trucks world news: May 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...

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...

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...

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"...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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)

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...

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...

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...

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...

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)

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...

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"...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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)...

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...

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)

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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)

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...

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...

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)

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)

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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)

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.)

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Demonstration - USA - EPA-compliant engine at clean-diesel event

WASHINGTON, D.C.,USA -Truck News (Canada), by Adam Ledlow -17 May 2006: -- To help show its readiness for the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) 2007 emissions standards, Caterpillar took part in a demonstration as part of an industry-wide clean-diesel event... examined a white handkerchief that had been held over the exhaust stack of a truck as the engine was revved. Following the demonstration, the handkerchief was still white... Caterpillar is building on its ACERT Technology to meet the 2007 regulations, adding clean gas induction and a diesel particulate filter to help meet standards... The company has invested more than $1 billion in clean-diesel technology in recent years...

Battery-electric Trucks - UK - Tanfield Group to supply TNT

London,UK -EEMS (Energy Efficient Motorsport) -17 May 2006: -- Tanfield Group plc has announced that its zero emission vehicle operation, Smith Electric Vehicles, has entered into an agreement with TNT, the parcel delivery business. Smith will provide its new ‘Newton’ 7.5 tonne electric vehicles to TNT... The new vehicles utilise the Faraday driveline technology developed for the current Smith models, adapted to accommodate greater payloads...

* - In the US
Azure Dynamics, a developer of hybrid electric and electric powertrains for commercial and military vehicles, has supplied the US Postal Service with its first parallel hybrid electric delivery vehicle. Powered by Azure's proprietary hybrid electric powertrain, the truck was unveiled yesterday in Boston, Mass...

TechnoNews - Australia - Computer tells miners, and haul truck operators, they're dozing off

Australia -ABC Science Online, by Judy Skatssoon -17 May 2006: -- Australian researchers are developing a computerised system that monitors the performance of miners and tells management if workers are getting tired... The system, designed to improve safety for haul truck operators, will be discussed at the national conference of the Cooperative Research Centres Association this week... University of Sydney PhD student Stewart Worrell, says the technology is all about fatigue management... He says fatigue statistics are under-reported, but US figures for 2001-2003 show there are eight fatigue-related fatalities in mines each year... He says the system uses sensors fitted to the trucks and analyses data collected during haul operations, like the ability of the driver to keep to a straight line and driver speed... "We have sensors attached to trucks which can monitor the truck's position on the road and detect when other trucks and vehicles are nearby," he says. "The software analyses how a driver's performance changes over the duration of the shift and from there we can determine when there are threats and alert the driver. We can detect if the truck's driving off the road or if there's a potential collision. We might say 'this guy's driven over the centre of the road a couple of times so it's time to have a break'"... Data stored on each truck is also automatically downloaded to a central database when the haul truck returns to the drop-off area...

Changes - USA - FMCSA proposes four-new-module SafeStat

WASHINGTON,DC,USA -Today's Trucking(Canada) -18 May 2006: -- The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration is proposing four major changes to the SafeStat methodology to improve the current algorithm... The first proposed improvement is a new Traffic Violations Indicator (TVI), which would apply a different measure of exposure than the Moving Violations Indicator (MVI) with the Traffic Violations Indicator (TVI) in the Driver Safety Evaluation Area... The second proposed improvement, the TVI identifies more carriers with higher crash risk, improves geographical coverage: simplifies and improves consistency of the SafeStat algorithm, and covers more carriers while using better data... The last two proposals include simplifying the calculation of the Accident SEA Value by establishing one standard of measuring crash rate, thereby avoiding potentially conflicting results of multiple standards; and applying more vehicle out-of-service (OOS) violation data for the Vehicle Inspection Indicator (VII)...

Driver shortage - Canada - Worries trucking companies

Truck repos aren't a sign of all things bad

St. John&Newfoundland,Canada -CBC News Newfoundland & Labrador - May 17 2006: -- Trucking companies in Newfoundland and Labrador say they are struggling to keep up with orders because of a shortage of qualified drivers... Sparkes Transportation and Crane Ltd., a small company that operates seasonally, has already seen four of its drivers leave to take up work in the Northwest Territories... the company – which specializes in transporting explosives – is finding it hard to recruit new drivers because of the powerful lure of higher wages in Western Canada... Gordon Peddle, president of the Newfoundland and Labrador Carriers Association, said trucking companies are losing drivers to other industries... Peddle said demand for truck drivers is expected only to grow. To reverse the shortage, he said, employers will have to improve wages and benefits...

Sales - Brazil - China's Chery cars to go on

São Paulo,Brazil - just-auto.com (subscription) (Bromsgrove,Worcs,UK) -16 May 2006: -- A Chery Automobile official has confirmed that the company will enter the Brazilian market at the end of this year during an automotive conference in São Paulo city organised by the Brazil-China Chamber of Economic Development... “The Brazilian market is interesting and we expect to sell trucks in Brazil. Now we are looking to a partner”, said China National Heavy Duty Truck...

Isuzu Forecasts Fiscal 2006 Profit Will Rise 10%

Tokyo,Japan -Bloomberg -May 16, 2006: -- Isuzu Motors Ltd., Japan's biggest maker of light-duty trucks, said profit will rise 10 percent this fiscal year as it spends less to build new models. The shares rose as much as 4.7 percent... The company forecast net income of 65 billion yen ($589 million) in the year ending March 31 compared with 58.9 billion yen last fiscal year, it said in a statement today. Sales will gain 0.5 percent to 1.59 trillion yen...

Noisy Trucks - USA - Clamp put on

Portsmouth,NH,USA -Portsmouth Herald News, by Emily Aronson -16 May 2006: -- The City Council hopes a new ordinance approved Monday will put the brake on noisy trucks... The ordinance prohibits truck drivers from using engine compression brakes that create "excessive, loud, unusual or explosive noise"... Residents along busy corridors have complained about the mechanical exhaust device that allows drivers to slow trucks without wearing down brakes. The device creates a loud chattering sound, described by one resident as similar to a machine gun... The noise rule will be enforced at the discretion of city police, and emergency vehicles are exempted...

To sell trucks - India - Daimler eyes mining sector

Mumbai,India -Business Standard, by Prabodh Chandrasekhar -May 17, 2006: -- German passenger and commercial vehicle major DaimlerChrysler (DC) has targeted the mining sector in India for selling its Actros range of trucks... The company’s Indian subsidiary, DaimlerChrysler India (DC India) has currently initiated custom drives of its trucks across the country’s mining centres in Jharkhand, Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh and Karnataka... DC India will initially import trucks in the form of completely built units... DC’s decision assumes significance since its German arch rival MAN has plans to make India a manufacturing base for local market and exports... MAN-Force’s trucks will target all sectors including construction, transportation and mining to meet their loading requirements... MAN-Force facility at Pithampur will be set up at an initial investment of Rs 700 crore. The plant will have a capacity to make 24,000 trucks. By 2009, the company hopes to export 50 per cent of its production to Asian and African markets... Volvo, which had started its operations six years ago is keen on making its assembly unit near Bangalore a hub for exports to South and South East Asia...

Surprised - USA - By Numbers in Truck Safety Crackdown

Salt Lake City,UT,USA -KSL/TV, by Amanda Butterfield -May 16th, 2006: -- Eyewitness News alerted you first to the growing trend of semi-trucks with safety problems. There are more evidence tonight that something could be seriously wrong with a truck you drive next to. Troopers stopped and inspected trucks all day on Traverse Ridge in Draper. Tonight the numbers are in... If you're driving down Traverse Ridge and see a truck in your rearview mirror, you've got cause to be concerned. Troopers took more than half of the trucks they randomly inspected there today off the road because they weren't safe... A total of 34 trucks were inspected. Of those, 64 percent had violations so bad they were taken off the road and couldn't get back on until the problem was fixed...

Reports - USA - Long-Term Trucking Repo Trends

Nassau Asset Management Releases. Results for Q1 2006

WESTBURY, N.Y.,USA -PRNewswire -May 16, 2006: -- Repossessions and liquidations of tractor-trailer trucks nationwide have been high for the past five quarters, reports Nassau Asset Management. Yet, those same trucks are reselling at a brisk pace, illustrating the diverse forces affecting the trucking sector... Nassau's NasTrac Quarterly Index (NQI) reveals trends in equipmentrepossessions and orderly liquidations based upon the company's own internal activity in a given quarter compared to the same quarter the previous year. The company also has been tracking truck repossessions and liquidations from quarter-to-quarter due to the importance of this sector...

Production - USA - Secures Contract for the Family of Medium Tactical Vehicles

HOUSTON,TX,USA -PRNewswire -May 16, 2006: -- Stewart & Stevenson Services, Inc., the premier manufacturer of medium tactical vehicles for the US Army, announced today that Stewart & Stevenson Tactical Vehicle Systems, LP (TVS) has recently received contract modifications valued at approximately $625 million... These modifications call up an incremental 1,800 trucks and 1,077 trailers in base contract quantities and 2,484 trucks in option quantities for the fourth program year of the current Family of Medium Tactical Vehicle (FMTV) production contract which began April 17, 2003 and includes the sustaining support element...

One, and only one - USA - Carriers support single transport worker screening

WASHINGTON,DF,USA -Today's Trucking -15 May 2006: -- The largest trucking carriers in the U.S. say they'll go along with one, and only one, security screening for transportation workers, including truck drivers... The American Trucking Associations said this week that the Transportation Security Administration should implement a single, coordinated, cost-effective process for screening transportation workers that would enhance the nation's security while minimizing unnecessary screening costs and procedures...

Study - USA - Truck manufacturing entering rise and fall period

Truckmakers gear down

NEW YORK,NY,USA -Today's Trucking -15 May 2006: -- North American Class 8 sales are expected to top a record 300,000 units this year, but could plunge by as much as 30 to 50 percent in ’07, according to a study by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants... Higher fuel costs, tough new EPA rules and trucking labor shortages are the main reasons says the firm. Significant highs and lows in commercial truck demand are projected to continue into 2015, However... Meanwhile, analysts at BearStearns estimate that class 8 truck builders may have about 40,000 production slots left for this yeardue to EPA ’07 pre-buying. There may be some spill-over into Jan. ’07 due to timing of engine inventories, but that could add another 40,000-50,000 units at best, says the firm... Freightliner, for one, is cautiously preparing its plants for a 40 to 50 percent reduction in ’07 heavy truck production, but "barring disaster, a complete recovery to normal market conditions in 2008," COO RogerNielson told the Heavy Duty Manufacturer Association's annual Breakfast & Briefing recently...

Stake - China - Weichai raises in Torch Auto for $86 mln

HONG KONG,China -Reuters -15 May 2006: -- Weichai Power Co. Ltd., said on Sunday it would raise stake in Shenzhen-listed Torch Automobile Group Co. Ltd., to 28.12 percent from 12.69 percent for 684.75 million yuan (US$85.5 million)... The Chinese diesel engine maker said in a statement it had agreed to buy a 55 percent stake it did not own in Weichai Power (Weifang) Investment Co. Ltd., which holds stake in Torch Automobile... Torch Automobile owns 51 percent of Shaanxi Heavy-Duty Motor Co. Ltd., one of the five largest heavy-duty truck makers in China... (Exchange rate: US$=HK$7.8=8.01 yuan)

TechnoNews - USA - Truckers Rushing to Survive High Fuel Costs

WEST LAKE VILLAGE, Calif.,USA -PRNewswire/Cheetah Software Systems -May 15, 2006: -- According to ATA President Bill Graves, fuel costs for the industry are expected to hit a record $98.3 billion this year, nearly double the $52.2 billion spent only 3 years ago. How do fleet companies solve this problem?... Cheetah Software promises "More stops. Fewer miles"... It's all about greater margins and efficiency. But, only a couple of years ago, some still wondered if it could really be done or how much of a difference it would make? Today, with case study after case study and word-of-mouth buzz fanned by rising fuel prices, those once on the fence are increasingly turning to Cheetah to quickly solve their soaring costs of doing business...

Finding the best way - Australia - To battle Sydney traffic

Sydney,Australia -CARSguide, by Patrick Whiteley/The Daily Telegraph -13 May 2006: -- Our taste in motor vehicles can be just like our choice of food... Some enjoy light Asian dishes, such as prawn dumplings, or maybe a Tawianese-made Bolwell Scooter. Some like Italian. Veal parmigiana or maybe the new, sporty little Alfa Romeo 147, while others say, "super-size me" with a couple of Big Macs or a 22-tonne Mack truck... No matter what your fancy in road transport, getting from A to B along traffic-choked Parramatta Rd during peak hour takes pretty much the same time. The average speed never gets above 20km/h, whether you are on a motorscooter, or in a car or truck. These three different modes of transport all have merit and it's all down to taste... But as I've said, operating a big truck and riding motorscooter are more alike then driving a car. Both need special handling with extra care and constant monitoring for idiots... (Picture: Comparisons: the three modes of motor travel used to navigate around Sydney)

Implementation - Canada - Further Delay Announced in Trade Act

CBP Requires Additional Time to Address Technical Issues

Ottawa,ON,Canada -Canadian Trucking Alliance (press release) -May 15, 2006: -- On Friday, US Customs and Border Protection announced a one month delay in implementation of so-called Phase 4 enforcement under the U.S. Trade Act. Enforcement was to have begun today... The move stems from “unexpected programming difficulties that have not been resolved with the ACE e-truck manifest”, according to the agency... In Phase Four, carriers who are not participating in the Automated Commercial Environment (ACE) will no longer be able to rely on a copy of a fax transmission to a customs broker to indicate an attempt to comply with the Trade Act’s advance cargo information rules if they arrive at the border and CBP has not received advance cargo information...

Production - Russia - KAMAZ to Produce 200 Trucks per Day

NABEREZHNYE CHELNY, Russia -RNWire -May 15, 2006: -- KAMAZ Inc. plans to increase the output of trucks and considerably exceed its 2006 business plan performance in response to a growing demand from the domestic market... This was the key item on the agenda at the corporate meeting held at the KAMAZ Automobile Plant to present the results of the company's activities over the last four months... It was noted that the first months of the current year are characteristic of growing demand on all the markets...

Warm Spring - USA - Class 8 trucks enjoy

USA -Fleet Owner (subscription), by Terrence Nguyen -May 15, 2006: -- Heavy-duty Class 8 retail sales in April amounted to 24,297 units, according to a preliminary report released by WardsAuto.com. This marked a 6% dip compared with the revised 25,895 units sold in March... According to Chris Brady, president of Commercial Motor Vehicle Consulting (CMVC), the April figure represents a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 271,000. This is significantly less than March’s annual rate of 299,000...

Security - Philippines - Those dangerous, overloaded trucks

VEHICULAR accidents that have left a ghastly trail of loss of lives and limbs remain a scourge of humanity in this age of computer and digital technology...

Manila,Philippines -Manila Standard Today -15 may 2006: -- But they can be prevented if only motorists faithfully follow road safety rules and always keep their vehicles in good condition... Take the problem of overloading which, to transportation experts, has become synonymous with disaster and death. Out of 900,000 road accidents that occur every year, 140,000 or 14 percent were traced to overloading, according to the National Center for Transportation Studies of the University of the Philippines... In the North and South Luzon Expressways alone, about 2,000 accidents happen every year due to overloaded trucks and trailers, resulting in P2 billion worth of damages. The estimated cost per vehicle crash accident entails a minimum expense of P12,000 per vehicle for damaged property and a high of P1.6 million for accidents with fatalities... A vehicle is considered overloaded if its total weight is too high and/or the load in one axle is too high... if the vehicle’s weight exceeds 13,500 kg per axle, it is considered overloaded and shall be fined 25 percent of its assessed motor vehicle user’s charge or vehicle registration fee... As a road safety advocacy center said: “For the truck owners and operators, the short-term benefits derived from overloading include increased profits over a shorter period of time. These benefits are negated by a higher risk of accidents, a higher chance of being fined or banned from tollways and national roads, and higher maintenance and running costs for their overloaded trucks and trailers”...

Safety - Europe - "No truck is safer"

The Mercedes-Benz Safety Truck shows what is possible nowadays

Brussels,Belgium -The Auto Channel -May 11, 2006: -- The goals are certainly ambitious. On the one hand the European Union forecasts that goods traffic will increase by around 75 percent by the year 2030, but on the other the number of road traffic fatalities is to be reduced by half between 2001 and 2010. Accordingly Mercedes-Benz is second to none in driving new safety developments onward, with the vision of accident-free driving as the greater objective. The Mercedes-Benz Safety Truck has a particularly important role within this context, as it shows the high level of safety already feasible today...

* The safety technology of today is being developed today

The Mercedes-Benz Safety Truck and the new Active Brake Assist are by no means the end of development work for even better safety technology, however. There are already new support and safety systems in the offing which Mercedes-Benz will introduce in the coming years. All of them are expected to come on stream before the year 2010, helping to realise the EU goal of halving the number of traffic fatalities in Europe by that date... A stability control system for truck/trailer combinations is undergoing trials, for example. In stop-and-go traffic and in densely populated areas, another system will give truck drivers effective support by automatically braking the vehicle to a stop when traffic tails back. A further development of the successful Lane Assistant already available as special equipment converts this passive system into an active one by adding active steering intervention... In an even later stage, Active Brake Assist will also initiate emergency braking when vehicles ahead are stationary. And in the not too distant future, a parking aid with ultrasonic sensors at the front and rear will assist with slow-speed manoeuvres to prevent expensive and annoying vehicle damage... The Safety Truck of tomorrow is already well on the way to becoming reality...

Solidarity - USA - Poster-bearing trucks may help solve missing-children cases

Tacoma,WA,USA -Federal Way Mirror -May 13 2006: -- The Mirror Authorities hope that missing-children mysteries will be solved with the help of trucks carrying visual information on the kids, including one from the south King County area... With support from the Federal Way-based Washington Trucking Association, the State Patrol has launched Homeward Bound, a program that includes pictures of missing children placed on the sides of long-haul trucks... Homeward Bound began as a Problem-Oriented Police Safety (POPS) project through the State Patrol’s commercial vehicle division, officials said.

CNG - China - B.C. firm's natural gas engines clean up streets at night

BEIJING,China - Globe and Mail (Canada), by GEOFFREY YORK -12 May 2006: -- It's the unmistakable sound of midnight in Beijing: the wheezing roar of a heavy truck, rumbling noisily down the empty late-night roads... Every night after 11 p.m., when the normal daily traffic jams have eased, thousands of trucks heave out of the warehouses where they have been loading goods all day. Spewing black clouds of diesel fumes, they pull out into Beijing's roads and highways to deliver their cargo... In a desperate effort to keep the traffic moving, Beijing has banned all trucks from its city streets until the late-night hours, when they take over the city until dawn. But it's an emergency measure that solves none of the worst problems... The trucks, which burn 30 to 40 times as much fuel as an ordinary car, are among the worst contributors to China's energy shortage and environmental crisis. By some estimates, trucks are responsible for 40 per cent of China's oil consumption and 40 per cent of its smog... But now a Canadian company, Westport Innovations Inc. of Vancouver, is working on a potential solution: natural gas...

Pricing Submission - Australia - Cost recovery works, ATA says in

Australia -Supply Chain Review -12 May 2006: -- The trucking lobby believes the current cost allocation model works well and should continue, despite arguing the system had failed in the last round of cost allocations... A change to direct mass and distance charging is "problematic" and could lead to inefficiencies and administrative headaches, the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) argues in its submission to the Productivity Commission inquiry into road pricing... Imposing full infrastructure and externality costs is not the answer, the ATA says, because it doesn’t necessarily promote competitive neutrality or an efficient allocation of resources... The ATA argues higher costs don’t necessarily lead to less demand. If full externality pricing applied — pushing up freight rates 12 percent according to the Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics —it would see a 10 percent decrease in the quality of road freight demanded...

Out of Service - USA - Wethersfield trucking company put

New Haven,CT,USA -Wethersfield-WTNH -May 12, 2006: -- The state has uncovered a scheme involving a Wethersfield trucking company... The DMV says BI Trucking LLC tried side-stepping federal rules by registering four trucks under a different company name. The state found out by matching the truck ID numbers with a federal database... BI Trucking had been put out of service because of violations and fines...

Program - Canada - Business owners pan province's disaster-assistance

Manitoba,Canada -CBC News -May 11 2006: -- Frustration is rising among business owners who were hoping to be compensated for the business they lost when spring flooding forced roads to close in southern Manitoba for nearly a month earlier this year... Business owners in Morris were dismayed to learn at a meeting hosted by the province's Emergency Measures Organization Wednesday night that financial assistance may not be available to them... (Picture - CBC - Several highways in southern Manitoba closed due to flooding in April)

Request - Canada -CTA wants anti-idling rebate program back

OTTAWA,Canada -Today's Trucking –11 May 2006: -- A government program that gave financial incentives for the purchase of anti-idling technology has expired – and the Canadian Trucking Alliance wants it back... The CTA is calling upon the feds to reinstate the department of natural resources Commercial Transportation Energy Efficiency Rebate program, which was ran from August 2003 to March 31, 2006... Recently, the new Conservative government announced that it was suspending funding of all climate change programs pending the development of a new made-in-Canada approach to reducing GHGs...

Recommendations - USA - Fuel sipping ProStar

USA -Fleet Owner (subscription) -May 11, 2006: -- International Truck & Engine Corp. has announced its new heavy-duty ProStar Class 8 tractor benefits customers with more than 4% better fuel economy “than the nearest competitor”... This is thanks to the ProStar demonstrating 9% less aerodynamic drag, International said... To get the most fuel efficiency, International recommends spec’ing trucks with patented features including: -A “pod” air fairing on the roof.. -An aerodynamic mirror... -Chassis skirts that run along the side of the cab and cover the fuel tank and battery box reduce drag by as much as 7%, allowing for a 3% improvement in fuel economy...

Clean Trucks - USA - Diesel manufacturers eye next-gen

USA -Platinum today/UK -10 May 2006: -- Representatives of the six leading diesel engine manufacturers declared themselves "ready" this week to deliver the next generation of clean diesel technology by the beginning of 2007... At an event hosted by the Diesel Technology Forum, environmental leaders and industry executives discussed the readiness of the latest green diesel fuels and engines that do not emit sulphur... By October this year, vendors in America will begin distributing clean diesel fuel, which produces 97 per cent less sulphur than standard diesel...

Joint Venture - Italy - Fiat, Peugeot Extend Cooperation With Trucks, Parts

Rome,Italy -Bloomberg -May 11, 2006: -- Fiat SpA, Italy's biggest manufacturer, and PSA Peugeot Citroen said they've extended their partnership, spending 1.1 billion euros ($1.4 billion) on a new line of utility trucks and agreeing to build gearboxes in Argentina... Peugeot, will sell Boxer and Citroen Jumper models built at the Val di Sangro joint-venture factory in Italy, while Fiat will market a new version of the Ducato truck... The companies have had a joint venture for utility trucks since 1978...

Notice - USA - Volvo recalls nearly 300 trucks

Greensboro, NC,USA -The Business Journal of the Greater Triad Area - May 10, 2006: -- Volvo Trucks North America has issued a voluntary recall notice for 289 trucks in order to fix potential steering problems... The recall notice said the steering shafts may have a bolt hole that is located incorrectly. An incorrectly installed bolt at this spot on the steering shaft could cause the shaft to separate, the notice said... The problem was discovered at the plant where the trucks were made, according to the notice... this is the second recall for Volvo in fewer than six months. In January, the company recalled 42,000 trucks after reports of heat damage to the engine compartment...

Index - USA - Freight indicator rises slightly

USA - eTrucker, by Lance Orr -10 May 2006: -- The Transportation Services Index for freight rose two-tenths of a percent in March, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported... The March level was eight-tenths of a percent lower than the March 2005 level, the first March-to-March decline since 2002... For the first three months of 2006, the TSI for freight fell two-tenths of a percent, the first decline in the first quarter since 2003...

Supporting - Australia - Truck-friendly budget welcome

Australia -Australasian Transport News (subscription) -9 May 2006: -- The federal budget is a strong signal of support for the trucking industry, the Australian Trucking Association (ATA) says... The ATA has welcomed the Government’s $2.3 billion road funding boost, along with commitments to maintain existing road user charges... ATA Chief Executive Stuart St Clair says the infrastructure investment provides a foundation for continued productivity in the trucking industry... St Clair says the decision to freeze diesel excise and reject increases to the Federal Interstate Registration Scheme (FIRS) shows the Government is committed to the road freight transport industry... While the Government has frozen the excise charge, state governments are set to hike registration charges as part of annual inflation increases. St Clair says it must stop...

Opinion - USA - From Higher Gas Prices to Hybrids, and More...

John Paul MacDuffie on Car Trouble

Penn,USA - Knowledge at Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania -11 May 2006: -- Almost anyone who has been following the auto industry, especially in the U.S., will agree that lately it has had a bumpy ride... For one thing, the difficulties of GM and Ford have filled the headlines for several months now, and there has been lots of speculation about how severe these problems are... In addition, the auto parts maker Delphi, which was spun off from GM in 1999, is now in the midst of bankruptcy proceedings and actively negotiating with both the United Auto Workers union and GM... Yet another challenge is growing global competition: Virtually all the Japanese brands are showing an increase in market share in the U.S. And finally, questions continue to persist about advances in technology, especially as they concern the new hybrid models... (John Paul MacDuffie, a professor of management at Wharton and co-director of the International Motor Vehicle Program)

New Versions of Trucks - Sweden - Volvo's Renault Trucks launches

Stockholm,Sweden -Forbes/AFX (USA) -9 May 2006: -- AB Volvo said its unit Renault Trucks has launched new versions of the Renault Midlum and Renault Premium Distribution truck range targeted for the distribution market... Volvo said the new generation of engines for the trucks is lighter and more compact and meets the Euro 4 emissions standards, with certain of the models also prepared for the Euro 5 standard, which becomes effective in 2009. Among other features, the new vehicles are equipped with a totally new cab, new chassis and new driveline...

Study - Canada - Freight demand dramatically outpacing western capacity

VANCOUVER,BC,CAN -Today's Trucking -10 May 2006: -- West Coast capacity won't be able to keep up with skyrocketing trade as container throughput at Lower Mainland B.C. ports is expected to nearly triple in the next decade while break bulk could double... So says a new report released this week by the Western Transportation Advisory Council, a non-profit group of business, labour and government leaders focused on the western Canadian economy and transportation system. The report -- titled Preparing for Success: Forecasting Surface Freight Demand -- draws from shippers and importers that rely upon the freight transportation. It details findings in containerized freight and in six commodity groups: coal, forest products, grains, fertilizers and potash, sulphur and chemicals... The study was borne out of concerns in 2004 that the transportation industry on the west coast had "been lulled by a long period of excess capacity". And then suddenly "huge volumes of containerized goods arrived on western shores from across the Pacific, while at the same time hungry foreign demand of raw materials and commodity stressed Canada's export systems"...

Tires - Canada - Nitrogen inflation's making inroads

Toronto,Ont,CAN -Today's Trucking News (USA) -8 May 2006: -- There’s nothing magical about nitrogen’s ability to prolong tire life. It won’t restore the original luster to the innards of your tires, it doesn’t smell better, and neither will it save the environment... But using nitrogen rather than compressed air to inflate tires has two principle advantages. First, its permeation rate is 35 percent slower than air, resulting in tires that stay properly inflated longer, keeping tires running cooler, improving tread life, minimizing sidewall flex, and overall, lowering the rate of pressure-induced blowouts... Second, nitrogen is dry and contains no moisture. It's inert so rust cannot form since there is neither oxygen nor moisture present to cause oxidation of the wheel... But these days technologies have been developed for on-site use that purifies regular compressed air into high purity nitrogen...

Regulations - Australia - SMART trucks won't come with red tape

Australia -Supply Chain Review -8 May 2006: -- Regulations surrounding so-called SMART trucks operating as part of a new performance-based standards (PBS) framework will not be a burden for operators, the National Transport Commission (NTC) says... The NTC has released a draft regulatory impact statement outlining environmental standards. The standards require SMART heavy vehicles to comply with best practice regulations for vehicle emissions and noise... PBS promises to improve access to the road network for SMART trucks — like quad axle semi-trailers — which comply with agreed performance standards for safety, infrastructure and the environment... Under the proposals, SMART heavy vehicles must demonstrate compliance against an externally-audited vehicle maintenance management program. This includes maintaining the vehicle’s emissions performance, engine brake noise and vehicle noise... New vehicles and existing vehicles which have been continuously operating under an approved audited maintenance system for the previous 12 months will be exempt from entry tests for noise and emissions (eg: DT80 engine dynamometer test for emissions)...

Illegal Leasing - China - Cops hold hawkers of cargo permits

Shanghai,China -Shanghai Daily, by Dong Zhen -9 May 2006: -- Nine hawkers, all migrant women, have been arrested in the latest campaign against illegally leasing special traffic permits, which are required for cargo trucks to drive on downtown streets... Legally permits, all must be obtained through official procedures and police were investigating the sources... In order to control the number of large cargo trucks on downtown streets, traffic police started issuing special permits to cargo vehicles several years ago... Transport companies or owners of the cargo vehicles must register with police to get a traffic permit before the trucks can legally enter the downtown area, mostly the streets inside the Outer Ring Road... The application procedure takes several days and a permit costs several hundred yuan, depending on the length of the extension, ranging from several weeks to months... For some out-of-town cargo truck drivers on short-term errands in the city, renting a permit from the hawkers at about 10 yuan (US$1.25) per hour is more convenient and cheaper, though illegal... The hawkers usually approached the driver's cab when the vehicles stopped for a red light. In general, most hawkers are migrant women. Those detained were expected to be fined and warned but were not to face criminal charges...

Trucking leading - Canada - In freight/efficient transportation projects

OTTAWA,BC,Can -Truck News -8 May 2006: -- Five new projects designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the freight transportation sector, including another two trucking-related ventures, have approved for the eighth round of funding under Transport Canada’s Freight Sustainability Demonstration Program... Fredericton-based Sunbury Transport joins the list of trucking carriers to participate in the program, which provides financial assistance to any truck, or intermodal freight company that can make an environmentally-sound case for it... Also selected is Freight Wing Inc., which will demonstrate to Canadian trucking fleets the potential of aerodynamic trailer attachments to reduce fuel consumption... Trucking-related proposals already approved and underway include: fuel-efficiency training programs, testing of anti-idling units, adoption of fuel-saving technology, and changes to existing equipment to more environmentally friendly gear... (Picture: More carriers are getting in line to show Ottawa how environmentally- friendly they can be. The government cash doesn't hurt either)

Seminar - Canada - OTA & CITA to hold one on regulatory impacts for trucking

Toronto,Ont,CAN -Canadian Transportation & Logistics, by Julia Kuzeljevich -8 May 2006: -- The Ontario Trucking Association and Canadian Industrial Transportation Association are holding a joint seminar on Regulatory and Market Forces Impacting Trucking Industry Operations... The seminar will be held on June 20 in Mississauga, Ontario, and is designed to apprise the whole supply chain of new trucking regulations and the impact they will have on trucking fleets and their customers... The seminar will cover: changes to Canadian Truck Driver Hours of Service, Cross Border programs (ACE, FAST, CTPAT), Changes to Trucking Equipment (new environment regulations), Load Securement, Fuel Prices & Surcharges, and Current & Future Capacity Issues (carriers and shippers exchange views)...

High Fuel Costs - USA - More than emissions to worry about

Truckers fight costs

Munster,IN,USA -Munster Times, by ANDREA HOLECEK -May 7, 2006: -- Though upcoming emissions standards are prompting many trucking companies to buy new this year, independent owner-operators are another story. They say they're not in the market for trucks because high diesel fuel prices have eaten away their profits, as well as their ability to replace their rigs... "Guys can buy new trucks, but they'll lose them," said Pat Cornelius of Niagara Falls, Ontario, while fueling his rig at the Travel America truck stop in Gary... "You can buy a repo (repossessed) truck easy now because there are so many on the market. We're making 88 to 90 cents a mile, and it's costing us 68 to 73 cents just for fuel. Not much left over"...

Fuel Costs - USA - Squeeze cargo haulers

Contractors often lack power to apply surcharges

GRANITE CITY, ILL.,USA - Houston Chronicle/Associated Press, by JIM SUHR -May 6, 2006: -- As an independent trucker always vigilant about his razor-thin bottom line, Glen Eicher doesn't enjoy the leverage bigger haulers have in making up their soaring fuel costs through surcharges... So with his payout for diesel fuel up about one-third over the past year, the driver from Michigan must be creative in making ends meet and milking fuel economy: He obsesses about tire pressure, religiously rotates his tires and doesn't speed. He scours the Web for bargains on petrol... Once prone to fill his tank when it was empty, Eicher now just gets splashes of diesel where it's cheapest... (AP/JAMES A. FINLEY: Independent haulers are struggling to find ways to recoup high fuel costs)

Radioactive Waste Materials - USA - Fatal truck accident involves they

Yavapai County,AZ,USA -AZ Central.com/12 News, by Kevin Curran -May. 7, 2006: -- It could be quite some time before traffic flows smoothly along the only interstate highway that crosses northern Arizona... All eastbound traffic on I-40 has been diverted to Old Route 66 between Seligman and Ash Fork following a fatal accident involving a truck carrying radioactive materials... Arizona Dept. of Public Safety says two tractor-trailer rigs collided near milepost 131 in Yavapai County just after 7:30 Sunday morning. One of the trucks was a flatbed carrying containers of tools and clothing that had been used in nuclear environments. The cargo was being taken to a radioactive waste disposal facility...

Prognosis - United Arab Emirates - Road Runner

Dubai,United Arab Emirates -ITP.net/The Arabian Business Weekly, by Robeel Haq -7 May, 2006: -- The Middle East’s road network remains the logistics industry’s most favourable mode of transport. Since the region’s ambitious plans for a rail network remains work-in-progress and airfreight is often deemed too expensive, the amount of landfreight being transported throughout the GCC is reaching record levels... Logistics companies are utilising different types of vehicles to transport products. The number of larger trucks being driven in the Middle East seems to be increasing at the highest rate, followed by light commercial vehicles such as delivery vans...

Realtor - USA - Named Salesperson of the Year

Chappell Hill,TX, United States -Bryan College Station Eagle -May 7, 2006: -- A Chappell Hill man has been named the Bever's Real Estate Salesperson of the Year for the fourth year in a row... After retiring from running an international logistics company, MRT, which stands for Matlack Roman Transportes, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Dave Wyatt, now 66, said, he decided he was too young to not work at all. He said the transition from industry work to real estate was smooth...

Businessman's story - USA - Low gets taste of Derby

Louisville,KY., USA -The Louisville Courier Journal /New Brunswick Home News Tribune (New Brunswick,NJ) By BRIAN BENNETTTHE -5 May 2006: -- When Robert Low bought his first thoroughbred in 1995, he told trainer Dan Peitz he wanted to win a Kentucky Derby... All horse owners share that dream, of course. But Low is used to accomplishing large goals... As a 19-year-old engineering student at the University of Missouri, Low started a trucking company in 1970 with one vehicle. Today, his Prime Inc. transportation business boasts a fleet of 3,000 tractors and trailers with an annual income of more than $575 million... Last summer, Hurricane Katrina demolished Low's Palace Casino Resort in Biloxi, Miss. By New Year's Eve, he had the casino operating again while finding jobs for many of the displaced victims... Now, the Springfield, Mo., businessman and his wife, Lawana, have their eyes set on one of sport's most elusive achievements: winning the Kentucky Derby with Steppenwolfer...

Trucks to cost more - USA - Emissions changes prompt jump in truck sales

Due to tougher standards in 2007 , companies, and truckers want to buy early

North West Indiana,USA -The Times Online, nwitimes.com, by ANDREA HOLECEK - May 7, 2006: -- Large commercial trucks sales are booming in the region and nationwide in anticipation of the higher cost of diesel-fueled vehicles equipped with the technology needed to meet 2007 emissions standards... Environmental Protection Agency regulations will require Class 8, medium-duty trucks and buses manufactured after 2006 to run on diesel fuel that has its sulfur content reduced to 15 parts per million from the current standard of 500 ppm. Truck engines using the low-sulfur fuel will be equipped with the advanced treatment devices needed to meet the EPA requirement... The new rule is expected to reduce smog-causing emissions of nitrogen oxide by 2.6 million tons per year and eliminate 110,000 tons of soot, including the clouds of black smoke emitted from truck exhausts...

Fuel Alternatives - USA - The drive for gas

Conference in Phoenix to explore other fuels

The Arizona Republic, by Bob Golfen -May 7, 2006: -- As drivers across the nation struggle with skyrocketing fuel prices, and the country faces its addiction to foreign oil, a national conference of transportation experts meets in Phoenix this week to explore the alternatives to gasoline... Natural gas, ethanol, biodiesel, propane and the future of hydrogen for fueling our cars and trucks will be the focus of the annual Clean Cities Congress and Expo 2006 that starts today at the Phoenix Convention Center. About 2,000 alternative-fuel companies, government officials and businesspeople will gather to hear about the latest trends, gadgets and forecasts involving fuels that could help wean American drivers from petroleum and clear the air.As gas prices ratchet up, more drivers are looking for better ways to commute and travel... (Picture: Dave Clement fills his car tank at home in Mesa using the FuelMaker compressed natural gas system that he sells and installs)

Configuration - USA - Interior Truck Layout

DIY Versus Hiring A Specialist

Fort Atkinson,WI,USA -AMonline.com, by Emily Refermat -May 5th, 2006: -- The right interior configuration will increase operating efficiency, saving money and leaving room for growth -- SpecialtyTrux works with operators to build the exact interior they need... Customizing the interior of a route vehicle to maximize the efficiency of inventory handling is an important element to running an efficient operation. To do this, operators often debate doing the work themselves or utilizing the services of vehicle design specialists... Whether working with a professional or designing the interior on your own, the first question is, "How much inventory do you need to carry?"...

Why Oil Prices Are Up - USA - What We Can, and Can't,Do about It

Philadelphia, PA,USA -Knowledge/The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania -5 May 2006: -- Rising prices for crude oil and gasoline have alarmed many consumers and put President Bush and other U.S. politicians in a position where they feel they have to do something -- anything -- in response, especially in an election year... But members of Wharton's finance department and private-sector economists say it's a good time to look at the reasons for the price hikes and their likely effect on the economy and on energy policy. They also say that as long as the United States continues to rely on oil producers in other parts of the world, high prices and price volatility will be the norm. Bolivian President Evo Morales's decision, announced this week, to nationalize the country's natural gas sector, only underscores that point...

"Troqueros" News - USA - LA, LB Port Work Stoppage Impact Minimized

''One day doesn’t kill you…we will recover fully,'' says one terminal operator

Los Angeles,CAL,USA -CalTrade Report -2 May 2006: -- The volume of container cargo moving in to and out of terminals at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach was cut by as much as 80% yesterday as the independent truckers that serve the ports' cargo terminals followed through on their promised work stoppage in support of full US citizenship rights for illegal immigrants... The one-day work stoppage, in effect, defused the threats made late last week by some truckers who threatened a "recognition strike" that would close down the two ports "for at least a week"... The action by the so-called "troqueros" - the largely Hispanic independent truckers who dray cargo moving through both ports - resulted in several of the ports' busiest terminals reporting significant reductions in truck activity... (Photo: Labor Notes, by David Bacon: The troqueros’ unique position in the transportation system enabled them to shut down freight traffic and force powerful interests, from ship owners to port authorities to retailers like Wal-Mart, to listen to their demands)

Wasteful and Unproductive Proposals - USA

One Hundred Percent Cargo Scanning and Cargo Seals

Washington,DC,USA -Heritage.org, by Alane Kochems and James Jay Carafano, Ph.D. -May 5, 2006: -- The Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee recently approved a major maritime security bill that would start the Department of Homeland Security down the road to 100 percent scanning of cargo containers. There have also been attempts in the House to add requirements for radiation scanning and the use of seals on all containers before they enter the United States. These approaches are misguided... These measures would provide only minimal utility at the cost of billions of dollars in new duties, taxes, and operating costs. Such efforts would distract resources from solutions that could measurably strengthen maritime security, such as watching the back door of American ports through which trucks, trains, and barges travel daily...

Jobs - USA - FedEx delivers, promise of a boom

$214 million expansion will steer tons of cargo through Indianapolis airport

Indianapolis,IND,USA -Indianapolis Star, by Ted Evanoff -May 5, 2006: -- Freight carrier FedEx boosted Indianapolis' logistics industry Thursday, announcing an expansion that will bring in much-needed blue-collar jobs in 2008 and affirm the city as a key point on overseas cargo routes... The $214 million expansion will steer tons of cargo from overseas through Indianapolis International Airport, officials said, accelerating the region's economic goal of luring firms that need quick delivery to foreign cities... Hundreds of needy college students and former industrial workers are expected to apply for the 800 new FedEx jobs in a warehouselike facility that would gear up for four to five hours every night to shift cargo among airliners and trucks...

Markets - India - Truck rentals up by 15% during Oct '05-Mar '06

New Delhi,India -Hindu Business Line -May 5, 2006: -- Truck rentals on trunk routes went up by 15 per cent during the six-month period (October 2005 to March 2006), even though there was no hike in diesel prices... According to a research report, corporate and bulk goods consignors have increased their freight rates in annual transport contracts for fiscal 2006-07 ranging from 10-12 per cent for truck hire from big transport contractors... However, the increase has not hit the profitability of companies significantly in the backdrop of buoyant economy...

"SAFE" - USA - Could Put Truck Inspection Facility Somewhere On 710 Fwy

Fed'l Legislative Verbiage That Inserted In SAFE Port Act

Long Beach,CA,USA -LBReport.com -May 5, 2006: -- A provision that could facilitate federal funding for a truck inspection facility somewhere on the 710 freeway was inserted in the House version of the "SAFE" Port Act by Congresswoman Juanita Millender-McDonald... The truck inspection facility -- which supporters have said would be a high tech project that could assess trucks while they're driving by -- is apparently favored by the CA Highway Patrol with staff of the Gateway Cities Council of Governments favoring at least one truck inspection facility somewhere on the 710 freeway...but without mentioning a specific location...

Story - Ethiopia - Drives her truck on drought's front-line

MOYALE, Ethiopia -Reuters -May 5,2006: -- Tafesech Sahele causes a stir wherever she goes: there are not many women driving trucks in Ethiopia, and her cargo is as precious as life... "People jump around and run up with their cans when they see the water tanker drive up. When they see it is me, they gather around to see a woman driver. It is very unusual," said Tafesech, a 45-year-old mother of two... She delivers water to the Moyale district on the border with Kenya, an area that has been hit hard by a drought affecting millions across the Horn of Africa... For the people of Moyale, Tafesech provides a lifeline in a country where the government says more than 737,000 people do not have access to clean water after two successive rainy seasons failed... Tafesech has the sole responsibility of delivering water supplies to over 100,000 people...

Holding - India - Fiat's Iveco to sell Ashok Leyland stake

MUMBAI,India -REUTERS -May 05, 2006: -- Fiat Group's Iveco is in talks with international bus and truck makers to sell its 15 percent holding in India's Ashok Leyland Ltd, analysts and local media said. Firms including Sweden's Volvo and Scania are reportedly in the race, while some reports also suggest that the Hinduja family, which owns 35 per cent of Ashok Leyland, may buy out Iveco's holding.

Parking - India - Trucks get a clean place in Sector 26

Chandigarh,India -Chandigarh Newsline -May 5, 2006: -- With UT Administrator Gen S.F. Rodrigues formally inaugurating the Idle Truck Parking in Sector 26, it was thrown open for the trucks today... Constructed at a cost of Rs 2.62 crore and spread over an area of 5.78 acre, this project will provide idle truck parking facility to 250 trucks, dormitory accommodation for 60 drivers, a toilet block and washrooms for use by 20 persons at a time, a medical room and four ‘dhaba sites’ for serving quality food to the truck operators...

Market - USA - Big truck sales are accelerating

USA -purchasing.com -May 5, 2006: -- Commercial vehicle sales are expected to expand by as much as 10% in 2006 as truck buyers take advantage of pricing stability and pre-buy to beat new 2007 emission-control regulations being imposed on heavy truck diesel engines by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). While heavy truck pricing is expected to be stable this year, industry insiders see a 10% increase in 2007 because of new regulations... Economists at Global Insight report that truckload carrier tonnage grew an estimated 2.3% in 2005 as compared with 3.8% in 2004. Their outlook for key commodities suggests at least a 3% pickup in truckload volume in 2006. This may explain why speakers at a recent trucking industry meeting reported that heavy duty trucking demand remains strong and existing on-road equipment is near capacity...

Production - Pakistan - BMC Tow Trucks to be produced in

Islabamad,Pakistan -Zaman.com (Istanbul,Turkey) -May 04, 2006: -- Technical cooperation and distributorship contracts were signed between BMC and Pakistan’s AFZAL Motors (PVT) on 2 May 2006... Tow trucks slated for production include models designed especially for the Pakistani market. This investment, in which 5,000 vehicles will be produced in the first five years, is aimed at helping the region’s automotive supplier industry to develop...

Blind Spot Mirrors - Ireland - MEP calls for on trucks

Galway,Ireland -Galway Advertiser, by SINEAD MCGOVERN -4 May 2006: -- Independent MEP Marian Harkin has called on the Government to bring in immediate legislation requiring the fitting of blind spot mirrors on all Irish trucks... Ms Harkin strongly supported the call made by the Irish Road Hauliers Association for the Government to act immediately to bring forward legislation which would help to prevent the eight deaths per annum caused by the absence of blind spot mirrors on Irish trucks...

Trucks boom - Germany - Powers MAN as shares soar

FRANKFURT,Germany -Reuters, by Michael Shields and Christiaan Hetzner -May 4, 2006: -- Germany's MAN AG extended the string of forecast-beating results by European truckmakers on Thursday, boosting first-quarter operating profit nearly 80 percent and sending its shares soaring... Like Swedish rival Scania, MAN said European demand for trucks and buses could slow later this year once strict new Euro 4 emission standards take effect in October, but it forecast the market would advance again in 2007...

Help Wanted - USA - Truck Drivers

For the want of a truck driver, a great deal can be lost

New York,NY,USA -Forbes, by Robert Malone -4 May 2006: -- Trucks are the core logistics vehicles that bring almost everything to retail establishments across the nation. No truck means no yogurt, no gas and no Ralph Lauren polo shirt... Of the 3.4 million truck drivers on the U.S. roads in 2002, about 1.3 million were heavy- and tractor-trailer drivers. The American Trucking Association (ATA) estimates that employment will increase at a minimum rate of 1.8% through 2012, when there will need to be 2.1 million heavy haulers... These estimates offer the country and its transportation industry a not-so-delightful paradox, as there is currently a shortage of 20,000 long-haul drivers--and that number is growing. To this statistic must be added the 219,000 truck drivers who are 55 and over that will need to be replaced in the next decade. When the increased need for drivers is factored along with the attrition, there is a mammoth need to quickly find more truckers...

Trucking braces for flu pandemic

USA -Fleet Owner (subscription), by Terrence Nguyen -May 4, 2006: -- Yesterday the U.S. Homeland Security Council released a national strategy for dealing with an influenza pandemic that positions trucking as a stakeholder... The report noted that the risk of transmitting the flu virus via cargo or trade goods is low, with the exception of live avian or other animal cargo. However, the federal government has not ruled out significant border measures to slow the spread of flu should an outbreak occur... The federal government estimates that “highly restrictive border measures” could delay the peak of a pandemic by a few weeks— but not prevent it...

Trucking Students - USA - Change in law aids they

Salt Lake City,UT,USADeseret Morning News, by Lee Davidson -May 3, 2006: -- For years, Utah broke its own law by issuing commercial driver's licenses to non-residents if they enrolled in local truck-driving schools. Violations finally ended this week because truck companies persuaded the Legislature to change the law to legalize the practice... However, it will still technically violate federal law. But federal officials have told the state they do not plan to enforce the law while they wait to see if federal rules also will change... On Monday, HB140, it will allow the state to provide temporary, 60-day commercial driver's licenses (CDLs) to out-of-state students enrolled in Utah truck driving schools. Recipients then would need to obtain a permanent CDL from their home state...

Rising fuel costs - USA - Have truckers singing the highway blues

Shreveport,LA,USA -Shreveport Times, by Anubhav Tagore -3 May 2006: -- The American Trucking Associations on April 25 revised the trucking industry's 2006 fuel costs, projecting an increase in the amount it will spend on fuel in 2006... ATA said the trucking industry will spend $94.3 billion on fuel this year, based on current fuel price forecasts. This marks a $6.6 billion increase over the $87.7 billion spent by trucking in 2005... Trucking companies have had to pass on some of the cost to their clients... The fuel surcharge is based on a matrix every trucking company sets up in-house... Trucking serves as a barometer of the U.S. economy because it represents nearly 70 percent of tonnage carried by all modes of domestic freight transportation, including manufactured and retail goods... ATA said fuel prices could increase further in 2006 because of the introduction of ultra low sulfur diesel, which is scheduled to hit the market midyear. ULSD costs more to refine and distribute than today's diesel fuel. This could place additional upward pressure on the price of diesel fuel... To alleviate future significant fuel price fluctuations, the trucking industry supports long-term strategies that would increase the diesel fuel supply. These include increased refining capacity, the use of biodiesel in blends up to 5 percent as part of the national diesel fuel standard and environmentally sound exploration of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge... (Shane Bevel/The Times - Trucks line up at the pumps at Flying J Truck Stop in Greenwood. Fuels costs are higher than ever for truckers and trucking companies)

Parking - USA - Rock Run keeps on trucking

Semi-trailer parking: Screened facility will hold 500 vehicles

Joliet,IL,USA -Joliet Herald News, by Andrea Hein -4 May 2006: -- A parking lot for 500 semi-trailer trucks will be one of the newest additions to the Rock Run Business Park... During Monday's pre-council meeting, officials approved changes to the development agreement the city has with the operators of the business park on Houbolt Road. The additions made to that agreement will allow the developer, Industrial Developments International, or IDI, to construct a 352,000-square-foot, inventory storage building with approximately 130-truck docks, a parking area for 165 trucks and the extra lot for 500 trucks... The additions to Rock Run could pump as much as $750,000 in taxes into city coffers and create between 350 and 450 new jobs, city staff and representatives from IDI said...

Earnings - USA - Oshkosh beats forecasts; shares fall on outlook

CHICAGO,Ill,USA -Reuters -May 2, 2006: -- Oshkosh Truck Corp. reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings on Tuesday, but concern about a spike in truck orders ahead of new emissions rules sparked a sell-off in the company's shares in early trading... Oshkosh, which makes heavy-duty vehicles for the defense, fire and emergency, and commercial trucking markets, posted net income of $49.8 million, or 67 cents a share in the fiscal second quarter ended March 31, up from $38.2 million, or 52 cents a share, a year earlier... The results for Oshkosh's most recent quarter were lifted in part by a spike in demand for big trucks ahead of tough new U.S. clean-air rules...

Trucking Registration - Canada - Alberta and B.C. harmonize about

EDMONTON, Alta.,CAN -Truck News, by Steven Macleod -2 May 2006: -- The Alberta and B.C. governments eased the economic border between the provinces with the signing of the Trade, Investment and Labour Mobility Agreement (TILMA) on April 28... Under the new agreement, businesses will only be required to register once for both provinces and under the transportation section of the agreement this will eliminate additional registration requirements for inter-provincial truckers when the agreement goes into effect on April 1, 2007...

Production - Iran - To Manufacture Nissan's Diesel Trucks

Tehran,Iran - ISNA -Apr 29, 2006: -- Iran is to start the manufacturing of Nissan's Diesel trucks from the second half of 2006... The directing manager of SAIPA Diesel Co. announced that this company had manufactured 12 thousands trucks in 2005 which allocated 42 percent of the market to itself... This official also pointed out that 2000 Chinese trucks had been imported to Iran in 2005 and Iran was to start the production line of these trucks in 2006...

To Pass - Australia - Trucking companies on increased fuel costs

Australia -ABC Online - 01, May 2006: -- The transport industry will start passing on the increased cost of fuel this week as companies begin to include fuel surcharges in contracts... The Australian Trucking Association (ATA) has been urging operators to act for some time, especially smaller businesses who are struggling to absorb the higher diesel costs... The ATA's Stuart St Clair says he is relieved at the industry's decision and believes most customers have been expecting it...

GreenNews - USA - Trucking industry says ethanol has been good for business

Steamaboat Roch,IA,USA -WHO-TV/AP -1 May 2006: -- Des Moines,Iowa Regional trucking firms say Iowa's ethanol industry is fueling good business... According the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, Iowa's 21 plants produces over one (b) billion gallons of fuel, making it the nation's largest producer. That will grow by at least 600 (m) million gallons by the end of the year... At Pine Lake Corn Processors near Steamboat Rock in eastern Iowa, close to 70 semis and tankers bring around 50-thousand bushels of corn a day. In turn, they haul away 70-thousand gallons of ethanol and 178 tons of distillers grain...

Defectives - USA - GM to recall about 400,000 pickup trucks

DETROIT,Ill.,USA -Business Week/AP -May. 1, 2006: -- General Motors Corp. is recalling about 400,000 pickup trucks due to defective brake lights... The affected vehicles are the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon from the 2004-2006 model years and the 2006 Isuzu i-280 and i-350... GM said some vehicles may permanently lose brake-lamp function or have brake lamps that are always on. On vehicles with cruise control, that function also becomes inoperative...

* Pickup Trucks Rock! But They Also Roll: Buckle Up For Safety
COLLEGE STATION,TX,USA –AgNews, by Linda Anderson -May 1, 2006: -- In fact, 2002 data from the U.S. Census Bureau shows that almost one-quarter of the vehicles in Texas are pickups, said Bev Kellner of Texas Cooperative Extension's Passenger Safety program... Unfortunately many of these pickups' drivers and passengers may be riding with a false sense of security, Kellner said... "Pickup drivers think they are safer in trucks than in cars, but they are not. According to research from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, in fatal crashes pickup trucks roll over twice as often as passenger cars do. And being thrown out of the vehicle is the most common cause of injury and death in rollover crashes."..

State test - USA - Driving biodiesel fuel for trucks

CONCORD, N.H.,USA -Boston Globe -Apr 30, 2006: -- The state Department of Transportation is looking to test-drive biodiesel fuel this summer... The department has put out bids to fill a 10,000 gallon storage tank at its Durham station with 20 percent biodiesel -- a renewable fuel made partially from vegetable oil... The University of New Hampshire will use the biodiesel in six buses that run to Newmarket, Dover and Portsmouth... Biodiesel is more expensive than regular diesel -- a report in the Concord Monitor notes a recent price tag of $2.71 -- about 60 cents more per gallon. But it is a renewable fuel that releases fewer toxic emissions into the environment...

Bill - USA - Senate endorses tighter rules on trucking companies

Hartford,Conn,USA -WTNH (New Haven,CT)/AP -Apr. 28, 2006: -- Connecticut trucking companies and the drivers they hire would have to meet stricter guidelines if a Senate proposal is approved by the state House... Senators adopted a measure today that forces trucking companies to give on-the-road tests to their new drivers to ensure those people are capable of safely handling the heavy trucks... The new Connecticut bill would let the DMV order the trucking firms with unsatisfactory ratings to stop operations until their rating improves...

Trucking Alliance - Canada - Calls for tax breaks on smog-free trucks

OTTAWA,Canada -Logistics Management -Apr. 28, 2006: -- Canada should emulate some of the emission reduction measures introduced in the United States to improve environmental performance, says the Canadian Trucking Alliance (CTA)... The Canadian trucking industry is urging the federal government to introduce tax incentives, similar to the accelerated depreciation rates that exist in the United States, to speed up the penetration of a new generation of smog-free trucks available this fall...

Inspection - Canada - Two out of six trucks pass latest one

Edmonton,Alberta, Canada -Edmonton Sun -28 Apr 2006: -- Results of school bus and heavy truck inspections held yesterday were a little better than last week's checks but are still a concern, said city police... Two of the six trucks stopped near 98 Avenue and 71 Street passed the inspection... The inspectors were enforcing national equipment and safety standards... Three of the trucks were taken out of service for significant equipment and safety problems, while one had minor safety issues but was allowed to stay on the road...

Doubts - USA - Cummins profit rises, but shares fall

CHICAGO,Ill,USA -Reuters, by James B. Kelleher -April 28, 2006: -- Cummins Inc., reported better-than-expected quarterly profits on Friday, and raised its full year guidance, thanks to strong sales of its diesel engines and generators... But shares of the company, which is enjoying a spike in demand for big truck engines ahead of tough new U.S. clean-air rules, fell as investors focused on the murky outlook in 2007, when the new regulations take effect and heavy-duty engine sales are expected to tumble...

Cooperation - Australia - DaimlerChrysler and Mitsubishi Fuso Join Forces

For Further Expansion in Australia Commercial Vehicle Business

Melbourne,Australia –AutoWeb(Australia) -28 Apr, 2006: -- DaimlerChrysler Australia/Pacific (DCAuP) and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corporation (MFTBC) today announced closer cooperation in the Australia commercial vehicle market. DCAuP will assume full responsibility for wholesale distribution of Mitsubishi Fuso trucks and buses in Australia in the future. The inclusion of Mitsubishi Fuso within DaimlerChrysler’s wholesale organization is intended to support the further growth of Mitsubishi Fuso-brand trucks and buses in Australia...

trucks world news

About Me

Links

Previous Posts

Archives

31.5.06

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

Modern trucks - USA - A feat of engineering on wheels

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

Environmental Improvements - USA - Trucking Marks Another Step in

Trucking top freight mover - Canada - Report Transport Canada says

Sales - USA - Heavy-duty orders start to yield

29.5.06

Survival Guide - USA - Be cautious of trucks when driving

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

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

College - USA - Kilgore's goes trucking

Equity Stake - Germany - German firm eyes Navistar

Beaters beware - Canada - Cops aim to increase road safety

In line with industry expectations - USA - Tonnage bounces back

Perfect Balance - USA - Trucking growing pains

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

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

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

Opportunity - USA - Transportation Shares Jump

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

Extortion - Nepal - Maoists continue collecting donations in Bardiya

26.5.06

TechnoNews - USA - Basic Engine Design for New E85 Ethanol

24.5.06

Traffic deaths - USA - Higher among minorities than general population

Gas-Saving Truck - USA - Comes To Tyler

TechnoNews - Germany - Beaming in on safety

Profile - USA - 2006 Medium and Heavy Duty Aftermarket

23.5.06

Tests - USA - ATRI Evaluates Mobile Idle Reduction Technologies

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

Labeling Requirements - USA - EPA’S Diesel Fuel

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

AUTOS' WORLD NEWS

Caution - USA - Not every vehicle can use ethanol

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

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

TechnoNews - USA - Air-Hybrid Engine

TechnoNews - Japan - The Nissan Atlas 20 Hybrid Truck

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

Hybrid truck - USA - Does double duty

Possibility - Israel - Gaza might export goods through El Arish

Investigating Complaints - China - Shaanxi officials probe illegal trucking fines

Solidarity - USA - Woman passionate about trucking, helping others

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

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

Trucks on display - USA - Free rides available

Campaign - USA - 'Click It Or Ticket'

22.5.06

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

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

AUTOS' WORLD NEWS

Production - Thailand - Move from trucks to parts and beyond

Tires - Mexico - Michelin adds new tread plant

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

Buying - USA - FedEx makes trucking move

20.5.06

Fuel Economy - USA - International’s Aerodynamic ProStar Boasts

AUTOS' WORLD NEWS

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

GreenNews - Mexico - Manufacturing Hybrid Vehicles

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

Prognosis - USA - Trucks to fill future

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

Comments - USA - Fueling opportunity

19.5.06

Development - USA - Series 60 Detroit System

Pollution - USA - Residents rally against ethanol plant plans

Offer - Iran - Hurls Trucks at Israel

Tolls - Finland - Suggested for Russian trucks on Finnish roads

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

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

Jobs' ads campaign - USA - Softer Side of Trucking

Food Safety Program- Canada - Another Carrier Certified Under CTA