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Scania Urban Tipper: enhancing road safety in city centres Scania Group Press Release / April 14, 2016 In response to the challenge to reduce risk and afford greater protection to pedestrians and cyclists, Scania – the UK’s market-leading eight-wheel tipper supplier – has worked with its industry-partners and academic research bodies to develop a new standard for tippers operating within city centres. Equipped with a lightweight body, the vehicle has been specified for applications where it is anticipated that 90–95 percent of the vehicle’s driving-time will be on the public highway. Designated the Scania Urban Tipper, the vehicle encompasses a raft of safety-enhancing features: Breaking away from the 8×4 norm, the 8×2*6 configuration provides a highly manoeuvrable chassis with three steering axles. 410 horsepower Euro 6 engine: Requiring only Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) to meet the Euro 6 exhaust emissions standard, Scania’s 410 horsepower SCR-only engine has broken fuel-efficiency records in independent trials conducted throughout Europe. Fully-automated gear-selection: Two-pedal Scania Opticruise transmission enhances safety in operation by reducing stress and fatigue on the driver. Full air-suspension: Enables the chassis height to be lowered when driving in urban areas, thereby also lowering the driver’s eyeline for better direct vision. Suspension can be raised to increase ground clearance when working on more demanding terrain. Passenger vision door: Developed specifically for the UK market, the large glass panel provides the driver with a direct line-of-sight to the front nearside of the vehicle. Active safety features: The Scania Urban Tipper features a range of proven safety features including Advanced Emergency Braking, Lane Departure Warning , Electronic Stability Program and a Camera Monitor System.

When you called your local Mack dealer's parts department (or the good folks at Watts Mack) with your truck's model and serial number (located on the vehicle identification plate affixed to the driver's door), what did they say?

New North American Commercial Vehicle Show Slated for September 2017 Heavy Duty Trucking / April 14, 2016 A new, bi-annual North American trucking trade show has been scheduled for September 2017 in Atlanta. The inaugural North American Commercial Vehicle Show, focused on the commercial fleet and heavy truck market, will debut September 25-29, 2017, with more than 300,000 square feet of exhibition space. The new show will be organized and managed jointly by Hannover Fairs USA (HFUSA), a subsidiary of Deutsche Messe, and Newcom Business Media, the organizer of the Canadian-based Truck World and ExpoCam trade shows, through the North American Commercial Vehicle Show Partnership. (Newcom also publishes trucking magazines such as Today's Trucking and Truck News.) The NACV Show will be held on alternating years from the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hannover, Germany, held during the even years. IAA is hosted by Deutsche Messe and owned by VDA (Verband der Automobilindustrie e.V.). Deutsche Messe also organizes China Commercial Vehicle held in Wuhan, China. The NACV Show will target North American-based commercial fleet owners, owner-operators, commercial and light commercial vehicle dealers, distributors, repair shops, truck manufacturers and the commercial vehicle trade media. This is not the only effort to establish a new North American trucking show that will alternative years with IAA. Last month, the American Trucking Associations, along with the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association division of the Motor and Equipment Manufacturers Association, announced they are working with global event management and trade show firm Messe Frankfurt Inc. to develop a new, biennial North American-based truck and transportation event. However, no details on dates or location were announced. These developments come in the wake of the major original equipment (truck and engine) makers deciding not to exhibit at this year's Mid-America Trucking Show in Louisville, Ky., with many saying they would prefer an every-other-year format like IAA.

How Automation, Technology Will Change Trucking in the Next Decade Heavy Duty Trucking / April 14, 2016 The changes currently happening in technology and automation are likely to change trucking as profoundly as the development of the Interstate Highway System, predicted Noel Perry Thursday in FTR’s monthly State of Freight webinar. “Most of the time, the future is not that much different, and the details of it are uncertain enough, that spending a lot of time worrying about what happens 10 years from now doesn’t make a lot of sense,” said Perry, an economist who has specialized in the transportation and logistics industry for decades. In forecasting, he said, you concentrate on things that are both important to the industry and of a high probability. For a small fleet in the 1950s, the importance of highways that could halve transport times was evident. When President Eisenhower signed the bill establishing the Interstate Highway System, the probability of that change became not only high, but a virtual certainty. Today, Perry said, “the explosion of digital calculating tools and automating tools will have an equally large effect on our business 10 years from now” as the highway system did on the business. “We see a lot of them being introduced and tested right now, so the likelihood is high.” By the late 2020s, he said, we will no longer have a driver shortage, making it tough to get higher rates. Other costs will be lower. Yet taxes, he said, will be higher, as governments turn to trucking to not only pay for infrastructure but also for increasing social services for an aging population, and for the country’s rising debt and higher interest on that debt. From an economic standpoint, however, a decade from now we’ll see that the explosion in automation “erases the advantage China has over us in labor costs and economies of scale.” Today’s automated manufacturing tools, he said, will be more affordable for smaller companies. “That means the U.S., which has tremendous advantages in capital, logistics and materials, reverses its position as a high cost manufacturing location and becomes a low cost manufacturing location,” Perry said. “Even better than Mexico. A lot of the economic benefit we’ve lost overseas will come back. And it will just about offset the job losses from automation inside our manufacturing places.” However, he said, these changes also will reduce the amount of transportation that’s required. As plants gain the ability to become smaller through automation, they can move closer to customers. We may see the re-opening of car factories in California, for instance. So length of haul goes down. On top of that, he said, with automation comes less waste in the manufacturing sector. “When you take waste and length of haul out, it’s very likely we’ll be moving fewer ton miles of freight than we do today. That’s great for the economy, very efficient; it’s not so good for us in transportation. “The demand for transportation will change from a volume issue to a quality issue. These tools will require more precise transportation. It’s going to be about quality and service.” Add to the increased efficiency and productivity of the manufacturing sector the potential for increased automation and “productivity” of transportation itself, and you could see the number of trucks needed reduced by as much as half, Perry projected. “As we automate the construction and operation of our highways, capacity increases without changes in investment,” he said. If you just get everyone driving the same speed, for instance, you lose the inefficient “accordion effect” and reduce accidents. “If you put in some more sophisticated technology it’s possible to triple the capacity of any highway,” he said. So other than increased taxes, he said, other costs will go down — driver costs, fuel costs, accident and insurance costs, etc. Many of these technologies are already partially in play, he said. Look at navigation (“nobody carries maps anymore), automated paperwork in the form of electronic logs, automated lane management and following distance systems. Some fleets are already using these technologies, and some will be mandated. “So this stuff is coming at us very rapidly, more so than I thought originally.” “When it happens, the driver shortage goes away,” Perry said. In 2018-2020, he said, we’ll still have a problem with the supply of drivers being less than demand because of regulatory problems. “But once we get into the ‘20s and productivity goes up, supply will be higher and demand will be lower…. of course that has profound implications for pricing…. the only way we’re going to make money … is to emphasize quality.” .

Fleet Owner / April 13, 2016 Commercial vehicle drivetrains are constantly breaking new ground these days. For fleet managers, it can be a lot to keep track of. And sometimes if can all seem a bit pointless: after all, trucks can only go so fast, and drivers can only drive so long during the course of a day. And therein lies the point to all of these new tech: Going faster for longer hours is increasingly harder to do. And, with the advent of mandated electronic logging devices, it will soon be literally impossible to do without getting caught. So, the answer for truck fleets today is efficiency: Maximizing every second of available time and every mile of legal highway speed you have available to you in the course of a driver's work day. And you're on the verge of getting at tool that is going to allow you to accomplish that goal in ways that seem unimaginable today. Telematics aren't new. It's been around for years and has already proven to be a highly valuable tool for fleets engaged in both vocational and on-highway applications. But, in my opinion, the next generation of telematic vehicle systems will be a game-changer: A new technology so potent and effective that in five years' time, you'll wonder how you ever ran a fleet without it. Here's why I think that: Telematics systems are increasingly being tied in with a new generation of vehicle-to-vehicle communications systems and self-diagnosing powertrains. And the potential those two technologies have for fleets is obvious: Severely limit -- or even eradicate -- unscheduled downtime, instantly reconfigure drivetrain performance settings to meet any road or terrain condition at hand, and optimize available hours of service by rerouting around traffic congestion and accidents. All those new systems will tie together through advanced telematics to completely transform fleet operations in the very near future. Drivetrains will soon have the power to self-diagnose themselves and identify component failures before they happen. Electronic control modules, which are constantly making exponential leaps in computing power, will soon monitor a whole host of critical drivetrain telemetry in real time. This information will be constantly compared to an already-growing batch of Big Data being compiled by powertrain suppliers and OEMs to catch failures before they leave your driver sitting by the side of the road. The system might, for example, detect a sudden sustained spike in coolant temperature along with a slight loss of system pressure and decreased resistance from the water pump pulley. A check with data wirelessly compiled over millions of hours of real-time use by the engine manufacturer will show that those conditions, combined with the number of miles on the engine and hours of operation correspond with an impending water pump failure in less than 500 miles. At that point, electronic arrangements will begin to alert the driver and the fleet, locate a replacement water pump inside the 500 mile geofence, schedule a bay and an arrival time for the truck. Approvals and repair costs will be handled electronically as well. But that's just the beginning. Let's say you've got trucks picking up cargo at the Port of Mobile, Alabama, and hauling those goods up to Chicago. Very soon, you'll be able to program those trucks to instantly adapt to their terrain conditions to insure the most efficient operation at all times. For example, the land north of the Gulf Coast is essentially flat. Your preprogrammed telematics system will recognize its location and request a fuel-map, torque and horsepower adjustment from your powertrain provider to meet those terrain conditions. Later on in the trip, south of Birmingham, the terrain will begin to rise and hills will increase steadily as you draw near the Tennessee border and move up toward Kentucky. Again, your telematics system will recognize that terrain and have changed and will request a new set of engine operating parameters with higher horsepower and more torque to help the driver deal with those new driving conditions. Once the truck has crossed into Indiana and onto the Great Plains, the powertrain will once again update its powertrain settings and revert back to a lower horsepower operating mode to save fuel. Your driver is saving additional time because he hasn't had to pull into any weigh stations on this trip, either. That's because your fleet has a good CSA score and this particular truck's overall health and maintenance record as well as its weight is available via telematics for State DOTs to electronically inspect. As your truck draws near a weigh station, the data is flashed to the DOT and quickly verified. Everything looks good, so your driver gets a message that he doesn't have to pull in. There's always a chance he might draw a random inspection -- but your fleet's CSA sore is so good, that rarely happens anymore. Things start to tighten up as your driver nears Gary, Indiana. Traffic is increasing sharply, as is the presence of law enforcement. At this point, based on prior citations your fleet has gotten in this area, you could opt to use your telematics system to limit a truck's top speed in this area to 65 mph to help your driver avoid a speeding ticket. Meanwhile, in the cab, the driver has, in real time, received notification about a bad accident closing down the Interstate west of Gary. Using real-time data from vehicles actually stuck in the traffic jam, as well as public information data being provided by emergency response teams, the system will be able to accurately predict delay times, measure those times against available hours of service and scheduled delivery time while suggesting an alternate route that will cut over and bring him up to Chicago from the south to insure an on-time delivery. It's all heady stuff. But it's also simple, practical and makes absolute sense from both a fleet, and a driver's, perspective. Telematics will mark a new era in hyper-efficient trucking. And it will all happen seamlessly, reliably with with almost no human management required.

Fleet Owner / April 14, 2016 At this week's Truck World Show, International Truck unveiled its fourth model of the International HX Series line-up, the HX520—a 120" BBC set-forward axle truck or tractor designed to serve the heavy haul tractor, construction dump and platform stake/crane markets. The HX Series, a new line of Class 8 vocational trucks designed to deliver the strength and endurance required for the severe service industry, was introduced at the 2016 World of Concrete trade show in Las Vegas in February. "The HX Series raises the bar for premium vocational trucks, and was designed with feedback from leading severe service customers," said Bill Kozek, president, truck and parts, Navistar. "Each of the four models in the series has been engineered to deliver unmatched performance for the most punishing jobs, while making operators more productive." "We have been generating a steady stream of truck orders since we launched the HX Series and that number is growing by the day," said Jeff Sass, senior vice president, sales and marketing, Navistar. "We expect demand for the HX Series to continue to grow with the HX520 debut." According to the company, the HX Series was engineered to withstand the most punishing job sites and includes features such as 12.5" x .5" single rail delivering 3.5 million RBM at 13% less weight than that of a double 10" rail, a 40-degree wheel cut with 425 series tires for improved maneuverability and the all-new DriverFirst Cab Air Suspension. Four HX Series models are offered, with both set-forward and set-back front axle models in either short or long hood, depending on the application. The fourth model in the series, unveiled at Truck World is: - The HX520, is a 120" BBC Set-forward Axle Truck or Tractor with primary vocations including heavy haul tractor, construction dump and platform stake/crane. The three models unveiled at World of Concrete are: - The HX515 is a 114" BBC Set-forward Axle Straight Truck with primary vocations including concrete mixer, construction dump, refuse/roll-off and crane. - The HX615 is a 115" BBC Set-back Axle Truck or Tractor with primary vocations including construction dump, concrete mixer, platform stake/crane and refuse/roll-off. - The HX620 is a 119" BBC Set-back Axle Truck or Tractor with primary vocations including heavy haul tractor, construction dump and platform stake/crane. The HX515 and the HX615 models are powered by Navistar N13 engines, while the HX520 and HX620 models offer the Cummins ISX15 engine. For more information on the HX Series or to locate a dealer, visit: InternationalTrucks.com/HXSeries.

Commercial Carrier Journal (CCJ) / April 14, 2016 A new trucking trade show that will allow suppliers, trucking OEMs and others to showcase their products has been announced by Hannover Fairs USA (HFUSA), a Deutsche Messe subsidiary, and Newcom Business Media, organizer of the Canadian-based Truck World and ExpoCam trade shows. The inaugural North American Commercial Vehicle (NACV) Show, focused on the commercial fleet and heavy truck market, is set for Sept. 25-29, 2017 in Atlanta, and will consist of more than 300,000 square feet of exhibition space. The NACV Show will be held on alternating years from the IAA Commercial Vehicles show in Hannover, Germany, which is held during even years. “The new North American Commercial Vehicle Show is a perfect fit with Deutsche Messe’s commercial vehicle events portfolio,” says President & CEO of HFUSA Larry Turner. “HFUSA and Newcom are uniquely positioned to develop and organize this new event while working with the industry to guarantee the needs of all participants are met.” The NACV Show will specifically target North American-based commercial fleet owners, owner-operators, commercial and light commercial vehicle dealers, distributors, repair shops, truck manufacturers and the commercial vehicle trade media, organizers say. Last month, the American Trucking Associations and the Heavy Duty Manufacturers Association announced the two groups were also exploring the possibility of launching a U.S.-based truck show with German trade show firm Messe Frankfurt as a partner. No further details from that announcement have been made available to-date. Preliminary plans for the potential ATA/HDMA event also called for an early fall date in odd-numbered years.

Volvo Trucks used SuperTruck learnings to boost efficiency, performance in 2017 powertrains; wave piston, turbocompounding, injection Green Car Congress / April 14, 2016 Key learnings from Volvo’s SuperTruck (earlier post) efforts played a critical role in the design and engineering of Volvo Trucks North America’s recently introduced 2017 powertrain, delivering improved fuel efficiency and performance to customers. (Earlier post.) The development of several new features, such as the wave piston, turbo compounding and a common rail fuel injection system, was supported by the SuperTruck program, sponsored by the US Department of Energy (DOE). The US DOE SuperTruck program is a cost-shared, public-private partnership that promotes research and development to improve the freight-hauling efficiency of heavy-duty Class 8 long-haul tractor-trailer trucks. The program aims to help accelerate the development of advanced efficiency technologies that are not currently available in the market. Volvo’s new 2017 powertrain offerings, which include new, enhanced Volvo D11 and D13 engines, turbo compounding for the D13 engine and a one-box Exhaust Aftertreatment System (EATS), feature components derived directly from the SuperTruck program. Wave Piston. The SuperTruck program enabled extensive research of a typical combustion chamber and provided Volvo engineers the opportunity to test a new piston design. This new design added “wave” bumps on the side of the piston bowl, which allows the fuel to burn more cleanly. The exact design of the piston was matured through tests and simulations, enabling exceptional gains in fuel efficiency, while significantly reducing soot generation. The patented wave piston, working in combination with Volvo’s other engine enhancements, delivers improved fuel efficiency of up to 2.2% for the D11 and 2.5% for the D13. Turbo Compounding. Despite today’s efficient combustion and use of turbocharging, energy is still available in the exhaust in the form of heat and pressure. A new turbo compounding system was designed to recover this normally wasted energy on the 2017 Volvo D13 with Turbo Compound, helping boost fuel efficiency by up to 6.5%. The SuperTruck program enabled Volvo engineers to refine the mechanics and aerodynamics of the new geartrain and turbine, ensuring peak efficiency in the “sweet spot” for Volvo’s integrated powertrain solution, which includes the I-Shift automated manual transmission and downsped engines. Common Rail Fuel Injection System. A proven common rail fuel injection system was adapted to Volvo’s 2017 D11 and D13 engines. It enables a higher injection pressure, which improves combustion, and allows for finer control of the injection event. Through the SuperTruck program, the fuel injection system was optimized to match the new wave piston. Extensive engine testing and simulations led to an injector with enhanced flow rate, spray angle and pressure characteristics that allow the engine to operate more quietly and burn fuel more efficiently. The US DOE is launching SuperTruck II, an $80-million funding opportunity (DE-FOA-0001447), subject to congressional appropriations, for further research, development and demonstration of long-haul tractor-trailer truck technology.

The research firms are always somewhat off, their people never having worked in the business and known its "heart beat". But this info is in the ball park of what's to come. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Truck OEMs Aim for New Breed of ‘Low-Cost’ Models Trailer/Body Builders / January 18, 2011 Research firm Frost & Sullivan has unveiled a detailed analysis of what it calls the “low cost truck” movement, a strategic initiative by truck manufacturers either individually or through joint ventures that will completely reshape the types of commercial vehicles used around the world. “What we’re seeing is a determined effort to build trucks that cost 20% to 25% less in any given global market – from North America to Brazil, Russia, and Europe,” Sandeep Kar, global program manager--commercial vehicle research for Frost & Sullivan, told Fleet Owner. “And this effort will cover the entire commercial vehicle spectrum, from light- to medium- and heavy-duty models.” For the study – titled Strategic Analysis of the Global Low Cost Truck Market – Frost & Sullivan interviewed OEMs and suppliers from around the world, conducted its own research, and then made near-term projections for the low-cost strategy spanning 2010 to 2016. Kar said the firm’s research indicates new low-cost price ranges will develop as follows: $4,000 to $20,000 for a light commercial vehicle (LCV); $15,000 to $40,000 for a medium commercial vehicle (MCV); and $30,000 to $70,000 for a heavy commercial vehicle (HCV). According to Kar, the impetus for this strategy on the part of truck builders is that commercial fleets are simply under far too much bottom-line pressure today – paying for higher fuel prices, the cost of regulatory compliance, higher pay to compete for workers – to afford ever-higher sticker prices on new equipment. Dahlman Rose transportation economist Jason Siedl noted at FTR Associates’ annual freight outlook conference last September that the average cost for a new Class 8 tractor is up to $120,000 in the U.S. One fleet at that meeting said that its Class 8 tractor costs increased $25,000 per unit from 2002 to 2010. It’s the financial pressure those high prices put on U.S. fleet owners that in turn is driving the effort to create low cost trucks, said Frost & Sullivan’s Kar. “We expect to see phenomenal growth in the North American market for low cost trucks,” Kar pointed out. “Our research indicates the average base price point for a heavy-duty truck in North America is about $104,000. Now say some $10,000 to $15,000 worth of emission control and safety systems need to be added to the low-cost truck platform to bring it into regulatory compliance. You’d still be looking at a truck that is $80,000 to $95,000-- still cheaper than current prices today.” Of course, such low- cost trucks would not contain the same amenities found on many of today’s commercial vehicles – especially in terms of driver-comfort specs. For that reason, Frost & Sullivan contends the North American truck market will become two-tiered, having a low-cost and a premium segment, with mid-priced models disappearing. We would also not see the low-cost model challenge the long-haul Class 8 sleeper segment,” he noted. “Rather, we’d see the low-cost Class 8 model dominate the short-haul daycab segment.” The key to making these low-cost trucks a reality, however, will rest on creating a far larger global manufacturing scale than exists now-- along with a global supplier network. “Making a low-cost truck means cutting costs throughout the vehicle,” Kar observed. Per Frost & Sullivan, areas where costs will be cut include: 5% to 8% from powertrains 3% to 4% from chassis 3% to 4% from driver comfort and amenities 3% to 4% from engines 1% to 2% from marketing efforts Overall, total production costs for a low- cost truck platform should fall anywhere from 19% to 29%, Kar said. Yet can the low-cost trucks find willing fleet buyers in the U.S.? Kar definitely thinks so. “Total cost of ownership or ‘TCO’ is now the most critical metric within most fleets,” he explained. “Access to financing is still limited and after the recent economic downturn, fleets still have little cash to spend,” Kar added. “In a way, fleets will almost be forced to look at low-cost truck models due to the operating conditions they will continue to face.”

Many argue that China is no longer a currency manipulator. I agree. These trucks, sold in the US, will be attractively priced, but not cheap, as the cost of labor in a matured China is no longer low. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Myths of China’s Currency ‘Manipulation’ The Wall Street Journal / January 8, 2016 Movements in the yuan’s nominal exchange rate do not affect long-term trade flows or jobs in the U.S. Global equity markets have experienced steep declines since the new year, and many assert the devaluation of the yuan by the People’s Bank of China is a major cause of this week’s turmoil. These devaluations have fueled long-standing outcries that China is playing dirty. Presidential hopeful Donald Trump, for example, recently claimed on these pages that “the wanton manipulation of China’s currency” is “robbing Americans of billions of dollars of capital and millions of jobs.” To cut through all the hyperbole, the mechanics and consequences of China’s exchange-rate regime need to be understood—not only for this week but also for the coming year, when the yuan will be debated in the context of other issues such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Here are three essential points. First: The legal monopoly power to create money that each central bank enjoys allows it to fix one nominal price—which can legitimately be an exchange rate—to achieve policy goals such as price stability or full employment. Today many central banks choose to fix a nominal interest rate. The U.S. Federal Reserve targets the federal-funds rate, the interest banks charge each other for overnight loans. The European Central Bank targets the rate on the “marginal lending facility,” its version of that overnight market. Other central banks fix a nominal exchange rate; China’s central bank, for example, for years fixed the yuan-U.S. dollar rate and since last month fixes the yuan price of a basket of 13 currencies (in which the dollar still figures prominently). Currency devaluation or revaluation is a common exercise of sovereign monetary policy. During the post-World War II Bretton Woods regime, dozens of countries pegged their currencies to the dollar while, in turn, the Fed pegged $35 to an ounce of gold. Reasonable people can and do disagree about how countries conduct their monetary policies: what price should the central bank fix, or at what pace should that fix evolve. But to label as manipulation the conduct of monetary policy itself betrays a fundamental confusion about the operation and goals of central banks. If Zhou Xiaochuan, governor of the People’s Bank of China, is a currency manipulator, then Janet Yellen is an interest-rate manipulator. Second: Movements in the nominal yuan exchange rate have almost no long-term impact on global flows of exports and imports or on broader considerations such as average wages. The exchange rate that matters for trade flows is the real exchange rate, i.e., the nominal exchange rate adjusted for local-currency prices in both countries. The real exchange rate, in turn, reflects the deep forces of comparative advantage such as technology and endowments of labor and capital. These forces drive trade regardless of monetary policy. Think about the companies involved in trade. Yuan depreciation tends to be partly offset by Chinese companies raising their yuan prices. A large academic literature has repeatedly found that profit competition among a country’s exporting companies typically undoes about half of that country’s nominal exchange-rate swings. Today more companies operate in global supply networks—in which trade and investment link different stages of production across different countries. Because these networked companies incur both revenues and costs in many currencies, their trade competitiveness tends to vary little with the movement of any one currency. Long-term movements in nominal exchange rates often have nothing to do with the evolution of global trade flows. In the generation after the Bretton Woods system dissolved, the dollar steadily depreciated against the Japanese yen, from its fix of 360 yen per dollar to an average of just 94 in 1995. Over that time did the U.S. swing into a massive trade surplus with Japan? No. From $1.2 billion in 1970 the U.S. trade deficit with Japan rose by a factor of 50, to $59.1 billion in 1995. From 2004 to 2014 the dollar similarly depreciated—note, not appreciated—against the yuan by about 25%. Over that decade the U.S. trade deficit with China soared—not fell—from $161.9 billion to $342.6 billion. Third: As China relaxes its many capital controls—per the entreaties of America and many others—strong forces will be pushing down the value of the yuan. The main such force will be the pent-up demand of Chinese households and companies to diversify their wealth into non-Chinese assets. The surging incomes and wealth in China over the past 35 years have had very little access to global assets, a restriction that has contributed to surging Chinese real-estate prices and to high saving rates of Chinese households. Relaxing controls on outward capital flows will expand Chinese demand for non-Chinese assets—and thus will expand demand for non-Chinese currencies. The world has legitimate concerns about several Chinese economic policies. China has too many barriers to trade and investment, too much favor for local companies, too weak protection of intellectual property. But the more leaders in America and elsewhere hector China over the yuan, the less ability these leaders have to encourage China to overcome its policy shortfalls that truly do cost America good jobs at good wages.

BBC / April 14, 2016 Microsoft is suing the US government over the right to tell its users when federal agencies want access to private data. It says keeping access requests secret is against the US constitution, which states that individuals should be made aware if the government searches or seizes their property. Microsoft said 5,624 requests for data were made in the past 18 months, and almost half came with a court order forcing the company to keep the demand secret. "People do not give up their rights when they move their private information from physical storage to the cloud," Microsoft said in the lawsuit, according to the Reuters news agency. Microsoft added that it felt the government "exploited the transition to cloud computing as a means of expanding its power to conduct secret investigations". The US Department of Justice hasn’t commented. 'Routine' The case is the latest row pitting US tech giants against the government - with Microsoft rival Apple calling for Congress to take the lead in addressing the wider issue of balancing privacy with national security. Microsoft's case centres on the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA), a 30-year-old law several tech firms feel is outdated and being abused. In a blog post, Microsoft's president and chief legal officer Brad Smith said suing the US government was not something the company took lightly. "We believe that with rare exceptions, consumers and businesses have a right to know when the government accesses their emails or records," Mr Smith wrote. "Yet it's becoming routine for the US government to issue orders that require email providers to keep these types of legal demands secret. We believe that this goes too far and we are asking the courts to address the situation." He went on to stress that Microsoft acknowledged that in some cases investigations needed to remain secret in order to keep people safe or prevent evidence from being destroyed. However, Mr Smith added: "We question whether these orders are grounded in specific facts that truly demand secrecy. To the contrary, it appears that the issuance of secrecy orders has become too routine." The ECPA is unpopular among technology companies as it was written well before the days of widespread internet use. The Act could soon be amended after a US congressional panel voted through several proposed reforms. Microsoft said it wanted "reasonable rules" added to the Act so it could inform more customers about action related to their data. "If there's a good reason to justify a secrecy order initially and that reason continues, prosecutors should be able to extend the order based on necessity," Mr Smith said. "If not, we should be able to tell our customer what happened." "In nearly all cases, indefinite gag orders are an unconstitutional prior restraint on free speech and infringe on First Amendment rights. Microsoft's complaint shows it receives a staggering number of these orders.

What did TRW say ?

I understand that......and the Mack engineering part numbers you noted (main-64GB326, rod-62GB312). I again ask, do you have an E6-350 2-valve or 4-valve ? (We still built both in 1985)

http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/44540-volvo-trucks-announces-us-market-common-rail-other-powertrain-enhancements/#comment-328779

The Guardian / April 14, 2016 US corporate giants such as Apple, Walmart and General Electric have stashed $1.4 trillion in offshore tax havens, despite receiving trillions of dollars in taxpayer support, according to a new report. The sum, larger than the economic output of Russia, South Korea and Spain, is held in an “opaque and secretive network” of 1,608 subsidiaries based offshore. The report illustrates the “massive systematic abuse” of the global tax system. Technology giant Apple, the world’s second biggest company, topped the list with some $181 billion held offshore in three subsidiaries. Boston-based conglomerate General Electric, which has received $28 billion in taxpayer backing, was second with $119 billion stored in no less than 118 tax haven subsidiaries. Computing firm Microsoft was third with $108 billion, in a top 10 that also included pharmaceuticals giant Pfizer, Google’s parent company Alphabet and Exxon Mobil, the largest oil company not owned by an oil-producing state. The list begins on page 18 (http://www.oxfamamerica.org/static/media/files/Broken_at_the_Top_FINAL_EMBARGOED_4.12.2016.pdf) The $1.4 trillion held offshore contrasts with the $1 trillion paid in tax by the top 50 US firms between 2008 and 2014. The companies have also enjoyed a combined $11.2 trillion in federal loans, bailouts and loan guarantees during the same period. Overall, the use of tax havens allowed the US firms to reduce their effective tax rate on $4 trillion of profits from the US headline rate of 35% to an average of 26.5% between 2008 and 2014. This helped firms spend billions on an army of lobbyists calling for greater state support in the form of loans, bailouts and guarantees, funded by taxpayers. The top 50 US firms spent $2.6 billion between 2008 and 2014 on lobbying the US government. For every $1 spent on lobbying, these 50 companies collectively received $130 in tax breaks and more than $4,000 in federal loans, loan guarantees and bailouts. Tax avoidance by US corporations is estimated to cost the world’s largest economy some $111 billion a year, and is also fueling the global wealth divide by draining $100 billion from the poorest countries. “Tax dodging practiced by corporations and enabled by federal policymakers contributes to dangerous inequality that is undermining our social fabric and hindering economic growth,” the report said. The report singled out British overseas territories such as Bermuda for their popularity with US firms seeking to slash their tax bill by “profit-shifting”. In 2012, US firms reported $80 billion of profit in Bermuda, more than their combined reported profits in Japan, China, Germany and France, four of the world’s five largest economies.

Truck 360 / March 14, 2016 With the overall legal length of conventional cab (bonneted) tractor-trailers in the world’s largest heavy truck market set to increase to 18.1 meters (59.4 feet), the viability of short-nosed conventional cab tractors is now at hand. Changes to the country’s GB1589-2012 dimension and weight regulations will allow an additional one meter (39.4 inches) in tractor length. Dongfeng Group’s Liuzhou truck division, unrelated to Volvo's joint venture with Dongfeng’s Shiyan truck division (Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle), is the first player to take the stage with a modern conventional cab design. Dubbed the T7, it is powered by either the 13-liter Cummins ISZ rated from 450 to 550 horsepower, or other high power options from Chinese engine makers Weichai and Yuchai. Manual and AMT transmission options include Eaton, ZF and Fast Gear. .

ATA to host anti-RSRT Canberra convoy Owner/Driver / April 14, 2016 Convoy will arrive at the Parliament lawns on Monday and hear from ministers and senators The Australian Trucking Association (ATA) has organised a convoy to Canberra to rally the disenfranchised owner-drivers in a show of force against the Road Safety Remuneration Tribunal (RSRT) and its Contractor Driver Minimum Payments Road Safety Remuneration Order 2016 (RSRO). Scheduled around a convergence on the Parliament House lawns at 7am on Monday, April 18, the ATA’s Canberra Anti-RSRT Convoy will feature a number of ministers and senators speaking to the assembled crowd. Asking its members to register for the event, the trucking body says it has also organised accommodation for the Sunday night. "The ATA has organised free and secure camping and the use of facilities at Exhibition Park in Canberra (EPIC)," the industry body says. "EPIC’s Burrawang Café will be open Sunday from lunch and including through dinner. "Free breakfast on Monday is being provided by the ATA from 5.00am." With Parliament to sit from 9:30am, the ATA plans to organise the drivers to head into event from 6am. Further details, and registration, are available here.

Owner/Driver / April 14, 2016 As his father inspired his love of trucks, David Grima has spawned a love of Kenworth trucks in his own children through his show-winning T401 Like many blokes, David Grima grew up in a trucking family. His father Angelo drove trucks, and as his brothers Laurie and Joey left school, they bought trucks and got into earthmoving. "I thought I would follow suit, so the three of us worked together," David says. "We each had our own gear but would work together to help each other out." After years in earthmoving and then behind the wheel of a FL80 Freightliner, David began a search for a truck "with a bit more power and a sleeper." After months of searching a 2007 model T401 with under 200,000km on the clock became available, and David didn’t hesitate. Little did he know at the time that this Kenworth was going to win Rig of the Show at the 2014 Penrith Museum of Fire truck show. "Finally after 20 years, we won Rig of the Show," David grins. "I was going to give it a miss". "The win was a huge shock." "Everyone said that I was mad to buy a bonneted truck again but I like the bonneted rigs. I’m not a cab-over fan," he says. "We built the tray ourselves and went mad with stainless steel. "I have a good friend, Jonny Camilleri, and he helped with all of the stainless work. I wanted something totally different to everyone else." While David wanted to remain with a 6x4, the Kenworth has a Cat C12 in it, and with the IT sleeper, bigger diffs and bigger gearbox, the truck is heavy. David spoke to G&O Industries at Blacktown and was suggested they put another axle under it. While making it into a completely different truck, the change has also upped the weight that it can carry by an additional two tonnes. He could then be more versatile, and when carrying small machines, the axle can be raised. David is happy with the IT sleeper. Being a small bloke, he finds it ideal. He also fit a TV in. His kids can use the bunk and are happy to share the ride. "It has been a big job but I am very proud of my truck," he says. "And I hope it shows!" See the full story in the April 2016 issue of Owner//Driver magazine. Photo gallery - http://www.ownerdriver.com.au/truck-reviews/1604/utom-grimas-show-winning-kenworth-t401/

Daily Mail Australia / April 13, 2016 A father has written a touching letter to their 'rubbish truck guy' thanking him for being his two-year-old son's hero. Aaron Brown took to Facebook to thank the mystery truck driver from Tuakau in New Zealand who has smiled and waved to his son Alex every Tuesday for the past two years. The father of one admitted that he never took any notice of the rubbish collector and just expected the trash to be picked up every week, but that changed when his son was born. 'All of a sudden it was a highlight for us. Every Tuesday morning we hear your big truck coming and the excitement begins,' Mr Brown wrote. 'Even before he could walk or talk our son would stop what he was doing and make his way to the front door. 'I would take him out side and he would look on in amazement as you expertly guided your (ACCO) truck around the cul de sac and picked up each bin with what has become known as your crocodile arm.' He said while the mystery driver could just carry on and ignore them, he always waves and says 'hi boy' with a big smile. 'It took Alex about a year but then the day he waved back you were so happy and it made Alex laugh. Now every Tuesday morning, Alex runs to the door and leads me out so he can watch and wave at you and as always, you wave back with a huge smile,' he said. Mr Brown said the rubbish collector out did himself this week outside Alex's daycare when the toddler didn't want to get out of the car. 'Then he heard your truck. He instantly wanted out so he could see you. As you drove past you recognised us. You didn't have to, but you did. Again a huge smile and wave. Alex waved back and was so excited to go into daycare and tell everyone about you,' he said. The Facebook post has been liked and shared thousands of times after it was posted on Tuesday. .

Assisted by fellow Mack engineer 'Win' Pelizzoni, Walter May invented Mack Trucks' revolutionary Maxidyne/Maxitorque high-torque-rise powertrain concept that literally turned the whole truck industry on end. Unlike conventional diesel truck engines, the game-changing Maxidyne had the ability to increase the fuel charge and air supply when the engine speed was decreasing. And likewise, as the engine speed increased up the rpm range, the air supplied and fuel injected decreased. This combination of abilities resulted in the global truck industry's first constant-horsepower engine. Walter May designed the legendary and indestructible Mack triple countershaft Maxitorque transmission to complete the powertrain, itself revolutionary for its simple 5-speed design, high torque rating, compact size, and lightweight heat-dissipating aluminum case. Walter May's list of Mack patents would fill a book. Head engineer and COO of Mack Trucks, he was a genius in heavy truck design.....literally. Related reading - http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/30184-all-eyes-are-on-the-new-maxidyne/#comment-167898

March 30, 2015 I was deeply saddened to learn of Walter's passing. He was a big supporter of our efforts at Mack International and he and Hazel frequently entertained our major overseas distributors in their home. The world was a far better place with them in it. Hagen McGuire, Macungie, PA (Former Manager International Accounts & Sales Engineering, Mack Trucks Inc.)

April 6, 2015 I was deeply saddened to hear of Walter May's passing. I had the honor of passing by Walter in the halls at Mack and the Tech Center, and will remember him as the father of the Maxidyne. Frank Bio (former Mack Trucks engineer)

March 31, 2015 A associate for many years, he helped Mack remain the "The greatest name in trucks"! Learned a great deal from him and he was a industry Icon! Jack and Rosemary Curcio