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Ohio DOT, Otto Initiate 'Smart Mobility Corridor' Heavy Duty Trucking / November 30, 2016 The State of Ohio is investing $15 million to install advanced highway technology along its "Smart Mobility Corridor" - a 35‑mile stretch of U.S. 33 northwest of Columbus. It was used Wednesday, Nov. 30 for a demonstration run by Otto, a developer of self-driving vehicle technology . Gov. John Kasich announced the project today at a ceremony in suburban Dublin. He said the state’s partnership with leading automotive research centers and local governments in the region will create an ideal proving ground to safely test innovative technologies that will change the way people and products are transported in Ohio and across the world. After the event, Otto's self-driving tractor pulled an Ohio Department of Transportation tanker trailer from Dublin to East Liberty. A driver was in the cab, ready to take over if anything went amiss, but it didn't, ODOT said. Otto also plans to run its truck on the Ohio Turnpike later this week. “Some of the world’s foremost automotive researchers are working here in Ohio, at both ends of this corridor, and this project provides them with the perfect location and state-of-the-art infrastructure for safely testing autonomous and connected vehicle technologies,” Kasich said. “Ohio has been at the heart of automotive manufacturing and innovation since the industry’s earliest days. Those ties strengthen with each passing year and innovations developed here will continue to build on our state’s historic role as a world leader in transportation technology,” he said. The Smart Mobility Corridor, 35 miles of four-lane, limited access highway, will be equipped by the ODOT with high-capacity fiber optic cable to instantaneously link researchers and traffic monitors with data from embedded and wireless sensors along the roadway. These links will allow testing smart transportation technologies on a highway that carries up to 50,000 vehicles per day through rural and urban settings in a full range of weather conditions. This data will also provide more frequent and accurate traffic counts, weather and surface condition monitoring, and incident management improvements, said ODOT spokesman Matt Bruner. “Data collected on this corridor will allow automotive innovators to test and refine jobs‑creating technologies that are going to help move people and products more safely and efficiently than ever before,” said ODOT Director Jerry Wray. “By being one of the first – and best positioned – states to embrace autonomous and connected vehicle technology, Ohio can also be among the first to benefit from its rewards, giving Ohioans a safer, better driving experience and offering businesses reduced transportation costs, faster access to markets and increased efficiencies,” he said. ODOT’s partners in the project include Honda R&D Americas, the Transportation Research Center at East Liberty, and Ohio State University’s Center for Automotive Research. Local governments along the route, including the City of Dublin, City of Marysville and Union County, are cooperating. The Smart Mobility Corridor will also align with work underway to develop Columbus as a hub for intelligent transportation, spurred by a $40 million “Smart City” grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation and more than $90 million committed to date by private-sector partners. Work to install sensors and a fiber optic network along the corridor is scheduled to begin in May 2017 and last throughout the summer. Traffic disruptions are not expected during installation. The Smart Mobility Corridor is a key component of the state’s new Smart Mobility Initiative, a collaborative effort between ODOT, the Ohio Department of Public Safety, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Case Western Reserve University, University of Cincinnati, University of Dayton, Wright State University, The Ohio State University, Transportation Research Center, and Ohio Turnpike and Infrastructure Commission. The state’s investment announced today also complements another U.S. Department of Transportation grant, $6 million awarded to Dublin, Marysville, and Union County, and matched by local funds, to expand their fiber optic networks linking to U.S. 33, install highway sensors, and retrofit government vehicles to send and receive data. As autonomous and connected vehicle research expands throughout the state, the Ohio Turnpike with its existing fiber-optic network is set to become the centerpiece of a contiguous, interstate highway test corridor eventually stretching from New York to Detroit and Chicago.

Transport Topics / November 30, 2016 A semi-autonomous truck operated by Otto has completed the first of multiple test runs planned in Ohio this week as the state announced a $15 million investment in highway sensors and cable to support testing of advanced transportation technologies. The Otto truck traveled in daytime traffic on public highways from Columbus to Bellefontaine on Nov. 29 to transport an empty de-icer tanker for the Ohio Department of Transportation, marking the first load delivered by self-driving truck in the state, an ODOT spokesman said. The truck traversed Interstates 70 and 270 and U.S. Route 33 with the help of Otto’s self-driving software and sensor technology, which tracks lane markings and detects other vehicles and objects on the road. The vehicle was manned by two drivers, but completed the main portion of the trip on Route 33 primarily with the self-driving system engaged. Ohio’s investment, announced by Gov. John Kasich at a Nov. 30 press event, will fund the installation of high-capacity fiber-optic cable and wireless sensors to capture research data along the state’s Smart Mobility Corridor, a 35-mile stretch of Route 33 between Dublin and East Liberty northwest of Columbus. Kasich said the corridor will provide automotive researchers “with the perfect location and state-of-the-art infrastructure for safely testing autonomous and connected vehicle technologies.” Otto’s self-driving truck was set to embark on another demonstration run on the Smart Mobility Corridor at the conclusion of that event and also is scheduled to travel on the Ohio Turnpike on Dec. 1. The Ohio demonstrations followed Otto’s delivery of 51,744 cans of beer for Anheuser-Busch on Oct. 20 in Colorado, which Otto hailed as the world’s first commercial shipment by a self-driving truck. Unlike the delivery in Colorado, the Otto truck was not accompanied by a police escort in Ohio. “This delivery serves as a proof of concept of how Otto’s technologies can be deployed here in the state,” said Ognen Stojanovski, Otto’s head of policy and government relations. “We hope to continue working closely with the state into the future.” The installation of sensors and a fiber-optic network along Route 33 is scheduled to begin in May. “Data collected on this corridor will allow automotive innovators to test and refine jobs creating technologies that are going to help move people and products more safely and efficiently than ever before,” ODOT Director Jerry Wray said. ODOT said the Smart Mobility Corridor also will align with work to develop the city of Columbus as a hub for intelligent transportation through a $40 million “Smart City” grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation and more than $90 million from private-sector partners. Otto, founded in January by former Google engineers, was acquired in August by Uber Technologies Inc., which also is testing self-driving cars in Pittsburgh. . .

The one-ton Kia Ceres four-wheel drive truck was exported to the Philippines, Latin America, Australia and Turkey. .

Steven Mnuchin (pronounced mah-NEW-chin) Post: Secretary of the Treasury Department The Treasury secretary is the chief navigator of the nation’s economy, overseeing the collection of taxes, the imposition of foreign sanctions, managing the public debt and serving as the chief connection between the administration and the financial markets and the business community. Previous experience: None Age: 53 (54 in December) Schooling: Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University Background: Steven Terner Mnuchin is an American banker, film producer, and political fundraiser. He was made partner at Goldman Sachs at age 31 and remained there for 17 years. Mnuchin’s father worked at Goldman Sachs for 33 years, and his brother Alan was a Goldman Sachs vice president. Mnuchin made a $40 million fortune at Goldman Sachs, and more at his own private-equity fund. He then founded the motion picture firm, RatPac-Dune Entertainment. Co-Founder, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of Dune Capital Management LP. Finance Chairman of Trump campaign from May 2016. Co-founded OneWest Bank Group LLC in 2004 and served as its Chairman and CEO Founder of Dune Real Estate Partners LP An Investment Professional of Soros Fund Management LLC. Chairman and CEO of IMB Holdco LLC. CEO at SFM Capital Management from 2003 to 2004. Executive Vice President at SFM from February 2001 Co-Chief Information Officer at SFM from February 2001 to December 2001. Member of the Executive Office at SFM from December 1999 to February 2001. Responsible at SFM for overseeing mortgages, U.S. governments, money markets, and municipals in the fixed income, currency, and commodities division from December 1998 to November 1999. Head of the Mortgage Securities Department at SFM from November 1994 to December 1998. Chief Information Officer at Goldman Sachs from December 2001. Entertainment Business: Mnuchin financed American Sniper, Gravity, Avatar, and Life of Pi. Non-Executive Co-Chairman of Relativity Media, LLC since October 2014. Past chairman of CIT Bank, National Association. Past chairman of OneWest Bank N.A. Past vice chairman of ESL Investments, Inc. since 2003 and serves as its Director. Director of CIT Bank, National Association. Independent Director of Sears Holdings Corporation since 2005. Director on the Yale Development Board. Member of the Board of Museum of Contemporary Art Los Angeles (MOCA), New York Presbyterian Hospital, the Los Angeles Police Foundation, Life Trustee of New York Presbyterian Hospital and UCLA Health System Board. Vice chairman of CIT Group Inc. from January 2, 2016 to March 31, 2016 and previously served in the same role from August 8, 2015 to December 12, 2015. Director of CIT Group Inc. since August 2015. He is divorced twice and currently engaged. If confirmed by the Senate, Mnuchin will join a list of prominent bankers who moved from Wall Street to Washington, including two of his former bosses at Goldman, Henry Paulson and Robert Rubin, who were both top Goldman executives before joining the treasury department. Rubin, who served under Bill Clinton from 1995 to 1999, was a former co-chairman of Goldman and Paulson was CEO between 1998 and 2006 before a three-year stint in government that spanned the financial crisis. Mnuchin’s close ties to an industry he would be in charge of regulating have the potential to complicate his confirmation and could undermine Trump’s populist message. While campaigning, Trump frequently lambasted big banks, Goldman Sachs in particular, advocating the reinstatement of the Glass-Steagall legislation that once separated retail and investment banks. Mnuchin was deeply involved in running a bank that had been at the heart of the subprime housing bust, eventually selling it for billions of dollars in profit. Mnuchin has given mostly to Democrats in recent years. He gave the maximum $2,300 to Hillary Clinton’s presidential primary bid in 2007. When her campaign failed, he donated the maximum to then-Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential run. Mnuchin also has given to several other Democratic presidential campaigns over the years, including those of John Edwards, John Kerry and Al Gore. After leaving Goldman Sachs, Mnuchin worked for billionaire investor George Soros, a well-known Democratic donor. He then founded his own private-equity fund, Dune Capital Management. Among its most notable investments was the purchase of IndyMac from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation during the depths of the financial crisis in 2009. Dune led a consortium of investors including John Paulson, Chris Flowers, George Soros and Michael Dell, who bought the failed subprime lender for about $1.6 billion, and Mnuchin oversaw the rebuilding of its business as CEO of the renamed OneWest. Under Mnuchin, the bank more than doubled its branches and increased its assets. But it also faced criticism from advocacy groups who complained about aggressive foreclosure tactics. At one point, activists marched to Mnuchin’s home in the Bel Air area of Los Angeles to protest its treatment of customers. In 2014, OneWest was sold to financial services firm CIT Group for $3.4 billion. Mnuchin is on CIT’s board of directors. He owns $100 million in company stock. . . . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ “So much for draining the swamp,” said Adam Hodge, communications director for the Democratic National Committee, on Tuesday. “Nominating Steve Mnuchin to be Treasury secretary — a billionaire hedge fund manager and Goldman Sachs alumnus who preyed on homeowners struggling during the recession — is a slap in the face to voters who hoped he would shake up Washington.” ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Trump reverses stance by turning to Goldman alumni for key roles The Financial Times / November 30, 2016 President-elect’s change of heart over Wall St bank veterans is a political gamble It is less than four weeks since Donald Trump ran an attack ad on Hillary Clinton, using an image of Goldman Sachs chief Lloyd Blankfein to illustrate how the Democratic candidate favored big business over small people. But since winning the presidential election, Trump has turned to Goldman veteran after Goldman veteran. Stephen Bannon, appointed head of strategy, was a former M&A banker at Goldman Sachs. Steven Mnuchin, Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary, had 17 years in various roles at Goldman Sachs. Gary Cohn, Goldman Sach’s president and chief operating officer, could complete a hat-trick of appointments if he caps a 25-year career at the bank with a move into government. Cohn had a lengthy meeting with Trump on Tuesday afternoon. So far at least, “it’s not been a swamp-draining exercise,” said Doug Landy, a partner at US law firm Milbank. But analysts note that Trump has gone where other administrations led. Goldman people have played outsized roles in previous governments, whatever the political climate around ties to Wall Street. Robert Rubin and Hank Paulson both ran Goldman before becoming Treasury chiefs under presidents Bill Clinton and George W Bush, respectively. During the 2008-09 financial crisis and its aftermath, the corridors of power were stuffed with so many ex-Goldman people — including Neel Kashkari, a former assistant secretary of the Treasury for Financial Stability, and Gary Gensler at the Commodity Futures Trading Commission — that people began to refer to “Government Sachs”. Goldman is by no means the only springboard into positions of power and influence. Citigroup has also been a rich source of state appointees in recent years, from Jack Lew, the current Treasury secretary, to Stanley Fischer, vice-chairman of the Federal Reserve. But Goldman appointees, above all, seem to carry a certain cachet. “They’re obviously very competent people and they work long and hard on connections,” said Simon Johnson, a professor of global economics and management at MIT. “They figured out before the competition that finance is about connections, and how to position yourself. The business of government is extremely profitable, and they’re good at it.” Goldman’s network spreads well beyond the US. Mark Carney, governor of the Bank of England, is a Goldman alumnus, as is Mario Draghi at the European Central Bank. In the summer José Manuel Barroso, ex-president of the European Commission, took up a position as non-executive chair of Goldman Sachs International, the bank’s largest subsidiary. Analysts note that Mnuchin is by no means assured of becoming the 77th Treasury secretary. Isaac Boltansky at Compass Point in Washington said the confirmation hearings will be “bumpy,” given his Goldman ties and his involvement in the crisis-era purchase of IndyMac, the fourth largest bank failure in the history of the US. They also note that the president-elect is taking a gamble with such an obvious reversal of his earlier stance. During the campaign, Trump made much of the highly paid speeches Clinton gave to Goldman and other Wall Street banks. He also accused his rival for the Republican nomination, Ted Cruz, of being “controlled” by Goldman. Maxine Waters, a Democratic ranking member of the House of Representatives’ financial services committee, said on Wednesday that Trump showed “his true colors” by backing Mnuchin. . . ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Donald Trump’s nominee for Treasury secretary made millions buying failed IndyMac and has résumé at odds with president-elect’s campaign rhetoric The Wall Street Journal / November 30, 2016 On a muggy morning in July 2008, hundreds of customers stood outside IndyMac Bank branches in Southern California, trying to pull their savings from the lender, which was doomed by losses on risky mortgages. Steven Mnuchin didn’t know much about IndyMac as he watched the scenes on CNBC from his Midtown Manhattan office. But he immediately saw an opportunity and began figuring out how to buy the bank. Regulators seized IndyMac, foreshadowing a vicious banking crisis. Six months later, Mnuchin and his investment partners acquired IndyMac with a helping hand from the U.S. government. The deal eventually earned him hundreds of millions of dollars in personal profits. The former Goldman Sachs partner, Hollywood financier and hedge-fund manager now is President-elect Donald Trump’s choice for Treasury secretary. Like other Trump cabinet picks, Mnuchin has a résumé that is at odds with much of the president-elect’s populist rhetoric on the campaign trail. Trump is building a cabinet that combines traditional Republican Party leanings with unconventional elements, including people who made their fortunes by taking big investment risks. IndyMac was the defining deal of Mnuchin’s career. He knew that the government needed to sell the failed bank—and he played hardball. In an interview Tuesday, Mnuchin said he is proud of the transformation at Pasadena, Californina-based IndyMac. “We turned around a huge economic disaster,” he said. Mnuchin, 53 years old, has no experience in government or running a large organization, though he was a campaign loyalist and fundraiser for Trump. Mnuchin’s political views are a secret even to some of his associates. If confirmed by the Senate, the defining traits he will bring as the 77th Treasury secretary include a Wall Street pedigree, long relationship with Trump, and a history of moving fast to seize opportunities that might terrify others. In the interview, Mnuchin said the new administration’s goal would be to achieve annual economic growth of 3% to 4%. He said his top policy priorities would be to overhaul the federal tax code, roll back certain financial regulations, review trade agreements and invest in infrastructure. Mnuchin is regarded within the Trump transition team’s inner circle as a skilled team player. Trump’s advisers say Mnuchin will fuse traditional Republican Party support for lower taxes and less regulation with the president-elect’s populist stances on trade and infrastructure. “Trump, like Ronald Reagan, would go outside of the box,” says Mnuchin. He said Trump won’t hesitate to call up corporate chiefs to lean on them about jobs, factory closures and other matters. The IndyMac deal will likely be a feature of Mnuchin’s confirmation process. Senator Ron Wyden, the top Democrat on the Senate committee that will hold hearings on the proposed appointment, said Tuesday that Mnuchin has a “history of profiting off the victims of predatory lending.” Foreclosures on the homes of delinquent IndyMac borrowers sparked protests outside Mnuchin’s mansion in the Bel Air neighborhood of Los Angeles. The bank, which was renamed OneWest Bank and is now part of CIT Group, is under civil investigation by the Department of Housing and Urban Development for loan-servicing practices. Mnuchin, whose father spent his entire career at Goldman, came of age on Wall Street in the 1980s as the business of slicing loans into securities was booming. As a mortgage banker at Goldman, he saw the savings-and-loan crisis and efforts by the government to wind down hundreds of insolvent financial institutions. Colleagues recall Mnuchin’s ability to quickly weigh the risks involved in particular trades. He made partner in 1994 and oversaw Goldman’s mortgage-trading desk before becoming chief information officer. Dinner parties Like other partners, he earned tens of millions of dollars when Goldman became a publicly traded company in 1999. He bought a 6,500-square-foot apartment in a famous Park Avenue building. Mnuchin and Trump were soon in the same philanthropic and social circles, attending dinner parties at each other’s Manhattan homes and mingling at the U.S. Open tennis tournament and the Metropolitan Museum of Art Gala. The reserved Mnuchin never struck colleagues as a political animal but contributed regularly to political campaigns. Mnuchin said he has been a registered Republican for “as long as I can remember,” yet he also gave a total of $7,400 since 2000 to Democrat Hillary Clinton’s campaigns. Mnuchin donated to the campaigns of Democrats Barack Obama, John Edwards, John Kerry and Al Gore. The only Republican presidential candidate Mnuchin gave money to was Mitt Romney in 2012. In 2002, Mnuchin left Goldman and wound up running an investment fund set up by billionaire investor George Soros. Soros was a big contributor to the super PAC backing Hillary Clinton in her unsuccessful presidential campaign this year and has donated to other groups Mnuchin and two former Goldman colleagues struck out on their own in 2004 with a new hedge fund, Dune Capital Management LP, which received financial backing from Soros. Mnuchin soon steered Dune into the business of financing Hollywood films, which began to elevate his public profile. He also was part of a group that lent money to Trump for a Chicago condominium project. When IndyMac unraveled in 2008, the images of customers lined up around corners and across parking lots became an enduring symbol of the financial crisis. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. officials descended on IndyMac’s headquarters on July 11 and shut down the bank. It was the second-largest bank failure of the crisis, surpassed only by Washington Mutual Inc. in September 2008. Federal officials expected to suffer as much as $8 billion in losses from IndyMac. That left regulators looking for someone to take over the bank and mitigate the damage. Speed was essential, since the FDIC was bracing for a wave of additional bank failures. Mnuchin assembled an all-star cast drawn from his years on Wall Street, including Soros, hedge-fund manager John Paulson, billionaire Michael Dell’s investment firm and several former Goldman executives, including J. Christopher Flowers. They signed up on the basis that Mnuchin would personally run the bank. By now, he knew that few bidders would be willing to buy all the failed bank’s assets. And he knew he was taking a giant risk. At the end of 2008, Mnuchin persuaded the FDIC to sell IndyMac for about $1.5 billion. The deal included IndyMac branches, deposits and assets. The FDIC also agreed to protect the buyers from the most severe losses for years. That loss-sharing arrangement turned out to be a master stroke. Mnuchin threw himself into managing IndyMac, where he became chairman and CEO of the parent company. He moved from New York to California. To accomplish his goal of a quick turnaround, Mnuchin needed to deal with IndyMac’s bad mortgages and other assets, a job made easier by the FDIC’s agreement. Mnuchin set out to refashion OneWest as a plain-vanilla lender that eschewed the unconventional mortgages that got IndyMac in trouble. It was a major provider of Alt-A loans, a category between prime and subprime that often involved borrowers who didn’t fully document their income or assets. He began scouting opportunities for OneWest to buy other small lenders. Before long, OneWest had doubled the number of branches that IndyMac had when it failed. OneWest often paid more than other banks for deposits, helping it attract new customers while interest rates were unusually low. Sharing the losses Banks often go out of their way to avoid losses, even when borrowers are in violation of loan terms. The loss-sharing agreement took away some of the disincentives, since future losses would be borne partly by the government. In October 2011, dozens of activists gathered outside his mansion to protest OneWest’s evictions, waving signs and shouting angry slogans. Mnuchin said he was rattled, and OneWest agreed to pay for security services at his home. Mnuchin said Tuesday it was “unfortunate that anyone was foreclosed, [but] all these loans were originated under previous management.” In 2013, OneWest had more than $300 million in profits, nearly equal to what IndyMac earned in 2006. It had a loss of $767 million in the first half of 2008. Mnuchin’s next step was to sell. He toyed with the idea of taking OneWest public. Then a better option came along. Another Goldman veteran, former Merrill Lynch & Co. Chief Executive John Thain, had taken over commercial lender CIT Group Inc. and was trying to fortify its finances. OneWest was a source of stable deposits. In July 2014, CIT agreed to buy OneWest for $3.4 billion, a bounty of more than $3 billion, including dividends. Mnuchin’s take was several hundred million dollars, according to a person familiar with the matter. He stayed on at CIT. After the sale, newly discovered accounting problems forced CIT to take a $230 million charge. It inherited another problem from nearly $40 million of loans OneWest made in 2014 to struggling film studio Relativity Media LLC, in which Mnuchin was a big investor through his Dune Capital hedge fund. Relativity filed for bankruptcy less than a year later, and CIT struggled to get the loans repaid. A film-financing company that also was owed money by Relativity accused OneWest of getting favorable repayments because of Mnuchin’s dual roles at the bank and the studio. Mnuchin left CIT amid a management shake-up announced last year, receiving a $10.9 million severance payment. His exit came just as Trump’s bid for the Republican nomination was gaining momentum. “The timing worked out well,” said Mnuchin. Before formally launching his presidential bid, Trump turned to Mnuchin for advice over dinner. Mnuchin helped write a tax-cutting plan and tried to rein in some of Trump’s populist rhetoric, including his vow to not “let Wall street get away with murder.” “I don’t think he has negative views on Wall Street,” Mnuchin said of Trump in the earlier interview. When Trump delivered his victory speech after the New York primary in April, Mnuchin stood behind him and took photos of the crowd with his cellphone. The next morning, Trump asked if he would consider taking the role of national finance chairman, an operation that had previously relied largely on Trump’s own bank account. Mnuchin agreed. Mnuchin had no previous experience in political fundraising and the finance operation endured early setbacks. It eventually got on track. Mnuchin, who divorced his second wife in 2014, brought his fiancée, Scottish actress Louise Linton, on the Trump campaign plane, where she got to see a draft of one of his foreign-policy speeches, she wrote in an Instagram post. Since Election Night, Mnuchin has been commuting from Los Angeles to New York and has been a regular presence inside Trump Tower as the president-elect works on the transition team. Trump’s financial agenda, which Mnuchin would lead as Treasury secretary, has ignited a broad stock-market rally. CIT shares are up about 13%, increasing the value of Mnuchin’s stake by about $11 million. It is now worth more than $100 million. .

Trump’s Carrier win comes with an asterisk The Washington Post / November 9, 2016 As news broke that President-elect Donald Trump reached a deal to save nearly 1,000 jobs at an Indianapolis plant on Tuesday evening, factory worker Brian Reed prepared to lose his job of 24 years just a mile away. Reed assembles roller bearings at Rexnord, an industrial supplier that plans to send his job and 294 others from the Midwest to Mexico. The 45-year-old father worries about the mortgage, college tuition for his daughter and health insurance for his son, a football player. He hopes Trump will try to save his family's livelihood, too. "We are counting on him," Reed said. "The working class elected him. Now take a stance." This week, Trump steered national attention to Carrier, the air conditioning manufacturer that had intended to move roughly 1,400 jobs from Indiana to Monterrey, Mexico. Carrier now says it will keep nearly 1,000 of those jobs in the state's capital after coming to an agreement with Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence, who is governor of Indiana. Carrier and Trump's transition team refused to share details of the agreement. The deal followed Trump’s pledge at an April rally in Indianapolis to rescue the jobs. "That’s what is going to happen," he said at the time. "It’s not like we have an 80 percent chance of keeping them or a 95 percent. 100 percent." Yet, the situation in Indianapolis highlights just how intractable the outflow of manufacturing jobs is in much of the nation. For every factory Trump publicly targets, there’s another downsizing somewhere else, sometimes just around the corner. Since 1969, Indiana has lost more than 235,000 manufacturing jobs, shedding nearly a third of such positions, data from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis shows. Rexnord is at least the third manufacturer in Indiana this year to reveal Mexico relocation plans. Carrier announced its decision nine months ago, along with United Technologies Electronic Controls, its parent company, which said it will lay off 700 workers by 2018. Local and state officials had pleaded with the companies to keep their operations running, but the appeals proved fruitless. Mayor Joe Hogsett turned his focus to containing the economic fallout from the manufacturing exodus, creating a task force to, among other acts of aid, help laid-off employees with job training. He urged Rexnord last week to pay back more than $300,000 in tax incentives because of the looming closure, set for June. The city plans to hire an “economic recovery coordinator,” said city spokeswoman Taylor Schaffer, and before annoucement of the deal with Trump, she said it planned to use the $1.2 million in tax incentives that Carrier returned to help displaced workers. A letter to Rexnord that the mayor publicly released this month noted his own futile effort to keep the company in town. “Despite every offer I have made and the good-faith efforts of your employees, Rexnord has decided to cast aside the quality and experience of your longtime, dedicated Indianapolis employees to chase cheap labor in Mexico,” Hogsett wrote in a publicly posted letter to the company. Rexnord, headquartered in Milwaukee, is packing up its Indianapolis operations to resettle in the same Mexican city that Carrier had picked for its new domicile. It expects to save $15.5 million during its first year south of the border, said Chuck Jones, president of United Steelworkers Local 1999, which represents both Carrier and Rexnord. That cushion is estimated to grow by $200,000 a year, according to figures the manufacturer shared with the union. To reverse course, Jones said, Indianapolis employees would have had to slash their hourly pay from an average of $25 to $5. Trump has pledged to bring back American jobs that were offshored, promising to generate 25 million as president. He spoke to workers who have lost their paychecks to the forces of trade and technology, and they responded enthusiastically. Men in economically shabbier counties, particularly older white men, overwhelmingly voted him into the White House. “Our politicians have aggressively pursued a policy of globalization — moving our jobs, our wealth and our factories to Mexico and overseas,” Trump said in his June jobs speech. “It doesn’t have to be this way. We can turn it all around — and we can turn it around fast.” Economists have pushed back on that point. Since North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) took effect in 1994, quashing tariffs and tripling the product exchange between the United States, Canada and Mexico, about 4.5 million American manufacturing jobs have disappeared — a consequence they ascribe to both globalization and automation. Though Trump argues that NAFTA shoved jobs south of the border, wiping out some of the best-paying jobs Americans can find without a college degree, proponents of the move say it brought prices down for American families, stretching their dollars while boosting the economy. Derek Scissors, who studies global economies at the American Enterprise Institute, a right-leaning think tank, said Trump’s promises to resurrect manufacturing jobs thus far appear impossible to keep. Renegotiating NAFTA or imposing new double-digit tariffs, two of Trump’s trade proposals, wouldn’t restore the American manufacturing landscape of the past, he said. “You can’t make the world go backward 20 or 30 years,” Scissors said. “You could bring some jobs back, but it’s going to cost a lot. It would drive up prices.”

Speaking of the axle-back variant, the hood is shorter, to allow for a shorter BBC for legal B-double work. Shorter by 155mm (6.1 inches). The Trident's front axle is set back farther than the Titan and Super-Liner, 1297mm (51.1") versus 1058mm (41.7") respectively. The axle-forward Trident's front axle is set back 737mm (29"). https://www.macktrucks.com.au/~/media/files au/brochures/trident_ab.ashx?as=1 https://www.macktrucks.com.au/~/media/files au/brochures/trident_af.ashx?as=1 https://www.macktrucks.com.au/~/media/files au/brochures/titan_brochure.ashx?as=1 https://www.macktrucks.com.au/~/media/files au/brochures/superliner_brochure.ashx?as=1 As for the dimensions of the U.S. market Titan, they no longer publish any specifications on their website. It's all a Volvo secret.......http://www.macktrucks.com/trucks/titan-series/

Keith Lamont Scott protests cost Charlotte taxpayers $4.6 million The Charlotte Observer / October 21, 2016 Protests following the fatal police shooting of Keith Lamont Scott cost city taxpayers $4.6 million, mostly in police overtime, the city of Charlotte said Friday. Included in that total cost was $122,000 in property damage to city-owned buildings like the NASCAR Hall of Fame and the Convention Center, as well as police equipment and vehicles. The Charlotte Area Transit System had $26,000 in property damage. That total doesn’t include private property damage. Several uptown buildings had windows smashed and some stores were looted, mostly in around the EpiCentre entertainment complex on Trade Street. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police spent most of the money – at $3.9 million. Almost all of that was for overtime. CMPD also had $60,000 in property damage, which included the destruction of police cars. The Fire Department spent $350,000 on overtime and other operating expenses. The city said it doesn’t anticipate any of the expenses will be reimbursed by the state or federal government. The city said it will use reserves to cover the costs. The $4.6 million covers a three-week period from Sept. 20 through Oct. 7. Scott was shot and killed by police in the parking lot of an apartment complex near UNC Charlotte on the afternoon of Sept. 20. Protests started that night, and early in the morning of Sept. 21, protestors had shut down Interstate 85. Some police cars were damaged in the protests. On the following day, there were protests uptown. The protest began peacefully, but then descended into violence that night. One protestor was shot and killed by another protestor, police said. On Sept. 22, the National Guard and State Highway Patrol arrived to reinforce CMPD. The City Council voted unanimously earlier this month on measures that it hopes it will restore trust with the community. It will hire an outside consultant, The Police Foundation, to review CMPD’s procedures. It has pledged to build 5,000 units of low-income housing in three years and to spend $1 million on a jobs program.

District attorney exonerates officer, denounces rumors in killing of Keith Scott The Charlotte Observer / November 30, 2016 In an emphatic declaration, Mecklenburg District Attorney Andrew Murray said Wednesday he found no legal wrongdoing in the shooting death of a Charlotte man by police, and denounced pervasive rumors spread by social media about the case. Murray laid out in painstaking detail the evidence gathered in the Sept. 20 fatal shooting of Keith Lamont Scott, 43, by officer Brentley Vinson. “I’m extremely convinced that Mr. Vinson’s use of deadly force was lawful,” Murray said. Evidence in the case shows that Scott stepped out of his SUV with a gun in his hand, Murray said, and ignored at least 10 commands from the five officers on the scene to drop it. Murray said that Scott bought the gun – a Colt .380 semi-automatic that had been stolen in Gaston County – 18 days before the confrontation for $100. One bullet was found in the chamber of the cocked gun, the safety was off and Murray said Scott’s DNA was found on the grip and slide. The person who sold the gun to Scott admitted to doing so when confronted by state and federal law enforcement, according to a prosecutor’s report on the shooting. “The seller said that Scott asked him to find him a weapon because he was having problems with his wife and her family, specifically his nephew,” the report said. Murray said that speculation in the community that Scott was unarmed – initial reports from a family member on Facebook said he was holding a book – were untrue [a lie]. “A reading book was not found in the front or back seats of Mr. Scott’s SUV,” Murray said. Officer Vinson’s Smith & Wesson M&P .40 was examined after the shooting and four bullets were missing, Murray said. Analysts determined that the four shell casings found on the scene were fired from Vinson’s weapon. Scott suffered three gunshot wounds. Guns taken from the other officers at the scene had not been fired, he said. People who claimed on social media that they had seen the shooting and Scott was unarmed later recanted – three people who’d made the claim told State Bureau of Investigation agents in interviews that they hadn’t actually seen the shooting, Murray said. Murray said he ran the evidence in the case past 15 veteran prosecutors in his office and they were unanimous in their recommendation that there was insufficient evidence to charge Vinson in the case. Two of those prosecutors were African-American and one was Latino, Murray said. In the aftermath of Scott’s death, Charlotte was roiled by two nights of rioting and nearly a week of street demonstrations. After street violence, dozens of arrests and the death of one man in uptown, Gov. Pat McCrory declared a state of emergency. CMPD was the original agency investigating Scott’s shooting, but the SBI took over when his wife, Rakeyia Scott, exercised her right under N.C. law to have the independent agency do the inquiry. Scott, father of seven, a former shopping mall security officer and the son of a police detective, suffered from traumatic brain injury sustained during a motorcycle crash in South Carolina in November 2015. Medical records obtained during the SBI inquiry showed that Scott had difficulties with aggression and anger management. “Scott was battling an array of psychiatric disorders, including depression, anxiety, hallucinations and paranoia,” the report said. “Two weeks prior to his death, Rakeyia Scott told her husband’s therapist that his temper and impatience had increased, and as she stated, ‘something has to give.’” Scott was a convicted felon who was sentenced in 2005 to seven years in prison in Texas for aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. . . . .

Why? I myself agree with most of Stone's comments. We never gave authorization to our employees in Washington to perform mass surveillance on the entire U.S. population. For decades, some of us suspected. You would be mocked as a conspiracy theorist. But it was true......all true.....and much more. I'm appreciative that Snowden made it public knowledge that the government is monitoring all our phone calls, phone messages, e-mails and even your posts on BMT. The clandestine surveillance of law abiding citizens is wrong. Such a draconian act is a page right out of George Orwell's book "1984".

Trident.....the best of Australia's best. It's a B-double tractor.

Trump plans biggest tax changes since Reagan, says Mnuchin The Financial Times / November 30, 2016 Donald Trump’s incoming administration is planning the “largest tax change” since the Reagan era, according to the former Goldman banker nominated by the president-elect to be the next Treasury secretary. Steven Mnuchin, who played a central role in the property developer’s election campaign, confirmed plans to cut the US federal corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent. “By cutting corporate taxes, we’re going to create huge economic growth and we’ll have huge personal income,” says Mnuchin. He also said that he believed the US economy could grow at a sustained rate of 3 to 4 per cent. He said any reduction in upper income taxes would be offset by fewer tax deductions. In this way, “there will be no absolute tax cut for the upper class.” Mnuchin, 53, confirmed in the interview he had been picked by Trump as Treasury secretary along with billionaire Wilbur Ross as commerce secretary. Mnuchin left Goldman 15 years ago to produce films in Hollywood. He backed the president-elect during the Republican primary and then served as campaign finance director. On the question of Federal Reserve chair Janet Yellen, who was sharply criticised by Trump during the election campaign, Mnuchin refused to say whether she should finish her term. He said, however, that “she’s done a good job”. Mnuchin added that filling two vacancies on the Fed’s policy-setting board would be a high priority. He said interest rates are likely to stay low for a few years, but the recent rise in bond yields made sense. He added: “We’ll look at potentially extending maturity of the debt because eventually we’re going to have higher interest rates.” Wilbur Ross, meanwhile, weighed in on the debate over Trump’s controversial trade policies, saying that “protectionism is a pejorative term, it’s not really meaningful”. “There’s trade, there’s sensible trade and there’s dumb trade. We’ve been doing a lot of dumb trade,” he said. He also took a hit at the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a pact that is central to President Barack Obama’s “pivot to Asia” but been lambasted by Mr Trump as a bad deal. “The trouble with regional trade agreements is you get picked apart by the first country, then you negotiate with the second country and get picked apart, and then go with the third one and get picked apart again,” Ross said.

Okay, I understand now. You feel the act of burning the U.S. flag to be repulsive. So you and I have exactly the same thoughts on the matter. And, you are in total agreement with president-elect Trump.....even though by taking this position you feel that you are not supporting liberty nor defending the Constitution. I personally think most people will support your respect for the flag though. Regarding the video and the late Justice Scalia's comments, I don't agree with his interpretation of the first amendment so far as flag burning goes (great man otherwise, generally speaking). His opinion isn't etched in stone. Like Miller said, "Flag burning should be illegal, end of story". It goes without saying.

KamAZ Trucks Press Release / November 29, 2016 This year, Rostec subsidiary KamAZ Trucks has decided on something special for the children of company employees to help them celebrate the New Year holidays. By the New Year, KamAZ children under 15 years old will receive a package of wood in the form of a KamAZ Dakar race truck. The wooden truck will bring the younger generation about a kilogram of different sweets from leading Russian confectionery factories, and colored markers allowing the children to customize the appearance of their wooden race trucks. KamAZ has already commissioned more than 18,000 New Year's toy trucks. Half the cost of the New Year gift is financed by KamAZ Trucks, while the other half is paid by the parents. However, about 6,000 sweets trucks for the children of employees entitled to a discount are fully paid for my KamAZ. Those families receiving free gifts include large families, families in which there are people with disabilities, and women who are on leave for child care up to three years. Christmas presents for the children of non-working pensioners, former KamAZ employees, are also financed by the company. .

Do you feel burning the U.S. flag is right or wrong ?

Renault Trucks Press Release / November 25, 2016 Renault Trucks introduces Urban Lab 2 - its laboratory distribution vehicle developed with six partners under the collaborative EDIT (Efficient Distribution Truck) project. Combining innovative technology in aerodynamics, hybridisation of the engine, tyres and vehicle-infrastructure communication, fuel consumption savings of 13% have been achieved. Whereas Optifuel Lab 1 and 2 were experimental vehicles dedicated to Research and Development for Long Distance transport, Urban Lab 2, designed using a 19-ton Renault Trucks D WIDE Euro 6, targets the urban and regional distribution sector. The truck features a range of technology developed with six partners, namely Valeo, Lamberet, Michelin, BeNomad, INSA Lyon (LamCoS) and IFSTTAR (LICIT). Urban Lab 2 is the result of the EDIT (Efficient Distribution Truck) project, financed by the Single Inter-Ministry Fund, Auvergne Rhône-Alpes Region, Métropole de Lyon, Ain Department Council and the FEDER. The aim is to offer accessible innovation by 2020, focusing on four key areas: aerodynamics, the drive chain, connectivity and tyres. Aerodynamics To reduce the aerodynamic drag of the Urban Lab 2 - and therefore its fuel consumption - engineers worked on airflow throughout the vehicle. Lamberet and Renault Trucks adapted the cab, chassis and refrigerated body to the recommendations of aerodynamic specialists, whilst meeting the regulatory and operating requirements of controlled-temperature transport. The first step involves reducing the front surface area: "The refrigeration unit is normally located above the cab", explained François Savoye, Energy Efficiency Strategy Manager at Renault Trucks. "On Urban Lab 2, we decided to position it in the wheelbase of the vehicle to free up space overhead and optimise the body/tractor link to lower the body and improve airflow. This meant we could incorporate a roof deflector shaped to provide seamless continuity with the body. Redesigning the interior architecture of the refrigerated body has made a marked improvement in the shape of the roof, without adding to the height. As for the sides of the vehicle, these are fitted with textile side deflectors. "We have used a PVC-coated textile for the first time", François Savoye added. "When stretched and fitted on the side protectors, it provides a light, effective and economic system." Lateral airflow is also boosted by streamlined wheels and the fitting of rear deflectors that are perfectly in keeping with the architecture and continuity of the tailgate. These deflectors are angled so as to reduce depression in the slipstream of the vehicle and do not require any manual operation when handling the doors. The access step is completely covered thanks to a mobile guard opened by door extensions that provides a seamless continuity between the upper and lower sections of the cab. Ground clearance is optimised by the addition of flexible components, thus optimising air flow in the understructure. Lastly, replacing wing mirrors with a system of profiled cameras and internal feedback screens also helps reduce vehicle air resistance. Stop & start and micro-hybrid To reduce fuel consumption, Urban Lab 2 also proves innovative in its engine design, with a system combining Stop&Start and micro-hybrid technology, developed in partnership with Valeo. The Stop&Start system cuts the engine when the vehicle comes to a halt, at a red light for example, thereby reducing fuel consumption. In addition, the micro-hybrid system recovers "free" energy, such as energy generated during foot lift or braking, via a high-power (48 V) reversible electric machine. This energy can be used to drive the electrical accessories of the vehicle or reduce the mechanical power required by the thermal engine. Renault Trucks has also been working with the Lyon INSA to reduce friction in the front face of the engine in order to optimise the overall efficiency of the micro-hybrid system. Connectivity For Renault Trucks, drivers play a key role in reducing fuel consumption. This is why Urban Lab 2 features technology to help them with their driving by connecting the vehicle to infrastructures. Working with the company BeNomad, engineers have developed special navigation software that to provide this connectivity. For each journey, the GPS proposes the route that is the most efficient and uses the least fuel, estimating both the predicted journey time and fuel consumption. This software has been configured to take not only fuel consumption into account, but also, and above all, the operational constraints of a distribution vehicle. Lastly, Urban Lab 2 is connected to infrastructures to optimise driving through green lights. When Urban Lab 2 approaches traffic lights, it receives information from the lights and the system calculates if it is more efficient to brake or accelerate, when conditions and regulations allow it to do so. This therefore limits the amount of stop-start driving, which has a highly negative impact on fuel consumption. The traffic modelling expertise of LICIT has helped Renault Trucks to effectively integrate the effect of traffic on fuel consumption. Tyres Already a partner on the Optifuel Lab 1 and 2 projects, Michelin is once again working with Renault Trucks to develop energy-saving tyres specially designed for distribution vehicles. "The objective of these tyres is to further reduce rolling resistance, without negatively impacting other performance criteria, such as safety, grip or longevity", explained Jean-François Cordonnier, Truck Pre-development Manager at Michelin. To this end, Michelin has deployed its wide range of technologies, in particular Infini-Coil technology, to guarantee tyre endurance and safety. Firstly, the self-generating tread ensures a lasting grip throughout the life of the tyre and secondly, silica is used as a reinforcing agent in the tread to improve the compromise between longevity and rolling resistance. Finally, Renault Trucks and its partners have set themselves the ambitious target of reducing fuel consumption by 13% compared to an equivalent Renault Trucks D WIDE. The vehicle was tested for the first time on a closed circuit in November 2016 and will be road-tested in Bordeaux from February 2017 onwards. The results will be presented at the end of the project, scheduled for 2018. .

Volvo Trucks Press Release / November 29, 2016 .

Volvo Trucks Press Release / November 29, 2016 .

As Trump's presidential transition spokesman Jason Miller so aptly said, "Flag burning should be illegal, end of story". Mr. Miller is referring to the "higher law". The vast majority of Americans don't need a law to know that burning the United States flag is wrong. It is the utmost act of disrespect. You have adamantly voiced your support for Trump. However now, you are now completely in disagreement with our president-elect over respect for our country's flag. Your tremendous enthusiasm for advocating the burning (desecration) of the United States flag is troubling.

Associated Press / November 29, 2016 Protesters burned United States flags outside the Trump International Hotel in New York on Tuesday, in an angry response to a tweet by President-elect Donald Trump that flag-burners should face legal consequences. On Tuesday, Trump suggested that burning the United States flag should be punishable by a year in jail or a revocation of citizenship. Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag - if they do, there must be consequences - perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) Nov. 29, 2016 'Flag burning is completely ridiculous ... and I think the vast majority of Americans would agree,' says Trump presidential transition spokesman Jason Miller. 'It's completely ridiculous, and I don't think there's a big universe of people out there who support flag-burning. It's terrible and it's despicable.' . .

If "close to 1,000 jobs" will remain in Indianapolis, then close to 400 Indy workers are still seeing their jobs relocated to Mexico, and all of the 700 workers in Huntington are still having their jobs sucked away (Ross Perot speak) to Mexico. It's not a success story to brag about unless all the jobs remain in the US. In fairness, I would like to know the wages of these union workers relative to the tasks they perform.

Carrier Corp. Agrees to Keep About 1,000 Jobs at Indiana Plant The Wall Street Journal / November 29, 2016 Carrier Corp. has agreed to keep in Indiana roughly 1,000 jobs it had planned to shift to Mexico, after a lobbying effort from the incoming Trump administration. In exchange for keeping the jobs in Indiana, the company will receive new government incentives [free taxpayer money]. Carrier, a division of United Technologies Corp., that makes heating and air conditioning equipment, had announced plans earlier this year to shift some production to Monterrey, Mexico, as part of a broader corporate cost-cutting. The decision became a target during the presidential campaign of Donald Trump, who pledged to prevent such outsourcing or punish U.S. firms that shifted jobs abroad. In a statement on Tuesday, Carrier said the company was “pleased to have reached a deal with President-elect Trump & VP-elect Pence to keep close to 1,000 jobs in Indy. More details soon.” Mr. Trump and Vice President elect Mike Pence are expected to travel to Indiana on Thursday to announce the details of the agreement with Carrier. Trump transition officials have been in close contact with Carrier and United Technologies executives for weeks trying to iron out specifics of the package. “If they’re saving us some jobs, anything’s positive,” said Chuck Jones, president of United Steelworkers Local 1999 in Indianapolis. Union leaders had complained this year about Carrier’s lack of cooperation with workers on the plans for closing the plant. Mr. Pence, who is governor of Indiana, had taken the lead in negotiating with United Technologies officials. Mr. Pence has held wide-ranging talks with the company in the weeks since the presidential election, which focused not just on Mr. Trump’s objections to NAFTA and free trade, but also on key priorities for the company in the coming Republican Congress, including an expected tax reform package that could hold windfalls for big manufacturers like United Technologies. Mr. Pence has also in the past held the company to account for its plans to close the two affected plants—a Carrier Corp. factory in Indianapolis employing 1,400 workers and another factory in Huntington, Ind. for its electronic controls unit employing 700. The governor negotiated a deal earlier this year under which he clawed back state and municipal incentives previously granted to Carrier, after the company’s February announcement that it would leave for Mexico. Mr. Trump lambasted the move on the campaign trail this year, at one point suggesting he would impose a 35% tariff on Carrier products made in Mexico that it shipped to the U.S.

Violence spreads in trucker strike The New York Times / February 2, 1983 Violence spread today as independent truckers tried to enforce their efforts to shut down the trucking system to protest scheduled increases in Federal fuel taxes and user fees. Federal transportation officials and the trucking industry called for restraint and vowed to maintain truck movements across the nation. In the worst of the violence, George Franklin Capps, 33 years old, a teamster from Clayton, N.C., was shot through the neck by a sniper Monday night while driving along Route 701 near Newton Grove, N.C. Howard N. Adams, 45, of Riverside, Calif., was wounded in the chest Monday afternoon and was in serious condition at a Utah hospital. Another trucker was in satisfactory condition after he was shot this afternoon as he walked out of a truck stop in Gary, Ind., and still another man was shot when a bullet fired at a truck by a sniper near LaPorte, Ind., missed but hit a man driving a van filled with 11 children. The wounded man, Chris Balawender, 35, was hospitalized in fair condition with a hip wound. The Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission offered a $10,000 reward today for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for injuring a girl near Pittsburgh. Melissa Sarsfield, 14, was struck in the head with a brick at 5:15 P.M. Monday as she rode along the Pennsylvania Turnpike. Police say the brick was thrown at a truck from an overpass or a nearby hill and crashed through the back window of the Sarsfield car. The was listed in guarded condition today after five hours of surgery. Eight other shootings were reported Monday night in four western counties of Pennsylvania. The Associated Press reported that the police were investigating attacks on at least 50 rigs in 22 states since the strike began early Monday. Five drivers were hurt when bullets or rocks hit their trucks in unrelated incidents in Alabama, Maryland, Florida, Connecticut and Oregon. After Ohio's independent drivers joined the strike today, eight trucks were hit by gunfire and dozens had their windshields smashed. Although truck traffic appeared to be down considerably in many areas of the country Monday night, Federal officials said traffic picked up today, indicating that many drivers were choosing to drive in daylight and park at night. Some drivers expressed more fear of militant strikers than a desire to stop work over their grievances. A seven-state survey of selected truck plazas by the National Association of Truck Stop Operators today found that gasoline and diesel sales were off 15 percent from last Tuesday in the West and Southwest and down 25 percent in the Middle West. No shortages of goods were reported in the nation's markets. Despite the intimidation, trucking specialists said there were only remote chances of a widespread shutdown. ''Given this recession, for every trucker who parks his rig, three or four others will chase after his freight,'' said an official of the American Trucking Associations (ATA), which represents most of the major carriers. Michael Parkhurst, president of the Los Angeles-based Independent Truckers Association, has led the call for a shutdown, but others oppose it. Independent truckers, or owner-operators, make up about one-fourth of the nation's 400,000 truck drivers. The independent drivers object to recent legislation raising the Federal taxes on gasoline and diesel fuel, imposing excise taxes on heavy equipment and increasing registration fees for large trucks. Because of the poor economy and heavy competition, they contend, they will be unable to pass on the higher costs for fuel. The strike is opposed by drivers who work for companies and by their union, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. The ATA has also called for an end to the strike while it works more quietly in Congress to oppose the taxes. 'Call Your Congressmen' Mr. Parkhurst told drivers today: ''We have stressed over and over that we deplore violence. If you want to help, go home and call your Congressmen and senators.'' However, Bennett C. Whitlock Jr., president of the ATA, laid the blame indirectly at the feet of Mr. Parkhurst, saying: ''We deplore violence, which is the natural aftermath of a shutdown characterized by Parkhurst and his organization as a 'war.' It is unfortunate that the actions of a few ill-advised and frustrated individuals may adversely affect not only the vast majority of law-abiding truckers, but also the American public.'' On Capitol Hill, meanwhile, the number of bills to repeal or roll back portions of the tax package rose to six today as Senator Rudy Boschwitz of Minnesota and Senator Larry Pressler of South Dakota, both Republicans, introduced legislation.

"I am free of all prejudices. I hate everyone equally." - W. C. Fields

Elaine Chao Post: Secretary of Transportation Previous experience: Deputy Secretary of Transportation under President George H. W. Bush (1989-1991); Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush (2001-2009); Director of the Peace Corps; Chairman of the Federal Maritime Commission; Deputy maritime administrator; White House Fellow. Age: 63 (64 next March) Schooling: Chao attended Tsai Hsing Elementary School in Taipei for kindergarten and first grade, and Syosset High School in Syosset, Long Island, New York. She received a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, Massachusetts, in 1975 and an MBA from Harvard Business School in 1979. Chao has received 36 honorary doctorates, most recently a Doctor of Humane Letters from Georgetown University. Background: Elaine Chao was born in Taipei, Taiwan. Her parents had fled from Shanghai to Taiwan in 1949 when the Communists took over the mainland. Chao arrived in the U.S. with her family in 1961 at age 8. Chao is married to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky. They married in 1993. Trump says Chao will play a key role in carrying out his campaign pledge to revitalize U.S. infrastructure with up to $1 trillion in funding, a goal that will require broad support from Congress. “Secretary Chao’s extensive record of strong leadership and her expertise are invaluable assets in our mission to rebuild our infrastructure in a fiscally responsible manner. She has an amazing life story and has helped countless Americans in her public service career," said Trump in a statement. "The President-elect has outlined a clear vision to transform our country's infrastructure, accelerate economic growth and productivity, and create good paying jobs across the country. I am honored to be nominated by the President-elect to serve my beloved country as Transportation Secretary,” said Chao in a statement. “Chao has a distinguished record of serving the nation and has already shown she can work effectively with members on both sides of the aisle. Her leadership will benefit the Department of Transportation in guiding investment in our infrastructure and making transportation safer and better for the public,” said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.), chairman of the Commerce Committee, which oversees trucking policy.