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Bloomberg / October 25, 2016 Mercedes-Benz is building [Nissan "Navara"-based] pickups with nubuck-leather seats and oak trim, in a bet that double-cab trucks will reel in wealthy parents and sailboat owners the same way off-road SUVs did a few decades ago. In late 2017, the luxury-car maker will start selling mid-size pickups, smaller than Ford Motor Co.’s F-150 that’s popular in the U.S., with seats for five people. Mercedes presented two near-production stylings of the X-Class in Stockholm this week, one with a brash metallic-green paint job featuring an electric winch at the front and the other a less rugged version designed for city driving. “With the Mercedes-Benz pickup, we will close one of the last gaps in our portfolio,” Daimler Chief Executive Officer Dieter Zetsche said on Tuesday in a statement. Expanding into pickups shows how far Mercedes parent Daimler AG is prepared to go in pursuit of sales volumes as competition among luxury-car makers intensifies, even though attempts by rivals including General Motors Co. to win customers with upscale models haven’t always been successful. It’s also the latest bid by the world’s biggest maker of commercial vehicles to repurpose models for a broader audience, after it revamped its Vito small goods transporter into the V-Class family car. Mercedes is set to unseat BMW as the world’s biggest seller of premium vehicles this year, as it boosts volumes with sporty SUVs that appeal to younger buyers. The company is betting that global demand for mid-sized pickups will expand by nearly 40 percent to 2025 to 2.8 million units globally. “Doing a premium pickup is an interesting experiment for Mercedes,” said Ferdinand Dudenhoeffer, director of the Center for Automotive Research at the University of Duisburg-Essen. “Thirty years ago, no one would have thought that SUVs could become as popular as they are today. Pickups could go in a similar direction.” Mercedes said key markets for the cars are South America, Europe, South Africa and Australia, where the segment already makes up 14 percent of total auto sales. Entering the U.S. could be on the cards too, said Volker Mornhinweg, head of Mercedes’ vans unit. X-Class vehicles will be “competitively priced,” connect to the Internet and feature a range of driver assistance features, Mercedes said. Plans for the model started in 2012, and cars will be produced in plants in Barcelona and Cordoba, Argentina, as part of Daimler’s strategic tie-up with the Renault-Nissan Alliance. Sharing production capacity and key elements like engines with partner Renault-Nissan is helping to reduce costs and accelerate bringing the product to market, said Mornhinweg. Nissan already produces the mid-size Navara pickup. “The Mercedes-Benz pickup will bridge the gap between commercial and private use,” the company said in the statement. The target audience for the cars is “families with an active lifestyle,” ”cattle ranchers in Argentina,” and ”successful adventurers,” it said. .

Reuters / October 25, 2016 The U.S. policy of trying to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons "is probably a lost cause" and the best that could be hoped for is a cap on the country's nuclear capability, the Director of U.S. National Intelligence James Clapper said on Tuesday. However, underscoring conflicting views in the Obama administration, the State Department said U.S. policy was unchanged and continued to be to seek the "verifiable denuclearization" of the Korean peninsula. President Barack Obama has repeatedly stated that the United States will never accept North Korean as a nuclear-armed state. Clapper made clear at an event at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in New York he did not think that the policy the administration has stuck to, in spite of repeated North Korean nuclear tests, was realistic. "I think the notion of getting the North Koreans to denuclearize is probably a lost cause," Clapper said at the Council on Foreign Relations think tank in New York. "They are not going to do that - that is their ticket to survival." Pyongyang has persisted with its missile and nuclear weapons programs, including a Sept. 9 nuclear explosion, despite strong international sanctions. Clapper said he got a good taste of how the world looks from North Korea's viewpoint when he went to Pyongyang on a mission in 2014 to secure the release of two Americans held there. "They are under siege and they are very paranoid, so the notion of giving up their nuclear capability, whatever it is, is a non-starter with them," he said. "The best we could probably hope for is some sort of a cap, but they are not going to do that just because we ask them. There’s going to have to be some significant inducements." U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said he had not seen Clapper's remarks [lie] but told a regular news briefing in Washington that the administration did not believe denuclearization was a lost cause. "No, nothing’s changed … that’s not our position. Our policy objective is to seek to obtain a verifiable denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. That is the policy; that is both the goal and what we want to see and there is a way to do that." Clapper also said it bothered him that the United States was not capitalizing on using information as a weapon against North Korea. "That's something they worry about a lot ... That is a great vulnerability I don't think we have exploited. Right now, we are kind of stuck on our narrative and they are kind of stuck on theirs." 'WORST CASE' SCENARIO Clapper was asked if he thought North Korea could mount a nuclear warhead on a missile that can reach the West Coast of the United States and reiterated the intelligence assessment that this had to be a "worst-case assumption." He said North Korea had yet to test its KN08 intercontinental ballistic missile, so neither North Korea nor the United States knew whether it worked. "Nevertheless, we ascribe to them the capability to launch a missile that would have a weapon on it to reach parts of the United States, certainly including Alaska and Hawaii," he said. "They could do it. We have to make the worst-case assumption here.”

The Guardian / October 25, 2016 Poll finds Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump continue to face historically low favourability ratings, while pessimism about the country’s direction has grown As they go to the polls in a historic presidential election, more than six in 10 Americans say neither major political party represents their views any longer, a survey has found. Dissatisfaction with both Democrats and Republicans has risen sharply since 1990, when less than half held that neither reflected their opinions, according to research by the Public Religion Research Institute (PRRI). The seventh annual 2016 American Values Survey was carried out throughout September among a random sample of 2,010 adults in all 50 states. Both party establishments have been rattled by the outsider challenges of Donald Trump, who was successful in winning his party’s nomination, and Bernie Sanders, who was not. In a year that seems ripe for third-party candidates, Libertarian Gary Johnson and Jill Stein of the Green party are seeking to capitalise but have fallen back in the polls in recent weeks. Sixty-one per cent of survey respondents say neither political party reflects their opinions today, while 38% disagree. Nearly eight in 10 (77%) independents and a majority (54%) of Republicans took this position, while less than half (46%) of Democrats agree. There was virtually no variation across class or race. Both Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton and Republican standard bearer Trump continue to suffer historically low favourability ratings, with less than half of the public viewing each candidate positively (41% v 33%). Clinton is viewed less favourably than the Democratic party (49%), but Trump’s low rating is more consistent with the Republican party’s own favourability (36%). The discontent with parties and candidates extends to the electoral process itself, which Trump claims is rigged against him. Less than half the public (43%) say they have a great deal of confidence that their vote will be counted accurately, while 38% have some confidence and 17% have hardly any confidence. Party affiliation shapes perception. About two in three Republicans believe voter fraud is a bigger problem than voter disenfranchisement, whereas two in three Democrats say eligible voters being denied access is the greater concern. Studies have found cases of voter fraud to be minuscule. The PRRI found that pessimism about the direction of the US is significantly higher today (74%) than it was at this time during the 2012 presidential race, when 57% of the public said the country was on the wrong track. Indeed, there is hankering, at least on one side of the aisle, for a perceived golden age. The 1950s might have been the decade of Soviets launching Sputnik, of anti-communist witch-hunts and of persistent racial segregation, but 72% of Trump’s likely voters say American culture and way of life has changed for the worse since then. Some 70% of Clinton’s supporters say things have changed for the better. Robert Jones, chief executive of PRRI, said: “This election has become a referendum on competing visions of America’s future. Donald Trump supporters are nostalgic for the 1950s, an era when white Christians in particular had more political and cultural power in the country, while Hillary Clinton supporters are leaning into – and even celebrating – the big cultural transformations the country has experienced over the last few decades.” A majority (56%) of white Americans – including three in four (74%) of white evangelical Protestants – say American society has changed for the worse since the 1950s, while roughly six in 10 of black (62%) and Hispanic (57%) Americans say it has improved. Critics have described Trump as an authoritarian figure who poses a fundamental threat to democracy. In a hint of what might have been possible if he had avoided numerous scandals and feuds during his campaign, the research found that 46% of people, including 55% of Republicans, believe the US needs a leader willing to break some rules in order to set things right. There was a modest racial divide on the appeal of a strongman but a clear class divide. A majority (55%) of white working class Americans endorsed the idea whereas less than a third (29%) of those with college degrees agreed. Jones told an audience at the Brookings Institution thinktank in Washington on Tuesday: “It fits very well with this portrait of Americans who see a very non-responsive political system to their situation. So when you feel parties aren’t attuned to you, government’s not attuned to you, nobody’s got your back, this kind of sentiment is, I think, what you get. “If you get a strong leader who’s coming in to shake things up – someone who’s said, ‘I’m the guy. Only I can solve this problem’ – I think it’s appealing to this kind of sentiment. It’s people who feel like the system’s largely failed them. They don’t see any paths working within the current channels to change things.” Henry Olsen, a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center, added: “It gets to the importance of listening. When people feel excluded from the normal process of society, they will endorse extreme measures in order to ensure they get part of that society. There is a segment that we don’t often come into contact with except through data that very much feels that way and they find Trump’s authoritarian demeanour reassuring rather than frightening.” Olsen argued it is incumbent on the election victors to listen to the views of people who think differently from them, comparing the situation with Brexit. “If the answer to our future is lean in without listening, we will eventually see a violent revolt that will shock everyone, in the way that [the leave vote] shocked Britain.” People name terrorism as the most important issue and are closely divided on the benefits of free trade. Some 58% oppose building a wall along the Mexican border, while 41% are in favour. Trump’s campaign was rocked earlier this month by the release of a 2005 video in which he boasted about sexually assaulting women. But the PRRI’s findings suggest its impact on the electorate might be less than supposed. Some 61% of people say an elected official who commits an immoral act in their personal life can still behave ethically and fulfill their duties in their public and professional life. This was a sharp increase from 44% in 2011. Most strikingly, 72% of white evangelical Protestants agree, up from just 30% in 2011. Jones said: “White evangelicals have gone from the least likely group to agree with this statement to the most likely group to agree with this statement.” Karlyn Bowman, a senior fellow and research coordinator at the American Enterprise Institute, said allegiance trumps character for many voters. “We saw the same thing in the 1990s, when for decades, feminists had told us that the personal was the political, and all of a sudden during the end of Bill Clinton’s presidency, everything flipped and the personal was no longer the political. I think party was more important than the issue.” Seven in 10 white evangelical Protestants say they will vote for Trump, while Clinton has a healthy lead among Catholics. She is tied with Trump among white Catholics. More than a third (35%) of Democrats cite Barack Obama as their favourite president, ahead of John F Kennedy (21%), Bill Clinton (20%) and Franklin D Roosevelt (15%). Nearly seven in 10 (69%) Republicans name Ronald Reagan as their favourite occupant of the White House, with George W Bush second on 12%.

Why Hillary Clinton's plans for no-fly zones in Syria could provoke US-Russia conflict The Guardian / October 25, 2016 Many in national security circles consider the risk of a confrontation with Russia to be severe: ‘I wouldn’t put it past them to shoot down a US aircraft’ Retired senior US military pilots are increasingly alarmed that Hillary Clinton’s proposal for “no-fly zones” in Syria could lead to a military confrontation with Russia that could escalate to levels that were previously unthinkable in the post-cold war world. The former strategists spoke to the Guardian as Clinton’s Republican rival Donald Trump warned that Clinton’s proposal to establish “safe zones” to protect beleaguered Syrian civilians would “lead to world war three”. The proposal of no-fly zones has been fiercely debated in Washington for the past five years, but has never attracted significant enthusiasm from the military because of the risk to pilots from Syrian air defenses and the presence of Russian warplanes. Many in US national security circles consider the risk of an aerial confrontation with the Russians to be severe. “I wouldn’t put it past them to shoot down an American aircraft,” said James Clapper, the US director of national intelligence, on Tuesday in response to a question from the Guardian at the Council on Foreign Relations. Those who have patrolled no-fly zones over the relatively freer skies of Bosnia and Saddam-era Iraq fear that a President Clinton would oblige the US to what one retired US air force three-star general described as an indefinite “air occupation”. Such a move would risk the lives of US pilots – and dare confrontation with a Russian military which is more aggressive than it has been in years. Critics of the plan also question how using US military power to establish and police a safe space for beleaguered Syrian civilians would contribute to the downfall of President Bashar al-Assad – the explicit goal of US policy in Syria. “If she is not politically posturing, it’s going to be a disaster. I hope it’s political posturing,” said John Kuehn, a retired navy officer who flew no-fly zone missions over Bosnia and Iraq. Kuehn who called denying an adversary its airspace “the cocktail party military application of power of choice”. David Deptula, a retired air force lieutenant general who commanded the no-fly zone operations over northern Iraq in 1998 and 1999, said the Russians were a “complicating factor” but considered the problems with a no-fly zone to be more fundamental. “Until a strategy that defines the desired end-state is clearly laid out in a comprehensive way, it’s difficult to advocate for a no-fly zone,” said Deptula. “Right now, the way it’s being discussed, it’s a solution in search of a strategy. Until coalition powers define what it is they wish to accomplish, banding about a solution like a no-fly zone is a non-starter.” The challenges for a no-fly zone over Syria outstrip those the US has faced over Libya, Bosnia and Iraq. Assad’s surface-to-air missiles, protecting the Mediterranean coast and southern regions the regime still controls, were formidable before the recent Russian addition of what Clapper, a former air force general, called “very advanced” S-300 and S-400 systems that can blanket the majority of Syrian airspace with missiles. Staging a no-fly zone requires either the assent of regional allies – Turkey is the nearest potential partner to Syria, but it has concentrated in recent months on improving ties with Moscow after Turkish forces shot down a Russian jet in November 2015 – or an expensive, open-ended and risky deployment of aircraft carrier groups to the eastern Mediterranean. But the most distinguishing feature of a Syria no-fly zone in 2017 would be the aerial presence of another great-power air force with an objective which is diametrically opposed to Washington’s. Russia and the US currently share the skies above Syria and maintain a military-to-military communication channel to avoid confrontation. But since they operate over different parts of the country and with different objectives – the US in the east against the Islamic State, Russia to the west against Assad’s opposition – a US-imposed no-fly zone would put their objectives into conflict. No one knows how either side would respond if Russian aircraft violated a US air cordon, nor how to de-escalate a clash before it spiraled into extended combat. Russia said on Tuesday that it would continue a moratorium on air strikes in the besieged city of Aleppo, but local sources said that rebel-held neighbourhoods had been struck in recent days. Kuehn, now a professor of military history at the US Army Command and General Staff College, said that escalation could occur by accident, either through a direct confrontation in the air, or through a Syrian or Russian capture of a downed US pilot. “I see almost nothing positive that can come from implementing [a no-fly zone] at the current time over Syria. Conversely, the potential to make a bad situation worse is very, very high,” Kuehn said. For years, senior US military officers have expressed reluctance to intervene in the Syrian civil war. In 2013, Martin Dempsey, then the chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, said that even a limited safe zone would cost over $1bn a month and require substantial air assets and ground troops to maintain. His successor, Joseph Dunford, told the Senate last month that a no-fly zone would “require us to go to war against Syria and Russia” before walking his assessment back under pressure from proposal advocate John McCain. Clinton, who has long backed a no-fly zone as the Syrian bloodshed has accumulated, acknowledged those concerns in last week’s third presidential debate. “I’m going to continue to push for a no-fly zone and safe havens within Syria not only to help protect the Syrians and prevent the constant outflow of refugees,” Clinton said, “but to, frankly, gain some leverage on both the Syrian government and the Russians so that perhaps we can have the kind of serious negotiation necessary to bring the conflict to an end and go forward on a political track.” But strategists have a hard time understanding how a no-fly zone provides the US with a large enough leverage to trade with Assad or Russia, given their objective is, respectively, self-preservation and the preservation of a client. “I don’t understand how a no-fly zone gets you to a political settlement. There’s no history supporting that. There were no-fly zones in Iraq for close to a decade and it settled nothing,” said Joshua Rovner of Southern Methodist University. “I wish this would be the kind of leverage she seems to hope it is, but I don’t see why this would pose a serious threat to Assad or Putin. It’s accepting a lot of new costs with very few benefits.”

Why the Middle East knows not to trust the United States The Washington Post / October 25, 2016 When the United States fights its wars in the Middle East, it has a nasty habit of recruiting local forces as proxies and then jettisoning them when the going gets tough or regional politics intervene. This pattern of “seduction and abandonment” is one of our least endearing characteristics. It’s one reason the United States is mistrusted in the Middle East. We don’t stick by the people who take risks on our behalf in Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon and elsewhere. And now, I fear, this syndrome is happening again in Syria, as a Kurdish militia group known as the YPG, which has been the United States’ best ally against the Islamic State, gets pounded by the Turkish military. The YPG is a special case for me because I had a chance to meet some of their fighters in May at a secret U.S. Special Operations forces training camp in northern Syria. They described battling to the last man — and sometimes woman — as they drove the Islamic State from its strongholds. Special Ops officers embedded with the YPG recounted their battlefield exploits with deep respect, expressing what one called “the brotherhood of the close fight.” Unfortunately, allying with the United States can be a dangerous proposition in the Middle East. Last Thursday, Turkey said its warplanes shot 18 targets in YPG-controlled areas of northern Syria. The Turks want to block the YPG from linking up with its fighters in a pocket known as Afrin, northwest of Aleppo. The Turks also want to prevent the YPG from playing a leading role in the liberation of Raqqa, the Islamic State’s capital, as the United States had planned. “If it doesn’t stop, it could preempt all plans for Raqqa,” warns a Pentagon official about the Turkish onslaught. Kurdish sources tell me that because the United States isn’t responding to pleas about Afrin, the YPG is appealing to Russia. The U.S. alliance with the YPG was forged during the liberation of Kobane from the Islamic State in late 2014. The Kurds were down to a few hundred fighters when U.S. Special Operations forces intervened. The assistance was brokered by Lahur Talabani, the intelligence chief of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan, or PUK. He sent several of his operatives into Kobane with GPS devices to call in U.S. close air support, via an operations center in the PUK’s headquarters in Sulaymaniyah, Iraq. “It was the right thing to do,” Talabani told me Tuesday in an interview in Washington. He explained that the YPG’s success against the Islamic State has saved Kurdish lives in Syria and taken pressure off Kurdish forces in Iraq, who are now fighting to liberate Mosul from the extremists. The Obama administration embraced the YPG because the Kobane victory was the first major battlefield success against the Islamic State. At last, the United States had a partner that could fight. But this alliance was built atop an ethnic fault line. That ruptured in August, when a YPG-dominated force captured Manbij, just south of the Turkish border. A few weeks later, the Turks invaded Syria and began their barrage against YPG targets. The United States has tried, unsuccessfully, to finesse the Turkish-Kurdish animosity. Before the Manbij offensive began in May, the United States brought to Incirlik Air Base in Turkey a delegation from the Syrian Democratic Forces, a coalition that nominally oversees the YPG. But this effort to paper over Turkish-Kurdish differences crumpled after the attempted coup in Turkey in July. Some of the Turkish generals who met the SDF are now said to be in prison as coup suspects. Turkey’s regional ambitions have swollen as President Recep Tayyip Erdogan consolidated power after the coup attempt. Even as Turkish forces harass the YPG and consolidate a border strip in Syria, they’re also advancing in Iraq, seeking a role in the liberation of Mosul despite warnings from Iraq and the United States to stay out. Erdogan speaks of Aleppo and Mosul as former Ottoman regional capitals. “One wild card is how to manage the role of Turkey in both theaters,” says a senior U.S. official. Maybe the Kurds should have known better than to ally with the United States, or to trust Turkey to stay out. Kurdish history is a story of betrayal. Fortunately for the United States, some goodwill remains from “Operation Provide Comfort,” the no-fly zone over northern Iraq that the United States imposed after the 1991 Gulf War, which helped create a thriving Kurdish regional government in Iraq. But people in the Middle East have learned to be wary of American promises. One Iraqi Christian leader recently rejected the suggestion of new American help, post-Islamic State. “You’ll walk away,” said the priest. “That’s what you do.”

Jacobs Vehicle Systems Press Release / October 25, 2016 Jacobs Vehicle Systems®, the world’s leading manufacturer of diesel and natural gas engine retarding systems and valve actuation mechanisms, announces the optimized engine brake for the 2017 Cummins X15 engine. Jacobs’ and Cummins’ engineers have once again raised the bar by improving the already industry-leading performance of the integrated Jake Brake® for the 15L engine. Launching now, the model year 2017 X15 engine offers the highest level of engine braking performance for heavy duty engines in North America. The 2017 X15 capitalizes on the optimization of the VGT and the braking cam to deliver approximately ten percent additional braking power at engine speeds under 1700 RPM, compared to that of the 2010 ISX15. At a typical engine speed of 1500 RPM, drivers can now rely on 450 HP of braking power to provide confidence and driver control while in traffic or descending a hill. With a simple downshift to increase the engine speed, the engine brake in the X15 Performance Series will deliver a retarding force of up to 600HP of braking at 2100RPM. The X15 braking performance continues to be best-in-class for heavy duty engines in North America. “Cummins was Jacobs’ first engine brake customer in 1961. Over 55 years later, we continue to innovate through collaboration among our engineering teams using all engine systems available to maximize engine braking,” said Steve Ernest, Vice President, Engineering and Business Development. “When the pioneers and global leaders of engine brakes combine efforts with world-class diesel engine designers, we drive constant innovation and evolution of technologies that deliver performance and value to the customer. With the Cummins X15, equipped with an integrated Jacobs Engine Brake®, truckers will experience safer travel and the improved comfort they demand, while reducing the wear of foundation brakes, downtime and service costs.” For more information on the 2017 X15, visit Cummins Engines’ News and Press page. .

NHTSA issues nonbinding guidance on vehicle cybersecurity Automotive News / October 24, 2016 The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) released new guidance for how car and truck manufacturers should approach cybersecurity amid growing scrutiny prompted by high-profile vehicle hacks and the spread of car connectivity technologies. NHTSA says cybersecurity should be a top priority of vehicle makers and suppliers that should be formally addressed during the product development process of new vehicles. The agency also says car and truck makers, and suppliers, should conduct “penetration tests” to seek out potential vulnerabilities. Test results should be documented to describe how weak spots were addressed or the rationale for not addressing vulnerabilities found in testing. The 22-page guidance is nonbinding and follows earlier cybersecurity “best practices” released in July by the Automotive Information Sharing and Analysis Center, a consortium of major automakers formed to act as a clearinghouse to share cybersecurity information. “In the constantly changing environment of technology and cybersecurity, no single or static approach is sufficient,” NHTSA Administrator Mark Rosekind said in a statement. “Everyone involved must keep moving, adapting, and improving to stay ahead of the bad guys.” The guidance also highlights NHTSA’s view that its authority covers auto cybersecurity even though the issue is not addressed by one of the existing Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standards (FMVSS). The agency and automakers alike have felt pressure from lawmakers to take a more aggressive approach on vehicle security in the last two years, with some proposing legislation to direct NHTSA and the Federal Trade Commission to write new regulations setting minimum digital protections.

$300 million for northern Australian roads Owner/Driver / October 25, 2016 WA, NT and Qld get investment boost under the northern roads and beef roads schemes Northern Australia will soon receive a fresh injection of funds with the federal government committing a total of nearly $300 million to key road projects across Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory. The Coalition is planning to invest $200 million under the Northern Australia Roads Programme (NARP), including more than: $175 million in Western Australia $80 million in Queensland $32 million in Northern Territory Additionally, the federal government will invest $100 million under the Northern Australia Beef Roads Programme, including: $12.51 million in WA $30 million in NT The news comes after transport and infrastructure minister Darren Chester announced a $56 million package for Queensland yesterday. "The beef roads and NARP programmes will support economic development in the north by funding targeted upgrades on key roads necessary for transporting cattle – improving the resilience of cattle supply chains, improving safety, and reducing travel times, vehicle operating and maintenance costs," Chester says. Speaking about the NARP funding for WA, the minister says the new funding "builds on the almost $90 million previously committed under the NARP totalling $177.78 million. "The Bow River Bridge project will involve replacing the existing single-lane bridge with a new two-lane bridge, reducing the need for heavy vehicles to come to a complete stop for oncoming traffic, saving fuel and time. "Works will also be undertaken to reconstruct the Broome to Cape Leveque Road. This project will help improve road safety on the main transport link through the Dampier Peninsula. "This investment helps improve safety for all road users, ensures the viability of rural industries, and increase access for communities by reducing the impacts of floods and seasonal road closures. "This investment will also complement the previously announced upgrades to sections of the Great Northern Highway at Wyndham Spur and Maggies Jump Up and improve the overall reliability of the Highway for not only the cattle industry but indeed broader road users." Key projects for Queensland include: Bowen Developmental Road: progressive sealing; Landsborough Highway (Longreach-Winton): Pavement widening and strengthening of around 24 kilometres; Peak Downs Highway (Clermont-Nebo): Logan Creek to Nine Mile Creek-Pavement widening and strengthening; and Bajool-Port Alma Road: upgrades to the port access road. The $32 million funding for NT will be used to upgrade Buntine Highway, with works including sealing some of the unsealed sections of the highway and some flood immunity improvements. "The poor condition of the Buntine Highway and limited year-round heavy vehicle access significantly impacts on the Territory's key industries and the delivery of important services," resources and northern Australia minister Matthew Canavan says. "Residents along the Highway and surrounding areas also rely on the Buntine Highway for access to essential services in both Katherine and Darwin." Canavan says the aim of NARP was to fund priority projects that will support economic development in the region. "We have a unique opportunity to develop the north, especially thanks to the strong growth we are seeing in Asia," he says. "Our investments in northern roads will help cut down the costs of getting goods to overseas markets and help us take advantage of these opportunities." So far the government has committed a total of nearly $700 million under the NARP and the beef roads schemes. Canavan says thanks to the beef roads funding, the cattle industry is be the "big winner". He asserts that the road infrastructure improvements "will also provide benefits to all road users, including other agricultural industries and the freight sector more broadly". Chester says the Beef Roads programme "recognises moving cattle from the farm gate to market involves some of the longest and most challenging land transport distances of any industry, anywhere in the world".

Big Rigs / October 25, 2016 When it comes to vintage trucking enthusiasts, it is interesting to note that a lot of the guys who own vintage trucks also have a tendency to run modern trucks in today's trucking industry. Fleets like Wickhams, Ray Marshall Transport, Kerden Bulk Haulage, all currently involved in the industry, and all having older trucks parked up in the shed. It's not just the big firms though, with many owner drivers having a vintage registration in their name as well as their own working truck. Hell, for some their vintage truck is their working truck. And the 2016 Clarendon Classic was a chance for these vintage mechanophiles to get together and share their machinery with like-minded folk. And what a lot of machinery there was. Run by the Sydney Antique Machinery Club, the Clarendon Classic attracted 4500 show-goers, with over 500 vehicles on display to the public over three days. This year saw the addition of the Kenworth Klassic, a one-make homage to the Kenworth brand, with KW fans from all over converging on the showground west of Sydney, to show their love of the brand. The Klos brothers, truck customisers extraordinaire, brought a fleet of 11 trucks and Big Rigs caught up Justin Klos to get his view on the show. Justin told us about one their latest builds, a completely rebuilt W900, with brand new parts used throughout. According to Justin; "it's this sort of truck that we used to see at shows as kids, and now we are working on them”. When asked about the Klos penchant for the brand, Justin told us "it's the quality in these trucks, it's what makes Kenworth, Kenworth”. An interesting truck at the show (and a personal favourite), was the 1981 cabover brought to the show by Rob Woolley. The truck is a tribute to trucking in the days leading up to the Razorback Blockade, with Rob going the extra mile in getting stickers made, with one printed up with Wransacked. Another nice touch are the radar springs fitted to the bullbar, a vain attempt from back in the day to stop the police being able to pick up a truck's speed on a radar gun. Well positioned in the Haulin' the Hume trailer set up to register Kenworth trucks as they pulled in, author and photographer Alice Mabin was busy over the course of the weekend selling copies of her book, The Driver. A photographic journey across Australia, the book contains over a thousand images and stories of everyday truckers, with Alice telling Big Rigs "it's a chance to show truck drivers from a different perspective, to show the public the good that truck drivers do”. Big Rigs caught up with one of the driving forces behind the event, Bruce Gunter, to discuss the Kenworth Klassic, and to get his thoughts on the success of the event. Bruce was quick to tell Big Rigs, "I'm absolutely pumped with the amount of attention this show is getting, from social media and people just being so positive about the whole endeavour.” "We do it because we are passionate about the brand; this is a show with no judging and awards, cutting down on the issues that might stop owners from wanting to enter their trucks in a show like this. "Although we have no awards, we have handed out some wood-carved KW badge mementoes, to those who promote the brand, who support an event like this. "This year, our first year, we have attracted 273 Kenworth trucks and put a smile on countless people's faces. We will be back next year, expect it to be massive.” Away from the Kenworth Klassic, the mix of machinery on show was amazing, with everything from Paul Dove's 1924 Sentinel steam-powered truck, to a V8 powered bulldozer, which was amazing to watch, even more amazing to hear at full noise. There was a chance for a ride on a trailer hooked up the back of a Porsche. Well, a Porsche tractor. Acres of stationary engines huffing and puffing, a Pratt and Whitney radial engine putting on regular shows, the most impressive sight (and sound) was that of the steam train running punters between Richmond and Mulgrave, it can definitely be said that the Sydney Antique Machinery Club definitely knows how to put on a rally. One entrant, Paul Gauci, had his International C2150 on display. Powered by a Cat 3208 motor, the truck is a testament to the passion that is shown by these enthusiasts, that this truck which rolled out of the factory 45 years ago has been driven here under its own power. We asked Paul about his favourite part of the show, and he replied, "it's great to be able to catch up, to be able to talk with so many like-minded people”. And he is right. At a show like this, you can walk up to an owner and chat with them about what machinery they have brought, everyone is happy to be amongst like-minded people who share a common passion. Photo gallery - http://www.bigrigs.com.au/news/kenworth-klassic-brings-in-the-good-at-clarendon/3104150/#/0

Scania Group Press Release / October 24, 2016 Better service intervals, training programs, and connected services are all factors that professionals consider will contribute to increased profitability for companies investing in Scania’s New Truck Generation. From September to the end of November, more than 9,100 drivers, transport company owners, and fleet managers from across Europe are invited to test Scania’s New Truck Generation. Invited guests test drive trucks in the new R- and S-series at the Scania DemoCentre. They will also learn more about how connected services can help transport companies achieve better profitability. An early sample of guests showed a real appreciation of the new driver environment and the advantages that connected services can bring to transport businesses. Judging by these early reactions, Scania’s New Truck Generation is already on the road to success. .

Mack Trucks workers approve three-year contract The Morning Call / October 24, 2016 Union workers at Mack Trucks have ratified a new, three-year labor agreement. United Auto Workers Local 677 posted Sunday night on its website that all local contracts passed ratification, with the master contract being approved "by 77 percent." Ed Balukas, Local 677 president, and company spokespeople did not return messages Monday seeking comment. Local workers voted Sunday at Willow Lane Elementary School in Lower Macungie Township, according to the union website. On Oct. 2, workers had reached a tentative agreement which covers 2,601 employees in three states, including Local 677 members in Allentown, Lower Macungie and Middletown, Dauphin County, in addition to other UAW local members in Hagerstown, Md., Baltimore and Jacksonville, Fla. Mack's 1-million-square-foot plant in Lower Macungie is where all Mack trucks built for the North American market and export are assembled. The company's Lehigh Valley Operations employ about 1,500 people. The new contract comes amid a decline in deliveries for the heavy-duty truck maker. On Friday, Mack Trucks reported its weakest third quarter for delivered trucks in six years. Mack said it fulfilled 3,963 trucks in the quarter, down 40 percent from the 6,623 it sent out during same quarter in 2015. That was the weakest output for Mack since 2010, when it delivered 3,144 trucks during the period. To meet the lower demand, Mack in July said it scheduled four down weeks in Lower Macungie. Two of those shutdowns, or temporary layoff weeks, occurred during the third quarter. In addition, Mack workers were idled last week and are scheduled for another shutdown the week of Dec. 12. Mack spokesman Christopher Heffner said Friday the company has added the week of Jan. 2 as another down week. In its report Friday, Volvo Group — Mack's Sweden-based corporate parent— said production in its North America manufacturing network will be "further reduced in the fourth quarter to allow for further inventory reduction at dealers." The decline in demand was expected, considering Mack realized 2015 would be the peak of the current buying cycle in the heavy-duty truck market, Heffner said. Mack delivered 27,411 vehicles in 2015, its strongest year since 2006. The local plant also has a new manager. Rickard Lundberg, a longtime executive within Volvo Group, started Oct. 1 as vice president and general manager of Lehigh Valley Operations (LVO).

Phase 2 truck emissions regulations officially slated for publication Commercial Carrier Journal (CCJ) / October 24, 2016 A final rule to establish new emissions and fuel economy standards for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, yielding huge fuel economy benefits, is expected to be published in the Federal Register Oct. 25 and take effect at the end of December. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the DOT’s National Highway Traffic Safety Administration developed the Phase 2 greenhouse gas emissions and fuel efficiency standards to immediately follow the Phase 1 standards, which will be fully implemented in 2017. Phase 2 standards will build on the Phase 1, according to the 2,762-page joint rulemaking. They are projected to boost fuel savings as much as 25 percent over the next decade, depending on the vehicle. The agencies admit the costs of Phase 2 are higher than that of Phase 1, but say the benefits of the standards “greatly exceed costs” and provide short payback periods that will result in “substantial net savings over the vehicle lifetime.” The agencies estimate payback time on tractors and trailers to be just two years. The payback period is estimated to be four years for vocational vehicles and approximately three years for heavy-duty pickups and vans. The rule calls for specific percentage reductions in carbon dioxide emissions for tractors, engines and trailers. Tractor standards for model year 2027 require at least 25 percent lower carbon dioxide emissions and fuel consumption than a 2017 model year Phase 1 tractor. This can be achieved, the agencies say, through improvements in the engine, transmission, driveline, aerodynamic design, tire rolling resistance, idle performance or other aspects of the tractor. By 2027, the rule requires engines to achieve reductions in carbon dioxide emissions and fuel consumption that are 5.1 percent better than the 2017 baseline. The rule also requires engines to reduce emissions by 1.8 percent by 2021 and 4.2 percent by 2024. The rule also requires 2021 model year combination tractors and engines to achieve up to 14 percent lower carbon dioxide emissions and fuel consumption from a model year 2017 truck, and 20 percent in model year 2024 before meeting the 25 percent reduction by 2027. The Phase 2 rulemaking introduces for the first time standards on trailers, which begins with model year 2018 trailers. The rule states these standards can be achieved through tire and aerodynamic technologies that are already on the market. EPA also proposed a number of changes and clarifications for rules respecting glider kits and glider vehicles. A glider kit is considered a vehicle when “it includes a passenger compartment attached to a frame with one or more axles.” The rule contains standards for glider vehicles, but no separate standards for glider kits. Under the final rule, gliders will generally be considered new trucks, and the engines installed in them must be compliant with the model year in which the truck is assembled.

Sean Kilcarr, Fleet Owner / October 24, 2016 The “low hanging fruit” in terms of making relatively easy safety improvements is largely picked. Rob Abbott will tell you that if you look at long-term motor carrier safety trends over the last 30 years, you’ll note that there’s been a steep decline in the crash rate for large trucks. But if you narrow that focus to the last decade or so, you’ll note that the decline hasn’t been as steep. He told Fleet Owner the reason for this “leveling off” is simple: much of the “low hanging fruit” in terms of safety improvements, especially when it comes to vehicle technology, has already been picked. “We’ve already gone after the low-hanging fruit such as better braking systems, limiting speed, better stability control, and advanced driver screening,” explained Abbott, who now heads up the commercial trucking team at Lytx after serving as vice president for safety policy for the American Trucking Associations (ATA) trade group. “Fleets now have to work even harder to find the next safety revolution tool,” he noted. As an illustration of this “safety leveling” trend can be found in the Large Truck and Bus Crash Facts 2014 report issued by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) back in April. Take just fatal crashes involving large truck and buses by themselves: from 1979 to 2009, total fatal crashes dropped from 6,007 to 3,193 – a decline of 46% or some 2,814 fatal crashes. But from 2009 to 2014 – not quite a decade – fatal crashes increased from 3,193 to 3,649; an increase of 456 crashes or 12%. If you look at the large crash rate per 100 million vehicle miles traveled (VMT) a similar “leveling off” occurs as well. From 1979 to 2009, the rate dropped from 5.6 all the way down to 1.1, FMCSA reported, but between 2009 and 2014, the rate inched up from 1.1 to 1.3. Abbott believes that the “next step” needed in order to produce further improvements in crash rates will revolve around video systems, especially in terms of how they can improve the coaching of drivers. “Video is important for two reasons: one is that it provides evidence to vindicate a truck driver’s story. And, two, it will help the industry coach drivers to do more of the right things,” he said. “Because driver behavior is the main factor in 87% of [truck] crash events. And we’re not talking just the truck driver here; we’re talking about other motorists, too. Truck drivers are frustrated by other motorist [behavior] and video can help vindicate their [truck driver] stories about [motorist] lane departures and sudden braking. Truck drivers are eager for that evidence.” Such video evidence may also be the key to gaining what Abbott called a “truer picture” of the trucking industry’s safety performance as well. “At ATA we used videos at Congressional hearings to show irresponsible motorists cutting off trucks and causing crashes – yet how those crashes still counted against a [motor] carrier’s CSA score,” he pointed out. “So as more video data becomes publicly available, that could become possible leverage for re-examining the industry’s safety picture.”

Two-truck platooning is not self-driving trucks Michael Roeth, Fleet Owner / October 24, 2016 There are fuel efficiency gains, but it requires training for drivers and technicians Our recent Confidence Report on platooning showed that there is a real-world average mpg gain of 4% for the pair of vehicles in a two-truck platoon, with most of the savings going to the follower vehicle. In doing our research for the Confidence Report one thing became clear for platooning to be a success there is a need for training. First the drivers will need to know how the system will react to a variety of road situations. They also will need to learn to know when to trust the system and when it’s time for them to take total control of the vehicle. Technicians will also need to be trained to maintain these more complex vehicles and trouble shoot a range of newer technologies, electronics and sensors. Remember we are still in the early stages of these systems and much will be learned by field testing and early production use. Engineers are not omniscient and highways have a lot of variables that the trucks and drivers must deal with. So, while we have made good progress we still have a long way to go. Speaking of drivers, one of the most interesting findings from the report concerns the perception that two-truck platooning requires driverless trucks. In other words, two-truck platooning is not fully autonomous/driverless trucking and it is being improperly grouped with that concept. This is unfortunate because the benefits are large for this use of currently available safety technologies and for this misconception to be a barrier surprised out project team. In the study package, NACFE offers a payback calculator and we think fleets big and small should put platooning on their list of emerging technologies to explore. Who knows if self-driving trucks will come sooner or later, but I think that an excellent bridge to those days is two-truck platooning utilizing our professional drivers to take most advantage of all the benefits it offers. Whatever your job in the trucking industry, have a look at the autonomous evolution, not revolution that we are making. Drivers are critical as they were when we moved to cruise control, automated transmissions and all the other automation we’ve already implemented.

Sean Kilcarr, Fleet Owner / October 24, 2016 Here’s an unpleasant thought: all the workplace technology that’s been deployed in recent years by the U.S. business community to make administrative work easier and more efficient is doing basically diddly squat. In fact, if a new global study from The Workforce Institute at Kronos Incorporated and Coleman Parkes Research is correct, U.S. businesses waste $687 billion per year on unnecessary administrative work, significantly more than any other country. That equates to an estimated cost of $4,554 per employee per organization on “burdensome tasks” that are not directly related to employees’ core job roles this study, entitled The $687 Billion Question, determined. How much of that $687 billion is coming out of trucking’s pocket? I shudder to think about it. “It’s clear that a small thing, such as a single hour wasted, can make a huge difference when multiplied across hundreds or thousands of employees,” noted Joyce Maroney, director of the Workforce Institute at Kronos, in the report. “At the same time, this research shows that the average day is also becoming increasingly complicated for employees, with a large proportion of time being spent managing complexity instead of adding value,” she said. “This is not how employees want to spend their days. As a society, we’ve reached an important junction where workforce demographics, working patterns, and employee expectations are changing,” Maroney added. “Treating people as an asset rather than a commodity is essential to achieving true workforce engagement, which will only further support efforts to attract and retain top talent.” This study also found that the U.S. workforce is “hindered” by complexity, low productivity, and poor-performing technology. Here are a few of its findings that explain why: By reducing the burden of admin work by one hour per week, U.S. organizations would save $1,518 per employee, for a total of $229 billion annually. According to the study, respondents average 3.1 hours per week on administrative tasks unrelated to their core job roles. Just 15% of all respondents say employee productivity is very strong within their organization. Manual processes are burdensome, with 78% of respondents citing this as a cause of lost productivity. Nearly three-quarters (72%) of operations/line of business managers report that outdated systems/technology are the biggest workforce management challenge. Up-to-date technology would improve employee engagement, according to 72% of all respondents. Only 12% of all respondents surveyed rate employee engagement as very strong within their organization. Communication continues to be a barrier, as nearly three out of every four respondents (73%) said better communication with management will help them feel more engaged. Some organizations may feel as though there is a leadership void, as nearly three out of five respondents (59%) believe that the CEO is focused on finances rather than employees. Only 31% of human resource (HR) professionals surveyed rated their people among the top three assets of their organization, despite national discussion about the importance of employee engagement. Some 65% percent of respondents find it difficult to complete all of their tasks in a typical work day (which mirrors a 2016 Workforce Institute survey on overtime.) In fact, 48% of operations/line of business managers, 47% of HR professionals, and 38% of employees say their working life is too complicated. Management demands, internal politics, unrealistic workloads, lack of staff availability, plus poor technology support create a “perfect storm” of complexity that detracts from providing high levels of customer service, according to respondents. Respondents believe reducing administration and paperwork, providing the right technology to automate tasks, and improving structure/support within and among departments would allow them to more time to think and plan, address high priority tasks, and focus on customers. Here’s another tidbit from this survey that trucking should pay close attention to: Monetary rewards are no longer the sole motivator for employees, noted Ian Parkes, director of Coleman Parkes Research, which is why organizations should focus on communication, collaboration, and culture to keep employees engaged. “Employees need to feel valued to go the extra mile and provide discretionary input, and managers must lead by example to create a culture of communication and collaboration,” he said in the report. “However, this just isn’t possible in many organizations as both employees and managers are faced with increasingly complicated workdays.” Parkes added that, when it comes to reasons to leave their job, compensation is seventh on the list, with respondents stating they are more likely to resign due to lack of direction, lack of focus, not seeing their future role in the company, not feeling valued, not feeling understood, and not getting along with their manager. [Note this, though: 58% of the workers polled in this study admitted that rewards and incentives would likely increase productivity.] Parkes also stressed that while technology remains “essential,” but if it is outdated, poorly implemented, or lacks a purpose, it will only add to the complexity. Instead, organizations should focus on technology investments that help everyone focus on, and streamline their core job duties and add value to the company – and that includes managers, too. “By reducing the unnecessary administrative burden that managers are also facing, managers will be able to dedicate more time to communicating the organization’s vision, collaborating more closely with team members, and fostering a high-performing work environment,” Parkes pointed out. And if it helps trucking win back some of that $687 billion pie to its bottom line, all the better.

None of us knows either candidate personally. We only know what we hear/read on the news. Few of us have great faith in the news being impartial, accurate and complete. I'd wager we are only privy to 15 per cent of important "news", accurately reported in full, domestically and around the world. "Based on what we hear and read", knowing that there usually is fire where there is smoke, neither candidate is appropriate to assume the position of president. The exact details of their past actions, we'll surely never know. I can imagine a back-room agreement in which they have drawn an agreed to line in the sand, a demarcation line, an act of self-preservation.

Not my number, David. Like you, I don't trust the news to be complete and fully accurate. But short of personally being there, it's all we have. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_HEALTH_OVERHAUL_PREMIUMS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2016-10-24-19-50-10

The Wall Street Journal / October 24, 2016 Detroit’s truck wars are heating up with auto makers pledging billions of dollars for pickup truck and sport-utility vehicle production over the next three years despite fears that the U.S. auto market is peaking. General Motors Co. , Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV plan to invest heavily to boost output of existing models and make room for new ones. While Ford said this month it is trimming some pickup production, it still plans to add new SUVs to its lineup and reintroduce a midsize pickup by 2019. The auto industry’s annual full-size pickup capacity is expected to grow 5%, or by 206,000 vehicles, by 2019. Large SUV capacity could increase about 16%. Detroit auto makers have been reluctant to add capacity following years of costly plant closings, and analysts are concerned the market will cool by the time the new output hits dealer lots. Popular when fuel is cheap and the economy is good, heavier vehicles suffer when gasoline prices spike or the housing and jobs markets soften. Being overly cautious, however, can limit profits. Pickups and large SUVs deliver much of the profit at domestic auto makers. Citigroup estimates the vehicles contribute as much as 67% of North American operating profits at Ford and GM, equivalent to nearly $9 billion in the first half of 2016. Full-size pickups and large SUVs accounted for about 16% of total U.S. vehicle sales during the first nine months of 2016. GM last month agreed to boost pickup production in Canada as part of a labor deal, people familiar with its plans said. Ford will begin building a new version of the Bronco SUV and Ranger pickup in Michigan starting in 2018, replacing the Focus small car it is moving to Mexico. And Chrysler is phasing out small- and medium-size sedans to make room for more pickup trucks and new versions of its popular Jeep SUV. There are already signs light-truck production is outstripping demand. In addition to Ford’s production trims, Fiat Chrysler’s Ram pickup division in September began a two-month promotion it called the “strongest truck program EVER.” The discounts were as much as an $11,600 price cut on certain models. One customer at Rentschler Chrysler Jeep Dodge near Allentown, Pennsylvania, this month landed a $56,000 Ram for $41,000, taking advantage of various promotions. Those deals “really drive our Ram traffic,” dealer Greg Rentschler said. GM responded this month with an $11,000 discount on a popular version of the Chevrolet Silverado. “When you start taking 11 grand off a truck, I can’t sell a used one for what I’m selling some of the new ones,” said Steve Rayman, owner of a large Chevrolet dealership in Marietta, Ga. Ford recently said it would idle a Kansas City, Mo., F-150 plant to better match production with supply. Its F-series pickup sales for the first three quarters were up 6% from a year earlier. Detroit has a lock on the U.S. markets for full-size pickups and large SUVs with 94% and 62% market share, respectively, despite efforts by Toyota Motor Corp. , Nissan Motor Co. and others to gain in these lucrative segments. The average price for full-size pickups has climbed 33% since 2010 to about $46,700 this year, nearly triple the growth rate for the entire market. Inventories, however, are rising after six years of steady sales gains. The U.S. supply of large pickups in September was 11% higher than a year earlier. In part, Toyota and Nissan have relatively new versions of their trucks and are beefing up supply in a bid to take market share. Analysts say filling dealer lots with more Rams, Chevy Tahoes or Ford F-150s could upset the oligopolistic pricing power enjoyed by the Detroit Three if demand doesn’t rise with the greater supply. Full-size truck demand also may be threatened by the success of smaller trucks like GM’s Chevrolet Colorado, a brisk seller since its introduction two years ago. Ford and Fiat Chrysler are developing midsize trucks for near-term introduction. GM has suffered from tighter dealer inventories, so the company’s immediate plan is to recapture lost sales. “We could sell more if we had more,” GM North America President Alan Batey said recently. “I’d be happy to have 10 to 15 more days’ supply.” GM typically carries 80 days of sales of full-size trucks at dealers. Mr. Batey said GM is confident its products can compete. “If we don’t have the best truck, more capacity is not going to help me,” he said.

Obama administration confirms double-digit premium hikes Associated Press / October 24, 2016 Premiums will go up sharply next year under President Barack Obama's health care law, and many consumers will be down to just one insurer, the administration confirmed Monday. That's sure to stoke another "Obamacare" controversy days before a presidential election. Before taxpayer-provided subsidies, premiums for a midlevel benchmark plan will increase an average of 25 percent across the 39 states served by the federally run online market, according to a report from the Department of Health and Human Services. Some states will see much bigger jumps, others less. Moreover, about 1 in 5 consumers will only have plans from a single insurer to pick from, after major national carriers such as UnitedHealth Group, Humana and Aetna scaled back their roles. "Consumers will be faced this year with not only big premium increases but also with a declining number of insurers participating, and that will lead to a tumultuous open enrollment period," said Larry Levitt, who tracks the health care law for the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. Republicans pounced on the numbers as a warning that insurance markets created by the 2010 health overhaul are teetering toward a "death spiral." Sign-up season starts Nov. 1, about a week before national elections in which the GOP remains committed to a full repeal. "It's over for Obamacare," Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said at a campaign rally Monday evening in Tampa, Florida. Trump said his Democratic rival, Hillary Clinton, "wants to double down and make it more expensive and it's not gonna work. ... Our country can't afford it, you can't afford it." He promised his own plan would deliver "great health care at a fraction of the cost." The new numbers aren't too surprising, said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who chairs a committee that oversees the law. It "does little to dispel the notion we are seeing the law implode at the expense of middle-class families." HHS essentially confirmed state-by-state reports that have been coming in for months. Window shopping for plans and premiums is already available through HealthCare.gov. Administration officials are stressing that subsidies provided under the law, which are designed to rise alongside premiums, will insulate most customers from sticker shock. They add that consumers who are willing to switch to cheaper plans will still be able to find bargains. "Headline rates are generally rising faster than in previous years," acknowledged HHS spokesman Kevin Griffis. But he added that for most consumers, "headline rates are not what they pay." The vast majority of the more than 10 million customers who purchase through HealthCare.gov and its state-run counterparts do receive generous financial assistance. "Enrollment is concentrated among very low-income individuals who receive significant government subsidies to reduce premiums and cost-sharing," said Caroline Pearson of the consulting firm Avalere Health But an estimated 5 million to 7 million people are either not eligible for the income-based assistance, or they buy individual policies outside of the health law's markets, where the subsidies are not available. The administration is urging the latter group to check out HealthCare.gov. The spike in premiums generally does not affect the employer-provided plans that cover most workers and their families. In some states, the premium increases are striking. In Arizona, unsubsidized premiums for a hypothetical 27-year-old buying a benchmark "second-lowest cost silver plan" will jump by 116 percent, from $196 to $422, according to the administration report. But HHS said if that hypothetical consumer has a fairly modest income, making $25,000 a year, the subsidies would cover $280 of the new premium, and the consumer would pay $142. Caveat: if the consumer is making $30,000 or $40,000 his or her subsidy would be significantly lower. Dwindling choice is another issue. The total number of HealthCare.gov insurers will drop from 232 this year to 167 in 2017, a loss of 28 percent. (Insurers are counted multiple times if they offer coverage in more than one state. So Aetna, for example, would count once in each state that it participated in.) Switching insurers may not be simple for patients with chronic conditions. While many carriers are offering a choice of plan designs, most use a single prescription formulary and physician network across all their products, explained Pearson. "So, enrollees may need to change doctors or drugs when they switch insurers," she said. Overall, it's shaping up to be the most difficult sign-up season since HealthCare.gov launched in 2013 and the computer system froze up. Enrollment has been lower than initially projected, and insurers say patients turned out to be sicker than expected. Moreover, a complex internal system to help stabilize premiums has not worked as hoped for. Nonetheless, Obama says the underlying structure of the law is sound, and current problems are only "growing pains." The president has called for a government-sponsored "public option" insurance plan to compete with private companies. Republicans, including Trump, are united in calling for complete repeal, but they have not spelled out how they would address the problems of the uninsured. Clinton has proposed an array of fixes, including sweetening the law's subsidies and allowing more people to qualify for financial assistance. The law makes carrying health insurance a legal obligation for most people, and prohibits insurers for turning away the sick. It offers subsidized private plans to people who don't have coverage through their jobs, along with a state option to expand Medicaid for low-income people. Largely as a result, the nation's uninsured rate has dropped below 9 percent, a historically low level. More than 21 million people have gained coverage since the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010.

When you contacted Watt's Mack (provider of the BMT website) at 1-888-304-6225 with your truck's model and serial number off the vehicle identification plate on the driver's door, what did they say? I'm sure they can supply you with a new fuel tank strap (rectangular or round tank) and the 12AX128P150 rubber insulator (150 inch length - cut to fit).

The Washington Post / October 24, 2016 The Pentagon is reviewing how to resolve the cases of thousands of Army National Guard members who received enlistment bonuses of at least $15,000, only to be told later that the money wasn’t really theirs and must be repaid. About 10,500 members of the California Army National Guard could be affected, said Navy Capt. Jeff Davis, a Pentagon spokesman. The military offered similar bonuses to Guard members in other parts of the country but hasn’t disclosed how many. Davis said Monday that senior Pentagon leaders are “looking very closely at this matter.” Officials deemed the bonuses in California improper and have established a process for service members to argue that they should not repay the money. “We continue to encourage service members who have been impacted by this situation to pursue those reviews and any relief they may be entitled to receive,” Davis said. “In the meantime, [the Defense Department] will work with the Army, the National Guard Bureau and the California Army National Guard and others to strengthen efforts to respond to this situation.” At least some of the California cases, first reported by the Los Angeles Times on Saturday, tie to a criminal investigation in which thousands of soldiers received improper bonuses and at least one soldier, Master Sgt. Toni Jaffe, pleaded guilty in 2011 to filing false claims while serving as incentive manager for the California Army National Guard. But the Pentagon also acknowledges that similar cases exist elsewhere. The National Guard Bureau on Monday referred [dodged] all questions to the Pentagon. Davis said the Defense Department has the authority to waive individual cases after a review by an organization known as the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals (DOHA). The office, however, does not have the authority to waive all cases of a similar nature at one time, and it can take months for a service member to schedule a hearing. Davis said that in some cases, service members will be able to seek waivers through the appeal system that presently exists. In others, the Defense Department may need to work with Congress to change existing laws that define how repayments are required and reviewed, he said. “I think we always know the importance of keeping faith with our people,” Davis said. “People who volunteer to serve in the armed forces do so at great sacrifice to their own personal lives and to their families, and we want to keep faith with them. This has our attention, and we want to make sure we’re doing everything we can within the boundaries of the law to help our people.” The California National Guard refused to comment on Monday, but released a statement Sunday saying that it does not have the authority to waive repayments that the National Guard Bureau and the Army Department oversees. “The California National Guard welcomes any law passed by Congress to waive these debts,” the statement said. “Until that time, our priority is to advocate for our Soldiers through this ‘difficult process’.” The California cases have attracted the attention of Congress. House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R.-Calif.) said in a statement Monday that it is “disgraceful” that service members face the prospect of repaying money they were offered. “Our military heroes should not shoulder the burden of military recruiters’ faults from over a decade ago,” McCarthy said. “They should not owe for what was promised during a difficult time in our country. Rather, we are the ones who owe a debt for the great sacrifices our heroes have made — some of whom unfortunately paid the ultimate sacrifice.” Rep. Duncan Hunter (R.-Calif.) said in a letter sent to Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter on Sunday that the Pentagon asking for the money back was “disgraceful and insulting,” and requested that Carter intervene directly. “I find it difficult to believe that either you or your leadership team was aware that such a boneheaded decision was made to demand repayment — and I ask that you utilize your authority to influence a solution, including a possible legislative fix if deemed necessary, that’s in the best interests of the individuals and families impacted,” Hunter wrote. Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) added that she was “shocked by the actions of the Pentagon and the California National Guard,” and that she considers it unacceptable to “hold these brave men and women accountable for the mistakes of their superiors.” Davis said there are parallels between the California cases and others that were resolved in June in which members of the Pentagon’s civilian bomb squad could have been required to pay back up to $173,000 each that the Defense Department determined they were erroneously paid since 2008. The decision was announced shortly after a Washington Post article detailed the hardships that members of the unit faced. In those cases, bomb squad members were recruited with the promise of receiving a 25 percent salary boost in hazardous-duty pay. A Pentagon agency later determined that the members were not eligible for the incentive, after all. The unit still exists, but now includes just a handful of members and has been unable to fill existing holes in its staff as employees leave for other jobs.

America’s grip on the Pacific is loosening Gideon Rachman, The Financial Times / October 24, 2016 There is more than bluster involved in the Philippines’ pivot towards China Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump are criss-crossing America in the last frantic weeks of the presidential election campaign. But events will not stand still, while “America decides”. On the other side of the world, the US has just suffered a significant strategic reverse. That setback is the apparent decision by the Philippines to switch sides in the emerging power struggle between the US and China. On a visit to Beijing last week, Rodrigo Duterte, the president of the Philippines, announced a “separation” from the US and a new special relationship between his country and China. In one of the odder diplomatic pronouncements of an odd year, Mr Duterte proclaimed in the Great Hall of the People in the Chinese capital: “There are three of us against the world — China, Philippines and Russia. It’s the only way.” This statement was greeted by warm applause from his audience. Mr Duterte has a tendency to shoot his mouth off. In an appearance soon after taking office, he made headlines by calling US president Barack Obama the “son of a whore”. But there is more than mere bluster involved in the Duterte pivot. The Filipino leader has also said that he intends to end military co-operation with the US. Joint naval patrols in the Pacific will apparently come to a stop, as will joint counter-­terrorism operations on the southern island of Mindanao. Some American strategists are worried that the Philippines might even now become a base for the swiftly expanding Chinese navy. Mrs Clinton, in particular, will understand the significance of all this. A central theme of her period at the state department was an effort to bolster America’s position in Asia and the Pacific. It was Mrs Clinton who proclaimed in 2010 that the US has a “national interest” in freedom of navigation in the South China Sea. This statement outraged the Chinese, whose famous “nine-dash line” on oceanic maps appears to claim that almost all of the South China Sea lies within Beijing’s territorial waters. As Mrs Clinton told Goldman Sachs, in a speech given in 2013 and recently leaked, she is worried that China’s maritime claims will give it a “chokehold on sea lanes and also on the countries that border the South China Sea”. Those concerns have since been further stoked by China’s programme of “island” building in the disputed waters. The Philippines was at the centre of America’s strategic and legal efforts to loosen China’s potential chokehold over the South China Sea. Some of the tensest disputes in the sea — such as arguments over the ownership of Scarborough Shoal — involve a face-off between China and the Philippines. It was Manila that brought a legal challenge against Beijing’s claims over the South China Sea, winning a ruling at an international tribunal in July. This ruling is crucial to Washington’s argument that its dispute with China is not a crude power struggle but rather an effort, by the US, to protect the international legal order in the interests of all. On a purely strategic level, the Philippines is (or was) also vital to America’s efforts to counter the military facilities that China seems to be building on its artificial islands. Earlier this year, Manila and Washington agreed to increase America’s military presence in five bases on Filipino territory, including an air base on the island of Palawan, very close to the disputed Spratly Islands. Those US-Philippine agreements now look likely to be revoked. More broadly, America’s moral case for “standing up to China” looks much weaker if China’s own neighbours no longer seem so worried by its territorial claims. Some American strategists take comfort from Mr Duterte’s obvious eccentricity. They argue that, in the long run, the Philippines will rediscover its strategic interest in seeking the protection of Uncle Sam. But it is also possible that Mr Duterte, for all his wild man antics, is actually part of a larger trend in Southeast Asia. Next year, the Philippines will lead the Association of Southeast Asian Nations. And this will happen just as two other important US allies in the region — Thailand and Malaysia — have begun to tilt towards China. The military coup in Thailand in 2014 led to a downturn in relations between Bangkok and Washington, as the Americans called for a swift return to democracy and the Thai generals resisted. In 2015, Thailand announced the purchase of Chinese submarines. Najib Razak, the prime minister of Malaysia, has also looked to Beijing for succour as he has attempted to fend off corruption investigations in the west. Faced with all these setbacks in Southeast Asia, the US will be on the lookout for some new diplomatic and strategic opportunities. One country that seems certain to continue to push back against Chinese dominance of the region is Vietnam. This month, the USS Frank Cable and the USS John S McCain became the first two American warships to visit the Vietnamese naval base of Cam Ranh Bay since the end of the Vietnam war in 1975. At the height of that war, Cam Ranh Bay served as a crucial base for both the US Navy and Air Force in the fight against North Vietnam. It is a historic irony, and a sign of how the rise of China is changing Asia, that Vietnam could yet invite the US military back to Cam Ranh Bay — this time as an ally, not an enemy.

Trump took $17 million in insurance for damage few remember Associated Press / October 25, 2016 Donald Trump said he received a $17 million insurance payment in 2005 for hurricane damage to Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach, but The Associated Press found little evidence of such large-scale damage. Two years after a series of storms, the real estate tycoon said he didn't know how much had been spent on repairs but acknowledged he pocketed some of the money. Trump transferred funds into his personal accounts, saying that under the terms of his policy, "you didn't have to reinvest it." In a deposition in an unrelated civil lawsuit, Trump said he got the cash from a "very good insurance policy" and cited ongoing work to the historic home. "Landscaping, roofing, walls, painting, leaks, artwork in the — you know, the great tapestries, tiles, Spanish tiles, the beach, the erosion," he said of the storm damage. "It's still not what it was." Trump's description of extensive damage does not match those of Mar-a-Lago members and even Trump loyalists. In an interview about the estate's history, Trump's longtime former butler, Anthony Senecal, recalled no catastrophic damage. He said Hurricane Wilma, the last of a string of storms that barreled through in 2004 and 2005, flattened trees behind Mar-a-Lago, but the house itself only lost some roof tiles. [$17 million......a few roof tiles] "That house has never been seriously damaged," said Senecal, discussing Mar-a-Lago's luck with hurricanes. "I was there for all of them." Just over two weeks after Wilma, Trump hosted 370 guests at Mar-a-Lago for the wedding of his son Donald Jr. While part of that celebration did have to be moved away from the front lawn due to hurricane damage, wedding photographs by Getty Images showed the house, pools, cabanas and landscaping in good repair. Valuations for Mar-a-Lago are subjective, but Forbes estimated the 110,000-square-foot property's value at $150 million in its most recent appraisal of Trump's net worth. The estate's historic nature would add to any repair costs, but Tim Frank, Palm Beach's planning administrator at the time of the hurricanes, said $17 million in work would have required "dozens, maybe scores of workers." In 2004, Trump built a 20,000-square-foot ballroom from scratch for less than $6 million, according to building permits. Palm Beach building department records show no permits for construction on that scale after the storms. Permits reflected smaller projects, including installation of new grease traps in the kitchen and tree trimming along the road. The only permits that appeared hurricane-related were for $3,000 in repairs to storm-damaged outdoor lighting and the vacuuming of sand from the property's beachfront pool. Likewise, records of the city's Landmarks and Preservation Commission reflected no repair work conducted following the 2004 and 2005 hurricane seasons. The $17 million Mar-a-Lago insurance payment surfaced during a 2007 deposition in Trump's unsuccessful libel lawsuit against journalist Tim O'Brien, whom Trump accused of underestimating his wealth. As part of the case, O'Brien's attorneys were permitted to review Trump's financial records, including some from the Mar-a-Lago Club. They asked Trump to quantify the damage and explain why he had pocketed money instead of spending it on repairs. Trump said repairs were ongoing, but acknowledged he could not remember which hurricane had damaged Mar-a-Lago or when it hit. "We continue to spend the money because we continue to suffer the ravages of that hurricane," Trump said. "We're continuously spending money. It really beat up Mar-a-Lago very badly." The insurance adjustor who assessed the insurance claim, Hank Stein of VeriClaim Inc., said there had been damage to Trump's golf course in West Palm Beach and damage to Mar-a-Lago's roof and landscaping, but he could not remember details. Trump declined to provide the AP with records about the insurance claim or answer specific questions about damage at Mar-a-Lago. Stein, who has since left VeriClaim for another firm, said he remembered water damage from rain after windows to an observation deck atop the mansion blew open. "I wish I could give you some more information on the breakdown," he said. Under local rules, major repairs would have required Trump to request a permit and pay permit fees. If such work were performed without permits, that could have avoided as much as $450,000 in fees but would have likely been illegal. The city's former planning administrator said getting away with such extensive, unpermitted work would have been unlikely. Frank cited both his own agency's vigilance and wealthy Palm Beach residents' habit of calling out each other's code violations. Once, Trump's neighbors hired lawyers to report suspicions that he improperly let guests sleep in poolside cabanas during a wedding. "If there were $17 million dollars of damage, we sure as hell would have known about that," said Frank. "I would have known if there was anything in the magnitude of $100,000." The Republican mayor of Palm Beach at the time — and Mar-a-Lago member — Jack McDonald, agreed: "I am unable to comprehend $17 million in reimbursable damage." Jane Day, the city's former historical preservation consultant, who helped oversee Mar-a-Lago's conversion to a private club and who has visited in the years since as a guest, also was mystified. "This is the first I'm hearing of it." Frank said the commission would have granted immediate approval to simple repairs, but Trump or his contractors would still have needed to file for permits. "If they changed the door knobs I was supposed to review it," Frank said. Much of Trump's property insurance business has long been handled by Pamela Newman, a leading insurance broker for Aon Risk Services Inc. Neither Newman nor AON would discuss the case with AP. Two former Aon employees familiar with the company's work for Trump said Trump's company was routinely late on insurance premium payments and regularly threatened to take its business elsewhere. [How many of us know this type of wealthy individual?] They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss confidential business matters and because they feared retribution since they continue to work in the insurance industry. Representing Trump allowed Newman to bring up her work on behalf of Trump in sales pitches to wealthy clients, sometimes offering him as a reference, the employees said. Newman's ties to Trump have endured. He and she both sit on the board of New York's Police Athletic League. She has attended galas at Mar-a-Lago and donated the legal maximum of $2,700 to his presidential exploratory committee before he announced his run. She followed up last July with $25,000 in donations to the Make America Great Again PAC, according to Federal Election Commission records. According to the Trump deposition, Newman led the effort to obtain a payout on the Mar-a-Lago insurance policy. Trump did not identify which insurer actually footed the bill and the AP was unable to identify who paid the claim. Documenting an insurance claim as large as the one that Trump made on Mar-a-Lago typically involves extensive verification of the damage. Stein said the process went smoothly and that he worked closely with both Newman and a senior Trump executive, Matt Calamari. "It would have been myself along with an adjustment team," he said. "It was a thorough investigation." In the depositions, Trump said he knew little about that process that produced his $17 million payday, but praised the policy and said Newman took care of it. "We had a very good insurance policy, actually," he said.