to a Saipan prison in the mid-1930s by ship. He said they were found with a plane on a southern Pacific Island under Japanese control. Sablan said Earhart was brought to Saipan, for it was a hub for the Japanese. His uncle said that he remembers the woman and man because Caucasian people were rare on Saipan. The prison was usually quiet, but the pair's arrival caused a commotion. “They had no reason to be there,” Sablan said. His uncle said the plane they were flying was dropped somewhere in the ocean before coming to Saipan. The uncle said that the two were in the Saipan prison for two or three days before they were killed. Sablan said it's possible the U.S. found and relocated the remains. According to news files, in 1960 a CBS radio man, Fred Goerner, spoke with at least a dozen reliable witnesses from Saipan, who shared that before the war, two white people arrived on Saipan — described as “flyers” or “spies” — and they were held in the Japanese jail. They said the flyers were tall and one of them was a woman, but her hair was cut short and she was wearing men’s clothing, files state. The year was 1937, the same year Earhart and Noonan were lost. The theory rests on an ambiguous photograph, said to have been taken in 1937, that might show Earhart and Noonan alive on a dock in the Marshall Islands. At the time, the islands were controlled by Japan.

The Ahrens-Fox(ECB/FCB)/Beck/Mack C-Series ranks in my mind as the most beautiful and functional fire apparatus we ever built.

Tesla electric semi's price is surprisingly competitive Engadget / November 23, 2017 Starting at $150,000, it's not much more than a regular semi and will cost less to run. When Tesla unveiled its semi electric truck last week, everyone agreed that it looked cool, but some actual truckers weren't necessarily sold on its functionality. Most observers will be impressed with the pricing if it holds, though. Tesla has listed estimated price on its Semi website for the 300- and 500-mile versions of $150,000 and $180,000 respectively, less than some pundits predicted. The high-spec Founders Series will cost $200,000. Looking at the $180,000 model, it's still around $60,000 more than a diesel-powered truck. However, the Tesla tractor could cost around 20 percent less to run, Tesla estimates, putting savings over a million miles at around $250,000. The Tesla truck will improve the trucker experience with an Enhanced Autopilot (automatic emergency braking, automatic lane keeping and lane departure warning) that will improve safety for drivers and other vehicles. It also features jackknife protection, sensors and cameras meant to reduce blind spots. For a truck it'll also have superb acceleration. Some critics are wondering how Tesla can sell the truck so cheaply. Some estimates have put the cost of the 1 MWh battery alone at up to $400,000, so as Electrek speculates, Tesla must have some new technology or other tricks up its sleeve to be able to make the economics work. Potential buyers aren't spooked by the unknowns, though -- Canadian grocery chain Loblaws was the first to jump onboard with a big order, and retail giant Walmart also plans to test the truck.

The big problem is the lack of good availability of 865/866 engine parts.

Volkswagen Truck & Bus / November 10, 2017 Equipped with a V-Tronic automated manual transmission (AMT) and planetary hub reduction rear axles, the new model 32.360 is ideal for extreme operations in the construction and mining segments. The truck’s Cummins ISL engine, rated at 360 horsepower and 1,600 Nm of torque, is paired with a 16-speed ZF automated manual transmission. EBD works in conjunction with the truck’sABS system, distributing the braking force between the wheels of the vehicle. In addition to ATC, which prevents the wheels from skating, EasyStart enhanced terrain ascent and maneuverability in narrow and confined locations. The rear axles are fitted with inter-axle as well as intra-axle differential locks to overcome the most difficult terrain. "The vehicle is designed to run under the most difficult terrain conditions. Each detail was developed to meet requests from customers requiring the robustness and reliability of Volkswagen trucks, "says product marketing engineer Vinícius Arantes. The Constellation 24.260 "Robust" Tipper Constructor is another important new model, a 6x2 dedicated to the support operations in the off-road segment, with metal construction fenders, new engine calibration, Eaton transmission planetary hub reduction rear axle and mixed-use tires. This is an incoming truck for the operation, tailored to the application, with the best operational cost of the segment. The two new models increase the vocational contractor's family and will be available for sales from the beginning of 2018. Volkswagen Truck’s Constructor range represents the most robust in the portfolio of our vocational trucks, combining high-tech, high performance and service to meet the most demanding operational requirements. .

Paccar Australia's sales marketing is very good, and noticeably better than Paccar in the US.

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