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Fleet Owner / September 16, 2016 He envisions automated trucks operating like commercial aircraft, “flying” from city to city on autopilot while drivers only handle “takeoff” and “landing.” Troy Clarke, president and CEO of Navistar, provided his view of trucking’s future – and that of his company, following its alliance with the truck and bus division of Germany’s Volkswagen – during a presentation at annual three-day transportation conference hosted by research firm FTR in Indianapolis. Clarke touched on a wide variety of subjects, including how “software” will provide the key difference between truck brands now and in the future, how truck buyers will increasingly demand a “one stop shop” for all of their vehicle needs, and how autonomous trucks may one day soon operate like today’s commercial aircraft – largely on autopilot while on the highway, with the driver only controlling the vehicle for “takeoff” and “landing.” “This industry is on the verge of huge technological change,” Clarke noted. “The question for us is; how do we cover all the bets we need to make?” He said the partnership with Volkswagen is but one effort to “cover” such “bets,” creating in Clarke’s words an “opportunity to accumulate technology and to accumulate scale” for Navistar’s truck manufacturing efforts. “The truth of the matter is we are excited as all get out about our new partnership,” he emphasized. “It helps us get back on track.” Clarke also noted that such partnerships will be critical moving forward as truck manufacturers shift their strategic thinking away from focusing on the nuts and bolts of commercial vehicles – such as “who has the best gearing or whether to use synthetic lubricant or not,” he noted – and focus instead on how to better “integrate” trucks with the country’s “transportation system." “This is where the Uberization’ of freight gets involved and how we get the truck to better interact with our road systems,” he explained. That “evolution” also impacts the future development of trucks in terms of safety, environmental impact and freight efficiency, Clarke added. To meet such various needs, then, will require more of a focus on the truck’s “software” as that is what will link the vehicle better not only to trailers and the road network but to service providers such as dealerships in order to foster faster and less costly repairs. “This focus on ‘software’ is opening the door of the trucking industry to companies that have never been in this space before: companies like Google and Apple,” Clarke emphasized. “This is also one of the reasons we chose to focus on building ‘connected trucks’ and our OnCommand telematics system. Because we believe connected vehicles are going to be ubiquitous in the future.” Such “connections” will be critical to improving uptime for customers as well as improving freight efficiency and thus lower operating costs, yet he believes they need to be built on “open architecture” as well. “The [truck] customer is a hard person to contain – they want the freedom to pick and choose what works for them, much the way we pick and choose what apps we want on our [smart] phones,” Clarke stressed. “That’s why our profit model for connected systems and software is modeled on Apple’s. I just don’t think owning the ‘value chain’ and forcing customers to use it is how this is going to work.” Taking that view also “opens the door” to new freight solutions, as well, he said, such as electrified medium-duty trucks serving as “mobile platforms” for drones that make package deliveries. “Here’s the secret: drones cost 7 cents a mile to operate, while a medium-duty truck in zero-emission electric mode costs 21 cents a mile to operate,” he said. “Now compare that to the 57 to 60 cent per mile operating cost of a diesel-powered medium-duty truck or the $1.20 a mile operating cost of a diesel-powered highway tractor-trailer. That’s why you are going to see more diversity and experimentation in freight transport.”

Fleet Owner / September 16, 2016 Former ATA leader Bill Graves, NACFE program manager cite need for movement on truck productivity One of the biggest hot-button issues in the trucking industry in recent years has been efforts to move legislation through Congress that would authorize longer and/or heavier trucks. Groups such as the American Trucking Assns. (ATA) and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce among others have pushed the efforts forward. Generally, the proposals feature 33-ft. twin trailers or 96,000 lb. trailers equipped with three axles to maintain weight balance. Those proposals have not found enough traction yet to pass, though. Despite some evidence that suggest 33-ft. trailers are no more dangerous than current 28-ft. models, or that properly equipped 96,000 lb. trailers do no more damage to roads, opponents have managed to stop these efforts. In 2015, when the Dept. of Transportation shut down the possibility of a program, DOT Under Secretary Peter Rogoff wrote in a letter that “at this time, the department believes that the current data limitations are so profound that the results cannot accurately be extrapolated to predict national impacts. As such, DOT believes that no changes in the relevant truck size and weight laws and regulations should be considered until these data limitations are overcome.” DOT said much the same thing in April of this year when it formally rejected efforts to expand truck size and weights. To Bill Graves, former president and CEO of ATA, the logic doesn’t follow. Speaking at the Meritor and Pressure Systems International 2016 Annual Fleet Technology Event in San Antonio this week, Graves said that Congress needs to address the freight productivity of tractor-trailers, and it starts with size and weight. “I don’t see how we can keep up with demands [of a growing economy] … and keep pulling the same weight,” he said. “The fact that we can’t have an adult conversation about it in Congress is a problem. We need to address truck productivity.” Rick Mihelic, program manager of the North America Council for Freight Efficiency, echoed Graves’ statements. Mihelic noted that freight demand continues to increase and density per truck (how much freight is loaded into a trailer) continues to increase yet due to many factors, including hours-of-service, the number of miles driven per truck has declined for the past 15 years. “This is where the discussion has to start,” he said. “How do you solve that? Either you get more drivers or you give each truck the ability to haul more freight.” The Coalition for Transportation Productivity (CTP), a group of nearly 200 of the nation’s manufacturers, shippers, carriers and allied associations, has been pushing Congress for action on the issue for several years. In a letter and accompanying one-page brief to Congress from CTP Executive Director John Runyan, the organization cited U.S. DOT technical findings that six-axle trucks weighing either 91,000 or 97,000 lbs. maintain key braking and handling characteristics, allowing them to safely ship more freight and reduce vehicle miles traveled, logistics and pavement costs, and environmental impacts. The technical report also finds that the use of these vehicles would lead to a minimal diversion of freight from rail to truck, which would be more than offset by projected freight rail growth. “The actual study data provides strong support for allowing trucks equipped with six axles to carry more freight on Interstate System highways,” Runyan wrote. “This is the real message for Congress, despite the fact that U.S. DOT political leadership, after three years of study and 1,100 pages of released data, wrote a cover letter citing insufficient information and recommending against any changes in truck size and weight regulations. While the Administration could not find a political path to support truck weight reform, we urge members of Congress to review the study findings for themselves and allow carefully crafted reforms in vehicle weight regulation to move forward.” Others, though, including safety groups and the Teamsters, have fought the idea. "The claim that fewer trucks will be an end-product of truck size and weight increases simply isn't true," Jim Hoffa, Teamsters general president, has said in the past. "This is about safety and ensuring as safe a workplace for our driver members on the highways as anyone working on a factory floor." Albeit a small sample size, but in early 2015, a Maine state official attributed a drop in highway fatalities in part to a federal pilot program that was allowing heavier tractor-trailers with six axles rated up to 100,000-lbs. GCW on all interstate highways in Maine. “Commercial vehicle related fatalities dropped in 2014 to 10 fatalities compared to 18 in 2013,” James Tanner, fatal accident system analyst for the Maine Bureau of Highway Safety, said in a Bangor Daily News story. “Maine averaged 16.2 commercial vehicle related crash fatalities from 2009 to 2013. Overall, Maine has experienced a decrease in the number of commercial vehicle related fatalities from 2009 when we experienced 23 commercial vehicle related fatalities.”

A fuel fill with no cap (note the photo slide show). I understand the door is sealed, but I still don't care for it. http://www.autoblog.com/2016/09/15/diesel-powered-ford-f-150-spy-shots/#slide-4060924

No, the "secret" is to switch the truck over to Motul synthetic brake fluid, as I mentioned earlier.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DOT_4

The Financial Times / September 16, 2016 Britain’s armed forces cannot defend the UK against a serious military attack and have lost much of their ability to fight conventional wars, the recently retired head of the country’s Joint Forces Command has warned. General Sir Richard Barrons, who stepped down in April as one of the country’s four service chiefs, has said a series of “profoundly difficult” strategic challenges are being sidestepped as Whitehall focuses on “skinning” budgets and delivering costly but increasingly redundant big-ticket military projects. His 10-page, private memorandum to Michael Fallon, defence minister, is the most forthright criticism of defence policy from the UK’s senior military leadership to have emerged publicly in years. It came just months after the last spending review handed the Ministry of Defence (MoD) a significant funding boost despite widespread cuts to other departments. The general’s detailed analysis will raise grave concerns in Nato. Britain has long cast itself as a linchpin of the alliance’s European military power base, but the US has voiced doubts about its diminishing capabilities since the troubled campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. “Capability that is foundational to all major armed forces has been withered by design,” wrote Sir Richard. The MoD, he says, is working to “preserve the shop window” while critical technical and logistical capabilities have been “iteratively stripped out” behind it. In the correspondence, a copy of which has been obtained by the Financial Times, Sir Richard states: ● There is no military plan to defend the UK in a conventional conflict. “Counter-terrorism is the limit of up-to-date plans and preparations to secure our airspace, waters and territory … There is no top-to-bottom command and control mechanism, preparation or training in place for the UK armed forces [to defend home territory] … let alone to do so with Nato.” ● A Russian air campaign would quickly overwhelm Britain. “UK air defence now consists of the (working) Type 45 [destroyers], enough ground-based air defence to protect roughly Whitehall only, and RAF fast jets. Neither the UK homeland nor a deployed force — let alone both concurrently — could be protected from a concerted Russian air effort.” ● Navy ships and RAF planes are often deployed without adequate munitions or protections because they have grown used to depending on US forces to protect and support them. “Key capabilities such as radars, fire control systems and missile stocks are deficient.” ● The army is not equipped to fight a rival professional land force and is significantly outgunned by Russia. “The current army has grown used to operating from safe bases in the middle of its operating area, against opponents who do not manoeuvre at scale, have no protected mobility, no air defence, no substantial artillery, no electronic warfare capability, nor — especially — an air force or recourse to conventional ballistic or cruise missiles.” ● Small numbers of hugely expensive pieces of military equipment make the UK’s capabilities “extremely fragile”. It is unlikely the UK’s two new aircraft carriers, which cost £2bn each, will ever be sent within 300km of the Chinese coast, for example. “We operate platforms that we cannot afford to use fully, damage or lose — industry would take years to repair or produce more.” ● Manpower across all the forces is dangerously squeezed. “It is not necessary to shoot down all the UK’s Joint Strike Fighters, only to know how to murder in their beds the 40 or so people who can fly them.” Sir Richard warned that the UK’s entire strategic thinking was underpinned by the assumption it could fight wars on a discretionary basis — a supposition he says has been completely upended by the increase in global instability over the past two years. “There is a sense that modern conflict is ordained to be only as small and as short term as we want to afford — and that is absurd. The failure to come to terms with this will not matter at all if we are lucky in the way the world happens to turn out, but it could matter a very great deal if even a few of the risks now at large conspire against the UK.” The Ministry of Defence said: “Our defence review last year put in place a plan for more ships, planes and troops at readiness, alongside greater spending on cyber and special forces. That plan was backed by a rising defence budget. And, crucially, it was backed by all of the service chiefs, who were heavily involved in putting it together.” Across Nato, Russia’s 2014 invasion of Ukraine has thrown defence planning into flux. While the UK’s armed forces are the best resourced in Europe, they are also among those struggling most to adapt themselves to the rapidly changing European security environment. “We became used to using the military as a foreign policy tool, but in that lost any real sense of it as an insurance policy,” said a senior Whitehall official. “So far there is a lot of talk about deterrence across Nato but what really matters is whether it is credible, certainly as far as Russia is concerned.” Shortfall 1: Artillery and tanks Britain has cut back its armoured warfare capabilities significantly over the years. A Russian brigade contains two or three artillery battalions. A British brigade contains just one. The focus on fast, lighter vehicles also makes the UK vulnerable For the past decade, Britain’s military posture has been conditioned by the Afghan and Iraqi deployments as well as by the reality of a dramatically shrinking budget. The most recent Strategic Defence and Security Review — which coincided with a generous spending commitment from the government and a wide-ranging review of defence priorities — has gone some way to addressing the challenges. But experts say it has not gone far enough. “There is a capability gap across the services,” said Ben Barry, senior fellow for land warfare at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, adding that he strongly agreed with Sir Richard’s assessment. “With regard to Russia, the SDSR is schizophrenic. There is lots of language about being shoulder to shoulder with Nato allies, the value of deterrence and increased expenditure, but the threat analysis in it specifically rules out a direct threat to the UK — and I think that is wrong. It is not clear at all that the UK’s conventional capability is being rebuilt nearly enough.” The British army, Mr Barry continued, had not practised armoured warfare properly since 2003. It was outgunned in comparison to Russia’s forces, in some areas significantly so. Each Russian brigade had either two or three artillery battalions within it, he noted; the UK’s had one. Shortfall 2: Manpower All four services have seen dramatic reductions in manpower. This has curbed deployability and flexibility. But more critically, there are severe shortages of manpower in critical jobs, such as naval engineering, intelligence and medicine. While Britain is committed to a comprehensive upgrade of its Warrior tanks, that programme has a low priority within the existing defence equipment plan. By comparison, Russia’s new Armata tanks outgun anything the UK or Nato can field, and have an active protection system that will reduce the effect of British anti-tank weapons by between 50 per cent and 90 per cent. The other services are even more pressured. “[In the air], the forces are being pushed in a way they have not been since the end of the cold war,” noted Justin Bronk, research fellow and combat air power specialist at the Royal United Services Institute. While the F35 Joint Strike Fighter, due to come into service soon for the RAF, was an exceptionally capable weapon, Mr Bronk said, the numbers purchased — at least initially — would limit its utility sharply because of pressures such as training, servicing and maintenance. Shortfall 3: F35 fighters Britain’s new generation of fast jets are the most expensive — and capable — combat aircraft ever built for the UK. But with just 48 of them, the UK will only be able to operate six at a time and payloads are limited The UK has committed to buying 48 of the jets, which will be able to launch from the Navy’s two aircraft carriers. “That essentially means that on a long-term sustainable basis you might be able to deploy six of them,” says Mr Bronk. “At a high tempo for a short duration, you might be able to deploy 12.” The UK’s aerial surveillance assets are the most stretched, however. On any given day, just one or two of the British six-plane AWACS fleet can be used to provide long-range radar and command functions for British forces. The aircraft were so old that their capabilities were “substantially” below their French and US equivalents, said Mr Bronk. “That is certainly not going to give you a 24-hour presence … let alone the ability to field more than one at a time in two or more different theatres.” eShortfall 4: Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissanc The UK’s fleet of 6 AWACS planes, which provide long-range radar coverage and act as command hubs for deployed forces, are very out of date. Only one or two can operate at any one time. The UK cannot even sustain 24-hour coverage over a theatre of operation with them. The Royal Navy’s spate of new investments — from the Type 45 destroyers to the Queen Elizabeth carriers and the forthcoming Type-26 frigates — also belies significant operational constraints. “The major capability gap that the Royal Navy faces is one of numbers,” said Lee Willett, editor of IHS Janes Navy International. “It is the simple need to have enough ships in all the places that the government requires them to be.” While new high-tech ships would deliver a “major capability uplift in the short to medium term”, said Mr Willett, there may not be enough of them to combat or deter adversaries. Shortfall 5: Type 45 destroyers With only six Type 45 destroyers the Royal Navy will struggle to protect UK waters and its carrier fleet. Each carrier needs at least two destroyers to protect it. The ships have also been bedevilled by technical glitches. The six Type 45s, for example, must between them cope with aiding the defence of UK airspace and territorial waters, routine deployments to help allies such as escorting US carriers through the Gulf, escort of the UK’s own new carriers, low-tempo operations such as countering piracy, as well as potential high-tempo operations such as combat operations. The ships are already bedevilled by technical glitches that have curbed operations. Other, less prominent elements of the navy have continued to suffer. Amphibious assault forces, for example, are being cut back. The number of Bay-class logistics ships has fallen from four to three, and there are no costed plans to replace the amphibious assault ship HMS Ocean. Shortfall 6: Aircraft carriers At £2bn each, the two carriers are the most expensive military platforms the UK fields. But there will not be enough F35 jets to fully kit them out for years. The big ships are also vulnerable to a host of emerging military technologies: China’s new hypersonic missiles could easily sink them. According to Sir Richard, the challenge is not merely one of resources or money. More fundamentally, he wrote, the issue is one of strategic oversight and planning. In the MoD and the security organs of Whitehall, he said, there was now “almost no capacity left to think and plan strategically or generate resources for the unforeseen … our own bureaucracy struggles to get its head above managing details and events”.

It's easier when you can provide the VIN, but that's when experience steps in. Call Watt's Mack at 1-888-304-6225 and tell them you need two rectangular 2MO headlamp assemblies for a late model RD. Done deal.

VW diesel-cheat probe widens in U.S. to include Bosch Bloomberg / September 16, 2016 U.S. prosecutors are investigating whether Germany’s Robert Bosch GmbH, which provided software to Volkswagen AG, conspired with the automaker to engineer diesel cars that would cheat U.S. emissions testing. Among the questions the Justice Department is asking in the criminal probe, one of them said, is whether automakers in addition to VW used Bosch software to skirt environmental standards. The line of inquiry broadens what is already the costliest scandal in U.S. automaking history. VW faces an industry-record $16.5 billion, and counting, in criminal and civil litigation fines after admitting last year that its diesel cars were outfitted with a “defeat device” that lowered emissions to legal levels only when it detected the vehicle was being tested. Second supplier A second supplier may also be part of the widening probe: When prosecutors in Detroit outlined their case last week against a VW engineer who pleaded guilty to conspiracy in the matter, they said he had help from a Berlin-based company that is 50 percent owned by Volkswagen, described as "Company A" in a court filing. That company, according to a another person familiar with the matter, is IAV GmbH, which supplies VW and other automakers. IAV employees were part of a group working with Bosch and VW to develop emissions functions, according to U.S. court filings in a separate case. IAV and Volkswagen refused to comment. In Germany, prosecutors have said they are investigating whether Bosch employees helped VW rig software to cheat on emissions tests. In the U.S., Bosch is defending itself against a civil suit by drivers who allege that it not only conspired with VW to develop defeat devices, but also asked for legal protection from VW if the devices were used on American roadways. Bosch, in filings in San Francisco federal court, has called the suit “wild and unfounded.” People familiar with the industry have said it’s common for carmakers to buy software from a company such as Bosch and adapt it to their own vehicles. Diesel universe There’s a limited universe of diesel-engine vehicles sold in the U.S., including cars made by VW, Daimler AG and BMW AG and light trucks by General Motors, Ford Motor Co. and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles. Bosch provides components for several of these, including GM’s GMC Sierra, Ford’s F-250, Fiat Chrysler’s Jeep Grand Cherokee and models by Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz. Informed in general about a government look into whether automakers beyond Volkswagen may have used defeat devices, spokespeople for Daimler, Fiat Chrysler, BMW, GM and Ford declined to comment. IAV, the parts-maker that is half-owned by Volkswagen, provides engineering and expertise to automakers mainly for new-car development, including software, electronics and technology support. Volkswagen is that company’s largest customer, according to documents unsealed last week in Detroit federal court, with other clients including Bosch, BMW, Chrysler, Ford, GM and Daimler. Special access Under an agreement signed by VW and Bosch in 2006, IAV employees were among 35 individuals who were granted special access to documentation on “expanded software” created for certain emissions functions, according to a filing in a civil lawsuit. The agreement, which the plaintiffs say they received from VW during discovery in the case, shows the extent to which Bosch sought control over any modifications to its software, they allege in the filing. Bosch has yet to respond in court to the allegations. Beyond VW, other automakers face emissions-cheating lawsuits in the U.S. or accusations overseas of poor emissions performance. Daimler said in April that it was asked by the Justice Department to investigate the certification process of its cars and is the subject of a lawsuit by car owners alleging some of its diesel cars violated emissions standards. Daimler, which said it was fully cooperating with U.S. authorities, has called the class-actions lawsuit “baseless.” Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz has no 2017 diesel models listed among the more than 50 entries on the EPA’s fueleconomy.gov website. For 2016, the 70-plus models included the diesel-powered GL350 Bluetec SUV and E250 Bluetec sedan. The brand hasn’t announced a date for any diesel models to go on sale. Earlier this month, the German Transport Ministry asked the European Union to investigate allegations that three Fiat Chrysler vehicles sold in Europe had defeat devices. Italy and Fiat have denied the accusations, with the Italian Transport Ministry sayings its own tests showed no unauthorized devices on the vehicles. Other diesel vehicles in the U.S. include Nissan Motor Co.’s Titan XD pickup and Tata Motors Ltd.’s Land Rover Range Rover Sport Td6, which went on sale after the VW scandal erupted a year ago. Tata’s Jaguar has diesel versions of its 2017 F-Pace crossover and XE and XF sedans approved by the EPA and just starting to reach dealerships.

Mack Australia sunvisor.

The spirit of this prototype was to create an MH-based replacement for the FM.

With one crass decision, the greedy men who run Ford have betrayed everything Henry stood for - and run Hillary right off the road Piers Morgan / September 15, 2016 I heard a loud noise in my London office today. It began at a cemetery in Detroit, swirled around America, then reverberated across the Atlantic and clattered angrily into my airspace. It was the sound of Henry Ford turning in his grave. The greatest industrialist in the history of the United States would surely have been sickened by breaking news this morning about the world-renowned car company he created. Ford announced it is moving its small-car production from U.S. plants to Mexico. Not some of it, ALL of it. This will create 2,800 new jobs, not in America but in Mexico. Ford’s CEO Mark Fields told investors proudly: ‘Over the next two to three years, we will have migrated all of our small-car production to Mexico and out of the United States.’ Isn’t that, with 93 million Americans currently unemployed, an astonishing thing for the boss of a major U.S. company to boast about? Presidential candidate Donald Trump, who has long railed at precisely this kind of corporate activity, instantly branded the move ‘horrible’ and an ‘absolute disgrace.’ He also declared that if he becomes President then he’ll impose a 35% import tax on any Ford cars built in Mexico. This, he explained, will either force them to bring production back home, or they will end up paying America a lot of money. ‘When we send our jobs out of Michigan, we’re also sending our tax base,’ he said. He’s right. Make no mistake, Ford has done this from no motivation other than pure capitalist greed. The company is stinking rich and raking in cash, with assets worth $224 billion and reported pre-tax profits of $3 billion for the second quarter of 2016 alone. By moving small car production to Mexico to appease the equally grasping Wall Street speculators, it can squeeze that gigantic dollar lemon just a little tighter. But at what cost to America and Americans? Domestic manufacturing has collapsed this century in the United States, decimated by a combination of new technology and out-sourcing factories abroad. There are an estimated 12 million U.S. manufacturing jobs today, down from a peak of 19 million in 1979, with most of the fall happening since 2000. This extraordinary drop-off has wrecked many communities in the process, causing huge financial and social hardship for millions of Americans. Ford insists no American jobs will be lost as a result of this move, as production of larger vehicles will be moved to its Wayne plant in Michigan. This may or may not turn out to true. But what’s undeniable is that this decision will directly boost Mexico’s jobs market and not America’s. This cuts to the very core of Trump’s message about job preservation and creation in America. He passionately believes, and I’ve had this conversation with him for many years so I know it to be a sincere view, that big American companies are selling out the country and its people by sending production overseas to save a few bucks. Ford’s by no means the only culprit in the U.S. car market. General Motors and Fiat Chrysler have also expanded fast in Mexico. There are now 675,000 auto jobs in Mexico, a 40% increase from 2008. The total number of auto jobs has also risen in America over the same period, but by a far smaller amount of 15%. How many more could have been created if the out-sourcing hadn’t happened? It doesn’t have to be this way. Starbucks recently committed to building new factories in the U.S. even though it would be far cheaper for them to make all their cups abroad. CEO Howard Schultz did it because he thinks it’s imperative to save America’s manufacturing industry from further obliteration. As would Henry Ford, a man whose whole ethos was based around empowering Americans to rule the world in manufacturing by making things in America. Of all the many brilliant ideas that Ford had, perhaps his greatest was the $5-a-day wage he introduced for all his employees in 1914. This would be equivalent to $120 today and it nearly doubled the existing rate of most of his workers. Why did he do it? Ford wanted to pay his people well enough so they would be able to afford to buy the cars they made. A more powerful incentive to guarantee high quality work and care it would be hard to imagine. The move was stunningly successful. It instantly attracted the best mechanics from all over Detroit, which raised productivity and lowered training costs. This, in turn, kick-started the depressed local economy. So it benefited everyone, not just Ford employees. Ford made more money and so did America. It was the perfect fusion of profits and patriotism. What Ford is doing now betrays everything Henry Ford stood for. The company’s announcement today is another massive blow to U.S. manufacturing and will merely serve to encourage other major U.S. companies to take more their jobs abroad. When they do, the crumbling middle class, on which the power of America’s economy so vitally depends, will get further pulverised. Short-term greed will inevitably lead to longer-term impoverishment. It’s the perfect real life illustration of Aesop’s fable, “The Goose With The Golden Eggs”. Of course, there is one aspect of this move that even Donald Trump may find very pleasing. Ford’s greedy antics aren’t just anti-American, they may also have just helped hand him the presidency. ‘States that make cars like Donald Trump’, he said today. The latest polls, showing a surge in his support in those very states like Ohio, confirm this view. If Trump wins those states come November, he wins the White House.

Associated Press / September 14, 2016 A radical Islamist wielding a meat cleaver struck a New York City police officer in the head on Thursday in midtown Manhattan, and two other officers chasing the suspect were also hurt during the incident, police said. The attacker has been identified as Akram Joudeh, 32. The attack occurred after two on-duty officers were responding to reports of a crime in progress just before 5 p.m. local time near MadisonSquareGarden. Three officers were taken to an area hospital with non-life-threatening injuries. Mason said the man drew the cleaver from his waist band after two of the officers confronted him, and then the suspect ran. A stun gun had no apparent affect on him. A third officer, who was off duty and in the area at the time, helped chase the suspect, who ran down the street with the large butcher's knife in his hand. At one point, the suspect jumped on top of a police car and, as officers attempted to subdue him, the off-duty officer was struck in the head by the cleaver, causing a gash. After the officer was struck, police opened fire on the suspect. Joudeh was shot multiple times on West 32 Street, near Penn Station. Joudeh is in the hospital in critical but stable condition at BellevueHospital. Police were called out at around 5pm after Joudeh was seen trying to remove a boot off his car on West 31 St and Broadway. The vehicle had been parked in the middle of the street. When police approached, Joudeh went into a rage, pulling out the cleaver and fleeing while 'waving it around.' A sergeant attempted to stop the suspect with a taser, but for reasons unknown it apparently had no effect. Officers chased him through the heavily-patrolled area to West 32 St, near Penn Station, where he mounted the grill of a marked police car. Off-duty detective Brian O’Donnell attempted to tackle Joudeh, and was hit in the face with the cleaver. Officers tried to talk Joudeh into dropping the weapon, but he refused - at which point they fired 18 times, hitting him with multiple bullets. Two other officers sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Joudeh had a long criminal record with 15 arrests. .

Germany’s Efforts to Integrate Migrants Into Its Workforce Falter The Wall Street Journal / September 15, 2016 As the flow of asylum seekers entering Germanystarted to break historic records last fall, Continental AG rushed to tap some of the newcomers for its workforce. But one year after the tire maker began advertising an internship program designed for 50 migrant workers, only 30 of the positions have been filled as it struggles to find suitable candidates or vet their qualifications. Continental isn’t alone. Answering calls from Berlin to help in the country’s massive integration effort, German companies big and small have scouted refugee shelters and job centers for potential employees. Yet because of administrative bottlenecks and a mismatch in needed skills, the number of migrants in jobs with benefits was only about 25,000 higher in June than a year earlier, despite more than 736,000 arrivals in that time. “It is a huge effort,” said Ariane Reinhart, Continental’s executive board member for human relations. Frustrated with the slow pace of hiring, Chancellor Angela Merkel invited senior executives from the 121 companies behind a jobs-for-refugees initiative called “Us Together” to discuss their progress and difficulties on Wednesday. More than 80 business leaders attended the three-hour meeting. Among those questioned by Ms. Merkel were top executives at Deutsche Bank AG and Lufthansa AG . “It is our common target to integrate more and more refugees into the labor market,” she said beforehand. “If we succeed, it will be a benefit for all.” Afterward, an “Us Together” spokeswoman said there was “an open exchange” about existing projects. Failure to integrate the recent arrivals into Germany’s economy, the largest in Europe, could seal Ms. Merkel’s political fate. The chancellor’s popularity has waned, and her party lost badly in recent regional elections as more Germans doubt the wisdom of opening the country’s doors, which has brought well over a million migrants into the country in the past 18 months. Ms. Merkel has until the general election next year to change their minds. Companies blame the difficulty in hiring migrants on shortcomings in speaking German and lack of relevant skills, in part because many are young. They also say administrative and legal red tape forces many migrants to delay the job hunt until after their asylum claims are processed. Deutsche Post AG offered internships for 1,000 refugees last year but has so far filled only 235 positions. A spokeswoman said the postal services company relies on employment agencies for help in finding interns. It employs 102 refugees, it said, many of them former interns. Deutsche Lufthansa AG, the airline, said it had yet to hire any refugees, citing security reasons. Background checks on refugees aren’t “always easily doable against the backdrop of the often adventurous circumstances in the former home countries or during their flight,” a spokesman said. The government isn’t faring much better: Federal agencies have hired five refugees as employees and 12 as trainees since the beginning of last year, the interior ministry told lawmakers last month. This is despite the fact that there are few native Germans available to fill the highest number of job vacancies in a decade, and shortages of skilled workers are putting upward pressure on wages. Mohammed Fdeilati, a 22-year-old Syrian, said he fled to Germany two years ago, after finishing school, and became eligible to work after a year. “I wanted to do an apprenticeship to become a train driver at Deutsche Bahn, but they demanded a certain language level which I couldn’t meet,” he said. After searching for a job for two or three months, he found one as a bartender in Berlin. The Confederation of German Employers’ Associations said the country should broaden its German language and professional training for migrants and lower legal hurdles for their employment. Adult refugees should be sent back to school, it said. So far, only refugees whose asylum applications have been accepted are required to attend language classes. The confederations is urging that the regulation be extended to migrants whose prospects of receiving asylum are good. Migrants also need more help to find a course, it said. Lack of education and professional experience, along with deficiencies in speaking German and the young age of many migrants, are big stumbling blocks. Three out of five refugees looking for jobs are only qualified to fill entry-level positions, according to the Federal Labor Agency. Only 14% could work as specialists and 3% as experts, it said. The thicket of German labor laws is an obstacle, too. In some regions, employers with vacancies are required to search for a German applicant before hiring a migrant [As well they should !!!]. Asylum seekers can work for temporary employment agencies only after a 15-month waiting period. Many companies are also unwilling to invest in training workers whose long-term residency prospects are uncertain. Most migrants lack the skills a sophisticated economy demands. German employers are mainly interested in skilled staff: Only 19% of all vacancies are for workers without adequate professional experience and education. Some 65% require midlevel qualification and 16% a university degree. There are bright spots, however. Out of about 9,000 refugees applying for vocational training this summer, nearly 6,000 were accepted. Internships typically last several weeks and are unpaid. While the numbers remain small, some companies said they were pleased. At sportswear giant Adidas AG , 15 refugees have completed internships as part of a two-year integration program, and another 15 are set to enroll by the end of the year. “We’d be delighted if our interns decided after their two-year integration courses to do a traineeship at our company,” said Adidas spokeswoman Katja Schreiber.

Active managers exposed as most US equity funds lag behind market The Financial Times / September 15, 2016 A fresh blow for stockpickers as semi-annual survey finds 90% fall short of benchmark Nine out of ten US equity funds failed to beat the market over the past year, according to a new study that undermines active managers’ claims that they can outperform in more volatile markets. The semi-annual report on fund manager returns, produced by S&P Global, has long been depressing reading for professional stockpickers, but the scale of the disappointment in the latest figures is likely to fuel further outflows from an industry that is already under pressure. Money has been draining out of actively managed funds and moving into index-tracker funds at an accelerating pace this year. The S&P Indices Versus Active (Spiva) scorecard shows that 90.2 per cent of the actively managed US mutual funds that invest in domestic equities were beaten by their benchmarks, when their returns are calculated net of fees. There was not a single category of domestic fund — whether investing in large-caps, small-caps or a combination, or favouring growth stocks or value stocks — in which more than a quarter of managers succeeded in beating their category benchmark. “There is nothing redeeming to say about the managers in the equity space,” said Aye Soe, global research director at S&P. “They said they would provide downside protection and add value in choppy markets. This was their chance to prove themselves and earn their paychecks, but across every category they underperformed. It is embarrassing.” The latest report covers the 12 months to June 30, which includes the summer 2015 market swoon, the rollercoaster markets of January and February and, after the Brexit vote, the late June sell-off. It adds to a 14-year body of S&P data that confirms most US equities managers underperform the index, regardless of the category of fund and regardless of the timeframe. Over the past 10 years, 87.5 per cent of domestic equity funds underperformed. Outside of US equities, however, it includes pockets of positive news. Stockpickers that specialise in emerging markets were more likely than not to beat an EM benchmark in the past year — only 42.2 per cent underperformed — and there were categories of fixed income fund where the average manager beat the index. The best of these were loan funds and municipal debt funds. There is no evidence that the outperformance can be sustained even in those categories, however. On a ten-year view, 81.9 per cent of emerging markets funds and 74.4 per cent of muni funds are below their benchmarks. Some $328 billion flowed out of actively managed mutual funds in the US in the year to July 31, according to Morningstar, while $401 billion flowed into funds that passively track an index, such as those run by Vanguard and BlackRock’s iShares division. The shift has accelerated throughout the year, and July was a record month for outflows from active US equity managers, the research group said. The market share of passive funds has now passed one-third in the US, alarming some industry managers. With fewer investors analysing the value of a company before investing, critics say, the market’s role in efficiently allocating capital is being undermined. “If we push indexing to an extreme no one will get price signals,” said Matt Peron, head of equities at Northern Trust. Executives at asset management companies with large active businesses say they can add value in many markets. “I own some passive strategies, including Vanguard funds, personally,” said Tom Finke, chief executive of Barings, “but would you really take a $100bn pension fund and go all passive? There are areas where active is appropriate, especially for capacity constrained and less liquid strategies, but without a doubt there will be more encroachment from passive in many asset classes over time.” .

Scania Group Press Release / September 14, 2016 From extreme heat and high altitudes in Spain to dramatic winter conditions in Swedish Lapland. Years of tough summer and winter tests have helped shape Scania’s new generation of trucks. When placed under extreme conditions, the vehicles really showed their true colours. IDEAL EXTREMES It’s a tradition for Scania to carry out its ­summer vehicle-tests in Spain’s Sierra Nevada mountains. Temperatures range between 40ºC on the Mediterranean coast to as little as 12ºC at a height of 2,500 metres, providing ideal extremes for developing the new generation of trucks. “The conditions in southern Spain are ideal for us,” says Bertil Olsson, a veteran of Scania’s summer and winter tests. “Down on the coast, we’re able to test vehicles in both extreme warmth and humidity, while up in the drier mountain air we can do tests on steep hills.” REALITY CHECK Almost at the top of the Sierra Nevada range, Magnus Skjutar, who works with Engine Development within Scania’s R&D facility at Södertälje, Sweden, has stopped one of the test trucks to go through the latest measurements. “Because we’re currently working with engine calibration, the high temperatures and the temperature differences are extremely valuable,” he says. “In just a few intensive weeks, we can check that everything is okay with the development work that we did at home in Södertälje and also that the trucks meet all the requirements placed on new trucks by us and also by the various authorities.” 30 TEST TRUCKS Testing covers everything from the powertrain to the cabs and the electrical system, with a focus on the interaction between all the different parts of the truck. Thirty or so test trucks, tonnes of spare parts and some 300 engineers, designers, test drivers and mechanics are involved in activities on-site. “Once we’re in place, we follow a well-established schedule under which we generally begin with the high-altitude calibration of the engines,” says test engineer Johan Skynäs. “Then the various experts come one after another: the cooling team comes, then the retarder team, the durability team, the cab climate team, and so on.” MINUS 30 Winter testing in northern Sweden’s Arvidsjaur municipality is almost as legendary as the summer tests, although there are more journalists observing and more competitors carrying out testing. In this part of Lapland temperatures often fall below minus 30 degrees Celsius, and metre-deep snow, wind, darkness and wandering reindeer challenge the skills of Scania’s test drivers. .

Fleet Owner / September 14, 2016 Cummins Filtration announced it has further refined its Fleetguard LF14000NN combination lube filter for the arrival of newer engine platforms including Cummins X15 engines, introduced last month. “This breakthrough manufacturing technology maximizes the media area within the filter for optimum capacity and service life,” said Roma Fatima, lube product line manager, Cummins Filtration. “This eliminates the need for separate media sections without losing the combination performance of the different media grades.” According to the company, the new Fleetguard LF14000NN further reduces flow restriction, “allowing the latest generation of diesel engines to operate more efficiently with less parasitic power loss, which can lead to better fuel economy and lower CO2 emissions.” Depending on the quality of oil used, the LF14000NN is capable of longer service intervals, the company added. “Many of the characteristics that make NanoNet media so successful in fuel filter applications translate well to lube filters,” said Brad Long, senior engineering technical advisor, Cummins Filtration. “By pairing NanoNet with our proven StrataPore synthetic media, we can offer a lube filter that’s suited to meet the needs of today’s advanced engine platforms and lubricants as well as those coming in the near future.” For more information about Fleetguard products and technologies, visit cumminsfiltration.com or call 1-800-22FILTER.

Hino points to good economic times Australasian Transport News (ATN) / September 15, 2016 Hino is happy with a surprisingly strong Australian economy and the sales of its trucks It’s easy to get a sense of global economic doom and gloom if you watch, read and listen to mainstream media too much. But here are some of the latest business facts in Australia. Gross domestic product is growing at a healthy clip of more than three per cent a year, and we haven’t had a recession in Australia for more than a quarter of a century. The latest company profit results are regarded as good on the whole; and interest rates and inflation are still incredibly low. And of course the forecasts for bumper growth in the freight task just keep on coming. The latest tip is for a 26 per cent increase over the next decade, from no less a body than the National Transport Commission. "The economy appears to be in surprisingly good shape," Hino Australia chairman and CEO Steve Lotter says. "As a country we seem to be transitioning well from the mining boom to the construction boom, both in infrastructure and for housing, and this has been good for the truck market as a whole." Lotter, head of the number two brand in the Australian truck market, says Hino’s experience is especially good in NSW and Victoria at the moment. Hino says Western Australia is down because of the mining downturn of course, as is much of Queensland, but south-east Queensland is holding up well due to construction. South Australia is stable. Things are so good in fact that Hino hasn’t been able to keep up with demand for some models. However that has a fair bit to do with supply problems out of Japan, with a new plant scheduled to fully operational in October. While business prospects are good, as an importer Hino is finding the exchange rate to be "tough". And competition amongst truck suppliers to Australia is as fierce as ever. "If this isn’t the most competitive truck market in the world, I don’t want to be transferred to the one that is," Lotter says. Trucking operators in Australia know what fierce competition is like, and that no doubt explains why things are tougher for many of them than the positive state of the economy suggests. Lotter was speaking at a recent media presentation at Hino’s Australian headquarters at Taren Point in southern Sydney. It was just before the latest Truck Industry Council sales figures were released, which show that as usual, Hino is a clear runner-up to Isuzu. The brand has sold 2,870 trucks for the year-to-date (YTD) to the end of August in a rising market, giving it a 13.6 per cent market share. Notwithstanding the overall positive picture, Lotter says: "As an industry we believe that the Government could do more to help grow the overall truck market. "The average age of trucks on Aussie roads is approaching 15 years, whereas it’s fewer than 10 for most developed countries." "New trucks are certainly safer and greener, and either a carrot or stick approach could be taken to encourage operators to update and upgrade their fleets."

Australasian Transport News (ATN) / September 15, 2016 Predicting truck design in 2026, the VisionX concept truck will be on display this month at IAA Global technology giant Bosch has pulled its future trucking vision from idea to reality, unveiling the VisionX concept truck for the upcoming IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hannover, Germany. According to Bosch, the truck represents transport in 2026, where drivers have become logistics managers and the internet is king. "The truckers of the future will go from being drivers to serving as logistics managers," Bosch board member Dr Markus Heyn says. "The truck of the future will be a 40-ton smart device on wheels." The Bosch vision sees truck driver’s new job description switch to performing key freight forwarding tasks. The company says this will include checking transport status via cloud, responding to emails, organising routes, and adjusting them to take on additional cargo. To accommodate the new profession, Bosch says the future trucks will be fully connected – in some cases featuring automated driving – and run "on highly efficient diesel or even electricity as the situation demands." "Smart connectivity and automation will enable it to navigate traffic on the freeway itself, mostly without driver intervention," the company envisions. "This will give drivers time to take care of other tasks, such as planning routes, processing shipping documents, or simply taking a break." To experience Bosch’s vision for the future, the company has created the VisionX truck which will be on display at the IAA show. The truck will allow visitors to sit in the front seat and, Bosch says, "watch a highly realistic animated feature that allows them to experience the future of truck driving firsthand." The 2016 IAA int'l commercial vehicle show begins on September 22 in Hannover, Germany. .

I'm in Germany a lot, and personally have never noticed any issues. What you will notice is the trucks have the power to maintain momentum uphill while operating more efficiently pulling longer trailers.

That Mack distributor in Harrisonburg, Truck & Equipment, deserves very special mention. The gentleman who founded it, Bob Plecker, represented all that was good about the former Mack Trucks. Bob was one of finest individuals I ever had the pleasure to know. Of course they had their freight company too, North & South Trucking Lines. Great memories there, of a fantastic Mack distributor.

Glad we could help. We aim to please. A CS200P has air-over-hydraulic brakes........wheel cylinders front and rear. When maintained properly, it's a great system. Make no mistake about that. But when ill-maintained, wheel cylinders are expensive. Use Motul, and you'll have "above average" longevity. In Europe, they use synthetic brake fluid. But we at Mack years ago were afraid that U.S. customers would accidentally mix ordinary DOT 4 with synthetic fluid. You can just picture it happening. So we filled US market Mid-Liners with DOT 4. You needed to flush the system periodically to rid the accumulated moisture, but most MS/CS 200 customers didn't. So we sold a lot of wheel cylinders. The full-air brake MS/CS250P resolved all this, and customers like Penske and Ryder purchased thousands and thousands. Don't even ponder changing it over to full-air brakes like the CS250P and CS300P/T. It would be much too costly.

The cross-over to aftermarket could be wrong by a non-Mack brand. If the truck is year 1961, and the axle is an FA505, then the right kit is the 301SQ32B. When you contacted Watt's Mack, they said 301SQ32B was NLA (no longer available) ? Let me ask you this, how did you determine it's an FA505? Do you have the truck's line sheet with the 1QH front axle arrangement? Also, did you get the FA model and 1QH number off the front of the axle itself? (It's stamped)