kscarbel2

Again Ford Brasil (meeting a market requirement different from Ford-Otosan's)

Ford Brasil C-2842 6x2 with Iveco Cursor 10 and ZF-sourced AS Tronic AMT.

Ford-Otosan 2nd gen cab (2003-present). Note the planetary hub reduction drive axles (the European preference), Meritor MT32-610. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Ford-Otosan 2013 2nd gen refresh for the 1846T 4x2 tractor (and all Brasil)

Associated Press / November 10, 2015 The Senate went on record Tuesday against a federal mandate that would force all states to allow trucks with extra-long double trailers on interstates, saying it first must be shown that the vehicles don't undermine safety. By a vote of 56-31, the Senate instructed negotiators assigned to work out the final language of a sweeping transportation bill to allow individual trailer lengths to increase from 28 feet to 33 feet only after the Transportation Department completes a safety study and determines the trucks would cause no statistically significant decrease in safety. Earlier this year, a Senate committee approved an amendment to a separate spending bill requiring all states to allow the longer double trailers. A similar provision was added to a spending bill that passed the House. Safety advocates said they were concerned negotiators will add the same truck provision to the transportation bill even though the provision wasn't included in versions of the transportation bill passed by the House last week and the Senate in July. That's why they supported the motion by the Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and [82-year-old] Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., to instruct negotiators to make longer trucks on federal interstates contingent on the government first showing they are safe. Negotiators are trying to work out differences between the two transportation bills and send a final bill to the White House before Nov. 20, when the government's authority to process highway and transit aid payments to states expires. Twelve states already allow longer trailers that, together with the cab, bring the total length of a truck to 91 feet. Some large trucking and delivery companies, include FedEx and United Parcel Service, have been strongly lobbying Congress for permission to use the longer trucks on interstates in the other 38 states even though some of those states have looked at the issue and decided not to permit longer trucks. "Today's vote against this federal government mandate sends a strong signal that we stand with the overwhelming majority of Americans who do not want to contend with these longer double trucks on their roads," Wicker said. The Coalition for Efficient & Responsible Trucking, an umbrella group for supporters of extra-long double trailers, says they would improve efficiency, substantially reduce truck congestion and significantly cut down on truck-related accidents by reducing the number of trucks on the road. Safety advocate Joan Claybrook, a former National Highway Traffic Safety Administration chief, said making a mandate to allow the longer trucks contingent on a government finding of no statistically meaningful decrease in safety sets a very high bar that will be difficult for the industry to meet. Related reading - http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/42296-3-senators-set-news-conference-to-state-opposition-to-33-foot-trailers/?hl=feinstein

The C-2629 6x4 vocational chassis (http://www.fordcaminhoes.com.br/cargo/c-2629) has the same cab as the Ford Brazil C-2842 6x2 tractor (http://www.fordcaminhoes.com.br/cargo/c-2842) and the Ford-Otosan 1846T 4x2 tractor ( http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/index.php?/topic/34938-the-global-market-ford-cargo-heavy-tractor/?hl=1846t). Problems with that narrow cab begin with you having to swing yourself over those big fenders, not to mention getting your pants dirty as they wipe across the fenders, to the reduced interior space due to the narrow cab width. The first generation Cargo cab still used on the Brazilian C-816 (http://www.fordcaminhoes.com.br/cargo/c-816) and C-1119, which is also the cab Americans had experience with, was designed by Ford UK in 1981 (http://archive.commercialmotor.com/article/2nd-february-1985/22/cargo-cabs-for-brazil). The Ford-Otosan designed second generation Cargo cab in production today was launched in 2003 at Ford-Otosan. But the 2nd gen Cargo cab wasn't introduced at Ford Brasil until 2011 for the 2012 model year. Those 2nd gen cabs for Brazil production are imported from Ford Otosan. Brasil still produces the 1st gen cab (low volumes now) In 2013, the 2nd gen Cargo cab was refreshed (the odd grilles and plastic cladding). Under the Ford Global Cargo Truck Program, the effort was headed by Ford car designers including chief engineer John Sidelko (2005 Ford Focus) and exterior designer Fabio Sandrin (Ford no longer has any heavy truck engineers, as in the Louisville days). The 2013 facelift was the first time that Ford Brazil and Ford-Otosan got in sync (Mulally's "One Ford" global streamlining strategy). Essentially, Ford-Otosan helped Ford Brazil rejuvenate its outdated Cargo product range. All the Brazilian models adopted the new heavy use of plastic trim, but that's not the case in the Ford-Otosan product range (http://www.ford.com.tr/agir-ticari-araclar/ford-cargo). Ford-Otosan is not merely a production base, rather they actually develop Ford's global market heavy trucks there. But Dearborn seems unwilling to commit to the level of resources necessary for Ford-Otosan to become a serious global player. The Ford-Otosan 1846T has the drivetrain and platform to be a serious European 4x2 tractor. But it lacks a full-size cab to make the truck a home run. Whether or not Otosan can evolve further all depends on Dearborn's interest in the global heavy truck market. With Ford wanting to enter China's rapidly maturing heavy truck market, a new cab and robust European level 6x4 tractor platform are absolutely required. With that in mind, under the ongoing H62X Global Cargo Truck Program, Ford is developing a 3rd generation product for the 2018 model year led by Ford-Otosan manager Atilla Argat.

Heavy Duty Trucking / November 10, 2015 Mack Trucks is recalling 2,571 2010-2016 model-year Granite (GU), LR, and TerraPro (LEU, MRU) trucks for potential oil leaks that pose a fire risk, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) said. The trucks were manufactured from Nov. 17, 2009, to Oct.17 of this year. They all have engines with a turbocharger oil supply line that might contact or interfere with the turbocharger inlet elbow, clean air intake clamp, or air fuel control tube. As a result, the turbocharger oil supply line might leak oil near the engine exhaust manifold. This increases the risk of a fire, NHTSA said. Cummins will notify truck owners on behalf of Mack, and dealers will inspect for oil supply line interference or damage. If necessary, dealers will eliminate the interference and replace the oil supply line. The recall is expected to begin Nov. 30. Truck owners can reach Cummins at (800) 343-7357 or Mack customer service at (800) 866-1177. Cummins’ number for this recall is SC0396.

Can Cummins and its partners "redefine" trucking? Fleet Owner / November 10, 2015 Driving with Cummins-Eaton powertrains in some aero-slick Class 8s It's one thing to say it, and quite another to deliver. Cummins rolled out some trucks that'd come from its Redefining Tour last week, and industry reporters got a chance to see what they really think. It was at Eaton's proving grounds facility in Michigan, and the companies announced new options for their integrated SmartAdvantage Powertrains. The breaking news included that there's now a direct drive ratio — said to help optimize fuel economy for regional and less-than-truckload carriers — available along with the small-step overdrive options, and Eaton and Cummins engineers said that theirs is the only integrated powertrain to offer those configurations. But the engineers also discussed other technologies enhancing the SmartAdvantage Powertrains, including a SmartCoast feature that they said boosts fuel economy by another 2%. Fleet Owner got a chance to see some of these new features in action out on roadways. Showcasing the Cummins-Eaton powertrains were some slick Class 8 machines, including a Kenworth T680 with a current-spec Cummins ISX15 with 450 HP and 10-speed small-step overdrive; an International ProStar+ 6X2 with one of the new 2017 Cummins ISX15s in development, also with 450 HP and 10-speed small-step overdrive; and an International ProStar+ 6X4 with another of the 2017 Cummins ISX15s, this one with 400 HP and paired with a 10-speed direct drive transmission. All those trucks had Eaton Fuller Advantage automated manuals. For good measure, Eaton also threw in a 2013 International ProStar with 450-HP Cummins ISX15 and Eaton Fuller Advantage 10-speed overdrive automated manual. Ease of use/power delivery A claim that these trucks offer comfort and ease of use is no hollow praise. Similar to what Eaton also demonstrated with some vocational trucks, for this first-timer behind the wheel of a Class 8 tractor, it was a fairly simple matter to back up to a 53-ft. trailer and connect it thanks to the Eaton automated transmission's new Blended Pedal feature, which allows the driver to manipulate clutch slip using just the accelerator pedal for very incremental, controlled movements. And then driving off to the proving grounds' oval track, the Cummins ISX15s and Eaton transmissions delivered smooth, ample power. Again thanks to an Eaton transmission feature — this time Urge to Move, which can creep the truck forward or in reverse, if enabled, just by the driver taking his or her foot off the brake pedal — it was easy enough to back a tractor-trailer up a curved incline. Fuel economy But there was also the fuel economy factor. A major drive of Cummins' Redefining Tour across the United States and Canada was to show off the capabilities of Cummins' ISX15 engine — including the new 2017 model being tested — and the fuel economy it can achieve, thanks in part to integration with Eaton transmissions. Ryan Trzybinski, Eaton's global product strategy manager for line haul commercial powertrains, touched on that point before reporters took the trucks out for drives. He said Cummins and Eaton have continued to refine the integrated SmartAdvantage Powertrains to share more data between engine and transmission, and "that's part of what enables us to increase fuel economy and give the performance we can — we're optimizing our shifting for each environment." Though the Cummins folks hinted at significant gains but wouldn't talk specifics yet about potential fuel economy of the new 2017 ISX15s, the Kenworth's current-spec SmartAdvantage Powertrain helped the truck average 9.3 mpg on the trip to the proving grounds facility, according to Patrick Fosdick, a program manager and technical specialist at Cummins. And that was pulling its trailer and loaded to 65,460 lbs. "A lot of fleets would love to be getting that kind of fuel economy," he quipped. Advanced tech Eaton's Trzybinski had discussed the SmartAdvantage Powertrains' SmartCoast feature, which selectively shifts to neutral on certain down-grades to drop the engine to an idle, and the driver just steps on the accelerator to re-engage the appropriate gear. Together with other technologies, Trzybinski added a claim that the Cummins-Eaton SmartAdvangtage line beats competitor integrated powertrains by some 7% in fuel economy. SmartCoast is a noticeable difference. On a trip outside the proving grounds facility in the Kenworth, SmartCoast grabbed neutral and dropped the engine down to about 600 RPM in an instant — growing very quiet as it did so — and it felt smooth and seamless when the transmission re-engaged 9th gear. "If you're on a hilly route, you're talking big fuel economy savings," Fosdick said. "It's not a big herky-jerky motion or anything like that; it just happens very naturally." Fosdick also told Fleet Owner about other new refinements for the SmartAdvantage Powertrains, including a feature that uses GPS data to improve cruise and transmission functionality by examining the roadway ahead, selecting optimal gears or helping trigger SmartCruise. "For 2017, we're bringing out GPS technology. A lot of people call it 'look ahead,' or another industry name is 'predictive cruise control,'" Fosdick said. "Once we add GPS technology, it really enhances these features because it knows a hill is coming up, for example. So it knows how big the hill is, how long it is," he continued. He gave the example of a loaded truck going down a long, steeper hill, and to prevent over-speeding, SmartCruise may shift back into gear rather than coasting in neutral. "I would love to even have some of this technology on my own car," Fosdick said. "It'd be fantastic to see some of these fuel economy and other improvements that we see in heavy duty trucking applied to passenger cars." Videos - http://fleetowner.com/fleet-management/video-can-cummins-and-its-partners-redefine-trucking

Perhaps of interest to some. ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Half of post-WWII interior ministry were ex-Nazis The Local – Germany / November 6, 2015 For two decades after the Second World War, over half of all employees of the West German interior ministry were ex-Nazis, a new study shows. The research, carried out by the Centre for Contemporary Historical Studies with the blessing of the Interior Ministry, shows that the number of ex-Nazi party members in both the West and East German post-war administrations was much higher than previously thought. In exact figures, an average of 54 percent of civil servants in the West German interior ministry were former Nazis, although at its high point between 1966 and 1961, two-thirds of all employees at the ministry had been Nazi party members during the war. To have been a member of the Nazi party "was not seen as a bad thing in 1949," Dr. Frank Bösch, the lead researcher on the project told The Local. "There was a belief that they were people who had done their duty in a difficult time." Bösch said the policy was more one of toleration than active encouragement. West Germany decided it needed expertise in managing its bureaucracy and only hired people with a legal education, meaning they often had little choice but to offer ex-Nazis positions. The number of ex-members of Hitler's personal militia, the SA, was also surprisingly high, the report found, reaching a peak of 45 percent in 1961. The number of ex-SS members meanwhile was between five and eight percent of interior ministry employees. The fact that 14 percent of employees in the East German interior ministry were ex-Nazis also came as a surprise to the researchers as the communist state had at the time made a big deal of its stringent denazification process. Reactionaries remained A consequence of the West German policy was that many of the people responsible for running the country still held onto very reactionary views. In one instance, a judge tried to have Jews who returned to the country from Israel deported by categorizing them as illegal immigrants. The attempt eventually failed - although four people were deported - due to government fear of how such a policy would be seen in the outside world, said Bösch. It was only in the 1960s that people started losing their jobs because of their Nazi past, although they did manage to moderate their more extreme ideas in the face of public and especially media pressure, argued the historian. Bösch explained that 1945 did create a genuine break with the Nazi past. Many of the elite were put into Allied prison camps where they learned about democratic values. They later adopted these values either because they believed in them or because it benefited their careers. "But it takes much longer for the world to change," he said. The researchers will now look further into the past of the Nazi members who worked at the interior ministries to understand what exactly they did during the Nazi period. “Membership of the Nazi party in itself doesn't say that much,” said Dr. Andreas Wirsching, one of two researchers working on the study. “We want to know what the employees of the two German interior ministries did during the Nazi period.” Related reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denazification https://books.google.com/books?id=aO5zAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA215&lpg=PA215&dq=eisenhower+denazification&source=bl&ots=DYuRX0nFk-&sig=j4QoMYFV2xSLCNG2jFOa5AVOHV0&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEsQ6AEwCWoVChMI-LeDroiHyQIVSzkaCh1m5wSF#v=onepage&q=eisenhower%20denazification&f=false https://books.google.com/books?id=OmRg2V71BCAC&pg=PA166&lpg=PA166&dq=total+denazification&source=bl&ots=DyDyEFwMiU&sig=rxFDXnVNf2m-SE8sOI_fvZVd-G4&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CEUQ6AEwBmoVChMIrti5uImHyQIVAigaCh1W6gCW#v=onepage&q=total%20denazification&f=false ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Berlin still pays Spanish Nazi volunteers pensions The Local – Germany / November 6, 2015 Berlin is still honouring an agreement struck with Spanish dictator Francisco Franco to pay pensions to fascist volunteers who signed up to fight for Hitler, it has emerged. Around €100,000 of German tax-payers’ money is paid to former combatants, their widows and orphans each year, according to left-wing political party Die Linke, who recently tabled a question on the matter in the Bundestag, Germany's national parliament. "Even if the sum sounds small at €100,000, it's a scandal that the government to this day voluntarily compensates people who were involved in the Nazi war against the Soviet Union," Die Linke MP Andrej Hunko told The Local. More than 47,000 Spaniards signed up to the Division Azul (Blue Division) to join Nazi troops fighting communism on Germany’s eastern front between 1941 and 1944. A pension agreement was struck by German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer with Franco in 1961 that saw the Blue Division combatants, their widows and orphans receive a pension from the state. Last year the figure amounted to €107,352 split between 41 veterans, eight widows and an orphan. "The agreement signed by Adenauer is valid to this day and clearly no government to this day has questioned it. The political signal that sticking to this contract sends out is crucial. For this reason, this agreement must be cancelled,” Hunko said. In return, Spain agreed to pay a stipend to the widows of fallen airmen of Hitler’s Condor Legion, who bombed Spain during the Civil War of 1936 and 1939 and most famously carried out the bombardment of the Basque town Guernica. "It’s an absolute disgrace to think the German government is still paying out to Nazi volunteers," MP Jon Iñarritu of the left-wing Basque party Amaiur, told The Local. "It doesn’t make sense, contravenes EU law and serves to humiliate victims of fascism," he said. "It was my understanding that Germany had a completely different attitude when it came to historical memory and the rejection of fascism." The Basque pro-independence coalition party EH Bildu said they would bring up the issue at European Parliament on Friday.

Brazil builds the new Cargo cab with the plastic cladding (near identical to Otosan), and the last generation cab (now relegated to the low-cost light truck models). I don't know what third cab you're speaking of. As for the Ohio investment, if I'm following you, that really wasn't a big investment, and the F-650/750 as a conventional cab medium truck has no market outside of North America (Canada, U.S. and lawless Mexico).

The Financial Times / November 10, 2015 The oil market will remain oversupplied until the end of the decade as an unstoppable push for cleaner fuels and greater efficiency offsets the effect of lower prices, the world’s leading energy forecaster said. In its closely watched annual outlook, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said oil demand would rise by less than 1 per cent a year between now and 2020, a slower pace than necessary to quickly mop up an oil glut that has driven prices to multiyear lows. The slowdown in oil demand growth follows a near 15-year surge in consumption, driven by the rapid industrialisation of China and other emerging market economies. But Beijing is now moving away from dirtier fuels and to less energy-intensive growth as it moves towards a more consumer-led economy. “We are approaching the end of the single largest demand growth story in energy history,” Fatih Birol, executive director of the IEA, told the Financial Times ahead of the launch of its long-term forecasts. Mr Birol was appointed IEA head in September after 20 years with the west’s energy watchdog. “Demand is not as strong as we have seen in the past as a result of efficiency [and climate] policies [globally],” he added, saying the growth in renewables will further restrict demand for oil. The IEA does not expect crude oil to reach $80 a barrel until 2020, under its “central scenario”, as excess supplies are slowly soaked up. After 2020, oil demand growth is expected to grind almost to a halt, increasing just 5 percent over the next 20 years, the IEA said. The IEA forecasts oil demand will not hit 103.5m b/d until 2040 — it is currently 94.5m b/d. Growth will be “moderated” by a return to higher prices, efforts to phase out subsidies and the switch to alternative fuels — especially in developed markets. “Collectively, the United States, EU and Japan see their oil demand drop by around 10m b/d by 2040,” the report says. Pledges made in advance of the Paris climate talks in December, Mr Birol said, would be a further catalyst in the move towards a low carbon and energy efficient future. “Big energy companies are underestimating the effects of all of these things on the demand side,” Mr Birol said. The IEA chief said a prolonged period of lower oil prices could not be ruled out. In this “low oil price” scenario, the agency said prices would stay close to $50 a barrel until the end of the decade and would not rise to $85 until 2040. The collapse in Brent crude — from $115 a barrel in June 2014 to below $50 — has battered the budgets of producer countries and forced the world’s biggest oil companies to slash investment. After years of oil above $100 a barrel, the “lower for longer” mantra has become part of the industry lexicon, promoted by traders, bankers and even the IEA itself as global inventories swell and storage fills up. The global oil market remains oversupplied by at least 1m barrels a day. Since November, production outside of the Opec cartel from countries such as the US has taken a hit. But it has been far more resilient than expected. Meanwhile, production from the cartel — led by Saudi Arabia and Iraq — has increased, helping to keep prices low. The IEA said “a clear pathway” had opened for additional Iranian barrels. Saudi officials warned this week that investment cuts and oil prices at about $50 for a prolonged time would have a “substantial and long-lasting” impact on future oil supplies and could lead to a price spike.

I couldn't recommend a Mack brand (Volvo) engine until they finally fit them with common rail fuel injection, because of the ongoing injector cup issues. And I wouldn't operate a current engine with the (Delphi) unit injectors, unless the truck was under warranty. Tax cheating Delphi is all about cheap. When it comes to fuel injection, the heart of the engine, you don't fool around.......you go with Bosch (or the captive Scania-Cummins HPI or XPI). On a side note, it appears Volvo is no longer putting downloadable PDF engine spec sheets on the Mack brand website. (2013 example: http://www.quincymacksales.com/assets/Uploads/Documents/6-MP7-395C.pdf) I suppose Volvo simply wants you to take their word. http://www.macktrucks.com/powertrain-and-suspensions/engines/mp7/

When you contacted the good folks at Watts Mack (stewards of the BMT website), did they have them in stock?

"The most directly impacted are the 5 million U.S. citizen children whose parents would be eligible for temporary relief from deportation," Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center, an advocacy group for illegal immigrants. Ms. Hincapie apparently has an inability to grasp U.S. law. In my opinion, any children born to illegal aliens in the United States should not be eligible to receive U.S. citizenship due their criminal parent’s illegal status. Given that the parents shouldn’t even be in the United States illegally, the birth on U.S. soil was inherently illegal, and disqualified for citizenship.

Associated Press / November 9, 2015 President Barack Obama's plan to protect from deportation an estimated 5 million foreigners living in the United States illegally suffered another setback Monday in a ruling from a New Orleans-based federal appeals court. In a 2-1 decision, the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a Texas-based federal judge's injunction blocking the administration's immigration initiative. Republicans had criticized the plan as an illegal executive overreach when Obama announced it last November. Twenty-six states challenged the plan in court. The administration argued that the executive branch was within its rights in deciding to defer deportation of selected groups of immigrants, including children who were brought to the U.S. illegally. Texas Gov. Greg Abbott praised the ruling. "President Obama should abandon his lawless executive amnesty program and start enforcing the law today," Abbott said in a news release. The ruling further dims prospects of implementation of the executive action before Obama leaves office in 2017. Appeals over the injunction could take months and, depending on how the case unfolds, it could go back to the Texas federal court for more proceedings. The administration could ask for a re-hearing by the full 5th Circuit but the National Immigration Law Center, an advocacy group for illegal immigrants, urged an immediate Supreme Court appeal. "The most directly impacted are the 5 million U.S. citizen children whose parents would be eligible for temporary relief from deportation," says Marielena Hincapie, executive director of the National Immigration Law Center. Part of the initiative included expansion of a program called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, protecting young immigrants from deportation if they were brought to the U.S. illegally as children. The other major part, Deferred Action for Parents of Americans, would extend deportation protections to parents of U.S. citizens and permanent residents who have been in the country [illegally] for years. The 70-page majority opinion by Judge Jerry Smith, joined by Jennifer Walker Elrod, rejected administration arguments that the district judge abused his discretion with a nationwide order and that the states lacked standing to challenge Obama's executive orders. They acknowledged an argument that an adverse ruling would discourage potential beneficiaries of the plan from cooperating with law enforcement authorities or paying taxes. "But those are burdens that Congress knowingly created, and it is not our place to second-guess those decisions," Smith wrote. In a 53-page dissent, Judge Carolyn Dineen King said the administration was within the law, casting the decision to defer action on some deportations as "quintessential exercises of prosecutorial discretion," and noting that the Department of Homeland Security has limited resources. "Although there are approximately 11.3 million removable [illegal] aliens in this country today, for the last several years Congress has provided the Department of Homeland Security with only enough resources to remove approximately 400,000 of those aliens per year," King wrote.

The Ford Cargo is built as a light, medium and heavy truck. (only as a light truck in Brasil, using the last generation cab). It's sold in Turkey obviously, and Eastern Europe, but not Western Europe. The Cargo is not yet sold in China, though Ford is fumbling along with a plan, prayer and incompetent local partner.

Aside from my mentioning of the Ford Cargo on BMT, I hadn't noticed any additional exposure. In my attempt at including the full scope of global truck developments, I wanted U.S. folks to know that Ford was still in the heavy truck business overseas. To compete in the U.S. market (and western Europe if they wish to participate there), I'll argue Ford needs to improve the truck's aesthetics. I don't care for the excessive use of plastic body cladding. Having said that, the Cargo being a COE only has potential as a medium-duty truck in the U.S. market.

Truck News / November 9, 2015 It’s not for everyone, but the new MX-11 provides significant weight savings compared to a 13L or extra power when upgrading from a 9L It wasn’t long ago, fleet operators had trouble getting their heads around a 13-litre engine being sufficient to haul required payloads. The 15-litre was king, and it still is in many parts of North America, especially here in Canada. However, the 13-litre has made significant in-roads into the North American market and now the 11-litres are coming. Paccar recently announced introduction of its MX-11 engine, a 10.8-litre powerplant available with from 335-430 hp and 1,150-1,550 lb.-ft. of torque. I recently had the chance to drive a Peterbilt 579 with EPIQ package and the MX-11 engine in and around Denton, Texas, where Peterbilt builds these trucks. The engine itself is built in Paccar’s Mississippi engine plant and though it was born in Europe, just more than a year ago, many of the engine’s components are manufactured in Mississippi and then shipped to Europe for installation. So the engine does have some significant North American DNA in it. The MX-11 sold here will be further configured for North American duty cycles. The engine is currently undergoing field testing with a variety of fleets with full-scale production and installations set to begin in January. It is limited to a gross combination weight of 80,000 lbs and that will rule it out for certain lanes and applications in Canada. However, Anthony Gansle, Peterbilt’s marketing manager for on-highway products, says it will be ideal for regional haul and vocational applications, or on weight-sensitive bulk routes. The MX-11 weighs about 400 lbs less than the MX-13, which is itself about 400 lbs lighter than a 15-litre. If you can convert that weight savings directly into payload, the 11-litre becomes very compelling. It’s also a nice alternative for fleets currently spec’ing a 9L but wanting a little more power. But you also want to be careful where you deploy it, especially when downsizing from a 13-litre. The engine pulled well on my drive in Texas, but our route was devoid of much in the way of hills. We were loaded to about 63,000 lbs (28.6 metric tons), which is pretty typical for line-haul applications. The MX-11 I drove was rated at the maximum 430 hp and 1,550 lb.-ft. of torque. It never felt lacking for power. But this was Texas; I’d be reticent to spec’ this engine in a truck that’ll be crossing the Roger’s Pass with regularity. That said, there’s a place for it. If you’re hauling light loads on flat roads, an 11-litre engine with 430 hp may well be all you need. Paccar says the engine will provide the same reliability that customers have come to expect from the MX-13. Like its 13-litre brother, the MX-11 has a B10 life of a million miles, which means 90% should go that far without requiring any significant overhaul. There’s lots of parts commonality between the two engines. The biggest difference in the design is that the MX-11 features an overhead cam while the MX-13 has an in-block cam. The MX-11 weighs 2,200 lbs dry and is backed by a two-year, 250,000-mile (400,000-km) warranty. It can run 60,000 miles (96,000 kms) between oil changes in line-haul applications with idle time of less than 20%. In vocational applications, the engine can go 30,000 miles (40,000 kms) between oil changes. The engine was extremely quiet on my drive. This is the result of a well-built cab and also an overall quieter-running engine. The transmission was a 10-speed Fuller Advantage Series automated manual. That’s the one with no oil cooler, contributing to overall fuel economy improvements thanks to its lighter weight and the reduced oil churn-related friction within the transmission. The powertrain featured the new Neutral Coast option, which disengages the transmission on slight declines to save fuel. It was also equipped with Predictive Cruise, which better utilizes the truck’s momentum on grades to save even more fuel. The truck I drove was nothing short of stunning to look at. The Model 579 EPIQ featured all the latest fuel-saving technologies. It was painted in a new colour dubbed Legendary Red. Gansle said he took Peterbilt’s traditional red to the paint shop and said he wanted them to make it sparkle in the sun like a bass boat. The paint pros layered glass on metal to give it that dazzling glimmering effect when the sun hits it. There are now 10 Legendary paint colours available. The 579 was also comfortable to drive. It was decked out with all the options, including the premium interior. The leather seats and steering wheel were stylish and comfortable. In fact, all touch points screamed quality. Even the rocker switches snapped authoritatively into place. The door closed with a passenger car-type whoosh and created a seal that minimized wind noise. The smaller MX-11 engine allowed for a shorter hood, affording excellent forward visibility. The fuel-saving EPIQ package has seen a few slight changes since I last drove a Peterbilt 579 late last year. Initially, a tire pressure monitoring system was required to qualify as an EPIQ spec’, but customers were luke-warm to that option and so now Peterbilt’s SmartAir battery-based no-idle system can be chosen in its place. Peterbilt is also expanding the chassis fairings available as part of the EPIQ package. A chassis fairing that covers the tandems is now in pre-production, offering slightly greater fuel savings than the original, which stopped at the rear of the sleeper cab. And early next year a fairing will be launched specifically for day cabs, which ends at the back of the cab. The truck I drove had a 58-inch sleeper, a new option for the 579, which is ideal for drivers who won’t be living out of the truck but want to be comfortable those few nights they’re away from home. The sleeper cab was nicely appointed with a flatscreen TV, mini-fridge and sufficient storage. The truck also had disc brakes all-around. Fleets that were lucky enough to be involved in field testing are reporting back good numbers in terms of fuel efficiency and performance, according to Gansle. He sees a lot of opportunity for the MX-11. “We think the 11-litre will take over in a lot of those applications where the customer doesn’t need a 500-hp engine,” he said. Photo gallery - http://www.trucknews.com/equipment/driving-the-peterbilt-579-with-mx-11-engine/1003068594/

Overdrive / November 9, 2015 It’s neat how the legislative mash-up happens, isn’t it? Competing interests work legislators and constituencies around the nation for their favored little changes to law all across the spectrum, legislators and their staffs look for common ground and, sometimes, in the translation to legal language that reflects reality on the ground, things go horribly awry. Yes, that little “poison pill” I wrote about that was in the early version of the House of Representatives’ six-year highway bill remains — partly for procedural reasons, says the Transportation Intermediaries Association, the primary non-governmental supporter of a version of the measure for going on more than a year. Here’s a recap of what I’m talking about: Essentially, the highway bill would pull carriers’ CSA Safety Measurement scores from public view, which a wide swathe of the trucking industry has called for with steadily increasing volume for the past couple years. An “interim hiring standard,” then, would clarify just what sorts of carrier information shippers and brokers (and other freight middlemen) would be required to vet in order to avoid the growing specter of “negligent selection” lawsuits based on CSA percentile scores that have cropped up as lawyers chase damages after accidents. Essentially, brokers see such a clarification necessary given flawed CSA SMS scores slowly becoming something of a standard for carrier safety vetting in and of themselves — and wrongly, many argue, agreeing with the carrier community. Problem is, the “Interim Hiring Standard” in the highway bill doesn’t just require what the originally proposed “National Hiring Standard” would have required of carrier-contracting entities relative to safety rating. In the course of drafting the legislative language, someone who obviously didn’t understand trucking apparently took a double negative to mean a positive. A requirement for shippers and brokers to make certain that a carrier … has not been given an “unsatisfactory” safety rating in the safety rating system became has been given a “satisfactory” safety rating in the safety rating system. That’s my paraphrase of the language, fyi, but in any case a double negative here definitely does not make a positive, if you’re a small-business trucker. Such language, it’s worried, would notably exclude, and could well discourage brokers and shippers from doing business with, the universe of carriers (a huge number of whom are owner-operators) that are totally “unrated” under the current system. According to RigDig Business Intelligence‘s data on active for-hire authorized carriers, that would affect well more than a million for-hire trucks and drivers of the smallest fleets around. Here are the raw numbers: RigDig Business Intelligence adjusted active for-hire carriers, by Safety Rating Safety Rating # of Carriers # of Power Units # of Drivers Satisfactory 35,940 1,494,021 1,598,373 Conditional 10,050 131,018 114,046 Unrated 428,108 1,390,693 1,449,523 I’ve heard from several sources that the fix to this is coming, most likely in the conference committee that will be convened to reconcile Senate and House versions of the highway bill (nothing, mind you, like this appears in the Senate version). TIA itself sent out an update to its members last week that said as much, but referred to an amendment that would have elaborated on the hiring standard to include Unrated carriers but, crucially, not the RigDig BI-adjusted 10,050 active Conditional-rated carriers and the 100,000-plus power units they control, as I wrote previously at the following link: The worry over all of this is its potential to create problems that didn’t exist, of course, and unduly discouraging parties to do business with carriers previously deemed safe, CSA scores notwithstanding. Some sources close to these discussions have noted to me off the record that they wish the “hiring standards” language would simply disappear altogether. With CSA percentile scores in the background, perhaps emphasis on such scores in frivolous lawsuits (what the hiring standard purports to be mitigating) would similarly take a backseat as a matter of course, hiring standard or not. At once, however, given lawyers at this point well know the CSA SMS exists, without some explicit clarification of carrier-selection standards the consideration of CSA percentile scores as a marker of safety might well be likely to continue — carrier disclosure of private scores could easily become the norm in the carrier-shipper/broker contracts. In its alert to members last week, TIA called the remaining language in the House highway bill “a step in the right direction” for TIA, ensuring the “National Hiring Standard remains viable during conference” between Senate and House. The association continues to expect a long-term bill to emerge before the Nov. 20 deadline. If you’re an Unrated or Conditional-rated carrier, here’s hoping for reversion to the original language of the hiring standard, whose only safety rating/scoring-related standard was for brokers and shippers to vet carriers to make sure they did not have the Unsatisfactory safety rating. One commenter on my previous story about the exclusion of Conditional carriers from the TIA-preferred fix (the Duncan amendment) illustrated the situation today of such carriers today well. Read more about it in depth in my reporting from 2014 here: http://www.overdriveonline.com/csas-fallout-trapped-in-a-csa-nightmare-part-1/?utm_medium=single_article&utm_campaign=site_click&utm_source=in_story_promotion The carrier’s been saddled with a Conditional rating since September 2013 and has “now hired a consultant (politically correct word for lawyer) to finish this process. The FMCSA is now saying there are 40 companies in front of us [for follow-up review]. It has cost our company $250,000 between lost revenue and increased insurance costs due to having a Conditional rating.” After going totally electronic for logs in an attempt to get back to a Satisfactory safety rating, the carrier got continued insistence from FMCSA that “our fuel receipts did not match our logs, so they claimed we were falsifying our logs,” the commenter noted, who went to describe even getting an official letter from the fuel-card provider “claiming they would not guarantee the [time] data was correct on their reports. During the FMCSA investigation we spoke to Sky City in New Mexico, where half of the claimed false logs were produced. We found out that they process all the fuel transactions at the end of each shift, which means the report from TCH would not match the logs. We gave the info to the FMCSA inspectors and they dismissed the info. Now that we are required to run e-logs … the GPS on the truck shows the stop for fuel and the report reflects the same falsifying information. So my question is who is keeping these people (whose salaries our tax dollars pay) in check?” Reader Richard Spencer, too, noted a similar situation: “My company has been in Conditional rating since October of 2012 and it is all political b/s. Just another tactic to run the independent out of the industry. Conditional rating is the industry’s problem, placing unnecessary hardship on struggling individuals for circumstances that are out of their control. There is absolutely no reason to be placing companies into purgatory and giving them no choice but to run any way they can to make ends meet.” As it’s now written, the preferred fix to the flawed “Interim Hiring Standard,” as represented by the Duncan amendment, would only reinforce those do-or-die issues for Conditional carriers, driving more business away and making that safety rating purgatory something closer to the Unsatisfactory hell.

Commercial Carrier Journal (CCJ) / November 9, 2015 Quarterly earnings reports from equipment manufacturers are being reported, so here’s a roundup of what’s come in so far. Daimler: Sales for Daimler Trucks in North America jumped 19 percent to 52,200 trucks in the third quarter, which set a record for the company. “We continue to grow profitably and are continually developing our business model,” Daimler Chief Financial Officer Bodo Uebber said on the company’s earnings call last month Globally, Daimler Trucks’ unit sales climbed to 128,500 vehicles, a 2 percent bump compared with the third quarter last year. In Western Europe, Daimler Trucks increased its unit sales by 12 percent, while a decrease of 37 percent was recorded in Latin America due to the significant market slump in Brazil. In this environment, Daimler Trucks says it was able to overtake market leadership in Brazil in the medium- and heavy-duty segment. Unit sales in Asia were 6 percent lower than in the prior-year quarter. Paccar: Paccar revenues jumped 16 percent to $431.2 million in the third quarter, the company reported. For the first nine months of 2015, Paccar reported a 31 percent increase in net income to $1.26 billion. Net sales and financial services revenues for the first nine months of 2015 were $14.76 billion compared to $13.88 billion last year. Paccar’s U.S. and Canadian Class 8 retail sales year-to-date are up 18 percent compared to the same period last year. Volvo: Volvo Trucks reported net income of $363.2 million, nearly double the same period last year, despite a 15 percent drop in truck order intake. Global truck orders for the company hit 42,648 units while deliveries reached 47,338 trucks, a 3 percent increase from the third quarter last year. Truck deliveries climbed 10 percent in North America, but overall orders fell 40 percent thanks to drops of 30 percent of Volvo-branded trucks and 51 percent from Mack-branded units. Jan Gurander, Volvo Trucks acting president and CEO, blamed the order decline on dealers focusing on reducing inventories and the comparison with a good quarter last year “… demand in North America is declining, albeit from a very high level,” Gurander said in the company’s earnings release. “During the third quarter, the retail activity in the dealerships in North America remained solid on the back of a good freight environment and customer profitability. The total market forecast for 2015 remains at close to record level of 310,000 heavy-duty trucks. For 2016 we expect demand to continue on a good, but lower, level. The market for 2016 is forecasted to be at about 280,000 trucks.” Cummins: Cummins saw third quarter revenue of $4.6 billion, a 6 percent decrease from 2014’s third quarter. The company said currency negatively impacted sales by 4 percent compared to last year, primarily due to a stronger U.S. dollar. Revenues in North America increased 4 percent while international sales declined 18 percent. Weaker demand in global off highway and power generation markets was partially offset by distributor acquisitions in North America. Earnings before interest and taxes decreased in the third quarter to $577 million, or 12.5 percent of sales, down from $684 million or 14 percent of sales a year ago. “We are disappointed with our results in the third quarter, but we are responding quickly to softening demand,” said Rich Freeland, Cummins president and chief operating officer. “Through a combination of workforce actions and targeted capacity reduction we will position the company for stronger financial performance when market conditions improve.

Heavy Duty Trucking / November 9, 2015 Alkane Truck Company is establishing a new manufacturing facility in Summerville, S.C. where the OEM will build its recently announced line of Class 7 cabover alternative fuel trucks. Alkane will to hire over 300 automotive technicians and employees as the company expands to include the new models. The 100,000-square-foot facility is expected to reach full capacity in two years. The company is currently leasing an existing manufacturing facility in Summerville, to produce the new product line. The Alkane Class 7 cabover trucks will go into full production in the first quarter of 2016 to be sold at around 130 dealerships in the U.S. and Canada. Headquartered in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Alkane specializes in trucks that run on alternative fuels like liquid propane autogas, compressed natural gas and liquefied natural gas. “We have the first and currently the only cab over truck of this weight class powered exclusively with either LPG or CNG in America; that is special,” said Bob Smith, CEO of Alkane. “We will be hiring well over 300 automotive technicians and adding employees as we continue to expand our business to include additional models.” Related reading - http://www.truckinginfo.com/channel/fuel-smarts/news/story/2014/08/chinese-gliders-are-platforms-for-new-american-class-7-8-trucks.aspx .

Autoblog / November 9, 2015 As expected, buried deep inside the many pages of Ford's proposed new contract with the UAW are discussions on what's going to happen at the Michigan Assembly Plant after production of the C-Max and Focus are moved to Mexico after 2018. Not surprisingly, coinciding with that news, two nameplates that have long resonated with traditional Ford buyers are once again circulating the rumor mill: Bronco and Ranger. It's important to note that none of this information has yet been confirmed by Ford, and, when contacted, Ford Truck Communications Manager Mike Levine told us that – you guessed it – "Ford does not comment on speculation or future product plans." But that's certainly not going to stop anybody else from speculating. According to The Detroit Free Press, which quotes the always nebulous "person briefed on the agreement who was not authorized to speak publicly," the Ranger is headed for production by 2020 in Michigan, followed shortly thereafter by a new Bronco. That timing makes sense – assuming the Focus and C-Max move out in 2018, it would take some time to switch gears at the plant from making compact cars to midsize pickup trucks and SUVs. While a new Bronco and US availability of the Ranger will surely be welcome news to small truck and 'ute fans, perhaps less welcome to the rank-and-file at Ford are future production plans that don't include many next-gen cars (as opposed to trucks, crossovers and SUVs) built in America. In addition to the aforementioned compact cars, there's no sign of the Ford Fusion or Taurus in any of Ford's as-yet confirmed production plans. If those models are produced outside US borders, that would leave the Mustang and Lincoln Continental as the only cars Ford produces in the United States. .

2016 Chevrolet Colorado/GMC Canyon Diesel Fuel Economy Released, EPA Conformity Confirmed Car & Driver / November 9, 2015 Conformity can be dull, an act that dissolves your individuality into the flow of the masses like a fluid into a current. Or conformity can be a good thing! Take, for example, when you’re moving to release a new diesel-powered vehicle in the wake of Volkswagen’s brazen diesel-emissions cheating scandal. General Motors gets it, and has announced that in addition to having fresh fuel-economy figures for 2016 GMC Canyon and Chevrolet Colorado diesel trucks in hand, it also has an EPA “Certificate of Conformity” that declares them totally compliant with emissions laws. Come on in, the conformity’s nice and warm. The 2WD diesel-powered Canyon and Colorado are EPA-certified for 22 mpg in the city and 31 mpg on the highway. Four-wheel-drive models boast still-impressive 20/29 ratings. The only other diesel-fueled light-duty truck available in the U.S. right now, the Ram 1500 EcoDiesel (Nissan’s Titan XD isn’t quite out yet, plus EPA ratings remain forthcoming), gets 20/28 mpg in two-wheel-drive guise. Cracking the 30-mpg mark has been truckmakers’ goal for some time, so for the 2WD mid-size GM twins to do so while still offering 7700 pounds of towing (4WD versions are rated for 100 fewer pounds) is most certainly a win. Our only complaint with the truck—we drove it and found it to be quite good—is the lack of a manual transmission or availability with the extended-cab body style. Every diesel-fueled Canyon and Colorado will be a crew cab and come solely with a six-speed automatic transmission. The engine itself, a 2.8-liter four-cylinder turbo-diesel, churns out a mighty 369 lb-ft of torque and a more diesel-appropriate 181 horsepower. It seems that since Chevrolet and GMC initially released pricing for the diesel Colorado and Canyon, that those prices have crept up; the Chevy will start at $35,080 for a two-wheel-drive Crew Cab LT, while the equivalent GMC requires $36,320.