User-agent: Mediapartners-Google* Disallow: Trucks World News: May 2006
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May 31, 2006

Jobs - USA - So, you want a career on the open road

Munster,IN,USA -nwitimes.com/Scripps Howard News Service, by M.B. OWENS -May 30, 2006: -- Transportation is one of the major employment sectors in the nation, and trucking is one of the largest segments of transportation, with an economic impact in the hundreds of billions of dollars... Well over 3 million individuals are employed as truck drivers... There is good news for anyone interested in becoming a driver -- there is a huge and growing demand for the profession with a shortage in many areas of the country. Many employers are begging to find employees qualified to drive their vehicles... There are two principal types of drivers: First, there are long-distance drivers, who usually drive tractor-trailer trucks. Second, there are short-haul drivers, who often are involved with the pickup or delivery of goods or materials in a defined area. Short hauling typically requires smaller vehicles under 26,000 pounds...

posted by Unknown @ 5:14 PM  0 comments

Modern trucks - USA - A feat of engineering on wheels

Munster,IN,USA -nwitimes.com/The Globe Gazette, by DICK JOHNSON -May 30, 2006: -- It's a solid truck, this 2006 Volvo single-axle semi. It's got that new semi smell, with easy-to-reach gauges. And it is roomy and comfortable up front and in back... This particular Volvo is a 14-wheeler with just 8,000 miles. Creature comfort-wise, its "sleeper'' area contains the comfortable mattress, plus handy radio and climate controls. Sleeping passengers stay safe with a rack of seat belts attached to the back wall... Beneath the sleeper is a ton of storage space...

posted by Unknown @ 5:08 PM  0 comments

To Supply - USA - Prudhoe Bay Oilfields Relies on Durable Kenworth Trucks

FAIRBANKS, Alaska,USA -Layover -May 30, 2006: -- Delivering supplies and equipment to the Prudhoe Bay oilfields on Alaska's North Slope demands durable trucks and drivers to handle the rigors of the 414-mile Dalton Highway or "Haul Road", among the world's most treacherous stretches of highway... The demanding, mainly gravel road begins from Livengood, Alaska, follows the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and climbs more than 120 mountain grades and hills with 25 grades approaching or exceeding 18 percent. Temperatures along the route can fall to 50 or 60 degrees below zero. And forget about finding lots of facilities along the way. After the lone truck stop - in Coldfoot, Alaska - the next 250 miles is said to be North America's longest service-free section of highway... Carlile Transportation Systems and its drivers rely on Kenworth trucks to get their critical work done...

posted by Unknown @ 5:03 PM  0 comments

Environmental Improvements - USA - Trucking Marks Another Step in

Concerns Over Cost and Fuel Supply Remain

ALEXANDRIA,Va.,USA -U.S. Newswire -May 30, 2006: -- The U.S. trucking industry is marking yet another step in a long line of environmental improvements as it begins the transition to ultra low sulfur diesel (ULSD) fuel June 1... The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) mandated that by June 1, 80 percent of the on-road diesel fuel refined or imported must be ultra low sulfur diesel... Retail outlets have until Oct. 15 to comply with the ULSD rules... The new fuel standard reduces the amount of sulfur in on-road diesel by 97 percent and will support smokeless diesel engine technologies hitting the market in 2007... "The trucking industry recognizes the critical role that ultra low sulfur diesel fuel plays in ensuring future diesel emission reductions," American Trucking Associations (ATA) President and CEO Bill Graves said. "The industry remains concerned, however, that the transition could create fuel supply disruptions and operational challenges"...

posted by Unknown @ 4:55 PM  0 comments

Trucking top freight mover - Canada - Report Transport Canada says

No Surprise Here

OTTAWA,Ont,Canada -Today's Trucking -30 May 2006: -- A recent Transport Canada annual report reinforces that Canada’s trucking sector is dominated cross-border trade with the US... In 2005, states the report, trucks moved $188.8 billion in exports ($2.1 billion more than in 2004), and $164.5 billion in U.S. imports (as compared to $162.6 billion the year before)... However, the report acknowledged that in trucking at least, effects of rising fuel prices in 2005 were to a certain extent mitigated by the fact that many carriers, including owner-operators, had fuel cost escalation provisions built into their shipping contracts...

posted by Unknown @ 4:44 PM  0 comments

Sales - USA - Heavy-duty orders start to yield

North American class 8 orders in April but have begun to slow for the first time this year...

NEW YORK,NY,USA -Today's Trucking News -29 May 2006: -- New heavy-duty class 8 net new orders hit 30,120 last month -- down 42.3 percent from March, reports the transportation division of market forecasters Bear Stearns... "It appears that very few orders are slotted for early 2007, when a limited number of 2007 trucks with 2006 engines will be available. However we think OEMs will hoard these to get the best pricing," states the firm's April 2006 report... Technically, the EPA’s rule is that non-compliant engines cannot be made after January 1, 2007. However, says Bear Stearns, if a truck OEM has the engine in inventory on that date, the rules allow the non-compliant truck to be assembled...

posted by Unknown @ 4:43 PM  0 comments

May 29, 2006

Survival Guide - USA - Be cautious of trucks when driving

BLOOMINGTON,IL, USA -Bloomington Pantagraph, by Bob Holliday -May 28, 2006: -- Common sense tells you not to get in the way of 80,000 pounds traveling 65 mph... Unfortunately, car drivers don't always drive defensively around semitrailer trucks. The results can be tragic... George Billows, executive director of the Illinois Trucking Association, believes he can help... Billows has three main suggestions on sharing the road with semis: 1- When passing a semi, pass on the left. It's the law, and the blind spot on the semi's right side is much larger. 2- When passing, get at least three or four car lengths in front of the semi before moving into the semi's lane... 3- Give semis plenty of room to the rear as well...

posted by Unknown @ 5:41 PM  0 comments

Digging black gold - Canada - Machines unlock oil supply larger than Mideast's

Fort McMurray, Alberta,Canada - By RICK BARRETT -May 27, 2006: -- Like a monster rising from the tar pits, a Bucyrus mining shovel takes huge bites of gooey sand and drops them with a thud into the biggest truck you've ever seen... In the vast oil sands region of Alberta, mining shovels from the Milwaukee area are providing muscle to dig bitumen, a tar-like form of crude oil thats refined into gasoline, diesel fuel and other petroleum products... Four scoops of the sticky dirt, roughly 400 tons, fill the truck that stands three stories tall. The dirt contains a tarlike grade of petroleum called bitumen, which can be processed into synthetic crude oil... Most of the synthetic crude from this desolate region in northwest Canada is used to make gasoline, jet fuel or home heating fuel. It flows through a network of pipelines to oil refineries across North America, including Wisconsin's only refinery, in Superior...

posted by Unknown @ 5:40 PM  0 comments

Purchases - Australia - Army goes trucking, with $3b to spend

About 7000 trucks, light vehicles and trailers are on the shopping list as tenders close in the next few weeks

Sydney,Australia -Australian, by Gregor Ferguson -May 27, 2006: -- The Defence Materiel Organisation's Land Systems Division is expecting a blizzard of paperwork next month when nearly 20 different companies submit tenders to provide over $3 billion worth of trucks, light vehicles and trailers... The ADF is looking for three categories of vehicle: a family of medium and heavy trucks to replace its current fleet of Unimogs and heavy haulers; a family of light and lightweight vehicles to replace its 4x4 and 6x6 Land Rover Perenties; and trailers in a range of sizes...

posted by Unknown @ 5:28 PM  0 comments

College - USA - Kilgore's goes trucking

Kilgore College heard the call from local industries that need truck drivers

Kilgore,TX, USA -Kilgore News Herald, by LESTER MURRAY 28 May 2006: -- KC has entered into a contract with Excel Drivers Services of Wheatridge, Colorado so students can obtain their commercial driver's license (CDL) in a short time... The course requires 160 hours of classroom and driving time. Three schedules are offered: the traditional, which is Monday through Friday, 7:45 a.m. to 5 p.m.; the evening course, which is Monday through Thursday and the weekend course which lasts ten weekends... Persons interested in enrolling in the course should contact the Kilgore College Workforce Education department... (Photo: Excel Drivers Services is about to graduate their first class at KC. (left to right) Michael White and Phil Pittman)

posted by Unknown @ 5:19 PM  0 comments

Equity Stake - Germany - German firm eyes Navistar

Expression of interest by MAN AG chief boosts shares by 16.7%

Frankfurt,Germany -The Chicago Tribune (USA), by James P. Miller -May 27, 2006: -- Shares of truck and engine producer Navistar International Corp. surged Friday, after German truckmaker MAN AG's top official tentatively expressed interest in buying an equity stake in the Chicago-area company... Navistar and MAN are collaborators through a joint venture they formed more than a year ago, which is ramping up to begin production of a new-generation diesel engine for heavy trucks...

posted by Unknown @ 5:14 PM  0 comments

Beaters beware - Canada - Cops aim to increase road safety

Winnipeg, Canada -Winnipeg Sun, by ADAM CLAYTON -May 27, 2006: -- Winnipeg police will begin randomly pulling over vehicles all across the city on Monday as part of an annual spring vehicle inspection program... Const. Fred Bottrell, head of the department's vehicle inspection unit, said police will be checking to see whether vehicles comply with all applicable laws and regulations. The project targets commercial trucks with a gross vehicle weight of more than 4,500 kg...

posted by Unknown @ 5:06 PM  0 comments

In line with industry expectations - USA - Tonnage bounces back

USA -Fleet Owner -May 26, 2006: -- Seasonally adjusted for-hire truck tonnage rebounded 2.0% in April, following a revised 2.9% drop in March. ATA chief economist Bob Costello said the April number was in line with industry expectations as many motor carriers anecdotally stated that the month was the most robust since January...

posted by Unknown @ 5:03 PM  0 comments

Perfect Balance - USA - Trucking growing pains

USA -Fleet Owner (subscription), by Sean Kilcarr -May 26, 2006: -- Trucking experts who contend there’s a “growing but slowing” trend affecting the industry point to what’s putting the brakes on growth—the driver shortage in the near term and highway congestion over the long term... As to drivers, Thomas Finkbiner, chairman of the Intermodal Transportation Institute at the University of Denver and president & CEO of Tampa, FL-based bulk transporter Quality Distribution, believes large and small for-hire carriers alike are finding the perfect balance between driver lifestyle issues and controlling operating costs, allowing them to stay prosperous...

posted by Unknown @ 4:54 PM  0 comments

Antique truck collectors - USA - Will roll into the city for a convention and show

Baltimore, Mar.,USA -Baltimore Sun, by Stephanie Shapiro -May 25, 2006: -- Each of the trucks that Roy Moxley Sr. has owned represents a defining chapter in his life... For instance, the three 1927 Mack dump trucks that Moxley bought after World War II hauled enough slate from a Delta, Pa., quarry to pay for the house he built in 1947... The Macks transformed Moxley and for the past 26 years, he has been transforming the Macks. A barn and a hangar on Moxley's ancestral family farm in Dublin houses his fleet of seven restored antiques. They honor his own personal history, as well as that of the trucking industry... (Photo: Baltimore Sun by Glenn Fawcett - Roy Moxley Sr. looks over one of his restored Mack trucks. He and his son, Roy Jr., plan to display their trucks at the antique truck show this week)

posted by Unknown @ 4:39 PM  0 comments

Paccar Inc. - USA - Trucking Along On A Smooth Road

Washington-based truck maker is enjoying record profits

USA -Industry Week, by Traci Purdum -May 25, 2006 -- How do you stop a big rig? If you are Paccar Inc., there is no stopping. The Bellevue, Wash.-based Paccar, has enjoyed record revenues and other worthy accolades lately... "Paccar achieved record revenues and net income for the first quarter of 2006," said Mark C. Pigott, chairman, CEO and great-grandson of founder William Pigott... In terms of sustainability, Paccar is looking toward an environmentally sound future...

posted by Unknown @ 4:34 PM  0 comments

ATA applauded - USA - House's passage of the American-Made Energy and Good Jobs Act

Statement of American Trucking Associations on U.S. House Approval of The American-Made Energy, Good Jobs Act

WASHINGTON,DC,USA -U.S. Newswire -May 25, 2006: -- The American Trucking Associations (ATA) today applauded U.S. House passage of the American-Made Energy and Good Jobs Act which encourages environmentally sensitive exploration and development of oil and natural gas reserves in Alaska's Artic National Wildlife Refuge... In a letter sent today to all House members urging a "yes" vote on H.R. 5429, ATA President and CEO Bill Graves said: "With fuel prices at historic highs, an adequate supply of affordable fuel to move the nation's goods is of paramount importance to us. Diesel fuel will cost our industry $98 billion dollars in 2006 -- $10.6 billion more than last year, and more than double the amount spent just four years ago"...

posted by Unknown @ 4:29 PM  0 comments

Opportunity - USA - Transportation Shares Jump

NEW YORK,NY,USA -The Associated Press -May 25, 2006: -- Shares of trucking company Knight Transportation Inc. jumped Thursday, after an analyst upgraded the stock, saying its price offered value to investors... The Phoenix-based company's stock jumped 83 cents, or 4.5 percent, to $19.27 in midday trading on the New York Stock Exchange, after reaching as high as $19.92 earlier in the session. Shares traded between $14.67 and $22.51 in the last 52 weeks...

posted by Unknown @ 4:28 PM  0 comments

To beat Parking Crackdown - Japan - Customers asked to receive deliveries near trucks

Tokyo,Japan -Mainichi Daily News -May 24, 2006: -- The trucking industry has asked customers to receive deliveries near trucks as law enforcers are poised to step up their crackdown on parking violators... The Japan Trucking Association has printed 1 million copies of a leaflet asking customers to come to trucks to receive deliveries because their drivers must stay near the vehicles to avoid being hit with a parking violation ticket. Moreover, the leaflet asks customers to secure a parking space for parcel delivery trucks... Under current regulations, police officers issue a traffic violation ticket in cases where a driver fails to return to their vehicle 30 minutes after finding it parked illegally... However, the revised Road Traffic Law that is to come into force on June 1 allows police officers to issue a traffic violation ticket immediately after finding an illegally parked vehicle... Nippon Express Co., a leading trucking company, is gathering information on less expensive, unmanned parking lots across the country and is considering having an assistant driver ride each of its delivery trucks... Sagawa Express Co., another major trucking firm, is planning to switch to smaller vehicles so that they can easily find parking spaces... However, as smaller member companies cannot cope with the situation, the industry as a whole has launched efforts to work out countermeasures...

posted by Unknown @ 4:08 PM  0 comments

Extortion - Nepal - Maoists continue collecting donations in Bardiya

Bardiya,Kathmandu,Nepal -Himalayan Times/THT Online -May 25, 2006: -- Despite the ceasefire, the Maoists have been collecting donations from trucks, buses, jeeps and lorries that pass through the pontoon bridge over the Karnali River, the Industry and Trade Association (ITA), Bardiya said... On behalf of the District Development Committee, contractor Dhan Bahadur Khadka collects fees from the vehicles that pass through the bridge. The Maoists also collect exactly the same amount of money from the vehicles as donations... The DDC charges Rs 100 for empty cargo trucks, Rs 400 for loaded trucks, Rs 100 for buses, Rs 70 for loaded tractors, Rs 30 for pull carts, Rs 40 for jeeps and cars and Rs 5 for each cattle for crossing the bridge once...

posted by Unknown @ 3:57 PM  0 comments

May 26, 2006

TechnoNews - USA - Basic Engine Design for New E85 Ethanol

Turbine Truck Engines will help lower Greenhouse Gas Emissions

DELAND, Fla.,USA -BUSINESS WIRE -May 24, 2006: -- Turbine Truck Engines Inc., announced that Alpha Engines Corporation completed the basic engine designs for TTE's 540 Horsepower Detonation Cycle Gas Turbine Engine (DCGT) for Heavy Duty Highway Trucks... Having this basic engine design completed reduces the engine development time significantly once capital is available... This prototype will operate on E85 Ethanol. The DCGT Engine will revolutionize the Highway Truck Market and will help lower Greenhouse Gas Emissions and reduce our dependence on Gasoline and Oil...

posted by Unknown @ 11:11 AM  0 comments

May 24, 2006

Traffic deaths - USA - Higher among minorities than general population

NHTSA study cites cultural differences, lack of training as reasons for disparity in vehicle crashes

Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -May 24, 2006: -- A new government study shows some minorities are far more likely to be killed in motor vehicle crashes than the general population -- highlighting a significant and largely overlooked public safety issue... Traffic fatalities account for nearly 7 percent of all Native American deaths and 4.7 percent for all Latinos... By comparison, just 1.8 percent of deaths among African-Americans and 1.6 percent of whites were the result of traffic accidents studied from 1999 through 2004. About 2.6 percent of all deaths among the Asian/Pacific population were the result of car accidents... Cultural differences among minorities and lack of proper training may be reasons for the disparity, experts say. New immigrants often don't embrace seat belt use, lack proper driver training or fail to obtain a driver license...

posted by Unknown @ 4:16 PM  0 comments

Gas-Saving Truck - USA - Comes To Tyler

Tyler,TX,USA -KLTV -23 May 2006: -- A first of its kind truck on display in Tyler Tuesday, could save you money on your electric bill. A hybrid diesel-electric bucket truck was unveiled in Tyler... It works like a normal utility truck, but runs on up to 60 percent less gas... The trucks will begin running in June in Dallas. TXU Electric Delivery says if that proves to save money, they will begin using the trucks in other areas. The hybrid trucks run on bio-diesel and battery power...

posted by Unknown @ 3:25 PM  0 comments

TechnoNews - Germany - Beaming in on safety

Germany -The Engineer Online (London,UK) -23 May 2006: -- German engineers have unveiled what they claim is the world's safest truck... Based on Mercedes' Actros heavy duty truck, the truck has been specifically designed to avoid rear-end collisions, apparently the most common type of accident involving vehicles of this kind. Uta Leitner of Mercedes parent company DaimlerChrysler said the key feature of the vehicle in this regard is a brand new active brake-assist system... Based on Mercedes' Telligent proximity control technology, a radar-based system that automatically maintains a pre-selected distance from the vehicle in front, the system will instigate emergency braking if a collision with a vehicle ahead is unavoidable...

posted by Unknown @ 3:07 PM  0 comments

Profile - USA - 2006 Medium and Heavy Duty Aftermarket

USA -Autochannel/Aftermarket Industry Executive -23 May 2006: -- Did you know that the U.S. medium and heavy duty aftermarket reached $70.6 billion in 2005, a more than six percent increase from 2004? In addition, medium and heavy duty truck aftermarket sales are forecast to continue growing in 2006, reaching $73.9 billion. An in-depth look at these types of trends can be found in the recently released 2006 Medium and Heavy Duty Aftermarket Profile, published by the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association...

posted by Unknown @ 2:55 PM  0 comments

May 23, 2006

Tests - USA - ATRI Evaluates Mobile Idle Reduction Technologies

USA -TTNews -23 May 2006: -- The American Transportation Research Institute said it selected three project teams to evaluate mobile idle reduction technologies on heavy-duty trucks... Project teams will be lead by trucking companies Diversified Transfer and Storage, National Freight Inc., and Schneider National Inc, ATRI said... DTS will evaluate an auxiliary power unit manufactured by RigMaster Power Corporation, while NFI will evaluate a Teleflex Energy Systems APU. Schneider will evaluate two air conditioning systems, including a 12-volt Bergstrom system and a Webasto thermal storage system, which will be operated in conjunction with a Webasto cab heater...

posted by Unknown @ 5:16 PM  0 comments

Truck Stopped - USA - With Cash!!.. Before Entering Power Plant

USA -TruckLine Express -23 May 2006: -- During a routine search of a tractor-trailer stopped outside a power plant in Pennsylvania in mid-April, police found more than $500,000 stuffed inside a duffel bag. The FBI Joint Anti-Terrorism Task Force was called in. Members of the Security Council of ATA can read more in the Council's June/July Security News to be published online in late June at http://scata.truckline.com...

posted by Unknown @ 5:11 PM  0 comments

Labeling Requirements - USA - EPA’S Diesel Fuel


USA - Truck Line -May 23, 2006: -- Beginning June 1st, trucking companies that store and dispense their own diesel fuel must label their dispensers in accordance with the regulation reprinted at both sides. There are two labels required, depending upon the sulfur content of the diesel fuel being dispensed...

posted by Unknown @ 5:06 PM  0 comments

Rumours - UK - Link UK Royal Mail with FedEx or UPS

UK -Transport Intelligence Ltd -23 May 2006: -- It has been reported that the UK’s Royal Mail is in advanced talks with US parcels giants UPS and FedEx over a potential joint venture. It is believed that the negotiations focus on a link up between one of the US giants and the Royal Mail’s European parcels operation, General Logistics Systems (GLS)...

posted by Unknown @ 5:01 PM  0 comments

AUTOS' WORLD NEWS

* Bean counting at GM
Detroit,Mich,USA -The Detroit News -22 May 2006: -- GM is replacing its two top finance officers after a series of accounting errors drew the scrutiny of the Securities and Exchange Commission and a federal grand jury...

* Detroit factory closing
Detroit,Mich,USA -The Detroit News -22 May 2006: -- Automotive supplier ThyssenKrupp Budd Co. is closing its historic Detroit factory, due to declining sales of Ford's large SUVs...


* Toyota Denies It Plans New Assembly Plant In France
PARIS,France -The Japan News/Dow Jones -22 May 2006: -- The French unit of Toyota Motor Corp. of Japan denied Monday it plans to build another car assembly plant in France as part of its strategy to increase production worldwide... A Japanese press report over the weekend said Toyota planned to build 10 new production plants in the U.S., Europe and Asia through 2010, including one in France...

* Toyota mulls adding plant
Forth Worth,TX,USA -Fort Worth Star-Telegram, by JIM FUQUAY -May 23, 2006: -- "We have not decided whether we will expand, much less where"... Toyota Motor Corp. is considering whether to add another North American assembly plant in addition to facilities it is building in San Antonio and Canada, a senior executive of the world's second-largest automaker said Saturday...

* Subaru of Indiana Automotive will ask for more than $200 million in abatements
Lafayette,IND,USA -Journal & Courier -23 May 2006: -- SIA Inc. will seek tax abatements of about $212 million for changes to its facility and new equipment to begin manufacturing Toyota Camrys... The company will seek abatements on about $205 million in equipment to be installed to construct...

* Toyota heads down new road in China with Camry
GUANGZHOU,China -Reuters/Automotive News -May 23, 2006: -- Toyota Motor Corp.'s first Chinese-built Camry sedan rolled off assembly lines on Tuesday, a U.S. success story that the company hopes will spearhead a drive into an affluent middle-class market... The Camry also marks a milestone in China in terms of volume growth for Toyota, putting the relative latecomer on an even footing with Japanese rivals from Honda Motor Co. Ltd. to Nissan Motor Co. Ltd...


* Ukraine's AvtoZAZ to invest $130 million in Poland
WARSAW,Poland -Reuters/Automotive News/Rzeczpospolita -May 23, 2006: -- Ukrainian car producer AvtoZAZ will invest at least $130 million to revamp its plant in Warsaw and launch production of new compact models, Polish daily reported on Tuesday...



* Malaysia's Proton, China's Chery study car assembly
KUALA LUMPUR,Malaysia -Reuters/Automotive News -May 23, 2006: -- Malaysia's largest carmaker Proton said on Tuesday it and China's Chery Automobile had agreed to jointly study plans to build and sell each other's cars in the two countries and elsewhere in Southeast Asia...


* Nissan says no plans to quit U.K. for eastern Europe
SUNDERLAND, England -Reuters/Automotive News -May 23, 2006: -- Nissan Motor Co. has no plans to leave the U.K. and follow its Asian rivals to eastern Europe to benefit from cheaper labor costs and bigger markets, a senior executive said... Asian carmakers Kia Motors Corp., Toyota Motor Corp. and Hyundai Motor Co. have flocked to countries such as the Czech Republic and Slovakia, posing a growing threat to western Europe's more established brands...


* Ford 'war rooms' deflect potshots at pickups
Detroit,Mich,USA -Automotive News -22 May 2006: -- Execs work to fend off Toyota, GM - and keep F series on top... Simulated Toyota and General Motors war rooms in Dearborn are part of Ford Motor Co.'s game plan to stay on top of the highly profitable full-sized pickup segment. In those rooms, Ford is trying to foresee everything GM or Toyota might throw at its segment-leading F-series pickup when those competitors bring out their own redesigned models in the next year...

posted by Unknown @ 4:04 PM  0 comments

Caution - USA - Not every vehicle can use ethanol

Automakers caution drivers not to alter cars

ROCHESTER, Mich,USA -The Detroit News/Associated Press, by Dee-Ann Durbin -May 23, 2006: -- Automakers said Monday they are trying to get more ethanol-capable vehicles on the road quickly, but warned that consumers in the meantime should not use an E85 ethanol blend in conventional vehicles or try to convert their vehicles to use E85... But representatives from GM, Ford and other automakers warned that any blend with more than 10 percent ethanol can corrode parts on a conventional vehicle... Norbert Krause, director of the engineering and environmental office at Volkswagen of America Inc., said his company even makes technical adjustments depending on whether a vehicle will take a 10 percent or a 22 percent ethanol blend... (Photo: This Citgo gas station in Southfield offers E85, which is 85 percent ethanol and 15 percent gasoline)

posted by Unknown @ 4:02 PM  0 comments

Racial Discrimination? - USA - Ford's Workers claim: Bias or shakedown?

Ford denies accusations in lawsuits, says it will clear its name in court

DEARBORN,Mich,USA -The Detroit News, by Josee Valcourt -23 May 2006: -- Twenty-two current and former employees have sued Ford Motor Co., claiming the automaker allowed discrimination against black employees to fester unchecked in recent years... Ford flatly denies the claims and says it will clear its name in court. In that way, the legal fight in Wayne County Circuit Court is similar to many that have played out in courtrooms across America... But outside the courtroom, the case is far from ordinary... If it comes to a court battle, racial discrimination cases can be tough to prove, especially when economic challenges are forcing companies such as Ford to shutter plants and cut white-collar jobs...

posted by Unknown @ 3:46 PM  0 comments

TechnoNews - Japan - Mitsui sensor to be used to curb nitrogen oxide emissions

Albany,NY,USA -The Business Review, by by Eric Durr -22 May 2006: -- John Crawford, formerly vice president of human resources at Oak-Mitsui in Hoosick Falls, N.Y., is now working directly for Japan's Mitsui Mining and Smelting Co. marketing a sensor designed to help stop nitrogen oxide emissions from big trucks... The Selective Catalytic Reduction system which Japan has mandated to control emissions, injects a urea solution into the emissions stream to neutralize nitrogen oxide in diesel exhaust. Urea is an ammonia-based liquid, also present in urine. When injected into a catalytic reduction system under high heat it neutralizes nitrogen oxide, or NOx...

posted by Unknown @ 12:46 PM  0 comments

TechnoNews - USA - Air-Hybrid Engine

Engine that Doubles the Fuel Efficiency of Today’s Automobiles

West Springfield, Mass,USA -Technology News Daily (Scottsdale,AZ,USA) -May 2006: -- The Scuderi Group debut designs of its breakthrough air-hybrid technology, the world’s most fuel efficient internal combustion engine, to the European auto industry at the Engine Expo 2006 in Stuttgart, Germany... With three additional worldwide patents recently filed, the air-hybrid system potentially doubles the fuel efficiency of today’s automobiles and reduces toxic emissions by up to 80 percent - all within a design that will make hybrid vehicles easier and far less expensive to build...

posted by Unknown @ 12:41 PM  0 comments

TechnoNews - Japan - The Nissan Atlas 20 Hybrid Truck

Japan -Technology News Daily(Scottsdale,AZ,USA) -22 May 2006: -- The Atlas 20 Hybrid, released in Japan, achieves a 35% improvement in fuel economy in M15 mode and improvements of 10% to 20% in normal city driving. The vehicle’s CO2 emissions drop by 25% in M15 mode. M15 mode is the standard used in Japan for measuring the fuel efficiency of urban heavy-duty vehicles... The Hybrid employs a power-take-off (PTO) type parallel-drive hybrid system in which the motor/generator is connected to a different drive shaft from the engine for reliable operation. Even if a failure occurs in the hybrid system, the vehicle can still be driven using the diesel engine... The system uses lithium-ion batteries with a lifespan approximately three times longer than that of nickel metal hybrid batteries. The low weight of the batteries also ensures that there is little impact on the payload of the vehicle...

posted by Unknown @ 12:29 PM  0 comments

Limits - Bulgaria - Plans to ban duty-free fuelling of incoming cars and buses

Sofia,Bulgaria -Sofia Echo -22 May 2006: -- The state will introduce a limit of 500 litres for trucks under a bill on duty-free trade, published on May 11 on the Finance Ministry website... The measures for control on duty-free shops, including installing cameras for non-stop surveillance, will be valid also for filling stations in free zones, the bill envisages... Under the bill, duty-free operators should have real-time online connection to the customs authorities. The bill introduces VAT and excise duty collateral – deposit or bank guarantee upon customs clearance of alcohol, tobacco products and liquefied fuels...

posted by Unknown @ 12:21 PM  0 comments

Hybrid truck - USA - Does double duty

Military is looking at cargo-hauling vehicle to also generate power

OSHKOSH, Wis.,USA -AP, by Emily Fredrix -May 22, 2006: -- Oshkosh Truck, the military's exclusive provider of the Army's heavy cargo-hauling Heavy Expanded Mobility Technical Trucks, is finishing up prototypes of its electric hybrid. It not only increases gas mileage by about 20 percent from the standard 3 to 4 miles per gallon, it also generates enough electricity to power a city block or hospital... (Photo: Morry Gash / AP - Prototype of Oshkosh Truck's electric hybrid truck is given a test drive at the company's track in Oshkosh, Wis)

posted by Unknown @ 12:13 PM  0 comments

Possibility - Israel - Gaza might export goods through El Arish

TEL AVIV, Israel -UPI -May 21, 2006: -- Egyptian leaders are said to have reacted favorably to a proposal that they let Palestinians export their goods through the El Arish airport... Gaza exports strawberries, tomatoes and flowers between October and January. Its produce usually comes out shortly before that of Spain and Egypt, giving its growers an advantage... Goods that make it through the checks are then trucked to Ben Gurion airport, near Tel Aviv, and go through another security check, according to Nehama Ronen, chairwoman of the board of directors of Maman, which handles cargo exports... The Palestinians had an international airport near Rafah, but its runway was badly damaged during the intifada and Israel has prevented them from reopening it...

posted by Unknown @ 12:07 PM  0 comments

Investigating Complaints - China - Shaanxi officials probe illegal trucking fines

Shanghai,China -Shanghai Daily, by Ji Mi/Henan Commercial News -23 May 2006: -- Authorities in Shaanxi Province are investigating complaints that business administrators of Tongguan County, Shaanxi Province, earned illegal profits by ticketing truck drivers at an expressway checkpoint but refused to give them receipts... The complaints by about 200 drivers and businessmen were prompted by the suicide of one of the drivers from Henan Province after he was fined nearly 30,000 yuan (US$3,750)... The news made dozens of drivers and about 100 businessmen write to Shaanxi authorities and media outlets, the Henan Commercial News reported yesterday...

posted by Unknown @ 12:03 PM  0 comments

Solidarity - USA - Woman passionate about trucking, helping others

Stratford resident brains behind donation delivery program

Aberdeen,SD,USA -Aberdeen American News, by Angela Mettler -May. 22, 2006: -- Donna Baggett of Stratford, known by her handle "Saddles," stands next to the semi she drives 10 months of the year... Last fall she established Truckers With Teddys, an organization of truckers who take donated teddy bears and other items to people in need. "It was a God-given idea," she said. "He dropped the brick on my head and forgot to wrap it in foam"... (Photo: American News by Dawn Dietrich-Sahli)

posted by Unknown @ 11:58 AM  0 comments

Alternatives Fuel - USA - UNLV Gets Federal Grant For Hydrogen Fuel Station

Las Vegas,NV,USA -KLAS/TV -May 22, 2006: -- Las Vegas will soon be home to a new hydrogen fuel station for fuel cell vehicles... A station will open at the Las Vegas Valley Water District's main campus in October. It's part of a joint venture with the UNLV research foundation... Two small hydrogen-powered water district trucks will use the station. The station will create hydrogen using solar-generated electricity. The extra fueling station is expected to promote the production and use of more hydrogen-powered cars... (Photo)

posted by Unknown @ 11:51 AM  0 comments

Volvo's - USA - New Distribution Trucks, FL & FE - Quick Facts

STOCKHOLM Sweden --Trading Markets (Los Angeles,CA,USA) /RTTNews - May 22, 2006: -- Volvo Trucks, said it will present two completely new distribution trucks, the Volvo FL and the Volvo FE. The company also said that a new business concept will be introduced for distribution duties in urban environments. The total investment is SEK 1 billion... The Volvo FL and Volvo FE are cleaner, quieter, and safer for distribution customers who operate primarily in urban areas, the company noted...

* Volvo Jan-April truck deliveries rise in Europe,U.S
STOCKHOLM,Sweden -Reuters, by Niklas Pollard & Victoria Klesty -May 22, 2006: -- The world's second biggest truck maker, Sweden's Volvo, said on Monday its deliveries of trucks rose 1 percent in January through April thanks to strong demand in its key European and U.S. markets... Volvo delivered 72,661 trucks in the period, up from 71,766 a year earlier, it said...

posted by Unknown @ 11:42 AM  0 comments

Trucks on display - USA - Free rides available

St. Paul,MN,USA -Pioneer Press -22 May 2006: -- The St. Paul Department of Public Works will hold its annual open house Tuesday. The event, at 891 N. Dale St., is free and open to the public... The Public Works department and several other agencies that keep cities up and running will demonstrate their operations and equipment... An antique asphalt roller and several other trucks will be on display, including an aerial lift truck, which will give free "cherry-picker" rides...

posted by Unknown @ 11:39 AM  0 comments

Campaign - USA - 'Click It Or Ticket'

To Focus On Certain Drivers

Ft. Worth,TX,USA -NBC5i.com -May 22, 2006: -- North Texas officers are giving drivers who don't click it a ticket... The state's annual seat-belt safety campaign begins Monday and runs through June 4... A special focus of this year's campaign is on people who drive pickup trucks... Officers said pickup truck drivers are 4 percent less likely to buckle up than people in cars...

posted by Unknown @ 11:32 AM  0 comments

May 22, 2006

Overseas Chase - China - Truckmaker lifts IPO mark to $3.9b in

Hong Kong,China -The Standard, by Wong Ka-chun & Carol Chan -May 22, 2006: -- China National Heavy Duty Truck, the third largest heavy truck manufacturer in the mainland, plans to raise up to HK$3.9 billion through an initial public offering in Hong Kong by the end of the year to boost production capacity, bankers familiar with the situation said... The company is in the process of an internal restructuring ahead of the listing and hopes to submit the application to the Hong Kong stock exchange soon... It will identify itself as a red-chip company to proceed with the listing, instead of a H-share firm, one banker said... Red-chip companies refer to firms incorporated outside the mainland and listed in Hong Kong...

posted by Unknown @ 3:48 PM  0 comments

Game - USA - 'Rig'n'Roll' / Screens

Oakland,CA,USA -WorthPlaying.com -21 May 2006: -- Players will step into the shoes of a young man in the year 2024 as he arrives in California to pursue his dreams of road domination and capture the Californian cargo transportation market. There are miles of highways to conquer and cities and towns to reach as he becomes the greatest trucker on the highways...

posted by Unknown @ 3:35 PM  0 comments

AUTOS' WORLD NEWS

* DaimlerChrysler faces fine in bribery probe
USA -just-auto.com/Der Spiegel -22 May 2006: -- After the corruption scandals at Volkswagen and Hyundai, DaimlerChrysler could now be facing a $US640m fine in the US, as a result of a bribery probe by the US Justice Department and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), according to...


* GM Begins Selling Chinese Trucks in U.S.

Sugar Land, Texas,USA -Edmunds.com/Inside Line (Santa Monica,CA) -20mAY 2006: -- General Motors has quietly begun importing and marketing Chinese-built mini-trucks in the United States — with a catch.The small trucks, built in Liuzhou by an affiliate, Shanghai-GM-Wuling (SGMW), don't meet U.S. emissions and safety standards, so they can't be licensed for use on the highway... Instead, the distributor, SGMW USA, based in Sugar Land, Texas, is touting its use as "the perfect off-road hunting vehicles." Adds the company: "They can also do double duty for commercial, maintenance, industrial, security and government operations"...


* GM Hides Fuel-Efficient Small Cars and Trucks in Brazil
INDAIATUBA, Brazil -The Washington Post (USA), by Warren Brown -May 21, 2006: -- Some of the best little vehicles made by General Motors Corp. are not sold in its home market, and therein lies one of the biggest misconceptions about the world's biggest car company... On most North American lists of small cars and trucks, GM products are at the bottom, if they are included at all... The truth, as evidenced by a sampling of GM do Brasil cars and trucks at the company's Cruz Alta Proving Ground here, is that GM can make small vehicles as well as anyone else. But the company is hampered by a North American marketing belief that American consumers won't buy those models, and by labor politics that prevents the U.S. entry of those little cars and trucks because they are not assembled by the United Auto Workers union...

* GM closing Saab engine factory in Sweden
Stockholm,Sweden -UPI/The Local, -May. 22, 2006: -- General Motors Corp. is closing a Swedish factory that makes Saab engines and moving production to a German facility... The financially ailing U.S. carmaker will close its Sodertalje plant and use its Kaiserslautern factory in Germany to build Saab engines, an English-language newspaper in Stockholm, reported Monday... GM also is studying the possibility of developing four new Opel models, one of which would be a sport utility vehicle...

* GM Says New Engines, Transmissions Will Save Fuel
DETROIT,Mich,USA -Cars.com -22 May 2006: -- The 2007 version of Chevrolet's Impala will have GM's first V-6 engine with cylinder deactivation technology... General Motors Corp. is introducing 19 new or significantly redesigned engines and transmissions in its 2007 model year vehicles, including a new hybrid system and a fuel-saving V-6... The world's biggest automaker also said it will offer 14 models — or about 400,000 total vehicles — that can run on E85 ethanol in the 2007 model year, compared with nine models in 2006...


* Toyota plans more plants globally by 2010
TOKYO,Japan -Reuters/Yomiuri Daily -22 May 2006: -- Toyota Motor Corp. is considering building new assembly plants in Texas, France, China and India, raising its global output capacity to more than 10 million units a year by 2010...

posted by Unknown @ 3:19 PM  0 comments

Production - Thailand - Move from trucks to parts and beyond

USA - Autoblog, by Joel Arellano -May 20, 2006: -- With all the hoopla over China's auto industry, Thailand, which is more known among Westerns for its tourist industry than manufacturing capabilities, quietly made more than one million vehicles last year... The country is Asia's third largest exporter of vehicles after Japan and South Korea, with much of its success attributed to its government's relaxed attitude towards foreign investors... Unlike China, automakers such as General Motors or Toyota are not required to partner with a domestic firm... Low production costs makes it simple to mass-produce vehicles, primarily trucks, to export to countries like South America and Australia... Interestingly, a study by Japan shows Thai-built vehicles have better quality than those built in China or India...

posted by Unknown @ 3:15 PM  0 comments

Tires - Mexico - Michelin adds new tread plant

;;Queretaro,MEX - eTrucker (USA), by Brittani Tingle -19 May 2006: -- Michelin on Tuesday announced the plan to construct a new tread pressing plant adjacent to its Michelin Mexico headquarters and passenger tire plant in Queretaro, Mexico... Construction will begin immediately, with production expected to start in spring 2007. The plant will produce tread rubber for the commercial truck retread tire market in North America and will employ up to 120 people... The growth of the retread market and the demand for commercial truck tires has led to the expansion of several Michelin plants...

posted by Unknown @ 3:05 PM  0 comments

World’s Largest Truck Convoy - USA - To raise money for Special Olympics

USA - eTrucker, by Brittani Tingle -20 Mat 2006: -- On Sept. 16, 2006, stretches of highway throughout North America will be lined with an expected 4,000 trucks as they convoy to show support for the athletes of the Special Olympics and attempt to maintain status as the World’s Largest Truck Convoy in the “Guinness Book of World Records”... An international event, the truck convoy, is a partnership between law enforcement and truckers to raise money and awareness so that Special Olympics athletes can continue to train in year-round sports activities. This year’s convoy is expected to unite more than 4,000 truckers in 34 States and Alberta and Ontario, Canada, and raise nearly $600,000. In 2005, the event attracted nearly 1,800 truckers and raised $439,309...

posted by Unknown @ 3:02 PM  0 comments

Buying - USA - FedEx makes trucking move

Memphis,TN,USA -commercialappeal.com (subscription), by Jane Roberts -May 20, 2006: -- FedEx Corp. is buying Watkins Motor Lines -- the largest privately run less-than-truckload carrier in the nation -- and the best ticket it has for bulking up in a market showing impressive gains... Neither FedEx or Watkins would confirm details, but sources say FedEx will announce the acquisition as early as June 1... Analysts say the price could range up to $1 billion... Watkins, about a third the size of FedEx Freight, gives the division 139 terminals, 10,000 employees and trailers, 3,400 tractors and all its customers across its North American network... Although diesel prices have more than doubled since 2003, the shortage of truck drivers is now driving many of the big decisions in trucking companies...

posted by Unknown @ 2:43 PM  0 comments

May 20, 2006

Fuel Economy - USA - International’s Aerodynamic ProStar Boasts

USA -TruckingInfo -19 May 2006: -- International Truck and Engine Corp. says it maintains its status as the industry leader in aerodynamics with its International ProStar, introduced at the recent Mid-America Trucking Show... The new Class 8 tractor has 9 percent less aerodynamic drag than the nearest competitor, which can mean more than 4 percent better fuel economy for customers, according to International... A 4 percent improvement in fuel economy translates to $2,000 per year per truck for someone driving 120,000 miles per year, currently averaging six miles per gallon and paying $2.65 per gallon for fuel...

posted by Unknown @ 2:36 PM  0 comments

AUTOS' WORLD NEWS

* UAW Authorizes Strike Against Delphi.

1 - Could have severe consequences for GM
USA -AP/Transport Topics -17 May 2006: -- United Auto Workers members have voted to authorize a strike against auto supplier Delphi Corp. if the company scraps its labor agreements... A strike could have severe consequences for General Motors Corp., Delphi’s former parent company and largest customer... While the vote does not mean a strike is imminent, it allows the UAW to call a strike if it feels one is needed as the sides bargain over wages... GM also said it will keep negotiating despite the vote, and has offered to fund buyouts for some Delphi hourly workers and could also be responsible for retiree benefits or supplemental payments to boost wages...

2 - Bill Ford Jr. strike will hurt all - Automaker has started contingency planning
Washington DC,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -May 20, 2006: -- Ford Motor Co. CEO Bill Ford Jr. said a union strike against Delphi Corp. could disrupt the entire auto industry and the automaker has started contingency planning to minimize any potential impact...



* Big 3 to Congress: Get ethanol at pumps

Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -May 19, 2006: -- Detroit's automakers say they'll add more vehicles that run on E85, a corn-based fuel, to their fleets... The top executives of Detroit's Big Three automakers called on congressional leaders Thursday to help increase the availability of ethanol fuels... After a series of meetings with key members of Congress, Ford Motor Co.'s Bill Ford Jr., General Motors Corp.'s Rick Wagoner and the Chrysler Group's Tom LaSorda, urged Congress to consider incentives to boost the number of stations that carry E85, a corn-based ethanol fuel blend... The executives also promised to add more vehicles that run on E85 to their fleets -- endorsing a plan to have renewable fuels meet 25 percent of the nation's transportation energy needs by 2025...


* GM Planning 19 New Engines/Transmissions
USA -The Car Connection -19 May 2006: -- General Motors plans to roll out 19 new engine and transmission variations for the 2007 model year... The variations will include the hybrid version of the $23,000 Saturn Vue Green Line that the automaker is touting as the least expensive hybrid sport-utility vehicle on the market. The new lineup also includes a 3.9-liter V-6 with an active fuel management system that shuts down three cylinders on the highway to improve fuel economy, as well as six-speed transmissions for front-, rear- and all-wheel-drive vehicles that will boost both fuel economy and performance...


* Bill Ford vows to revive automaker's profits by '08
Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -May 19, 2006: -- Ford Motor Co. Chairman and CEO Bill Ford Jr., insists he's fully engaged in the company's turnaround plan as a result of recent management changes and vowed the automaker would return to profitability by 2008... With the retirement of Jim Padilla as president and chief operating officer, effective July 1, Bill Ford has assumed more day-to-day duties by overseeing a new operating committee composed of Ford's executive vice presidents...


* Porsche to invest $153 million in Leipzig plant
LEIPZIG, Germany -Reuters -19 May 2006: -- Porsche plans to invest $153 million (120 million euros) in the expansion of its Leipzig plant, where it will assemble its Panamera four-door coupe, it said on Friday...


* Audi to invest $384 million in German-built Q5
FRANKFURT,Germany -Reuters -19 May 2006: -- Audi AG will invest $384 million (300 million euros) as part of its plans to build the Q5 mid-sized SUV in its Ingolstadt plant in southern Germany...

posted by Unknown @ 2:02 PM  0 comments

New Emission Rules - USA - Carriers Aim to Cut Fleet Age Ahead of 2007

Sales Slump Seen Abating Before Year Ends

New York,NY,USA -Transport Topics, by Sean McNally &Jonathan S. Reiskin -18 May 2006: -- With less than eight months to go before new emission rules dramatically change diesel truck engines, some executives of large truckload carriers said they are rapidly trying to reduce the average age of their fleets to avoid purchasing new equipment early in 2007... “With the orders that we have in place for calendar year ’06, that’s going to give us a lot of flexibility to let our fleet age, and to allow some evaluation of new engines", said Randy Marten, president of Marten Transport Ltd., and other executives at the Bear Stearns Global Transportation Conference...

posted by Unknown @ 1:56 PM  0 comments

GreenNews - Mexico - Manufacturing Hybrid Vehicles

Vehizero, one of the many successful enterprises pursuing sustainable growth in emerging economies

Mexico,DF,MEX -New Ventures website -18 May 2005: -- Based in Mexico and only six years old, Vehizero introduced its hybrid ECCO light truck in February, and plans to begin delivery of the hybrid EggoAlfa taxi in June... Factors like fuel efficiency (up to 60 percent savings in fuel costs) and reduced maintenance are quickly winning over clients... The Vehizero light truck recycles more than 60 percent of its energy, and reduces emissions by 7.2 tons of carbon per vehicle per year... Vehizero is also designing additional hybrid products: a three-ton truck, a 100-passenger bus and a small personal vehicle, which are set to be on the market by 2010... (Image credit: Vehizero)

posted by Unknown @ 12:34 PM  0 comments

Tour - USA - Venerable Fire Trucks and Sheep's Milk Cheeses


Columbia County,New York,USA -The New York Times, by LISA W. FODERARO -May 19, 2006: -- Parents often look for ways to introduce their children to the Country — that increasingly elusive land where big, round silos stand watch over flaxen meadows flecked with hay bales. Columbia County, about 100 miles north of New York, offers the right tableau... The Museum of Firefighting is a good first stop; it's in Hudson, which has become an antiques center recently and has several good restaurants for a lunch break later... Endowed by the Firemen's Association of the State of New York, the museum houses 100 pieces of emergency apparatus, from a 1725 hand-drawn pump made in London to a 1974 Cadillac ambulance. There are horse-drawn, steam-powered and motorized fire engines, along with all manner of equipment and ephemera, from ladders, axes and torches to uniforms, banners, lithographs and antique record books... (Photos: Tara Engberg for The New York Times: The Museum of Firefighting.)

posted by Unknown @ 11:43 AM  0 comments

Prognosis - USA - Trucks to fill future

A study forecasts an 87-percent increase in York County truck traffic by 2030

York,PA,USA -York Daily Record, by TERESA ANN BOECKEL -May 19, 2006: -- More than 8,684 trucks travel Interstate 83 each day near the Route 30 interchange. By 2030, that number is expected to jump to 16,239. The jump reflects an 87 percent increase in truck traffic forecasted in a regional goods movement study that was presented to the York County Transportation Coalition on Thursday... The study, which incorporated eight counties in southcentral Pennsylvania, took a look at goods that are shipped through the region... Some people think that truck traffic would go away if officials did not allow warehouses to spring up... That's not the case, though, because the majority of the trucks are passing through the region to reach other destinations... He added that an apparent labor shortage in the area is pushing some companies into other places, such as Hazleton... While adding more lanes to Interstate 83 and Route 30 might be considered for the future and plans to fix bottlenecks are in the works, capital improvements aren't the only answer, said...

posted by Unknown @ 11:37 AM  0 comments

MAN AG - Germany - 4-Month Revenue Rises 4% on Truck-Sales Growth

Munich,Germany -Bloomberg(USA) -May 19, 2006: -- MAN AG, Europe's third-largest truckmaker, said sales in the first four months of the year rose 4 percent as customers bought new trucks in advance of stricter pollution regulations that will make vehicles more expensive... Revenue increased to 4.16 billion euros ($5.3 billion) from 4 billion euros a year earlier, Chief Executive Officer Hakan Samuelsson told investors today at the annual meeting in Munich. Orders, an indicator of future sales, climbed 13 percent to 5.59 billion euros...

posted by Unknown @ 11:31 AM  0 comments

Comments - USA - Fueling opportunity

SANTA MONICA, Calif.,USA -Washington Times (Washington,DC), by John Graham -May 19, 2006 - The pain of $3-a-gallon gasoline is causing angry American motorists to demand that the federal government "do something"... The wisest course will be to seek the most effective solutions to our energy problems based on sound economics and science, rather than political considerations... There are three practical steps the U.S. government can take to exert downward pressure on the world price of oil, at least over the next decade or two. These steps should: promote manufacture of motor vehicles that get better mileage; speed the transition from gasoline to alternative fuels such as ethanol; and increase the exploration, production and refining of oil in the United States...
• Improve mileage: Most oil consumed in the United States is used for transportation, particularly on roads and highways... A new program for heavy trucks also should be considered.
• Alternative fuels: One way to increase use of E-85 (a fuel of 85 percent ethanol combined with 15 percent gasoline), would be to conduct more research on lowering the cost of producing ethanol from farm products. There are already some tax incentives for stations to offer E-85, but their effect would be greater if they were buttressed in size and duration.
• Increased supply: Congress has long debated whether a small part of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge should be opened for oil exploration...

posted by Unknown @ 11:09 AM  0 comments

May 19, 2006

Development - USA - Series 60 Detroit System

US Energy Initiatives Completes Development for Solid Waste Authority of Ohio; Hybrid Dual-Fuel Systems Technology

TAMPA, Fla.,USA -BUSINESS WIRE -May 18, 2006: -- USEIC/Hybrid Fuel Systems, Inc., manufacturer of a patent dual-fuel diesel to natural gas conversion technology, today announced the Company has completed development of one 60 Series Detroit System for Solid Waste Authority of Central Ohio's (SWACO) 2005 Sterling truck... The project included the development of a diesel/CNG duel fuel system for the Detroit 60 Series diesel engine with electronic injection. The engine is fitted in a truck/tractor and is used in bulk trash transferring in the Columbus, Ohio Region. This first truck will be evaluated for 3-6 months and a decision will be made regarding converting -- 25 additional trucks...

posted by Unknown @ 12:28 PM  0 comments

Pollution - USA - Residents rally against ethanol plant plans

Process begun to appeal zoning change; halt construction

Aberdeen,SD,USA -Aberdeen American News, by Jackie Burke -May. 18, 2006: -- Some neighbors to a proposed rural Aberdeen ethanol plant say they're furious and plan to appeal a decision to rezone land that would allow the plant to be built... Glacial Lakes Energy, based in Watertown, plans to build a $140 million plant - Aberdeen Energy - about five miles west of the intersection of U.S. Highway 12 and U.S. Highway 281. The company hopes to start building this fall and have the plant completed in March 2008... Potential ethanol plant neighbors Jeff Voeller and Julie Zastrow are collecting signatures to appeal Tuesday night's Brown County Planning and Zoning Commission decision. The planning commission agreed to recommend that land be rezoned from agricultural to heavy industrial, which would allow the ethanol plant to be built... The Brown County Commission will have to make a final decision on the zoning change... Voeller and Zastrow said they moved to rural Aberdeen because they wanted to get away from the city and live in peace. With the new plant, that peacefulness is gone, they said... Glacial Lakes' Energy Commodities Manager Bert Madstadt assured residents Tuesday night that Aberdeen Energy would only have a slight smell from time to time. But with the wind blowing south most of the time, the couple is skeptical. Their land is about one mile south of the proposed Aberdeen Energy site...

posted by Unknown @ 12:22 PM  0 comments

Offer - Iran - Hurls Trucks at Israel

Iran - Strategy Page(USA) -May 18, 2006: -- Iran has offered the new Palestinian Authority government, run by terrorist group Hamas, 300 trucks (of various sizes), to be used for non-military purposes. Knowing Hamas, using the trucks to move weapons and munitions around would be considered non-military. But delivery of this gift poses problems, as Israel controls all the access into Palestinian Authority territory...

posted by Unknown @ 12:17 PM  0 comments

Tolls - Finland - Suggested for Russian trucks on Finnish roads

Helsinski,Finland -Helsingin Sanomat -19 May 2006: -- An experimental toll for the next three years is being suggested on Russian trucks, for burdening the roads in Southern Finland. The toll would come into force from the beginning of next year... According to Pulliainen's motion, tolls would be collected from heavy transport on a few southern routes: between Hanko and Karjaa, between Vironlahti and the Vaalimaa border crossing, and between Lappeenranta and the Nuijamaa border crossing point. A single payment of EUR 20 to 35 would be levied on these stretches... The toll would not be limited to Russian trucks alone, though they are exceptionally frequent users of the routes in question...

posted by Unknown @ 12:13 PM  0 comments

No assets, big revenues - Chile - Intermodal growth lucrative, reports 18 percent jump in revenue

Valparaiso,Chile -Munster Times (Munster,IN,USA), by JASON SPARAPANI/Medill News Service -May 18, 2006: -- Shares of US 1 Industries Inc. rose 5 cents, or 4 percent, to $1.26 Tuesday after the company reported an 18 percent jump in revenue and earnings that dropped yet still beat an analyst's estimate... In the quarter ended March 31, net profit for the Valparaiso-based company dipped 3 percent to $695,000 from $717,000 in the year-earlier period... The company provides flatbed and refrigerated transportation, warehousing and financial services to 50 independent businesses. It describes itself as a non-asset business, meaning its client companies lease their trucks, while US 1 Industries pays the drivers... CEO Michael Kibler said 80 percent of the company's business comes from its intermodal transportation, the transfer of goods using multiple modes such as ship, rail and truck... The analyst's estimates for the full year are revenues of $188.5 million and earnings of 24 cents per diluted share...

posted by Unknown @ 12:01 PM  0 comments

Changing Name - USA - Second Trucking Company Caught, To Register Vehicles

Watertown,CT,USA -WFSB (Connecticut) -18 May 2006: -- For the second time in as many weeks a trucking company has been caught changing its name to register vehicles with outstanding violations. However, computer checks at the Department of Motor Vehicles put the breaks on the companies before they could put trucks back on the road... "We found that BI Trucking had federal out of service orders and so we put the kibosh on the registration of those vehicles under new or old names much less the registration privileges," said Bill Seymour of the DMV... Red flags went up at the DMV when an alert staffer noticed the same signature on the Independent Crushing application as was on the one from G.W. Maton...

posted by Unknown @ 11:54 AM  0 comments

Jobs' ads campaign - USA - Softer Side of Trucking

Denison,TX,USA -KTEN Local News, by Doctor Tracy Wimbush -May 18, 2006: -- The softer, emotional side of trucking -- It sounds like an odd thing to say but that's exactly what the American Trucking Association hopes to convey in a new advertising campaign. This one, hopes to change some of the images of the industry in order to attract more drivers... One ad says, "Have ountry songs written about you". Another ad states, "Assembly lines don't give you stories to tell". And a third says, "My office has a better view than yours"... The American Trucking Association hopes to combat the projected 111,000 driver shortage forecasted by the year 2014...

posted by Unknown @ 11:53 AM  0 comments

Food Safety Program- Canada - Another Carrier Certified Under CTA

Connors Transfer Joins Growing List of Participants

Stellarton, N.S.,Canada - Canadian Trucking Alliance (press release) -18 May 2006: -- Connors Transfer Limited has become the latest trucking company (and the first Nova Scotia carrier) to become certified under the Canadian Trucking Alliance’s Trucking Food Safety Program... The Trucking Food Safety Program, developed by the CTA in partnership with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency, and delivered by Kasar Canada Ltd., provides a practical, cost-effective and results-orientated program for ensuring food safety within Canada ’s trucking community. The core program consists of food safety prerequisites, the development of standard operating procedures and detailed commodity specific modules...

posted by Unknown @ 11:41 AM  0 comments

May 18, 2006

AUTOS' WORLD NEWS: Scandal - Recall - Sexual Harassment

* Hyundai scandal

Chairman indicted in embezzlement, slush fund
SEOUL, South Korea -Associated Press, by JAE-SOON CHANG -May 16, 2006: -- Prosecutors indicted Hyundai Motor Co. Chairman Chung Mong-koo on Tuesday in an embezzlement and slush fund scandal gripping South Korea's largest automaker... Chung, 68, who has been in custody since his April 28 arrest, was charged with embezzlement and breach of trust, said Kang Chan-woo, spokesman for the Supreme Prosecutors' Office, without disclosing specific amounts of money involved in those charges... But Kang said the tycoon created a 103.4 billion won ($109.5 million) slush fund with the embezzled money and that prosecutors were looking into how that secret money was spent. He didn't say when the first hearing would be held...


* Toyota

1 - Recalls: 210,000 Prado SUVs worldwide for axle problem
TOKYO,Japan -The Detroit News (USA) -May 16, 2006: -- Toyota Motor Corp. will recall about 210,000 Land Cruiser Prados worldwide due to an axle problem, Japan's largest automaker said Tuesday... About 100,000 vehicles will be recalled in Japan in addition to about 110,000 others, mainly in Australia, Europe and China, according to company spokesman Paul Nolasco... The Prado is not sold in North America, nor are any Land Cruisers based on the Prado model, he said...

2 - Sexual harassment: Time will tell if Toyota promotion is good for Press
Detroit,Mich,USA -The Detroit News, by Christine Tierney -May 16, 2006: -- Faced with an embarrassing situation, Toyota Motor Corp. moved swiftly last week to recast a sad tale of alleged sexual harassment into a breakthrough promotion for its most prominent American manager... Toyota emphasized in appointing Jim Press as the new president of its New York-based Toyota Motor North America subsidiary that this was the first time the job had gone to someone who wasn't Japanese... Press is taking over most of the responsibilities of Hideaki Otaka, who is taking a leave of absence after his former executive assistant filed a sexual harassment lawsuit against him...


* GM News

1 - New project targets U.S. cities - 'Arlington' initiative calls for taking message to markets untainted by negative news coverage
Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -May 18, 2006: -- General Motors Corp., hoping to overcome a flood of negative national news, has quietly launched an intensive marketing effort to tout its successes and build consumer awareness for its products in medium-sized markets around the country... A team of about 50 people -- including a couple in each of 16 cities, including Sacramento, Calif., Columbus, Ohio, Austin, Texas, and Buffalo, N.Y. -- is running the multimillion-dollar "Arlington Project," named for the Washington, D.C., suburb where it will be based... The effort includes direct marketing, attempts to secure more favorable news coverage and outreach efforts by dealers, suppliers and other company officials. The cities were selected because they are dominated by local media rather than national outlets that have hammered GM in recent months for its sales and financial losses...

2 - Financial errors spur GM shake-up / 2 execs out, carmaker hires outside overseer in wake of SEC probe into accounting errors
Detroit,Mich,USA -The Detroit News, by Bill Vlasic -May 18, 2006: -- General Motors Corp. shook up its financial staff Wednesday in the wake of a series of accounting errors that have drawn the scrutiny of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and a federal grand jury in New York... GM said two of its top finance officers will be leaving the company, and their jobs will be combined in an effort to improve the automaker's internal financial controls... Paul Schmidt, GM's corporate controller, will retire later this year, and Peter Bible, the company's chief accounting officer, will resign on June 1, GM said in a statement...

3 - GM gets Chinese OK to open insurance office in Shanghai
Detroit,Mich,USA -Associated Press -May 17, 2006: -- General Motors Corp. said Wednesday that it has received Chinese approval to open an office in Shanghai as a step toward beginning insurance operations in China... GM said that Motors Insurance Corp., part of the insurance unit within the automaker's General Motors Acceptance Corp. financing subsidiary, received approval from the Chinese Insurance Regulatory Commission to establish the office...

4 - GM to cut 900 jobs at its British Vauxhall car factory
LONDON,UK -Associated Press -May 17, 2006: -- General Motors Corp. said Wednesday that it is axing 900 jobs at its British Vauxhall car plant as it cuts production at the factory in northern England... GM said the move reflected pressure in the European car industry to increase productivity and reduce costs, but pledged to retain a manufacturing presence in Britain...


* Honda

- Opts to build assembly site in U.S.
Detroit.Mich,USA -The Detroit News, by Christine Tierney -May 17, 2006: -- Honda Motor Co. will build a new auto plant in the United States as part of a $665 million investment to boost vehicle and engine output in North America to keep pace with its growing sales... Michigan and Indiana will be among the U.S. states competing to land Honda's sixth assembly plant and 14th manufacturing facility in North America... Honda, the first Japanese automaker to build cars in the United States, said it would invest around $400 million to build a U.S. factory capable of turning out 200,000 vehicles a year starting in 2008...


* Kia

- Postpones construction of Georgia, US plant
Seoul,SOUTH KOREA -Just Auto.com -18 May 2006: -- Kia has said it will indefinitely postpone the start of construction of its $1.2bn plant in Georgia, US, in the light of the on-going investigation into the activities of the company’s president, Chung Eui-sun, and his father, chairman of Hyundai Motor, Chung Mong-koo...


* DaimlerChrysler

- Advertises for unemployed to help assemble E-Class
GERMANY -Just Auto.com -18 May 2006: -- DaimlerChrysler has advertised for 620 unemployed to work in its Sindelfingen plant to help assemble the E-Class, according to local press reports...

posted by Unknown @ 4:03 PM  0 comments