kscarbel2

We'll never know what happened......................but something "did" happen. But it appears that when Comey announced the investigation of the emails on the Weiner computer 11 days before the election, Clinton lost her broad support from the aristocracy. Secret discussions were held.......negotiations took place. One obvious possibility is that knowing Hillary would have been plagued by investigations throughout her tenure made her election a non-option.

Trump's Road To Victory Jacob Heilbrunn, The National Interest / November 9, 2016 Trump’s accomplishment may be to reshape the Republican party into a populist one. Now that he has won the presidency, Donald Trump looks, to use one of his favorite phrases, like a political genius. For those of you who blanch at the notion, get real. He scoffed at the idea that he needed pollsters or a lot of advertising. He was patently bored by the notion of fundraising, and didn’t do much of it. He lashed into his detractors and political foes with relish, deploying a barrage of insults that would have made even Lenin, who contributed much to the lexicon of insults, proud. But most notably, Trump devised an electoral strategy based on the Rust Belt that propelled him to the presidency. It was Trump, and Trump alone, who set the course of his campaign, defied his advisers, destroyed both the House of Bush and Clinton and engineered his victory, which is invariably being labeled as “stunning.” Certainly it stunned the political establishment. During the campaign, it was his adversary Hillary Clinton who came across as a relic of the old order. Her campaign was the political equivalent of the Hindenburg disaster. It was always difficult for Clinton to reinvent herself. Her husband Bill, after all, was an original New Democrat—a centrist who broke with the left-wing of the party. Along with other members of the Democratic Leadership Council such as Al Gore and Joseph Lieberman, he took a tough stand on foreign policy and social issues. That heritage was also ingrained in Hillary, though she tried to assuage the concerns of the followers of Bernie Sanders by tacking to the left on free trade. But somewhere along the way New Democrats became Old Democrats. Her recipe of jobs retraining and liberal social values didn’t offer much of sustenance to the white working-class that had once formed the base of the Democratic party. Democrats who try to blame the election results exclusively on FBI Director James Comey or on WikiLeaks are making a big mistake. These may have contributed to Trump’s victory, but they hardly formed its substance. Something much more fundamental is going on. Writers such as Michael Lind warned several decades ago about the rise of an America “overclass” that was indifferent to the economic fortunes of the rest of the country. Both the Democratic and Republican parties connived at this development. Now comes the revenge of the repressed who Trump appealed to with his incendiary rhetoric. Trump’s accomplishment may be to reshape the Republican party into a populist one. The Republican retention of the Senate and House of Representatives means that, at least for two years, gridlock should be a thing of the past. The burden for Trump and the GOP will be enormous. The prospect of Congress actually legislating brings to mind Lady Markby’s remark in Oscar Wilde’s play An Ideal Husband: “Really, now that the House of Commons is trying to become useful, it does a great deal of harm.” Trump will be intent on repealing ObamaCare, but what will replace it? Disputes are certain to emerge about taxes and spending as well. To what extent will deficit hawks clash with supply-siders? Does Trump really want to spend double what Clinton proposed on infrastructure programs? How will he pay for a massive military buildup? How will Republicans like Paul Ryan deal with, or adapt to, Trump’s demands for renegotiating NAFTA? Will Trump really pursue a trade war with China, one that could trigger a recession, if not a global economic meltdown? When it comes to foreign policy, Trump also faces a litany of choices and difficulties. He has suggested that he might meet with Russian president Vladimir Putin before he takes office. He will have to assess American relations with NATO allies as well as the pivot to Asia that the Obama administration began to execute. Writing in the Washington Post, David Ignatius suggests that Trump “will bring an intense “realist” focus on U.S. national interests and a rejection of costly U.S. engagements abroad.” The key question he will have to answer is what actually constitutes realism. The next question, of course, is which advisers will help him define that. Not since Dwight Eisenhower has America had a president who never held prior political office—and in the military, Eisenhower was the politician par excellence. Above all, Trump will confront the inherent limitations of the presidency. He can’t simply issue ukases. Trump will collide with the uncomfortable truth Founding Fathers sought to keep the three branches of government in a kind of equipoise. Though it seems doubtful that Trump is familiar with it, Marx’s 18th of Brumaire contains more than a bit of wisdom: “Men make their own history, but they do not make it as they please; they do not make it under self-selected circumstances, but under circumstances existing already, given and transmitted from the past.” For now the GOP is Trump’s party. But if Trump really wants to show that he’s mastered the art of the deal, he will have to deal artfully with both his friends and foes. It's a tall order.

Two days ago, most of the mainstream media was still slamming Trump. Within the first six hours of Trump winning, the same mainstream media was being kind to him, hoping to get on his good side, with the White House Press Corps in mind. Now, 12 hours later, the mainstream media to predicting gloom. The sad thing is, many Americans are influenced one way or another by the mainstream media.

Allegedly, big business, the financial world and governments around the world were relatively confident that their girl would win, and will be shaken for a period of time by the uncertainty of Trump's win. Hedging their bets, I assume they held discrete discussions with him over the last 60 days. We'll have to see.......it could be interesting. If he holds to his promises, the next four years shouldn't be the least bit dull.

Trump had said multiple times that, if elected, "She [Hillary Clinton] has to go to jail". (Based on what we're told, I couldn't agree more) But today, Trump said in his victory speech, "We owe (Clinton) a very major debt of gratitude to her for her service to our country." If Ambassador Chris Stevens could speak down to us, I doubt he'd be so kind. It all implies that a backroom agreement was made within the last 30 days. My gut feeling is Trump has agreed not to have his attorney general appoint a special prosecutor to investigate Clinton, if she goes quietly.

Let's revisit this rumor again. "Comey let Clinton off the hook because he knows that Trump is going to win. Comey isn't charging Hillary, so that Obama can't pardon her."

Associated Press / November 9, 2016 Donald Trump was elected America's 45th president Tuesday, an astonishing victory for a celebrity businessman and political novice who capitalized on voters' economic anxieties, took advantage of racial tensions and overcame a string of sexual assault allegations on his way to the White House. His triumph over Hillary Clinton will end eight years of Democratic dominance of the White House and threatens to undo major achievements of President Barack Obama. Trump has pledged to quickly repeal Obama's landmark health care law, revoke the nuclear agreement with Iran and rewrite important trade deals with other countries, particularly Mexico and Canada. The Republican blasted through Democrats' longstanding firewall, carrying Pennsylvania and Wisconsin, states that hadn't voted for a GOP presidential candidate since the 1980s. He needed to win nearly all of the competitive battleground states, and he did just that, claiming Florida, Ohio, North Carolina and others. Global stock markets and U.S. stock futures plunged deeply, reflecting investor alarm over what a Trump presidency might mean for the economy and trade. A New York real estate developer who lives in a sparking Manhattan high-rise, Trump forged a striking connection with white, working class Americans who feel left behind in a changing economy and diversifying country. He cast immigration, both from Latin America and the Middle East, as the root of the problems plaguing many Americans and taped into fears of terrorism emanating at home and abroad. Trump will take office with Congress expected to be fully under Republican control. GOP Senate candidates fended off Democratic challengers in key states and appeared poised to maintain the majority. Republicans also maintained their grip on the House. Senate control means Trump will have great leeway in appointing Supreme Court justices, which could mean a major change to the right that would last for decades. Trump upended years of political convention on his way to the White House, leveling harshly personal insults on his rivals, deeming Mexican immigrants rapists and murderers, and vowing to temporarily suspend Muslim immigration to the U.S. He never released his tax returns, breaking with decades of campaign tradition, and eschewed the kind of robust data and field efforts that helped Obama win two terms in the White House, relying instead on his large, free-wheeling rallies to energize supporters. His campaign was frequently in chaos, and he cycled through three campaign managers this year. The mood at Clinton's party grew bleak as the night wore out, with some supporters leaving, others crying and hugging each other. Top campaign aides stopped returning calls and texts, as Clinton and her family hunkered down in a luxury hotel watching the returns. Trump will inherit an anxious nation, deeply divided by economic and educational opportunities, race and culture. Exit polls underscored the fractures: Women nationwide supported Clinton by a double-digit margin, while men were significantly more likely to back Trump. More than half of white voters backed the Republican, while nearly 9 in 10 blacks and two-thirds of Hispanics voted for the Democrat. Doug Ratliff, a 67-year-old businessman from Richlands, Virginia, said Trump's election would be one of the happiest days of his life. "This county has had no hope," said Ratliff, who owns strip malls in the area badly beaten by the collapse of the coal industry. "You have no idea what it would mean for the people if Trump won. They'll have hope again. Things will change. I know he's not going to be perfect. But he's got a heart. And he gives people hope." Trump has pledged to usher in a series of sweeping changes to U.S. domestic and foreign policy: repealing Obama's signature health care law, though he has been vague on what he could replace it with; building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border; and suspending immigration from country's with terrorism ties. He's also praised Russian President Vladimir Putin and spoken of building a better relationship with Moscow, worrying some in his own party who fear he'll go easy on Putin's provocations. The Republican Party's tortured relationship with its nominee was evident right up to the end. Former President George W. Bush and wife Laura Bush declined to back Trump, instead selecting "none of the above" when they voted for president. Democrats, as well as some Republicans, expected Trump's unconventional candidacy would damage down-ballot races and even flip some reliably red states in the presidential race. But Trump held on to Republican territory, including in Georgia and Utah, where Clinton's campaign confidently invested resources. Clinton asked voters to keep the White House in her party's hands for a third straight term. She cast herself as heir to President Barack Obama's legacy and pledged to make good on his unfinished agenda, including passing immigration legislation, tightening restrictions on guns and tweaking his signature health care law. But she struggled throughout the race with persistent questions about her honesty and trustworthiness. Those troubles flared anew late in the race, when FBI Director James Comey announced a review of new emails from her tenure at the State Department. On Sunday, just two days before Election Day, Comey said there was nothing in the material to warrant criminal charges against Clinton.

Trump is now president elect.

Department of Defense Fiscal Year 2017 President’s Budget Submission February 2016 Department of the Army Truck, Dump, 20 ton The M917A3 22.5 ton Heavy Dump Truck (HDT) is a commercially based system used to load, transport, and dump payloads of sand and gravel aggregates, crushed rock, hot paving mixes, earth, clay, rubble, and large boulders at engineering and construction sites under worldwide climatic conditions in a military environment. The HDT integrated armor requirement is compliant with the Tactical Wheeled Vehicle Long Term Armor Strategy (LTAS) Ballistic Specifications, v3.7, dated 19 Jan 06. The HDT is required to replace the F5070, M917 and M917A1 HDTs with the oldest fielded variants at 50 years of age. Heavy Dump Truck (HDT) Low Rate Initial Production (LRIP) build is to begin 3QFY18 followed by Product Verification Testing (PVT) in FY19. Concurrent armor development is to begin 2QFY18. Armored solution testing will run 2QFY20 through 2QFY21 and production will begin 1QFY22. Note: The Heavy Tactical Vehicle (HTV) Protection Kit program provides Armor Survivability Suite protection. HTV Protection Kits include B-Kits (with underbody protection), Fire Suppression, Fuel Tank Fire Suppression (FTFS) Blanket , Fuel Tank Self Sealant (FTSS), and Tank Armor Module (TAM) to enhance survivability. The Armor Survivability Suite components are mounted to an A-Kit Heavy Tactical Vehicle; which includes Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck (HEMTT), Heavy Equipment Transporter System (HET), Palletized Load System (PLS), Heavy Dump Truck (HDT), and Line Haul configurations to address numerous threats that the DoD has identified. The Armor Survivability Suite provides occupant protection through enhanced tactical vehicle ballistic protection.

Scania Group Press Release / November 8, 2016 .

Renault Trucks Press Release / November 8, 2016 .

MAN Truck & Bus Press Release / November 8, 2016 .

Whether you like or hate Volvo and scrapple, I'll still give you a hug. Now, if you don't like Yuengling Black & Tan, perogies and Heavenly Hash ice cream, I might not.

A gentleman opened a thread to discuss the topic "Should VW buy Mack?" You posted that he and the fellow BMT members who entered into an intelligent discussion with him were "b*tching about Volvo". Now, why would you do that? If the thread doesn't interest you, or annoys you, simply exercise your freedom to skip the thread and move on. Why bash these people, your fellow BMT members? Prior to your post, had any one of these people sent you a PM ridiculing you? I always strive to respect your thoughts. Like all BMT members, you have in the past brought great points into many a discussion. However, today, I struggle to understand why you would attack your fellow BMT members. Getting along with people begins with mutual respect and consideration. I myself am FAR from perfect, but I always strive to express my thoughts on BMT in a respectable and considerate manner.

This Election Changes Nothing—At Least for the Economy The National Interest / November 8, 2016 Few remedies for the economy have a high probability of making it through a divided government. The next president will have less effect on the U.S. economy than the bevy of powerful, persistent forces that are slowing the nation’s growth. Demographics will be the largest drag, but high global debt loads, slowing innovation, China’s secular slowing and other central banks’ actions are all headwinds. Slow growth makes monetary policy more difficult to execute, leaving policymakers with few tools to spur growth. While monetary policy is very effective in normal environments, it cannot address aging populations or slowing productivity. Fiscal spending is chief among the possible remedies, but given the current debt load, fiscal spending does not come without consequences. Unlike the Federal Reserve’s quantitative-easing strategy, the spending is not costless; at some point, it must be paid back. (While QE may “cost” consumers in the future through inflation, this has yet to become the reality.) Few remedies for the economy have a high probability of making it through a divided government. To a degree, this should limit the reach and extent of further damage to the economy. But proper governance would be more effective in counteracting the pressures the U.S. economy will feel in the coming years than simply additional monetary policy pressures. Simply stated, it does not matter who sits in the Oval Office. Spurring growth will be a treacherous undertaking, especially as the Fed tightens policy. Recently the global growth story has revolved around China’s rapid growth and voracious appetite for commodities. China contributes nearly a third of the comparable (by purchasing power parity) growth to the global economy. That is a stunning figure. More than simply driving its own economy, China’s incredible emergence has lifted the commodity-producing nations of the world, many of which were smaller, emerging nations that required better infrastructure in the form of ports, bridges, roads and electrical grids in order to meet the voracious new demand. It was an incredibly fortuitous positive feedback loop. When China stopped buying, much of the emerging world stopped growing. Granted, China is attempting to soften the blow. Its “One Belt, One Road” initiative to build out trading lanes in Asia and elsewhere could provide an eventual boost to those economies affected most by China’s slowdown. But this attempt to assuage the impact will take years to prove effective, if it does at all. And in its wake, China leaves the global economy searching for its next great growth story. The problem? There may not be one on the horizon. What does this mean for the Fed? A slower-growing China and emerging markets makes it more difficult to spur growth at home. And because they are not growing as quickly, there is far less pressure on prices—especially commodities. Lower growth and lower inflation pressures are not conducive to raising rates. The Fed knows it will be fighting this battle for years to come. If the United States were a “closed” economy, there is a good chance interest rates would be higher. While this is fine as a thought experiment, it is ineffective for policy design or debate given the hyper-globalized reality that is the new normal. The United States is an ultra-open economy with the dominant currency in trade and finance. This means that even small differentials in monetary policy between itself and other countries will have a significant spillover effect. Policy makers at the Fed must not only deal with the economic realities facing the United States, but with the extraordinary policies emanating from other central banks. The principal offenders are the Bank of Japan, the European Central Bank and the People’s Bank of China; there is no end to it in sight. The Bank of Japan has announced it will maintain its ten-year yield at 0 percent for the near future, the European Central Bank is likely to extend its quantitative easing, and the People’s Bank of China is slowly and steadily depreciating the Chinese yuan. In their own ways, each of the other major central banks is making it more difficult for the Fed to raise interest rates. This is because each of the other major central banks is making the dollar stronger. A stronger dollar causes the U.S. economy to slow and inflation pressures to decline. The essence of the problem is that the United States loses growth and inflation, not because of something endemic to the U.S. economy, but because the U.S. dollar strengthens—a feedback loop that is difficult to break. While it hurts the United States to be tightening during extreme easing elsewhere, it benefits others. Without the Fed’s relative policy tightness, European Central Bank president Mario Draghi’s stimulus program would not be as successful and neither would the stimulus currently underway in Japan. China, by allowing its currency to weaken, regains some competitiveness in exporting goods. This is part of the Fed’s dilemma. The U.S. economy has proven to be far more resilient than other developed countries. The United States avoided a multi-dip recession following the Great Recession, something Europe cannot claim to have done, and a hypervigilant Fed should receive some credit. This resilience should be a blessing, but, in many ways, a stronger dollar and the resulting lack of monetary policy leeway diminish many of the advantages. The problem is that the Fed has not been particularly accurate in predicting how quickly it will raise rates. When the Fed forecasts a specific number of hikes, financial markets (at least initially) anticipate the moves. This means that even before the Fed announces a rate hike, the market has pushed interest rates and the U.S. dollar higher. It is this premature tightening that has befuddled and aggravated the Fed. It causes U.S. growth to slow, and forces the Fed to back down from stated plans. It damages credibility and threatens to dictate policy. The Fed’s reluctance to admit how much the first two factors (China’s slowdown and the easing of other central banks) affect policy is largely responsible for this final piece, and may be the most important since the Fed will rely far more on confidence and credibility to conduct monetary policy in the future. Regardless of who takes the White House, these problems are not going away. Monetary policy will struggle because global growth has disappeared, because central banks are reacting to it and because the Fed misunderstood the difficulties of executing policy in this environment—not, as some would argue, because of partisan politics.

How China Has Created Its Own TPP The National Interest / November 8, 2016 While the United States was talking, China was acting. We’ve heard repeated attacks during the presidential campaign against the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), the commercial treaty signed by the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and seven additional countries from Asia and Latin America. Much of the opposition—and even the occasional support—has focused on China. Supporters of the proposed treaty see it less as an economic accord and more as a strategic accord, necessary to contain China. Opponents see it as a threat, another bad trade deal which, after ratification by the U.S. Senate, might embolden signatories to let China in through “the back door,” resulting in new calamities for American workers. The truth is: Both views are wrong—and for the same reason. TPP will do little, if anything, to slow the growth of China’s economic and political power. And it will have little effect on American workers. The reason: because TPP is irrelevant to China. They don’t need to be involved. As Kim Iskyan, founder of Singapore’s Truewealth Publishing pointed out in a revealing analysis, China wasn’t sitting on its hands during the eight-year period in which TPP was being negotiated (2006-2014.) It was enhancing its economic ties to the Asia-Pacific region and building a strong trading network of its own. Today, while U.S. politicians are busy running from and against the Trans-Pacific Partnership, China already has free-trade agreements (FTAs) with nine of the twelve TPP signatories. While the United States was talking, China was acting, completing agreements with Australia and Chile in 2006, New Zealand and Singapore in 2008, Peru in 2009, and the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN)—which includes TPP members Brunei, Malaysia and Vietnam—in 2010. Chinese investment in the region also has skyrocketed, increasing more than 350 percent among the ASEAN nations alone from 2006 to 2014. While U.S. politicians are debating whether TPP is the best way to contain Beijing or a Trojan horse of Chinese economic imperialism (even though China isn’t even part of the treaty), the Chinese have created their own TPP and they’re busy expanding it. The ties go well beyond trade and investment. China also is building new links to their trading partners—physical links, including airports, roads and ports—providing everything from the concrete, steel and labor to the financing to pay for them. As Harold L. Sirkin, a senior partner at the Boston Consulting Group, wrote in Forbes, China’s “Belt and Road” initiative—the name of the ambitious $1 trillion program—will strengthen China's ties to other nations, while the United States is in apparent retreat. Sirkin concludes: “The United States can do everything that is necessary to successfully compete in tomorrow’s world or we can go into decline. If we become a trade prima donna,” he warns, “we open the door to the Chinese, who are ready, willing and able to fill any void we create.” Don’t look, but it may already be happening. According to the World Bank global trade accounts for some 58 percent of world GDP. In North America, the equivalent figure is 31 percent of GDP. Who’s to blame? Not Canada (where trade accounts for 65 percent of GDP) or Mexico (73 percent); the problem is the United States, where trade accounts for just 28 percent of GDP. The U.S. presidential campaign features politicians on both sides whose trade policies—if that’s what they can be called—are mired in misinformation and ideological fabrications. That’s the real threat to American workers. If there’s any solace to be taken, it’s the fact that the United States already has twelve free trade agreements with Latin America that will be very difficult to undo if the next president feels the urge or the pressure to “renegotiate” them. One wonders how long it would take a country like China to become the region’s dominant economic power in this sort of environment. More than ten percent of Latin America’s exports already go to China and almost eighteen percent of its imports originate in that country. That a communist dictatorship should be giving the land of Thomas Jefferson lessons on free trade is one of the paradoxes of these confusing times.

Associated Press / November 8, 2016 German authorities on Tuesday arrested five men who aided ISIS in Germany by recruiting members and providing financial and logistical help. The federal prosecutor's office said the men were arrested for supporting a terrorist organization. T he arrests were made in a series of raids in the western state of North Rhine-Westphalia and the northern state of Lower Saxony. One of the raids was in the Lower Saxony city of Hildesheim, which is a known center for ultraconservative Muslims known as Salafists and where a mosque was raided during the summer. The five men arrested Tuesday were recruiting young Muslims in Germany, and raising funds to send them to Syria to join IS. They also provided logistical support for the trips. One of the suspects, a 32-year-old Iraqi citizen identified as Ahmad Abdulaziz Abdullah A., who also goes by the alias of Abu Walaa, is the ringleader of the group. He openly supported the IS group, attended several extremist events as a speaker and approved the departure of those willing to go to Syria. Two other suspects, identified as 50-year-old Turkish citizen Hasan C. and 36-year-old German-Serbian citizen Boban S., were in charge of teaching Arabic and "radical Islamic content" to recruits. The state interior minister of North Rhine-Westphalia, Ralf Jaeger, said the profile of the suspects' targets for recruitment was almost always the same. "He's young, male, he's experienced failure, and has the problem of not feeling accepted by society and feeling excluded," Jaeger said. A 27-year-old German citizen, Mahmoud O., and a 26-year-old from Cameroon, identified as Ahmed F.Y., helped to organize the recruits' departure to Syria. Also on Tuesday, a higher regional court in Frankfurt sentenced a 30-year-old German citizen to 8½ years in prison for membership in ISIS and war crimes. The man, identified only as Abdelkarim E., fought with ISIS in Syria in 2013 and 2014 and participated in disfiguring the body of a Syrian soldier. He recorded footage of the combat operations and also of how the dead man's ears and nose were cut off.

Navistar Defense Press Release / October 4, 2016 Navistar Reset Program is restoring MRAP vehicles to combat-ready condition including vehicle upgrades to improve performance and extend lifecycle. .

IHS Jane’s 360 / October 31, 2016 IHS Jane’s Shaun Connors talks to James Mitroka Senior Program Manager, Navistar Defense on their Heavy Dump Truck (HDT) requirement proposal, a MILCOTS (Militarized Commercial Off-The-Shelf) replacement for the M917 fleet that is being retired. .

Kevin Jones, Fleet Owner / November 8, 2016 Trailer innovation will continue—but EPA Phase 2 GHG rules have now put a clock on manufacturers Freightliner dubs it “the trailer that leads the way,” with tractor-trailer integration accounting for two-thirds of the freight efficiency gains of the Innovation Truck program. And the other truck makers that took part in the Dept. of Energy’s SuperTruck program came to similar conclusions: The next generation of fuel-efficient commercial vehicle designs indeed will be led from behind. “If we were going to develop the truck of the future, we had to start with the trailer of the future,” says Pascal Amar, senior project manager for Volvo Group North America, discussing various Volvo SuperTruck technologies during the recent unveiling at DOE headquarters in Washington, DC. And just last month, Navistar invited Fleet Owner for a spin in the newly revealed CatalIST, its SuperTruck that achieved 13 mpg. “We’ve literally designed this vehicle from the back forward because there is a fundamental principle in aerodynamic design that says until you clean up the back of the truck and the trailer, you’re going to be limited with what you can do in the front,” says Dean Opperman, chief engineer, advanced vehicle technologies. While the SuperTruck program is unrelated to the coming second round of truck fuel efficiency/greenhouse gas regulations (Phase 2 GHG) by the Environmental Protection Agency and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, many of the innovations born from the program will be incorporated into trailer designs to meet the new requirements. And though Phase 2 will essentially standardize trailer tails, side skirts, and low-rolling resistance tires on van trailers, there is leeway on the actual designs and combinations of those devices. Among the special touches on the CatalIST trailer by Wabash National, for instance, are the skirt design, the “ball and socket” passive gap treatment, a bogie treatment on the tandem axles, and an extended boat tail design, Opperman points out. “Fundamentally, the design of the trailer and tractor impact each other. We worked directly with Wabash [National] and were able to optimize our design around their specific technologies, and we will continue to do that with all different types of trailer aerodynamic technologies,” he says. “In a perfect world, we would like to be in control of both systems, but that’s never going to happen. But once we knew where we were going, it solidified a lot of things we wanted to do up front.” Most significantly, the overall shape of the trailer is the key to developing more optimum, wing-like airflow by lowering the front and rear of the vehicle. As the CatalIST reaches highway speed and “changes shape,” the load bias also shifts forward toward the tag axle and the low-rolling resistance single tires. Because of the improved aerodynamics and reduced rolling resistance, the CatalIST needs only about 80 hp. to cruise at 65 mph, Opperman notes. Collaboration Indeed, the goal-smashing collaboration has been a successful one, adds Gus Sumcad, director of engineering, Wabash Composites. “We’ve done something right, clearly,” he says. “The teaming and cooperation that we’ve done has been very effective.” For SuperTruck, Wabash leveraged existing advanced designs and materials to improve fuel efficiency. The CatalIST trailer’s skirt is based on the new Wabash Ventix DRS (drag reduction system), in which segmented side panels manage airflow across the entire underbody. “The basic architecture is available today, but we enhanced the design so that it integrated very well with the entire SuperTruck,” Sumcad says. Of course, all of the hi-tech add-ons mean additional weight, so using the lightest composite materials in components was also important, he adds. As for design, the SuperTruck project reinforced the concept that the tractor and trailer need to be treated as a single system to more effectively improve aerodynamics. “In this particular case, narrowing the gap was very important,” Sumcad says, and he notes the value of testing various trailer fairing shapes using computational fluid dynamics to come up with an optimal shape. Similarly, in order to give the tractor-trailer the airfoil shape without exceeding height limits, the project trailer utilized smaller wheels and tires as well as a hydraulic control mechanism—technology that is “fairly straightforward” and is likely to be implemented to meet Phase 2 goals in the future, Sumcad suggests. Still, while the evolving aerodynamic shapes of tractors are converging, each brand has its own set of innovations and stylistic touches. So will trailer makers have to design the piece of the fuel efficiency puzzle for each model? “Our intent across the board is to design a trailer so that we don’t have to customize it for every tractor,” Sumcad says. “You may have some trade-offs, but if you have opportunities that hit 85% of the requirements, you might push for that.” Innovation roadmap For trailer makers, the new Phase 2 requirements haven’t really changed the push for innovation, but the government has put a clock on them. “We’re always looking at the quickest possible way to commercialize our innovations—and we’ll never stop doing that,” Sumcad says. “[The Phase 2 rule] just gives us more avenues to make sure we continue to be aggressive in bringing new technologies and reining in costs at the same time. “It’s a challenge, but it’s all about planning and coordinating with our technology partners to make sure we have those technologies available in that timeframe. We feel very confident that, since we were able to demonstrate the weight savings as well as the aerodynamic improvements with SuperTruck, we’ll have a good set of solutions for our customers moving forward.” And that’s the plan from EPA and NHTSA. “The agencies are not requiring trailer manufacturers to install any particular device to their trailers,” they said in responding to trailer manufacturer concerns about the rule. “The standards for box vans are performance standards, and manufacturers can choose to install any combination of aerodynamic, tire, and weight-reduction technologies, or make changes to the trailer design to achieve the desired performance. Trailer manufacturers can evaluate and choose which devices to offer to their customers and install on their trailers.” The agencies also recognized “the unique characteristics of the trailer industry” and developed Phase 2 with those characteristics in mind. More to come “The SuperTruck [program] is a great example of several things working together—optimizing components and systems, enhancing aerodynamic efficiencies, and maximizing operator performance,” Ken Damon, Peterbilt’s SuperTruck project manager, told Fleet Owner at a demonstration of the Peterbilt/Cummins project vehicle. Near term, Damon emphasized that the focus will be on convincing fleets to alter their truck and trailer specs to gain a more fuel-efficient footprint. And like most truck OEMs, Peterbilt is continuing to develop “optimized spec packages” to deliver vehicles finely tuned for fuel efficiency to the best their application will allow. A little farther down the road, he too believes the “design envelope” of the tractor-trailer will need to expand so it can adapt on the fly to changing conditions seen over the road. “This means developing active aerodynamic devices that deploy at certain speeds and/or that react to changing wind conditions in order to keep the vehicle in the optimal aerodynamic configuration at all times,” Damon says. While the truck and engine makers that took part in SuperTruck projects all pointed to some cost-prohibitive materials and technologies that could improve freight efficiency even more, DOE was impressed enough that it will fund a second round with another $80 million in research money, to be matched by grant recipients Daimler, Volvo, Navistar and Cummins. And as Energy Secretary Earnest Moniz got a tour of the Volvo Super­Truck, having made his way around the truck and hearing about various technology highlights, he quipped half-jokingly, “So why do you need Super­Truck II?” Amar’s enthusiastic response: “Because we finished this with so many more ideas!” Birth of an innovation The pitch to potential customers is so irresistible that a truck equipment buyer’s first reaction is likely one of skepticism: An add-on component from a brand new company that can be installed in an hour and will provide a 30% reduction in tractor-trailer fuel consumption with a 1-month ROI? Too good to be true? The second reaction, based on the activity around the Hyliion display at the 2016 American Trucking Assns. Management Conference and Exhibition, is to look a little more closely at the innovative hybrid system, an intelligent electric drive axle for trailers that the company said will revolutionize trucking. The Hyliion hybrid uses regenerative braking to capture power when the trailer slows, and returns the stored energy on inclines. And, as company founder and CEO Thomas Healy explained to Fleet Owner, the technology shouldn’t worry truckers who might be wary of something new. The components are already widely accepted in the marketplace; the trick is that no one has put them together in this way for trucking. The sensor-driven intelligent system comes in at about 500 lbs., but that weight is offset somewhat because the battery pack also serves as an APU, capable of providing 20 hours of hotel power. The 30% fuel saving figure comes from a combination of the hybrid boost, APU-enabled idle reduction, and from the aerodynamic improvement the Hyliion unit’s enclosure provides to the trailer undercarriage. The unit is fully autonomous and requires no driver input, but the data it collects and its built-in connectivity will offer customers trailer tracking capability and real-time performance analytics—and will allow the company’s software engineers to refine the controlling algorithms. Healy fleshed out the idea in response to a professor’s challenge to come up with a product to save energy. The concept for the hybrid trailer system was good enough to earn an invitation to the prestigious Rice Business Plan Competition last year—except, at that point, it was only a concept. “So, I got a team together and said, ‘okay, we’ve got two weeks to the competition—let’s try to build one of these,’” Healy says. “We went to a junkyard, grabbed an old Hendrickson suspension and an Eaton axle, then we flew out to California and picked up batteries, an electric motor, and control systems. It was hobbyist components, like you’d get to do a retrofit of a car.” The design and rudimentary prototype took home a number of top prizes, including $50,000 from the Dept. of Energy’s Clean Tech Prize, $15,000 for the Clean Energy Innovation Prize from Wells Fargo, and $10,000 for Shell’s Technology Ventures Energy Prize. The concept also has received awards from venture fund SURGE for Most Innovative Energy Tech Startup. The company is currently in the process of raising funds and plans to launch production with a short run in the coming first quarter. .

Lubricants: A New Dawn Sean Kilcarr, Fleet Owner / November 8, 2016 CK-4 and FA-4 make their debut in December. How will they alter your diesel engine oil decisions? In a little less than a month, two new engine oil blends in development for over five years will be officially released on the trucking market: CK-4 and FA-4. The oils are the offspring of the Proposed Category 11, or PC-11, engine oil classification, which gained final approval from the American Petroleum Institute (API) in January. So, how will the introduction of those two oils affect your fleet? For starters, there are several important points to keep in mind, explains Dan Arcy, global OEM technical manager for the Americas at Shell.First, based on Shell’s testing of its new oils, there should be a 1.5% improvement in fuel economy by switching from current 15W-40 engine oil blends to the new CK-4 10W-30 formulations and higher gains with FA-4 products, the main reason driving the development of both of these PC-11 oils. Second, longer drain intervals should result from switching because both are designed to be more robust and survive in the higher-heat environment of 2017 model-year engines. Arcy says operating engine temperatures are expected to climb some 50 deg. F. Despite that higher heat, longer drain intervals are being established by engine OEMs in conjunction with the new oils. Landon Sproull, vice president of powertrain at Paccar and formerly chief engineer at Peterbilt, says oil and fuel filter change intervals for the company’s 2017 Model MX-13 and MX-11 engines will be extended from 60,000 mi. to 75,000 mi. Paccar believes this will save up to $1,000 per truck over 600,000 mi. of operation. Sproull adds that Paccar conducted 2 million mi. of testing and oil analysis of the MX engines. “We’ve seen less soot in the oil and less degradation; that’s why we’re confident in the extended interval,” he explains. Paccar is currently testing the FA-4 engine oil blend in its MX products and may decide to factory-fill with it once tests are completed by year’s end. “I believe we’ll recommend both oils [CK-4 and FA-4] for 2013 model- year engines and beyond, but we need to finish our tests first,” Sproull says. Len Badal, global Delo brand manager at Chevron, adds that Detroit, the engine manufacturing division of Daimler Trucks North America, will start factory-filling all of its 2017 model-year engines with FA-4 oils starting Dec. 15; however, the OEM will also allow those engines to use CK-4 10W-30 and 15W-40 blends as well as the current CJ-4 15W-40 blend. Badal also points out that Detroit is planning to make FA-4 backward compatible for use in 2010-compliant DD13 and DD15 engines, though he stresses they are the only engine maker to date to go that far back with FA-4. All of the other engine makers are aiming to factory-fill with CK-4 10W-30 oil, he says, though Cummins may choose to go with FA-4 in select engine models. “We’re not sure yet,” Badal notes. He also emphasizes that fleets need to remember that the fuel economy mandates within the greenhouse gas (GHG) regulations are the main genesis driving the development of both of these new oils, especially FA-4. “They have to meet those [Phase 2 GHG] standards, not the fleets,” Badal points out. “In particular, factory-filling with FA-4 allows [engine OEMs] to gain more credits under the [GHG] program.” If a fleet decides not to use the factory-fill oil, especially if it’s an FA-4 blend, the engine warranty won’t necessarily be invalidated. “You can’t take a CK-4 10W-40 too far back, but a CK-4 15W-40 will cover all the lanes,” he explains. “Even if you mix FA-4 and CK-4 accidently, it’s not a big deal, though if you keep using it [FA-4] long-term [in an older engine], you will see some impact.” Still, Jeff Torkelson, technical director engineering-tech services at Valvo­line, says fleets switching to CK-4 10W-30 blends should see a gain in fuel economy. “Even with the CK-4 backward-compatible oils, the 10W-30 grade should provide improved fuel efficiency compared to the 15W-40 grade,” he says. Brian Humphrey, OEM technical liaison at Petro-Canada Lubricants, adds that new package labeling, bottle color, and user-friendly symbols should help trucking customers select the right PC-11 oil for their needs as well as help them to understand specific enhanced benefits such as extended drain intervals, higher fuel economy, or extreme temperature protection each blend will provide. He points out that API recently released two new service symbols, or ‘donuts,’ to help distinguish between the CK-4 and FA-4 blends, although oil marketers are allow­ed to use any color they choose for the donut itself. FA-4 vs. CK-4 “Beyond the OEM recommendations, it’s worth keeping in mind that the primary difference between FA-4 and CK-4 is the level of high-temperature high-shear, or HTHS, viscosity,” Humphrey notes. FA-4, which is specifically designed for newer vehicles, provides a slightly lower HTHS, which enables an improvement in fuel economy due to lower “viscous drag” from the oil, he explains. “The oils in this category have been formulated with the lowest HTHS viscosity levels we have ever seen … allowing [diesel engines] to run more efficiently and use less fuel while still offering improved levels of wear protection,” he continues. “Future heavy-duty fleet vehicles will be designed to comply with this specification to offer even higher levels of [fuel] efficiency.” CK-4, on the other hand, will offer backward compatibility, allowing for use in the vast majority of older heavy-duty diesel engines while still offering increased performance and protection gains. “This is because older engines are not designed to operate with such low HTHS oils,” Humphrey explains. “If your particular operating conditions push the limits of higher temperatures due to high loading, elevated ambient temperatures, or restricted cooling, then you may actually wish to forego the extra fuel economy benefits associated with FA-4 in favor of the added film thickness of CK-4.” Likewise, if a fleet’s working conditions are “extremely dirty” with excessive particles in the oil, CK-4 may be a safer choice for that equipment, he points out. Steve Haffner, North American market manager for Infineum USA, expects the “fastest growing product” among the PC-11 oil family to be CK-4 10W-30, which provides improved fuel economy over 15W-40 blends. “As fleets bring in more new engines, they will eventually adopt the newer FA-4 10W-30 product, when recommended by OEMs, which will provide even larger fuel economy benefits,” he believes. “While some OEMs may allow limited backward serviceability to encourage [FA-4] use, most industry observers expect CK-4 to be the product of choice for many years to come.” To that end, in North America CK-4 engine oils are expected to be fully backward compatible in the same Society of Automotive Engineer (SAE) viscosity grades recommended for current and older diesel engines, Haffner explains. Thus, CK-4 oils will provide enhanced engine protection and be used in applications which called for CJ-4, CI-4 PLUS, CI-4, or CH-4, he points out. Following are a couple of key technical points Haffner thinks need to be emphasized regarding the universality of those new oils: ◗ Rules concerning API S category claims with the new PC-11 performance categories mean that CK-4 or FA-4 oils with SAE 5W-30 and SAE 10W-30 viscosity grades, which correspond to ILSAC viscosity grades, will only be able to claim passenger car oil API quality levels such as API SN, SM or SL if the oils satisfy the 800 ppm [parts per million] phosphorus maximum required for ILSAC viscosity grades. ◗ SAE 15W-40 engine oils can still claim CJ-4/SN, but starting Dec. 1 when CK-4 is added to the label, oils claiming CJ-4/SN will need to drop the ‘SN’ claim unless they are formulated at 800 ppm phosphorus or below. “Heavy-duty OEMs have not expressed any interest in gasoline API performance claims on heavy-duty diesel oils. and some strongly prefer oils with higher phosphorus content,” Haffner adds. “It remains to be seen if the logistics benefits provided by universal oils will be enough to overcome any perceived or real debits in diesel engine protection.” One or two? Indeed, Chris Guerrero, global HDEO brand manager for Shell Rotella and Shell Rimula, notes that Shell’s newly updated engine oil portfolio will also include a multi-vehicle synthetic blend, Rotella T6 5W-30, for both diesel and gasoline engines that will allow CK-4 blends as well as API SN performance standards. “This oil cut its teeth in the diesel setting; we did that first before seeing if it could work in the gasoline setting,” he says. Another challenge Haffner expects with the new oils revolves around what he dubs “supply chain challenges,” which may lead to some difficult and even confusing scenarios if the needs of all consumers are to be met upon initial introduction of PC-11’s oil progeny. “The need for two SAE 10W-30 engine oils—with one meeting CK-4 and replacing legacy CJ-4 applications and the other meeting the new lower viscosity FA-4 category—is probably the biggest cause for concern,” he says. Yet the key to understanding why the new PC-11 oils will ultimately benefit the industry lies in the field test results, explains Michael Smith, commercial vehicle lubricants global brand manager at ExxonMobil Fuels and Lubricants. He says ExxonMobil put its new Mobil Delvac CK-4 and FA-4 oil options through some 30 million mi. of testing and found they offer an 80% improvement in high-temperature viscosity control, 50% improvement in oxidation resistance, and 20% improvement in wear protection over previous oils. “As these results indicate, fleets that have been testing our CK-4 and FA-4 formulations have consistently reported exceptional results,” Smith emphasizes. Shawn Whitacre, senior staff engineer primarily responsible for product formulation of the Delo brand of heavy-duty engine oils at Chevron, adds that when CK-4 and FA-4 officially hit the market in December, they will have undergone some of the most rigorous, varied and exhaustive testing in the industry. He is also chairman of the American Society for Testing and Materials heavy-duty engine oil classification panel that developed the PC-11 oil requirements. “It is important to be able to tell customers with complete confidence exactly how products will perform for them in whatever environment they may be,” he points out. “That’s why a wide diversity of testing in different engine types and under different operating conditions is absolutely critical to bring new CK-4 and FA-4 oils to market.” Whitacre notes that the early stages of PC-11 oil development focused on passing specification tests—tests prescribed under controlled conditions designed to evaluate oils quantitatively in an accelerated fashion. Yet, while that lab testing provides valuable information, it may not necessarily reflect what the oils will actually encounter in the field. “Industry-standard testing also tends to emphasize on-highway performance, but you don’t want to overlook off-highway needs,” Whitacre explains. “That’s why it’s important to run tests in collaboration with customers that expose oils to a broader variety of operating conditions, duty cycles, temperatures, and other environmental factors that are important to understand.” Talking testing That means taking multiple products across various viscosity grades and testing them in different engines spanning a range of manufacturers, including engine types that aren’t used in the standard specification tests. “Within the on-highway category, we look at different types of operations—tractor-trailers, garbage trucks, pickups, and others. We also test in farm equipment and different types of off-highway operations,” he stresses. Field testing takes time, including several years through different seasonal and temperature changes, Whitacre notes. “In a heavy-duty engine, it’s not really instructive to do that kind of inspection before 500,000 mi.,” he says. “If you figure a truck averages 100,000 to 200,000 mi. a year, it could be three to five years before a tear-down test will yield meaningful analysis.” The key is to understand how oils will perform regardless of the engine type or operation, precisely in the way they’ll be used when they are commercialized. “After a certain time, engine tear-downs are conducted to look at components and confirm wear protection and deposit control,” Whitacre explains. Shell’s Dan Arcy notes that his company conducted 40 million mi. of on-road prototype formulation testing for its PC-11 oils and 50,000 hours of off-road testing for its CK-4 product line. That included not just tractor-trailers but testing in diesel pickup trucks and even in gasoline engines. All of that testing is another reason why Howard McIntyre, vice president for lubricants at Suncor, Petro-Canada’s parent company, stresses that PC-11 is the “biggest step change” that the North American heavy-duty truck market will experience. “This is not only an opportunity to improve the efficiency and carbon footprint of heavy-duty vehicles, but it is also a chance to recognize the potential to cut costs and increase the profitability of operations,” he adds. “As with all business decisions, a clear understanding and early adoption could result in a genuine competitive edge.” How ‘thin’ should you go? The introduction of the ck-4 and fa-4 blends is also opening the door to new lower viscosity or thinner oil blends. These are not just lighter 10W-30 and 10W-40 blends compared to heavier 15W-30 and 15W-40 formulations but rather super-light 5W-30 and 5W-40 products. They are blends commonly used in the European truck market. Chevron, like all the other lubricant makers, is introducing such lightweight products here in the U.S. as the transition to the new CK-4 and FA-4 oils officially begins on Dec. 1. The company’s Delo 400 XSP SAE 5W-30 and Delo 400 XSP SAE 5W-40, both fully synthetic oils, are examples that meet the new CK-4 standards. Using a thinner oil means the engine doesn’t work as hard to pump it, with less work meaning less energy and thus translating into less fuel consumed, explains Len Badal, Global Delo brand manager at Chevron. The hitch, however, is that such 5W oils cost more than comparable 10W and 15W grades —a lot more, largely because they are full synthetics, he says. “The price difference between a 10W-30 and a 15W-40 isn’t much; they are within the ballpark of one another,” Badal points out. “But when you get to 5W blends, you are talking two to three times the cost of a 15W product.” That doesn’t mean moving to 5W grades isn’t worth the extra money, he stresses. Those blends can deliver greater improvements in fuel economy as well as longer oil drain intervals. The issue is that a fleet must really justify those improvements by attaining them consistently, and that can be problematic based on a fleet’s duty cycle. “It’s not a durability or performance issue; it’s a cost justification issue,” Badal emphasizes. “For example, we had one fleet double its oil drain interval, while another only achieved a 15% extension. It comes down to the type of engine and the duty cycle it’s working in. You have to drive a lot of value to make the transition to a 5W blend pay off.”

Transport Topics / November 8, 2016 Advocates of heavy-duty engines powered by diesel or natural gas are separately vying for a share of the windfall directed at nitrogen oxide mitigation in all 50 states after recent judicial approval of the federal government’s multibillion dollar settlement with Volkswagen AG. At issue was years of excessive emissions from some of VW’s vehicles. “Competition for settlement dollars in each state has already started in earnest,” said Glen Kedzie, energy and environmental counsel at American Trucking Associations. A federal judge Oct. 25 approved the terms of the $14.7 billion settlement that came after it was shown VW at times intentionally used software to defeat emissions controls in about 500,000 vehicles from 2009 to 2015, which increased NOx emissions beyond the regulated limits. As part of the overall settlement, $2.7 billion will fund NOx mitigation strategies in all 50 states, based on the number of polluting VWs operated there. A court-appointed trustee will manage the fund, and states will decide how to spend their share. “The VW settlement affords a tremendous opportunity for states to provide financial assistance to replace older diesel trucks with newer, lower-NOx emitting diesel or natural-gas vehicles,” Kedzie said. Six states will receive about 40% of the funds. California is set to receive $381 million, Texas $191 million, Florida $152 million, New York $117 million, Pennsylvania $110 million and Washington $103 million, according to the settlement. Vying for the funds could get messy, one diesel advocate suggested, noting that marine and rail projects will be eligible, too. “I don’t want to call it a food fight but there is going to be a lot of posturing amongst different technologies and their folks about which is the best thing,” said Allen Schaeffer, executive director of the Diesel Technology Forum, which termed it one of the largest settlements of its kind. VW will put the money in over three years, and the first check for $900 million will come in November, and then annually until the full amount is paid, said Matthew Godlewski, president of Natural Gas Vehicles for America. The first projects should be taking shape in about a year, he said. “Any way you cut this, this is going to be a substantial opportunity for the natural gas vehicle industry to be part of this and sell more engines, build more stations, more dispensers, more compressors,” Godlewski said. “This is going to be a good boost to the industry over the next 10 years as these monies are spent.”

PIT Group testing fuel economy of 2016 and 2017 vehicles for U.S. Xpress Truck News / November 8, 2016 PIT Group announced recently that it’s in-service fuel testing is underway with U.S. Xpress. Utilizing U.S. Xpress trucks configured in a variety of tractor and powertrain combinations, the testing includes 2016 and brand new 2017 vehicles as well as an exclusive 2017 model that is set to start production this November. The evaluations are taking place at the carrier’s facility in Tunnel Hill, Georgia. The In-Service Fuel Testing includes: 1) Freightliner (MY2017) Cascadia Engine: Detroit DD15 455HP 65MPH Set Speed Transmission: Detroit DT12 DA 1550 12 Speed Direct Drive Automated Manual Transmission Rear Axle: Detroit DA RT 40 Ratio: 2.41 2) Peterbilt (MY2016) 579 “6X2” Engine: PACCAR MX13 455HP 65MPH Set Speed Transmission Transmission: Eaton Advantage 10 Speed Direct Drive Automated Manual Transmission Rear Axle: Dana Econo TREK w/ Bendix eTrac System Ratio: 2.69 3) Peterbilt (MY2016) 579 Engine: PACCAR MX13 455HP 65MPH Set Speed Transmission: Allison TC-10 Automatic Transmission Rear Axle: Dana DSP40 Ratio: 2.69 4) Peterbilt (MY2016) 579 Engine: PACCAR MX13 455HP 65MPH Set Speed Transmission: Eaton Advantage 10 Speed Direct Drive Automated Manual Transmission Rear Axle: Dana DSP40 Ratio: 2.69 5) Kenworth T680 (MY2017) Engine: PACCAR MX13 405HP 65MPH Set Speed Transmission Transmission: Eaton Advantage 10 Speed Direct Drive Automated Manual Transmission Rear Axle: Dana D40-155H ADVANTEK40 Ratio: 2.64 6) Navistar Prostar ES (MY2017) Engine: Cummins ISX15 450HP 65MPH Set Speed Transmission: Eaton Advantage 10 Speed Direct Drive Automated Manual Transmission Rear Axle: Dana D40-155H ADVANTEK40 Ratio: 2.64 7) Navistar LT (MY2017) Engine: Cummins X15 400HP 65MPH Set Speed Transmission: Eaton Advantage 10 Speed Direct Drive Automated Manual Transmission Rear Axle: Dana D40-155H ADVANTEK40 Ratio: 2.64 “Like most carriers we take fuel economy seriously and we believe this test will help validate the decisions we make about our equipment,” said Gerry Mead, senior vice-president of maintenance at U.S. Xpress. “Using a proven process and a certified and highly experienced team from PIT Group will provide solid test results on fuel economy. We look forward to the results.” For the U.S. Xpress evaluations, PIT Group has identified a 60-mile test course on highways and local roads. To represent typical fleet operations, U.S. Xpress fleet will pull trailers with loads of equal weight. An in-cab observer provided by PIT Group will accompany U.S. Xpress drivers operating the test vehicles. U.S. Xpress will also provide fuel, technicians and maintenance facilities for the event, including a mobile service truck if required. “We are very pleased that U.S. Xpress counts on our expertise to select the best vehicle specs for its fleet. Having so many vehicle and component manufacturers that decided to take part in our first U.S. In-Service Fuel Testing, shows the value of independent testing for both fleet and suppliers” said Yves Provencher, director of the PIT Group. “The real world data about the fuel consumption of a variety of powertrain combinations that we are collecting will be very valuable to PIT Group Members as they make specification decisions and to suppliers as they design and develop new technologies.”