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Heavy Duty Trucking / October 25, 2017 Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (MFTBC) has announced it will electrify its complete range of trucks and buses in upcoming years. The company launched E-Fuso, a product brand exclusively dedicated to electric mobility of trucks and buses, and unveiled its all-electric heavy truck concept. This initiative will be backed by access to parent company Daimler’s know-how in the fields of battery and charging technology. The E-Fuso Vision One concept has a range of 200 miles. It has a gross vehicle weight of 23 tons and carries a payload of approx. 11 tons, only two tons less than its diesel counterpart. It can be fitted with batteries up to 300 kilowatt hours, enabling a range of up to 200 miles on a single charge. A potential application for the Vision One heavy-duty truck is regional intra-city distribution. Last month, the company launched its eCanter, the first serial-produced, all-electric medium-duty truck. It has a gross vehicle weight rating of 15,995 lbs. and a range of 60 to 80 miles on a single charge. While autonomous trucks are still a ways off, electric trucks are more likely to become a reality in the immediate future. Nielsen pointed out that the Mitsubishi Fuso eCanter, owned by DTNA’s parent company, is being tested by two big carriers — UPS in the U.S. and 7-11 in Japan. At the American Trucking Associations annual meeting in Orlando, FL, this week, Roger Nielsen, Daimler Trucks America president and CEO, said, "With eCanter we really have the first commercially viable electrified battery electric vehicle in the market being sold in volume," Nielsen said. "We have it out on a two-year lease. We call this eCanter version 1.0 and version 2.0 will be introduced in two years.” "Version 2.0 will be a vehicle that is designed from the ground up to be electric. You’ll see weight taken out of it and power put into it to increase the range." In Europe, Daimler has also created the Mercedes Urban eTruck, a medium truck with a range about double that of the eCanter and the type of GVWs that make sense on heavier vehicles. Trials are going on with eight customers. In the U.S. DTNA is working to electrify a Cascadia for the heavy-duty market, and “you will see it rather soon on the road,” Nielsen said. “We won’t put out a press release on it and drive it and see if you guys can catch up to us.” .

Driver shortage overtakes ELD mandate, hours as carriers’ top concern James Jaillet, Commercial Carrier Journal (CCJ) / October 24, 2017 The availability of qualified truck drivers now ranks as the top concern for trucking companies, according to a report issued Monday by the American Transportation Research Institute, displacing the electronic logging device, which ranked No. 1 in 2016’s report, as carriers’ top issue. ATRI produces a Top 10 list of the trucking industry’s chief concerns each year. The report also includes strategies the industry can use to tackle these 10 pressing issues. This is the first time since 2006 that the driver shortage has ranked atop ATRI’s annual Critical Issues in the Trucking Industry, which is based on a survey of motor carriers and other industry personnel. More than 1,500 industry stakeholders, including carriers and drivers, responded to this year’s survey. Of the respondents, 21 percent said the driver shortage was their top concern. Another 10 percent ranked it as their second top concern, and 8 percent scored it as their third highest concern. “An optimistic trucking industry outlook, based on improving economic growth in the United States, has many in the industry concerned that the demand for truck drivers will further outpace the supply of qualified drivers,” ATRI notes in its report. Strategies to tackle the driver shortage, says ATRI, include partnering with states and the federal government to “develop a graduated CDL program to attract safe, younger drivers” and to “formalize a national truck driver recruitment program.” The ELD mandate ranked second, falling from the top spot. Eighteen percent of survey respondents said it was their chief industry issue, with 9 percent ranking it second and 6 percent ranking it third. “Given that the ELD Mandate ranked as the second-biggest issue facing the industry in 2017, it is clear that many in the industry remain concerned about the costs associated with deploying ELDs, what deployment will mean for industry productivity, and how the data collected will be used beyond [hours] compliance, while others are concerned that the implementation window will be further extended,” says ATRI’s report. Hours of service regulations took the third spot in ATRI’s Top 10 list, which ranked No. 1 in 2015’s survey. The U.S. DOT’s decision to ultimately rescind 2013-instituted regs regarding drivers’ use of a 34-hour restart eased some of the concern surrounding hours of service, ATRI says, but it remains a top industry issue “due in large part to the industry’s desire for increased flexibility in the rules,” the report notes. A chief strategy for mitigating concerns about hours of service rigidity is to continue to press for split sleeper berth flexibility, says the report. Rounding out the top 10 are: *Trucking parking, No. 4: The growing scarcity of available truck parking creates a dangerous and costly situation for truck drivers who are often forced to drive beyond allowable HOS rules or park in undesignated and, in many cases, unsafe locations,” ATRI’s report says. “The truck parking issue may gain greater attention once the ELD mandate is in effect. ATRI says the industry needs to continue to encourage state and private investment in parking facilities and to educate the public on the “safety consequences resulting from closing parking facilities.” *Driver retention, No. 5: Though related to the driver shortage, retention “remains a separate issue,” says ATRI’s report. Driver turnover has surged this year, and carriers are attempting to retain drivers with new retention programs and bonuses, the report says. *CSA, No. 6: While still a Top 10 issue, actions by Congress in recent years to scale back the program’s publicly available scores have mitigated some of the industry’s concerns. FMCSA has also undertaken a study to try to implement crash accountability into CSA. *Regulations, No. 7: “The costs associated with regulations continues as a top 10 concern for the industry,” says ATRI, despite falling from its spot in the top 5 in recent years. *Driver distraction, No. 8: ATRI says states should enact stiffer penalties and “more aggressive enforcement” of distracted driving, across all vehicle types. *Infrastructure and congestion, No. 9: “Poorly maintained roads and traffic congestion create wear and tear on vehicles, waste fuel and increase emissions, create additional stress for drivers, and negatively impact industry productivity.” ATRI says the industry needs to continue to advocate for a long-term highway funding fix at the federal level and a national freight plan that identifies freight bottlenecks and works to mitigate them. *Driver health and wellness, No. 10: “In addition to obvious lifestyle benefits, an improvement in driver health may also have positive implications for industry safety as research has identified a positive correlation between driver health and driver safety,” according to the report. ATRI says improved driver health would also help with driver retention.

Neil Abt, Fleet Owner / October 25, 2017 Long-time trucking executives discuss ways industry is changing. ORLANDO. During this summer’s hurricanes, Grammer Industries paid about $200,000 to truck drivers in Texas, Florida, and Louisiana, even though they were not able to make their scheduled deliveries. Founder and vice chairman Shorty Whittington called the situation “damn tough” on the Indiana-based agricultural and specialized fleet, but suggested these are the lengths fleets need to go to in order to retain and recruit qualified truck drivers. “It got people to want to work for us because we treated them right,” said Whittington. He appeared at a panel discussion with three other long-time executives at the 2017 American Trucking Associations (ATA) Management Conference & Exhibition. John Smith, chairman of CRST International and the head of the ATA’s new Workforce Development Subcommittee, said creating apprentice programs and working with the federal government to allow people under the age of 21 to train to become interstate truck drivers remain critical steps toward addressing the driver shortage. Smith also said the United States must bring in more immigrants interested in becoming truck drivers because it offers higher pay than they could receive in their home countries. He added it is an unpopular idea with President Trump. Along with Dan England, chairman of C.R. England, and C.L. Werner, founder and executive chairman of Werner Enterprises, there was a consensus truck drivers need a weekly wage of at least $1,000. Whittington said one way to reach that goal is for more fleets to consider paying some drivers an hourly rate. He said he has been “tar and feathered” and told it is “business suicide” when he has raised the issue of hourly pay over the years. His response is that the turnover rates for companies that incorporate hourly pay into their business models see significantly lower. He stressed “this industry has done a terrible job communicating with shippers” about the need to assist in better compensating the drivers who are safely moving their products. As an example, he said shippers should understand the difference a driver can make, much as a waiter from a five-star restaurant is bound to offer a higher level of service than a fast-food server. Throughout the discussion, the way automation and technology is reshaping trucking was a repeated theme. Smith said the current situation reminded him of the days after deregulation of the trucking industry in 1980, when “every part of our operations changed.” England said technology will alter how fleets get the job done, “but there will always be a need for moving products across the nation’s highways.” Werner added that e-commerce will continue to alter consumer buying patterns, and that final-mile delivery services to homes would like surge in demand. “I see no end to that business,” he said. He also projected major growth in the logistics sector, offering “a lot of opportunities for small carriers.” .

Trump’s Economic Adviser Floats Idea of Gas Tax Hike for Infrastructure Transport Topics / October 25, 2017 President Donald Trump’s chief economic adviser raised the possibility of increasing the federal gasoline tax next year to help pay for the administration’s $1 trillion infrastructure plan, U.S. Representative Tom Reed said. National Economic Council Director Gary Cohn brought up the fuel tax as a way to help fund promised upgrades to U.S. roads, bridges and other public works during a meeting with a bipartisan group of lawmakers dubbed the Problem Solvers Caucus on Wednesday, said Reed, a New York Republican who is co-chairman of the caucus. There have been proposals over the years to raise the gas tax, which hasn’t been increased since 1993, but they have faced stiff opposition from congressional Republicans and others loath to raise taxes. As recently as May 1, after Trump floated the idea in an interview with Bloomberg News, House Ways and Means Chairman Kevin Brady seemed cold to the idea. Asked then if he’d rule it out, he said, “In my view, yes, but we’re going to have that discussion.” On Oct. 25, Brady was no more enthusiastic. “Hm. I’m going to stay focused on tax reform right now,” he said. Revenue from the federal per-gallon taxes of 18.4 cents on gasoline and 24.4 cents on diesel has declined as inflation robbed them of their purchasing power and the average fuel economy of a passenger vehicle increased by 12%, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation. Business and transportation groups have called for increasing the federal gas tax to help sustain the federal Highway Trust Fund that provides money to states for projects. Representative Mike Simpson, a Republican from Idaho, said he would support an increase. “It’s a user fee,” Simpson said. “We’ve got to convince people that the money goes to roads and bridges and not all the other bull.” In the Bloomberg News interview, Trump said he “would certainly consider” raising the U.S. gas tax to fund the infrastructure improvements he promised during the campaign. He described the idea as supported by truckers “if we earmarked money toward the highways.’’ But the White House quickly said the president wasn’t endorsing the idea. The White House didn’t immediately return a message seeking comment on Cohn’s remarks. The administration has said it plans to pursue an infrastructure package after ongoing efforts to overhaul the U.S. tax code are resolved.

Scania's widest bus range to date Scania Group Press Release / October 23, 2017 Scania now presents its most comprehensive range of buses and coaches with the greatest selection of alternative fuels in the market. “We can now provide operators with an outstanding freedom of choice to make the necessary shift to more sustainable passenger transport services, with retained total operating economy,” says Karin Rådström, Head of Buses and Coaches at Scania. The accelerating urban growth in the world is largely rapid suburbanisation rather than expanding city centres. That means longer commuter trips to work and, in fact, suburban public transport presently consumes three times more fuel than city centre transport. “Thus, we need a greater focus on finding non-fossil and commercially viable alternatives for these journeys,” says Karin Rådström, Head of Buses and Coaches at Scania. At Busworld in Kortrijk, Scania unveiled the latest addition to its comprehensive range of buses and coaches – the hybrid Scania Interlink Low Decker. This bus complements the versatile Scania Interlink family of low, medium and high decker buses. With the addition of hybrid technology, Scania now meets the entire scope of alternatives for suburban and inter-city operations. On certain routes with frequent stops, hybrid buses are the best choice in terms of fuel economy, carbon reduction and other emissions. Impressive carbon reductions The Scania Interlink LD is presently available for diesel, biodiesel, HVO, CNG/CBG, ethanol and, with the latest addition, hybrid. It complements the Scania Citywide Low Entry Suburban, which is also available for the full range of alternative fuels as well as a hybrid mode. The electrified bus is primarily designed for suburb-to-suburb and suburb-to-city operations in order to benefit from the full energy and economic potential of hybridisation. With the longer annual distances in these operations, hybrid buses are preferable to battery electric buses, which additionally require charging infrastructures. Operators can hereby look forward to a favourable Total Operating Economy while, in parallel, reducing their climate impact. The combined hybrid operations with the use of biodiesel or HVO can give CO2 savings of up to 90 percent. ”With the hybrid Scania Interlink LD as a further extension of our product portfolio, we now offer a fully comprehensive range for suburban operations, which constitute the greatest share of urban public transport.” says Karolina Wennerblom, Director, Product Management and Presales, Buses & Coaches. Furthermore, Scania at Busworld premiered its battery electric Scania Citywide Low Floor bus. This bus will be trialled in late 2017 to ensure that it meets the highest Scania standards before commercial release during 2018. Scania also showcased its versatile coach range at Busworld. The 12.9-metre Scania Touring coach offers an exceptional fuel consumption of less than two litres per 10 kilometres and very competitive value for money. This coach can operate on biodiesel, thereby reducing carbon emissions by more than 60 percent compared to conventional diesel. The new 12.8-metre complete Scania Interlink High Decker intercity coach was also on display at Busworld. Operating on HVO fuel, the Scania Interlink HD reaches an impressive carbon reduction of up to 90 percent. It features the widely acclaimed Scania 410 hp engine, wheelchair lift and exceptional storage space. NEW GAS TANK EXTENDS RANGE Scania is extending the operational range of its gas buses. In spite of this greater capacity, the new carbon fibre composite tanks are lighter than earlier with the potential for increasing passenger capacity. “Cities and regions around the world are increasingly taking measures to curb pollution and reduce carbon emissions. Switching to gas propulsion is an attractive alternative, reducing not only emissions but also noise,” says Karin Rådström, Head of Buses and Coaches at Scania. With the new gas tanks, Scania Citywide Low Floor and Scania Citywide Low Entry with 1,575-litre tanks will have a range of approximately 400–450 kilometres, depending on the traffic situation, topography and gas fuel quality. The top-of the-range 1,875-litre tanks will primarily benefit articulated buses, which can achieve a range of 600–700 kilometres, also depending on traffic and fuel quality. For bus chassis, Scania offers tanks with volumes 1,260, 1,575 and 1,875 litres. UPTIME GUARANTEED Scania is at the forefront of connectivity with nearly 300,000 connected vehicles. This enables Scania to extend its service Fleet Care, which enables bus operators to fully focus on providing passenger services while Scania ensures timely maintenance and repairs. This service is now being broadened with the introduction of Scania Fleet Care with Uptime Guarantee. The new service additionally focuses on maintaining uptime. Operators can select the uptime they wish to uphold in a given time frame. City bus operators might, for example, opt for 100 percent uptime Mondays through Fridays from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Scania will then ensure that maintenance and repairs are carried out on weekday evenings and nights as well as during weekends. “We are giving operators a wide choice in selecting the hours that really matter for them, namely those generating revenue,” says Claes Åkerlund, Head of Scania Service Concepts. “The service can be precisely tailored to their business and when their operational needs are greatest.” Scania Fleet Care with Uptime Guarantee is available for all bus bodies with Scania chassis. The Fleet Care service was first introduced in 2014 and is now actively employed around the world, for example by bus operators in Bulgaria, Chile, Norway and Spain. .

Richard Truett, Automotive News / October 24, 2017 Nearly 70 years since it was blown away by the high-compression Oldsmobile Rocket V8, the inline-six engine is poised to make a comeback. I'm not the first to connect these dots, but the reason for the return of the inline-six has everything to do with manufacturing efficiency and not because of an inherent fault of the V-6. As V-8s fade away, the V-6s they spawned will also diminish in numbers. BMW, which never abandoned the inline-six, has created the template for the modern modular inline engine family that other automakers are adopting. At BMW, each cylinder is 500cc and the engines are modular, meaning that they use the same basic menu of internal parts, such as valves, pistons, bearings and pumps. "The advent of the modular 500cc cylinder has brought us a flurry of 2.0-liter I-4 engines, 3.0-liter V-6 engines and 4.0-liter V-8s. A lot of this was due to cost," says AutoPacific analyst Dave Sullivan. "Being able to use the same hardware in multiple applications helps to bring costs down. The inline-six is naturally harmonically balanced, reducing the need for balancers or any expensive treatment systems," he added. When Jaguar Land Rover developed its acclaimed Ingenium gasoline and diesel engine family, it used BMW's 500cc per-cylinder and modular component strategy, but with engineering twists of its own. JLR's announcement last month that it plans to stop buying gasoline engines from Ford's Welsh engine plant in 2020, opens the door to larger Ingenium engines. JLR officials won't confirm six-cylinder Ingeniums are on the way, but it is a sure bet they are. JLR buys its V-8 and V-6 engines from Ford, and without those engines, it would have only turbo four and hybrid vehicles -- which would not develop enough torque to provide the kind of performance a Range Rover needs to take on Bentley and others. But a supercharged 3.0-liter Ingenium six could easily replace the 5.0-liter V-8. JLR's plan to halt the Ford V-6 and V-8 gasoline engine purchases in 2020 indicates the six-cylinder Ingenium engine will likely be ready for the 2021 model year -- or sooner if JLR discontinues the V-6 before the V-8. As three- and four-cylinder engines continue to deliver more power and efficiency, it's far less expensive and disruptive to add another pair of cylinders for a bigger engine with more torque than to build a V-6 that doesn't share its parts with a V-8. Mercedes' new inline-six, a 3.0-liter, comes in two flavors, Automotive News affiliate Autoweek reports, including one that cranks out 435 hp. But there are problems related to inline-sixes. Most are longer than the V-6s they will replace, making it tough to mount the engine in front-wheel-drive cars because the engine's length leaves little room for the transmission. That length also can be problematic for rear-wheel-drive cars, which may need longer hoods to accommodate the engine. And then there's safety. Engineers appear close to solving a few lingering safety problems that they didn't have to deal with when a V-6 was installed. "One of the long-standing issues [for the inline-six] has involved the length of the engine and crash standards. It appears that manufacturers are confident they can have an engine 'deform' and not penetrate the cabin," says Sullivan. But, if you've driven a BMW six lately, you know how smooth and silky an inline-six can be. Now, with direct injection, variable valve timing, electric superchargers and electrification, the inline-six just may be the configuration that propels the internal combustion engine to the finish line. .

James Menzies, Truck News / October 22, 2017 ORLANDO, Fla. – Navistar International sees stronger truck demand carrying into 2018, and expects to increase its share as demand increases. Michael Cancelliere, president of truck and parts for Navistar International, said at the American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition that the company is bullish about the economy and truck demand for the remainder of this year and into next. “Our momentum is tracking well with the momentum we’re currently experiencing as an industry,” he said during a press conference. He noted the U.S. economy is trending well, and that economic growth should strengthen during the rest of 2017 and into 2018. A side-effect of this is that commodity prices are also rising, so the cost of International trucks must go up as well. He said customers should anticipate a price increase of up to 2% on 2019 model year trucks. Cancelliere said Class 8 truck orders are poised for recovery, with freight growth showing signs of stability. Solid Classes 6/7 demand will continue, he added. This year, through August, Classes 6/7 orders are up 14.3% year-over-year, heavy-duty truck orders are up 39%, and severe service truck orders up 25.5%. He said spot market prices haven’t been this high since December 2014. “Our market share position is improving in every segment,” said Cancelliere, noting it’s up about 1.4% across all segments year-over-year. “The key enabler for this is the focus we’ve placed over the last couple years on product development.”

James Jaillet, Commercial Carrier Journal (CCJ) / October 24, 2017 The Environmental Protection Agency has formally proposed to repeal the Obama-era emissions regulations placed on glider kit tractors. The glider-specific emissions regs have yet to take effect but are scheduled to begin being phased in starting next year. The emissions standards placed on glider trucks were part of the broad Phase 2 emissions rule enacted by the EPA in 2016, which calls for a 25 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by tractor-trailers by 2027. EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt earlier this year announced the agency’s intentions to reevaluate the glider-specific portions of the Phase 2 standards. The agency followed through on Friday. It filed a proposal with the White House’s Office of Management and Budget to repeal the “emission requirements for glider vehicles, glider engines, and glider kits,” according to a notice posted on the OMB’s regulations portal. The rule’s glider kit restrictions would have forced glider vehicle makers to dramatically alter their operations to meet Phase 2 standards, as reported on in-depth last year by Overdrive. Glider manufacturers, such as Fitzgerald Glider Kits, have tried to engage Congress on the issue, arguing they make up such a small percentage of truck sales that they should be exempt from Phase 2 regulations. They have said the rule would “decimate” the glider kit business. Friday’s development is a win for Fitzgerald and other glider vehicle manufacturers who fought the Phase 2 emissions standards. The EPA also said it intends to evaluate the Phase 2 rule’s stipulations regarding trailer aerodynamics and emissions, following an ongoing and still unsettled lawsuit brought by the Truck and Trailer Manufacturers Association, which argues the EPA lacks statutory authority to regulate trailer emissions.

Heavy Duty Trucking (HDT) / October 23, 2017 ORLANDO — New upgrades to Freightliner’s new Cascadia model aimed at the driver were announced at the American Trucking Associations Management Conference & Exhibition. The new updates include keyless entry and medical power supply option designed for a CPAP machine. With Keyless entry, users can lock and unlock doors, roll down windows and, if equipped, test the bulbs on the truck’s exterior before a trip. Each truck purchase includes two keyless entry transmitters that are paired at the plant and one transmitter that can be paired to multiple trucks for fleet owners. Freightliner has also added a medical power supply that’s designed to provide 8 to 10 hours of power for a typical continuous positive airway pressure device, to help drivers with breathing problems while sleeping. The optional medical device power supply includes three main components: an Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) battery securely mounted under the bunk and vented externally; a 12-volt dedicated, labeled power outlet mounted on the front of the bunk, and a charge control isolator. The battery is automatically recharged from either the alternator or from shore power if so equipped. AGM is a fine fiberglass mat that offers the benefits of a gelled mat but can withstand more wear and tear. The battery’s design holds the electrolyte in suspension, fueling higher efficiency when discharging and recharging, according to Freightliner. “Part of what makes the new Cascadia best-in-class is that we are continually making improvements that benefit our customers,” said Kary Schaefer, general manager, marketing and strategy, Daimler Trucks North America. “Much of that focuses on safety and fuel economy of course, but we’re also making our product more productive and functional for the drivers. Each new feature is an important part of ensuring that every new Cascadia is a smart investment.” .

Navistar to Raise Truck Prices by up to 2% Heavy Duty Trucking (HDT) / October 23, 2017 ORLANDO - Citing rising commodity prices, Navistar has announced that it will raise truck prices by up to 2% in the coming year. That marginal increase will be offset by the overall value that new model trucks provide to customers, said Michael Cancelliere, president trucks and parts, during a media briefing at the American Trucking Associations annual Management Conference & Exhibition. “We continually improve our own productivity, but there is a point when suppliers raise costs to us that we can’t just absorb 100% of it,” he said. “We still have to be competitive. It’s a competitive industry.” The price changes will vary by model, depending on the level of content in the different trucks. “If you can get better fuel economy on a daily basis over a three-, four-, five-year period, I’m sure that’s worth well in excess of the increase,” Cancelliere said. Every day of downtime is also valued at about $1,000 on the low side, not counting intangible costs such as dissatisfied drivers and shippers. Reliable trucks and effective service networks make a difference there. The market itself also appears to offer a growing demand for new trucks. Overall, Class 6 and 7 truck orders are up 14.3% year over year as of August, while heavy vehicle demand was up 39%, and the demand for trucks in severe service applications was up 25.5%, Cancelliere said. Navistar’s share of the medium-duty and Class 8 market has increased 1.4 points year over year, he added. Economic growth accelerated in the second and third quarter, Cancelliere said, projecting that North America’s market for Class 6, 7, and 8 vehicles will continue to rise. “Right now (with) the truckload carriers, freight is strong, capacity is tight, rates are up,” he said of the current economic environment and strong orders for sleepers. Last week, Navistar secured a $200 million order from U.S. Xpress, and he says another unnamed large fleet has placed a big order of its own.

Chao says no infrastructure bill before tax reform Neil Abt, Fleet Owner / October 23, 2017 DOT secretary tells truckers their voices are being heard ORLANDO. No one should expect action on President Trump’s $1 trillion infrastructure proposal until after Congress completes work on tax reform. That was the message delivered by Elaine Chao, secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT), during a speech at the 2017 American Trucking Associations Management Conference & Exhibition. Tax reform “is the focus of the Congress and the administration right now,” she said. Chao said the general plan includes $200 billion in federal funding, with the rest made up of private investment and other methods. Chao said 16 federal agencies were involved in crafting the proposal, and that she had met numerous times with trucking industry officials. “Your voices are being heard,” she told MC&E attendees. She also said DOT was continuing to look at regulatory reforms that could help speed up construction projects and create more jobs. Chao said she is working with the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) on addressing the shortage of truck drivers. That could include further outreach to veterans, as well as to “underserved communities and women, she said. .

Sean Kilcarr, Fleet Owner / October 23, 2017 Company also rolls out new improvements to Cascadia model, alongside new mobile application offerings. ORLANDO. Truck production is expected to “finish strong” this year, with “no pause at all” in commercial vehicle orders, according to Roger Nielsen, president and CEO of Daimler Trucks North America (DTNA). In a round-table interview with reporters here at the 2017 American Trucking Associations (ATA) Management Conference & Exhibition (MC&E), Nielsen added that there are “no plans” at the moment to increase sticker prices on DTNA’s models, though he explained that there is “definitely pressure” as the rising costs of raw materials “is an area of discussion.” “Our plan is to remain focused on fuel efficiency and safety; that’s everything in trucking,” Nielsen said. While he didn’t provide specific numbers, he added that year-to-date (YTD) truck sales are up for DTNA versus the same point in 2016. Freightliner Business Class medium-duty model and severe-duty model sales are up 9% and 16% versus last year, while Western Star sales are up 30%. Meanwhile, sales of Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp. (FCCC) and Thomas Built Buses (TBB) among other specialty” models are up 9% as a group.Though sales of “premium” linehaul tractors are off 1% versus last year, overall, DTNA’s total YTD truck sales for the NAFTA region is up 6% versus 2016. Nielsen commented on a wide range of issues during his meeting with reporters, touching on everything from truck platooning to autonomous driving and electrification: • He views the company’s Detroit Connect Virtual Technician remote diagnostic system as “more and more of an advantage” in the trucking market in terms of reducing downtime for repairs. “It is all about uptime in this market now,” Nielsen noted. • He said everything DTNA is doing in terms of developing platooning and autonomous technology is “aimed at safety; that’s what we are putting our money on – everything we can do to make the driver’s life safer and help them complete their mission,” in part because “we don’t believe trucks will be completely driverless in the future.” • In terms of truck platooning research “there is technically no limit” as to how many tractor-trailers one can “synch together.” However, “we are still searching or applications that make sense for two-truck platoons; we’ve not seen anyone yet asking for five-truck platooning applications.” • Nielsen noted that DTNA now refers to itself as “a mobile device company that happens to build trucks and buses” because today’s trucks and buses are becoming like iPhones; the technological “base” for different applications. • “It doesn’t make sense for a customer to have 18 different [communication] contracts for cameras, braking systems, telematics, and other technologies,” he explained. “Our capacity, our ‘box,’ can provide a single electronics and communication platform. Apple for example does not write every software application for its iPhone; it acts as a host for them.” • While DTNA is watching fuel economy and greenhouse gas (GHG) regulation rollback discussions closely, “regardless of what happens, we’ve moved on with our business plans,” Nielsen said. • A major concern with autonomous vehicle technology is the “shifting of liability” when it comes to crashes and managing traffic congestion, he said; issues still being debated. • Are electric trucks viable? Nielsen noted that DTNA plans a “full launch” of the eCanter all-electric medium-duty truck built by its Mitsubishi Fuso division in Japan, the U.S., and European Union nations in 2019 with four models, followed by “more models in multiple classes” in 2020 and beyond. • “We believe we still need more power density from the batteries and lower total cost of operation (TCO),” he said. “We’re working with fleets right now to define different use cases.” DTNA also made several product announcements during the annual ATA MC&E. First the company is offering a series of upgrades to the Freightliner Cascadia family of heavy-trucks, including: • Keyless entry that that not only offers buttons for locking and unlocking the doors but that also rolls down windows and tests the bulbs on the truck’s exterior lights prior to driving the vehicle. Each truck purchase includes two keyless entry transmitters that are paired at the plant, with one transmitter capable of being paired to multiple trucks. • A new built-in power supply for medical devices, powered by an absorbent glass mat (AGM) battery mounted under the bunk and vented externally that offers eight to 10 hours of power for equipment such as a Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) device for drivers with sleep apnea. DTNA is also making its new Detroit Connect mobile application available for download for Freightliner and Western Star customers who have an active Detroit Connect subscription, which allows them to access information about their vehicles’ performance without needing to be at a desk or on a computer. The new app, available for iOS or Android-enabled mobile devices, is available for free in Apple’s App Store or Google Play, DTNA said, with access to the new Detroit Connect portal and mobile app included with any active Detroit Connect subscription at no charge. Finally, the OEM noted that its Detroit Connect Virtual Technician remote diagnostic system can now deliver remote fault event diagnostics for Detroit DT12 automated manual transmissions (AMT) – monitoring up to 150 distinct faults for that gearbox. The Virtual Technician diagnostic process for the DT12 is similar to the process for Detroit engine and after-treatment systems, DTNA said, with fault events “categorized” based on how severe vehicle drivability is affected. “Since we launched Virtual Technician in 2011, we have been improving it by integrating additional Detroit components,” said Kary Schaefer, general manager, marketing and strategy, Daimler Trucks North America. “We pride ourselves on helping customers understand their truck’s health and maximizing the uptime.” .

Transport Topics / October 24, 2017 ORLANDO, Fla. — Daimler Trucks North America continues its pursuit of automated driving technology, but that development path is focused not on “autonomous” trucks but advanced driver-assistance systems, CEO Roger Nielsen said. “You’ll see us change our language to advanced driver-assistance systems, or active safety. You won’t see us talking about autonomous,” Nielsen said during an Oct. 24 roundtable discussion with industry press here during American Trucking Associations’ Management Conference & Exhibition. DTNA, which builds Freightliner and Western Star trucks and Detroit engines and components, remains firm in its belief that trucks will not become driverless in the foreseeable future. “The driver does more than just steer, brake and accelerate,” Nielsen said, adding that professional drivers provide customer service, perform pre-and post-trip vehicle inspections and respond to unexpected issues that arise on the road. DTNA helped ignite conversations about trucking’s future when it unveiled its self-driving Freightliner Inspiration concept truck at the Hoover Dam in 2015, but the company has since moderated its tone on autonomous driving technology. Nielsen compared the development of automated trucks to space exploration. The real benefit isn’t just landing on the moon; it’s everything that was invented on the way. Similarly, the pathway toward higher levels of automation will yield further advancements in active safety, which “helps us get to the point of accident free driving,” Nielsen said. “And that’s the key here. We want drivers to come home safe and less tired.” One new form of ADAS technology that DTNA is currently testing is truck platooning, which combines active safety systems with vehicle-to-vehicle communication to enable a pair of trucks to travel down the highway in a tight, aerodynamic formation. Nielsen reiterated DTNA’s stance that active lane keeping for the following truck will be “absolutely required to make platooning work.” That active steering capability will help the driver of the second truck, who will have limited visibility as the vehicle travels about 45 feet behind the lead truck at highway speeds. “We are not ready to announce a market availability of platooning yet, although you’ll see us come out soon with active lane keeping as yet another advanced driver-assistance system,” Nielsen said. Daimler also continues to explore electric-powered trucks. The company recently introduced its fully electric Fuso eCanter medium-duty cabover in the United States, Japan and Europe with a full launch aimed for 2019. In Europe, Daimler also is planning tests and trials for its heavy-duty Mercedes-Benz Urban e-Truck ahead of a broader launch in 2020 or beyond. In the United States, DTNA has plans in place to electrify the Freightliner Cascadia, Nielsen said. However, he acknowledged that the industry still “has a lot to learn” about increasing power density, reducing weight and providing a viable total cost of ownership with electric trucks. “Our focus at the moment is not on the business case,” he said. “Our focus right now is on bringing the technology to a higher level.” Nielsen also provided a brief overview of this year’s truck market. Year-to-date through September, DTNA reported a 10% decline in the U.S. Class 8 market, but a 0.3% uptick in market share compared with the previous year. The U.S. Classes 6 and 7 market edged up 1%, and DTNA’s share of that market rose 0.7%, the company said. .

Sean Kilcarr, Fleet Owner / October 22, 2017 OEM also believes demand for Class 8 sleeper tractors will increase into next year. ORLANDO. With commodity prices and supplier costs both on the rise, truck and engine maker Navistar will seek to increase sticker prices by 2% – an increase Michael Cancelliere, the company’s president of truck and parts, also believes reflects the “higher value” of the OEM’s product line. “It is not just about the cost of materials; there’s a value to improved uptime and fuel economy,” he explained during a press conference here at the 2017 American Trucking Associations (ATA) Management Conference & Exhibition (MC&E). “Think about the value better fuel economy on a daily basis in the long haul segment means over a three to four year trade cycle,” he explained. “Then factor in the benefits of greater uptime. A day of [truck] downtime at the very least is $1,000 on the low side.” Cancelliere noted that both economic growth and freight volumes are accelerating, especially in the TL segment, where he said “freight is strong, capacity is tight and rates are up.” Cancelliere added that to date industry orders are up strongly year-over-year: up 14.3% for Class 6-7 trucks, up 39% for heavy trucks and 25.5% for severe service trucks. He told Fleet Owner that he expects that orders for Class 8 sleeper tractors will be particularly strong heading into 2018. Still, he stressed that while Navistar “must still be competitive” on price in the commercial truck market, the “real focus” must be on providing more “value” to customers. To improve on that “value proposition,” Cancelliere noted that Navistar just opened a new Uptime Command Center located at the company's headquarters in Lisle, IL, that will tap a dedicated cross-functional team of specialists and key suppliers to assure 24/7 on-road support for customer vehicles – with the goal of getting vehicles back on the road no later than 48 hours after diagnosing a problem. “That’s our goal for our Diamond-edged certified dealers; that we diagnose the problem within two hours and then repair it within 8 hours,” he explained. “That’s our focus: to get 80% of those repairs completed in 24 hours and the remaining 20% in 48 hours.” Cancelliere outlined three key facets of this “uptime mission: Navistar is embarking upon: Proactive: The UptimeCommandCenter will tap into the OEM’s OnCommand Connection telematics network that constantly monitors and captures data from more than 325,000 vehicles collectively traveling more than 8.8 million miles per day. Predictive: The next step is to craft predictive maintenance strategies that take advantage of OnCommand Connection Live Action Plans, a feature now being pilot tested, which will predict when parts are about to fail before they actually do, and to provide the customer with alerts about potential corrective actions, the potential repair, the parts needed, and the training required to make the repair. Furthermore, if the repair is performed as instructed and the vehicle is under warranty, Navistar would pay for the repair. Collaborative: The UptimeCommandCenter is working collaboratively with the International dealer network, to begin offering 24/7 parts and service availability to support uptime. This goal builds on the company's long-standing commitment to 24/7 parts availability, which includes "hot-shot" part deliveries from one of the OEM’s Parts Distribution Centers to the dealer. To date, Cancelliere said Navistar customers using OnCommand Connection report a 30% reduction in unplanned maintenance. "The UptimeCommandCenter reflects our steady progress in evolving to a proactive, predictive and collaborative maintenance model," he added. "It builds on the International A26 Customer Uptime Assurance Program, which we launched in August, to signal our confidence in our newest 12.4-liter big bore engine.” Cancelliere noted, too, that key suppliers such as Meritor, Cummins and Bendix will provide specialists to help staff the OEM’s new UptimeCommandCenter. “The customer doesn’t see their names, though; they see our badge on our trucks,” he added. “That’s why we need to own the support platform.” Navistar is also planning to launch what it calls the OnCommand Connection Marketplace on Friday, October 27; a new open-architecture, cloud-based technology e-commerce platform for complete telematics services and a broad range of related driver support tools and will be open to customer-created and third-party apps. "It is another way we are helping our customers become more profitable," Cancelliere noted. "The OnCommand Connection team developed the marketplace to give drivers and fleet managers centralized and easy access to applications and other resources that aid in day-to-day operations." He stressed that Navistar’s goal is “to provide our customers with the best overall connected experience and we're doing this by creating products and services that are open to everyone.” .

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter says would travel to North Korea Reuters / October 22, 2017 NEW YORK (Reuters) - Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said he would be willing to travel to North Korea on behalf of the Trump administration to help diffuse rising tensions, The New York Times reported on its website on Sunday. “I would go, yes,” Carter, 93, told the Times when he was asked in an interview at his ranch house in Plains, Georgia whether it was time for another diplomatic mission and whether he would do so for President Trump. Carter, a Democrat who was president from 1977 to 1981, said he had spoken to Trump’s National Security Adviser Lt.-Gen. H. R. McMaster, who is a friend, but so far has gotten a negative response. ”I told him that I was available if they ever need me,” the Times quoted Carter as saying. Told that some in Washington were made nervous by Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s war of words, Carter said “I‘m afraid, too, of a situation.” ”They want to save their regime. And we greatly overestimate China’s influence on North Korea. Particularly to Kim,” who, Carter added, has ”never, so far as I know, been to China.”“And they have no relationship. Kim Jong-il did go to China and was very close to them.” Describing the North Korean leader as “unpredictable,” Carter worried that if Kim thinks Trump will act against him, he could do something pre-emptive, the Times reported. “I think he’s now got advanced nuclear weaponry that can destroy the KoreanPeninsula and Japan, and some of our outlying territories in the Pacific, maybe even our mainland,” Carter said. In the mid 1990s, Carter traveled to Pyongyang over the objections of President Bill Clinton, the Times report said, and struck a deal with Kim Il Sung, grandfather of the current leader. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Jimmy Carter Lusts for a Trump Posting Maureen Dowd, The New York Times / October 21, 2017 PLAINS, Ga. — Most people would run away screaming at the thought of working for a boss who humiliates subordinates in public, throttles them in private, demands constant flattery, spends all day watching cable TV and behaves in a wildly unpredictable way. And yet, there is someone who is eager to work for President Trump. Curious, but it’s a Democrat. And even curiouser, it’s a fellow member of the presidents club. And curiousest, it’s someone whom Trump has disparaged on Twitter as one of the worst presidents in history. Miracles can happen. No one knows that better than Jimmy Carter, who defied all odds 40 years ago to leap from his peanut farm to the White House and defied all odds again two years ago to beat brain cancer. The 93-year-old would like to pull another rabbit out of a hat — just not a killer rabbit — and enter into a productive partnership with Donald Trump over North Korea. When you think about it, though, it makes sense. One of the basic premises of the CarterCenter is that you should talk to dictators. The closest our two countries had come until now to resuming the Korean War was in 1994. Carter flew into Pyongyang on his own over the objections of President Bill Clinton and struck a deal with Kim Il-sung, the grandfather of the current leader, Kim Jung-un, and the man the grandson models himself on — right down to his hairstyle. North Korea secretly cheated on the deal by pursuing another path to a bomb just four years later. So is it time for another Carter diplomatic mission, and would he do it for Trump, his polar opposite in so many ways? “I would go, yes,” he said, wearing a big “JC” belt buckle and sipping coffee in his ranch house, which is chockablock with Carter family paintings and with furniture he made himself, including his four-poster bed. Rosalynn sits nearby, chiming in slyly at moments. I told him that the big shots in Washington were terrified about the childish, bellicose tit-for-tat tweeting battle between the Dotard and Little Rocket Man. “I’m afraid, too, of a situation,” he said. “I don’t know what they’ll do. Because they want to save their regime. And we greatly overestimate China’s influence on North Korea. Particularly to Kim Jong-un. He’s never, so far as I know, been to China.” (Who knows if he made a surreptitious trip.) Carter continued, “And they have no relationship. Kim Jong-il did go to China and was very close to them.” Carter said that the “unpredictable” Kim Jong-un makes him more nervous than his father, Kim Jong-il, and that if the young leader thinks Trump will act against him, he could do something pre-emptive. “I think he’s now got advanced nuclear weaponry that can destroy the KoreanPeninsula and Japan, and some of our outlying territories in the Pacific, maybe even our mainland,” Carter explained. He said he has talked to Lt. Gen. H. R. McMaster, Trump’s national security adviser, who is a good friend, including at Zbigniew Brzezinski’s funeral when McMaster asked to sit next to Carter, but has so far gotten a negative response. “I told him that I was available if they ever need me,” he said. When I asked about Trump’s souring our image in the world, Carter defended his successor. “Well, he might be escalating it but I think that precedes Trump,” he said. “The United States has been the dominant character in the whole world and now we’re not anymore. And we’re not going to be. Russia’s coming back and India and China are coming forward.” Holy malaise. He also said he liked Trump’s initiative reaching out to Saudi Arabia. He doesn’t know Jared Kushner but is not totally dismissive of the idea that the son-in-law could succeed where others have failed. “I’ve seen in the Arab world, including the Palestinian world,” he said, “the high esteem that they pay to a member of one’s own family.” Indeed, Carter was harder on Obama during the interview than he was on Trump. Both Carter and Trump had stern, demanding fathers. “Daddy expected me to be perfect,” Carter told me. “So I obeyed his orders and his wishes.” Saying that he did not think “there’s much hope now that Israelis will ever permit a two-state solution,” he knocked Obama on the Middle East: “He made some very wonderful statements, in my opinion, when he first got in office, and then he reneged on that.” Recalling that “we have 22 votes in our family and Obama got all 22 of them,” he complained that Obama had “refused” to talk to North Korea more, and then Carter lamented the fact that Obama joined in the bombing of Yemen, which Carter says is the most interesting place he’s ever been. (He even tried chewing khat, an addictive shrub that acts like amphetamines.) I asked if he had Obama’s email address. “No,” he said flatly. I wondered about his relationship with other presidents, given his body language in the famous picture where he stood off to the side, which he told Brian Williams was deliberate because “I feel that my role as a former president is probably superior to that of other presidents.” “I had my best relationship, when he was in office, with George H. W. Bush,” he said. Carter is also not as bothered as some by Trump’s Putin bromance. “At the CarterCenter,” he said, “we deal with Putin and the Russians quite frequently concerning Syria.” Did the Russians purloin the election from Hillary? “Rosie and I have a difference of opinion on that,” he said. She looked over archly. “They obviously did,” she said. He said: “I don’t think there’s any evidence that what the Russians did changed enough votes, or any votes.” Rosalynn pressed, “The drip-drip-drip about Hillary.” Carter noted that in the primary, “We voted for Sanders.” I asked the famously ethical Carter what he made of Obama’s post-presidential string of $400,000 speeches. “I don’t care if he gets rich or Clinton gets rich or whatever,” he said. “I don’t want to get into a bragging position; I’m not trying to do that. But I announced when I was defeated I was not going to be on corporate boards, I was not going to try to enrich myself with speeches. I was patterning my policy after Harry Truman.” When I compared the Clinton Foundation with the CarterCenter, Carter noted: “Rosie and I put money in the CarterCenter. We never take any out.” I wondered how the starchy Carter, who put out a White House edict that nobody could fly first class, felt about the louche Trump White House, where conflict of interest has been replaced by confluence of interest. “I think the media have been harder on Trump than any other president certainly that I’ve known about,” Carter replied. “I think they feel free to claim that Trump is mentally deranged and everything else without hesitation.” Since Rosalynn’s focus as first lady was mental health, I asked her if we should break the last taboo and let presidents have a White House shrink. “I think it might help them,” she said with a smile. She told me that she was left out of a first ladies lunch held by Michelle Obama on the issue of mental health, making it clear that she was still hurt. On the issue of tearing down Confederate statues, the former president mused: “That’s a hard one for me. My great-grandfather was at Gettysburg on the Southern side and his two brothers were with him in the Sumter artillery. One of them was wounded but none of them were killed. I never have looked on the carvings on Stone Mountain or the statues as being racist in their intent. But I can understand African-Americans’ aversion to them, and I sympathize with them. But I don’t have any objection to them being labeled with explanatory labels or that sort of thing.” On the issue of N.F.L. players kneeling, Carter was less sympathetic: “I think they ought to find a different way to object, to demonstrate. I would rather see all the players stand during the American anthem.” I asked if he thought the president was deepening racial divisions. “Yes, I think he is exacerbating it,” he said. “But maybe not deliberately.” As a genuinely pious man, how does he feel about the Two Corinthians president bonding with evangelical voters, who do not desert Trump no matter how coarse his language or how upsetting the “Access Hollywood” tape was. Don’t the evangelicals seem cynical to stick? “Apparently not,” he replied. In “The Art of the Deal,” Trump wrote that Carter came to his office to ask for $5 million for his presidential library. Trump was impressed that Carter had “the nerve, the guts” to ask for something so “extraordinary,” but didn’t give it to him. “He bragged about it,” Carter said wryly. “That was one of his major selling points: ‘I turned down Jimmy Carter.’” But now the indefatigable Carter is back with another nervy proposal. Will Trump bite? .

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ZF at the Busworld 2017 ZF Press Release / October 20, 2017 At the Busworld 2017 trade fair in Kortrijk, Belgium, ZF is presenting its innovative products for the bus and coach sector. E-Mobility solutions take front and center, e.g. the central electric drive CeTrax, which powers a new bus prototype. Link to full coverage - https://press.zf.com/site/press/en_de/microsites/press/list/release/kit_37075.html

Reuters / October 20, 2017 BERLIN - Daimler lifted the outlook for its trucks division for a second time in three months on Friday while its overall profit fell on costs related to diesel-engine updates, vehicle recalls and restructuring. Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) at Daimler Trucks, the group’s second-largest unit by revenue, will significantly exceed year-ago levels after jumping by a third to 614 million euros ($725 million) in the July-to-September period, the company said. Daimler and rivals in the truck industry including Sweden’s Volvo and Volkswagen have seen rising demand this year for commercial vehicles. In late July, Daimler said it expected EBIT at trucks operations to be flat after previously guiding for profit to fall below 2016 results. “Truck growth is in full swing, and order books are going from strength to strength,” said Bernstein analyst Max Warburton who has an “Outperform” rating on Daimler stock. Quarterly truck orders at Daimler surged 47 percent thanks to strong demand in North America and Asia where the German manufacturer is market leader, and increased 11 percent in Europe, according to Warburton. GROUP COSTS BITE Group operating profit at Daimler meanwhile slipped to 3.98 billion euros from 4.04 billion a year earlier, including 523 million euros in one-time costs. Daimler spent 223 million euros last quarter to update over three million Mercedes diesel-engine models in Europe to curb pollution and help avert driving bans. It added another 230 million euros to fund a recall of more than 1 million Mercedes models worldwide to address potential unintended air bag deployments. Besides another 70 million euros for trucks restructuring, Daimler said it also needs to spend 100 million euros to fund a planned reorganization of its passenger-cars and trucks units. “If special items are excluded, Daimler delivered excellent results, with trucks and luxury cars being the main drivers,” said LBBW analyst Frank Biller who has a “Buy” recommendation on the shares. Third-quarter sales of luxury Mercedes-Benz cars rose 7.9 percent to a record 573,026 models, powered by strong demand for sport-utility vehicles such as the GLA and GLC models and the E-Class. That beat the 1.2 percent gain to 499,467 autos at rival BMW, which Mercedes last year eclipsed as the world’s biggest premium automaker by sales, and the 3.6 percent rise to 471,850 cars at Volkswagen’s Audi brand. The group stuck with its guidance for a significant increase in group EBIT this year and said it expects EBIT at its finance arm to also significantly beat year-earlier levels, having previously guided for earnings to rise only slightly. Separately, Daimler has asked the European Commission to act as principal witness in investigations of an alleged collusion among German carmakers to be exempt from potential fines, finance chief Bodo Uebber said on an earnings call. European Union and German antitrust regulators have been investigating whether Daimler, VW, BMW, Porsche and Audi colluded to discuss prices, suppliers and standards to the detriment of foreign carmakers. “In principle, this is about possible antitrust agreements (among German carmakers) that have been discussed in the media some time ago,” Uebber said, declining to be more specific.

In the old days, there was one bad driver per hundred. Now there are, I hate to say how many, per hundred. And as a result, we nowadays constantly see this..............http://wspa.com/2017/10/21/tractor-trailer-hits-bridge-guardrail-on-i-85-in-oconee-co/

Engineering News / October 20, 2017 As fleet operators increasingly aim to enhance fuel efficiency and reduce costs, natural gas company Tetra4, a subsidiary of JSE-listed energy company Renergen, has started trialling diesel dual-fuel (DDF) kits on two European brands of trucks to establish the advantages of natural gas as a fuel source. Preliminary results of the trial show that at least 50% of diesel can be substituted with gas, says Renergen CEO Stefano Marani, who tells Engineering News that, depending on further initial results, the company aims to introduce the trucks with the DDF units in fleet operations for a similar or shorter timeframe. The trials on the trucks, which have engine performances of 440 hp and 480 hp, are expected to run until the end of this month. As a key focus for the company is long-haul logistics, Tetra4 then aims to present the business case for using compressed natural gas (CNG) as a fuel source for large fleet operators. Renergen COO Nick Mitchell highlights that, while several million vehicles worldwide operate using some form of gas, the importance of the trial lies in demonstrating the results in a South African context and ensuring that the conversions are successful. Tetra4 is supplying CNG for the trucks, as well as the making available the filling infrastructure in Virginia, also in the Free State. The trucks have each been supplied with three 200 ℓ CNG cylinders that can currently provide a travelling range of 550 km. “The trucks will run on a combination of routes – from the home base in Virginia to Johannesburg, in Gauteng, and to Bloemfontein, in the Free State. We will also conduct trials to Harrismith, in KwaZulu-Natal, to monitor the change in elevation,” Marani says, noting that the trucks will consistently haul heavy loads. South Africa-based installer and distributor Vehicle Gas Solutions, which imports, supplies and fits CNG kits to all types of vehicles using petrol, diesel and/or liquefied petroleum gas, undertook the import and installation and/or conversion of the DDF kits onto the trucks, as well as the monitoring of the kit performance. The kits are imported from Italy-based dual-fuel technology provider Ecomotive Solutions. “Key features of the kits include a cutoff function, where the CNG will be cut off should the temperature of the engines increase significantly. Temperature breaches will also be logged by the kit,” Vehicle Gas Solutions director Clinton McGuinness says. The technology further allows for a mixture of diesel and CNG, with the quantity of each fuel depending on the engine’s needs. This means that, as the engine requires more torque, it uses more diesel. When the units incur more static revolutions on the long road, they use more gas. The injection timing of the diesel is cut in the dual-fuel units, thereby reducing diesel use, while the energy value is supplemented by gas. This ensures that the kilowatt output of the truck is maintained, McGuinness adds. The kilowatt strength of the trucks is maintained to original-equipment-manufacturer (OEM) specifications. Other benefits of the technology include fuel cost savings, as well as carbon footprint reductions. To ensure the independence of the trial results and data analytics, Tetra4 appointed actuarial data science company Autolytix Data Science, whose speciality is vehicle life cycle cost analytics, to conduct and monitor independent trials. Autolytix Data Science COO Wimpie Frost explains that, during the trial, the company will primarily use data generated by machines and aims to calculate the fuel consumption for diesel, based on the data provided by the telemetry and gas consumption. The human input, such as the frequency of the fuel fill-ups, will also be calculated. Frost enthuses that indicative results can play a significant role in the development of an alternative cost-saving methodology for fleet owners and in pursuing and encouraging fleet optimisation. “Given the fact that there are already several logistics companies on board with the concept and we are working closely with two OEMs on natural gas as an alternative to diesel, I would see the second phase as the catalyst for at least two operators to convert a meaningful portion of their fleet to run on Tetra4 gas,” Marani concludes. .

"Mack" today is nothing more than a "name" on a foreign truck. I suspected the Canadian deal was the sticking point. Mack Defense is nothing more than a shell company for a foreign aggressor. Go Oshkosh! Go Navistar!

Lack of US Mack brand cut bids in Volvo sale Pierre Tran, Defense News / October 19, 2017 PARIS – An absence of the US Mack Defense brand name played a key role in slashing the bidders’ valuation of Volvo’s military vehicles business, which led to the Swedish company to cancel its tender, two industry executives said on Wednesday. The bidders’ valuations in the sale of the Volvo Group Governmental Sales unit were essentially based on Acmat, Panhard and Renault Trucks Defense, based in France, the sources said. CMI, a Belgian firm that specializes in guns and turrets, and Franco-German joint venture KNDS, were the rival bidders in the competition, which Volvo said yesterday had been cancelled due to low bids. Volvo will maintain operations of the government sales unit. The US Mack Defense unit was excluded from the sale, dragging down the two bids, which were around €400 million (US $471 million), said the first executive. Volvo wanted to hold on to the Mack Defense brand name and business because the U.S. unit won in 2015 a contract worth more than €500 million (US $588 million). That deal was to supply more than 1,500 trucks to the Canadian Army, with delivery between mid-2017 and the end of 2018 and an option for a further 600 units. These are not just eight-wheel drive commercial trucks but vehicles delivered to military specification, including elements such as bullet-proof armored driver’s cab and central tire inflation system, the executive said. RTD and Panhard build the vehicles in France and ship them bearing the critical Mack brand name, the executive said. The cab will be assembled in Canada. Retaining the Mack “name” gives Volvo direct access to the U.S., the biggest military market. Mack does not build vehicles in the U.S. but has set up an engineering and prototype center. The 2015 contract for the Canadian Army’s medium support vehicle system is the largest award for Mack since World War II, the company said on its website. A Volvo spokesman, Joakim Kenndal, refused to comment on the Mack business. The canceled sale has injected doubt over the future of Volvo’s military vehicles business, with a view that the Swedish company is waiting to put the unit back on the market to fetch a higher price, the executive said. That uncertainty will likely weaken sales as potential customers want to know the stability of suppliers of military gear. It remains to be seen whether Kuwait will now sign a contract for the RTD Sherpa light vehicle. That prospective Kuwaiti deal, worth close to €270 million, was announced last December by the then French defense minister Jean-Yves Le Drian while on a visit to an RTD plant. “Long term partnership is key in the military market,” the executive said. Lower sales hurt the order book, weakening the valuation. So if Volvo were to try to sell the division again, the price will be lower than the CMI and KNDS valuations, which were already considered too low. Both the rival bidders submitted offers of around €400 million, a second executive said. The very closeness of the competitors’ valuation signalled that Volvo had overvalued the unit. Volvo, advised by Rothschild, had expected bids of around €500 million, the equivalent of 2015 sales of RTD. KNDS made its offer after the joint venture partners Nexter and Krauss-Maffei Wegmann agreed on valuation, the second source said. For the former, there were industrial and political factors underlying its valuation, while the latter, a private firm of the Bode family, is keyed to financial interests and to buy “at the right price.” That the sale boiled down to just two bidders reflected a French political chill toward bids from foreign and venture capital firms for a military company, the second source said. Of venture capital firms, Advent was seen as a strong contender but there was talk of a clear political message of a lack of welcome, perhaps to avoid any suspicion that president Emmanuel Macron, a former Rothschild investment banker, had shown preference. RTD is the main unit in the Volvo Group Governmental Sales division, which accounts for some 1.5 percent of group sales. The government sales unit employs some 1,300 staff, mainly in France. Acmat sells into Africa, RTD is strong in the Middle East and Panhard sells in Asia. The U.S. Africa Command has an order for Acmat Bastion troop carriers for African nations. State-owned Nexter works on the chassis and RTD on the engine and driveline on the Griffon multirole troop carrier and Jaguar combat vehicle in the French Army’s €6 billion Scorpion program. .

U.S. NAFTA proposals: Going over like a lead balloon? Sandi Soendker, Land Line (OOIDA) / October 20, 2017 The fourth round of the North American Free Trade Agreement negotiations wrapped up Tuesday in Washington, D.C. Phrases like “labor standards,” “dairy,” “rules of origin for autos,” “sunset clause” and “trade deficit” were tossed around along with more ill-omened words like “impasse” and “nonstarter.” Some of the hardline proposals made by the U.S. are clearly not well received by Canada and Mexico, and few now expect NAFTA 2.0 to remain on the fast track. In his closing statement, U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer firmly clarified President Trump’s objective to rebalance the $500 billion trade deficit. “For us, trade deficits do matter,” Lighthizer said. “And we intend to reduce them.” Lighthizer said he was surprised and disappointed by the resistance to change. “As difficult as this has been, we have seen no indication that our partners are willing to make any changes that will result in a rebalancing and a reduction in these huge trade deficits. Now I understand that after many years of one-sided benefits their companies have become reliant on special preferences and not just comparative advantage. Countries are reluctant to give up unfair advantage.” In his statement he also said “the president has been clear that if we are going to have an agreement going forward, it must be fair to American workers and businesses that employ our people at home.” Mexico will host the fifth round of talks in Mexico City from November 17-21, 2017. Additional negotiating rounds will be scheduled through the first quarter of 2018.