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Dagens Industri / October 31, 2016 Cevian Capital's Christer Gardell believes that Volvo needs to focus on trucks alone and do away with Volvo Construction Equipment (VCE). According to Christer Gardell, Volvo has made progress toward a less complex structure and construction machinery is now the last large part to deal with. Volvo's management and board have Cevian’s confidence and "we trust that they will handle this in a smart way," says Christer Gardell. Cevian Capital owns an 8 percent stake in Volvo Group, and over 14 percent of the voting rights, as of September 30. .

Hungarian PM Accuses Soros of Stoking Refugee Wave to Weaken Europe Bloomberg / October 30, 2015 Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban accused billionaire investor George Soros of being a prominent member of a circle of "activists" trying to undermine European nations by supporting refugees [economic migrants] heading to the continent from the Middle East and beyond. "His name is perhaps the strongest example of those who support anything that weakens nation states, they support everything that changes the traditional European lifestyle," "These activists who support immigrants inadvertently become part of this international human-smuggling network," said Orban. Rights groups have criticized Orban for building a razor-wire fence on the border, tightening asylum laws and boosting his support among voters with anti-immigrant rhetoric. Soros, who was born in Hungary and is one of the biggest philanthropists in eastern Europe via his foundations and university, gives grants to organizations that provide legal assistance to asylum seekers [economic migrants]. Soros said in a statement that a six-point plan published by his foundation helps “uphold European values” while Orban’s actions “undermine those values.” “His plan treats the protection of national borders as the objective and the refugees [economic migrants] as an obstacle,” Soros said in the statement. “Our plan treats the protection of refugees as the objective and national borders as the obstacle.”

Ford Press Release - https://media.ford.com/content/fordmedia/fna/us/en/news/2016/10/31/ford-returns-to-baja-1000-with-all-new-2017-f-150-raptor.html .

Outside the US, I'm constantly told by people that the email scandal is a secondary issue. The global audience feels the actual issue that Americans should be focusing on is Hungarian-American billionaire George Soros, i.e. his massive contributions to the Clinton Foundation and Hillary Clinton. They feel that Soros is at the heart of it all, which is interesting, given that he's not on the radar in U.S. news (and there may be a reason for that, the "closed news" environment that Oliver Stone mentions*). * http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/47524-oliver-stone-obama-pardoning-snowden-would-be-a-wonderful-act-of-grace/

The Australian Value-Liner and the U.S. market Value-Liner were two completely different trucks. They're not comparable. E8 ?

Designed specifically for the US market but also with the China market in mind (where VW has virtually been a non-participant in their red hot SUV market over the last 3-4 years), the new SUV is terrible. VW has never been able to design an attractive and competitive SUV. .

No surprise that the global Ford Ranger, particularly with the optional 3.2L diesel, was the star performer. Designed by Ford Australia, the Ranger is simply the best mid-sized pickup in the world.

Obama appears to be distancing himself from Clinton without actually saying so. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Press Briefing by Press Secretary Josh Earnest, 10/31/2016 James S. Brady Press Briefing Room / 1:07 P.M. EDT I'll neither defend nor criticize what Director Comey has decided to communicate to the public about this investigation. What I will say is that the Department of Justice and our democracy has given the expansive authority to conduct investigations. The Department of Justice has given subpoena power. They're allowed to compel witnesses to testify. They are able to collect evidence that's not readily available necessarily. They're even allowed to impanel a grand jury. Those are substantial authorities. It's important, in the mind of the President, that those authorities are tempered by an adherence to longstanding tradition and practice and norms that limit public discussion of facts that are collected in the context of those investigations. And there are a variety of good reasons for that. And the President believes that it's important for those norms and traditions and guidelines to be followed. The President believes that Director Comey is a man of integrity, he's a man of principle, and he's a man of good character. That, presumably, is the reason that President Bush chose him to serve in a senior position at the Bush administration's Department of Justice. These same character traits are what led a strong majority of Democratic and Republican senators to confirm him to this job. These are the traits that led the President to select him to be the Director of the FBI. And these are tough questions. And so it’s a good thing that he’s a man of integrity and character to take them on. What I have observed in the past is that Director Comey is a man of integrity. He’s a man of principle. He’s a man who is well regarded by senior officials in both parties. He’s somebody who’s served in a senior position in the Bush administration. And he’s somebody who got strong bipartisan support when his nomination to be the Director of the FBI was considered by the United States Senate. So all those things are true. They speak to his good character. And the President’s assessment of his integrity and his character has not changed. For example, the President doesn’t believe that Director Comey is intentionally trying to influence the outcome of an election. The President doesn’t believe that he’s secretly strategizing to benefit one candidate or one political party. He’s in a tough spot, and he’s the one who will be in a position to defend his actions in the face of significant criticism from a variety of legal experts, including individuals who served in senior Department of Justice positions in administrations that were led by presidents in both parties. But that kind of -- but I’m just not going to be in a position to, frankly, either defend or criticize the decisions that he’s made with what regard -- with regard to what to communicate in public. That is separate from the kind of prosecutorial and investigative decisions that are made by the FBI and the Department of Justice. That is their institutional responsibility -- to make those decisions about investigations and prosecutions independent of any sort of political interference, and I will defend their right to do that. In fact, it’s their responsibility. The President is somebody who, three years ago, nominated Director Comey because he’s a man of character, he’s a man of integrity, he’s a man of principle. He is somebody who’s had a distinguished legal career that’s been rooted in making sure that his own political views don’t interfere with his responsibilities as an attorney or as a law enforcement officer. The President thinks very highly of Director Comey. And, yes, you can assert that he continues to have confidence in his ability to do his job. The President is completely confident that Director Comey has not taken any steps to try to intentionally influence the outcome of the election or to advantage one candidate or one political party. Question: Josh, has the President spoken with Attorney General Lynch about this issue and her apparent disagreement with the FBI Director? Mr. Earnest: He has not. Question: And when exactly did the White House find out about the FBI letter? Mr. Earnest: Well, as my colleague, Eric, in answering this question last week told you all, the White House was not given advance knowledge of the decision by the FBI Director to submit this letter to Congress. So we learned about this letter the same time all of you did. Question: Through the media? Mr. Earnest: That's correct. Question: So just to confirm and clarify, everything the White House has learned to date about the latest probe by the FBI on Hillary Clinton’s -- these newly discovered emails has been through media reports? There hasn’t been a letter? There hasn’t been any type of call? This has all been through media reports? Mr. Earnest: So, Kenneth, let me just be as precise as I possibly can here. The White House was not given advance notice of the fact that the Department of Justice was sending a letter to Capitol Hill. The White House became aware of that letter through media reports when individuals in Congress presumably made the decision to make that letter public. And since then, the Department of Justice has not provided any sort of briefing or consultation -- or sought any consultation with the White House about this matter moving forward. .

GM up, Ford down. Why? Automotive News / October 30, 2016 Profit gap widens as U.S. market plateaus General Motors and Ford Motor Co. both posted single-digit U.S. sales declines in the third quarter. But financially, Detroit's two largest automakers appear headed in opposite directions, with GM achieving a record third-quarter profit at the same time that Ford had its weakest quarter in nearly two years. GM is increasing North American production in the fourth quarter, according to analysts, whereas Ford has taken or scheduled downtime at six of its 11 North American assembly plants to reduce inventories. Time will tell whether Ford is getting ahead of a coming downturn in the market, as it did in 2006 by mortgaging major assets before credit markets dried up, or is acting too conservatively at a time when U.S. sales remain near record levels. "I would call our approach realism. Not optimism, not pessimism; it's realism," Ford CEO Mark Fields said on a conference call with analysts last week. "We don't see a recession on the horizon, but we do see a marketplace that, from a cycle standpoint, it's matured." GM's third-quarter results, including record revenue for any quarter since its 2009 bankruptcy and net income that more than doubled from a year ago, are validation of the company's retail-focused strategy in the U.S., where essentially all of its profits were generated. GM's retail sales were flat from July through September, while fleet deliveries dropped 15 percent. In contrast, the bulk of Ford's 6 percent decline in third-quarter sales volume was at retail. "We're running a different play, and it's generating different results," GM CFO Chuck Stevens told analysts on the company's earnings call. "We're very focused on retail in a very disciplined way. Our retail market share is up; we're less reliant on less profitable daily rental, and that's showing up in our results." Stevens said GM is confident that, even as U.S. sales flatten out after six consecutive years of steady growth, "we can continue to sustain strong margins in North America like we have done over the past couple of years." Fiat Chrysler Automobiles also is on an upward trajectory. It posted a 29 percent gain in third-quarter net income and raised its full-year operating profit forecast to at least $6.3 billion. Meanwhile, Ford's outlook has taken on a more negative tone since midyear. Its third-quarter net income fell 56 percent, a drop that executives attributed to a costly recall, ramping up production of the redesigned Super Duty pickup and the plateau in U.S. sales. Ford also cited "normalization" of F-150 sales compared with a year ago, when early buyers of the redesigned model were loading them up with expensive options. Ford's full-year guidance implies a 23 percent drop in its fourth-quarter adjusted pretax profit, while GM's forecast suggests a decline of at least 16 percent in the quarter. Industry results mixed Results from dealership groups, suppliers and lenders have been mixed as consumer demand levels off and growth becomes harder to achieve. Both Lear and Gentex said their third-quarter net income rose 18 percent, but BorgWarner reported a 47 percent decline, and Ally Financial posted a 22 percent drop amid increasing delinquencies and fewer loan originations. AutoNation, Group 1 Automotive and Asbury Automotive Group reported lower earnings, while Penske Automotive managed a slight gain. Ford generated about $500 more revenue per vehicle sold in the last quarter in North America than GM, but GM's profit per vehicle was more than double that of Ford's. Even when excluding a $600 million charge that Ford took in the quarter for recalling faulty door latches, GM earned 40 percent more from each sale. The disparity correlates to the higher transaction prices generated from retail sales, which accounted for 85 percent of GM's third-quarter volume and 77 percent of Ford's. "That all translates right through to the bottom line," David Kudla, CEO of Mainstay Capital. "A car sold at retail versus a car sold at fleet, that's a big deal when you take that down to the net profit per car. It matters." GM earned 5.9 percent more in North America during the first nine months of 2016, even though its U.S. market share fell to just 16.9 percent, a drop of 0.7 points. Ford's share was unchanged through September at 15.1 percent, and its North American pretax profits were down 3.7 percent. GM's stronger results come at a time when Ford is at a low point in its product-launch schedule. The 2015 "Car Wars" report from Bank of America/Merrill Lynch, which asserts that fresh showrooms lead to higher profitability, listed GM's replacement rate in the 2016 and 2017 model years as above average for the industry, while Ford ranked last among the major automakers. GM is overhauling its crossover lineup next year, while Ford doesn't have major redesigns planned for many important vehicles until 2018 and 2019. Strong full-year profits GM raised its full-year guidance last week, affirming that it's on track for one of its best annual profits ever -- but so is Ford, despite the weaker third quarter. Beyond that, about the only similarity between the two companies right now is the level of apathy toward their results on Wall Street, particularly in comparison to the far-less-profitable Tesla. GM shares dropped more than 4 percent last Tuesday after beating analyst expectations by almost 20 percent. Ford shares tumbled after its own announcement on Thursday. "We imagine this is quite disheartening. There doesn't seem to be much they can say that will alter investor concerns" about U.S. auto sales peaking, Barclays Capital analyst Brian Johnson wrote of GM. "We hope that somewhere in the executive suites of the RenCen, "Shake it Off' is being played on repeat, with management saying "haters gonna hate.'"

If your water pump's hub has 4 notches and you have a viscous fan clutch, you need a 316GC1211AX. .

Reuters / October 28, 2016 The European Commission fears steps taken by Volkswagen to refit polluting diesel cars may damage the vehicles' engines, the Spiegel magazine reported, citing unidentified staff at the European Union's executive branch. Software updates carried out by Volkswagen could inflict greater stress on engine components, according to the European Commission. Officials are basing their concerns on feedback from experts at the Vehicle Emissions Laboratory (VELA) in northern Italy. https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/en/research-facility/vehicle-emissions-laboratory-vela VW denied its technical modifications would cause damage to the cars. "The software update will have no adverse influences on (fuel) consumption or the durability of the engine and its components," a VW spokesman said. "We need VW to guarantee, in a legally binding way and without any time limit, that the repairs will work and do not have any negative impact," a European Commission official said on Monday. "An advanced guarantee declaration is not necessary," a VW spokesman replied.

Matt Wood, Trade Trucks AU / October 27, 2016 Today’s popular dual-cab 4x4 utes make big claims when it comes to tow ratings and payloads but are they really up to serious yakka? Matt Wood and Fraser Stronach ask them to muscle up to prove it Towing is the latest marketing buzzword when it comes to workhorse utes. Three tonne? Three and a half? Automotive manufacturers would have you believe these utes can do the job without raising a sweat. But how do they actually drive with that much weight hanging off the back? We decided to put the manufacturers’ claims to the test. But first we had to tackle the unsexy notion of gross combination mass (GCM) and axle load ratings. Without getting bogged down in too much detail, it basically means that for every kilo put on the trailer hitch, the less you can put on the actual ute. The all-singing, all-dancing ad campaigns don’t tell you that, for the overwhelming majority of these vehicles, 3,000 to 3,500kg of braked trailer load on the back equals close to no payload in the tow vehicle. So we’ve assembled seven of the most popular dual-cab 4x4s on the market to see how they perform at or near maximum towing capacity. And, of course, we made sure they were fitted with electric trailer brakes. We also tested them at maximum GVM without a trailer. You may ask why they’re all autos. Well, in Oz, it’s by far the most popular tranny choice. Volkswagen declined to be a part of the test due to the need for electric trailer brakes to be fitted. A quick squiz at the Kennards Hire website found us some equipment payload, while the guys at KADS Hire happened to have some heavy plant trailers that suited our purpose for 3,500kg towing. Throw in some bagged cement from Bunnings, and we were in business. We loaded the larger trailer with the site forklift and a pallet of bagged cement, weighing 3,500kg in total. To cater for the lighter-rated Toyota Hilux (3,200kg) and Mitsubishi Triton (3,100Kg), we had a second trailer carrying an excavator totalling 2,800kg. To test load carrying, we had a pallet of bagged cement weighing 800kg, which, when added to the other payload elements (driver and passenger, etc.), brings the total payload to close to 1,000kg – effectively the maximum payload in the class, give or take a little. In each case, the 800kg pallet was loaded up against the front of the tub, not an easy task given the tailgates don’t drop right down on any of these mid- and up-spec utes. Before and after loading, the ride-height (at the axle) was measured to see how far the rear of each ute dropped. The tow and load tests were conducted separately (see GCM, GVM and payload). For the separate load and tow tests, the vehicle was driven over a set course encompassing an uphill winding road followed by a downhill descent, again with lots of corners. The course was covered at least twice for both load and the tow tests, so four or more runs for each vehicle. Ford Ranger The Ford Ranger is almost single-handedly responsible for the tow capacity arms race. With its ‘big’ 3.2 five-cylinder engine, the Ranger looks to have a headstart when it comes to our ute tow review. (https://www.tradetrucks.com.au/truck-reviews/1610/ford-ranger-ute-tow-review) Holden Colorado The Holden Colorado has been tweaked here and there since it arrived in 2012, but nothing like what has been put into this MY17 model. MY17 also means electric power steering for Colorado and, like the Ford, this means very little steering effort at parking speeds, a bonus with all the weight in the back. (https://www.tradetrucks.com.au/truck-reviews/1610/holden-colorado-ute-tow-review) Isuzu D-Max The Isuzu D-Max is one of the oldest designs here, so is it up to competing with the new boys? It’s hard not to use words like bombproof when it comes to the D-Max. (https://www.tradetrucks.com.au/truck-reviews/1610/isuzu-d-max-ute-tow-review) Mazda BT-50 Even with the 800kg weight of the default payload (driver, observer and towbar), that leaves up to 200kg payload to spare on the lightest BT-50 4x4 dual-cab pick-up, and around 100kg to spare on the heavier top-spec GT. (https://www.tradetrucks.com.au/truck-reviews/1610/mazda-bt-50-ute-tow-review) Mitsubishi Triton Mitsubishi’s new Triton is the lightweight in this lot but does that really matter? The diminutive donk punches above its weight once it gets some boost and some rpm up, and puts the 430Nm it creates into play. (https://www.tradetrucks.com.au/truck-reviews/1610/mitsubishi-triton-ute-tow-review) Nissan Navara The Nissan Navara stands out here for a number of reasons. Firstly, all bar one NP300 dual-cab pick-ups come with coil springs at the rear, and the NP300 is the only ute here to have two turbos rather than one. (https://www.tradetrucks.com.au/truck-reviews/1610/nissan-navara-ute-tow-review) Toyota Hilux Toyota’s all-new Hilux has muscled up in its towing capacity despite a downsize in engine capacity. The 2.8-litre is also a polished performer with the 970kg payload and hardly felt the weight at all. With 450Nm on tap at just 1600rpm, it’s not far shy of what the considerably bigger 3.2 ‘fives’ in the Ford and the Mazda can do. (https://www.tradetrucks.com.au/truck-reviews/1610/toyota-hilux-ute-tow-review) GCM, GVM AND PAYLOAD When it comes to carrying and towing, there are a few things you need to know to be legal and safe. Gross vehicle mass, or GVM, is how much the vehicle can weigh when it’s fully loaded. So that includes the weight of the vehicle itself, known as the kerb weight. The difference between the GVM and the kerb weight is the payload. Before you put anything into the tub, however, payload includes all passengers and any and all accessories fitted, even a towbar. Some manufactures don’t claim a kerb weight, which includes a full tank of fuel, but a tare weight instead, which includes 10 litres of fuel only. In this case, any extra fuel over 10 litres also eats into the payload. Payload figures for cab-chassis models (not tested here) don’t even include the tray weight. When towing, the tow ball weight also becomes part of the payload and not necessarily at a one-to-one ratio, so you need to check the manufacturer’s towing information. Gross combination mass, or GCM, is the towed weight added to the weight of the vehicle plus any payload. None of these utes can be loaded to their GVM and tow their rated maximum at the same time, as in each case – although in varying degrees – this exceeds the GCM and overloads the rear axle. When you are towing at or near the maximum tow rating, the GCM is the critical factor in determining how much you can carry at the same time. VERDICT Ultimately, in the real world none of these vehicles are great for constant everyday heavy towing. Some do it better than others, but there remains a dearth of information to educate buyers about what weight they can or cannot load into their utes, and what weight they can tow safely. And the last person you’d want to ask is a car salesman! The marketing hype has gotten a little out of hand. For constant towing over three tonne with a load on the tray, the best vehicles for the job remain the 70-series Toyota Landcruiser, a converted American pick-up, or a light truck. A tradie towing a load like our excavator would also likely have a selection of buckets, fuel, tools grease and a bunch of accessories to go with it. It’s a balancing act that makes it very easy to overload a ute that is not even at maximum GCM. CLASS RESULTS Big League - 3,500kg 1. Ford Ranger: A combination of grunt, finesse and solid engineering. 2. Holden Colorado: This ute can finally haul with a degree of classy comfort. There's plenty of power on tap and the new steering is excellent under load. 3. Mazda BT-50: It may lack the updated kit of both the Ranger and the Colorado, but it's a solid tow unit that's confident and capable. 4. Isuzu D-Max: Has a go, but lacks the grunt and capability of recent arrivals and updates 5. Nissan Navara NP300: Just don't. Little League - 2,800kg 1. Toyota Hilux: A good all-rounder that is no doubt capable of more. We'd love to try it in manual 3500kg guise. 2. Mitsubishi Triton: Very capable at this weight, a surprising performer. It's hard to ignore the value proposition.

Matt Wood, Trade Trucks AU / October 31, 2016 Toyota's updated 70 Series Landcruiser lineup has been improved but it comes at a price Contrary to rumours of its impending demise, Toyota’s 70 Series Landcruiser work horse has just copped a significant update that sees improved emissions, safety and fuel economy. Single cab focus With 60 per cent of the 70’s sales going to business buyers, the bulk of the update focuses on the single cab LC79 while other improvements have trickled into the rest of the range. The single cab-chassis now sits on a substantially bigger and stiffer frame with additional cross members, which has also seen a softer state of suspension tune for the fleet fourby. The LC79 accounts for 8,000 Australia sales a year across the line up. Unsurprisingly the 70 Series also accounts for 20 per cent of the global take up of the hard-edged worker. To keep in sweet with mining fleets the single cab also now features 5 airbags and recently scored a 5 star ACCAP safety rating. All LC79 Series variants benefit from the addition of Electronic Stability Control, which also features Hill Start Assist, Brake Assist, Electronic Brake Force Distribution and Automatic Traction Control. The addition of ATC has seen Toyota drop the limited slip diff from the range. Other fleet friendly features are new 16-inch one piece steel rims which replace the split rims previously found on Workmate models, auto locking hub and a new fuse box to make the fitting of aftermarket accessories like telemetry easier and less invasive. New injectors and an after burner The much loved 4.5-litre 1VD turbo-diesel EGR V8 still provides power for the Cruiser at the same 151kW/430Nm (202hp/317lb/ft) ratings as before. But to keep it in line new Euro 5 emissions a DPF with active regeneration has been added. Keeping in mind concerns about an active afterburner underneath, the LC79 will not go into an automatic regeneration at low speeds off-road. The DPF itself is tucked up beside the transmission and protected by an addition cross member on the chassis. New Piezo injectors have also been added to the V8. The local 100,000km testing regime of the LC also saw Toyota engineers test the injection system’s tolerance of varying quality Outback diesel. Outside, the LC79 has a slightly new look with 12 new body panels. The bonnet has had a remodel with a larger, rounder intercooler bulge that is intended to be more pedestrian friendly. Longer legs A couple of the traditional 70 Series bug bears have been tackled, the main one being gearing. The outgoing model 5-speed transmission was very low geared and saw the tacho needle dancing on 2,500rpm at 100km/h. Expectations that the Cruiser may get a 6-speed didn’t come to fruition however, though the 5 slot ‘box has had the gear ratios for 2nd and 5th revised. Now the big fourby sits on about 1,900rpm at 100km/h which sees Toyota now claim a combined fuel figure for the bent eight oiler of 10.7l/100km (22mpg) combined and 9.4l/100km (25mpg) for the highway. Cruise control is now standard kit across the range but strangely air-con, a $2,700 dealer fit option, is not. The LC79 revamp budget however, didn’t stretch to addressing the narrower wheel track of the rear axle. Which will no doubt keep the aftermarket happy. The biggest selling model, the single cab-chassis has seen the bulk of development however, the range still consists of the dual cab-chassis, wagon and Troopy. Workmate and GXL are the only variants of each again excepting the single cab which now has a mid-range GX variant. The Toyota’s unique status on the Aussie market as the only ute that can carry maximum load while towing maximum weight continues even though the truck has gotten a little heavier with the new kit on board. This gives the single cab a payload of 1,200kg and a tow capacity of 3,500kg. Wading depth remains at 700mm. On and off the road In today’s SUV-clogged market I find it comforting that the 70 Series still exists. No doubt when presented with tightening emissions and safety demands it could well have gone the way of the Dodo or the Defender. Instead it now has the heavy 4x4 ute market all to itself with the departure of the Nissan Y61 Patrol cab-chassis. As you’d expect, it’s still a no nonsense work truck from the driver’s seat. But the recent update is very apparent once you flick the key and get moving. NVH has improved keeping the big 8 iron a little subdued but on the black top the changes in gearing make a huge difference. Previously I’d been in the habit of skip shifting the old ‘box. Now it’s a smoother progression through the cogs. And the Cruiser is much happier on the highway than it has been in the past with the rev counter showing 1,900rpm at 100km/h. The softer suspension tune of the single cab also makes it slightly less jittery when unladen on the open road. The interior is still the same old familiar office but the view has changed slightly over the more imposing bonnet bulge. The LC has a formidable reputation as bush transport and as such still powers down a dirt road happily. The main difference is the ESC cutting in if you try and flick the tail out on a corner. Spoilsports. But, it’s the Landcruiser’s off-road cred that has set it apart from most. And it’s still got the goods in that department, in fact the addition of automatic traction control has improved it. Walking the Cruiser up some pretty gnarly obstacles was quite a relaxed experience. The ATC cuts in and limits wheel spin and some feathering of the throttle keeps it climbing in a rather civilised fashion rather than roaring, clambering and spitting rocks along the way. Some may say that the update softens the tough old bush bus. However, from the driver’s seat it still feels like the venerable workhorse of old. Just with some smoother edges. But it’s the pricing that private buyers may find hard to swallow. The single cab chassis now costs $5,500 more while the other variants have seen a price rise of $3,000 on what was already an expensive truck. It’s become a better truck, but it’s also become serious financial proposition. But then again, now it’s also got the heavy 4x4 ute niche all to itself. 2017 Toyota Landcruiser LC79 Pricing (MRRP Quoted) Workmate Wagon: AU$60,990 (US$46,401) GXL Wagon: AU$64,990 (US$49,445) Workmate Troop Carrier: AU$64,890 (US$49,369) GXL Troop Carrier: AU$67,990 (US$51,727) Workmate Dual Cab Chassis (less tray): AU$64,990 (US$49,444) GXL Dual Cab Chassis (less tray): AU$68,990 (US$52,488) Workmate Single Cab Chassis (less tray): AU$62,490 (US$47,543) GX Single Cab Chassis (less tray): AU$64,490 (US$49,064) GXL Single Cab Chassis (less tray): AU$66,490 (US$50,586) Toyota AU website - http://www3.toyota.com.au/landcruiser-70 .

Owner/Driver / October 28, 2016 It was a Kenworth invasion in the NSW Hawkesbury region for this year’s Clarendon Classic. Peter and Di Schlenk checked out the fine machinery on show Despite this year’s Clarendon Classic Machinery, Truck and Hobby Rally theme promoting the theme of ‘all things European’, the event was notable for the inclusion of the Kenworth Klassic featuring 265 historical and working Kenworth trucks. Held at the Hawkesbury Showgrounds in New South Wales on September 17 to 18, the event presented around 500 trucks, plus a large range of antique engines, tractors, motorcycles and cars. Also on show were working steam engines, earthmoving equipment pushing up dirt and chain-sawing. Adding further to the show’s retro feel, double decker buses were used to shuttle patrons to Richmond Station. A steam train kept the mood going, blowing its whistle, with the steam traction engines at the show to whistle back. For those in for the long haul there was on-site camping available with clean toilets and showers. The entire show was a smooth operation, with trucks efficiently signed in, bins regularly emptied and traffic promptly directed. It all went off without a hitch. Early exhibitors were welcomed with a Friday evening barbecue, however trucks continued to arrive the following day. Saturday evening’s highlight was the vintage tractor pull. A 12hp Buffalo Pits steam tractor engine made light work of towing the sled, with the ash and embers pouring out of its exhaust making for a spectacular sight. The proceeds from gate takings at the show were being donated to the Windsor Hospital Ladies Auxiliary. Close to home Bernie Learson’s Kenworth W900B is a regular at truck shows around the country, although the Sydney Historical is easily the closest to his home at Cranebrook, which is around 10 minutes away. "This is actually the closest trip we do on the whole 12-month cycle, so we don’t get much of a road trip," Bernie smiles. He says up until recently there W900Bs in Australia, although he’s heard that on was written off. "It’s fun having something different from what anyone has," Bernie says. He’s owned the truck for the past 10 years. "I retired the truck last December and this is how it looked when it was working. "We worked it pretty hard doing a lot of long distance stuff. "It’s all set up with a built-in stove and gas bottle; one of the lockers under the bunk is the pantry." Bernie loves old school trucks such as Ford LTLs and Road Bosses. "They were the trucks that I grew up with. "Today I still keep driving but at a different pace, doing the same things as before but you don’t have to fill out invoices," laughs Bernie. Legendary Kenworth Damien Radburn was proudly standing alongside a T950 Legend that is operated by Kerdens. "Kerden is a combination of both mum and dad’s names – ‘Ker’ from Kerri and ‘Den’ from Dennis," Damien explains. "We have been operating for around 15 years and now have almost 30 trucks, mainly Kenworths and Western Stars. "We run mainly between Sydney and Melbourne but on occasion to Adelaide and Brisbane as well." Damien was waiting for the company’s 2005 T950 to arrive. It was purchased brand new and has now done three million kilometres. "It was due for a coat of paint and now off it goes again; it doesn’t owe us much, it was a good investment," he says. "I drive the new T950 together with another driver and they are beautiful trucks. "Kenworths are worth the investment when you get that sort of mileage out of them." Weather watchers Cornfoot Bros Earthmoving trucks are a familiar sight in Victoria, but not so much around Sydney – until this year’s Clarendon Classic. "We decided on Wednesday evening to come up and we left the next day," Norm Cornfoot says. "The rain has quietened things right down so it was a good chance to get up here. "We looked up the weather and it was predicted to be sunny so up we came." Norm brought five trucks up, two of their own small trucks, an SAR, a T900 and a T350. "It’s great to give people the opportunity to see our gear; everyone’s got good comments about them which is really pleasing." Norm was impressed with the facilities, the organisation and that there would be no trophies presented. "No one will go home upset that they didn’t win a trophy," Norm remarks. "You come here to show off your trucks and there is such a range from untouched left-out-in-the-paddock jobs right through to the rebuilt custom stuff. "All these trucks have heaps of history and it is great to catch up with like-minded people." Weight’s right Nick Albury’s Kenworth K104 had many of the showgoers taking a closer look. Nick has been in the trucking game for 24 years and an owner-driver for the past 12 months, his K104 dressed up as a Ned Kelly-themed rig. "My mum Marilyn passed away last year and I promised her on her death bed that I would lose weight and stop driving for dickheads and drive for myself," Nick says. "I was 203kg, so I took a chance and lost 100kg and am living the dream with my own truck." Ever since Nick bought the Kenworth he had a Ned Kelly theme in mind. "It’s been wrapped and I’m rapt," he smiles. "Stand up for what you believe in and deliver." Hard worker Just over 51 years ago, Sunny Warby picked up his new B model Mack just over 51 years ago. It was registered on September 7, 1965. "Back when I was a little fellow Anthill Ranger had a display at the showgrounds," Sunny recalls. "I was only a kid and saw these integrated cabs and I thought to myself, ‘I’m going to buy me a Mack one day’." Sunny says he worked hard back in those days, putting down a third deposit on the truck and then paying it off over three years. "I didn’t muck around; I used to work for every bugger," he says. "I always had a job but on the weekends I worked and saved my money. Other blokes would be out having a good time and I would have a good time working. I loved it. "I still enjoy what I do, I drive a truck and dog tipper and I see all these blokes around here that I’ve known for years," he smiles. "Life’s a picnic, you know." Sunny initially subbied to Fridge Mobile and later bought his own trailer in 1967 and, like his B model, it has been restored and refurbished. It was also present at the show. "Look at the equipment around here and stone the crows, it’s terrific," Sunny exclaims. "It’s the appreciation and the excitement of the people as they wander around – and you can’t wish for better." Mountain Macks Bob Miller is a Mack man through and through and he had a couple on show at Clarendon. Bob bought his first Mack, a B model, in 1974 and worked it on interstate with Vaughn Transport. "I sold it to a friend in ’76 and he used it for hauling coal up around Lithgow," Bob says. "He passed away in 2005 and I bought it back from his estate. It had been in a shed for 20 years. "The Flintstone I bought three years ago. It was originally a crane truck and we put a bunk on it, and it’s on its first outing here today. Bob, who lives just up the hill at Valley Heights in the Blue Mountains," had a few tippers on the road during his truck driving years. "The livery on my Macks is from the Valiant S models of the ’60s. "Today, all of my three boys, John, Barry and James drive trucks and now I drive a school bus." Mack in the middle Dallas Fabian is well known around the NSW Central Coast. His business, DJF Haulage is based at Mangrove Mountain near Gosford and is owned by Dallas Fabian, running five semi-tippers. He had a Super-Liner on show at Clarendon. "The Super-Llner is only a spare truck so when one is off the road, it takes up the slack," Dallas says, who brought along his wife Katie and children Lilian and Jackson. "We come down here every year; it’s probably one of the better shows we do," he says. Dallas is so keen on Macks that his children have it incorporated into their middle names. "My daughter is Lilian Mackenzie and my son is Jackson Mackinley," Fabian says. "I wouldn’t have any other truck and it’s great to be able to come and show them off and be appreciated by others." Show on the road One of the rarer trucks on display was Kirby Maxwell’s well-travelled Oshkosh. Kirby bought the Oshkosh in 1976 and put a towing body on its back, traveling the Pacific Highway for years. In 1994, he took the body off and fitted a turntable and began heavy haulage work. "It’s been a fabulous bit of gear, perfect for towing," Kirby says. "As a tow truck it weighed in at 23 tonne and had a 200 tonne winch behind it. "I could load a bent-up prime mover onto its own trailer and tow it all. I never left anything behind." Kirby sold it in 1997 and it had a few different owners. In 2010 a mate showed him a photo of an Oshkosh for sale in Adelaide that he thought was Kirby’s old truck. "I rang the guy and he reckons it belonged to Brambles. I convinced him it was mine and the vendor wanted an arm and a leg for it compared to what I sold it for," Kirby explains. "Anyway, we negotiated with him. I brought it home and it took us 12 months to refurbish it again. "It cost a lot and I actually drove to Alice Springs last year." These days Kirby spends most of his time going to historical shows. He rates Clarendon as one of the best. Making hay Craig Heffer’s cab-over Kenworth hauls hay and straw from Yarrawonga up to Sydney, but it had a day out for the Kenworth Classic. "I’ll cart anything really," Craig says. "I have a B-double drop deck and we’re kept busy with the straw. "I unloaded close to here yesterday so it was a good opportunity to come to the show." Craig bought the Kenworth four years ago, rebuilding and refurbishing it. Unfortunately it was written off soon after completion. "I blew a steer tyre and it just wedged into the fuel tank and went hard left into a tree," he recalls. "It was on the road for three months before the accident. "It took 12 months to rebuild it the first time, but only took four months the second time because I did it full time." Craig found a brand new cab which sped up with the second rebuild. Picture gallery - https://www.ownerdriver.com.au/events-news/1610/clarendon-classic-rally-2016

Owner/Driver / October 26, 2016 Bright weather, Wall of Fame inductions and a rise in truck numbers were the highlights of the 2016 Deniliquin Truck Show and Industry Expo This year’s Deniliquin Truck Show and Industry Expo, only the second running of the event, saw a significant rise in trucks turning up. Local owners, operators and drivers arrived to support the event. Deniliquin is in the middle of a productive agricultural area which relies on the transport industry. This year’s event, held on September 10, took place on the banks of the Edward River. The previous night, close on 200 people attending a dinner, which saw the first two inductees onto the Deni Wall of Fame. Fourteen people were nominated and David ‘Sherbie’ Grimison in addition to Alan and Kate Murphy were inducted. Sadly Kate passed away in March. Deni Truck Show committee president John Creenaune says three independent judges selected the inductees. "Everyone was worthy of winning and the remaining 12 are automatically re-nominated for 2017," John explains. The wall is being constructed in a parking bay east of Deniliquin and will be officially opened in the next couple of weeks. Prominent speakers at the dinner included Maggie Welsh from TransHelp, Paul Fellows winner of the John Murphy Memorial Safety Award from TruckSafe, and Brendan ‘Bumper’ Farrell from Burrumbuttock Hay Runners. John Creenaune says it was a battle to get Bumper to the dinner on time. "He had broken down up the top of Townsville. It took a bus trip and four air flights to get him here, arriving just in time for tea," John smiles. Bumper also opened the truck show on Saturday morning before heading back to Townsville. "Isn’t the transport industry fantastic? Bumper had a bit of a gearbox problem and by the time he gets up there it will be ready to go again." The auction was one of the highlights of Saturday. The public attended in good numbers and were able to get up close and personal with trucks, operators, police with vehicles, the Rural Fire Service and many other industry suppliers with a range of vehicles from new trucks and to bull bars and semi-trailers. Well washed One of the first to line up on Saturday morning was Aaron Hayes in one of Mahoney’s T909s. The previous day Aaron was at a Deniliquin wash bays, removing the road grime and bugs. Aaron had just delivered a load of hay and took the Saturday off to attend the show before heading home the next day. Mahoney’s are based down in Colac in Victoria and their white prime movers with green tippers are a common sight. "I’ve got a couple of mates on the organising committee here and came to support them and get behind a good cause" he says. Aaron has had the T909 for two years, the first of that model he has driven, and loves it. "Generally I’ll be pulling tippers carrying anything that will tip out the back," he explains. "We basically cover Victoria and the lower half of NSW. "All the gear is well looked after so it is great to come and show it off." Helen’s wheels Helen Dann takes a lot of pride in her well-travelled Mercedes-Benz. Helen didn’t have far to travel to the shower, however, being based at Mathoura, about 20km south of town. "It’s a poor woman’s Kenworth," she laughs. "It will do until I get a Kenworth." The Benz is an ex-Shell fuel truck and came with green guards so Helen has kept the green running through the truck. Helen has been driving trucks since she was 17, getting her licence in NSW. "I moved to Victoria and swapped it for a Victorian licence so I could start driving trucks sooner," she explains. "You have to be 21 in NSW. "I was very keen to get behind the wheel; I love trucks and driving them," she adds. Helen was one of the 14 nominees up for induction into the Deni Wall of Fame. She has already been inducted into the Alice Springs Wall of Fame. "I’ve run three trucks, I had a business and today I have the Benz. "I’ve had it for a year. We use it for farm work, carting hay at present." Helen says she has a dream of one day going ice-road trucking. "It’s one of the things on my bucket list." One of the 909s Mitch Grey rolled up to the show in one of Wade Hannasky’s T909s. Not only was it an opportunity to show off the truck, but also to catch up with a few mates. "This is our newest one and identical to three other 909s in the fleet," Mitch explains. "They are traded at 700,000 and are a great truck. You can’t go past it for our work." Hannasky, based at Echuca, hauls livestock, which Mitch enjoys. He says he has known Wade for many years. "Between the family farm and this it keeps me busy but I love it," he says. "The Australian border is pretty much where I go – everywhere." Toy show Lindsay McKenzie drove an old Kenworth SAR up to Deniliquin, also using the occasion to catch up with his daughter Leonie. A former Deniliquin resident of most of his life after a truck driving career of 44 years, Lindsay now lives in Traralgon in Victoria’s Gippsland region. "I retired four years ago and built myself a toy," he says of the SAR. "Leonie’s life is up here and it is a chance to come and say hello to a lot of mates." The SAR is on historical plates and is in immaculate condition, a far cry from when he first laid eyes on it. "It was a bit of a mess but we brought it back up," Lindsay says. "It’s got all the good gear, is B-double rated and has air bag suspension." Despite the SAR, he admits he is a ‘Mack man’. "I always had Superliners but when it came to just having one to play with, I chose an SAR simply because it was affordable in comparison to a Mack." Winning Cat Laura Annette had brought up D&K Walker’s Cat tip truck to the show. After helping out in Walker’s landscaping business in Kilmore, Laura’s love of trucks and passion to drive now sees her driving the Cat. "I first started driving for my uncle, driving his little boom lift and it went from there," Laura says. "Driving the Cat is challenging but I don’t mind a challenge and can handle the manual gear box. "I can’t reverse the dog trailer but I’m learning," she smiles. "You’ve got to start somewhere and I am enjoying it." The truck show was a chance to show the Cat off, which picked up the Best Truck 4-9 Years trophy, and have a weekend away. Laura’s boss, Brad Walker explained that Laura nearly drove him crazy, wanting to have a go in the Cat. "I gave her a go, took her out a few times, teaching her on our little rigid," Brad recalls. "Laura is very good and after a while we tried with the trailers with lighter loads and she is good enough to be going by herself. "She’s competent and a real good steerer!" Purple people meeter Kieran Pascoe has his bright purple Mack Super-Liner on show at Deniliquin. Based in nearby Finley, Kieran’s truck certainly stands out in a crowd. Kieran keeps the Mack busy pulling a tipper road train around NSW, mainly running up to the north of the state. The Mack is four years old with Kieran picking it up in October 2012 and completing 491,000km since. "It has performed really well with plenty of horsepower while being good on fuel," He smiles. "It’s fully automatic, it has got to be with the MP10 and its 685hp. I’m actually extremely impressed with the auto." Due to work commitments Kieran missed last year’s Deni Truck Show. "Everybody should support anything to do with the locals, and this is a really good truck show," he adds. "It’s run very well and it’s good to be here." Along the Murray The Frankling Transport team, based at Koondrook on the Murray, drove the 90km to Deniliquin show off their three Kenworths. Owner and driver Darren Frankling says the company specialises in bulk cartage, especially grain. "Deni and the local area has a lot of trucks and it’s a good indication of the transport in this area by just how many trucks have turned up here," Darren says. He is looking forward to a good season with a favourable harvest predicted. "Everything is positive at this stage as long as the rain knows when to stop," he says. Frankling driver Evan Whitbourne attended the dinner on Friday evening and came away impressed. "They inducted a couple of local transport identities here onto the Wall of Fame and it went off very well." Frankling Transport went on to win the Best Fleet award. Back in numbers The O’Loughlin Excavations’ trucks arrived from Cobram, the team forced to give them a final wipe over after driving through a rain shower along the way. "That’s the joys of trucking," says John Hill. "These get down and dirty but it’s good to have them all cleaned up." John came to the inaugural Deni show, and enjoyed it so much he came back with two trucks from the company’s five-strong fleet for this year’s event. "It’s another great day; a ripper," he adds. "We’ll enjoy it and catching up with other drivers. Deniliquin Truck Show Winners Truck of the Show: Matthew Clarke, Tongala Vic, 2010 Kenworth K108 People’s Choice: Leo Kelly, Edenhope Vic, 1984 Kenworth W Model Muscles Gray Memorial Award: Clinton McKinnon, Narellen NSW, 2006 Kenworth T904 Best Truck Under 3 years: Gray’s Transport, Finley NSW, 2016 Kenworth T950 Best Truck 4-9 years: D&K Walker Transport, Kilmore Vic, 2010 Cat CT630 Best Truck 10-25 years: Clinton McKinnon, Narellen NSW, 2006 Kenworth T904 Best Truck 26-39 years: John Kerr, Bendigo Vic, 1988 Mack Superliner Best Truck 40 years & over: Neil Scott, Deniliquin NSW, 1936 Maple Leaf Tray body Best Rigid: Duanueo Kemp, Cranbourne North Vic, 2003 Kenworth T404ST Best Local Truck: Sam Armytage, Deniliquin NSW, 2011 Kenworth K200 Best Fleet: Frankling Transport, Koondrook Vic Picture gallery - https://www.ownerdriver.com.au/events-news/1610/deniliquin-truck-show-and-industry-expo-2016

Industry applauds QLD roads upgrade investment Australasian Transport News (ATN) / October 31, 2016 Livestock transport body says the project will improve efficiency and combat fatigue The Livestock and Rural Transport Association Queensland (LRTAQ) has welcomed the federal government's $20 million funding commitment to upgrade roads in Rockhampton. Part of the federal government's Beef Roads Programme, the funding involves improving road infrastructure to allow livestock transporters access the meat processors in the region using road trains. LRTAQ president Ian Wild says the upgrade will help reduce the number of trips required to move livestock, which will save time and money, and also reduce fatigue-related issues among drivers. "The Beef Capital of Australia has long suffered from the inability for anything larger than a B-double to access the processing plants in Rockhampton and tragically in 2014 the death of a driver whilst cross loading," Wild tells ATN. "The LRTAQ alongside AgForce have been working for many years towards a solution to this undesirable situation and we, the LRTAQ are extremely happy that funding has finally been announced for this to take place. "As well as much needed funding for other major transport corridors in the north of the state. "Our members sometimes take twice as long to get to our destination because of the state of some of the roads we frequent. "The announcement of this funding to upgrade some of the corridors will go a long way to reducing animal welfare and fatigue management issues that affect our industry."

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Magna EYERIS System used in Ford Super-Duty Trailering System Magna International Press Release / October 26, 2016 Magna International announced today its vision-based driver-assistance technologies are featured in the 2017 Ford Super Duty Trailer Reverse Guidance system. Magna's EYERIS driver-assistance technology supports the Trailer Reverse Guidance system jointly developed by Magna and Ford. Image-processing software determines the angle between truck and trailer and provides the most appropriate view to the driver, depending on the trailer's trajectory. Three high-resolution cameras and a color-coded bird's-eye diagram of the truck help warn the driver of potential jackknife conditions. Additional technology shows the driver the required steering wheel movement for reversing in a straight line. The Magna camera technology helps make the Super-Duty camera and display for Trailer Reverse Guidance exclusive in the pickup truck segment and best-in-class for any mass market vehicle. Magna has multiple patents on the trailer angle detection and guidance technology. Magna's back-up driver assistance systems are already used in the F-Series. When designing the all-new Super-Duty, Ford Motor Company tapped Magna to build an even more sophisticated towing and trailering system to meet Super Duty customer needs. Because Ford Super-Duty drivers tow frequently, Magna worked with the Ford team to develop advanced tools and high-definition cameras to create a 360-degree view for the driver. "Ford approached Magna to develop a solution for Super-Duty customers, for whom trailering and towing is a priority," said Swamy Kotagiri, Chief Technology Officer at Magna. "For two years, dozens of Magna engineers from the U.S., Germany and Canada worked together with Ford engineers to develop technology to enable Trailer Reverse Guidance, which makes trailering safer and more convenient. We are proud to support Ford with this innovation." Trailer Reverse Guidance is the latest driver-assist technology supplied by Magna, which supplies camera systems to more than 60 percent of major OEMs around the world.

FBI in Internal Feud Over Hillary Clinton Probe The Wall Street Journal / October 30, 2016 The surprise disclosure that FBI agents are taking a new look at Hillary Clinton’s email use lays bare, just days before the election, tensions inside the bureau and the Justice Department over how to investigate the Democratic presidential nominee. Investigators found 650,000 emails on a laptop that they believe was used by former Rep. Anthony Weiner and his estranged wife Huma Abedin, a close Clinton aide, and underlying metadata suggests thousands of those messages could have been sent to or from the private server that Mrs. Clinton used while she was secretary of state. It will take weeks to determine whether those messages are work-related from the time Ms. Abedin served with Mrs. Clinton at the State Department; how many are duplicates of emails already reviewed by the FBI; and whether they include either classified information or important new evidence in the Clinton email probe. Officials had to await a court order to begin reviewing the emails, which they received over the weekend, because they were uncovered in an unrelated probe of Mr. Weiner. The new investigative effort, disclosed by FBI Director James Comey on Friday, shows a bureau at times in sharp internal disagreement over matters related to the Clintons, and how to handle those matters fairly and carefully in the middle of a national election campaign. Even as the probe of Mrs. Clinton’s email use wound down in July, internal disagreements within the bureau and the Justice Department surrounding the Clintons’ family philanthropy heated up. The latest development began in early October when New York-based FBI officials notified Andrew McCabe, the FBI’s second-in-command, that while investigating Mr. Weiner for sending sexually charged messages to a teenage minor, they had recovered a laptop. Many of the 650,000 emails on the computer were from the accounts of Ms. Abedin. Those emails stretched back years and were on a laptop that hadn’t previously come up in the Clinton email probe. Ms. Abedin said in late August that the couple were separating. The FBI had searched the computer while looking for child pornography, but the warrant they used didn’t give them authority to search for matters related to Mrs. Clinton’s email arrangement at the State Department. In their initial review of the laptop, the metadata showed thousands of messages that were either sent to or from the private email server at Mrs. Clinton’s home that had been the focus of so much investigative effort for the FBI. Senior FBI officials decided to let the Weiner investigators proceed with a closer examination of the metadata on the computer, and report back to them. At a meeting early last week of senior Justice Department and FBI officials, a member of the department’s senior national-security staff asked for an update on the Weiner laptop. At that point, officials realized that no one had acted to obtain a warrant [professionals making such a careless mistake?]. Mr. McCabe then instructed the email investigators to talk to the Weiner investigators and see whether the laptop’s contents could be relevant to the Clinton email probe. After the investigators spoke, the agents agreed it was potentially relevant. Mr. Comey was given an update, decided to go forward with the case and notified Congress on Friday, with explosive results. Senior Justice Department officials had warned the FBI that telling Congress would violate policies against overt actions that could affect an election, and some within the FBI have been unhappy at Mr. Comey’s repeated public statements on the probe, going back to his press conference on the subject in July. The back-and-forth reflects how the bureau is probing several matters related, directly or indirectly, to Mrs. Clinton and her inner circle. Senior law-enforcement officials repeatedly voiced skepticism of the strength of the evidence in a FBI investigation of the Clinton Foundation, sought to condense what was at times a sprawling cross-country effort, and told agents to limit their pursuit of the case. The probe of the foundation began more than a year ago to determine whether financial crimes or influence peddling occurred related to the charity. Some investigators grew frustrated, viewing FBI leadership as uninterested in probing the charity. Others involved disagreed sharply, defending FBI bosses and saying Mr. McCabe in particular was caught between an increasingly acrimonious fight for control between the Justice Department and FBI agents pursuing the Clinton Foundation case. It isn’t unusual for field agents to favor a more aggressive approach than supervisors and prosecutors think is merited. But the internal debates about the Clinton Foundation show the high stakes when such disagreements occur surrounding someone who is running for president. The Wall Street Journal reported last week that Mr. McCabe’s wife, Jill McCabe, received $467,500 in campaign funds in late 2015 from the political-action committee of Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, a longtime ally of the Clintons and, until he was elected governor in November 2013, a Clinton Foundation board member. Mr. McAuliffe had supported Dr. McCabe in the hopes she and a handful of other Democrats might help win a majority in the state Senate. Dr. McCabe lost her race last November, and Democrats failed to win their majority. A spokesman for the governor has said that “any insinuation that his support was tied to anything other than his desire to elect candidates who would help pass his agenda is ridiculous.” Dr. McCabe told the Journal, “Once I decided to run, my husband had no formal role in my campaign other than to be” supportive. In February of this year, Mr. McCabe ascended from the No. 3 position at the FBI to the deputy director post. When he assumed that role, officials say, he started overseeing the probe into Mrs. Clinton’s use of a private email server for government work when she was secretary of state. FBI officials have said Mr. McCabe had no role in the Clinton email probe until he became deputy director, and by then his wife’s campaign was over. But other Clinton-related investigations were under way within the FBI, and they have been the subject of internal debate for months. Early this year, four FBI field offices—New York, Los Angeles, Washington and Little Rock, Ark.—were collecting information about the Clinton Foundation to see if there was evidence of financial crimes or influence-peddling. Los Angeles agents had picked up information about the Clinton Foundation from an unrelated public-corruption case and had issued some subpoenas for bank records related to the foundation. The Washington field office was probing financial relationships involving Mr. McAuliffe before he became a Clinton Foundation board member. Mr. McAuliffe has denied any wrongdoing, and his lawyer has said the probe is focused on whether he failed to register as an agent of a foreign entity. Clinton Foundation officials have long denied any wrongdoing, saying it is a well-run charity that has done immense good. The FBI field office in New York had done the most work on the Clinton Foundation case and received help from the FBI field office in Little Rock. In February, FBI officials made a presentation to the Justice Department. By all accounts, the meeting didn’t go well. Some said that is because the FBI didn’t present compelling evidence to justify more aggressive pursuit of the Clinton Foundation, and that the career anticorruption prosecutors in the room simply believed it wasn’t a very strong case. Others said that from the start, the Justice Department officials were stern, icy and dismissive of the case. “That was one of the weirdest meetings I’ve ever been to,” said one participant. Anticorruption prosecutors at the Justice Department told the FBI at the meeting they wouldn’t authorize more aggressive investigative techniques, such as subpoenas, formal witness interviews, or grand-jury activity. But the FBI officials believed they were well within their authority to pursue the leads and methods already under way. About a week after Mr. Comey’s July announcement that he was recommending against any prosecution in the Clinton email case, the FBI sought to refocus the Clinton Foundation probe, with Mr. McCabe deciding the FBI’s New York office would take the lead, with assistance from Little Rock. The Washington field office, FBI officials decided, would focus on a separate matter involving Mr. McAuliffe. Mr. McCabe had decided earlier in the spring that he would continue to recuse himself from that probe, given the governor’s contributions to his wife’s former political campaign. Within the FBI, the decision was viewed with skepticism by some, who felt the probe would be stronger if the foundation and McAuliffe matters were combined. Others, particularly Justice Department anticorruption prosecutors, felt that both probes were weak, based largely on publicly available information, and had found little that would merit expanded investigative authority. On August 12, a senior Justice Department official called Mr. McCabe to voice his displeasure at finding that New York FBI agents were still openly pursuing the Clinton Foundation probe during the election season. Mr. McCabe said agents still had the authority to pursue the issue as long as they didn’t use overt methods requiring Justice Department approvals. The Justice Department official was “very pissed off,” according to one person close to Mr. McCabe, and pressed him to explain why the FBI was still chasing a matter the department considered dormant. Others said the Justice Department was simply trying to make sure FBI agents were following longstanding policy not to make overt investigative moves that could be seen as trying to influence an election. Those rules discourage investigators from making any such moves before a primary or general election, and, at a minimum, checking with anticorruption prosecutors before doing so. “Are you telling me that I need to shut down a validly predicated investigation?” Mr. McCabe asked. After a pause, the official replied, “Of course not.” For Mr. McCabe’s defenders, the exchange showed how he was stuck between an FBI office eager to pour more resources into a case and Justice Department prosecutors who didn’t think much of the case. Following the call, Mr. McCabe reiterated past instructions to FBI agents that they were to keep pursuing the work within the authority they had. Others further down the FBI chain of command, however, said agents were given a much starker instruction on the case: “Stand down.” When agents questioned why they weren’t allowed to take more aggressive steps, they said they were told the order had come from the deputy director—Mr. McCabe. Others familiar with the matter deny Mr. McCabe or any other senior FBI official gave such a stand-down instruction. For agents who already felt uneasy about FBI leadership’s handling of the Clinton Foundation case, the moment only deepened their concerns. For those who felt the probe hadn’t yet found significant evidence of criminal conduct, the leadership’s approach was the right response. In September, agents on the foundation case asked to see the emails contained on nongovernment laptops that had been searched as part of the Clinton email case, but that request was rejected by prosecutors at the Eastern District of New York, in Brooklyn. Those emails were given to the FBI based on grants of partial immunity and limited-use agreements, meaning agents could only use them for the purpose of investigating possible mishandling of classified information. Some FBI agents were dissatisfied with that answer, and asked for permission to make a similar request to federal prosecutors in Manhattan. Mr. McCabe told them no and added that they couldn’t “go prosecutor-shopping.” Not long after that discussion, FBI agents informed the bureau’s leaders about the Weiner laptop, prompting Mr. Comey’s disclosure to Congress and setting off the furor that promises to consume the final days of a tumultuous campaign.

The Wall Street Journal / October 29, 2016 Reports this week will shine a light on the trucking industry at a critical point in the fourth quarter Big trucking companies have spent the second half of the year shrinking their fleets in hopes of changing an imbalance between the supply of rigs on the road and tepid shipping demand that has flattened industry earnings. They will learn in the coming weeks, as retailers stock up at stores and distribution centers for the holidays, whether efforts to slim down capacity have produced the rate increases that trucking companies say they need to increase profitability and to expand fleets next year. Trucking-industry reports in the coming week will take the pulse of a market at a critical point in the fourth quarter, when companies look to build off momentum in the consumer and manufacturing arenas to set business plans for 2017. Industry data groups ACT Research and FTR are due to report this week on new heavy-duty truck orders for companies in October, a critical month for setting fleet plans for the coming year after several months in which orders have plummeted to historically low levels. DAT Solutions LLC, which measures freight rates in the industrial-trucking market, will report the next week on whether carrier efforts to rein in capacity amid tepid demand are pushing up prices as hoped. DAT says prices for spot-market freight hauls and shipments moving under long-term contracts have been slipping for most of the year, and that rates in September were down 6.4% from the same month a year earlier. “We haven’t seen any difficulty in finding trucks,” said Ken Forster, chief executive of logistics company Sunteck Transport Group, a broker based in Jacksonville, Fla., that finds and books trucks for freight shippers. “It’s clear that overcapacity has driven down pricing.” In quarterly earnings reports this month, Swift Transportation Co., Werner Enterprises Inc. and Covenant Transportation Group Inc. said they have pulled a combined hundreds of trucks from service since the second quarter. Idling trucks is a way large fleets can quickly reduce capacity to match demand, which has stagnated this year amid uneven retail imports and sluggish growth for manufacturers. Swift, the country’s largest truckload carrier, counted 581 fewer trucks in the third quarter than it did this time last year, and plans to cut an additional 200 trucks in the fourth quarter. The company’s fleet tops 19,000 big rigs. Werner, the fifth-largest U.S. truckload carrier, according to SJ Consulting Group, said it cut its fleet by 240 trucks in the quarter ended Sept. 30 from a year earlier. The company posted a 41% drop in third-quarter net profit, to $18.9 million, and said in its earnings statement that it won’t add trucks “until we see meaningful improvement in the freight and rate markets.” Phoenix-based Knight Transportation Inc., whose net profit fell 23% year-over-year in the third quarter to $23.4 million, says the average age of its trucks has grown as the carrier delayed buying new equipment and focused instead on getting more use out of the trucks already in its fleet. Trucking companies have struggled with weak demand this year, with volumes and shipping prices falling while retailers and other businesses work down excessive inventory levels. U.S. domestic truck and rail shipments fell in September for the 19th straight month, according to research firm Cass Information Systems Inc. Still, several companies said they see signs that the downturn in freight demand might have bottomed out. Covenant and Heartland Express Inc. reported year-over-year declines in third-quarter net profit that were smaller than the second-quarter declines. Swift’s net profit improved 4.7% year-over-year in the third quarter, largely because of what the company said were cost cuts and improved efficiency.

Scania Group Press Release / October 28, 2016 Scania’s sales reached US$8.3 billion (SEK 75.2 billion) in the first nine months of 2016 and the company’s underlying operational performance was strong. Higher vehicle volume in Europe and increased service revenue was partly offset by negative currency rate effects and lower deliveries in Latin America. Summary of the first nine months of 2016 Operating income amounted to US$413,794 (SEK 3,733 million), and was negatively impacted by a provision of US$421.2 million (SEK 3.8 billion) related to the European Commission’s competition investigation Operating income excluding items affecting comparability rose by 7 percent to US$835,015 (SEK 7,533 million) , resulting in an operating margin of 10.0 percent Net sales rose by 8 percent to US$8.3 million (SEK 75,209 million) Cash flow amounted to US$ -21.3 million (SEK -192 million) in Vehicles and Services Comments by Henrik Henriksson, President and CEO “Scania’s sales reached US$8.3 billion in the first nine months of 2016 and the company’s underlying operational performance was strong. Higher vehicle volume in Europe and increased service revenue was partly offset by negative currency rate effects and lower deliveries in Latin America. Earnings were impacted negatively by the high investment level related to Scania’s new truck generation. Scania’s position in the European market remained strong with a market share of around 17 percent. The replacement need and economic situation in Europe continues to have a positive impact on demand for trucks. Order bookings in Latin America continued at a low level, and Brazil is still uncertain. In Eurasia, order bookings increased somewhat and Russia appears to have bottomed out. Scania increased its market share in Buses and Coaches in Europe to 7.6 percent, compared to 6.9 percent in 2015. Demand for buses and coaches is high in Europe, Latin America and Asia. In Engines, demand remains at a relatively low level. Service revenue amounted to a record US$1.8 billion (SEK 15.8 billion) during the first nine months of 2016, an increase of 3 percent and of 7 percent in local currency. Financial Services showed a strong performance and customer payment capacity is good. Scania launched its new truck generation during the third quarter of 2016. It has been very positively received and the S series has been elected the prestigious “International Truck of the year 2017”. The jury’s motivation emphasised driver comfort, safety aspects and fuel savings for hauliers of 5 percent. Together with Scania’s recently introduced option to service vehicles based on flexible maintenance plans − a service made possible by continual monitoring of connected vehicles’ operating data − Scania Maintenance is reaching an entirely new level. Through a great deal of precision, the vehicle can receive exactly the maintenance it needs to spend more time generating revenue and less time at the workshop.” 2016 Q3 Report - https://www.scania.com/group/en/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2016/10/Scania-Interim-Report-January-September-2016.pdf

That is the typical air reservoir paired with an optional Ingersoll Rand air starter.

Heavy Duty Trucking / October 28, 2016 A redesigned automatic lighting system for fifth wheels will soon be available from SAF-Holland, which says its ELI-te electronic lock indicator will help drivers ensure a proper coupling when they hook onto trailers. (The system was introduced in 2012 in Europe where it is call RECOSS - http://ww1.safholland.de/sites/germany/en/products/fifthwheels/accessories/Pages/RECOSS.aspx) The ELI-te Fifth Wheel Coupling Indicator includes white LED lights for the jaws-king pin area of the fifth wheel, red LED warning lights, and a long-life, application-specific electronic control module, said Bryon Redecker, product manager. The system is self-contained except for a power cord that must be fitted to a tractor’s electrical system. It is replacing a version introduced about 15 years ago that has links to an in-cab indicator system. For various reasons that product has not been popular, Redecker said. Miscouplings sometimes cause kingpins to slip loose from fifth wheels and trailer noses to fall onto the ground as a tractor pulls away. Major fleets have told SAF-Holland that hundreds of instances of dropped trailers occur each year. Drivers working with the ELI-te receive simple, immediate, and actionable feedback after each coupling. When a trailer kingpin is properly coupled to an ELI-te equipped fifth wheel, four high-intensity white LED lights mounted within the fifth wheel automatically illuminate the lock jaws. Drivers can then verify that jaws have locked onto the kingpin. If the coupling is not successful, the white lights stay dark and outward-facing red lights begin flashing. A driver can then find out why the coupling is not complete. A successful retry will turn off the red lights and illuminate the white lights. After a recheck, the driver can hook up air and electrical lines, finish a pre-trip inspection of tractor and trailer, and be on his way. The enhanced ELI-te is an integrated option on Holland’s FW series fifth wheels, including the FW31, 33 and 35. It will be available installed at the Holland factory or in retrofit kits. Price has not been set. “The lights make it easy for drivers to positively confirm that they have coupled correctly, and warn them if they have not. It’s a new generation of safety,” said Mark Molitor, vice president of engineering, Americas. “It’s an engineered, all-in-one system that will be spec’d by on-highway fleets that are looking to empower drivers to accomplish correct coupling consistently.” .

CFI Name Returns With TransForce Acquisition Heavy Duty Trucking / October 28, 2016 Longtime employees of TransForce’s new acquisition in Joplin, Mo., are proudly digging out their old CFI shirts, as the company founded in 1951 as Contract Freighters Inc. goes back to its roots and its name under its new ownership. Late Thursday, the Canadian-based trucking giant TransForce announced it had bought the former Con-way Truckload business from XPO Logistics for $558 million. It’s the third acquisition for CFI in the past decade. In 2007, CFI was purchased by Con-way and became Con-way Truckload. A little over a year ago, XPO bought Con-way. It looked into selling off the truckload operation, which didn’t fit well into its global logistics business, but decided earlier this year after looking at several offers that it would keep it. Then TransForce, as part of its strategy to expand further into the U.S., approached XPO about an acquisition. Katlin Owens, communications coordinator senior, told HDT that CFI will operate as a stand-alone company, and that longtime employees are thrilled. “We have a lot of CFI employees who have been here a long time; we have an extremely long tenure for our employees,” she said. “The building is full of people who have brought out their CFI shirts from before 2007 when we were bought by Con-way.” Owens notes that through both the Con-way and XPO acquisition, the Joplin-based operations maintained their own IT, communication, HR departments, etc. “They’re basically going to wind us up and let us go,” she says. “There’s going to be a bit of untangling, but we are in a fantastic position as far as our employee base. We’ve got the skills and experience to be successful.” Publicly traded, TransForce operates across Canada and the United States through its various subsidiaries. With approximately $3 billion in revenue in truckload, package and courier, LTL, and logistics, TransForce has grown rapidly through a number of acquisitions. Truckload is now its largest segment, representing nearly 50% of its total revenue. CFI will be its largest truckload company in the U.S. In a letter to customers, CFI President Tim Staroba said, “TransForce’s acquisition strategy of acquiring standalone entities that operate independently has proven to be extremely successful and we are honored to be part of the TransForce group of companies going forward.” While being part of a global company such as XPO gave CFI employees a new global perspective, an appreciation for the world of publicly traded companies and for business measures such as EBITDA, Owens noted that CFI employees are looking forward to being able to focus more on the communities where it is located, both in its headquarters city of Joplin, as well as at terminals in Michigan, Arkansas, Texas and Mexico. (CFI has a long-established cross-border operation with Mexico and that will continue.) “Charity is a huge part of who we are,” Owens said. Employees just raised nearly $40,000 to distribute to its local communities to make the holidays brighter for children and elderly in need, but some programs had been put on hold after the XPO acquisition. “We have charitable programs we have put on for 20 years that were put on hiatus when XPO came. We’re going to be able to return to being more involved.” Will CFI go full retro and bring back the old font for the logo? Too early to say, Owens said -- after all, they've only known about this for less than a day. .