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Fleet Owner / February 2, 2016 No fluid cooler needed, which reduces weight and maintenance needs. Eaton is widening the vocational availability of its Fuller Advantage 10-speed automated manual transmission (AMT) overdrive models, offering optional “Urge to Move,” “Creep Mode” and “Blended Pedal” functions to improve low-speed maneuverability in situations such as backing into a loading dock or maneuvering in a construction job site. Evan Vijithakumara, Eaton’s product strategy manager, said in a statement that the Fuller Advantage 10-speed AMT can now be used in 110,000 lbs.-plus gross combined weight (GCW) vocational truck applications, with 6- and 8-bolt power take off (PTO) opening options, “Hill Start Aid” and intelligent gear selection logic functions. He pointed to the AMT’s precision lubrication system as a key feature, as that system reduces the oil churn energy losses found in traditional transmissions by nearly 33%. “With less heat being generated, Fuller Advantage transmissions do not require a transmission fluid cooler and corresponding lines and fittings,” Vijithakumara said. “The result is less preventative maintenance is required while engine fans cycle less, further reducing horsepower demand.” He added that the precision lube system uses only 16 pints of oil, which is nearly half the amount used in traditional transmissions. “Vocational fleets currently operating our FR series manual transmission, and who are considering an automated transmission in their next truck, will really appreciate the performance and peace of mind that the cooler-less Fuller Advantage transmission offers,” said Eaton’s heavy-duty transmission sales manager Molly Doyle.

Transport Topics / February 2, 2016 Peterbilt Motors Co. has received a multiyear order from TMC Transportation, the largest privately held flatbed carrier in the United States, for 1,500 of its Model 579 Class 8 trucks equipped with premium 80-inch sleepers. Rod Simon, TMC’s vice president of maintenance, cited in a statement the model’s distinctive styling as a means of recruiting and keeping drivers. “TMC has long been a Peterbilt partner. We take great pride in the professionalism and skill of our drivers and the appearance and performance of our fleet,” Simon said. Peterbilt said the Des Moines, Iowa-based fleet first ordered 1,500 of the 579s when the model was introduced in 2012.

Why be concerned about appointees having appropriate experience now? Congress has been approving EPA heads for years who lacked any and all qualifications for that position.

Transport Topics / February 2, 2016 Commerce Committee Chairman John Thune (R-S.D.) said senators on the panel have raised concerns about Scott Darling, President Obama’s choice to lead the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA). “Some of our members have concerns about, I think, just the depth of experience he has on some of those issues,” Thune told Transport Topics on Feb. 2. Thune added that a vote on Darling's nomination is possible after the committee handles other affairs during the next couple of weeks. The Commerce Committee has jurisdiction over trucking regulations. The committee heard testimony from Darling on Jan. 20 to consider his nomination to become FMCSA administrator. At the hearing, he told Thune and the rest of the panel the FMCSA safety performance scoring program, known as Compliance, Safety, Accountability (CSA), would be reviewed by the National Academy of Sciences starting this month. FMCSA removed the scores from public view in December soon after the enactment of the FAST Act, the 2015 highway law. Darling, FMCSA's acting administrator, had served as the agency's chief counsel since September 2012. He came to FMCSA from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, where he served as deputy chief of staff and assistant general counsel. .

Navistar hopes more choice leads to better trucks, loyal customers Fleet Owner / February 1, 2016 As more and more vertical design has come to the truck market – think integrated powertrains – Navistar has been embracing the concept of “open integration” in its vehicle designs. That means the option of Cummins engines. But it also means customers can choose Allison or Eaton transmissions, Dana or Meritor axles, Continental tires (standard) or some other brand. Many OEMs also embrace this philosophy - give the customer what they want – but Navistar executives gathered here in Las Vegas believe it is a winning formula that will once again have the International nameplate back atop the vocational market share ladder. “We want to give the customer what the customer wants,” Bill Kozek, president-truck and parts, told Fleet Owner at the launch of the company’s newest models – the HX Series of vocational trucks. According to Jeff Sass, senior vice president of North America truck sales and marketing, Navistar’s Class 8 severe duty market share is around 17%. “We want to get over 20%,” he told Fleet Owner. “It’s really close right now [between OEMs], it ebbs and flows, and we don’t want it to be that close.” To increase its market share, not only is Navistar focused on building quality trucks, it’s focused on providing customers options through its open integration philosophy. “While many of our competitors go to vertical integration, we have done something different,” Sass said. “We have gone to open integration where we work seamlessly with our [partners] to integrated the leading products into our trucks.” ass explained that vertical integration has some advantages, but to be a vertically integrated truck maker requires the OEM to “an expert in everything.” “We’re taking the expertise of our [supplier] experts,” he added. “Most of the suppliers we’re partnering with have a long history in the marketplace. They have sales support teams behind them.” Just as importantly, as Kozek noted, an owner of an International truck who has trouble with, for instance, an Cummins engine, has many options to seek service on that vehicle. They can go to their local International dealer, who can service all the components, they could seek out a Cummins dealer or they can have that engine serviced at any truck OEM dealership that services Cummins engines. Related reading - http://fleetowner.com/equipment/vegas-provides-backdrop-international-s-hx-series-debut

Trailer/Body Builders / February 2, 2016 As more and more vertical design has come to the truck market – think integrated powertrains – Navistar has been embracing the concept of “open integration” in its vehicle designs. That means the option of Cummins engines. But it also means customers can choose Allison or Eaton transmissions, Dana or Meritor axles, Continental tires (standard) or some other brand. Many OEMs also embrace this philosophy - give the customer what they want – but Navistar executives gathered in Las Vegas believe it is a winning formula that will once again have the International nameplate back atop the vocational market share ladder. “We want to give the customer what the customer wants,” Bill Kozek, president-truck and parts, told Fleet Owner at the launch of the company’s newest models – the HX Series of vocational trucks. According to Jeff Sass, senior vice president of North America truck sales and marketing, Navistar’s Class 8 severe duty market share is around 17%. “We want to get over 20%,” he told Fleet Owner. “It’s really close right now [between OEMs], it ebbs and flows, and we don’t want it to be that close.” To increase its market share, not only is Navistar focused on building quality trucks, it’s focused on providing customers options through its open integration philosophy. “While many of our competitors go to vertical integration, we have done something different,” Sass said. “We have gone to open integration where we work seamlessly with our [partners] to integrated the leading products into our trucks.” Sass explained that vertical integration has some advantages, but to be a vertically integrated truck maker requires the OEM to “an expert in everything.” “We’re taking the expertise of our [supplier] experts,” he added. “Most of the suppliers we’re partnering with have a long history in the marketplace. They have sales support teams behind them.” Just as importantly, as Kozek noted, an owner of an International truck who has trouble with, for instance, an Cummins engine, has many options to seek service on that vehicle. They can go to their local International dealer, who can service all the components, they could seek out a Cummins dealer or they can have that engine serviced at any truck OEM dealership that services Cummins engines. Conversely, he added, if you have a vehicle that has components from only the truck maker, there is only one option for maintenance – that truck’s dealership network. “It’s to the customer’s benefit to have options [like that],” Sass said.

The Washington Post / February 2, 2016 In the aftermath of an E. coli outbreak at Chipotle, which sickened dozens of people across the United States last fall, and led to an overhaul of the company's food safety practices, Americans reacted by avoiding the beloved fast food chain. Restaurants that once sported long lines were suddenly empty, a phenomenon that was almost surely happening nationwide. The risks, in other words, were simply too great in people's minds for them to continue frequenting the Mexican-inspired favorite, because Chipotle had a food safety problem. But the outrage was at least partly misplaced, according to Bill Marler, a lawyer specializing in food-borne illness. The outbreak, he says, was less of an anomaly specific to the chain than a symptom of the American food system, which isn't as safe as it could be and really should be. Marler, who has been involved in many high profile outbreaks over the past 30 years, including the 1993 E. coli outbreak at Jack in the Box, which killed several children and forced the government to administer a zero tolerance for the presence of the pathogen in food, reminds that problems like the one at Chipotle are far more common than most people realize. Food recalls, of which there are many, frequently fly under the radar. In 2014, the most recent year for which data is available, more than 8,000 food products were recalled by the Food and Drug Administration and nearly 100 were recalled by the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The problem touches organic foods, too. The industry, Marler says, does a good job of nudging people to forget about all this, and we all do a good job of obliging, because food safety isn't the sort of thing anyone likes to think about. The way in which the American food system works is often perplexing if not entirely nonsensical, according to Marler. For this reason, he takes precautions people less familiar with food safety oversight might find absurd. In a recent piece, published in Bottom Line Health, he lists six foods he no longer eats, because he believes the risk of eating them is simply too large. The list includes raw oysters and other raw shellfish, raw or under-cooked eggs, meat that isn't well-done, unpasteurized milk and juice, and raw sprouts. "You wouldn't believe some of the things I have learned over the years," he said. "I have some crazy stories." I spoke with Marler to hear some of these stories, learn about the things we might want to think twice about eating, and better understand what exactly it is that people don't understand about food safety in the United States. The interview has been edited for length and clarity. Would the average person be horrified if they knew what you know about the food system? I think there are a lot of things about the food system that the general public would find completely nonsensical—not necessarily frightening, but definitely nonsensical. Like how E. coli is considered an adulterant in hamburgers, but salmonella and many other pathogens are not. How salmonella is allowed on chickens, which the USDA oversees, but salmonella is not allowed in any product that the FDA oversees. There are a lot of disparate pieces in the food safety system in the United States, and there is no one really who is fully in control of it. And the public health system is made up of 51 separate departments of public health—the CDC and 50 states—and they’re not necessarily playing from the same sheet of music. I know a lot more about the flaws in the system than the average person, and these would be incredibly perplexing to most people. If people knew these kind of things, I’m pretty sure they would question why the system is built the way it is. So it isn't safe? From a safety standpoint, I don’t necessarily think that we’re the safest food system in the world, but neither do I think that we’re the worst food safety system in the world. We do have a fairly amazing ability to surveil foodborne illnesses. Not necessarily to find out why they happened, or what we could do to prevent them, but we’re pretty good at keeping track of people who have positive stool cultures. I speak all over the world on food safety issues, and almost everyone around the world uses the CDC foodborne illness statistics, and then just extrapolates those onto their populations. In 22 years of doing this, I’ve obviously seen things that are chilling. But I’ve also seen some great progress. I made hundreds of millions of dollars for my clients in the first decade or so of my practice off the beef industry. Most of the work we did was E. coli cases linked to hamburgers, and those are now almost non-existent, because the beef industry and the government finally figured out that it was a really bad idea to poison people, and that it was expensive, and they created systems that allowed to lower the level of E. coli in hamburger meat. Now there are fewer people getting sick, and Bill Marler isn’t making as much money, which is a great thing. Why is it that the government has acted on E. coli, but not on other pathogens, namely salmonella? A crisis happened. The Jack in the Box E. coli outbreak in January of 1993 came at an incredibly fortuitous time to get government to pay attention to it. It basically broke on inauguration weekend for Bill Clinton. In many respects, and I know this because I know people who were working at USDA and at the White House, this was one of the first things that was on Clinton’s plate—this E. coli crisis in the Pacific Northwest. People wanted to know what he was going to do about it. The USDA, in 1994, said that E. coli could no longer be in hamburger meat, and the industry went absolutely nuts. They sued the government, saying E. coli is a naturally occurring bacteria. To the government’s credit, they used science and the court agreed that the government had the power to do exactly what it did. And over time, that determination that E. coli was an adulterant worked its way through the system and got us to the place we are now. Where we are now is kind of where we are with vaccine and people, where you have some people questioning the necessity of a system that works, without question. You know, when was the last time you saw someone with polio? But you hear people in certain parts who take that reality and then wonder whether they need to vaccine their children since polio hasn’t really been around. We see places advertising that they’re undercooking hamburgers, because it tastes better. I find that worrisome. Even though we’ve pushed a lot of E. coli out of hamburgers, they’re playing with fire by not cooking their hamburgers thoroughly. Is the presence of salmonella any less dangerous? No. In my view, what the government did in 1994 with E. coli, was they knew what they wanted to do, which was to get it out of hamburger meat. They justified it by saying that the infectious dose was low, that people don’t necessarily cook hamburgers the way they should—it’s difficult to cook them thoroughly, and there’s a high risk of cross contamination. They had a long list of arguments as to why they needed to take that action. But frankly all of that applies to salmonella. The infectious dose for salmonella is higher, but we’re talking about infinitesimal, invisible quantities of bacteria. 100,000 bacterium of salmonella would fit on the head of a pin. So you’re not really looking at a product that is grossly contaminated; you’re looking at a product that is a little contaminated, and that little bit of contamination is enough to get people really sick. Salmonella kills more Americans every year than E. coli does, and can cause severe long-term complications. If salmonella is so problematic, why hasn't the government protected consumers from it? There’s a case that goes back to the 1970s, American Health Association (AHA) vs. Earl Butz, who was the secretary of agriculture under President Nixon. The AHA didn’t even know about E. coli 0157, the kind that gets people really sick, back then. They were focused on salmonella, and they wanted to put a label on it that said ‘hey consumer, you need to cook this,’ and the meat industry went nuts, they said no way we’re not going to do this. So the AHA sued the government because they thought it was necessary, and the government sided with the industry, and in essence said it was a naturally occurring bacterium on meat, which is untrue, and housewives—this is actually in the case, I swear—know how to cook it, what to do to make this food safe. That mentality is just below the surface in the meat industry, whether it’s the beef, chicken, or any other facet. That sort of mentality that there’s really nothing we can do about it, and it’s really the consumer that is at fault if anybody gets sick, it’s their problem. This is exactly the argument that the industry waged in 1994, with E. coli, but there the government changed its tone because there were 700 people who got sick and 4 children who died, and it was kind of hard to ignore that. The government has not faced a salmonella crisis like the Jack in the Box E. coli crisis in the early 1990s, that solidifies consumers, government, business, and everyone else to do the thing that would ultimately be the correct thing, which is to do with salmonella exactly what they did with E. coli 0157. And the way the system is set up now, with FSIS being in USDA and essentially just being a captured, controlled agency of the industry, it’s just never going to happen. When I applied for the job, back in 2008, and allegedly made it to the shortlist, you can imagine the industry was quite concerned about what I might do if I actually took office. You mentioned to me in the past that you have a few major frustrations with food safety in the United States. Can you talk a bit about those? I think certainly the salmonella thing is probably the biggest frustration—and maybe the biggest public health threat. That has to be on the top of my list. Secondly, the failure of government to have sufficient resources to allow for the level of inspection that should be required for FDA overseen products, which are different—meat, generally, is overseen by the USDA. So for instance, the USDA, or really FSIS [Food Safety and Inspection Service] in particular, looks at meat products save for fish. There’s an inspector in every single meat plant in America. That came about post The Jungle, by Upton Sinclair. And, allegedly, the legislation was such that the industry was supposed to pay for the inspectors. But, unsurprisingly, the industry got taxpayers to pay for the inspectors. Now those inspectors are unionized, and now there’s an inspector in every plant, and that’s the system. On the FDA’s side, which is 80 percent of our other food supplies and imports, there’s a skeleton crew of inspectors. Most of the foodborne illness outbreaks that I have been involved in over the past 20 or 30 years, most of the manufacturing facilities have never had an FDA inspector in them. Even if they did, it was five to ten years earlier. And that’s just the system—we chose not to have a system, which basically grew up post World War II—the mass manufacturing of foods is really a post World War II phenomenon—and by the time we started looking at that in terms of what we needed for inspections, we didn’t have much interest in paying for what was safest. What’s funny, or really tragic, is that we, the consuming public, pay billions of dollars every year for a sort of half-hearted system of inspections, called third party audits, where the Wal-Marts and the Costcos and the McDonald’s of the world tell their supply chain that they need to pay for an audit of their businesses. And that’s been a well known problem for the industry, because when you pay for your own audit, the likelihood that you’re going to get a bad or unfavorable audit is remarkably close to zero. When you look at the audits that have been performed during some of the worst outbreaks that have occurred in the United States, it’s really troubling. The lack of taxpayers stepping up and the government stepping up, and the allowing of third party audits that are in many respects a complete sham, is just really frustrating. So yeah, I’d say that salmonella and government inspections are really my two main major frustrations. I think we could have a much safer food system and food supply, if we applied the rules of adulteration across the board, regardless of the product, and we had an inspection core that would actually be available. And I think we could actually make this happen, if we wanted to. While reporting on Chipotle’s recent foodborne illness outbreaks, several food safety experts, including yourself, suggested the company might have a hard time implementing its new rules, because the poultry industry is pretty resistant to more stringent testing for pathogens. What’s up with the poultry industry? The poultry industry is a tough one. If you just look at the Foster Farms outbreak that went on for 18 months, it gives you a really good sense. PBS’s Frontline did this fantastic documentary about the outbreak, which I was involved in, and it really showed the scary level of symbiotic relationship that exists between the FSIS, which is the government agency tasked with overseeing food safety in the United States, and the poultry industry. Since salmonella, for reasons I cannot understand, isn’t considered an adulterant, they, the FSIS, couldn’t do a thing about an ongoing, clear outbreak, that was sickening several hundred people that we know about, and many times more, because the real number is something like 30 times that due to underreporting. So you’re looking at an 18,000 to 20,000 person outbreak, that the government isn’t doing a damn thing about, other than writing letters. There was this great scene in the documentary, where the interviewer is talking to an official from FSIS. He asks what they did to Foster Farms, and the official says ‘oh, well, we wrote him a letter.’ Then he asks him what he did next, and the guy says ‘well, we wrote him another letter.’ He asks him again, and he says the same thing. And then he asks what they’re going to do if it keeps happening, and he says 'well, we’re going to keep writing them letters.’ And that’s the problem, we really don’t have the ability to hold companies accountable. Look, you and I in about five minutes could draft a speech for FSIS about why salmonella is an adulterant. There’s plenty of explanation and evidence for how risky salmonella is, and how consumers don’t handle chicken properly and how they don’t cook it properly—really, the same exact arguments that were made for E. Coli 0157. You could easily make this argument, and the court would back you up. You’d be bucking a lot of angry chicken guys, but nevertheless you could get it done. Really, this is the story of an emasculated agency, and one where they don’t even want to ask for that authority. The issues of food safety really come to life when there are big scares or stories. But it’s the companies that are associated with them—like Chipotle, most recently—that suffer the PR blow. Are companies like Chipotle to blame, or is the framework or system they function within the real problem? Each outbreak is different—the players, the causes, the size. If you look at the Chipotle case, they had six outbreaks in six months, that’s pretty unprecedented. I mean, I cannot think of any restaurant, any chain, anything where there have been six outbreaks in that short of a period. I look at what happened with Chipotle, and I just think they were so focused on their mission to serve food with integrity, as defined by their commitment to local, organic, non-GMO, and humanely raised food, that they used those words as a proxy for safe food. I think they believed, and probably people did too, that it was true. If you asked people six months ago whether they thought McDonald’s or Chipotle was safer, more than 90 percent of people would have said Chipotle in an instant. But the problem isn't really Chipotle. It's the system, which allows for these sorts of things to happen too often. Chipotle was, for the most part, complying with food safety standards. In many senses, they were exceeding them. You were trending on Facebook recently, because you listed a handful of things that people love to eat but you refuse to eat for safety reasons. It depends on how you look at it. I mean, if I went back and looked at all the foods I have been involved in that have poisoned people, you could make a very long list—the things you would be left with would be very short. When I made that list, I stuck a couple things together, like unpasteurized milk and juice. It’s based on more than 20 years of experience, that has taught me that these are the food items that are, from my perspective, the ones that have caused more issues, and, especially in a restaurant setting, where you’re not controlling the handling of your food, are best left alone. This doesn’t mean that other things, like cantaloupe couldn’t find their way onto the list. But these are the ones that I have had to deal with the most often over the years. You keep telling me that you have all these crazy stories—all these things I wouldn’t believe. Can you share one of them? I actually have the perfect one, which I told at a recent conference, and really floored people. Do you know the juice Odwalla? Well, the juice is made by a company in California, which has made all sorts of other juices, many of which have been unpasteurized, because it’s more natural. Anyway, they were kind of like Chipotle, in the sense that they had this aura of good and earthy and healthful. And they were growing very quickly. And they had an outbreak. It killed a kid in Colorado, and sickened dozens of others very seriously, and the company was very nearly brought to its knees. [The outbreak, which was linked to apple juice produced by Odwalla, happened twenty years ago]. If you look at how they handled the PR stuff, most PR people would say well, they handled it great. They took responsibility, they were upfront and honest about it, etc etc. What’s interesting though is that behind the scenes, on the legal side of the equation, I had gotten a phone call, which by itself isn’t uncommon. In these high profile cases, people tend to call me—former employees, former government officials, family members of people who have fallen ill, or unknown people giving me tips. But this one was different. It was a Saturday—I remember it well—and someone left me a voicemail telling me to make sure I get the U.S. Army documents regarding Odwalla. I was like 'what the heck, what the heck are they talking about?' So I decided to follow up on it, and reached out to the Army and got something like 100 pages of documents. Well, it turned out that the Army had been solicited to put Army juice on Army PX’s, which sell goods, and, because of that, the Army had gone to do an inspection of a plant, looked around and wrote out a report. And heres what’s nuts: it had concluded that Odwalla’s juice was not fit for human consumption. Wow. It’s crazy, right? The Army had decided that Odwalla’s juice wasn’t fit for human consumption, and Odwalla knew this, and yet kept selling it anyway. When I got that document, it was pretty incredible. But then after the outbreak, we got to look at Odwalla’s documents, which included emails, and there were discussions amongst people at the company, months before the outbreak, about whether they should do end product testing—which is finished product testing—to see whether they had pathogens in their product, and the decision was made to not test, because if they tested there would be a body of data. One of my favorite emails said something like “once you create a body of data, it’s subpoenable.” So, basically, they decided to protect themselves instead of their consumers? Yes, essentially. Look, there are a lot of sad stories in my line of work. I’ve been in ICUs, where parents have had to pull the plug on their child. Someone commented on my article about the six things I don’t eat, saying that I must be some kind of freak, but when you see a child die from eating an undercooked hamburger, it does change your view of hamburgers. It just does. I am a lawyer, but I’m also a human. That Odwalla story is one of the crazier stories I can think of, but there are many others, and there would be many fewer if the way we handled food safety here made more sense.

Iowa Caucus entrance poll results https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/politics/2016-election/primaries/iowa-entrance-poll/?hpid=hp_hp-banner-main_clinton-banner-145am%3Ahomepage%2Fstory

Reuters / February 1, 2016 Four Oklahoma high school wrestlers were charged on Monday with raping two boys aged 12 and 16 after a wrestling tournament in January. All suspects were members of the Norman North High School wrestling team. Three were charged as youth offenders and one was charged as an adult stemming from the Jan. 9 incident. The two victims were assaulted on a bus after a wrestling tournament in Garvin County, and the 12-year-old was assaulted a second time when the bus arrived back at Norman North High School. The adult suspect was charged in Garvin County with felony counts of first-degree rape by instrumentation by force and fear, meaning rape with an object other than a sexual organ. He was also charged with two counts of first-degree rape by instrumentation of a victim under the age of 14, police said. The three other suspects were charged with rape by instrumentation and two counts of rape by instrumentation of a victim under the age of 14. In addition to the arrests, an adjunct coach was dismissed in January and another coach was suspended, the school district said.

Muslim “refugees” attack Germans on Munich subway RT / February 2, 2016 Two elderly metro passengers in Munich were attacked by a group of young men of Middle Eastern appearance last weekend as they tried to protect a woman from being sexually harassed. The alleged asylum seekers attacked the old men intervened. The assault, which took place on a subway train traveling from Sendlinger Tor station to the Munich city center terminal, was recorded on a mobile phone by Munich resident Tom Roth. The video shows several young men of Middle Eastern appearance attacking two elderly Germans, who moments earlier had come to the defense of a young woman harassed by the group. After seizing the Germans by the hands and insulting them verbally, a young attacker kicks one of the old men, then holds him by the neck from behind and threatens him. The other attackers make sure none of the passengers can interfere by creating a safe zone. The second German man is seen grappling with one of the migrants. Tom Roth said the incident broke out after a young woman rejected one of the migrant's advances, who had addressed her in English and placed his hand on her back. After being brushed off, the harasser struck a window with full force to express his dissatisfaction, said Roth. This is when the old men asked the migrants to behave. The man wearing a brown jacket acted aggressively, patting the head of one old man, who immediately stood up. Other passengers tried to call the disrespectful asylum seekers to order. Once the train arrived at the station, Tom Roth called the police, but law enforcement officers said there was nothing they could do. The incident in Munich is a minor one in a series of conflicts between Germans and migrants who are arriving in Europe en masse. The country’s Interior Ministry said 1.1 million refugees came to Germany in 2015. Berlin expects 1.5 million asylum seekers to arrive in 2016. The worst assault to date on locals in Germany took place in Cologne on New Year’s Eve, where mass sexual harassment was reported. Similar attacks also took place in other German cities. State Interior Minister Ralf Jager said more than 1,200 people fell victim to attacks on New Year’s Eve in German cities, with more than a half of them suffering sexual assaults.

Hillary Clinton pushed to the limit as Iowa caucuses offer night of high drama The Guardian / February 2, 2016 Democratic race against Bernie Sanders too close to call but Republican Ted Cruz humbles Donald Trump in first contest of US presidential campaign Hillary Clinton was given the fright of her life as veteran socialist senator Bernie Sanders pushed her to the limit in the Iowa caucus, on a night of extreme drama in the first test of the US presidential election year. Ted Cruz, the maverick Texas senator, used his formidable ground game to beat the bombastic property tycoon Donald Trump into second place in the Republican race. And with Florida senator Marco Rubio enjoying a strong night in third place, the congested Republican field could yet be reshaped as a head-to-head between two Cuban Americans vying to become the first Latino president of the United States. Yet it was in the Democratic race where the closest of finishes caused high anxiety in the Clinton camp. With more than 99% of the precinct results in, Clinton led 49.9% to 49.6% over Sanders after seeing an apparently comfortable lead slip. The Associated Press and multiple outlets said the race was simply too close to call. Both candidates will now move on to New Hampshire buoyed up, Clinton with a “sigh of relief” that her bid to be the first female president of the United States is alive, and Sanders believing that his revolution against the “billionaire classes” truly began in the snowy cornfields of Iowa. With half of the results in across the rural midwest state, Clinton appeared to be easing to victory, three points up on the Vermont senator, whose relatively ramshackle campaign seemed to be no match for her mighty political machine. But as the night wore on, Clinton’s lead shrank to two and then one point, until she was locked in a virtual tie with the 74-year-old whose passion has ignited a fervour among young Americans. Appearing onstage in Des Moines before the final tally arrived, Clinton hailed “a contest of ideas” and appeared battle-ready for the fight of her political life. She congratulated her opponent, saying: “I am excited about really getting into the debate with Senator Sanders about the best way forward to fight for us in America.” The democratic socialist, though, had clearly stolen the momentum heading into the New Hampshire primary on 9 February – and a prolonged fight appears inevitable, a far cry from what had been envisaged as a graceful procession toward the nomination for Clinton. By almost 11pm local time, the two Democratic rivals had both given what sounded like competing victory speeches. Sanders raised the roof as he told supporters: “While the results are still not known, it looks like we are in virtual tie,” adding: “The people of Iowa have sent a very profound message to the political establishment, the economic establishment, and by the way to the media establishment.” Largely written off by both the media and Democratic leaders, Sanders has been attracting huge crowds across the state since he first started campaigning here in the summer and made Clinton’s poll leads that reached as high as 32% all but evaporate. Late on Monday night in Des Moines, a crowd at Sanders’ victory party was watching him inch to within 0.2 percentage points down, to a tie on the television overhead, then back down to 0.2 points. Someone put on Sanders’ fight song – the Simon & Garfunkel anthem America. “They’ve all come to look for America,” sang the throng. Iowa proved Bernie Sanders can win – and that Hillary Clinton is beatable | Lucia Graves Across town at the Clinton event, the former first lady, secretary of state and senator was introduced by retired Iowa senator Tom Harkin and his wife Ruth, both popular figures who endorsed Clinton last summer. Harkin embraced what he said was a “narrow” victory for Clinton, even as the results were still being counted. “Hey, folks, a win is a win!” he exclaimed. Clinton herself stopped short of declaring victory as she took the stage, flanked by husband Bill and daughter Chelsea, before a crowd of roughly 700 supporters. “Wow, what a night, an unbelievable night,” she said. “Now, as I stand here tonight breathing a sigh of relief – thank you.” At times the cheers so deafening they drowned out Clinton’s words. It was an outright celebration, however narrow the result, of a candidate who eight years ago suffered a bruising defeat in the same state at the hands of Barack Obama. This time, she will head to New Hampshire having hit her stride – campaigning laboriously for every vote. Last time she slipped to third in Iowa behind Obama and John Edwards. As midnight approached, with 50 of the 1,683 precincts still to declare, Clinton led 49.9% to 49.6%. However, rumours began to circulate that some of the results were in dispute and that the Democratic party had failed to staff 90 caucuses, raising the prospect of an ugly clash between the Clinton and Sanders camps. In the Republican contest, it was a predictably chastening night for Jeb Bush, the candidate with all of the money and the presidential lineage who has been diminished by the taunts of Donald Trump saying he is “low energy”. Bush barely registered, in sixth place on 2.8% behind retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson in fourth and libertarian Rand Paul in fifth. But the Republican night belonged to Cruz, who called it “a victory for courageous conservatives across Iowa and all across this great nation”, vowing that the Republican nominee for 2016 “will not be chosen by the Washington establishment”. If the taming of Trump was a surprise – Cruz picked up the most votes ever in a Republican Iowa caucus – there is also a warning from history. In the last seven contested national caucuses, they have chosen the eventual nominee only three times. Donald Trump gave a rare display of humility during a brief speech at a hotel in West Des Moines. “We finished second and I want to tell you seriously I am honoured,” he said, making a point to “congratulate Ted”. After months of crowing about how he was destined to win, he immediately moved to reframe expectations, saying that he had been warned “do not to go to Iowa. You could never finish even in the top 10”. “We’re just so happy about the way everything turned out,” he added. However, the mood at Donald Trump’s party in western Des Moines went from subdued when it emerged he had been pushed into second place by Cruz, to outright downbeat when it became apparent he had been almost tied by third-place Rubio. A defiant Rubio echoed the words of Barack Obama in 2008 when he took the stage at his caucus night party in Des Moines. “So this is the moment they said would never happen. For months, they told us we had no chance,” Rubio told a raucous crowd inside a ballroom at the downtown Marriott. “They told me I needed to wait my turn. They told me we had no chance because my hair wasn’t gray enough and my boots were too high,” he said, referring to a minor media storm about his Cuban heel boots. “But tonight, here in Iowa, the people of this great state have sent a very clear message after seven years of Barack Obama we are not waiting any longer,” he added. If Rubio can lead the establishment crowd in New Hampshire, Chris Christie, John Kasich and Jeb Bush will be all but done and he may come through the middle as a youthful alternative. Cruz is deeply unpopular in his own party and Trump is diminished if not yet vanquished. “Ground game, ground game, ground game” was the reason that Cruz’s Iowa’s co- chair Matt Schultz gave for his candidate’s triumph. Cruz staffers had long been supremely confident that they had the resources on the ground to triumph and felt confident that they had done everything right. Unlike Trump, their candidate had visited all 99 counties and built up what was universally acknowledged to be the best field organisation of any candidate. The mood at the Cruz party was jubilant. A cover band played rock and country music as attendees slowly started to grasp their achievement in winning the caucuses. The crowd’s enthusiasm barely flagged as Cruz spoke for about 25 minutes to the assembled audience at the Elwell building on the grounds of the Iowa state fair. In an interview on caucus day, Cruz’s state director, Bryan English, told the Guardian that their organisation “was a model”. “It’s an organic process … go straight to people, meeting them where they are, in twos, threes, and fives, then dozens, hundreds and thousands … It’s not through paid media, not through direct mail, but through person to person relationship building.” The two casualties of the night were Martin O’Malley, who dropped out of the Democratic race, and Mike Huckabee, who suspended his Republican campaign.

The Times-Picayune / February 1, 2016 Short-haul truckers that serve the Port of New Orleans will soon be able to apply for funds to upgrade or replace their trucks, thanks to a $727,000 "Clean Diesel" grant from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The grant was given to the port as part of its Clean Truck Replacement Incentive Program, or Clean TRIP. Drayage and short-haul truck owners who operate within the Port's three-parish jurisdiction are now eligible to replace truck models between 1993 and 2006 with model year 2011 or new through the program. "This program will enable truck owners to voluntarily invest in cleaner air by replacing older trucks," port president and CEO Gary LaGrange said in a statement. "It will also enable us to initiate a community dialogue around air quality and opportunities for improvement." In a separate statement, Sen. David Vitter said he appealed to the leader of the EPA's Diesel Emission Reduction Act in June, urging the agency to grant funds necessary to "update and modernize their aging trucking fleet." The port's environmental department will oversee the program, ensuring the application process for replacements and upgrades is fair and transparent, a spokesman for the port said in a news release. The total project cost is $1.537 million, with $700,000 coming from mandatory cost share with eligible truck owners and $110,636 coming from the Port for administrative costs. Press Release - http://portno.com/clean_TRIP_Grant2016

Transport Engineer / February 2, 2016 Exeter-based heavy haulage firm Aardvark Hire has taken delivery of the UK’s first Renault Trucks Range C520.26 6x4 tractor running at 80 tonnes under Special Types Category 2. Supplied by Renault Trucks Exeter, the Range C has a reinforced chassis and fifth wheel as well as a Voith retarder, uprated braking system and light bars and lamps supplied through Kelsa. This is the third Renault vehicle on Aardvark’s fleet of four – the others are a Renault Lander 6x4 and two Range T tractors. The Range C is moving heavy plant machinery including large excavators and dump trucks across the South West and throughout the UK. “Business is booming and we needed an additional vehicle to cope with the extra demand,” says Andy Lowe, Aardvark’s director. “The customer service we received from Renault Trucks Exeter with previous vehicles has been superb so we had no hesitation in contacting them again for our latest requirements.” The Range C, he adds, is living up to its promise: “We needed a seriously tough vehicle and the Range C hasn’t let us down. We are often delivering to open fields which are muddy and wet. Where other manufacturer’s vehicles would get stuck, the new Range C doesn’t and we can literally send it anywhere. “The traction is incredible and the double drive pulls the vehicle effortlessly out of difficult terrain. We’re also seeing some pretty impressive fuel consumption figures, too, returning 8 mpg on general work and 5 mpg fully loaded. “All in all it’s a fantastic bit of kit and the driver is over the moon, too.” .

Transport Engineer / February 1, 2016 A fully refurbished bonneted Scania T Series 6x4 tipper, which has just rejoined KW Purvis’s fleet, is recording more ‘likes’ than ever on Thompsons’ new Facebook webpage. Far more than six new Scania/Thompsons 8x4 tippers specified with Thompsons curved floor steel Multimaster bodies, which were recently delivered to the Alnwick, Northumberland-based company. KW Purvis has been running Thompson-bodied Scania tippers for years, and selected a top-spec, all-steel Loadmaster for its refurbished Scania T-cab. “Our T-Cab tipper is special, not only because it’s a very rare truck in the UK, but also because we’ve had it from new,” explains company owner David Purvis. “It’s already earned its keep through a 16-year working life, but I really want to keep it going for many more years to come,” he continues. “As well as being a really rugged and reliable vehicle, it’s also a key part of our company heritage. And being a highly individual truck, it also creates lots of recognition.” All chassis and cab work was undertaken by truck restoration specialist Ian Bone & Sons, of Carlisle. Adding the Loadmaster tipper body means the T-Cab’s future life is now almost indefinite, according to Purvis. “This has been a unique project for us,” comments Thompsons sales manager Ian Chaplin, who oversaw bodybuilding at the firm’s Blackburn factory. “We always appreciate the opportunity to do something a bit special, and this truck certainly is,” he continues. “The body is [different to] standard Loadmasters too, not only because it’s much shorter, but by also because it has a dual-purpose automated tailgate, which can operate either as a conventional top-hinged design or as barn doors for demolition work.” As for KW Purvis’s latest Scania tippers, these were all specified with the trucks’ larger G-cab and the 450bhp engine. They have been fitted with auto tailgates, electric sheeting, underfloor tipping gear and alloy wheels. They tare off at 13,100kgs. .

Scania Group Press Release / February 1, 2016 Scania is celebrating 125 years of innovation in 2016. From its founding as a privately owned wagon-building company back in 1891 to today’s connected vehicles, Scania has stood steady through hostile take-over attempts and financial crises. And today, that successful journey continues. Here’s a brief rundown of Scania’s history, from its beginnings in 1891 through to today,: 1891: The privately owned wagon-building company Vabis is established in Södertälje and sets about producing open goods wagons and transport wagons. Some 20 years later, Scania-Vabis is created through the amalgamation of Vabis with the Malmö-based, privately owned machine-manufacturing company Scania. 1923: Scania-Vabis designer August Nilsson develops a four-cylinder, overhead-valve engine. The engine’s power and reliability are of major benefit in trucks and buses. 1936: Scania-Vabis develops its first diesel engine, something that impresses the trade press during test drives. “To my surprise, I could hardly hear the engine,” wrote one journalist. “However, I certainly felt its effect as the bus shot forward like an arrow.” 1961: Scania-Vabis builds on its success in Brazil, opening its first ever production facility outside Sweden in São Bernardo do Campo, near São Paulo. 1969: A legend is born! Scania introduces a 350 hp, 14-litre V8 turbocharged engine. It is the most powerful truck motor in Europe at the time and pioneers Scania’s low-rev philosophy with a high-torque output at low engine speeds. 1980: Scania launches the 2-series, the first modular commercial vehicle range 1988: The new 3-series is launched and the following year takes the International Truck of the Year award. Scania is now able to tailor trucks according to customer specifications. 1995: The 4-series is launched and the following year also receives the International Truck of the Year award. 2000: Scania’s millionth vehicle rolls off the assembly line. 2003: Scania’s Young European Truck Driver competition makes its debut. Numerous winners have since been crowned. 2009: Scania launches the Scania Touring, a new coach built in partnership with Chinese bus bodybuilder Higer. Scania and Higer has joined forces to produce buses in China for the world market – a pioneering step forward in bus manufacturing. 2010: Boasting 730 hp, Scania’s new V8 engine is the most powerful in the world without having to compromise on fuel efficiency. 2011: Two years before it becomes legally compulsory, Scania introduces Europe’s first Euro 6 truck. 2013: New Streamline models for long distance transport are launched. 2015: Scania delivers its 150,000th truck with activated connectivity. Scania is contributing to global sustainable transport, making it much larger than just its products. During 2016, the company’s most important asset – its employees – will also be in focus. There’s a definite pride associated with working at Scania. Together, we have shaped our past and, together, we are building the future. Press Release - http://mb.cision.com/Main/209/9905448/471087.pdf .

MAN Truck & Bus Press Release / February 1, 2016

The Navy Times / February 2, 2016 NEWPORT NEWS, VA. — Another milestone is being marked for the Navy’s newest ship. Huntington Ingalls Industries said workers at Newport News Shipbuilding have installed the engines which will power the eighth ship to bear the name “Enterprise”. Officials said work continues on piping and electrical systems, and habitability areas such as the galley and mess spaces. Construction of the Enterprise began in November 2009. The ship’s christening is scheduled for Nov. 9. “The Enterprise provides the high-volume firepower, survivability, sustainability and mobility needed by the U.S. Navy for the 21st Century and beyond,” says Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus. “The Enterprise is the lead ship in a new class capable of meeting the mission roles of the present and future,” says Secretary Mabus. Designed to move the weapons and propulsion technology needles significantly forward, the Enterprise incorporates twelve strategically-located Lockheed-Martin 50,000 terawatt laser guns, the result of decades of Pentagon research. The ship’s advanced hybrid propulsion system is classified. .

Fleet Owner / February 1, 2016 Also adds new first-owner extended engine protection plan A new diesel particulate filter (DPF) cleaning interval of 500,000 miles for the 2016 Cummins ISX15 engine along with Encore Xtra, a new in-service extended protection plan available for 2010 and 2013 model ISX12 and ISX15 engines, are designed to boost residual value and reduce the total cost of ownership for truck owners. Cummins said its 2016 ISX15 engine is now capable of an extended DPF ash cleaning interval reaching up to 500,000 miles for conventional linehaul applications with fuel economy greater than 5.5 MPG; a longer interval that results from engine “design enhancements” that reduced oil consumption and ash accumulation. Then there is Encore Xtra, a new in-service extended protection plan available for 2010 and 2013 ISX12 and ISX15 engines. While traditional Encore plans have only been available to used-truck buyers, Encore Xtra is also available to the first owner in recognition of some customers' longer trade cycles, the company noted. Cummins said the new Encore Xtra plan must be registered by 6 years/650,000 miles and after any current extended coverage has expired. That should help provide lower TCO for the first ownership cycle, while increasing residual value for trucks at time of resale, the OEM pointed out.

Volvo Truck touts record Class 8 sales for 2015 Fleet Owner / February 1, 2016 Market share now 12.4% in North America, OEM says. Volvo Trucks said it achieved record Class 8 sales in North America of 30,930 units in 2015, with its retail market share reaching 12.4% as a result, an increase of 0.4 percentage points from 2014. Volvo added that it reached a record 12.2% NAFTA market share (36,940 vehicles) compared with 11.9% (32,281) in 2014. Volvo market share in Mexico topped 4.9% and 16.3% (4,884 vehicles) in Canada last year, according to data compiled by the Canadian Vehicle Manufacturers’ Association, IHS Automotive and WardsAuto. The OEM that its proprietary Volvo engines were spec’d in a record 93% of the trucks sold in North America last year, with its I-Shift automated manual transmission (AMT) spec’d in 83%. Volvo added that over 27% of all the commercial trucks it sold in 2015 featured an XE package aimed at generating increased fuel economy. Offered for Volvo’s 11-liter D11, 13-liter D13 and 16-liter D16 engines, the XE package improves fuel efficiency by lowering engine rpm at a given vehicle speed, a concept called “downspeeding.” Made possible through the combination of I-Shift and a Volvo engine with modified software, XE allows the engine to cruise about 200 rpm less than the average truck, the company noted. “We are very proud of our people, whose dedication allowed us to make these great achievements,” noted Gӧran Nyberg, president of Volvo Trucks North America. “It’s clear from our strong performance that the market continues to see the fuel efficiency benefits offered by our powertrain and aerodynamic truck design,” he said. “While we are very pleased with our 2015 results, we will continue to seek opportunities to make advancements in products, service and support that positively impact the bottom line of our customers.”

Trailer/Body Builders / February 1, 2016 Volvo’s U.S. retail market share was a record 12.4 percent in 2015, 0.4 percentage points higher than in 2014, with a retail volume of 30,930 vehicles compared with 26,555 in 2014. Volvo also posted a record in Canada, where market share climbed 1.0 percentage point to 16.3 percent (4,884 vehicles) compared with 2014 (4,510). Volvo also achieved a record 12.2 percent NAFTA market share (36,940 vehicles), compared with 11.9 percent (32,281) in 2014. Volvo market share in Mexico was 4.9 percent. Volvo attributed its record-breaking 2015 to positive customer response to its fuel-efficient vehicles and powertrain and its best-in-class Uptime support. The strong performance also resulted in the production of more trucks than ever before at its New River Valley Assembly plant, based in Dublin, Virginia, where all Volvo models for North America are assembled. “We are very proud of our people, whose dedication allowed us to make these great achievements,” said Gӧran Nyberg, president of Volvo Trucks North America. “It’s clear from our strong performance that the market continues to see the fuel efficiency benefits offered by our powertrain and aerodynamic truck design, combined with our commitment to maximizing Uptime for customers. While we are very pleased with our 2015 results, we will continue to seek opportunities to make advancements in products, service and support that positively impact the bottom line of our customers.” Volvo engines were spec’d in a record 93 percent of the trucks sold in 2015, and Volvo I-Shift penetration was a record 83 percent. More than 27 percent of all trucks sold in 2015 featured an XE package. The XE package, offered for Volvo’s 11-liter D11, 13-liter D13 and 16-liter D16 engines, improves fuel efficiency by lowering engine rpm at a given vehicle speed, a concept Volvo calls “downspeeding.” Made possible through the combination of I-Shift and a Volvo engine with modified software, XE allows the engine to cruise about 200 rpm less than the average truck sold today. Volvo’s focus on Uptime also was a key driver of the strong performance. Volvo’s North Uptime Center, based near its North American headquarters in Greensboro, N.C., brings together key support employees and technology under one roof to help ensure that customers’ trucks keep moving. The Uptime Center serves as the home for Volvo Action Service (VAS) staff, Volvo’s 24/7 support experts, who receive alerts via Remote Diagnostics when monitored fault codes appear. Remote Diagnostics is Volvo’s telematics-based proactive diagnostic and repair planning system that monitors critical fault codes. When an issue is detected, the system identifies what parts will be needed and provides technicians with straightforward repair instructions – even before the truck arrives for service. Remote Diagnostics can reduce the diagnostic time by up to 70 percent and lower repair time by more than 20 percent. Nearly 100,000 Volvo trucks are equipped with the system, which has been standard on all Volvo-powered models since 2013. Volvo Press Release - http://www.volvogroup.com/group/global/en-gb/volvo%20group/worldwide/volvo-group-north-america/_layouts/CWP.Internet.VolvoCom/NewsItem.aspx?News.ItemId=151465&News.Language=en-gb

International debuts HX Series vocational trucks Truck News / February 1, 2016 International PayStar replaced with more modern, higher-end HX Series With a Vegas-worthy production, International Trucks today showed for the first time its new HX Series vocational trucks. The reveal came in advance of World of Concrete and starred a truck that Bill Kozek, president, truck and parts with Navistar, said will return International to the front of the pack in the vocational truck segment. “The HX will be a catalyst for International to regain leadership in the premium vocational market segment where we historically had lead,” Kozek said. “When I came here, one of the first discussions was about how we needed a vehicle like the HX to compete and to win in the construction, heavy-haul and mixer segments again. Today, we see the results of several years of hard work come to life.” The HX represents International’s first new model since 2010 when it introduced the TerraStar Class 4/5 truck. Four HX Series models will be available: the HX515, a 115-inch BBC set-forward axle straight truck; a HX615, a 115-inch BBC set-back axle truck or tractor; the HX620, a 120-inch BBC set-forward axle truck or tractor; and a fourth model, the HX520, which will debut at Truck World in Toronto in April. The HX520 will be a 120-inch BBC set-forward truck or tractor intended for heavy applications and the likely best-seller among HX models in Canada, which is why International chose to launch it there. The 515 and 615 will be powered by Navistar’s N13 engine while the HX520 and HX620 will get Cummins ISX15 power. The front end of the new truck is curvier than the PayStar it replaces, and it also boasts a more stylish interior. And it was introduced to customers and dealers in style, too. A newscast cut into the presentation on large TV monitors to break the story of an International truck that had been commandeered by a fleeing Elvis impersonator who had robbed a local casino. A police chase ensued, and ended in a yard within sight of the Strip, where customers and dealers were gathered. After some stunt driving at the launch site, Elvis was arrested by a heroic cop, who turned out to be none other than Denny Mooney, Navistar’s senior vice-president, global product development. Only in Vegas. “Of course we couldn’t pass up introducing our new truck in an over the top way,” Mooney said. “It’s Vegas – they wrote the book on being over the top.” Three HX trucks were presented for ride-and-drive opportunities. A lap around the short makeshift off-road course revealed a truck that rides well, turns tight and features a high-end, comfortable interior. “At its core, the HX represents the ultimate in endurance; a truck designed to tackle the most punishing loads and to run long and run hard and to keep the operator comfortable when he’s doing his job,” Mooney explained. International said the truck was designed around four principle attributes: strength and durability; driver productivity; style; and uptime. The HX Series can trace its roots to a former joint venture between Navistar and Caterpillar. Signs of that former partnership are most prominent in the interior. Soft-to-the-touch surface areas, snappy, solid rocker switches and a center console that angles toward the driver and provides easy access to controls are among the similarities. Outside, the truck features stylish halogen headlights with a distinctive LED brow. The hood slopes and tapers in to provide greater forward visibility than the PayStar. A raised sightline down the centre of the hood helps drivers orient themselves. Mooney said the HX offers the best forward visibility in the segment as well as a larger rear window for rearward visibility. The wheels cut 40 degrees for a tight turning radius. The truck was also built to be lighter. A three-piece Metton hood is lighter than fiberglass, the cab is aluminum and the 12.5-inch frame rails offer all the strength of double 10-inch frames, but at less overall weight, International claims. The truck also boasts the industry’s strongest tow pin, rated at 150,000 lbs for extreme recoveries. The truck I drove had classic-styled external air cleaners, an option on the longer BBC models. Mooney said designers were challenged to beat the truck up during the product validation process. “As part of the product development process and validation testing, the HX series was tested extensively in our labs in Melrose Park, Ill. and our new proving grounds in Indiana,” Mooney said. “We ran accelerated life testing on the shaker – this simulates 10 years of wear and tear of a severe-service truck in extremely difficult duty cycles. We also put it through the most rigorous portions of our proving grounds. The bottom line is, I told our test engineering team to take this truck and punish it. I wanted them to try to break it – after all, we know how our customers use these trucks. When things broke, we redesigned them so they didn’t break and when things came loose, we found ways to make them stronger.” Nice touches such as LED lighting inside the cab, a tilting, telescoping steering column, air-conditioning, power locks and power windows are all standard. The smooth ride is attributed in part to a new DriverFirst cab air suspension with 52-inch springs. Jeff Sass, senior vice-president with Navistar, said International bucked the trend towards vertical integration, opting instead for an approach he dubbed as “open integration.” “This is where we work seamlessly with leading component manufacturers and integrate leading technologies into our trucks,” he said. The launch of the HX seems to have given International Trucks back some of its swagger. “It has been a few years since we were able to say we had the product able to compete and win in the severe-service market,” Sass said. “With the HX Series, we are now able to complete our offerings in the construction and concrete markets. This will now give International Truck the most comprehensive severe-service lineup in the industry.” Sass said 132 HX trucks have already been ordered, even though the truck has just now been shown to the public. Kozek said the launch represents a great step forward in International’s resurgence. “As I reflect on where we are today, I’m incredibly proud of where we are as a company,” he said. “Today we’re building the best trucks we’ve ever built; our quality metrics show it and more importantly, our customers recognize it and believe it.” .

American Honda Motor Co. Press Release / February 1, 2016 Photo gallery - http://www.caranddriver.com/photo-gallery/honda-ridgeline-super-bowl-50-ad-lifes-a-treat-video#1

The 12.4-liter N13 is the MAN D26 (D2676) built under license in Huntsville, Alabama. Since revising it from a "massive EGR" design to SCR, they renamed it N13. Navistar apparently discontinued production of the 10.5-liter MAN D20 (D2066). With the N10 up to 350hp, and the N13 now starting from 365hp (up to 475hp), Navistar reduced their annual licensee costs to MAN. The MAN engines are extremely good, proven the world over. Navistar engine portfolio - http://www.internationaltrucks.com/trucks/engines/ N9 & N10 Spec card - http://psndealer.com/dealersite/images/tricotruck/n9_n10_speccard.pdf N13 Spec card - http://www.internationaltrucks.com/vgn-ext-templating/itrucks/assets/pdf/N13_SpecCard.pdf

Unlike the Tonka-inspired styling of the Kenworth T880 and T470, and Peterbilt 567 and 348, with the cheap new shared cab (purposed to restore Paccar's margins), the HX615 and HX620 are actually good looking construction trucks. And, the HX515 is considerably more attractive than its cousin, the CAT CT681. I'm forced to mention, the Peterbilt 367 is the last traditionally designed vocational truck on the market, and it's a looker.