kscarbel2

Volkswagen's 'Dieselgate' Problems Far From Over Bloomberg / July 26, 2016 Video - http://www.bloomberg.com/news/videos/2016-07-25/volkswagen-s-dieselgate-problems-far-from-over

The Guardian / July 25, 2016 Michael Jordan released a statement on Monday in response to the shootings of African-Americans and the targeting of police officers. “As a proud American, a father who lost his own dad in a senseless act of violence, and a black man, I have been deeply troubled by the deaths of African-Americans at the hands of law enforcement and angered by the cowardly and hateful targeting and killing of police officers,”wrote Jordan. “I grieve with the families who have lost loved ones, as I know their pain all too well.” Jordan announced a pair of $1m donations to groups dedicated toward improving relations between police and the community: the recently established Institute for Community-Police Relations and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, the nation’s oldest civil rights law organization. Added Jordan: “I was raised by parents who taught me to love and respect people regardless of their race or background, so I am saddened and frustrated by the divisive rhetoric and racial tensions that seem to be getting worse as of late. I know this country is better than that, and I can no longer stay silent. We need to find solutions that ensure people of color receive fair and equal treatment AND that police officers – who put their lives on the line every day to protect us all – are respected and supported. “Over the past three decades I have seen up close the dedication of the law enforcement officers who protect me and my family. I have the greatest respect for their sacrifice and service. I also recognize that for many people of color their experiences with law enforcement have been different than mine. I have decided to speak out in the hope that we can come together as Americans, and through peaceful dialogue and education, achieve constructive change.” The remarks are especially noteworthy given Jordan’s well-documented reticence to speak on political issues. “We are privileged to live in the world’s greatest country – a country that has provided my family and me the greatest of opportunities. The problems we face didn’t happen overnight and they won’t be solved tomorrow, but if we all work together, we can foster greater understanding, positive change and create a more peaceful world for ourselves, our children, our families and our communities.” .

The Guardian / July 25, 2016 The DNC issued an apology on Monday to Bernie Sanders and his supporters over leaked emails that showed bias among party officials towards his opponent, Hillary Clinton, as the DNC opened amid chaotic scenes of Sanders supporters booing the nominee. “On behalf of everyone at the DNC, we want to offer a deep and sincere apology to Senator Sanders, his supporters, and the entire Democratic Party for the inexcusable remarks made over email,” Democratic Party officials said. The controversy led to the resignation of Debbie Wasserman Schultz as party chair on Sunday. Wasserman Schultz was booed off stage by delegates from her home state of Florida The FBI announced on Monday it was launching an investigation into the hack of the DNC’s email server that led to the publication of the emails. Sanders supporters who had long doubted the neutrality of national party officials. Sanders supporters adopted one of Donald Trump’s attack lines against Clinton outside the hall, chanting “lock her up” . Sanders himself seemed incapable of controlling some of his more passionate supporters. Loud boos could be heard from within the closed-room meeting as the Vermont senator told them: “We have got to defeat Donald Trump and we have got to elect Hillary Clinton and Tim Kaine … This is the world we live in.” Clinton will formally accept the Democratic nomination for president on Thursday, after speeches from Barack Obama, Bill Clinton and Michelle Obama. Trump seized on the scandal during a rally in Roanoke, Virginia, to bolster his charge that Clinton was representative of a “rigged system”. “Debbie was totally loyal to Hillary and Hillary threw her under a bus,” Trump said of Wasserman Schultz’s departure. “It didn’t take her more than five minutes to make that decision,” he continued. “Man, I don’t want her covering my back, I’ll tell you right now.” Trump mocked the assertions at his campaign event, pivoting instead to the possibility that foreign governments might have access to Clinton’s private email server. “She worked very, very hard to rig the system. Little did she know that China, Russia – one of our many, many ‘friends’ – came in and hacked the hell out of us,” Trump said. “Why did Hillary get rid of her middle name? Hillary Rotten Clinton,” he added. )Clinton often goes by her full name, Hillary Rodham Clinton.) Regardless of its origins, the DNC email leak has emboldened Sanders supporters, showing up in numbers with banners and T-shirts declaring “Bernie or Bust” and “Feel the Bern”. They have argued all along that the DNC tilted the scales in Clinton’s favor. Although the emails do not contain evidence that officials actively worked against the senator, top staffers exchanged emails that showed personal bias toward Clinton and a desire to push narratives in the media that would hurt Sanders’ campaign. “The WikiLeaks emails reaffirm in the minds of delegates that we were given a raw deal and the primary was rigged from the very beginning to favor Mrs Clinton,” said Karen Bernal, a Sanders-supporting delegate from Sacramento. “People will ask: ‘Why can’t we have party unity, we are here to pick a nominee,’ but Sanders owes his success to protest movements outside the party. So it should not come as a surprise that a lot of the expressions that we see are going to reflect the zeitgeist outside the convention.” “We are a little pissed off,” added Manuel Zapata, another angry California delegate. “Since the moment we got here, people have looked down on us when they walked past them with our campaign swag on. “They throw party unity around as if it’s something that should make us jump for joy when her name is mentioned but everything that has happened over the last year pulls away from that.”

CNN / July 25, 2016 Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was booed by his own supporters earlier Monday when he spoke about the need to elect Clinton. "We have got to defeat Donald Trump and do everything we can to elect Hillary Clinton to the White House," said Sanders.

Unreasonable, backwards and inconsistent attitude by U.S. authorities towards 6x2 tractors.

Far too expensive and risky. You should have bought Navistar in January at $6 like the rest of us. You'd have already doubled your money. Come to think of it, I never see you at the "BMT Investors" meetings.

You can say that again. Why the US has its go-it-alone policy on emissions remains a long-time mystery.

You're only lifting for a few seconds to regain traction. You're not keeping it up and running down the road. 6x2s are used in northern Europe including Scandinavia all winter long.

May I please ask, do you approve, or disapprove, of the burning (desecration) of the United States flag by American citizens?

The rear axle has an intra-axle locking differential. If you start to lose traction, you can also release some air from the tag to enhance the "locked" drive axle's traction. It works great.......a different way of doing things with less weight and cost, and better fuel economy.

This is spec'd as an owner-operator on-road truck.

http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/41910-the-conventional-cab-scania-t-series-–-past-and-present/#comment-304865

It is a good fix. What's the problem? WD-40 ('Water Displacement, 40th formula')..........a still unmatched superb product for some 63 years born out of a fascinating need, protecting the outer skin of Atlas Missiles in their launch silos from corrosion. But god had nothing to do with it.....it was strictly an invention of mankind. http://wd40.com/cool-stuff/history

Okay. I have to say for a wear item like a clutch, I think 3-years or 350,000 miles is very reasonable. Having said that, Eaton just extended that clutch warranty to an incredible 5-years / 500,000 miles. You can't beat that anywhere else. http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/46131-eaton-extends-manual-transmission-clutch-warranties/

Beautiful truck with the Scania 500hp V-8. That's a fairly long wheelbase (for Europe). Was it actually ordered (spec'd) by the Chicago customer? How are they going to get this Euro-6 truck certified under EPA2010? What EPA-licensed emissions certification company are they using? I believe there are around 10 EPA-licensed companies across the country than process gray-market cars.

No, I absolutely could not argue that point at all. As Zenon Hansen so clearly pointed out, Mack Trucks maintained ALL of its autonomy under Signal. Mack Trucks was at a crossroads when they decided to bring Zenon C.R. Hansen on board to "fix the problem" and lead the company in an all new direction. He did. Zenon "wanted" Signal's financial support, and he later credited the Signal Companies' board for Mack Trucks' return to dominance. Their financial backing could, and did, supercharge Zenon's growth plans for Mack Trucks. And, Signal promised to allow Mack Trucks to operate with autonomy. They did. Mack earned more money for Signal than any other subsidiary, and Zenon famously kept them aware of that! Quoting the old man himself, "In my opinion, the Mack-Signal merger was the most successful large corporate merger ever attempted." In addition to Signal's financial backing being important to Mack's success, Zenon said "the really significant value has been this, that Mack has been associated with a high-grade organization which made good on all its agreements. We have kept our autonomy under Signal, and they have not meddled in the day-to-day operations of our business." Once, Zenon walked into a Signal board meeting to discuss bonus plans for the conglomerate companies. They didn't tell Zenon what bonuses were going to be handed out, rather he told them! Speaking to the board of the parent company, Zenon knew that it was his company, Mack Trucks, that was making all the money for Signal, and he told them so! "This is the bonus plan this year in my company [Mack Trucks]. I don't care what you're doing in your companies, but this is what I'm doing in mine." Particularly while Zenon C.R. Hansen ran Mack, the Signal Companies was extremely loyal to Mack Trucks. In 1964, prior to Zenon taking over Mack Trucks, the company reported US$275 million in sales. In 1966 with Zenon at the helm for two years, Mack sales reached US$411 million. And in 1970, sales leaped to US$534 million. We're talking about the man that issued every Mack employee a silver dollar-sized coin with a bulldog on one side, and a slogan on the other side stating "You Make the Difference". I carry my coin every day. Mack's outstanding earnings in 1966 was a double-edged sword........it made Mack Trucks a takeover target. Initially, to fight back, Zenon was designated chairman and CEO as well as president. But he finally realized that Mack needed the financial security and protection of a larger conglomerate, but the merger would be on Zenon's terms. Zenon said, "Our feeling was that if we had to get into bed with someone, it would be a Park Avenue glamour girl, not a Greenwich Village streetwalker." Zenon believed that a successful merger must address four priorities in this particular order: 1. The employees 2. The dealers; they have US$100 million tied up in Mack trucks and parts 3. The Mack customer 4. The stockholder In responding to critics who said that shareholders should be the first priority, Zenon said, "What good is the stockholder's dollar if the employees are not happy, if the dealers are in trouble, if they don't have a customer?" New York bankers introduced Mack Trucks to the Los Angeles-based Signal Oil & Gas Company, and it was the perfect match. Recalling their initial meeting, Zenon said, "You size up the people and pull it out fast. We had never met, and we had an agreement in two and a half hours." In the deal, Mack and Zenon retained complete autonomy, and Signal promised not to acquire any other truckmaker. Mack Trucks received Signal's financial backing to ramp up plant expansion, production and sales, and Zenon joined Signal's board of directors. As a result of the Mack-Signal merger, Mack Trucks in 1971 was once more the top selling diesel truck in the United States. One out of five heavy trucks wore a bulldog. By the end of 1973, nine years after Zenon C.R. Hansen had taken the helm at Mack Trucks: - Production had increased 138 percent - New truck deliveries increased 134 percent - Mack sales skyrocketed 200 percent, from US$275 million to US$880 million - Shareholder's equity rose 147 percent, with return on invested capital increasing from 2.7% to 13% - Earnings per share increased by an astonishing 764 percent All of this, because of Signal's support of Mack Trucks and Zenon C.R. Hansen, the best truckmaking CEO in the history of the industry right up to the present day. As Zenon proudly said, and history has gone on to confirm: "I don't think many companies can match that record. I have been asked many times how we did this. I will say it again, there's no substitute for experience. It all boils down to experience, damn hard work, and good application of effort by the Mack management team. Our talented, dedicated, ingenious Mack people have made a difference."

Australia plans to indefinitely hold 'terror' convicts Associated Press / July 25, 2016 Australia will indefinitely detain people convicted of "terrorism-related" charges if it feels they pose an ongoing danger to society upon their release, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has said. Turnbull said the proposed measure was prompted by an increase in the frequency and severity of attacks around the world. "In the wake of Orlando, Nice, and other terrorist incidents, as well as our own experience ... we cannot afford for a moment to be complacent," Turnbull said. "This legislation will enable additional periods of imprisonment for terrorist offenders who have served their sentences but are still judged to present an unacceptable risk to the community." The proposal is similar to arrangements already in place for sex offenders and extremely violent individuals in some states. Attorney-General George Brandis said the extension of detention would be a court supervised process with regular reviews and reassessments. "It will of course only apply to individuals who, as they approach the end of a sentence of imprisonment, continue to pose an unacceptably high risk to the community because of their failure to be rehabilitated as a result of a penal sentence," he said. Under the proposed laws, the age at which children could be held would be lowered from 16 to 14. Turnbull said the steps were necessary but proportionate. "They balance the need to keep the community safe with our commitment to privacy and the rights of the individual," Turnbull said, stressing that ultimately it was important the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant group was defeated. A total 44 people have been charged with "terrorism" offences in Australia since 2014, including some involved in the planning of mass attacks on the public, Turnbull said.

"They never work right" That's a pretty strong statement. And not my experience. There's absolutely nothing wrong with an easy-pedal, but there are customers who want to pay up for the automatic adjustment convenience of the Solo. Did your service manager contact the Eaton district service rep for your area, have him come by, and discuss your the issues? That's the Eaton rep's job, and you should make use of him. Every new truck you sell with Eaton components, plus Eaton spare parts, indirectly pays his salary. If your dealer decided to walk around the issue by having the sales dept. avoid Solos, rather than confront the perceived issue by contacting Eaton and having them resolve it to your satisfaction..............

Transport Engineer / July 25, 2016 Iveco is extending its Stralis range with a new 8x2 tridem model, available with a Hi-Street, Hi-Road or Hi-Way cab. The tridem conversion is being carried out by System Truck, in Italy – said to be the largest CV converter in Europe. The base vehicle is a 26-tonne Stralis 6x2 rigid, to which System Truck adds a central disc brake axle running on single wheels. The hydraulic system for steering the additional axle is completely independent and autonomous, and does not alter the steering of the original vehicle in any way. Plus, the second and fourth axles can be raised in unladen or partially laden conditions, to reduce tyre wear and rolling resistance. Martin Flach, product director at Iveco, says: “The Stralis tridem is built for carrying uniform loads in applications where manoeuvrability is paramount. It’s ideally suited to fleets which need the capacity of an 8x4, but on jobs where there’s only room for a six-wheeler to deliver.” He adds: “For operators who want the flexibility of being able to pull a drawbar trailer, it affords the ability to run as a 44-tonne combination.” The Stralis tridem is available with a choice of six wheelbase lengths, from 4,200mm to 6,050mm, with the additional axle increasing the vehicle’s tare weight by approximately 900kg, depending on the specification selected. .

Dagens Industri / July 22, 2016 Volvo's CEO Martin Lundstedt on July 22, three days after the company's report for the second quarter, bought 30,000 shares of Volvo Group. The share purchase is clear from transparent reporting to the FSA. The investment amounted to around 2.7 million kronor (US$311,526). Volvo's share has since the report release on Tuesday backed down 0.44 percent. Volvo reported on April 6* that Martin Lundstedt at that time owned 36,447 Series B shares worth 3.26 million kronor (US$376,139). The shares were purchased at the beginning of February. * http://www.volvogroup.com/SiteCollectionDocuments/VGHQ/Volvo Group/Investors/Corporate Governance/AGM 2016/Appendix B Minutes AGM 2016.pdf

Reuters / July 22, 2016 Mexico will adopt stricter Euro-6 emissions standards in 2020, earlier than the truck industry had wanted. After years of heated debate between truckmakers and environmental activists, new heavy trucks will have to meet Euro-6 emission standards in 2020, says Mexico's undersecretary for Environmental Policy and Planning, Rodolfo Lacy Tamayo. New heavy trucks will have to meet a lower emissions standard known as Euro-5 from July 1, 2018, six months later than the date proposed in 2014. Mexico's truck industry had pushed for a three to four-year gap between implementation of Euro-5 and Euro-6. The changes pit truck makers, who argue that new standards will push up prices for consumers, against environmental activists who say that stricter regulations should be implemented even sooner to improve dismal air quality. Mexico currently uses a weaker standard known as Euro-4, which has led to higher ozone concentration levels throughout the country. In March, extreme air pollution in the capital of Mexico City led the municipal government to declare an environmental emergency. Lacy said the implementation date would coincide with greater availability of cleaner ultra-low sulfur fuel in the country. Lacy also said the government would not offer subsidies to consumers who purchase new vehicles. "It is not the responsibility of the state to maintain every market in the automotive industry," he said. The details of the new regulation will be officially published in mid-August, he said.

The most damaging information in the DNC’s leaked emails The Washington Post / July 24, 2016 Thousands of leaked emails have sealed the fate of Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz's uneven five-plus-year tenure as DNC chair. Wasserman Schultz's resignation announcement Sunday afternoon comes as a bad situation just keeps getting worse -- and appears as though it might continue to do so. That's because {veil lifter}WikiLeaks has so far released nearly 20,000 emails, new details are still being discovered, and there is still the prospect of additional, damaging emails coming to light. Many of the most damaging emails suggest the committee was actively trying to undermine Bernie Sanders's presidential campaign. Basically all of these examples came late in the primary -- after Hillary Clinton was clearly headed for victory -- but they belie the national party committee's stated neutrality in the race even at that late stage. Below is a running list of the most troublesome findings for Wasserman Schultz and her party. As new revelations come out, we'll update it. 1) Targeting Sanders's religion? On May 5, DNC officials appeared to conspire to raise Sanders's faith as an issue and press on whether he was an atheist -- apparently in hopes of steering religious voters in Kentucky and West Virginia to Clinton. Sanders is Jewish but has previously indicated that he's not religious. One email from DNC chief financial officer Brad Marshall read: “It might may no difference, but for KY and WVA can we get someone to ask his belief. Does he believe in a God. He had skated on saying he has a Jewish heritage. I think I read he is an atheist. This could make several points difference with my peeps. My Southern Baptist peeps would draw a big difference between a Jew and an atheist." Marshall added in a later email: “It’s these Jesus thing.” In response, CEO Amy Dacey said: "Amen." 2) Wasserman Schultz calls top Sanders aide a "damn liar"... On May 17, after controversy erupted over the Nevada state Democratic convention and how fair the process was there, Wasserman Schultz herself took exception to Sanders campaign manager Jeff Weaver's defense of his candidate's supporters. "Damn liar," she wrote. "Particularly scummy that he barely acknowledges the violent and threatening behavior that occurred." 3) ... and says Sanders has "no understanding" of the party That wasn't the only time Wasserman Schultz offered an unvarnished opinion about the Sanders operation. And in one late-April email, she even questioned Sanders's connection to the party. "Spoken like someone who has never been a member of the Democratic Party and has no understanding of what we do," she said in response to a Politico story about Sanders saying the party hadn't been fair to him. Sanders, for what it's worth, wasn't a Democrat before entering the Democratic primary. He caucused with the party but has long been an independent. In that way, Wasserman Schultz's comments could be read simply as her defending her party; Sanders was attacking the party, after all. But her comment also suggests a particularly dim view of Sanders that she didn't feel the need to obscure in conversations with other DNC staff. 4) A Clinton lawyer gives DNC strategy advice on Sanders When the Sanders campaign alleged that the Clinton campaign was improperly using its joint fundraising committee with the DNC to benefit itself, Clinton campaign lawyer Marc Elias offered the DNC guidance on how to respond. "My suggestion is that the DNC put out a statement saying that the accusations the Sanders campaign are not true," Elias said May 3 in response to an email about the issue sent by communications director Luis Miranda to other DNC stuff that copied Elias and another lawyer at his firm, Perkins Coie. Elias continued: "The fact that CNN notes that you aren’t getting between the two campaigns is the problem. Here, Sanders is attacking the DNC and its current practice, its past practice with the POTUS and with Sec Kerry. Just as the RNC pushes back directly on Trump over 'rigged system', the DNC should push back DIRECTLY at Sanders and say that what he is saying is false and harmful the the Democratic party." Elias's guidance isn't perhaps all that shocking; he's Clinton's lawyer, after all. But the fact that he was talking to the DNC about how to respond would appear to suggest coordination between the DNC and Clinton campaign against Sanders in this particular case. 5) Plotting a narrative about how Sanders's campaign failed On May 21, DNC national press secretary Mark Pautenbach suggested pushing a narrative that Sanders "never ever had his act together, that his campaign was a mess." After detailing several arguments that could be made to push that narrative, Paustenbach concludes: "It's not a DNC conspiracy, it's because they never had their act together." Paustenbach's suggestion, in that way, could be read as a defense of the committee rather than pushing negative information about Sanders. But this is still the committee pushing negative information about one of its candidates. 6) Mocking Sanders for his California debate push One of the chief complaints from Sanders and his supporters was a lack of debates. They said the fact that there were so few was intended to help Clinton by reducing her opponents' exposure and their chances to knock her down. After the Sanders campaign presumptuously declared that an agreement for an additional debate in California had been reached, Miranda responded to the Sanders campaign's release on May 18 simply: "lol" As noted, the release from the Sanders campaign was presumptuous in declaring that an agreement had been reached. Miranda could simply have been responding to the somewhat-silly tactic. But The debate never actually happened, as the Clinton campaign later opted not to participate. 7) Wishing Sanders would just end it Many of these emails came as it was clear Clinton was going to win -- which makes the apparent favoritism perhaps less offensive (though Sanders supporters would certainly disagree). But it's also clear that there was plenty of cheerleading for the race to simply be over -- for Sanders to throw in the towel so that Clinton could be named the presumptive nominee. The party, of course, was still supposed to be neutral even though the odds and delegate deficit for Sanders looked insurmountable. On May 1, in response to Sanders again saying he would push for a contested convention, Wasserman Schultz said, "So much for a traditional presumptive nominee." 8) Calling an alleged Sanders sympathizer a "Bernie bro" The term "Bernie bro" -- or "Berniebro," depending on your style -- over the course of the campaign became a kind of shorthand for the worst kind of Sanders supporter. These were the supporters who couldn't be reasoned with and verbally assaulted opponents, sometimes in very nasty ways. Some in the DNC apparently used the pejorative to refer to one particular radio host seen as overly sympathetic to Sanders, Sirius XM's Mark Thompson. "Wait, this is a [expletive] topic," Miranda wrote on May 4 after Thompson's program director, David Guggenheim, requested an interview on a Clinton fundraising controversy. "Where is Guggenheim? Is he a Bernie Bro?" "Must be a Bernie Bro," DNC broadcast booker Pablo Manriquez responds. "Per Mark’s sage, I turned him down flat (and politely) and inquired into opportunities next week to talk about something else. 9) Flippant chatter about donors While the Sanders emails have gained the most attention, some of the more interesting emails involve a peek behind to curtain of how party officials talk about major donors. In a May 16 exchange about where to seat a top Florida donor, national finance director Jordan Kaplan declared that "he doesn’t sit next to POTUS!" -- referring to President Obama. “Bittel will be sitting in the sh---iest corner I can find,” responded Kaplan's deputy, Alexandra Shapiro. She also referred to other donors as "clowns." Here are some other things Kaplan and Shapiro said about donors, via Karen Tumulty and Tom Hamburger: Kaplan directed Shapiro to put New York philanthropist Philip Munger in the prime spot, switching out Maryland ophthalmologist Sreedhar Potarazu. He noted that Munger was one of the largest donors to Organizing for America, a nonprofit that advocates for Obama’s policies. “It would be nice to take care of him from the DNC side,” Kaplan wrote. Shapiro pushed back, noting that Munger had given only $100,600 to the party, while the Potarazu family had contributed $332,250. In one email attachment from Erik Stowe, the finance director for Northern California, to Tammy Paster, a fundraising consultant, he lists the benefits given to different tiers of donors to the Democratic National Convention, which starts next week in Philadelphia. The tiers range from a direct donation of $66,800 to one of $467,600 to the DNC. The documents also show party officials discussing how to reward people who bundle between $250,000 to $1.25 million.

Let's say, for example, that safety advocates wanted to keep highway speeds at 55mph, but you feel the speed limit should be 70mph. If you win, they lose. If they win, you lose. Everyone can't have it their way. In order for one or more groups to "have it their way", one or more other groups will NOT have it their way. It's all taught in Reality 101.

Cummins unveils X15 and X12 engines Fleet Owner / July 23, 2016 OEM adds that over-the-air updates will be a standard feature on its new engines. Cummins Inc. unveiled three all-new 2017-compliant truck engines here during a media event at the 4,500-acre Transportation Research Center (TRC) proving grounds just outside Columbus, OH; the new X15 efficiency and X15 performance series engines, along with the new X12 "medium bore" displacement engine. Jim Fier, VP of EBU engineering, said during the event that changing the OEM’s familiar “ISX” engine nomenclature to simply “X” is “not just a rebranding effort, but signifies a new era for Cummins, one focused on delivering more “finely tuned” products to truck customers: The X15 efficiency series is “tuned” to provide maximum fuel economy, Fier said, noting that it delivers 3% better fuel economy versus 2016 equivalent models and an over 10% improvement versus 2010 equivalent displacements. The X15 efficiency series is rated at 400 to 500 hp, delivering 1,450 to 1,850 lbs.-ft. of torque. By contrast, the X15 performance series is focused on providing more power, especially for heavy loads. It’s rated between 485 and 605 hp, delivering 1,650 to 2,050 lbs.-ft. of torque. The new 2017 X12 medium displacement engine from Cummins weighs in at just 2,050 lbs., cranking out 350 to 475 hp and delivering 1,250 to 1,700 lbs.-ft. of torque. “It’s been designed from the ground up to reduce weight be maintain durability and reliability,” Fier said. The X15 efficiency and performance series engines are expected to begin a “limited production run” in the fourth quarter this year of some 1,400 units, noted Mario Sanchez-Lara, director of on-highway marketing for Cummins. “That’s about four times the volume we’ve done before [with limited production runs] which reflects solid [order] volumes from the truck OEMs,” he said. Based on current truck market trends, Cummins expects sales of the X15 performance series to comprise between 10% and 30% of overall X15 model volumes at least initially. Full production of the X15 efficiency and performance series engines is expected to begin in January 2017, with full production of the X12 medium-displacement model expected to start in 2018. Cummins is also offering three telematics services with its new engines: Connected Diagnostics, which is already in use on 45,000 customer trucks; Connected Calibrations, the OEM’s over-the-air (OTA) engine calibration service, which will be a standard feature for all X15 electronic control modules (ECMs); and Connected Tuning, which will allow truck owners to adjust calibration packages to meet precise day-to-day operating needs, such as if a truck moves from highway routes to more localized delivery patterns. Cummins is also offering a “look forward” cruise control feature on all of its X15 efficiency models that will enable the engine to “read” the road ahead for up to 2 miles so as to plan for more fuel efficient acceleration and coasting. The OEM also plans to offer an oil analysis service dubbed “Oil Guard” to customers with the new X15 engines to help extend oil drains beyond the initial 50,000 mile service interval. The company explained that trucks achieving 6.5 mpg could see oil drains extended out to 80,000 miles through the new testing service. Fier added that all three engines represent four years of work by Cummins and are backed by 9 million miles of field testing. “That’s the largest ever field test by Cummins, with some of our test trucks going over 500,000 miles,” he noted. Photo gallery: Day 1 - http://fleetowner.com/equipment/cummins-engine-rollout-day-1#slide-0-field_images-196731 Day 2 - http://fleetowner.com/equipment/cummins-engine-rollout-day-2#slide-0-field_images-196741 Day 3 - http://fleetowner.com/equipment/cummins-engine-rollout-day-3#slide-0-field_images-196881

Mack CL600GK & CL700GK