kscarbel2

Heavy Duty Trucking / April 7, 2016 Cummins has been awarded a $4.5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop a Class 6 commercial plug-in hybrid electric vehicle. The trucks must reduce fuel consumption by at least 50% compared to conventional Class 6 vehicles. Cummins is partnering with Paccar on the project as well as representatives from Ohio State University, National Renewable Energy Laboratory and Argonne National Laboratory. Cummins researchers will optimize the powertrain by choosing the best suited engine for use with an electric commercial vehicle range extender that will be integrated with the electrified powertrain and other technologies. Cummins intends to achieve fuel consumption reduction that will meet or exceed expectations in a wide range of drive cycles in order to meet a variety of fleet needs. In addition to the electrification of the powertrain, Cummins will also optimize the internal combustion engine and use other technologies such as intelligent transportation systems and electronic braking. "The close integration and control of the electrified powertrain with an appropriately selected engine is critically important to developing a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle system," said Wayne Eckerle, vice president of research and technology at Cummins. "We believe that through the team’s efforts we can soon make these innovations commercially available, which has the potential to translate into substantial savings annually per vehicle, helping our customers and the environment." Cummins Press Release - http://social.cummins.com/cummins-led-team-develop-plug-in-hybrid-reduces-fuel-50-percent/

Fleets racing to align with shipper needs Fleet Owner / April 7, 2016 Data demands, regulatory compliance driving battle for freight business. Many trucking companies are speeding up technology deployment efforts and regulatory compliance initiatives as they discover shippers are making such moves mandatory prerequisites for keeping current freight business and earning more down the line. For example, Louisville, KY-based Mercer Transportation recently noted that its 2,500 owner-operators will need to install and use electronic logging devices (ELDs) by July of this year – well ahead of the mandated mid-December 2017 deadline – as well as download the carrier’s smart phone mobile app by July as well in order to provide critical shipment transit data to customers. “What is important for us is to get more freight,” explained Dale Corum, Mercer’s operations manager during the carrier’s annual drivers meeting ahead of the 2016 Mid America Trucking Show last week. “We’re in the digital age now; many don’t like it but it’s where we are at,” he said. “Our customers tell us we have very few problems and very few claims, so we’d be getting more business if our [data] reporting was better.” Corum added 1,600 of Mercer’s 2,500 current drivers have already downloaded the carrier’s mobile app, but only 1,200 of them use it consistently. He emphasized that ELDs will need to be used in conjunction with the company’s mobile app in order to document to shippers compliant time and location transit information regarding their cargoes. He also stressed that Mercer drivers who don’t install ELDs or the app simply won’t be matched to that often-lucrative freight. “We don’t want them knocked out of that opportunity,” Corum emphasized. John Larkin, managing director and head of transportation capital markets research at Stifel Financial Corp., noted that some shippers have decided that it is too risky to wait until the middle of December 2017 to see if core carriers have sufficiently progressed in installing ELDs as those carriers who have not completed installation would be considered non-compliant. “Most shippers have little interest in using non-compliant carriers,” he noted in a presentation at the 2016 Truckload Carriers Association (TCA) annual meeting in Las Vegas last month. “We mention this fairly widespread trend to suggest that the impact associated with ELD implementation may be felt a little earlier than some had projected,” Larkin said. Data demands from key Mercer customers are also at the heart of this technology-adoption push, noted Joel Franklin, Mercer’s general manager of sales. “Better information determines the [freight] sale and ultimately whether we get the load,” he explained. “A lot of our biggest customers are telling us that if we want to keep their business, as well as get more of it, we’ve got to give them more data.” Franklin noted those customers represent a quarter of Mercer’s overall freight volume: 57,487 loads in 2015, worth $102.4 million in gross revenue. “Three years ago, they were telling us they’d like to know where their loads were in transit. Then two years ago they said they really needed to know,” he added. “Last year, that turned into a demand to know.” Franklin said Mercer’s core shippers want automatic arrival/departure times, plus 15 minute load transit updates. “They’re not asking for the world: they want real-time visibility of their loads and they want to be able to go online and see it,” he pointed out. Yet Stifel’s Larkin believes companies able to deliver on such demands will be the winners in the freight business going forward. “Carriers and logistics companies will have to be responsive to the changing demand profile of market,” he explained. “But those that can be responsive should have ample opportunities to take outsized price increases and gain market share either through organic or acquisition-driven growth.”

The Wall Street Journal / April 7, 2016 Analysts say that plentiful capacity in the truckload sector has shipping customers pressing carriers to cut prices Share prices in truckload freight carriers dipped sharply on Thursday after analysts at Stifel Inc. downgraded several operators, saying that pricing for long-haul trucking services is expected to remain weak for the rest of the year. Truckload carriers fill their trailers with products from one individual shipper and typically carry them from a port or a warehouse to a distribution center. The four companies Stifel targeted for downgrades Thursday morning were USA Truck Inc., Hub Group Inc., Marten Transport Ltd. and Universal Truckload Services Inc. Shares of USA Truck, which received the most severe downgrade—from “hold” to “sell”—fell 11.2% on the Nasdaq Stock Market on Thursday. The other three, all downgraded from “buy” to “hold,” fell between 4% and 6% each. Shares in other companies in the sector, including Werner Enterprises Inc., Knight Transportation Inc., Heartland Express Inc., Covenant Transportation Group Inc. and Celadon Group Inc., also were dragged down, with each falling from just under 2% to 5% by midday. Stifel last week released a report targeting the entire truckload industry, writing that “pricing pressure is rampant in the generic freight market,” which includes most types of trucking services, while railroad carload pricing and freight rates among parcel carriers are on the rise. “Many shippers have effectively elected to toss to the wayside any talk of partnerships, relationships, cooperation, collaboration, etc.,” the report read. “Shippers are under enormous pressure to cut transportation costs and seem not to be satisfied with the massive fuel surcharge reductions racked up over the past year and a half.” John Larkin, a Stifel managing director and the report’s lead author, declined to comment. Shares of most trucking companies have been rising since mid-January, when retailer s showed signs that they had resumed restocking after the holiday shopping season and some manufacturing measures began turning upward. But several trucking industry research groups have said capacity in the market remains relatively plentiful, giving shipping customers more leverage. The downgrades wiped out the 8% year-to-date gain that USA Truck achieved in late March. Universal Truckload’s shares settled at $14.98, down 5.2% on the day, but still up about 6% since Jan. 1. Marten, which specializes in hauling refrigerated shipments, had seen its shares rise as high as $18.72 at the end of last month, by Thursday afternoon had ventured into the red on the year, with its stock price falling 6.1% to $17.15. Hub Group, which in February hired bankers to help it identify companies it could acquire to diversify operations, is still up by more than 13% since Jan. 1, although its share price fell 4.6% on Thursday. “It’s bid season, and the contract bids that are coming in are not looking that good,” said Jason Seidl, an analyst with Cowen & Co. who has downgraded two of the largest truckload carrier stocks, Knight and Landstar System Inc., in the last three weeks. “We’ve gotten slightly more negative on the trucking in the last month…. The pendulum has swung in the favor of the shippers, and they’re clawing back some of the rates.”

Nice........DM6116S http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/15604-mack-military-truck/?page=2#comment-128142

The bloke who refused Oshkosh's offer to buy his truck back. (The story begins at 1:37)

The BMT Gas-Turbine Truck Library: http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/42905-turbine-trucks-50-years-ago-we-got-behind-the-wheel/#comment-313851 http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/40690-general-motors-introduces-futuristic-gas-turbine-heavy-truck-concept/#comment-294966 http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/31891-the-gas-turbine-general-motors-%E2%80%9Cbison-iii%E2%80%9D/#comment-193589 http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/31898-the-gas-turbine-chevrolet-turbo-titan-iii/ http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/31951-the-gmc-astro-95-and-astro-ss-gas-turbine-tractors/ http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/41095-general-motors-%E2%80%9Cprogress-of-power%E2%80%9D/#comment-298007 http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/32060-the-ford-w-1000-gas-turbine/ http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/31978-freightliners-turboliners/ http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/32139-the-turbostar-from-international/ http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/32014-the-gt-601-gas-turbine-powered-macks/ http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/36024-the-autocar-gas-turbine-coe/?hl=turbine http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/32110-where-was-cummins-during-the-gas-turbine-truck-race/ http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/31883-paul-berliet-and-his-t100s/ http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/32038-ford%E2%80%99s-futuristic-gas-turbine-%E2%80%9Cbig-red%E2%80%9D/?page=1

Related reading - http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/44477-jeep-design-head-mark-allen-on-the-jeep-fc-150-concept-truck/

Trucks.com.au / April 7, 2016 Known as Mr ACCO, Lloyd Reeman recalls the turbulent history of International and Iveco, and that one truck that brought them back to the top Much of the media refers to Lloyd Reeman these days as ‘Mr ACCO’. Nice gesture I guess, but to my mind seriously short of the mark in describing a man whose commitment and dedication to a company and its customers go way beyond such a simplistic tag. Perhaps, like ACCO, it ties him to the heydays of International history when as an 18 year-old first employed in the International Harvester mailroom, he began a career which would stretch almost half a century and endure more corporate upheaval than most minds could even contemplate. However, neither of us particularly keen on revisiting the historical happenings of International and Iveco – there has been enough written on those events to fill a small library. Instead, it’s an occasion to glean through the eyes of a true and trusted toiler, some of the people and products that helped create one of the Australian trucking industry’s greatest stories of corporate evolution and survival. And likewise, the mindset and motivation that kept Lloyd Reeman turning up day after day, year after year when so many times it seemed the entire entity and all within it would be crushed in corporate collapse. While he says he’s "sorta retired", Lloyd is currently staying on the Iveco books as a contractor, working a few days a week with the somewhat reverential title of Brand Ambassador. He whispered at last year’s Brisbane Truck Show that with his 65th birthday approaching and an earlier health issue that caused something of a refocus on the quality of life, retirement was becoming a real possibility. And so it was that at the end of 2015, Lloyd Reeman decided to pull stumps. Wisely, Iveco wasn’t prepared to let all that experience just walk out the door, thus his engagement as a contractor. "I’m not stopping completely," he quips. "I’m just stepping aside from the 14 hour days and spending more time with my wife and grandkids. "Besides, it’s time. New people are coming into the company and exciting changes are coming with them. "Change doesn’t intimidate me, not at all, but they’re the sort of changes we need because they’ll bring greater stability to the company. Believe me, it’s happening." Change! Lloyd Reeman has seen more than his fair share of change as he reflects on a career starting in the halcyon years of International Harvester. "I actually had two stints with the company," he explains. "I started in 1969 and left in 1985 to go to a sales job with an International dealer in Tasmania. That was really good retail experience but after a couple of years I was bored and actually ran out of customers, seriously. "So when an invitation came up in 1988 to rejoin International, I grabbed it and have been here ever since. "It was the greatest experience, the greatest place to work and learn," he says with true affection for the giant that was International Harvester. "Even though it was a big corporate conglomerate based in the US, there was this amazing sense of family. "And it was hugely successful, very strong and very powerful, and the market leader in farm equipment and trucks. "As a young bloke you had marvellous mentors and I can still remember my first boss, George Jordan, a wonderful bloke, who told me ‘If you’re no good you’ll still be in the mail room in three months’. "I was out in six weeks," he recalls with a wink and a nod, "and went straight into a training course in the workshop, then other courses on service, sales and supply inventory. Everything … finance, admin, spare parts, retail. "You were taught the lot, provided you wanted to learn. It was up to you and the ladder was there to climb if you wanted to climb it. "But those opportunities aren’t there any more, or if they are I’m not seeing them, and the reason for that is because companies like International Harvester just don’t exist anymore. They’re gone." For the past decade and more, he has been Iveco’s front man. The sharp, quick-witted, motivated, confident orator and sales supremo of all things Iveco. At times the only solid, stable, strong and trusted influence in an outfit with unquestionably the best oiled revolving door in the business. It’s hard to know whether it’s more personal achievement or corporate indictment, but Lloyd Reeman has worked for no less than 18 different managing directors including current chief Michael Johnson. In fact, it wouldn’t be too weird to suggest that the two greatest constants at International and Iveco have been Lloyd Reeman and the march of new management. Reviving International Along that journey came the catastrophic collapse of International Harvester, a change that ripped the heart out of its people. "It hurt everyone and when I say hurt, I mean real hurt," he says firmly. "The transition from Inter to Iveco was tough. Definitely! It was a new culture, new processes and new products. We went from S-line to Powerstar, T-line to EuroTech, but we had to focus. "Without Iveco, the company would’ve just fallen in a deeper hole and never climbed out." As for all those managing directors, can you pick a couple that for one reason or another stand above the others? "There were plenty of good ones," he answers without hesitation. "Ben Lazerich was an American who did a good job in my opinion but I think the three who stand out are David Eagle, Stefan Schneider and Alain Gajnik. "As far as I’m concerned, they were all the right man at the right time." As for the generations of trucks, one model ranks above all others in Lloyd Reeman’s estimation. "S-line, Atkinson, ACCO, they all did great jobs," he asserts, "but as far as I’m concerned, the International [ACCO] 3070 is the truck that really stands out." "The 3070 put us back on top and as far as I’m concerned, it was a real game changer." Read the full interview with Lloyd Reeman in an upcoming version of ATN and Owner//Driver. Related reading: http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/36017-the-legendary-acco-%E2%80%93-designed-and-built-by-australians/#comment-248844 http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/30957-those-magnificent-aussie-international-transtar-4670s/#comment-182934

Federal Court lifts stay on RSRO, new rules in force Australasian Transport News (ATN) / April 7, 2016 he Federal Court in Brisbane has lifted stay on the Contractor Driver Minimum Payments Road Safety Remuneration Order 2016 (RSRO), which means the new rules are effective immediately. The Court has scheduled further consideration hearings on May 9-10. The National Road Transport Association (NatRoad) says it will now seek High Court intervention in the case. Further details to come. What has happened since last week? The ATA, SARTA and Ai Group called for the abolition of the tribunal owing to its flawed approach to road safety. Read the full story here. A Government-commissioned review of RSRT was released, wanting major changes made to the RSRT. Read the full story here. The review even pointed to the benefits in removing the tribunal. Read the full story here. The RSRT decided not to delay the introduction of mandatory rates for contractor drivers. Read the full breakdown here. The tribunal used its verdict to slam its opponents. Read the full story here. Industry bodies joined forces in condemning the decision of the RSRT. Read the full story here. Later that evening, the Federal Group in Brisbane put a temporary stay on RSRO following an urgent application by NatRoad and ATA. Read the full story here. Earlier this week, employment minister Michaelia Cash announced the government would push for legislation to delay the start of RSRO to January next year. Read the full story here. Members of the Transport Workers Union heckled minister Christopher Pyne at a press conference in Adelaide for his views supporting a delay to the RSRO. Read the full story here. The federal government to rely on Senate crossbenchers for legislative changes to delay the Order. Read the full story here. The government invites industry feedback on the Road Safety Remuneration System policy reforms, releases schedule of review forums. Read the full story here. Private contractor group Independent Contractors Australia seeks cash to challenge RSRT in the High Court. Read the full story here. Get daily updates on the industry by subscribing to the Fullyloaded newsletter.

Looking for Rationality Diesel News.com.au / April 7, 2016 In what has been a traumatic week for trucking with legal cases and threats in the air, it is nice to find a haven of rationality, where once there was none. An announcement this week by the National Heavy Vehicle Regulator about vehicle testing shows just how far we have come from the chaotic days, not so long ago and still going on, of inconsistent vehicle standards. The NHVR is calling it a ‘Health Check’, a review of the state of a sample of the 520,000 trucks running around on our highways. It will be a national survey of heavy vehicle roadworthiness carried out in a consistent fashion by inspectors who have all been trained to look for the same safety related items on trucks. The teams expect to give a thorough going over to around 9,000 trucks of all creeds during August and September. They will all be singing from the same hymn book (The National Heavy Vehicle Inspection Manual) and will have been trained to look at a truck in the same way whether it’s in Launceston or Longreach (also, importantly, in Marulan). The comprehensive inspections are expected to take about 45 minutes. At the end of this process, the NHVR will have enough data to give its people a true reflection of the effect of the diverse inspection regimes around Australia. From here the NHVR can identify what it needs to work on in each state to achieve the long hoped for nirvana of consistent roadside and roadworthy inspections. This consistency is the aim of the NHVR in the coming months. To move the states to a place where their inspectors, who are contracted as service providers to the NHVR, actually look at a truck in the same way. This isn’t much to ask for, is it? National consistency would seem to be the most rational of essential aspects of any inspection regime. However, there isn’t much support for rationality in our federal state system. Instead, we have had to bear the brunt of interstate intransigence for way too long. Each state has taken especial pride in being different, putting different priorities on defects (or non-defects, it depends where you are). Inspectors seemed to relish the situations where on arrival at a roadside inspection in one state, soon after a similar stop in another state, they could give you chapter and verse on why your truck would have to be grounded. The argument where you would tell them the other state didn’t see any problem with it seemed to give them extra pride in a job well done, at the same time as putting down an interstate rival. The situation has long been a joke, although those in the middle of it weren’t laughing. Let’s hope the NHVR can pull this one off. However, I think we need to give them a bit of leeway here. It is all very well to introduce a new inspection manual, and do a health check on the state of trucks and get all of the data into the system, but what will it look like in the flesh? One of the biggest problems with the interstate issues is the difference in culture. Each state has run its transport department in a different way and under different rules. Each has developed a deeply embedded culture, which has become ingrained in roadside teams over the years. Can the culture be changed? The answer has got to be yes, but the real question is, how long will it take?

Hino Trucks Australia / April 6, 2016

Quarrying, civil engineering and construction group Leiths has taken delivery of five Actros 2442 StreamSpace tractor units, all deliberately specified to maximise payload, fuel efficiency and safety. The Scottish operator chose small, 17.5-inch wheel mid-lift axles, with alloys all round, as well as light PTOs (power takeoffs) and blowing equipment, driven directly from the prop shaft. As a result, these tractors are almost a full tonne lighter than Leiths’ last batch of relatively ‘standard’ Actros trucks, which run with the usual 22.5-inch mid-lifts. “Our previous Actros are still performing very well, but these new trucks were chosen specifically for work with bulk powder tanks, where payload is all-important,” explains fleet manager Bob Adamson. “We did everything we could to minimise their unladen weight,” he continues, adding that Mercedes-Benz’s central technical team and sales engineers at the Aberdeen branch of dealership Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles were instrumental in achieving the final design. “As well as arranging fitment of the non-standard PTOs, [the dealer] handled all of the liaison with Gardner Denver, who supplied the blower equipment, and made the ordering process as easy and painless as possible,” states Adamson. “The trucks were duly delivered to the correct specification and in perfect condition, so we’re delighted with the outcome,” he continues. “The new trucks were also very competitively priced while the back-up from Mercedes-Benz Commercial Vehicles’ Aberdeen, Nairn and Ayr workshops, along with others operated by the dealer’s parent company TOM, is excellent,” he adds. Finally, on safety Adamson points to the Actros standard equipment list, which includes: Stability Control Assist, which reduces risk of roll-over; Attention Assist, which warns against driver fatigue; and Lane Keeping Assist, which detects and alarms on lane drift. .

Volvo Group Press Release / April 6, 2016 The Annual General Meeting of AB Volvo held on April 6, 2016, approved the Board of Directors’ motions that a dividend of SEK 3.00 per share be paid to the company’s shareholders. The record date for dividends was decided to be April 8, 2016. The income statement and balance sheet as well as the consolidated income statement and the consolidated balance sheet were adopted. In accordance with the Board of Directors’ motion, it was resolved that a dividend of SEK 3.00 per share would be paid to the shareholders. April 8, 2016, was decided as the record date for the right to receive dividends. Disbursement of the dividend by Euroclear Sweden AB is scheduled to occur on Wednesday April 13, 2016. The Board Members, Board Deputies and the President were discharged from liability for their administration during the 2015 fiscal year. Matti Alahuhta, Eckhard Cordes, James W. Griffith, Kathryn V. Marinello, Martina Merz, Hanne de Mora, Carl-Henric Svanberg and Lars Westerberg were reelected as members of the Board. Martin Lundstedt (ex-Scania President), Håkan Samuelsson (ex-Scania executive board member for development and production) and Helena Stjernholm (Chief Investment Officer at holding company Aktiebolaget Industrivärden) were elected as new members of the Board. Carl-Henric Svanberg* was reelected as Chairman of the Board. Individual fees payable to the members of the Board remain unchanged, meaning that the Chairman of the Board was allocated SEK 3,250,000 and each of the other members SEK 950,000 with the exception of the President who does not receive a director’s fee. In addition, the Chairman of the Audit Committee was allocated SEK 300,000, the other members of the Audit Committee SEK 150,000 each and the Chairman of the Remuneration Committee was allocated SEK 125,000 and the other members of the Remuneration Committee SEK 100,000 each. Bengt Kjell, representing AB Industrivärden, Lars Förberg, representing Cevian Capital, Yngve Slyngstad, representing Norges Bank Investment Management, Pär Boman, representing Handelsbanken, SHB Pension Fund, SHB Employee Fund, SHB Pensionskassa and Oktogonen, and the Chairman of the Board were elected members of the Election Committee. The Meeting resolved that no fees shall be paid to the members of the Election Committee. The Meeting also adopted the Election Committee’s motion to amend the Instructions for the AB Volvo Election Committee. The changes entail a certain modernization and update of the language used, as well as an adaptation to include amendments in the Swedish Corporate Governance Code. A remuneration policy for senior executives was adopted in accordance with the Board of Directors’ motion. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Volvo Group board chairman Carl-Henric Svanberg is also the chairman of British Petroleum. He previously was CEO of Ericsson (2003-2009). Svanberg is the catalyst behind the major changes taking place at Volvo. With profitability falling year-after-year during the Persson era, the status quo had to change.

Street Insider / April 6, 2016 Rush Enterprises, Inc. announced the implementation of a plan for consolidation of its Navistar Division dealership network that is intended to allow the company to significantly reduce expenses while still providing efficient service to its customers in the affected areas of operation. The plan includes closing Rush Truck Centers in the following locations on May 1, 2016: Kankakee, Decatur, Ottawa, Mount Vernon and Grayslake, Illinois; Ontario, Oregon; Findlay, Ohio; and Statesville, North Carolina. Rush Truck Centers formerly located in Brazil, Indiana; and Helper, Utah, were closed in the first quarter of 2016. Additionally, as a result of [dealer] acquisitions, the company currently has two locations in each of Augusta and Tifton, Georgia, which will be consolidated into one location in Augusta and one location in Tifton on June 1, 2016. The company also consolidated its Peterbilt location in Alice, Texas, into its newly constructed Corpus Christi, Texas, location in the first quarter of 2016. In total, the company expects to close 13 Rush Truck Centers in the first half of 2016. “It’s never easy to make the decision to close a Rush Truck Center,” stated W.M. "Rusty" Rush, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Rush Enterprises. “However, as we acquired dealership groups across the country in recent years, we acquired a number of small dealerships located in close proximity to one another. Many of these dealerships have been in existence for a long time, but with changes in technology and, in certain cases, the local markets, there is no longer an economic justification for the affected dealerships to operate in such close proximity to our other dealerships,” explained Rush. “Unfortunately, there are a lot of great employees who have worked hard for this Company at each of the affected Rush Truck Centers. We are hopeful that many of these employees will accept positions at nearby Rush Truck Centers,” Rush continued. “The 13 Rush Truck Centers we intend to close contributed approximately $55 million in revenue in 2015,” stated Rush. “We expect that we will be able to retain approximately 55% of the revenue from these locations through consolidation into other nearby locations. However, we anticipate that the closures will result in annual expense reductions of approximately $11.0 million. Importantly, we believe these expense reductions will be achieved without any significant reduction in our ability to service customers in our areas of responsibility,” Rush concluded. The facility consolidations are expected to result in a restructuring charge estimated at approximately $4.0 million to $6.0 million. A significant majority of the charge will be taken in the first quarter of 2016, with the remainder expected to occur in the second quarter of 2016. The charge is expected to consist of approximately $400,000 in severance and related benefits, plus $3.6 million to $5.6 million in facility exit costs, including impairment charges to certain fixed assets and the value of the real estate underlying the locations that will be classified as held-for-sale. Approximately $750,000 of the severance and related benefits and facility exit costs are cash costs, a significant majority of which are expected to be paid during fiscal year 2016. In addition, the company plans to classify certain excess real estate as held-for-sale, which will result in impairment charges of $4.9 million in the first quarter of 2016. “Over the years, we have accumulated some excess real estate as a result of acquisitions and our construction of new dealerships. We plan to sell this real estate, none of which is encumbered with debt, over the next 12 months and deploy the proceeds in a manner that creates long-term value for our shareholders,” explained Rush. “Consolidation of our dealership network is an important part of our plan to reduce expenses in 2016. As always, we remain committed to meeting the needs of our customers, and I commend our employees for maintaining excellent customer service while reducing costs across the organization,” concluded Rush.

It’s hard for Alkane, with its propane PSI 8.8-liter (GM big block) in a Chinese Foton, to compete with Ford-backed Roush. http://alkanetruckcompany.com/trucks/

Heavy Duty Trucking / April 6, 2016 Roush CleanTech has developed a propane autogas fuel system for the Ford F-750 chassis and its 6.8-liter V-10 engine. The model was created in response to the growing demand for an autogas-fueled medium-duty chassis for bobtail applications, cylinder delivery trucks, and larger tank setters and box trucks, said Todd Mouw, vice president of sales and marketing. “Now fleet managers can purchase an F-750 that not only costs less (than diesel) initially, but also saves money at the pump and uses a clean-operating, American-made fuel,” he said. With the Roush system, the Ford F-750, rated at up to 33,000 pounds, comes with a 50-usable-gallon fuel tank, located on the driver side for ease of fueling. An extended tank option is available for those in need of more mileage. Victory Propane, a supplier in Michigan, is one of the first to purchase the new Ford F-750 with the system. “Victory Propane already has 25 Ford F-650s equipped with the Roush CleanTech fuel system,” said Gregg Falberg, the firm’s president. “We will increase our autogas fleet with Roush’s first two Ford F-750s, and 13 more have been ordered.” Historically, propane autogas costs up to 40% less than gasoline and 50% less than diesel, Mouw said. Each Ford F-750 equipped with this fuel system will emit about 120,000 fewer pounds of carbon dioxide over its lifetime compared to conventionally fueled counterparts. The engine meets Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board certification requirements. As a Tier 1 supplier and Ford Qualified Vehicle Modifier manufacturer, Roush CleanTech outfits propane autogas vehicles that retain all Ford performance characteristics, such as horsepower, torque and towing, while maintaining the OEM factory warranty. . For more information, click here.

France 24 / April 6, 2016 The Spanish foreign ministry has summoned France's ambassador after French farmers hijacked Spanish trucks at the border and drained their cargo of wine. The farmers attacked several Spanish trucks on Monday at a toll barrier at Le Boulou in southern France in what they said was a protest against unfair competition. "We are protecting our products" from cheap wine coming from Spain and Italy, Frederic Rouanet, the president of the Aude winemakers' union, told AFP, vowing to continue the protests. The Spanish Federation of Freight Transportation, which represents truckers, said French police had allowed the demonstrators to "act with impunity". In July, Madrid issued a similar protest after French farmers ransacked Spanish trucks carrying milk and meat. French farmers have been furious over falling food prices, which they blame on foreign competition as well as supermarkets and distributors. .

Transport Topics / April 6, 2016 As shareholders at truckmaker Daimler AG approved the biggest dividend in the company’s history, two investors got into a fight at its annual general meeting over complimentary sausages. The world’s largest truckmaker was forced to call police after one shareholder began packing away multiple sausages from the buffet. A woman intervened, and the two got into a verbal altercation. Daimler served about 12,500 wursts to the 5,500 shareholders who attended the meeting in Berlin, spokeswoman Silke Walters said. Buffets that can cost far more than one share of stock are part of the culture of European shareholder meetings, which can drone on the better part of a full day as investors chow down on everything from hearty pretzels and bratwurst to coffee and cake. Daimler shareholders approved a dividend of 3.25 euros per share on April 6, enough for a double-pack of sausages at German discounter Aldi. Daimler Chairman Manfred Bischoff said the company clearly needs to do more to satisfy their hunger. “Either we need more sausages, or we’ll have to get rid of the sausages entirely,” Bischoff said.

Fleet Owner / April 6, 2016 Seat system better protects drivers in a roll over Navistar is now offering IMMI’s RollTek seat as an option on its International ProStar Class 8 on-highway trucks; an optional feature available immediately, the OEM said.. The RollTek safety system (http://www.imminet.com/products/rolltek/) combines advanced seat belt technology and side airbag protection to significantly reduce the potential for death or serious injury in a rollover. A sensor located behind the seat constantly monitors the angular position of the vehicle, activating a series of safety systems if it detects an imminent rollover. When activated, the RollTek seat system deploys side-roll airbags, tightens the safety belt and lowers the seat to help reduce injury risk and maximize safety for operators “Incorporating the advanced RollTek protection system into our heavy truck portfolio is a reflection of our listening to our customers and providing them with an option when a collision is unavoidable, said Bill Kozek, president of Navistar Truck and Parts, in a statement. “Today’s trucking companies are increasingly looking for smart technologies that can deliver an added margin of safety and productivity,” added Steve Gilligan, Navistar’s VP-product marketing. “The RollTek safety system provides best-in-class protection that contributes to drivers’ safety and peace of mind.”

The Guardian / April 6, 2016 The term tax haven may evoke images of exotic locales, but Panama actually ranks as the 13th most attractive spot for hiding assets, while the US lies third One of the surprises about the Panama Papers – the largest leak from an offshore tax adviser in history – is how few Americans have so far been exposed. The reason? It may be because creating a shell company in the US is easier than obtaining a library card. About 200 people with US addresses have so far been revealed as clients of Mossack Fonseca, the firm at the center of the Panama Papers leak. Compared with countries such as China, Switzerland, Russia and the United Kingdom, the number is small. The anomaly may be because it’s so easy to create a vehicle to hide your money and your identity in the US that there’s no need to mess with Panama, according to Shruti Shah, vice-president of programs and operations at Transparency International, an anti-corruption organization. “You don’t really have to go to Panama or other tax havens. They are not the only ones making it possible for corrupt officials and other criminals to launder their money. You can do it in every state in the US,” explained Shah. “In every state in the US, you can incorporate an LLC – [a limited liability company] – or another legal entity and you don’t have to disclose who the beneficiary on it is. In fact, Delaware is so synonymous with anonymous companies and ghost corporations that it was named in Transparency International’s Unmask the Corrupt campaign as one of the most symbolic cases of corruption.” The term tax haven usually evokes an image of some faraway place like Belize or the Cayman Islands. Yet in 2015, in a ranking of tax havens most attractive for those looking to hide assets, the US came in third – surpassing Cayman and Singapore. The two places that were even better suited as tax havens for the rich were Switzerland and Hong Kong, according to the Tax Justice Network that published the ranking. What was Panama’s ranking? It was 10 spots behind the US, at 13. Welcome to Delaware A while back, Shah sent her husband to return an overdue book she had borrowed from the library. When he returned, he told her her library card was expired and that to renew it she would have to bring her driver’s license showing her current address or a utility bill with her address. “If I were to open a shell company, I wouldn’t require any of those things. I would actually need less information to open a shell company in the US than I would need to get a driver’s license or a library card,” pointed out Shah. Is this in every state or just some like Delaware where the majority of US companies are incorporated ? “No state in the US requires beneficial ownership information. So it’s practically everywhere,” explained Shah, who lives in Virginia. “Some states are easier than others. In some states it’s more money than others, because they also have tax-friendly laws. Delaware and Nevada and Wyoming are infamous – or famous, however you look at it – [for their tax laws]. Texas and Florida are equally easy.” There is nothing illegal about setting up a shell company. US states are proud of their business-friendly policies. Delaware, for example, prides itself on being the incorporation capital of the US. “More than 1,000,000 business entities have made Delaware their legal home,” claimed the state’s Division of Corporations website. “More than 50% of all publicly-traded companies in the US including 64% of the Fortune 500 have chosen Delaware as their legal home.” In the wake of the Panama Papers, the number of shell companies incorporated in the US could grow. Instead of stashing their cash in Belize, Panama or the Cayman Islands, the companies and individuals could turn to the US. “They certainly could,” said Heather Lowe, director of government affairs at Global Financial Integrity. “Given the lack of action in the US to address this issue compared to, say, the European Union, it may seem like a safe bet right now.” Shell companies have their uses; they can be used to buy land anonymously, for example, without tipping off the competition. To create an entity to protect future business rights, or a holding company for various businesses. They can also be used to, legally, make political contributions anonymously. Just because some people or companies have chosen the state to form shell companies and hide assets does not mean the entire system should be to blame, argued Charles Elson, director of the John L Weinberg Center for Corporate Governance at the University of Delaware. “Delaware really is not a tax haven. Delaware is a place where most US companies are incorporated, because of a very intelligent corporate law regime,” he said. “Obviously, some companies that are problematic come here, too, but that’s not the design of the system. That’s a collateral effect … If someone uses the corporation for nefarious purposes, I don’t think that’s the fault of the corporate statute, but of the individual.” Shell companies, whether created abroad or at home, make it easy for people to hide assets and commit crimes, said Shah. For example, in the mid-2000s, former Louisiana congressman William Jefferson had created eight different shell companies to hide hundreds of thousands of dollars of bribes. Viktor Bout, an infamous arms trafficker known as the Merchant of Death, had at least a dozen shell companies incorporated in Delaware, Texas and Florida to cover up his weapons trafficking operation. There is no reason, said Shah, why creating such shell companies should be easier than obtaining a library card. Her group Transparency International has called on the US Congress to pass the Incorporation Transparency and Law Enforcement Assistance Act introduced by congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and Senator Sheldon Whitehouse. If enacted, the bill would require states to collect, maintain and update information about beneficial ownership of all companies created in the US. “Bipartisan legislation has been introduced in the House since 2008, but it has never seen the light of day. It’s never been enacted into law. Maybe now is the time,” said Shah. Elson remains skeptical as to whether such a law would actually work. “I don’t know how fixing the beneficial ownership rule would fix this. If someone is devious enough to game the system in this way, they would work their way around any single regulatory change. These are very clever people,” he said. In order for any legislation to pass, the US business community would have to come out in support of it, pointed out Lowe. “The US Chamber of Commerce has long opposed legislation to end anonymous companies, and they must reverse that position and begin to support honest and open business practices,” she said.