TeamsterGrrrl

With the Super Duty getting a new cab, sounds like the new F650 & F750 may have a short model run before they get the new cab.

Looks like an environment group has pressured EPA to recall a half million VW diesels: http://gearheadgrrrl.com/2015/09/21/tuning-to-the-test-epa-wants-to-make-an-example-of-vw/

If you haven't already done so, disconnect the batteries! Don't want to have another short burn up the rest of the truck while you're finding the first short.

IIRC, the plant is actually in the suburbs of Detroit.

Was just fondly remembering the lusty moan of a V8 Superliner pulling a 17 axle doubles "train" at DeSmet, South Dakota... Gross weight around 170,000 pounds. Haven't seen that Superliner since, but a 700+ HP Scania V8 would make a fine replacement! If Scania comes back to America the product introduction should be in South Dakota, where a Scania would put the mere 600 HP Paccar products to shame!

What's with all the hating on Volvo trucks? Just because the company is trying to borg Mack doesn't mean their trucks are bad. Say what you will about the company, but I'd rather drive a Volvo than a Freightliner or Navistar!

A lot of us revere native americans for their wisdom and courage. They recognized that gay folks had a unique wisdom that transcended male and female and used these "Two Spirit" people as a resource rather than banishing them. In american history their are countless cases where gay folks took in orphans and the disabled and cared for them. In researching my ancestry I found an A.L. Sherwood in the area of Whitehall, Wisconsin in the late 1800s through early 1900s. AL was a leader in the community and while never having children, cared for and found homes for many orphans as well as caring for a couple developmentally disabled adults. In the historical accounts, I never found any reference to AL's full first or middle name, and began to suspect AL was a woman. Their is refernce to AL living with a woman, but no record of any children from that relationship. Then a couple years back I found the death record of Alice Louise Sherwood from the 1930s in Madison, Wisconsin with a birth daatein the same range as AL's... From that I suspect that AL was a gay or transgender woman who was not only accepted but trusted as a community leader in rural america over a century ago. With that history, is it no surprise that most adoption agencies did not oppose adoption by gay folks now that it has become common?

http://gearheadgrrrl.com/2015/08/20/proprietary-powertrains-pros-and-cons/ Ford's diesel may actually be more durable than the Cummins B series.

Then why do we allow heterosexual couples who are incapable of creating children to marry?

Old Macks are worth preserving, bigoted "values" are not.

Can't have a trucking industry without gay folks... Now get over it, homophobes!

Agreed- The Freightliner Centruy/Colombia has only been out for 15 years and I'm amazed so many are being scrapped already.

He has every right to his beliefs, this is america.

Judge just sent her to jail for contempt... Break the law, go to jail!

We the people elected a congress and president that chose our supreme court justices... The people have spoken.

That's the down side of gliders- You're starting out with decade old engines and after another decade their may be no parts and service available for them.

As a Postal Service employee I had to perform a few job duties I disagreed with, but I did my job. Same in my current position as a city council member. In government the federal supreme court is the ultimate authority, and you obey their orders or look for another job.

Agreed on the gliders being overpriced- it seems that they price them just a hair less than a new truck. Back in the old days when a glider was maybe half the cost of new, they were worth it. But new truck price for a decade old powertrain?. No way!

Given the low wages ($12-14 an hour) in the non-union plants, workers damn well still need unions!

Macks are union made.

Looks like around 250,000, not including those installed in Western, MH, CH, etc. where the model number (685, 686, 690, 795, etc.) doesn't disclose the engine type.

Ford makes cars in 4 sizes (platforms), no reason Ford can't do the same with trucks: Ranger, F150, Super Duty !

If it wasn't for the unions working together with Ford, the F650 and F750 would still be built in Mexico. The old era of confrontational labor relations is largely over- Both Ford and the UAW recognize each other's right to exist and work together for their common benefit. As a Ford stockholder, I'm quite happy with that profitable relationship!

Reminds me of an exhibition race at Brainard International Raceway road course back in the 70s or 80s. They had a bunch of international race stars there for a big race, and the owner of Advance-United, a Mack fleet, was a big fan of sports car racing. So they had a couple lap exhibition race in standard Advance-United R models with Maxidynes and Maxitorque 5 speeds! The Maxidynes were easy for the these trucking newbies to adapt to, and the race was completed without as much as a scratch in the Macks!

Good to see that I probably won't have to buy a GM product when my '99 wears out in a decade or three! But Ford made one of their few recent tactical mistakes in killing the Ranger in North America... The Saint Paul plant that built the Ranger is now a pile of rubble atop unsold real estate. Ford could have kept that plant open, tooled it up to build the current Ranger, and GM would never have gained a foothold in the small pickup market!