kscarbel2

“He [Trump] didn't care or particularly know about healthcare,” a GOP congressional aide told CNN. “If you are going to be a great negotiator, you have to know about the subject matter.”

"Mack Trucks achieved a 1% market share gain in 2016" Even with a 1% bump, the Volvo brand continued its notable lead over the foreign-leashed ex-American brand. This all despite the fact that Volvo, depending on the on-highway market almost exclusively for sales due to the failure of the VHD to attract sales, took a hit in 2016 when a weak economy drove fleets to cut orders, Once the economy takes off again, and with it tractor sales, Volvo will once more outsell the Mack brand by nearly 2 to 1. Mack of course at one time dominated construction and refuse. Now largely dependent on those segments owing to its small market share in tractors, Mack has seen its market share in construction and refuse dwindle in the face of strong competition from Paccar and others. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sales Results: Volvo versus Mack (North American market) Full Year 2016 Volvo 21,686 units (23.3% greater sales than Mack) Mack 17,167 Q4 2016 Volvo 4,458 (22.6% greater sales than Mack) Mack 3,551 Q3 2016 Volvo 4,645 (25.9% greater sales than Mack) Mack 3,581 Q2 2016 Volvo 6,786 (26.6% greater sales than Mack) Mack 5,192 Q1 2016 Volvo 5,797 (17.9% greater sales than Mack) Mack 4,843 Full Year 2015 Volvo 38,890 (42.3% greater sales than Mack) Mack 25,302 Q4 2015 Volvo 8,756 (28.8% greater sales than Mack) Mack 6,553 Q3 2015 Volvo 9,147 (39.9% greater sales than Mack) Mack 6,105 Q2 2015 Volvo 11,208 (52.5% greater sales than Mack) Mack 6,547 Q1 2015 Volvo 9,779 (46.4% greater sales than Mack) Mack 6,097 Full Year 2014 Volvo 33,800 (35.4% greater sales than Mack) Mack 23,634 Full Year 2013 Volvo 26,066 (35.3% greater sales than Mack) Mack 18,244

You can order/purchase a manual at your local Mack brand dealer.

Lisa, that emblem was used on early production of Mack Truck's first generation "Cruise-Liner" grille. Unrelated to your question, this all reminded me of the three different turn signal locations for the Hayward, California-built Cruise-Liner, the first two being bad.

Calif. upholds Obama emissions rules, setting up clash with EPA over mpg targets Automotive News/Bloomberg/Reuters / March 24, 2017 California approved light-vehicle pollution targets that the Trump administration has put on hold, setting up a potential face-off between federal and state regulators that could be expensive for automakers and a headache for consumers. California Air Resources Board (CARB) members criticized the auto industry for asking federal regulators to reconsider light-vehicle emissions targets for 2022-25 established by the Obama White House in 2012. The board on Friday then finalized vehicle pollution rules for the state, set a mandate for zero-emission sales over the same time period, and ordered its staff to start work on emissions targets for after 2025. California regulators have a long history of independent efforts to reduce tailpipe pollution from cars and light trucks, and Friday's move signals the state is prepared to fight the Trump administration. “We’re going to press on,” Mary Nichols, head of the California Air Resources Board, said during a meeting of the agency here. The state’s rules on greenhouse gas emissions for light vehicles were written in cooperation with the Obama administration and created a single national standard for new vehicles through 2025. Targets for the share of California light-vehicle sales that need to be powered by battery, fuel cell or plug-in hybrid powertrains are set for 15 percent by 2025, from about 3 percent today. CARB’s vote to continue down the path of stricter emissions rules could lead to a showdown with Trump, who described environmental regulations in the U.S. as “out of control” when meeting the CEOs of General Motors Co., Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV in January. Nichols chastised the industry for seeking the review of federal standards that Trump agreed to reopen earlier this month. “What were you thinking when you threw yourselves on the mercy of the Trump administration to solve your problems?” Nichols said during the hearing Friday. “What did you mean when you said you don’t want to question the overall thrust of the standards? Why do another review if the current program is basically OK?” Pruitt’s review EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt plans to review the state’s legal authority to enforce its own limits on pollution and carbon dioxide emissions. Myron Ebell, the former head of Trump’s EPA transition team, told Bloomberg News last week that Trump’s Transportation Department may determine only the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration can regulate fuel economy and exclude the EPA and California from such rule-making. “We tried very hard not to provoke or defy the national government and we’ve had a good past with the EPA,” Nichols told reporters following the hearing. “I don’t expect there to be a war on California. I was obviously disappointed when I heard Pruitt commenting that he might reconsider the California waiver.” The Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers said ahead of the CARB meeting that EV's share of overall demand for new light vehicles has been roughly flat for years. The trade group representing automakers including GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler asked the regulator to wait at least two years before considering the higher zero-emission vehicle targets for 2030. The alliance hasn’t asked Trump to revoke the state’s right to set its own emissions standards, Steven Douglas, the group’s senior director of environmental affairs, said during the CARB hearing. California divide Trump has reinstated a review of national greenhouse gas limits that run through 2025, which California had agreed in 2012 to accept as interchangeable with its own. Pippin Mader, a CARB engineer, said the state may have to return to insisting on compliance with its own standards if the Trump administration dials back those at the national level. As a result of Trump’s decision, the EPA and NHTSA will spend another year evaluating the federal standards that call for cars to average more than 50 miles per gallon by 2025. CARB defended its cleaner-car targets Friday as a necessary component of its plan to cut greenhouse gas emissions to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030. Matching states Nine states including New York and New Jersey have pledged to adopt the GoldenState’s targets. Zero-emission vehicles were 0.74 percent of sales in those nine states last year, according to IHS Markit. Automakers face penalties if they don’t meet the zero-emissions sales goals. A provision that allows automakers to fulfill their obligations in New York and other matching states by selling cars in California is set to expire in October, putting pressure on automakers to increase zero-emission vehicle sales. EV sales lag outside California because automakers barely advertise them there, and some don’t even sell certain models, according to Christine Kirby, acting assistant commissioner of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection. Most carmakers “have not tried to build the zero-emission vehicle market in the Northeast to the extent that is necessary,” she said. Two tracks? A two-track emissions regulatory system would leave consumers with potentially higher prices and could complicate their ability to move cars between states. Board member Hector De La Torre compared a potential split between federal and state regulators to a divorce. "If a divorce is going to happen at some point, we are going to litigate that divorce strongly," he said. A White House official, anticipating the California vote, told Reuters the Trump administration was committed to protecting jobs and providing consumers with affordable cars. “We are disappointed that California has chosen to refuse our good-faith offer to work together with all relevant stakeholders on this important matter,” the person said. California regulators said they would cooperate with federal regulators who are reviewing the federal tailpipe emissions standards. John Bozzella, president and CEO of the Global Automakers industry alliance, focused on the potential for cooperation, rather than the Board's criticism. "I think we are where we want to be, which is working together," he said. "We're committed to a national program."

Paul Kane, The Washington Post / March 25, 2017 President Trump and House Speaker Paul D. Ryan made it a binary choice: You’re either for their health-care legislation or you’re for “Obamacare.” From Reps. Trent Franks (R-Ariz.) to Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-N.J.), spanning the party’s ideological spectrum, the answer came back Friday: No, it’s much more complex. It was filled with several different options and possible routes ahead, and dozens of Republicans agreed with their sentiment. That left Republicans well short of the votes they needed to fulfill a seven-year promise to destroy the 2010 Affordable Care Act once they were fully in charge, delivering a stinging defeat to both Ryan and Trump. It also suggested a new dynamic in which both the right and left flanks of the Republican conference are emboldened to challenge leadership. And that could make each future negotiation more difficult as the issue matrix gets more complicated and the pockets of internal GOP resistance continue to grow, not shrink, in the new era of Trump’s Republican-controlled Washington. Some parts of these botched negotiations looked a lot like the recent past. Franks and his House Freedom Caucus cronies played the role of obstructionists who will buck party leaders no matter if it’s John A. Boehner, Ryan’s predecessor, or now Trump, as well. These ideologues gobbled up tons of attention, resulting in much care from Trump, Vice President Pence and top West Wing advisers. By lunchtime Friday, Franks still would not commit to publicly supporting the bill — even though he admitted it was far better than current law. “Of course it is, yeah, it’s a lot better than Obamacare, of course it is. There’s not even any comparison,” Franks said a few hours before the legislation went down in flames. Franks remained upset that conservative proposals were left out of the bill because they would have violated Senate budget rules, meaning that the proposal to replace the ACA was nowhere near to his liking. “That still is like putting dirt in ice cream,” Franks said. Other parts of the negotiation, however, were new and quite different from the previous six years of Republican control of the House. Nothing capped this off more than the stunning announcement Friday morning from Frelinghuysen, just three months into his hold on the coveted Appropriations Committee gavel, that bucked leadership. “Unfortunately, the legislation before the House today is currently unacceptable as it would place significant new costs and barriers to care on my constituents,” he said in a statement. A 22-year veteran whose family traces its establishment lineage to the Continental Congress, Frelinghuysen won his chairmanship uncontested with the blessing of Ryan and the leadership team. He’s not someone who rocks the boat — he supported impeachment articles against President Bill Clinton — but his pronouncement Friday sent a jolt through the Capitol. He also joined a long list of influential centrists who rejected the proposal on policy grounds, not out of fear politically. Frelinghuysen has received more than 60 percent of the vote in all but one election. If anyone should back Ryan — he’s a new committee chairman, he’s safe back home — it would have been Frelinghuysen. Instead, he sent a message to a few dozen other Republicans who have more troubling districts that they, too, should break from the president and the speaker. In some corners, Republicans saw the past week as a defining moment when lawmakers went from the hypothetical exercise of previous fiscal proposals, which they knew the White House of President Barack Obama would block, into the world of live ammunition in which these proposals could become law. That gravity, among moderates and some mainstream conservatives as they saw Trump agree to concessions to the Freedom Caucus, altered votes. “Sometimes you’re playing Fantasy Football and sometimes you’re in the real game,” said Rep. Joe Barton (R-Tex.), a Freedom Caucus member whom Trump had won over to support the bill. By the time Ryan arrived at the White House, delivering the bad news about the whip count for the vote, those Republicans were doing just that. Rep. Barbara Comstock (R-Va.), who brought Ryan into her suburban district outside Washington, broke against the bill, followed by Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio). Joyce’s district, a mix of suburbs and working-class towns east of Cleveland, actually went for Trump by more than 11 percentage points, as Joyce was reelected by a 25-percentage-point margin. In the past, his biggest political fear has been a primary challenge from the right, yet the slight hint of Trump-fueled challengers to those opposed to the bill did not sway Joyce. Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) had accepted expanded Medicaid funding as part of increasing insurance coverage through the ACA. Ryan’s American Health Care Act would phase out the Medicaid coverage. Joyce made a simple, binary choice about Obamacare: “The American Health Care Act was not a better solution.” This new combination, with Ryan’s right and left flanks willing to buck him and the new president, presents deep concern for the long-term effort to take up the more complicated effort to overhaul the corporate and individual tax codes. Before they can even get there, however, Ryan faces an April 28 deadline to come up with a funding stream for the federal agency budgets through the end of the fiscal year. In previous federal spending fights, the Freedom Caucus has refused to lend a hand unless policy riders were attached. Democrats, who have been relied on in the past to backfill those lost conservative votes, have signaled they will not do so this time if the legislation includes funding for controversial measures such as Trump’s request for funding to build a border wall. That messy task falls to Frelinghuysen’s committee — and it will become much more difficult for the new chairman to ask for loyalty votes on his legislation just a few weeks after he walked away from Ryan on the AHCA. Democrats believe this attempt, and failure, has left Republicans politically in charge of health care from now on. They can’t complain about something if they can’t come up with their own fix. “If it passes, they have to answer for it,” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said early Friday. “If it doesn’t pass, they have to answer for that as well.” Some Republicans rejected that, but others took a more holistic view. Passing the Ryan legislation would have only led to a very messy fight in the Senate, setting up what might have been an even more contentious fight later in the spring between the two different pieces of legislation. Said Rep. Mark Amodei (R-Nev.), who opposed the legislation: “Even if it passes today, it’s like — I wanna pick these words very carefully — the adolescent dance school will still continue in full view.”

Trump’s Obamacare failure and the backlash ahead David Smith, The Guardian / March 25, 2017 The James S. Brady Press Briefing Room at the White House was crammed as usual but there was an extra frisson of suspense. As the press secretary, Sean Spicer, walked to the lectern, a conversation was unfolding just 27 paces away in the Oval Office. It would invalidate almost everything he said. Paul Ryan, the speaker of the House of Representatives, told Donald Trump the news he did not want to hear. Weeks of cajoling and arm-twisting to win over skeptics of their healthcare reform legislation had failed. Ryan asked the president to ditch the bill and avoid the humiliation of putting it to a vote in the House. Trump agreed. It was a chastening defeat for a president whose election campaign was built on his reputation as a negotiator and a winner. His book, The Art of the Deal, brags: “Deals are my art form. Other people paint beautifully on canvas or write wonderful poetry. I like making deals, preferably big deals. That’s how I get my kicks.” When it came to his first major legislation as president and the question “deal or no deal”, the answer was, emphatically, no deal. In a poetic twist, the president who has espoused a rightwing agenda of economic nationalism, law and order and “America first” was undone by the right wing of his own party. Conservatives said the bill did not go far enough to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA). “Today was a big win for the president. The 44th president, Barack Obama,” declared TV host Lawrence O’Donnell on MSNBC. “And it was, to put it in Trump-speak, a complete disaster for the current president.” It came hard on the heels of two legal knock-backs to his attempt to ban travelers from certain Muslim-majority counties. That policy too was imposed with a missionary zeal that masked a lack of competence and grasp of detail. But Trump appears to be playing the role of a chief executive intent on shaking up a business and his chief strategist, Steve Bannon, is said to admire a creed from the tech sector in Silicon Valley: “Move fast and break things.” But Washington politics are different. Add in the Russia affair – the resignation of the president’s national security adviser, groundless claims of wiretapping against Obama and an ongoing FBI investigation into his associates – and the first two months of the Trump presidency reek of chaos, crisis and confusion. In his rambunctious election campaign, the 70-year-old novice promised to repeal and replace the ACA “immediately”. It was a bad choice for an opening offensive. Healthcare reform is to American presidents what the Russian winter was to Napoleon. Obama got further than most but even then the notion of an American National Health Service remained a distant dream. With Republicans controlling both the House and Senate, Trump should have had the cards in his favor. In what Democrats regarded as an act of spite, he and Ryan set a deadline to erase the ACA on its seventh anniversary, 23 March. They would supplant it with the slimmer American Health Care Act (AHCA). But as the negotiations gathered steam, it was clearly not going to be plain sailing. Last month, Trump admitted: “Now, I have to tell you, it’s an unbelievably complex subject. Nobody knew healthcare could be so complicated.” The bill was, in the eyes of many, rushed and deeply flawed, falling well short of Trump’s campaign pledge to provide insurance for everyone. Grassroots protests erupted across the country, citizen activists hitting the phones and constituents berating congressmen at town hall events. Groups representing hospitals and medical professionals derided the legislation. The non-partisan Congressional Budget Office estimated that the AHCA would lead to 24 million fewer Americans having health insurance over the next 10 years. The bill achieved the rare feat of uniting the far left and far right in opposition. The biggest holdouts in Republican ranks were the hardline conservatives of the House Freedom Caucus. Trump tried to woo them with White House bowling sessions and trips on Air Force One. In the final week, he made a desperate bid to prove his credentials as “the closer”, offering concessions such as the removal of 10 so-called essential health benefits, including maternity care and emergency services. But by Thursday, the supposed day of the vote, the wheels were coming off. Trump digressed, greeting commercial truckers to the White House, climbing into the cab of a 18-wheeler to pose at the wheel and honk the horn. Apparently unaware that the vote had just been postponed until Friday, he said: “It’s going to be a very close vote.” Meanwhile, the scramble continued. Bannon and the White House chief of staff, Reince Priebus, were dispatched to Capitol Hill to try and turn the doubters. Spicer told reporters on Friday that more than 120 members of the House had had a visit, call or meeting at the White House in the past few days. Trump had been making calls from 6am to 11pm, he said. But even as the press secretary put on a brave face – “Why don’t we continue with a very positive, optimistic Friday?” he said. “The sun is coming out, I feel really good” – Trump and Ryan were about to agree the terms of surrender. The speaker’s funereal expression as he left the White House spoke volumes. Republicans, who voted more than 60 times to repeal or alter Obamacare over the past few years only to be vetoed by Obama, had got their big chance and blown it. The party’s deep ideological and factional divisions, temporarily papered over amid the euphoria of last November’s surprise win, were back with a vengeance as it struggled to go from opposition to governance. About a mile and half away, tourists crowded under the magnificent dome of the US Capitol building. As they filed out of the rotunda they saw, outside Ryan’s office, clutches of reporters trading gossip and making mental tallies of votes. Any passing House member was asked eagerly which way they were leaning. The corridors of power in one of the world’s biggest democracies teemed with life. Trump announced the pulling of the bill in calls to the Washington Post and New York Times. Soon after, digesting the biggest defeat of his career, Ryan admitted that the ACA would remain in place for the foreseeable future, though he claimed it was in a state of collapse – something Democrats fiercely dispute. The minority party, traumatized by Hillary Clinton’s shock defeat, finally had something to cheer. They called it a moment to “breathe a sigh of relief” for the American people. The Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer, said sarcastically: “So much for The Art of the Deal.” The Democrats may have been right about the merits of Obamacare, and the havoc that would have been wrought by “Trumpcare”. But Friday’s debacle may yet be a blessing in disguise for the president. Bob Shrum, a Democratic consultant and politics professor at the University of Southern California, said: “The truth is it might have been worse for him had it passed because he would have faced a potentially devastating midterm election. “It’s clear from what he said he was not that personally invested in this. He felt he was obligated to do it for the party. I think his preference was to go first on taxes and maybe infrastructure. The way forward would be to push taxes and then take a leaf out of Ronald Reagan’s book and work with Democrats on infrastructure.” Trump has said tax reform is next, and years of Republican planning might allow for that legislation to pass more easily. But his ability to work with Congress is in grave question. His unique selling point, as a dealmaker, has taken a huge hit. Gwenda Blair, a Trump biographer, said of Trump’s supporters: “They voted for a guy who could fix it, the CEO, on The Apprentice for 10 years, who could make a deal with anybody.” But the tactics that served Trump so well in business – playing the alpha male, holding one-on-one meetings – did not translate to politics, she said. “Now he’s up against 535 other people [in the House and Senate], other people who have their own independent power base and are not really interested in rolling over. The model of taking one person in a room and beating up on them doesn’t work with 535.”

If Paccar was on the market, which it isn't, Volkswagen would be the buyer. The continual product improvements at Peterbilt are all about being competitive......producing a great truck. Take a tour of their Denton, Texas plant and you'll see for yourself. https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/36531-paccar-no-merger-talks-with-vw/

This news article is from January 12, 1999. Under foreign aggressor Volvo ownership, the Mack "brand" ranks no. 6 (the Volvo brand ranks no. 5). http://www.todaystrucking.com/mack-records-sixth-straight-year-of-us-market-share-growth ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Mack records sixth straight year of U.S. market share growth Today’s Trucking / January 22, 1999 LEHIGH VALLEY, Pa. -- Mack Trucks Inc. recorded its sixth straight year of market share growth in U.S. class-8 retail sales last year, but lost ground in Canada. The company said it closed 1998 with 26,801 U.S. Class 8 retail sales, which represented 12.8% of the heavy-truck market. This is an increase from 12.5% in 1997, making Mack the only U.S. class 8 truck manufacturer to consistently increase its market share over the last six years. The company's Canadian subsidiary, Mack Canada Inc., increased its retail sales volume by 4.2%, to 2886 vehicles. This represented a 10% share of the Canadian market, compared to 10.4% in 1997. Mack is North America’s No. 3 class-8 truckmaker, behind Freightliner Corp. and Navistar International.

Peterbilt Model 579 Updates Aimed at Fuel Economy Heavy Duty Trucking / March 24, 2017 Peterbilt has made changes to the Model 579 Epiq package that it says deliver an 8% fuel economy improvement for the 2018 model year. For the 2018 model year, Peterbilt’s Model 579 Epiq is available with the Paccar [DAF] MX-13 and MX-11 engines and is paired with the Fuller Advantage automated transmission, offering a wide range of horsepower and torque ratings. Fuel economy improvement resulting from the 2017 MX engines is up to 4% over the prior model year. The new Paccar engines are also lighter by 50 pounds than previous options and offer extended service intervals, leading to more uptime and lower maintenance costs over the life of the vehicle, according to Peterbilt. Predictive Cruise Control on the MX engine provides additional fuel economy improvements of up to 3%, according to Peterbilt. By optimizing the truck’s speed based on the terrain, Predictive Cruise Control allows the truck to operate in the most efficient manner for the situation. The recently introduced Paccar 40,000-pound tandem drive axle is also standard with the Model 579 for linehaul applications. Its design optimizes power distribution and has fewer parts for reduced maintenance, greater reliability and a 150-pound weight savings. It features a through-shaft design that optimizes power flow in the forward rear axle for better efficiency and less oil churning losses, resulting in a 1% fuel economy improvement. Peterbilt has also introduced new interior color options, automatic interior temperature control for the Model 579 and several other features to improve driver comfort, the company said. “Peterbilt trucks and Paccar MX engines are optimized to deliver unprecedented levels of value,” said Kyle Quinn, Peterbilt general manager and Paccar senior vice president. “The newest generation of Paccar MX engines and powertrain technologies once again raises the bar for fuel efficiency, performance and reliability, resulting in the lowest cost of ownership in the industry.” .

Peterbilt’s Chassis Routings Improve Serviceability Heavy Duty Trucking / March 24, 2017 Peterbilt has implemented newly engineered routings in all configurations of the Models 579 and 567 as well as in the Model 389 to enhance serviceability across product lines. The engineered routings bundle each system-- air, fuel, and electrical-- separately, to allow easier identification and service by technicians. These routing enhancements are standard with orders specifying 2017 emissions engines. “Thanks to the innovative features of the engineered chassis routings, Peterbilt customers will enjoy enhanced ease of repair and maintenance,” said Scott Newhouse, Peterbilt chief engineer. “Peterbilt has taken great strides to improve product quality with the implementation of the engineered routings, which provide consistent manufacturability, improved product quality and improved serviceability.” Peterbilt also announced the introduction of the Paccar Engine Pre-Owned Warranty for Peterbilt Red Oval-certified truck customers.The warranty is offered and administered through Peterbilt dealers and Paccar Financial USed Truck Centers, providing protection for the MX engine and aftertreatment system for one year and 125,000 miles and a 90-day buyer assurance plan covering major chassis components. Peterbilt Red Oval Certified vehicles pass a comprehensive 150-point factory certified inspection performed by factory-trained service technicians. All Red Oval certified trucks are reconditioned and serviced, including DPF cleaning and an oil and filter change. Additionally, every Red Oval truck is DOT-certified. “With the Paccar Engine Pre-Owned Warranty, Peterbilt further enhances the Red Oval certified program,” said Robert Woodall, Peterbilt assistant general manager of sales and marketing. “Buyers of Red Oval certified trucks benefit from additional assurance of the MX engines’ proven durability and reliability.” .

According to multiple Trump administration officials, the president’s chief strategist Stephen K. Bannon is advising him to take names and keep a hit list of Republicans who worked for Trumpcare’s defeat. “[Bannon] has told the president to keep a sh*t list on this,” one official said. “He wants a running tally of [the Republicans] who want to sink this…Not sure if I’d call it an ‘enemies list,’ per se, but I wouldn’t want to be on it.” One aide described it as a proposed “hit list” for Republicans not sufficiently loyal. Courses of action stemming from any related tally is yet to be determined, but the idea and message is that “we’ll remember you.” Two senior Trump administration officials say Bannon and Trump have taken a “you’re either with us or against us” approach at this point, and that Bannon wants the tally of “against” versus “with us” mounted in his so-called West Wing “war room.” “Burn the boats,” Bannon advised Trump. Burning one’s boats is a reference to when military commanders in hostile territories order his or her troops to destroy their own ships, so that they have to win or die trying. http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/03/24/bannon-tells-trump-keep-a-shit-list-of-republicans-who-opposed-you.html

BBC / March 25, 2017 US President Donald Trump says he will turn to tax reform, following his failure to get his healthcare bill through Congress on Friday. The draft bill would have scrapped the Affordable Care Act, which requires all Americans to have healthcare but offers subsidies to people on low incomes. "I would say that we will probably start going very, very strong for the big tax cuts and tax reform. That will be next," said Trump at the White House. However, the tax cuts were supposed to be paid for by savings from the withdrawn healthcare bill. Without the spending cuts in the failed bill, any tax cuts will add to the federal budget deficit. The president refrained from criticising Mr Ryan, whose job as speaker of the House involves rallying support for controversial bills. "We learned about loyalty; we learned a lot about the vote-getting process," Trump said. Obamacare has been troubled by increases in insurance premiums. It also imposes tax penalties on uninsured Americans - many of them low- to moderate-income earners. However, it also bans insurance companies from denying health coverage to people with pre-existing health conditions and allows young people to remain on their parents' plans until age 26. . .

The Guardian / March 24, 2017 Republicans’ efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), better known as Obamacare, looked a lot like a tall man trying to stay warm under a short blanket. When Republicans pulled in one direction, they lost coverage at the other end. Hardline conservatives wanted to change regulations that define health insurance, such as a requirement that health plans cover maternity care. But when they got the concessions, the Republicans lost moderate members, who were concerned their constituents would lose basic services. That left the party leadership with no choice but to pull the bill or risk a humiliating defeat. What would the bill have done if it had passed? A late amendment to American Health Care Act struck at the heart of Barack Obama’s ACA, allowing states to define the health benefits that insurance policies must cover, called “essential health benefits”. Just as they sound, these benefits define American health insurance. They require companies to cover the expense of having a baby, catching a cold, or breaking a leg. Republicans argued that people should “choose” the coverage they want, but because health insurance is interconnected, such a policy was likely to harm all patients. Think of the health insurance system as a tower of blocks – if you remove one from the middle, it makes the entire structure less sound. That is a good analogy for how removing essential health benefits works. Once one benefit is removed, it makes plans which continue to offer that benefit more expensive, meaning only really sick people will buy them – which further drives up the cost. For example, before the protections were passed, 62% of insurance plans bought on the open market did not include maternity care, according to the health and human services department. Often, maternity care was offered as an expensive add-on. Another 34% of plans did not cover substance abuse (think: opioid crisis) [self-inflicted, why should/would it?], and 9% did not cover prescriptions (remember that cold?). That kind of federal plan could be hard for states to decide on by January 2018, and could tempt them instead to certify “bare bones” plans as eligible for federal tax credits. Hollowed-out protections for sick people With the essential health benefits gutted, some experts believed insurance companies would have an incentive to offer a narrower list of benefits. Why? Because Republicans maintained a requirement that insurance companies sell policies to even very sick people. Experts believed that would push companies to offer skimpy plans, to keep sick people off their rolls. Imagine a world in which some health plans did not cover chemotherapy. Plans that that did would be much more expensive, because people who had cancer in the past, or whose family had a history of cancer, would be more likely to sign up and use those services. The effect would be that so many sick people would sign up, the cost of coverage would increase for everyone under that plan. But wouldn’t people still get help to buy insurance? Yes – and that was one of the reasons the health plan was always going to be difficult for a broad base of Republicans to support. Giving Americans tax credits to buy health insurance looked to conservatives too much like Obamacare, while huge overhauls to Medicaid – public health insurance for the poor – left moderate Republicans worried about constituents who depend on those services. [Why should the poor continually depend on Medicaid at the expense of the middle class? (You know the upper class, like Trump, weasels out of taxes) If Trump is going to create good paying jobs for the masses and the vast majority of the “poor” are able-bodied, this concern would be resolved]. Further, Republicans’ last-minute amendments actually increased the price tag of their bill, without insuring more Americans. A Congressional Budget Office analysis found that the changes still left 24 million Americans without insurance and reduced savings over the next decade, from $337bn in the first draft, to just $150bn. The age tax On the moderate end, the very powerful American Association of Retired Persons was upset at what it called the “age tax”. That was a plan to allow insurance companies to charge Americans aged over 50 five times more than the young. Combined with Republicans’ plans to offer less financial help to the poor, it meant a 64-year-old earning $26,500 per year would pay $12,900 more every year for their insurance. Republicans added an $85 billion slush fund to the bill to try to counter these costs, but it was unclear how much that might have helped older Americans. Currently, insurance companies are allowed to charge older Americans three times more than the young. Poverty penalties Under the Republican plan, the less money you made, the worse off you would be. An analysis by the Tax Policy Center found that people who make less than $10,000 per year would have lost $1,400 per year because of cuts to Medicaid. [Middle class] People earning between $50,000 and $75,000 would have seen a small tax break of about $60. However, the very poorest would probably suffer the most. A vast $880bn cut to Medicaid would result in 14 million fewer people using the service, Congressional analysts found. By contrast, rich Americans would have seen a significant tax benefit. People who earn $200,000 per year or more would see an average tax break of $5,640, or about 1.1% of their income. Nearly all of that is from tax breaks Republicans included in the bill. But wouldn’t this bill spur competition? Some analysts think it would, especially for young people. But it would still leave many more people, 52 million by the end of the decade, uninsured. That is not just an inconvenience. Lack of health insurance could result in more than 44,000 deaths per year, researchers at the American Journal of Public Health found. That is more than kidney disease causes. .

Fleet Now Operating Zero-Emissions Natural Gas Engine Heavy Duty Trucking / March 23, 2017 Total Transportation Services, Inc. (TTSI), a drayage trucking company in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., has begun using one of the first Cummins Westport (CWI) ISX12 G low-NOx natural gas engines for its trucking operations. Available for order later this year, the 12.0L engine’s emissions will be certified by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to produce 90% less NOx than the current EPA standard for heavy-duty engines, and are equivalent to that of a truck powered by electricity from the electrical grid. “The trucking industry is facing hard choices on how we are going to reduce our emissions impact, especially here in Southern California,” said Victor La Rosa, CEO and President of TTSI. “We believe the quickest and most affordable way to cut our NOx emissions to essentially zero is with the new CWI engine and renewable natural gas (RNG). We’ve successfully operated natural gas trucks in the San Pedro, Calif., ports since the last Clean Trucks program in 2008, and it’s great that we now have a dramatically improved engine and an even cleaner fuel with renewable natural gas.” In 2016, Cummins Westport began full production of the 8.9L ISL G low-NOx engine and has shipped engines to bus and refuse truck OEMs. The ISX12 G low-NOx engine is based on the 12.0L ISX12 G first introduced in 2012 and will start production early next year. CWI anticipates a large demand for this heavy-duty alternative-fuel truck engine. South Coast Air Quality Management District and the California Energy Commission supported Cummins Westport by providing development funding, recognizing the importance of this technology in helping California reduce emissions from heavy-duty trucks. About one-third of California residents live in communities with pollution that exceeds federal standards, according to estimates by CARB.

Truck News / March 23, 2017 Recognizing some of its customers weren’t yet ready to transition to the new CK-4 and FA-4 heavy-duty engine oil categories introduced in December, Chevron has opted to continue offering CJ-4 in addition to its new category oils. “Initially, going into it, a lot of people expected there would be a mandatory conversion to CK-4 or FA-4 and that hasn’t been the case,” Rommel Atienza, commercial brand manager for Chevron in North America told Truck News in an interview at the Mid-America Trucking Show. “To that point, we still have a 15W-40 CJ-4 product available in the market today. That decision was made when we started to hear about the direction OEMs were going and the hesitation some of our customers had in that conversion. They really wanted to see the benefits of CK-4 and FA-4 products before they made that transition.” Meanwhile, Chevron is continuing its educational outreach to inform customers about the benefits of the new category oils. “We are finding we still have to continue that work from an education standpoint,” Atienza said. “It’s amazing how many people still have no idea what is going on with that particular transition. People still have a lot to learn around the category change.” Atienza said Chevron is the only major oil company to continue producing and selling CJ-4 product. Fleets will still have to transition to the new oils as they add new tractors, but extending the use of CJ-4 allows them to defer the 3-5% upcharge for the new oils. “Some of the folks really evaluated their fleets and whether or not they needed to make that transition at this time, and since it wasn’t mandatory, decided they would stay with CJ-4 for the time being,” said Atienza. “We’re seeing that as an advantage in some cases, where these customers who have older equipment feel they aren’t ready to make that transition and we have that opportunity to keep them on CJ-4 product until they’re ready to make that move.” Atienza said Chevron hasn’t yet decided when it will discontinue production of CJ-4. Better performing CK-4 and FA-4 oils hit the market in December 2016. They are required to handle hotter temperatures generated by the latest-generation, low-emission engines. While Chevron has chosen to continue offering both categories, Atienza added it’s not because it doesn’t believe in the benefits of the new categories. “We’ve done some preliminary teardowns and the data looks really good,” Atienza said of the new category oils. “We are seeing the oxidation stability protection that the new spec’ calls for and we’re seeing a lot less deposits on the pistons. And the oil, at the end of the day, is lasting longer. We are really happy with the results we’ve seen so far.” While the transition to CK-4 is underway, the adoption of FA-4 – a low-viscosity oil designed to provide further fuel savings through lower high-temperature high-shear properties – has been slow. Only Detroit has announced it’s factory filling with FA-4 and Atienza acknowledged the lack of support for fuel economy category came as a surprise. “There has been a much slower transition and we are not expecting a lot of people to move to that this year,” he said. “I think they’re still trying to understand what the benefits are and there just isn’t the demand for it right now. We’re going to keep our eyes on that; we will see what the OEMs do.” Chevron plans to continue its educational campaign around the new category oils. But it also wants customers to know they don’t have to make the switch if they’re running older equipment and want to continue using CJ-4. “I think right now, the biggest misconception we’re seeing is, people think there aren’t any other options available,” said Atienza. “When we tell them we still have CJ-4 product available it’s a surprise to a lot of these folks because most other oil companies have made that full transition.” Of course continuing to offer CJ-4 also means there’s one more product in the marketplace that customers will have to be sure not to put into new equipment. Atienza said its CJ-4 oil retains its traditional packaging while CK-4 and FA-4 are both clearly labelled as such. “That helps our customers reduce the risk of using the wrong product,” he said. Related reading - https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/49214-ford-offers-ck-4-alternative-oil-for-super-duty-diesels/

Navistar Expands OnCommand Connect Capabilities Heavy Duty Trucking / March 23, 2017 Navistar unveiled three new OnCommand Connect Telematics offerings at the Mid-America Truck Show today, including its new, OnCommand Connection Telematics. The new system supports all makes and models of Class 6 through 8 vehicles, provided they are equipped weight a J1939 or J1708 diagnostic port. This new system integrates and interprets vehicle health information from multiple telematics sources in an integrated approach with a user-friendly interface. The system is designed to give owner-operators and small fleets the same telematics-enabled diagnostic powers that big fleets enjoy. OnCommand Connection Marketplace is a new, open-architecture, cloud-based, technology platform for a broad range of driver support tools. The first app supported by this system is the OnCommand Electronic Driver Log (ELD) which automates Federal Hours of Service compliance requirements mandated for all carriers by Dec. 18, 2017. Other tools, such as driver inspection reports, will become available later. OnCommand Connection Telematics, OnCommand Connection Marketplace and the Electronic Driver Log app will be available mid-summer at International Truck dealerships, select retail locations and online.

Allison TC10 Available for Kenworth, Peterbilt Trucks Later this Year Heavy Duty Trucking / March 23, 2017 Allison Transmissions has announced that its TC10 transmission will be available from Paccar later this year in the Kenworth T680 and T880, and Peterbilt 567 and 579 truck models. The fully automatic TC10 combines Allison’s torque converter with a twin countershaft gear scheme. The company said this combination provides both full power shifts and cruising fuel economy for greater productivity and efficiency. The transmission is well-suited for distribution applications in which the tractor-trailer splits its work cycle between city and highway conditions. "The TC10 combines the startability and continuous, uninterrupted power shifting qualities of a fully automatic transmission with the cruising aspects of a manual transmission," said Heidi Schutte, Allison’s vice president of marketing and sales for the Americas. “Simply put, drivers don’t have to be experts at shifting because the TC10 shifts for them at exactly the right point to maintain vehicle performance and maximize fuel economy, thereby allowing the driver to focus their attention on the road.” Fleets adopting the TC10 and sharing data with Allison are reporting an average fuel economy improvement of 5% when compared to other transmission technologies. With FuelSense technology, a unique package of software and electronic controls, the TC10 is designed to achieve the best fuel economy in most situations, according to Allison. The Allison TC10 includes a standard warranty of five years or 750,000 miles, with no exclusions on individual components and no scheduled maintenance for 500,000 miles. .

Allison TC10 Available for Kenworth, Peterbilt Trucks Later this Year Heavy Duty Trucking / March 23, 2017 Allison Transmissions has announced that its TC10 transmission will be available from Paccar later this year in the Kenworth T680 and T880, and Peterbilt 567 and 579 truck models. The fully automatic TC10 combines Allison’s torque converter with a twin countershaft gear scheme. The company said this combination provides both full power shifts and cruising fuel economy for greater productivity and efficiency. The transmission is well-suited for distribution applications in which the tractor-trailer splits its work cycle between city and highway conditions. "The TC10 combines the startability and continuous, uninterrupted power shifting qualities of a fully automatic transmission with the cruising aspects of a manual transmission," said Heidi Schutte, Allison’s vice president of marketing and sales for the Americas. “Simply put, drivers don’t have to be experts at shifting because the TC10 shifts for them at exactly the right point to maintain vehicle performance and maximize fuel economy, thereby allowing the driver to focus their attention on the road.” Fleets adopting the TC10 and sharing data with Allison are reporting an average fuel economy improvement of 5% when compared to other transmission technologies. With FuelSense technology, a unique package of software and electronic controls, the TC10 is designed to achieve the best fuel economy in most situations, according to Allison. The Allison TC10 includes a standard warranty of five years or 750,000 miles, with no exclusions on individual components and no scheduled maintenance for 500,000 miles. .

A group of Daimler AG researchers have been observing the effects of artificial daylight on the mental state and performance of truck drivers in a series of experiments set in the Polar Circle’s winter darkness. Siegfried Rothe, project manager and head of Daimler’s experiment works with Daimler to help improve living conditions for truck drivers, subsequently improving the image of the occupation. Rothe determined due to the shape of most truck cabs, only a comparatively low percentage of natural daylight reaches a truck driver’s light receptors, and sparked the idea for the experiment. Eight Daimler test drivers participated in what would be two typical working weeks for truckers at the site in Rovaniemi, Finland. Alternating between one week in a truck cab with conventional lighting and another week with a “Daylight+” module which supplied additional daylight while driving and during breaks, the truckers were observed and compared to only themselves.The drivers were examined for performance changes when they were exposed to additional biologically effective daylight under clearly defined conditions. The additional light was distributed in three different intensities. Steady light while driving, whereby the intensity was adjusted to the exterior light level. An intense light shower of maximum intensity during the tests before and after driving. Light while reclined, likewise of maximum intensity, during breaks while the driver relaxes in their seat, which has been positioned for a power nap. After the two-week experiment concluded, the drivers were individually interviewed. Having both spent time in the Arctic Circle during the darkest time of the year, Daimler test truck drivers, Richard Schneider and Philippe Strasser both expressed enthusiasm for Daylight+. In addition, the drivers from the experiment consistently reported their perception of space in the cab to be considerably more pleasant with the article daylight system. "When designing the series of tests, we hadn't even considered that the space might appear larger," said Rothe. According to Rothe, it will take several months to analyse the data from the series of experiments in the Arctic Circle. “Only then we will be able to make a recommendation as to whether the test findings should advisably lead to changes in the design of cab lighting.” .

Mack Adds Automatic Standby to 6x2 Liftable Pusher Axle Heavy Duty Trucking / March 23, 2017 Mack Trucks has added an Automatic Standby Mode option for its 6x2 liftable pusher axle available on Pinnacle highway models, the company announced here at the Mid-America Trucking Show. Macks aid that with Automatic Standby Mode, drivers no longer need to manually activate standby mode, which simplifies operation. The 6x2 with liftable pusher axle offers improved fuel efficiency and productivity and is designed for applications that haul out heavy and return empty. Mack has also added rear air disc brakes as an option to its 6x2 liftable pusher axle. When the ignition is off, Automatic Standby equalizes the suspension pressure, preventing the rear axle from being overloaded. The drive doesn’t need to initiate standby or remember to the button sequence to put it into standby. The 6x2 with liftable pusher axle is capable of determining payload by using sensors in the rear suspension and either lifting or lowering the foremost rear axle. When an empty load is detected, the axle lifts, allowing the tractor to operate as a 4x2 for less drag, better fuel efficiency and reduced tire wear, which helps lower maintenance costs. For full loads, the same axle is lowered to provide additional stability and distribution of the trailer’s weight. “The Mack Pinnacle 6x2 with liftable pusher axle model really helps those customers in bulk haul applications save on fuel because sensors lift or lower the axle to decrease or increase traction, providing better performance and ride,” said Roy Horton, Mack director of product strategy. “The addition of Automatic Standby Mode further simplifies things for the driver by eliminating any need for manual input in putting the truck in standby mode to prevent overload.” .