trucks world news: June 2006

Purchases - UK - To Buy 2,000 More Trucks from Germany’s MAN

LONDON,UK -DefenseNews.com (USA)/REUTERS -29 June 206: -- The British government said on June 29 it would take up an option to buy 2,077 trucks, worth around 250 million pounds ($454 million), for its armed forces from MAN ERF UK Ltd... The British Ministry of Defence placed a 1.1-billion-pound ($2-billion) order for 5,000 trucks last year from MAN... Defence Procurement Minister Lord Drayson said in a statement the Ministry of Defence was now taking up an option to buy a further 2,077 trucks, which will be used to supply front-line troops...

Survey - USA - Canton-made trucks take top honors in

Nissan official expects sales to rebound when new vehicles hit showrooms

Jackson,MS,USA -The Jackson Clarion Ledger, by Jack Mazurak -June 29, 2006: -- Three Mississippi-made trucks took top category honors in a customer satisfaction survey by J.D. Power and Associates, "2006 Automotive Performance, Execution and Layout Study", bucking the trend for newly launched vehicles to score highest... The Nissan Armada, Titan and Infiniti QX56 are made at Nissan's plant in Canton and went on sale as 2004 models. There have been no major design changes or tweaks since...

GreenNews - Canada - Trucking group pushes plan for reducing emissions

Canada -Globe and Mail -29 June 2006: -- The Canadian Trucking Alliance will unveil a "14-point action plan" today to cut greenhouse gas emissions, including the activation of so-called speed limiters on trucks to restrict them to travelling no faster than 105 kilometres an hour... David Bradley, the alliance's chief executive officer, will urge Ottawa to endorse the use of speed limiters that electronically slow down a truck's engine... The group will also suggest the introduction of certain tax incentives and other financial programs to promote smog reduction with new technology. Other goals include boosting the installation of auxiliary power units to cut truck idling and using single, wide-base tires to improve fuel efficiencies... The alliance is a federation of provincial trucking associations, representing a cross-section of the sector, with more than 4,500 carriers, owner-operators and suppliers...

Recalls - Japan - Honda, Isuzu recalling faulty vehicles

Tokyo,Japan -Mainichi Daily News/Jiji Press -29 June 2006: -- Honda Motor Co. and Isuzu Motors Ltd. on Thursday informed the Transport Ministry of plans to recall faulty vehicles for free repairs... Honda will recall 124,322 units of the Acty truck and the VAMOS Hobio minicar manufactured between February 2002 and this month due to defective brake lamps. According to the ministry, the bulb sockets of the brake lamps were incorrectly installed... Isuzu will recall 12,129 units of the Giga heavy-duty truck produced between June 2000 and February 2006 due to defective parking brakes. Because of insufficient waterproofing, inner parts of the brakes are susceptible to rust damage, according to the ministry...

Rules - China - Police intensify efforts to dismantle vehicles

China requires that each vehicle is disposed of after a certain number of years

Shanghai,China -Shanghai Daily, by Dong Zhen -30 June 2006: -- More than 1,000 vehicles were sent to a local automobile dismantling factory yesterday for destruction as traffic police cracked down on vehicles that were beyond their legal disposal date... Police were also intensifying their efforts to remove and destroy illegal cars made from old car parts... China requires that each vehicle is disposed of after a certain number of years. Sedans, for example, need to be destroyed when they become 15 years old. China also bans cobbling cars together using collections of old parts, to build so-called black vehicles, which refers to motorbikes and four-wheelers that were produced with old or disposed car parts such as engines... Traffic police sent more than 9,200 vehicles for destruction since May 20... They said most of these illegal vehicles were brought by locals at low prices from out of the city... Such troubled vehicles were operated more commonly in the city's outskirts, engaging in cargo transport or underground taxi service, police said, and add: these vehicles are involved in deadly road mishaps every year, often because of their poor condition...

EcoNews - USA - Sweeping air pollution plan proposed for LA/Long Beach ports

LOS ANGELES.CAL,USA -San Jose Mercury News/Associated Press -Jun. 29, 2006: -- Truck, ship and cargo-handling equipment pollutants would be reduced 50 percent in five years under a clear air proposal for the Long Beach and Los Angeles harbors... Cleaner vehicles and shore-side electrical outlets so vessels can shut down diesel engines while dockside are key elements of the plan unveiled Wednesday... Proposals also include retrofitting and replacing cargo-handling equipment and locomotives... The Port of Los Angeles committed $177 million and Long Beach $181 million to put the anti-pollution measures into place. The regional South Coast Air Quality Management District pledged $36 million for the conversion of older diesel trucks... But $1.6 billion is still needed...

Take-over - USA - GM moves to buy out Vector SCM joint venture

USA -Transport Intelligence On Line (UK)/Press Release -30 June 2006: -- Con-way, the American trucking and logistics company, has announced that General Motors (GM) has moved to take-over Vector SCM. Established in 2001, Vector was a joint venture between GM and Menlo, a subsidiary of Con-way (then called CNF), designed to manage the purchasing and planning of all of GM’s transport needs worldwide... Con-way released a statement yesterday (Thursday 29th ) stating that “it received notice from General Motors Corporation of its intent to exercise its call right and enter into negotiations to purchase Vector SCM,… the terms of the joint venture give GM the right to exercise a buy-out of Vector, subject to agreement on valuation, terms and conditions” ... Con-way admitted that it was not expecting the approach from GM...

Sea Transport - S. Korea - New generation of giant container ships developed

Seoul,South Korea -Transport Intelligence On Line/Press Release -30 June 2006: -- Samsung Heavy Industries held a ‘christening’ ceremony on June 22 for a 9,600 TEU container ship and handed it over to China’s CGS, the ship owner. This container ship is the largest ever to be built in the world. The giant is 321 metres long and 46 metres wide The ship was named Xin Los Angeles... The container ship was built to minimize the vibration of the ship and the structure was also strengthened. Construction also aimed at minimizing the emission of nitrogen oxide by using an environmentally friendly engine...

Sobriety Checkpoints - USA - Not Effective at Catching Drunk Drivers This 4th of July

WASHINGTON,DC,USA -PRNewswire -June 29, 2006: -- As the 4th of July approaches and millions of holiday travelers take to the nation's highways, The American Beverage Institute (ABI) encourages law enforcement agencies around the country to employ the most effective means for getting drunk drivers off of the road...
Unfortunately, ineffective tactics widely used today, including roadblocks and PR campaigns, primarily target responsible adults. At the same time they ignore the root cause of today's drunk driving problem -- hard core alcohol abusers and repeat offenders...

New Program - USA - Oil Coolers and Fuel Cooler Modules

Modine Wins $35.0 Million Program to Provide to International Truck and Engine

RACINE, Wis.,USA -Business Wire- 6/29/2006: -- Modine Manufacturing Company, a world leader in designing and developing heating and cooling solutions for a diversified group of markets including truck, agriculture, automotive, heavy-duty and industrial, announced today it has won a new program from International Truck and Engine Corporation, to help keep their new 2007 6.4L Power Stroke Diesel Engine lube oil and diesel fuel systems running cool. This order is expected to generate sales exceeding $35.0 million per year to Modine for the three years of the program...

‘Boutique Fuels’ - USA - EPA Issues Report on

USA -"Transport Topics" by TTNews -23 June 2006: -- The Environmental Protection Agency Friday released a report from a task force looking at “boutique fuels” that said if a fuel supply disruption occurs, requirements for the specialty blends make it more difficult to move fuel supplies around the country... EPA Administrator Stephen Johnson launched a task force in May to review boutique fuels, specialized blends produced for a specific state or area to meet state and/or local air quality requirements... The report called for conducting more analysis of any action to further limit a state’s ability to adopt boutique fuels...

Project - USA - On Fuel Cell Auxiliary Power Unit (APU)

Ricardo and Technology Management Inc. collaborate and receive $1 million grant

VAN BUREN TWP., Mich.,USA -Yahoo! News (press release)/PRNewswire -June 28,2006: -- In an effort to help prevent engine idling and to significantly reduce noise, pollution and fuel costs for commercial and military vehicles, Technology Management Inc. (TMI), a leading Cleveland-based developer of modular solid oxide fuel cell systems, is collaborating with Ricardo -- one of the world's foremost independent automotive engineering and management consulting firms -- to develop an integrated multi-fuel auxiliary power unit (APU), that could be used to power onboard electrical devices as an alternative to idling large diesel engines. These systems could be in mass production in the next five to 10 years...

Cross-Border Trucking - USA - Teamster Delegates Stand Strong Against

LAS VEGAS,NEV,USA -PRNewswire/Yahoo! News (press release International Brotherhood of Teamsters) -June 28, 2006: -- Union resolves to delay implementation until safety, wages and working conditions for mexican truckers are at highest levels... Delegates at the Teamsters 27th International Convention committed the union to continuing the fight to keep dangerous Mexican trucks off U.S. roads until they meet the same stringent federal safety requirements as required in the United States... Despite the Bush administration's desire to open the border to Mexican trucks, its own Transportation Department's Inspector General Office reported last year that safety concerns have not been addressed and the border should stay closed... Founded in 1903, the Teamsters Union represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States and Canada...

Trucks' Media - USA - Prism Buys TTS’ FleetSeek

New York,NY,USA -DM News, by Cara Wood -June 28, 2006: -- Business publisher Prism Business Media Inc. acquired the assets of trucking industry data source Transportation Technical Services Inc... TTS adds database services to Prism's truck and auto group portfolio, which includes Fleet Owner and Ward's. The acquired company will be re-branded as FleetSeek, the name of TTS’s current core offering...

NAFTA - USA - Mexican trucks to enter U.S. freely?

Bush administration refuses to answer WND's questions

Pompano Beach,FL,USA -Free Market News Network/WorldNetDaily.com, by Jerome R. Corsi -June 27, 2006: -- A U.S. government agency has begun a new audit to determine if the Bush administration has resolved inspection issues that would allow Mexican trucks to enter the U.S. freely... On June 7, 2004, the U.S. Supreme Court reached a unanimous decision in Department of Transportation v. Public Citizen, ruling that Mexican trucks under NAFTA could enter the U.S. freely, even if the Mexican trucks failed to meet environmental standards as set by state and federal law... An Office of Inspector General audit published Jan. 3, 2005, indicating the FMCSA had not implemented the on-site inspections in Mexico... The safety hazards being scrutinized by the FMCSA are in addition to ongoing environmental concerns. Commenting on the 2004 Supreme Court decision in Department of Transportation v. Public Citizen, legal analyst Noah Sachs noted the adverse consequences likely to follow this decision: -- As a result of the ruling, thirty thousand or more Mexican trucks – which are generally older, more polluting, and less safe than their U.S. counterparts – will be allowed to conduct long haul trucking operations to locations across the United States... Recent government studies estimate that eighty to ninety percent of the Mexican truck fleet was manufactured before 1994... Meanwhile, the last remaining barriers to the open entry of Mexican trucks into the U.S. seems to be finalizing procedures for on-site safety inspections in Mexico prior to authorizing Mexican trucks...

Biodiesel - USA - Enginemakers greenlight B20 test standard

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo.,USA -Today's Trucking -26 June 2006: -- They're coming around. While all heavy-duty engine makers currently approve a five percent blend (B5) of bio- and petro-diesel in their products, the Engine Manufacturers Association (EMA) has just approved a test spec for a 20 percent blend (B20). This paves the way for testing to begin with fuel having consistent properties and quality, which will hasten the approval of a B20 blend... Current EMA specifications require that the pure biodiesel (B100) meets the ASTM International standard D6751 or the European EN14214 standard prior to blending, but until now, there has been no standard for blended fuel. Still, EMA stresses that the recently approved testing specification is not an approved national standard...

Production - Russia - Renault and Gaz Do Truck Engine Deal

Renault Trucks just did a licence deal with Russia's Gaz Group for the latter to make Renault 11 litre dCi 11 truck engines in Russia.

Moscow,Russia -Wards Auto/TNN (UK) -27 June 2006: -- Gaz aims to use the engines in trucks, buses and construction equipment for the Russian market and Commonwealth of Independent States. The deal, worth a reported £315m also covers some manufacturing kit, tooling and training... The Russian firm also did a deal with Daimler Chrysler earlier this year to make two American models in Russia...

* Big first year profits for Gaz
Wards Auto reports that Gaz Group, Russia's largest auto maker just published its first consolidated financial results, showing a net profit of $114m for 2005...

* Russia's Gaz Group May Buy LDV
Moscow,Russia -TNN (UK) -26 June 2006: -- Sun Capital and Gaz Group confirmed that they are talking about Gaz buying Sun's Birmingham-based van maker LDV... "Manufacturing will stay in Birmingham," said Erik Eberhardson, president at Gaz Group...

Production - USA - Cummins-built engines to be exclusive on Paccar MD trucks

BELLEVUE, Wash.,USA -Today's Trucking -27 June 2006: -- Cummins' six and eight liter diesel engines will soon be the exclusive spec for Peterbilt and Kenworth medium-duty conventional trucks starting Jan. 1, 2007...
That means Caterpillar engines will be dropped from the medium-duty product line, although Cat will still be available on class 8 vehicles, stated Kenworth and Pete's parent company Paccar... Cummins also supplies 4- and six-liter mid-range diesels to Paccar-owned European truck-maker DAF under a similar agreement. Those engines are branded 'Paccar'...

Production - Brazil - Iveco Targets Faster Development in

Belo Horizonte,Minas Gerais,Brazil -TNN (UK) -27 June 2006: -- Iveco has announced the reorganisation of its Latin American division, aimed at further developing its business in Brazil. The company has also confirmed its intention to launch a new model on the local market in August... As part of the changes, the head office of Iveco Latin America will be transferred from Sao Paulo to Belo Horizonte, in the Minas Gerais State, which is also the location of the Fiat Group head office in Brazil...

Sales - UK - Here we go delivering trucks in May...

Biglorryblog on Volvo's global sales hike

UK - Transport News Network -27 June 2006: -- May proved to be an extremely profitable month for the Volvo Group in terms of the total number of deliveries from its three divisions (i.e. Volvo, Mack and Renault) which rose by 2%, despite the fact that the Swedish manufacturer is running slightly behind 2005 (-4%) on overall delivery volumes this year... Deliveries from Mack rose 11%, while deliveries from Renault Trucks lifted by 7%. Total deliveries by market area for group are as follows:..

Purchases - Canada - Ottawa to spend $1.2B on 2,300 military trucks

Toronto,Ontario, Canada -TheToronto Star, by CFB VAL CARTIER -Jun. 27, 2006: -- The Canadian Forces will get 2,300 new high-tech logistics trucks as part of a $15-billion cash injection into the military, Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor announced... O'Connor's shopping list includes 1,500 vehicles built exclusively for military purposes, and 800 commercial trucks which will be adapted for the army...

Public Offer - China - Truckmaker IPO

Shanghai,China -Shanghai Daily/South China Morning Post -28 June 2006: -- China National Heavy Duty Truck Group Co, the nation's third-largest truckmaker, plans to raise as much as HK$7.8 billion (US$1 billion) in a Hong Kong initial public offering this year... The company has hired investment banks including JPMorgan Chase & Co to arrange the sale, which will raise at least HK$5.5 billion...

Study - USA - Trucking Restriction Makes Roads Safer

According to a new study, when trucks are kept out of the fast lanes of area highways, safety increases...

Dallas,TX,USA -CBS 11 News, by Jack Fink -Jun 26, 2006: -- Currently the rule is in place on Interstate-20, between I-45 in Dallas and Cedar Ridge Drive in Duncanville, and on I-30, between Collins Street in Arlington and Hulen Street in Fort Worth. The Regional Transportation Council began the fast lane restrictions on trucks last August. Now, the rules are here to stay and most truckers hate them... But the study shows otherwise. On I-20 in Dallas County, where the study took place, the number of truck involved crashes has dropped. Before the study the area used to have one crash every two weeks. Since the restrictions the instances have been reduced to one wreck every three to three and a half weeks...

Roadcheck program - USA - CTA's Bradley questions usefulness of

OTTAWA, Ont.,Canada -Truck News, by Adam Ledlow -27 June 2006: -- Though the numbers released from Roadcheck 2006 – the Canadian component of the annual North American truck inspection blitz – show that the mechanical fitness of trucks is continuing on a positive 10-year trend, Canadian Trucking Alliance CEO David Bradley remains skeptical of value of a three-day program... Bradley also pointed out that the industry has long questioned the methodology used during Roadcheck. First, while Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance states that vehicles are selected randomly, no statistics are kept on the number of vehicles waved through an inspection station and considered "passed" due to the presence of a valid CVSA inspection decal, Bradley says...

Protection - USA - For Drivers of Tow Trucks

Tow truck operators will have some protection beginning July first
Saskatoon,Saskatchewan,Canada -Saskatoonhomepage.ca, by Sharon Vanhouwe -26 June 2006: -- As of that date, motorists will be required to slow down to 60 kilometers per hour when passing a tow truck stopped at the roadside with amber lights flashing... Fines for those who don't slow down start at one hundred and 40 dollars...

Success - USA - SoCAL Truck program

LONG BEACH,CAL,USA -CalTrade Report -26 June 2006: -- More than two million truck trips on Southern California's freeways have been diverted from peak daytime traffic since the start of the OffPeak program last July... According to PierPASS Inc., which maintains and monitors the traffic program, OffPeak "has eliminated costly bottlenecks at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and reduced gridlock on area freeways by taking trucks out of stop-and-go daytime traffic and letting them move at night in faster-flowing traffic"...

Sales - China - National Heavy-Duty Truck allocates 20 bln yuan R&D to 2010

BEIJING,China -Forbes/AFX/China Daily -26 June 2006: -- China National Heavy-Duty Truck Corp (CNHTC), a partner of Volvo AB, plans to invest 20 bln yuan in research and development over the next four years, reported, citing company chairman Ma Chunji... Ma told that CNHTC will also look to produce and sell trucks in overseas markets due to overcapacity in China. By spending heavily in R&D, CNHTC expects newly developed products to account for one-third of its annual sales by 2010, when it expects total sales to reach more than 120,000 units, accounting for one-third of China's heavy-duty truck market...

Jobs - Canada - A shortage of HD diesel technicians

Canada -Today's Trucking News (USA/Canada) -27 June 2006: -- ... The one existing body that could do something on this front is the Canadian Trucking Human Resources Council (CTHRC) but it concentrates its efforts almost entirely on drivers. I might dispute the notion that drivers are the bigger problem to quite this extent, but the truth is, the CTHRC runs on a slim budget and there's a limit to what they can do... So I think what we need, amongst about a zillion other things, is to target the mechanic shortage ourselves -- on the web and elsewhere...

Research - USA - Indicates trucking capacity issues persist

NASHVILLE, Ind.,USA -Logistics Management, by Jeff Berman -June 26, 2006: -- Trucking capacity is likely to remain tight throughout the rest of this year and 2007, according to recent research from FTR Associates, a transportation research firm... FTR cited strong performances in manufacturing and freight-producing sectors as drivers for tight capacity, and added that United States Class 8 truck capacity being used has been in excess of 90 percent over the last nine quarters. And the research firm said total ton miles will grow by 2.1 percent this year, with modal share for trucks slated to increase to 44.8% this year and 45.3% in 2007...

Oil - Canada - $264M sale to oil sands pleases Finning

Vancouver,Canada -Canadian Mining Journal (Toronto,Ontario) -25 June 2006: -- Finning International has sold $264-million worth of haulage trucks to Canadian Natural Resources (CNRL) for its Horizon oil sands project. The sale includes 23 new Caterpillar 797B trucks and a multi-year support agreement. The trucks are to be delivered in 2008...

* BP opens door to oil sands alliance
Alaska ,USA -Petroleum News, by Gary Park -Jun 23, 2006: -- BP, often billed as the reluctant oil sands participant, may be undergoing an attitude adjustment. Chief Executive Officer John Browne said the energy giant has earmarked US$3 billion over the next decade to ensure his northern U.S. refineries can handle rising volumes of heavy crude from Canada...

Acquisitions - USA - More trucks purchases

Oshkosh Truck Corp. purchase AK Specialty Vehicles from HealthTronics Inc.

Wiscosin,USA -The Chicago Tribune -24 June 2006: -- Oshkosh Truck Corp., a maker of emergency and military vehicles, agreed to purchase AK Specialty Vehicles from HealthTronics Inc. for $140 million to gain medical and broadcast trucks... AK, based in Harvey, makes vehicles that transport medical equipment such as catheterization labs and mammography machines, the Oshkosh, Wis.-based company said... AK also produces vehicles for TV and radio stations. The acquisition is to close in July...

AUTOS' WORLD NEWS

* USA - Buyouts may top 40,000
Detroit,Mich,USA -The Detroit News, by Brett Clanton -June 24, 2006: -- In final day, more GM, Delphi workers come forward to take separation deals... Massive job-cutting efforts at General Motors Corp. and bankrupt Delphi Corp. got an eleventh-hour boost Friday thanks to a last-minute rush for the exits by workers signing up for cash buyouts or early retirement... The surge may have pushed the final tally at GM and Delphi higher than 40,000 workers, capping with a bang one of the biggest one-time downsizing events in the history of the U.S. auto industry...

* USA - The Fallout of Automotive Buyouts
To tens of thousands of workers, it's a wrenching decision. To their employers, it's much-needed cost-cutting. To their already depleted union, it's an exodus.
Washington,DC,USA -The Washington Post, by Sholnn Freeman -June 23, 2006: -- Baltimore autoworker Don Burks has made his decision. He plans to let today's buyout deadline pass and not take a $35,000 lump sum from General Motors Corp. in exchange for leaving his job for retirement after almost 38 years. Then again, nothing is definite...

* USA - Big Three rebuffed third time by Bush
Washington,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson -22 June 2006: -- Mich. officials believe Republicans don't care about automakers after meeting delayed again... President Bush's planned meeting with the Big Three has been postponed a third time -- this time until July -- which may add to the perception Detroit's automakers are struggling to get their message heard by the White House... The automakers have been trying to meet with Bush to discuss soaring health-care costs, energy and trade issues. The Big Three have been waiting to follow the summit with an announcement about their commitment to producing more flexible fuel vehicles...

* USA - Nissan recalling Altima, Sentra sedans
WASHINGTON,DC,USA -The Detroit News, by Ken Thomas -June 22, 2006: -- Nissan North America Inc. said Thursday that it was recalling 97,000 Altima and Sentra vehicles after reports of excessive oil consumption and engine fires led the automaker to stop selling the vehicles... Nissan said some 2006 sedans with 2.5 liter engines could quickly consume oil, potentially damaging the engine and leading to engine fires...

* USA - Does Driving Green = Saving Green? Used hybrids holding their value - for now
USA -AutoWeek, by ARLENA SAWYERS -21 June 2006: -- May wholesale used-vehicle prices indicate that 2005 hybrids hold more of their value than their 2005 gasoline-powered twins, according to price data from Black Book, a wholesale price guide... Black Book Editor Ricky Beggs says the prices of hybrids are holding up well but notes that most of the vehicles are still fairly new... Automotive Lease Guide, of Santa Barbara, Calif., which sets residual standards for the industry, does not release residual information on hybrids...

* Japan - Trade surplus surges 35%, fueled by car exports to U.S.
Tokyo,Japan -The Japan Times On Line -June 23, 2006: -- Japan's trade surplus jumped 35.2 percent in May from a year ago to 384.9 billion yen, marking the first jump in 17 months on brisk auto exports to the United States, the Finance Ministry said Thursday...

* Portugal - GM to shut plant by Oct. 31 if no cuts
LISBOA,Portugal -Reuters -June 23, 2006: -- General Motors will shut its assembly plant in Portugal by Oct. 31 if talks with workers and the government do not lead to lower production costs... Workers at the Azambuja plant, which assembles Combo delivery vans, and the government convinced GM last week to wait five more weeks before making a decision to close the factory...

* USA - GM temporarily shuts Lordstown plant
USA -Automotive News(UK), by Robert Sherefkin -June 23, 2006: -- General Motors temporarily shut its Lordstown, Ohio, assembly plant Friday afternoon, citing a parts shortage -- the first time a GM assembly plant has closed for this reason in nearly four years...

* UK - Land Rover begins layoffs at Solihull by idling 500
UK -Automotive News, by Greg Migliore -June 23, 2006: -- About 500 employees at Land Rover's Solihull, England, plant were given their walking papers this week. The plant expects to lay off 1,290 employees this year... The Solihull plant is losing assembly of the redesigned Freelander to the Halewood plant near Liverpool. The vehicle is expected to be renamed the LR2 this fall. It will be built alongside the slow-selling Jaguar X-Type...

* France - Faurecia to cut 690 jobs
PARIS,France -Reuters -June 23, 2006: -- French car part maker Faurecia said on Friday it would cut 690 jobs in 2007-08 under a restructuring plan for its automotive seat frames division, which is facing a fall in volumes... Faurecia is majority-owned by PSA/Peugeot-Citroen...

* Germany - Karmann to open Poland plant
OSNABRUECK, Germany -Reuters -June 23, 2006: -- German coach builder Karmann will open a roof-assembly plant in Poland to save on labor costs, it said on Friday... CEO Bernd Lieberoth-Leden said, noting staff costs in Poland were around 80 percent lower than in Germany...

* China - Not the only solution to cut supply-chain costs
High logistics costs often rule out purchase of Chinese parts
VIENNA, Austria, on "Automotive News Europe Congress" -Automotive News, by Tony Lewin -June 22, 2006: -- China is not the only answer to reducing purchasing costs, said Bo Andersson, General Motors vice president in charge of global purchasing... Eastern Europe and former Soviet Union countries such as Ukraine also were also options for low-cost sourcing of parts... Ukraine is very good -- we've moved more business there than we have to China... Burma, Pakistan, Vietnam and Cambodia were also promising as potential countries for low-cost sourcing, Andersson told a panel on cost control in the industry...

* Europe - VW boss: automakers are burdened by regulation
VIENNA, Austria, on "Automotive News Europe Congress" -Automotive News, by Tony Lewin -June 22, 2006: -- Pischetsrieder says reluctance to change rules is an 'obstacle to business'... Volkswagen group Chairman Bernd Pischetsrieder said European automakers struggle to compete globally because they are burdened by too much regulation at home. Unreasonable regulations cause this lack of competitiveness...

* Japan - DaimlerChrysler to pay Mitsubishi $300 million for Smart pullout
TOKYO,Japan -Reuters/The Nihon Keizai daily -June 21, 2006: -- DaimlerChrysler AG will pay Mitsubishi Motors Corp. about $305 million (35 billion yen) as part of compensation for dropping production of the Smart four-seat model at the Japanese carmaker's Dutch plant... A Mitsubishi Motors spokesman said the partners were in the final stages of negotiating the deal, adding no concrete figures had been reached...

* China - Skoda to produce Superb, Fabia models in
SHANGHAI,China -Reuters -June 21, 2006: -- Czech car maker Skoda Auto, which expects to roll out its first model in China next year, will later add two new models, its parent said on Wednesday... Skoda will start making the popular Octavia sedan at Volkswagen AG's venture in Shanghai next year, the German automaker said in a statement... Two more models, the Superb and the Fabia, would subsequently also be produced at the same facility...

* China - DaimlerChrysler recalls 1,011 minivans in
SHANGHAI,China -Reuters -June 20, 2006: -- DaimlerChrysler AG will recall 1,011 imported minivans in China due to potential defects with oil pipes, China's quality watchdog said on Tuesday... The Mercedes-Benz Viano and Vito were produced between October 2003 and November 2005, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine said on its Web site...

* USA - Fire risk prompts Mercedes to recall SLR McLaren sports car
USA -Automotive News, by Dale Jewett -June 19, 2006: -- High underhood temperatures that could damage the alternator and cause a fire have prompted Mercedes-Benz USA LLC to recall SLR McLaren sports cars from the 2005 and 2006 model years... Mercedes-Benz said the recall covers 433 vehicles in the United States...

Biofuel news - USA - One billion dollars gallons and more

USA -Autoblog Green, by Sebastian Blanco -Jun 22, 2006: -- Biofuel news is all around us, and here's quick round-up of some biofuel production stories from around the country: Broin Companies, which operates 24 ethanol plants and is building nine more, will now be producing over a billion gallons of the stuff a year... Indiana now has 10 ethanol plants operating or in construction. The newest, announced last week, will be operated by Broin Companies... Alternative Energy Sources Inc. and Beemer Energy completed a stock-to-stock merger to become an "ethanol leader"... The Chicago Board of Trade's chairman, Charles Carey, testified before the U.S. Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources on Monday on the CBOT's ethanol futures contract...

High-tech - USA - City considers new garbage truck

New trucks expected to save money in long run

Phoenix,AR,USA -Muskogee Daily Phoenix, by Liz McMahan -23 June 2004: -- Technology will make picking up Muskogee’s trash a lot easier for the city’s sanitation workers in the years ahead... The Muskogee City Council will vote Monday night on purchasing a $184,000 automated, side-dumping trash truck and 1,600 new poly carts... The city has been paying $80,000 to $90,000 for each of its sanitation trucks. The new trucks are considerably more expensive, but should save money in the long run, said Mike Stewart, director of public works... The new truck will have a robotic arm that reaches out, hugs a trash cart, raises it to the truck, dumps it and sets it back down... (Photo by Liz McMahan: Mike Stewart, public works director shows how trucks hook onto trash carts to dump them)

Impact - USA - Truck and Bus Safety Enforcement Efforts

14 trucks or buses inspected every minute during Roadcheck 2006

WASHINGTON,DC,USA -PRNewswire/Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance -June 23, 200&: -- In the largest targeted enforcement program on commercial vehicles in the world, 14 trucks or buses were inspected every minute from Canada to Mexico during Roadcheck 2006... Over a 72-hour period from June 6-8, 8,522 CVSA-Certified Inspectors at 1,850 locations across North America performed a near record 60,357 truck and bus inspections... The number of vehicles placed out of service and "parked" due to serious defects decreased significantly this year from 2005 in all major categories -- trucks, buses and hazmat...
* All vehicles: 21.7% in 2006, down from 22.5% in 2005;
* Buses: 6.9% in 2006, down from 11.7% in 2005; and
* Hazmat: 18.2% in 2006, down from 19.3% in 2005.
A record number of CVSA Decals -- 30,950 -- were issued to vehicles passing the inspection without having any defects in the 13 critical inspection areas...

Security - USA - GOP rejects trucking security provision

WASHINGTON,DC,USA -UPI/CongressDaily -June 23, 2006: -- Republicans in the U.S. Congress this week defeated a provision that would have boosted security for the U.S. trucking industry... The Homeland Security Economic Security Subcommittee of the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously approved a bill Thursday that would establish regulations for the trucking industry, but Republicans defeated a Democratic amendment that would have required additional security measures for the shipment of dangerous materials... The bill directs the U.S. Department of Homeland Security to designate which materials being transported throughout the United States by truck should be considered security sensitive. The list would differentiate between hazardous materials that need extra security provisions and other cargo. Individuals transporting security sensitive materials would have to undergo a fingerprint background check before being issued a permit...

Develop - USA - Eaton's hybrid electric system for refuse trucks

Akron,OH,USA -Waste News -June 23, 2006: -- Eaton Corp. is beginning development of a hybrid electric power system for heavy-duty Class 8 commercial vehicles, a category that includes trash trucks... The system will be designed to improve on-road efficiency and idle reduction, which will save fuel and cut emissions, Eaton said. The Class 8 system will share many components currently used by the company to make hybrid electric systems for smaller trucks... Recent testing shows a 5 percent to 7 percent fuel consumption reduction while driving and a gallon-per-hour savings while parked, the company said. That would save about $9,500 per year in fuel for a typical truck...

Oil - USA - Reclaims $70, with gas futures up

Oil supply at 8-year high; gas stock up less than expected

SAN FRANCISCO,CAL,USA -MarketWatch, by Myra P. Saefong -Jun 21, 2006: -- Crude-oil futures reclaimed the $70 a barrel level and gasoline futures closed 3% higher Wednesday, as a smaller than expected rise in U.S. gasoline supplies and tension between Western nations and Iran and North Korea outweighed an eight-year high in U.S. crude inventories... Crude for August delivery touched a low of $68.80 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, then recovered to trade as high as $70.75. The contract closed at $70.33, up 99 cents -- at its highest closing level since June 12... A U.S. government report issued Wednesday pegged supplies at their highest level since late May of 1998 -- a time when futures prices traded at just more than $16 and spot prices were above $15...

Oil & Gas - USA - Anadarko buys Kerr-McGee, Western

SAN FRANCISCO,CAL,USA -MarketWatch, by Padraic Cassidy & Jim Jelter -Jun 23, 2006: -- Anadarko Petroleum Corp., the nation's biggest independent oil and gas producer, made a push Friday to get a lot bigger, offering to buy Kerr-McGee Corp. and Western Gas Resources Inc. in a double-barrel takeover worth $21.1 billion in cash... The combined merger -- the ninth biggest ever in the oil and gas sector, according to Thomson Financial data -- was seen by analysts as the latest chapter in an ongoing consolidation of the industry, where producers flush with cash from record-high energy prices are scrambling to streamline operations and replenish dwindling reserves... The Anadarko deal also ignited a flurry of buying in the rest of the exploration and production group, with companies often mentioned as the possible next takeover targets seeing their share prices surge as much as 8%...

Strategies - USA - China and Saudi Arabia: interesting SPR team up?

China may tap Saudis to fill its oil reserve, a move likely to influence prices

SAN FRANCISCO,CAL,USA -MarketWatch, by Myra Saefong -Jun 23, 2006: -- A deal between the globe's most populous nation and the biggest oil producer in the world may hold significant consequences for oil prices, but experts disagree on exactly what that outcome might be... China and Saudi Arabia are reportedly discussing an agreement to import oil from Saudi Arabia to fill China's strategic oil reserves... The goal was to have about 800 million barrels in the reserve, said Phil Flynn, a senior analyst at Alaron Trading, who cited comments from China's Finance Minister Jin Renqing last year... That would be larger than the strategic petroleum reserve in the United States, the biggest stockpile of government-owned emergency crude, which peaked at an all-time high of 700.7 million barrels of oil in August 2005 and can hold as much as 727 million barrels. Its current inventory stands at 688.6 million... But earlier this week, the Chinese government said it's in talks with Saudi Arabia on importing oil to fill its strategic reserves, according to Dow Jones Newswires. The deal would involve large volumes of Saudi crude, with the first shipments unlikely to come before year's end... That means "China is really going to be a competitor with the U.S. for oil supplies," he said.

Hydraulic hybrids - USA - Delivereds for UPS

First-of-their kind vehicles meet demand of truck and bus market looking to save fuel

WASHINGTON,DF,USA -The Detroit News, by David Shepardson-June 22, 2006: -- ... On Wednesday, United Parcel Service delivers 15 million packages a day worldwide unveiled the world's first fully hydraulic hybrid-powered delivery truck, part of a surging interest in fuel-saving technology in the heavy duty truck and bus market... UPS will test the four-speed model and an experimental cousin -- without a traditional transmission -- in Livonia this fall... (Photo: The UPS unveiled the first fully hydraulic hybrid-powered delivery truck on Wednesday. The trucks will be tested in Livonia this fall)

Development - USA - Of Heavy-Duty Hybrid System For Class 8 Vehicles

Los Angeles,CA,USA -Trading Markets/RTTNews -June 22, 2006: -- On Thursday, Eaton Corp., revealed that it has started development of a hybrid electric power system for the class 8 heavy-duty commercial vehicle market, which is capable of delivering on-road efficiency as well as idle reduction, resulting in fuel saving and emission reductions... The Cleveland, Ohio based company noted that the system being developed for the heavy-duty segment will be almost similar in design as the medium-duty hybrid electric system developed for the class 4 to class 7 vehicles. Though the heavy-duty system will have many of its components similar to the medium-duty system, it will be adapted for class 8 vehicles with on-highway applications...

Regulatory Changes - Canada - Canadian Trucking Alliance Cautions Transport Ministers on

Ottawa,BC,Canada -LAYOVER -June 22, 2006: -- The Council of Ministers Responsible for Transportation and Highway Safety should not back away from a January 1, 2007 implementation date for the new Canadian hours of service regulations, and should consider first and foremost the safety record of smaller trucks if a change is to be made to the National Safety Code weight threshold. So says the Canadian Trucking Alliance in a recent communique to the federal, provincial and territorial transport ministers... No formal acknowledgement has been made by any provincial government that the January 2007 coming-into-force date of the hours of service rules will be missed. But, there is increasing concern among industry representatives that not all jurisdictions will be ready. So-called legislative windows are needed in some provinces, public hearings must be held in others, and in all of them the new regulations must be signed off by government lawyers and provincial cabinets...

Rule Changes - Canada - Put pressure on trucking firms

Industry already facing challenges in finding drivers

Calgary,Alberta,Canada -Business Edge, by Monte Stewart -22 June 2006: -- Canada's truck drivers will spend less time on the road under new federal regulations to be adopted early next year... Trucking-industry groups say the reduction in working hours will improve safety, but force companies to change their operations at a time when companies are dealing with a nation-wide driver shortage, rising fuel costs and many other challenges that make it difficult to compete... Starting Jan. 1, truckers will haul goods for a maximum of 13 hours per day and spend one more hour in service to deal with repairs and other needs. Under the current rules, drivers haul goods for 13 hours and spend two extra hours in service... Drivers will work a maximum of 70 hours per week and must receive 36 consecutive hours of rest in each seven-day period... (Photo by Bayne Stanley, Business Edge - B.C. Trucking Association executive director Paul Landry says Western Canadian firms will bear the brunt of new rules)

Distribution - USA - Exclusive Northern Europe Rights

From US Energy Initiatives To TruckGas
Los Angeles,CA,USA -Trading Markets/RTTNews -June 22, 2006: -- US Energy Initiatives Corp., revealed the grant of exclusive distribution rights to TruckGas Ltd., a United Kingdom registered company, principally for Northern Europe, including Spain and Italy for its dual-fuel technology systems... TruckGas is a member of a consortium, which involves the European trucking association, oil companies, engineering companies, European government, and regulatory agencies of the European Union... The distribution rights provides TruckGas the exclusive rights to market the Company's dual-fuel technology throughout the countries of France, Belgium, Holland, Germany, Italy, Spain, and Poland...

Removing - Australia - ATA welcomes Fuel Tax Bill

Australia -Supply Chain Review -23 June 2006: -- The Australian Trucking Association (ATA) has welcomed the successful passage of the Fuel Tax Bill 2006 through the Senate last night... The Bill removes the metropolitan boundaries on heavy vehicles between 4.5 and 20 tonnes, allowing metropolitan operators to claim the on-road diesel grant... The new Fuel Tax system takes effect on July 1...

Take Note - USA - Additives at issue during ULSD changeover

USA -Fleet Owner, by Sean Kilcarr -Jun 22, 2006: -- Fleets and independents take note: experts warn that the impending switch to ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD) this fall will require you to more closely monitor how the fuel behaves in your tank, as well as any fuel additives you use today... Refineries used to compensate for diesel’s tendency to “gel” at low temperatures by diluting it with between 25% and 50% kerosene, especially in the winter. Since kerosene is heavy in sulfur content, new low-sulfur kerosene blends are needed. The same is true for additives fleets buy to improve diesel’s cold flow performance while beefing up lubricity and anti-wear protection...

New web-based software - USA - Tackling cargo theft with technology

USA -Fleet Owner, by Wendy Leavitt -Jun 22, 2006: -- Cargo theft has become a booming business in America, worth somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 billion annually, according to most estimates. In the State of Florida, however, law enforcement officials are deploying a new web-based software system in the fight against freight theft, and it is turning the tables on criminals... In August of 2005, the Florida Highway Patrol launched a new, web-based Electronic Freight Theft Management System (EFTMS). The new system provide a means for carriers to quickly get information about a theft out to the law enforcement officials—fast enough for law enforcement to intercept the stolen equipment and cargo en route from the theft location to the thief’s destination. It’s not intended to replace the need to report a theft to the law enforcement agency in the jurisdiction of the incident, however...

Save on Fuel - USA - EPA helps West Coast fleets

USA -Fleet Owner -Jun 22, 2006: -- Small-to-medium fleets in Oregon, California, and Washington with routes along the I-5 corridor may be eligible to be among the 400 trucks the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency plans to upgrade with fuel-saving and anti-pollution technologies... EPA has partnered with the U.S. Dept. of Transportation, Oregon's transportation and energy departments, and Cascade Sierra Solutions to make its SmartWay upgrade kits available for long-haul trucks. The kits typically include engine idle reduction technology, low rolling resistance tires, improved aerodynamics and exhaust after-treatment devices... SmartWay upgrade kits can also reduce fuel consumption, carbon dioxide, and nitrogen oxide emissions by as much as 20%, EPA said...

Market - USA - NHTSA rule may stimulate disc demand

USA -Fleet Owner, by Terrence Nguyen -Jun 21, 2006: -- Business consulting firm Frost & Sullivan predicts that the U.S. commercial vehicle market share for disc brakes will erode that of drum brakes, which have commanded a retail price advantage over discs but may lag in stopping performance... The upcoming commercial vehicle stopping distance final rule from the National Highway and Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), which is expected to mandate as much as a 30% shorter stopping distance, will prompt OEM’s to give disc technology a second look... Disc brakes generally provide more stopping power than drums... According to the firm, in the Class 8 truck market drum brakes commanded 96.3% of revenues compared with the remaining 3.7% in 2005. By 2012 the revenue share of disc brakes will increase to 13.7%. In the medium-duty market in 2005 drum brakes had a 55% share of revenues to disc brakes’ 45%. By 2012 Frost & Sullivan says the shares will be 41% and 59%, respectively...

Biodiesel - Canada - Task Force requests joint government effort

REGINA, Sask.,Canada -Trucks News , by Steven Macleod -21 June 2006: -- In its final report, the Biodiesel Development Task Force urged the Saskatchewan government to work in conjunction with the federal government to advance the province's biodiesel industry... The task force consulted with key stakeholders to examine the current status, challenges and opportunities of Saskatchewan's biodiesel industry... As well as requesting a National Bio-Products Centre located in Saskatoon, the report's recommendations ask the province to work with the Government of Canada to develop trade-compliant programs and policies for the biodiesel industry; fund research and testing on standards for performance-based specifications; establish a program to help companies meet biodiesel approved standards; and continue research and development, commercialization of new products and the expansion of the biodiesel industry...

Study - USA - Truck Specs: Critical to fuel economy

USA - Fleet Owner, by Sean Kilcarr -Jun 20, 2006: -- Initial results of a fuel economy study by truck leasing firm PHH First Fleet, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, suggest that truck specs—especially engine size and gear ratio—impact vehicle fuel efficiency more than most people think... “What surprises me is the depth to which spec’ing choices can influence fuel economy,” said Hal Booth, senior vp at PHH First Fleet... is using data gained via onboard telematics installed on customer vehicles to map out what affects vehicle fuel economy. At the 10-month mark, results support the following hypothesis: While horsepower and torque are directly proportional to one another, if the output torque range or engine load percentage is maintained at a significantly lower percentage rate and the horsepower and rpms are over-spec’d, fuel economy will increase...

Controls II - Australia - Trucks on the police radar

Orange,New South Wales,Australia -Orange Central Western Daily, by KELLY FITZGERALD -23 June 2006: -- LOCAL police were putting the brakes on heavy vehicles yesterday in Molong... Trucks were stopped by police and RTA and inspected for compliance with safety, logbook and registration requirements... Canobolas Local Area Command Superintendent Mark Szalajko said this was the first of several operations which would target heavy vehicles for driver fatigue, safety infringements, drugs and stock theft... (Photo, by STEVE GOSCH - HITTING THE BRAKES: Trucks driving through Molong yesterday were inspected for safety defects and to check if drivers were complying with logbook requirements)

EcoNews - USA - Retrofiting Trucks May Help Clean North Portland's Air

Portland,OR,USA -OPB News, by Ley Garnett -22 June 2006: -- Governor Ted Kulongoski continues to focus on cleaner diesel technologies as one of his major environmental projects and campaign issues, as he runs for reelection... Thursday he introduced a program to retrofit diesel-powered tractor-trailers, offering interest free loans to help truckers pay for the new gadgets. On the same day state and local agencies touted a plan to cut dirty diesel exhaust in north Portland... And as if to cap the day of cleaner exhaust initiatives -- the Oregon Environmental Quality Commission voted for a permanent rule for Oregon vehicles to match California's clean car standards beginning in 2009...

Markets - Brazil - Fitch Downgrades ALL's Ratings

RIO DE JANEIRO, RJ,Brazil -BUSINESS WIRE (Chicago,Ill,USA) -June 22, 2006: -- Fitch downgrades the following ratings for America Latina Logistica S.A. (ALL): ... Rating actions are the result of the increased debt to be assumed by ALL in the proposed BRL1.4 billion acquisition of Brasil Ferrovias S.A. (Brasil Ferrovias) and its affiliate Novoeste Brasil S.A. (Novoeste). The acquisition has been approved by Brazil's national surface transportation agency, Agencia Nacional de Transportes Terrestres (ANTT), and is expected to be completed by the end of the month. Payment will be made using ALL's common and preferred shares such that the transaction will result in no new debt issuances at the ALL holding company and operating subsidiary levels. However, the acquisition of higher leveraged Brasil Ferrovias and Novoeste will significantly increase consolidated leverage and should negatively affect the overall credit quality of ALL...

Markets - India - Daimler-Chrysler enters Indian truck market with Actros

Pune,India -Indo Asian News Service (IANS)/Daily India -June 23. 2006: -- Leading truck-maker Daimler-Chrysler Friday announced its foray in the Indian commercial vehicles market with the launch of its heavy-duty vehicle Actros here... Available in two variants - Actros 4040K and Actros 4840K - the robustly built trucks with 12-litre engines will mainly be aimed at tapping the Indian mining sector and be available at Rs.5.5 million and Rs.6.5 million respectively...

Generosity - USA - Forgotten Harvest takes bruised goods to the hungry

Detroit,Mich,USA -The Detroit Free Press, by GRETA GUEST -June 22, 2006: -- Have you ever wondered where that slightly bruised apple you passed over at the grocery store ends up?... If you shop at Kroger, Farmer Jack, Nino Salvaggio, Whole Foods or a number of other retailers in Forgotten Harvest's network, chances are good the apple will go to feed the hungry in metro Detroit... Forgotten Harvest, based in Southfield, is the only nonprofit group that collects perishable food from area retailers and caterers and distributes it to groups serving the needy... (Photo, by HEATHER ROUSSEAU: Bessie Williams, 87, of Detroit enjoys a meal with Alberta Witherspoon, 73, of Detroit at St. Patrick's Senior Center in Detroit. Many groups, including the center, get Forgotten Harvest food distributions)

Controls - USA - Turn attention to tanker trucks

BIRMINGHAM, Ala.,USA -WTVM (Columbus,GA)/Associated Press -22 June 2006: -- Tanker trucks rolling through Birmingham are coming under additional scrutiny this week from state troopers and inspectors with the state Department of Transportation... The heightened inspections are part of a campaign to make sure cargo is properly secured and the 18-wheelers pass maintenance checks... Troopers say out of 120 coil-hauling trucks inspected, 50 were put of out of service. No figures were available for tanker trucks...

Enterprises - Sweden - Volvo affirms market forecasts, eyes China links

Gothenburg,Sweden -Reuters -Jun 21, 2006: -- Sweden's Volvo, the world's second biggest truck maker, said on Wednesday it stood by its forecast of robust truck markets on both sides of the Atlantic this year... The firm raised its outlook for its two biggest markets in April, saying it saw a total of 340,000 to 350,000 vehicles in North America and 270,000 to 280,000 in Europe this year... Volvo remained committed to boosting its foothold in the Chinese market, where the firm late last year put the brakes on a pending engine venture with First Automotive Works and China National Heavy-Duty Truck Corp., amid moves by Beijing to slow down the sector... Volvo earlier this year bought a 13 percent stake in Nissan Diesel Motor Co., for 1.5 billion Swedish crowns ($205.9 million) with an eye to strengthening its Asian operations and forming a new link to China through Nissan Diesel's joint venture with China's Dongfeng Motor Corp... Volvo has been in talks to strengthen ties to the Chinese firm ever since the two firms had created nine different discussion groups in order to iron out future joint projects...

Product - USA - EPA Unveils Unique Hydraulic Hybrid Diesel Delivery Truck

With UPS, International Truck and Engine, Eaton and U.S. Army

WASHINGTON,DF,USA -BUSINESS WIRE/CSRwire -June 21, 2006: -- The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) today unveiled the first-ever series hydraulic hybrid diesel urban delivery vehicle, which will provide dramatic improvements in fuel economy and in emission reductions. The development of the hydraulic hybrid is the result of a partnership between the EPA, U.S. Army, UPS, International Truck and Engine Corporation and Eaton Corporation.

Adquisition - USA - Universal Express Completes Contract for Global Trucking

NEW YORK,NY,USA -BUSINESS WIRE -June 21, 2006: -- Universal Express Inc., today announced it has completed the awaited contract for the purchase of Global Trucking... The purchase price $900,000 plus other considerations toward Global's future growth... This contract formalizes the acquisition of a 60% interest in one of the oldest and most industry-revered trucking and delivery companies, Global Trucking Services, Inc., of Miami Florida...

Background Checks - USA - Trucking group exec speaks out on

Kansas City,MO, United States -Kansas City Business Journal -21 June 2006: -- A trade group representing independent truckers said it supports measures to keep federal background checks from unduly delaying drivers... Todd Spencer, executive vice president of Grain Valley-based Owner-Operated Independent Drivers Association, testified in favor of two initiatives to simplify background checks for truckers at a June 16 hearing before the House Committee on Homeland Security... Spencer said this requirement comes on top of existing laws that require background checks, so a trucker could end up doing multiple background checks during a short period of time. The cost of undergoing the checks are out of pocket expensives and quickly add up, he said...

More - USA - Schneider sells its payment business

GREEN BAY, WI, United States -UPI/Monsters and Critics.com (Glasgow,UK) -Jun 21, 2006: -- U.S. Bank said Wednesday it was buying Schneider Payment Services, a division of trucking giant Schneider National Inc., which is based in Wisconsin... The deal, which is set to close July 1, adds more than $7 billion in freight payments to the PowerTrack portfolio of U.S. Bank... Terms of the deal were not disclosed... U.S. Bank is a unit of U.S. Bancorp, the sixth largest financial institution in the country...

Buyers - USA - No end to high transportation costs

Newton,MA,USA -Purchasing.com -21 June 2006: -- Government data through May shows that costs of transportation services have risen by almost 10% over the past year—with almost 7% coming from increased energy costs have been passed along to customers directly through surcharges. That may explain why 79% of buyers polled reported transportation prices going up in Purchasing’s latest survey and another 73% expect these increases to continue through September... However, nearly all trucking companies worry that further fuel price increases will squeeze their profit margins, curb consumer spending and, eventually, reduce demand for shipping services...

Production - Thailand - Becomes Asia's Pickup Capital

SAMUT PRAKARN, Thailand -Houston Chronicle/AP, by MALCOLM FOSTER (USA) -21 June 2006: -- Every 60 seconds, a shiny new pickup truck rolls off the assembly line at Toyota's factory outside of Bangkok, a third of them bound overseas for places like Australia, Europe and the Mideast... By January, Toyota Motor Corp. will complete another, larger plant to make pickups nearby, adding to the 15 auto assembly plants, mostly Japanese, already here... Thailand has carved out a niche for itself: Asia's pickup truck capital...

Overweight trucks - USA - Tearing up roads as fast as city repairs them

Spokane,Was.,USA -News4 Staff, by Jeff Humphrey -June 21, 2006: -- This year the City of Spokane is spending millions of dollars to replace some of the arterials drivers use to get around town but Spokane police have discovered that trucks used in repair jobs are damaging other roadways in the process... The owner of Halme Construction said his company is not deliberately running overweight trucks and that changing conditions in the soil he's moving like moisture or rock content makes it hard to be precise on the weight they're hauling... Spokane police say the truck was five-and-a-half tons overweight and that an experienced driver should clearly be able to see the difference...

GreenNews - USA - OUC trucks to try biodiesel power

About a third of the diesel the utility uses will be more friendly to the environment

Orlando,FL,USA -Orlando Sentinel, by Rich McKay -June 21, 2006: -- The Reliable One is about to get a little greener -- and the fumes from the Orlando Utilities Commission trucks might start smelling like french fries or Krispy Kreme doughnuts... OUC's governing board voted Tuesday to start using biodiesel fuel -- made from soybeans or other vegetable or animal grease -- in its fleet of 150 or so bucket trucks and other vehicles that weigh more than a ton...

Bio-fuels - UK - British Sugar to manufacture next generation in the UK

UK - Auto Industry/British Sugar -20 June 2006: -- British Sugar Group, part of Associated British Foods plc has today announced a collaboration with BP and DuPont to begin production of the next generation of bio-fuels in the UK. Production is expected to start in 2007... Under this agreement, British Sugar’s Wissington bio-ethanol plant, currently under construction in Norfolk, will be converted to the production of bio-butanol... The plant will continue to use locally grown sugar beet as the feed stock and the bio-butanol produced will be blended with petrol in the UK. Because of its chemical structure, butanol (C4H9OH) has an energy content closer to that of petrol than ethanol (C2H5OH) and so offers better fuel economy than petrol/ethanol blends...

Sales - Sweden - Company Orders Volvo Trucks

Stockholm,Sweden -Forbes/Associated Press (USA) -21 June 2006: -- Swedish truck and bus maker Volvo AB said Wednesday it has received an order for 1,000 trucks from Hungarian transportation company Waberer's Optimum Solution... The company said the order is for the Volvo FH trucks, which will be delivered over a three-year period. The value of the order was not announced. Volvo said it has delivered more than 100 trucks annually to Waberer's Optimum Solution since 1998...

Legal wrangling - USA - Judge tosses motions, ends trucking firms’ recruiting squabble

AR,USA -Arkansas Democrat Gazette, by LAURIE WHALEN -June 20, 2006: -- Legal wrangling between two long-haul carriers over truck drivers ended Monday after a federal judge ruled that furthering a recruiting dispute in court would serve no useful purpose. A federal judge on Monday dismissed two motions filed by Stevens Transport Inc. as part of a dispute over driver recruiting tactics employed by J. B. Hunt Transport Services Inc... U. S. District Judge Jimm Larry Hendren, Western District of Arkansas, also rejected J. B. Hunt’s second request seeking a judgment on the matter which accused the Lowell-based long-haul carrier of setting out to destroy its Dallas-based competitor... J. B. Hunt attorneys said the carrier faced a real, on-going dispute with Stevens... But Hendren wrote that the court was not persuaded that a further legal ruling would “serve a useful purpose in clarifying and settling anything between these parties”...

The Open Source Car - UK - Unconventional Wisdom for Sustainability

UK -Daily Telegraph, by Sir John Whitmore -June 2006: -- We all face an environmental crisis. Hybrid cars and biofuels might be interim steps in the right direction, but they are not sustainable solutions. Conventional wisdom predicts great technical problems and cost in overcoming these problems. But what about unconventional wisdom?... Most people believe that the future will be powered by hydrogen, but that affordable fuel-cell vehicles are decades away. Hugo Spowers's engineering degree and MBA were sufficient to convince him that the barriers were neither technical nor financial but human. He formed a consortium with BOC, Morgan Cars, QinetiQ and Cranfield and Oxford universities, with funding from the DTI, to design a fuel-cell car with a difference. Spowers' company is called OSCar and the project is called LIFECar - LIghtweight Fuel Efficient Car... (Photo: The Ech2o, with driver Jack Dex, was designed by OSCar with Oxford University and BOC. It draws its power from a hydrogen fuel cell)

Ethanol Car - France - Beats Fuel Cells to Win European Eco-marathon

France -Environment News Service(USA) -21 June 2006: -- An ethanol powered car engineered by French high school students has achieved the best fuel efficiency at the European Shell Eco-marathon 2006, winning the race at the Nogaro auto racing circuit in southwest France. It also took the Climate Friendly prize for producing the least greenhouse gas emissions in the process... Engineering students from France's Lycée La Joliverie celebrated victory Sunday after their ethanol powered prototype vehicle completed seven laps of the Nogaro circuit with an energy consumption equivalent to traveling 2,885 kilometres (1,792 miles) on a single litre of gasoline, equivalent to 8,136 miles per gallon. Lycée La Joliverie is a high school in St. Sebastian-sur-Loire, France, that specializes in internal combustion engines... (Photo: The winning ethanol-powered car was built by high school students from the Loire region of France - Courtesy Shell Eco-Marathon)

Travel - Canada - Province expands heavy-truck routes

Saskatchewan,Canada -CBC News -Jun 20, 2006: -- The Saskatchewan government says it will allow heavy trucks to travel on more kilometres of highway that can handle the loads... In a change designed to help companies move goods more cheaply and to take some pressure off less-sturdy roads, the province said it's adding 1,190 kilometres to its "primary weight highway network" — a 15 per cent increase... Until now, truckers with heavy loads could use the 1,190 kilometres but they often had to get special permits and pay extra fees...

Report - UK - Thatcham and Autopolis commissioned by European Parliament to report on implications of proposed EC design protection directive

UK -Auto Industry -22 June 2006: -- Thatcham, the insurer-funded vehicle repair research centre, and Autopolis, the UK-based automotive management consultancy, have been commissioned by the European Parliament to prepare a report on the safety of crash repair parts... The report will draw upon the experience of Thatcham, which has tested non-OE crash repair parts and investigated manufacturing processes... Autopolis will conduct interviews with industry experts Europe-wide, in particular with vehicle manufacturers, repairers, aftermarket parts distributors and consumer organisations such as Euro NCAP...

‘Car Buyer’s Bill of Rights’ - USA - California launches first

CAL,USA - Auto Industry - 22 June 2006: -- From 1 July consumers shopping for new and used cars in California will benefit from the first "Car Buyer's Bill of Rights" in the US. The California Motor Car Dealers Association (CMCDA) joined consumer groups in supporting the legislation... Some of the consumer benefits among the new law include:
-- A side-by-side comparison of monthly payment terms with and without the inclusion of certain products and services such as service contracts, anti-theft devices, surface protection products, debt cancellation or ‘GAP’ and insurance.
-- The right to purchase an optional two-day contract cancellation option on used vehicles priced below $40,000.
-- A copy of their credit score obtained from a credit bureau.
-- ‘First in the nation’ quality standards for certified used cars...

Production - Venezuela - To get first ever automotive components plant

UK -Auto Industry/El Universal & Agency ABN(Caracas,VEN) -21 June 2006: -- The Venezuelan state and the Hungarian company PLES Rt will make a joint investment of US$223 million in what is described as Venezuela’s first ever domestic automotive components plant... A letter of intent has been signed concerning the construction of a primary aluminium manufacturing plant and for the subsequent manufacture of engine blocks... The facility, due to start operations in 20 months’ time, will have an installed capacity of 60 tonnes of primary aluminium, creating 500 direct jobs... The project is intended primarily to meet domestic market needs, though the customer for the engine blocks was not identified...

TechnoNews - Sweden - AB Volvo to develop third-generation DME heavy truck engines

Sweden -Auto Industry (UK) -20 June 2006: -- The energy authorities in Sweden have now granted AB Volvo SEK 62m (£4.5m) in support for technical development of a third-generation DME (biodiesel) engine for heavy vehicles during the period 2006-2010. AB Volvo is also investing a “large” amount in the project... The project will deliver the technology for a major field test with DME-powered trucks planned for 2009 and 2010. A small field test will be initiated already in slightly less than a year with trucks based on the second-generation DME technology, which Volvo presented in 2005...

Markets - India - Volvo offers less expensive second hand trucks

Mumbai,India -CNBC-TV18/Moneycontrol.com -19 June 2006: -- For many transporters, acquiring an expensive Volvo truck remained just a dream. But now Volvo offers second-hand trucks that are less expensive, reports ... Big engines and the highest price tags that's what a Volvo truck sports. And that's why most transporters can only dream about owning one. It's hardly surprising then that Volvo India sells just 600 trucks a year so now it's looking at the second-hand trucks market to increase those sales numbers...

Production - USA - Agreement between Renault Trucks and the GAZ Group

To Manufacture Engines Under Licence

STOCKHOLM, Sweden-Autochannel (USA) -June 19, 2006: -- AB Volvo's subsidiary Renault Trucks has signed a framework agreement on June 19 granting the GAZ Group of Russia to manufacture the Renault dCi 11 engine under licence. The engines will be manufactured for the Russian market and the CIS states (Commonwealth of Independent States)...

Love story - Australia - Trucking couple's devotion to life on the road

Queensland,Australia -The Daily Telegraph/CARSguide, by Patrick Whiteley-19 June 2006: -- Alan Oke pulled his shiny new Kenworth road train into the Blue Heeler pub in western Queensland and ordered his regular rest-break meal. The truckie wiped the sweat from his brow and then noticed a young Kiwi backpacker working behind the bar. Nicola Riddell had escaped her sleepy New Zealand country town seeking adventure in the Australian Outback. More than 10 years later, her adventure keeps rolling on and on... Alan and Nicola were hitched soon after that fateful day in 1995. They continue to work as a team, driving two-up on the Darwin to Sydney route... Operating a 115-tonne road train would be daunting for most people, but Nicola says it's one of the best jobs in the world and a major change from her former office work... Two trailers are pulled for 800km and a single trailer covers 400km... Nicola says they take a week off every two months to refresh, then it's on the road again...
(Photo: Staying hitched: Alan and Nicola drive this Shaw's Darwin Transport T904 Kenworth)

Production - USA - Trucking Industry Demanding 350 HP Flex-Fuel Engine

DELAND, Fla.,USA -BUSINESS WIRE -June 19, 2006: -- Turbine Truck Engines Inc., announced today that recent conversations with large fleet operators express growing concern with high energy prices and high fuel consumption of their fleets. The fleet operators have asked if Turbine Truck Engines, Inc. can produce a 350 horsepower Flex-Fuel Engine... TTE's new energy efficient Flex-Fuel Detonation Cycle Gas Turbine can be designed and manufactured, as a new or replacement engine for all heavy duty trucks that utilize engines ranging from 300 to 1000 horsepower...

Anti-pollution - USA - War on smog is held up in

Dallas-Fort Worth's Efforts can't get far with unyielding car culture

TX,USA -The Dallas Morning News, by RANDY LEE LOFTIS -June 19, 2006: -- If you want to attend a meeting about North Texas' biggest environmental problem – pollution from cars – you'll have to drive there. Arlington, home of the region's clean-air and transportation planning agency, has no bus service... That's just one of the numerous small illustrations of Dallas-Fort Worth's car culture that have a big effect on air pollution and people's health... More than half of the smog-causing emissions in the region come from vehicles, ranging from cars to airplanes. Gasoline-powered passenger vehicles are the biggest slice of that vehicular pollution pie...

Study - UK - Smooth sailing at ports

UK - Manufacturer.com/Global Insight -17 Jun 2006: -- The National Retail Foundation (NRF) predicts little congestion at maritime ports this fall (peak season), compared to recent years. This according to NRF and global-trade thinktank Global Insight... NRF and Global Insight share a “port tracker” service, which monitors global ports to track trends, and sees no congestion at ports now, or in truck and rail systems, in what is traditionally a ramp-up to peak season. The backlog of ships without reservations at the Panama Canal has been reduced compared with last month... The US ports surveyed handled 1.32 million twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of container traffic in April, which was a 6.2 percent jump over march and a 10 percent jumpt from April 2005. Over the six-month forecast period of the report, volume is expected to climb to a peak of 1.49 million TEU in October, up 8.7% from October 2005. The study looks at inbound container volume, the availability of trucks and railroad cars to move cargo out of the ports, labor conditions and other factors that affect cargo movement and congestion...

Protest - Switzerland - Truckers rally against road tax hike

Berna,Switzerland -Swissinfo -June 17, 2006: -- Around 2,000 truck drivers and 120 trucks have gathered in Bern to protest against government plans to raise the tax on heavy goods vehicles in 2008... Protestors at the rally, organised by the Swiss road hauliers association, arrived with 150,000 signatures on a petition called "No to this attack on our wallets"... The truckers association launched the petition in April calling for the new rate to be levied only on foreign trucks transiting Switzerland. It said the big losers are Swiss consumers who have had to foot the bill of rising transport costs... (Photo, by Keystone: Not happy: Carlo Schmid, head of the road hauliers association)

Production - Uganda - Country to Assemble New Omni Buses, Pick-Up Trucks

Kampala,Uganda -The Monitor, by Richard Mutumba & Peter Nyanzi -June 16, 2006: -- Uganda will start assembling brand new omni buses and pick-up trucks with help from China -largely to end importation of second hand vehicles and other goods, President Yoweri Museveni has announced...

Products - India - Volvo introduces new generation trucks

Investment by parent company in the models has been around euro 300 m

MUMBAI,India -The Hindu (Chennai) -16 June 206: -- Volvo launched a new generation of its Volvo FH and Volvo FM trucks in the Indian market. The products include an entirely new 13-litre engine that improves upon various aspects affecting transport economy... The new trucks have high performance engines with the FH model being fitted with the Volvo D13A. With the introduction of these new engines, the power levels have also been increased and the FH will have 520 hp, while the FM will have up to 400 hp... (Photo, by Paul Noronha: NEWGEN TRUCKS: Eric Leblanc, Managing Director, Volvo India, with the new generation Volvo FH and FM trucks in Mumbai)

AUTOS' WORLD NEWS

* USA - GM Chief Wagoner Calls Bankruptcy a `Bad Strategy'
NY,USA -Bloomberg -June 16.2006: -- General Motors Corp. Chief Executive Officer Rick Wagoner said he has no intention of filing for bankruptcy, and doing so would be a "bad strategy"... Wagoner, in an interview late yesterday, said the automaker was on solid financial ground after posting $10.6 billion in losses last year... Detroit-based General Motors reported a first-quarter profit, and Wagoner plans to trim $7 billion in annualized spending by the end of 2006...

* USA - GM restores zero-interest finance plan
Ontario, Canada -Toronto Star, by TONY VAN ALPHEN -Jun. 15, 2006: -- Aim was to pare incentives, but sales down 10% -- Stats Can report cites slowdown across industry... Auto industry leader General Motors of Canada Ltd. is offering zero-interest financing on most models for the first time in two years in an effort to pull out of a sales slide... GM announced the incentive yesterday on cars and light trucks, including Impala and Cobalt cars and Silverado and Sierra pickup trucks, for four-year or five-year terms...

* USA - Nissan to Slash Staff at U.S. Headquarters
FRANKLIN, Tenn,USA -Los Angeles Times, by John O'Dell -June 15, 2006: -- Nissan Motor Co. North America, employed 1,300 managers, professionals and clerical staff at its 40-acre, 13-building complex in Gardena when it announced the move in November. But the automaker will have only 'a little more than 1,000' headquarters staff when the move to Tennessee is completed at the end of next month, Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn said...

* JAPAN - Nissan trims domestic production amid slow Japanese sales
TOKYO.Japan -The Detroit News (USA) -June 16, 2006: -- Nissan Motor Co., Japan's second-biggest carmaker by volume, said Friday that it cut back production at two domestic auto assembly plants to cope with weak sales in Japan... The cutback affects Nissan's Oppama plant in Kanagawa prefecture, south of Tokyo, and another plant in Tochigi prefecture, northeast of the capital. Japanese sales slid 27 percent in April, from a year earlier, the company said...

* MEXICO - Ford Motor Says It Will Upgrade Three Mexican Plants
México -Bloomberg (USA) -June 16, 2006: -- Ford Motor Co., the second-largest U.S. automaker, will upgrade two Mexican vehicle assembly plants and an engine plant over the next several years to expand operations in that country... Auto plants in Cuautitlan and Hermosillo and an engine plant in Chihuahua will get the upgrades, Ford said on its Web site, without giving any estimates of cost or specific timing. The automaker said it hasn't yet decided where to locate a new, low- cost North American auto plant...

* GERMANY - Ford brand European vehicle sales up
FRANKFURT,Germany -Reuters -June 16, 2006: -- Sales of Ford brand vehicles in Europe rose 11 percent in May to 157,200 units, Ford Motor Co said on Friday, citing strong demand for small cars and commercial vehicles... The sales figures are pooled from the results of its 21 major European sales companies, including Russia and Turkey...

Security - USA - Frightening results of police frisk of trucks

Plattsburgh,NY,USA -Plattsburgh Press Republican -June 15, 2006: -- Almost 20 percent of commercial trucks stopped for routine inspections on and around the Northway last week had to be pulled off the road because of defective driving or equipment... What a shocking indictment of the trucking industry... Anyone who thinks these checks are a waste of time and police resources should give the matter some more thought. For 58 of 325 trucks inspected to be determined to be in such a bad state of mechanical fitness that they have to be ordered off the highway shows how dangerous it is to traverse superhighways shoulder to shoulder with the behemoths...

Border News - USA - Plan creates secure trucking zone

El Paso,TX,USA -El Paso Times, by Vic Kolenc -15 June 2006: -- A proposal to set up a demonstration project for a high-tech,security-enhanced and pollution-reducing truck crossing system between El Paso and Juárez took a step Wednesday toward getting the $4.5 million needed to pay for the project... The idea is to create "secure manufacturing zones," where cameras and software programs would monitor truck loading. Loads would be bar-coded and sealed. Trucks then would be equipped with high-tech vehicle locator devices and security systems so they could cross the border without customs checks. The trucks also would be converted to use clean-burning natural gas instead of diesel... (Photo Border Studies Program: Managed by Earlham College - Crossing the border looks simple enough at first glance, but BSP students find that border crossings, a daily part of life here in Juárez/ El Paso, involve a whole host of complex socio-economic issues)

AUTOS' NEWS WORLDWIDE

* Russian auto plants are 'Detroit North'
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -The Detroit News (Detroit,Mi,USA), by John McCormick-14 June 2006: -- With new $115 million assembly site, General Motors will join Ford, Nissan and Toyota... General Motors Corp. will spend $115 million to build its first assembly plant in Russia to bolster its presence in an auto market showing signs of vast growth potential... General Motors hopes to capture 10 percent of the Russian car market with vehicles to be built in a new plant in Shushary... Russians and their cars according to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, Russia has about 157 cars per 1,000 people -- on par with Argentina but far below the Polish figure of 250... (Photo right: Cars to be made in Russian plants)

* Canada - Oshawa plan could save thousands of GM jobs
Canada - Globe and Mail, by GREG KEENAN -June 15, 2006: -- General Motors Corp. is close to approving a massive revamp of its Oshawa, Ont., operations that could save thousands of jobs and make it the key source of rear-wheel-drive vehicles for several of its divisions... The $400-million GM investment would transform its two Oshawa car plants into one leading-edge flexible plant...

* USA - Ford's real plan
DEARBORN.Mich,USA -The Detroit News, by Bryce G. Hoffman -June 15, 2006: -- Mexican factory will produce a subcompact b-cars; high-efficiency southern facility will build c-car sedans.. Ford Motor Co. has struck a deal with the Mexican government to build a factory south of the border, according to sources familiar with the plan, but the automaker also is planning to build a super-efficient and flexible plant in the southern United States in cooperation with the United Auto Workers union...

* Ford investigates leak to press
DEARBORN.Mich,USA -The Detroit News, by Bryce G. Hoffman -June 15, 2006: -- Officials say internal report on Mexico venture was released to humiliate Fields and Gettelfinger... Ford Motor Co. is investigating how an internal document outlining a proposal for investment in Mexico was leaked to a newspaper this week, according to people familiar with the situation... Company insiders and outside observers said the document appears to have been timed to embarrass Mark Fields, president of Ford's Americas group, and United Auto Workers President Ron Gettelfinger... "The drama here is really amazing," said David Cole, chairman of the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor...
* Ford reforms go faster than expected
WASHINGTON,DC,USA -USA Today -14 June 2006: -- Ford Motor is making faster-than-expected progress in reducing its hourly workforce as part of a restructuring, a senior company official said... With U.S. automakers losing market share mainly to Asian rivals, Ford announced a North American restructuring in November that includes plans to idle 14 plants and cut up to 30,000 jobs... Mark Fields, Ford's president for the Americas and the executive overseeing the auto giant's North American restructuring said, Ford has completed its 10% reduction in costs for salaried workers and is moving "faster than expected" on hourly reductions... Ford hopes to save at least $6 billion and end a loss in U.S. market share to foreign rivals. Ford's year-to-date market share at the end of May stood at 17.5%, off 3.1% compared with last year...

* St. Paul Ford plant to close for all of July
St.Paul MI,USA -Star Tribune, by Dee DePass -June 14, 2006: -- Ford changes plans for St. Paul layoffs. Move postponed by plant will be idle in July... The 182 Ford workers who expected to be permanently laid off next month from the St. Paul plant were tossed a curveball Wednesday... Ford Motor Co. said it would postpone the layoffs and close the plant for all of July, affecting all 1,739 union members...

* UK - Lotus develops heavy duty diesel engine
UK -Auto Industry -14 June 2006: -- New Group Lotus chief executive Michael Kimberley says Lotus Cars expects to sell something over 4,200 cars this year, having built 5,053 last year and 3,212 in 2003... Besides strengthening its dealer networks and marketing activity in key export markets including the US and Germany, Kimberley is pursuing growth through third-party contracts for Lotus Engineering – including a truck diesel engine featuring a function whereby cylinders not needed for direct power can serve as compressors for a turbo...

* USA - J.D. Power Quality Survey: Tech Takes a Beating
USA -Techno Ride, by Bill Howard -June 8, 2006: -- And the almost-last shall be first: Porsche jumped from thirty-second to first place, in the annual J.D. Power & Associates Initial Quality Study (IQS)... This is the 20th iteration of the study, which measures problems in the first 90 days of car ownership. This year, it also measures new-owner concerns with practical design touches—not whether the car looks good, but whether the cupholders are in the right place and whether the CD changer is hard to reach... Unfortunately, some cars with mega-doses of new technology didn't fare so well. Most notably, although BMW was close to the best in a less-published breakout covering physical defects per 100 cars built, the poster child for cockpit controllers gone awry plummeted from third to thirty-second, because of apparent concerns with cockpit controls. Some automakers whose cars we named to the recent Digital Drive Award top ten, finished in these slots: 4 (Toyota), 6 (Honda), 7 (Cadillac), 10 (Acura), 18 (Audi), 20 (Pontiac), 25 (Mercedes-Benz), and 28 (BMW). Lexus also is tech-heavy, though, and it finished second this year, after a string of first-place finishes...

* USA - Over a third of NA suppliers "in fiscal danger"
UK -just-auto.com -15 June 2006: -- A senior executive of global corporate advisory firm AlixPartners has said that no less than 38% of all automotive suppliers in North America are in "fiscal danger," meaning that they could face insolvency within 24 months or less unless they take urgent counteractive measures...

* USA - MB & DaimlerChrysler Sued for World's Most Expensive 'Broken' Production Car
LOS ANGELES,CAL,USA -PRNewswire/Auto News -June 14, 2006: -- When Los Angeles car dealer Mark Johnston forked over $1.7 million to buy one of only five special Mercedes Benz roadsters produced in the world, he could not have predicted the ongoing struggle just to get the car to work. Indeed, he and his brother couldn't get it to travel more than ten blocks. Frustrated with his failed efforts to obtain customer satisfaction, Mr. Johnston has filed suit in Los Angeles Superior Court seeking a full refund from the manufacturer and its affiliates... The defendants named in the suit are DaimlerChrysler AG, along with Mercedes-Benz USA, Mercedes-AMG GmbH and H.W.A. GmbH. Mercedes-Benz USA and Mercedes-AMG are subsidiaries of DaimlerChrysler; H.W.A. has been affiliated with DaimlerChrysler in the design and production of rare automobiles for many years... Mr. Johnston's suit, accuses the defendants of breaching their contractual and warranty obligations to provide a defect-free car, in this case a Mercedes AMG CLK-GTR Limited Edition Roadster, which Mr. Johnston intended to sell through his dealership. The complaint also alleges negligent misrepresentation and breach of the implied warranty of good faith and fair dealing. Mr. Johnston seeks full reimbursement of the vehicle's purchase price, along with the other costs incurred as a result of attempts to repair it...

* USA - Quantum Delivers Hydrogen Hybrid Vehicles to Santa Monica
IRVINE, Calif.,USA -PRNewswire/Auto News -June 15, 2006: -- Quantum Fuel Systems Technologies Worldwide, Inc., today announced the delivery of five hydrogen-fueled Toyota Prius hybrid vehicles to the City of Santa Monica, California... This is part of the South Coast Air Quality Management District's (AQMD) program to develop and demonstrate 30 hydrogen hybrid vehicles in Southern California fleets. The formal delivery will take place during a ceremony to be held today at Santa Monica's City Yards, the location of the newest hydrogen station in the AQMD's hydrogen infrastructure demonstration program...

* Japan - Toyota goes for hybrid motor
United Arab Emirates -UPI/ameinfo -15 June 2006: -- Japan's Toyota Motor Corp is developing a low-cost gas-electric hybrid system for small cars... The system will be capable of being recharged from a household power source and will be simpler, smaller and less expensive than current hybrid motors...

Anti-SUV petition - UK - Urges £20 London congestion charge

UK -Auto Industry -15th June 2006: -- Members of the Alliance Against Urban 4x4s yesterday delivered a petition bearing 5,000 signatures to the Mayor of London urging a £20 daily London congestion charge to be levied on vehicles rated at over 225 g/km of CO2... The lobby group believes their policy could reduce the number of high carbon-emitting vehicles in central London by up to 40%, and also raise approximately £34m extra in congestion charge revenues to spend on public transport facilities...

Deal - UK - Goldman-led consortium to buy AB Ports

Valued at $4.6 billion; talk of rival bid surfaces

LONDON, UK -MarketWatch, by Simon Kennedy -Jun 14, 2006: -- A Goldman Sachs-led investor group has agreed to buy Associated British Ports for 2.5 billion pounds ($4.6 billion), continuing a string of takeovers in the transport arena, though speculation circulated about the odds for a counterbid as the port operator's shares held above the offer price... GS along with Borealis Infrastructure Management, GIC Special Investments and Infracapital Partners, will offer 810 pence a share in cash for AB Ports, with shareholders relinquishing the right to any future dividends...

Car/Psychology - USA - With that saucy swagger, she must drive a Porsche

German researchers find we are what we drive and people know our wheels by looking at us

New York,NY,USA - New York Times, by Benedict Carey -June 15, 2006: -- Some people seem a perfect fit for the cars they drive, like Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and his Hummer, Michael Jordan and his Ferrari. But most drivers' faces and bearing give away clues that tip off their favored model, a new study has found... Psychologists at Julius-Maximilians University in Wurzburg, Germany, report in a recent issue of the Journal of Individual Differences that students correctly matched photographs of men and women drivers to pictures of the cars they drove almost 70 percent of the time... The drivers' age and wealth were the most helpful cues, the researchers reported... Psychologists had shown in previous studies that people can accurately gauge some personality traits, like extroversion, from photos of strangers, and from personal effects, like a CD collection or bedroom decorations...

Sales - USA - Class 8’s soar 20%

USA -Fleet Owner, by Terrence Nguyen -Jun 13, 2006: -- Class 8 U.S. retail truck sales in May topped out at 25,149, a 20% jump over the 20,953 units sold in May 2005, according to www.WardsAuto.com... That brings the first five months of 2006 tally to 114,969, an 18% rise over the 97,302 units sold during same period last year... Last week, Kenny Vieth, partner of A.C.T. Research Co., LLC, said during a Bear Stearns conference that North American Class 8 truck production in 2006 is expected to range from 355,000 to 365,000 units, but drop roughly 40% to 207,000 units in 2007...

Lean Academy - UK - How to learn from Toyota

UK -Auto Industry -15th June 2006: -- In a presentation to the National Health Service Confederation yesterday, Professor Dan Jones, formerly of Cardiff Business School and the founder and chairman of the Lean Academy and co-author of the best-selling automotive industry text, "The Machine that Changed the World", suggested that the National Health Service could learn much from Toyota’s production system and its kaizen processes... The lessons from Toyota 'applicable to hospitals’ work could be applied on three levels, said Professor Jones:
-- Transforming the way each activity is performed, and the work of departments like pathology, radiology, etc. – ‘Point kaizen’
-- Redesigning patient ‘journeys’ from end to end – ‘Value stream kaizen’
-- Rethinking the way organisations manage these journeys and synchronise the necessary support activities – ‘System kaizen’...

* Toyota factory pumps out homes

KASUGAI, Japan -Associated Press, by Yuri Kageyama/The Detroit News -June 15, 2006: -- Automaker banks on famed production methods to build 7,000 houses a year for the Japanese market... Cubicles that are bits of homes, tucked with stairways, built-in closets and pink bathtubs, roll off the assembly line at a bustling Toyota plant in central Japan... Kasugai Housing Works, a plant for prefabricated housing run by Toyota Motor Corp., prides itself on the same production methods that gave the Japanese automaker a worldwide reputation for quality and efficiency... Housing makes up less than 1 percent of Toyota's $183 billion annual sales. But company officials say technology acquired from years of making cars is central to homebuilding Toyota style... (Photo: Katsumi Kasahara / Associated Press -- An assembly line worker adjusts a drawer for a built-in closet to be tucked in one of the cubicles that will become a Toyota pre-made home)

Survey - USA - Report underscores ’06 growth

95% of fleet respondents: Business will be as good or better in 2006 than 2005

USA -Fleet Owner -Jun 14, 2006: -- FCC Equipment Financing, a subsidiary of Caterpillar Financial Services Corp., has compiled a report titled “North American On-Highway Market Issues: Current Status and Future Outlook,” which provides overviews of the North American truck market, including viewpoints on the current status of the industry and future forecasts along with customer insights... The survey was designed to track industry trends and growth factors, along with how they impact the acquisition of Class 6-8 vehicles... Highlights of the survey show that over 95% of fleet respondents said business will be as good or better in 2006 than 2005. More than 50% said the volume of freight they planned to haul increased in 2005 over 2004; 75% said they expected truck pricing to increase in 2006. In addition, fleets indicated that the most important cost factors impacting their businesses were fuel costs (64%) and driver costs (23%), with 82% of them stating they are implementing fuel surcharges to offset the rising cost of diesel fuel...

Biofuels - Australia - Risk evaluation essential?

Australia -Supply Chain Review -15 June 2006: -- Higher fuel prices and environmental policy has seen governments back the quest to find new, inexpensive and environmentally sustainable energy sources, including biofuels... Despite the attractions of biodiesel and other alternative fuels there are also usage risks that require careful evaluation say Australian insurance brokers OAMPS... The company says the risks include sub-standard product quality, improper blending with traditional fuels, poor storage and potential to damage engines which are not designed or correctly modified for differing blends... OAMPS Group Chief Executive Officer Tony Robinson says, the danger of ‘backyarders’ getting into the industry is very real...

Trucking - Australia - Gets imaginative as PBS takes hold

What sort of truck do you want to run?

Australia - Supply Chain Review -14 June 2006: -- Industry is being imaginative as it embraces a brave new world of performance-based standards (PBS)... Rob Perkins from the Australia Road Transport Supplies Association (ARTSA) is travelling the country listening to operators and truck manufacturers about what combinations they want to use on the road under a PBS framework... The aim is to develop ‘blueprint’ vehicles, allowing operators to build to specification to streamline the approval process through road authorities... The most popular proposals at the meeting were for quad-axle and tridem drive semi-trailers...

Trucking - Canada - Gave economy another boost in '05

Over the last decade, trucking has grown at a faster rate than the overall economy...

OTTAWA,BC,Canada -Today's Trucking OnLine -14 June 2006: -- Economic activity among the three major transport modes increased substantially for the second year in a row... According to a annual transportation review by Stats Canada, economic output, from trucking, rail and aviation, as measured by GDP, rose 4.5 percent in 2005 following a 4.6 percent jump the year before... These back-to-back increases halted three years of decline in economic output in the air industry. Output in 2005 amounted to nearly $4.2 billion, just below the peak of $4.3 billion in 2000... More than one-third (35%) of the GDP generated by the transportation sector in 2005 came from trucking, says Stats Can... Output in trucking rose 4.4 percent last year, a slight slowdown from 2004. Over the last decade, trucking experienced an average annual growth of 5.2 percent, a faster rate than the 3.4 percent average for the overall economy...

Policy - Canada - Quebec commission supports speed limiter

QUEBEC,Que,Canada -Truck News, by James Menzies -14 June 2006: -- The Quebec National Assembly Commission has thrown its support behind the controversial speed limiter policy endorsed by the Quebec Trucking Association and Canadian Trucking Alliance... The rule would require all trucks to be mechanically governed at 105 km/h... In Ontario, a private member's bill that would require the use of speed limiters has passed second reading...

New Rules - Australia - Nationals cast doubt over transport changes

Australia - ABC Online -June 14, 2006: -- The Minister for Planning and Infrastructure says new heavy haulage transport permits will run for three years instead of one and B-double rigs will have access to more than 4,000 roads across Western Australia... It was revealed in April it that many wheatbelt farmers and truck drivers were facing the prospect of carting fertiliser and seed illegally, after confusion between shires and the Department of Main Roads over permits... Larger animal transport trucks are also now allowed, with 4.6 metre high trailers permitted on some roads...

TechnoNews - UK - Renault Trucks gets real time tracking

Technology to improve roadside assistance response time

UK -VNUNet.com, by David Friedlos -14 Jun 2006: -- Renault Trucks is to use real-time tracking information to speed up the response times of its roadside assistance recovery vehicles and improve reporting... The manufacturer will install location-based technology into 80 trucks that can be tracked by GPS in real time by head office staff... Management staff can use a web portal to track vehicles, allowing the company to rapidly identify and dispatch its fleet to customers needing assistance...

Sales - Canada - New cars and trucks fell in April, erasing March gain

OTTAWA,Canada -Canada Press -Jun 14, 2006: -- Sales of new cars and trucks fell 0.7 per cent in April, erasing a 0.6 per cent gain recorded in April... Statistics Canada says preliminary figures suggest a further drop in May... The report said new auto sales have been relatively stable over the last six months after wide swings last year caused by lucrative incentive programs by major manufacturers... Sales of both passenger cars and trucks dipped in April, although car sales showed a slightly larger decline...

Opinion - USA - Diesels Under Pressure

Under the hood, Europe and America take different roads

New York,NY,USA -Forbes, by Jerry Flint, 13 June 2006: -- Half of Europe’s 15 million new car sales a year are for models with diesel engines. In the U.S., manufacturers sell fewer than 50,000 diesel cars a year... Once again, diesels have a chance--but only a chance--at gaining ground in America. Rising fuel prices work in their favor, as does the advent of cleaner diesel fuel in the U.S., which will help open the door for the importation of Europe’s high-technology diesel engines... The problem is that while cleaner diesel fuel is coming to market here, federal emission standards are climbing, too. The Europeans say that their new technology diesels will be able to meet our tougher rules, but not for a few years...

Fuel Alternatives - Brazil - Pushing Biodiesel, Ethanol

USA -The Car Connection, by Paul A. Eisenstein -13 June 2006: -- No country has made a more complete commitment to alcohol-based fuels than Brazil. The Latin American nation first experimented with ethanol back in 1912, and by the late 1980s, was beginning to use it widely as a substitute for gasoline. There are now 5.7 million flex fuel vehicles on the road in Brazil, and in contrast to the U.S., where there are also millions in operation, Brazilians actually are making widespread use of ethanol. By using sugar cane, rather than corn, as a feedstock, costs are extremely competitive with gasoline, noted Silvio Crestana, the president of Embrapa. The country expects to invest another $10 billion to expand production of the alternative, renewable fuel by 2010... Meanwhile, manufacturers are expected to increase to 80 percent the share of alcohol-ready cars sold in Brazil this year... Brazil is also looking to boost the use of a renewable alternative to petro-based diesel fuel, the executive announced. Within two years, at least two percent of the country's diesel will be bio-based, and by 2013, that will be required to go to 13 percent, according to new regulations. Overall, Crestana said, the goal of the populous nation is to make renewable fuels account for "more than 50 percent" of its energy mix in the near future...

TRUCKING' DIGEST NEWS WORLDWIDE

* Maverick Trucking acquires a division of Schneider National
Little Rock,Ark,USA -AP -June 13, 2006: -- An Arkansas-based trucking company is buying the largest glass carrier, which has a facility in Knoxville... Maverick Trucking USA says it's buying Schneider National's specialized division... It's buying all assets of the division, including 380 tractors, 870 trailers and the employment of more than 425 drivers and independent contractors, as well as the employment of more than 80 office and loan-handling personnel...

* Pacer Sets $60 Million Stock Buyback Program
USA -TTNews -12 June 2006: -- Transportation and third-party logistics firm Pacer International said Monday that its board of directors authorized the purchase of up to $60 million of the company’s common stock... Pacer is ranked No. 16 the Transport Topics 100 list of the largest U.S. and Canadian trucking companies...

* Transport Corp. of America to Boost Owner-Operator Pay
USA -TTNews -12 June 2006: -- Truckload carrier Transport Corp. of America said late last week it is raising its pay for owner-operators beginning in phases on July 1. Starting July 1, the line haul pay rate will rise to 90 cents a mile. On Sept. 1, it will increase to 91 cents, and on Nov. 1 it will rise to 92 cents... “We want our owner-operators to be successful and we recognize they have seen increases in their costs of doing business,” said Chief Executive Officer Mike Paxton...

* Cat Logistics signs new contract in Japan
Tokyo,Japan -Transport Intelligence -14 June 2006: -- Caterpillar Logistics Services, Inc. (Cat Logistics), the wholly owned subsidiary of Caterpillar Inc., has announced an agreement with Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) and Shin Caterpillar Mitsubishi (SCM) to provide an integrated logistics solution in support of their respective service parts operations in Japan...

Fuel - USA - Suppliers to Monitor Sulfur Content

USA - Transport Topics -12 June 2006: -- With the deadline for beginning retail sale of ultra-low-sulfur diesel four months away, fuel transporters and retailers said they would closely monitor their distribution systems for sulfur contamination as refiners begin to produce and distribute more of the new fuel... Federal regulations require 80% of on-highway diesel produced between June 1 and Dec. 31 to meet ULSD standards. However, diesel refiners and importers in California must begin producing 100% of the fuel immediately...

TELCOMM PRODUCTS - USA

* Verizon Business Keeps on Trucking
Managed Hosting Environment Stores Transit Data for Freight Industry
Norwood,MA,USA -Telecommunications Magazine, by Jim Barthold -June 13, 2006: -- Keeping track of trucks zigzagging across the country to pick up and deliver freight is a gargantuan chore... While Power2Ship, a Boca Raton, FL-based technology company handles the front end of that job for its 4,000 trucking customers, it needs help on the back end so it uses Verizon Business’s managed hosting environment to handle supply chain asset tracking, visibility and real-time information...

* Qualcomm Updates In-Cab Communications
USA -TTNews -12 June 2006: -- Wireless technology firm Qualcomm Inc. said it has updated its OmniTRACS in-cab communications system to improve the reporting of information between drivers and fleet operations officials... Qualcomm said the new feature, known as “critical event reporting,” will allow managers to re-ceive a record either manually or automatically...

* Businesses and Dispatchers Succeed with GPS Tracking and Routing
Fort Collins, CO,USA -TransWorldNews -June 12, 2006: -- Rocky Mountain Tracking, Inc. (RMT), a leading provider of GPS Fleet Tracking Systems, announced today that it will be exhibiting its latest GPS tracking solution at the 2006 International Trucking Show in Las Vegas... RMT will be introducing two new GPS tracking devices called the Informer and the Rover... RMT would not release specific information about the tracking devices, but did say, this technology offers a whole new level of convenience for dispatch and fleet tracking applications...

* New Module To Help Truckload Firms
USA -TTNews -12 June 2006: -- An official with mapping company Rand McNally said the company has released a new module that allows truckload carriers to incorporate lane-rate data with route optimization software... Bernie Hockswender, director of sales for the company’s commercial transportation division, said the IntelliRoute Lane Rates module allows carriers to determine whether a particular load will be profitable, based not only on the destination, but also on the amount of fuel a driver will use...

EcoNews - USA - UPS Environment-Friendly Trucks Reach Milestone

UPS trucks using eco-friendly combustibles have made over 100 million miles of package delivering

USA -Spotlighting News -13 June 2006: -- UPS is extremely aware of environmental protection problems, having pioneered hydrogen fuel cell engines' use in business purposes... Alternate to combustion engines are engines relying on hydrogen fuel cells, liquefied natural gas, compressed natural gas, electric or propane...
Another innovation UPS took part in was the development and introduction of the first hydraulic hybrid urban delivery vehicle... UPS considers introducing 50 hybrid electric vehicles in 2007, providing a 35 pct boost in fuel efficiency compared to trucks replaced... The number of pollution-efficient trucks UPS uses will rise to 12,100 by year's end...

Canada - Bigger trucks could mean smaller prices up the road

Winnipeg,Manitoba,Canada -Winnipeg CBC News -Jun 13 2006: -- Provincial transportation officials hope a move to allow larger trucks on Highway 6 will reduce the cost of food in remote northern communities... The province has had a ban on "Rocky Mountain Doubles" on the highway, which heads north from Winnipeg, winding 750 kilometres through the Interlake to Thompson. A rule change will allow the big trucks, which pull one 12-metre trailer and one eight-metre one...

Fuel price hike - India - Millions of trucks to go off roads

New Delhi,India -Express News Service -June 13, 2006: -- Responding to a 24-hour nationwide strike called by the All-India Motor Transport Congress (AIMTC), all trucks, barring those carrying essential goods, stayed off the roads today. The strike was called to protest the hike in fuel prices... The AIMTC has decided: “We have submitted a memorandum to the Finance Minister. If the government does not respond within 10 days, we will go on an indefinite strike nationwide,” said Deepak Sachdev, president of the Delhi Goods Transporters Association and AIMTC managing committee member...

* Truckers to strike work
New Delhi,India -NDTV.com -June 13, 2006: -- Millions of trucks are expected to go off the roads on Tuesday as part of a one-day token strike against the hike in fuel prices... Nearly 20,000 autos are off the road in Chennai alone. On Sunday the state government had waived the sales tax on the increased price of diesel...

City Trucks - Hawaii/USA - Cracks Down On Shrimp

Honolulu,HI,USA -Hawaii KITV/Channel.com -June 12, 2006: -- The city has cited several shrimp trucks operating in Kahuku for operating without permits after a KITV report... The shrimp wagons were operating without permits on agricultural land. Many of them also used huge illegal signs similar to billboards to advertise... After KITV's story aired, the city cracked down on the wagons this past week...

AUTOS' WORLD NEWS -

* German - DaimlerChrysler staff face fresh bribe probe
BREMEN, Germany -Reuters -June 14, 2006: -- Prosecutors in the northern German city of Bremen have searched several suspects' homes and offices in a fresh corruption probe at DaimlerChrysler, a justice department spokesman said on Wednesday... The investigation of possible breach of trust and bribery targets 11 company staff as well as employees of construction firms suspected of billing the car plant in Bremen for work performed on Mercedes-Benz staff's private homes, he added...

* German car dealer group Georg von Opel insolvent
Frankfurt,Germany -Automotive News -12 June 2006: -- Georg von Opel, one of Germany's biggest car dealers, sought court protection from creditors on Monday while it implements a restructuring plan to rescue its outlets and save most of its 750 jobs... The group with 27 dealerships said in a statement it had filed an insolvency plan with a court in Frankfurt that seeks to cut costs and make operations more efficient...

* Japan - GM and Isuzu to create JV for small pickup trucks
Tokyo,Japan -Reuters -13 June 2006: -- U.S. auto giant General Motors Corp. and Japanese truck maker Isuzu Motors Ltd. said on Tuesday they will form venture to oversee the joint development of next-generation pickup trucks... Both companies issued press releases announcing the 50-50 venture, which will be called LCV Platform Engineering Corp. and is to be fully operational by September. It will be based at Isuzu's engineering centre in Fujisawa, south of Tokyo...

* Japan - Honda recalls 561,594 vehicles
Tokyo,Japan MSNBC (USA)/Associated Press -14 June 2006: -- Honda Motor Co. is recalling over 561,000 vehicles in three models to replace a faulty part used in starting an engine, a company official said Wednesday... Subject to the recall are 217,953 Odyssey minivans, 141,652 CR-V sport-utility models and 123,580 Step Wagon minivans, said Honda spokeswoman Yu Kimoto...

* Japan - Suzuki to stop GM output after current model
Tokyo,Japan -Yomiuri Shimbun newspaper/Reuters -12 June 2006: -- Suzuki Motor Corp. plans to stop production of the Chevrolet Cruze car at the end of the model's life and dissolve a pact to sell Chevrolet-badged vehicles at its domestic outlets, reported on Sunday, June 11...

* Malaysia - Mahindra keen to assemble pick-up trucks in
Malaysia -Business Times, by Francis Fernandez -June 14 2006: -- DRB-HICOM Bhd, the country's largest integrated automotive company, has received a proposal from Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, India's biggest sports utility vehicle (SUV) and truck maker, to assemble pick-up trucks in Malaysia, people familiar with the matter said yesterday...

* GM sees first Russian-built SUVs in September
ST. PETERSBURG, Russia -Reuters -12 June 2006: -- General Motors started building a new car plant in Russia on Tuesday as it faced strikes in western Europe by workers convinced it will shift production to low-cost eastern Europe...

* USA - Group says stability systems boost auto safety
WASHINGTON,DC,USA -Reuters -12 June 2006: -- An electronic system that helps stabilize a vehicle when it is about to run off the road or roll is more effective than first thought and could prevent nearly a third of all fatal crashes and up to 10,000 deaths annually, an insurance group estimates...

* Hungary - Audi to invest $1.26 billion over 5 years
GYOR, Hungary -Reuters -13 June 2006: -- The Hungarian unit of German premium car maker Audi AG said it would boost production of its TT sports model to over 50,000 units a year and invest $1.26 billion (1 billion euros) in Hungary in the next five years...

* Nissan to build $200 million car plant in Russia
ST PETERSBURG, Russia -Reuters -13 June 2006: -- Nissan Motor Co., Japan's second-largest car maker, will build a $200 million plant in St Petersburg after signing a deal on Tuesday with Russia's Economy Ministry. Nissan would aim to produce 50,000 cars a year by 2009 at its first Russian plant...

* Toyota Says Hybrids Will Double
Japan -Wall Street Journal -14 June 2006: -- Toyota is reconfirming its plans to greatly increase its presence in the hybrid market. The company's president, Katsuaki Watanabe, promises Toyota will double the number of hybrids it offers shortly after the start of the next decade. Previously said it would expand the presence of gas-electric vehicles in its lineup but had not made its plans more specific. Watanabe also said Toyota will continue to study if plug-in hybrids would make sense in his company's lineup, and confirmed that Toyota will develop an ethanol-compatible vehicle for sale in Brazil by early next year...

* Italy - Fiat confirms Ferrari unit will not be listed on stock exchange
MILAN, Italy -The Detroit News/Associated Press -June 14, 2006: -- Italian automaker Fiat SpA will not sell shares in its majority-controlled luxury car brand Ferrari in a stock market listing, the company confirmed Wednesday... Analysts have estimated that Ferrari could be worth up to 1 billion euros ($1.26 billion) to Fiat, which in the past has considered an initial public offering...

Growing Optimism - USA - Truck dealer invests $1.4M in Southside

Tuscaloosa.ALA,USA - MSNBC, by Kaija Wilkinson -13 June 2006: -- Southland International Trucks Inc. is spending $1.4 million to build a body shop on Second Avenue South... Despite rising gasoline prices, Southland owner Drew Linn expects his company to continue to grow. After all, he says, shipments still have to be made... "It made the cost of our project go up, but not enough to stop it," he says of high fuel costs... In fact he says, once the body shop project is well under way, Southland plans significant renovation at the Second Avenue South property...

Electric Delivery Truck - France - Hybrid take Michelin challenge

Paris,France -FleetOwner, by William Diem -Jun 12, 2006: -- When Renault Trucks brings diesel hybrids to the world, they won’t run on electricity alone, even though customers would like them to... One client has asked Renault to develop a hybrid that would have an electric-only range of 50 km, but for that, said Robert Desportes, director of alternative fuel projects for the company, “you need an electric truck or a bi-mode”... The problem for Renault Trucks, and its sister brands Mack and Volvo, is a hybrid running on pure electricity would require two sets of controls for the steering and brakes--and if it were to have 50 km of range, would need 3 tons of battery. All that adds cost, said Desportes, and in the truck business “it is good to have it not too costly"...

Infraestructure - UK - City centre square bashed by trucks

Preston,England,UK -Lancashire Evening Post -13 June 2006: -- Preston's civic centre-piece needs thousand of pounds of repairs – only a year after it was last given a facelift... The historic Flag Market is currently littered with countless cracked flagstones, each marked with a painted yellow cross... It is understood the damage has been caused by heavy vehicles using the square for events... In 2001, cars were banned from parking on the Flag Market because it was felt they were to blame for damaging the flags which was, in turn, leading to compensation claims...

New Solution - Australia - A web-based vehicle booking system

Waterfront keeps on trucking

Australia -Australian IT, by Kelly Mills -June 13, 2006: -- Patrick and P&O ports... Dealing with Australia's two largest stevedores has been made by a web-based vehicle booking system...
-- Confusion: A simple communication pipeline was needed for truckies picking up goods from the docks...
-- THE PROBLEM: Trucking companies around the country had to log into two systems to book slots to pick up goods from wharves operated by Patrick and P&O Ports.
-- THE PROCESS: A web-based vehicle booking system replaced two independent systems, simplifying the process for transport companies.
-- THE RESULT: The simplified system has made the process of booking slots quicker and easier...

It's FREE - USA - New load board for truckers and shippers

Jacksonville,FL,USA -Jacksonville Business Journal, by Tony Quesada -12 June 2006: -- A small Jacksonville company has blended two services commonly used by the trucking industry into what it hopes will become a popular, if not indispensable, virtual marketplace... Freight Revolution Inc. has created a Web-based load board, a site on which shippers can post freight moves and on which independent truckers and trucking companies can sign up to handle them... Unlike other Internet load boards, such as getloaded.com, freightrevolution.com is free for truckers and shippers. The company's payoff comes from providing a service known as load factoring, essentially buying accounts receivable, for site users willing to pay a small percentage of their invoices to get paid faster...

Opinion - USA - Is the Economy Really Slowing Down?

USA -Yahoo! News, by Brian Wesbury -Jun 13, 2006: -- Real GDP' expanded at a 3.3% annual rate in the second quarter of 2005. This was followed by a 4.4% growth rate in the third quarter and then a post-Katrina swoon of 1.7% in the fourth quarter - which many took as a sign that the economy was slowing. Nonetheless, a post-Katrina rebound boosted real GDP to a barn-burner 5.3% rate in the first quarter of 2006. I expect second quarter growth to slow to 2.8%... We do not believe that the economy will slow much, if at all, in the second half of 2006. Leading indicators of business confidence remain robust. Heavy duty (above 14,000 lbs.) truck sales were 10.5% above year-ago levels in the first quarter, while capital goods orders (excluding defense and aircraft) were up 9.2% year-over-year in April...

Products III - USA - New Engines by I-Power Energy Systems

ANDERSON, Ind.,USA -PRNewswire -June 12,2006: -- I Power Energy Systems LLC, announced today the introduction of new, motorsports engine technologies for their on-site, continuous-duty, electrical power generators to reduce the number of service "pit stops" and increase uptime performance... I Power called upon the expertise of Menard Engineering, a renowned racing engine developer and builder located in Indianapolis, to apply the same extended engine durability technologies to the company's highly modified truck engines which utilize natural gas to generate cleaner, more efficient electrical power...

Markets - Germany - MAN Not Interested in Navistar

FRANKFURT, Germany -The Associated Press/Frankfurter Allgemeine daily -June 12, 2006: -- The chief executive of MAN AG said the commercial vehicles maker would like to deepen its cooperation with Navistar International Corp. but is not interested in acquiring a stake in the Illinois-based truck and bus maker, according to an interview published Monday... CEO Hakan Samuelsson was quoted in the as quashing recent reports that the Munich-based group was looking to acquire shares of Navistar, which operates truck maker International Truck and Engine Corp...

Products II - China - Dongfeng has amibitious plans

China -Transport News Network/Biglorryblog (UK) -12 June 2006: -- Not that long ago Biglorryblog was posting about the FOTAN heavy truck being developed in China. Now I can tell you that Dongfeng Motor Company, Ltd (DFL), the joint venture between Nissan Motor Company, Ltd and Dongfeng Motor Group Company, Ltd, is to launch the all-new heavy-duty truck series---the 'Dongfeng Tianlong' in China. This truck series, bearing the Dongfeng brand, is manufactured by Dongfeng Commercial Vehicle Company, a subsidiary company under DFL...

Products - UK - Iveco Trakkers go off road

Northampton,Chester,UK -Easier -12 June 2006: -- Northampton-based Deejak Builders has taken delivery of two new Trakkers from Iveco’s rugged range of multi-axle rigids... Both Trakkers have a cab width of just 2.28 m, ensuring vehicle manoeuvrability in confined spaces is excellent, thus reducing risk of collision with obstacles. The cab also benefits from anti-slip access steps which make getting in or out of the cab even safer and feature a bottom step which is flexible and hingeless, so if it makes contact with an obstacle whilst manoeuvring, it simply bends and then returns to its original shape... Inside the Trakker cab, the driver’s seat has air suspension and is fully adjustable with a headrest and an integrated seatbelt. It is upholstered in vinyl which makes it easy to wipe clean...

Awards - Ausatralia - Scott, Noonan honoured in Queen's list

Mount Gambier trucking tycoon Allan Scott and Transport Workers Union Victoria/Tasmania Branch Secretary Bill Noonan have been honoured in the Queen's Birthday honours list

Australia -Australasian Bus and Coach -12 June 2006: -- Archibald Allan Scott has been elevated to Officer of the General Division of the Order of Australia (AO) for services to the transport industry, sporting and medical research and aged care organisations... He is Chairman and major shareholder of the Scott Transport Group, K&S Freighters and holds Mt Gambier television, newspaper, retail and hotel interests... William George Noonan was awarded Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for services to road safety and trade unionism. He has been Secretary of the TWU in Victoria for just over a decade and was previously its legal officer... Former transport bureaucrat and now head of the federal Environment Department (and long time Federal Government opponent of the trucking industry) Roger David Beale was also given an AO for services to conservation and the environment. Through the late 1980s and 90s he led the Federal Government lobby to substantially lift charges on trucks...

JOBS !!! Jobs !!! j..o..b..s.. requireds - USA - Trucking industry

Desperate for drivers, tries new recruiting tactics

With 130 percent annual turnover, employers are offering better benefits, honesty about what the job entails

Dayton,OH,USA —Dayton Daily News (subscription), by John Nolan -11 June 2006: -- The trucking industry is taking a kinder, gentler approach as it attempts to recruit thousands of new, long-haul drivers in light of a shortage that is getting worse... Trucking companies say they are trying to make the job more appealing to women, Hispanics, returning military personnel, over-50 workers looking for a second career, and the truckers already on the job, since job turnover is an industry-wide problem... The trucking carriers are trying to reduce the number of miles and days that a long-haul driver must cover before returning home, are allowing drivers more say about their schedules and are permitting drivers to take spouses or other family members along, industry officials said...

High standard - USA

* Diesel users beginning to see impact of new EPA rule
Redwood Falls,MN,USA -Redwood Falls Gazette, by Erik Posz -June 10, 2006: -- Fuel prices are once again going up just in time for summer vacations and the travel season... For most of us the prices are bothersome and irritating, but for those who are professional drivers the high fuel prices are cutting deeply into their pocketbooks... What is more than likely going to drive diesel prices even higher is the fact that the Enviromental Protection Agency is in its last month of phasing in highly restrictive sulfur standards at refineries... In 2000, the EPA moved ahead on its rule to make heavy-duty trucks and buses run cleaner, and the Highway Diesel Rule (the "2007 Highway Rule"), was finalized in January 2001... According to the rule, beginning with the 2007 model year, the harmful pollution from heavy-duty highway vehicles must be reduced by more than 90 percent... Almost no one will argue that a cleaner burning diesel engine is a bad thing, however, diesel prices are expected to be on average $0.38 per gallon more than it was at its high last summer. That alone leaves room for argument...

* Trucks get dose of ULSD
Waterbury,CT,USA -Waterbury Republican American, by ANUSHA SHRIVASTAVA -June 11, 2006: -- For trucker Glenn Bertrand, the introduction of ultra-low sulfur diesel, or ULSD, means just one thing -- an increase in prices... "Diesel used to be cheaper than unleaded gas," said Bertrand, who owns GM Fine Arts Security Transport in Beacon Falls... "That may not be the case now. I'm going to have no choice but to raise prices too"... This cleaner fuel is scheduled to be available nationwide by Oct. 15, 2006, before new diesel vehicles are introduced to meet the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's 2007 emissions standards. The fuel can be used in all diesel engines with little or no modification to the engine or fuel system... While trucks and buses will switch to ULSD beginning in October, off-road diesel vehicles -- such as farm and construction equipment -- will see their emission requirements be phased in from 2007 to 2010...

Danger on the road - USA - Heavy truck inspectors target semis with safety violations

Munster,IN,USA -Munster Times, by MARC CHASE -June 10, 2006: -- A trucker tokes on a cigarette only a few feet away from the thousands of pounds of flammable solvent in his semitrailer at the Interstate 94 westbound weigh station near Chesterton... Another trucker there is forced to shut down his rig after heavy-truck inspectors find a large leak in an air line that controls his brakes... Both drivers were among four who had their rigs taken out of service -- all within about an hour of each other -- by Indiana State Police safety officers at the westbound weigh station... And the inspectors were just getting started... It was all part of a three-day, federally funded crackdown on dangerous trucks traveling region roadways. The enforcement mirrored a national effort, paying specific attention to bad brakes on semitrailers...

Sales - Malaysia - Volvo targets higher sales of trucks

Malaysia -People's Daily Online (Beijing,China) -June 10, 2006: -- Volvo Malaysia targets a higher sales volume of 400 trucks this year, its managing director Olof Rapp said... The new truck, which costs around 300,000 ringgit (81,081 U.S. dollars), will help Volvo Malaysia to achieve the targeted sales, said... The company, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Sweden-based AB Volvo Group, has already sold over 300 trucks this year...

TRUCKS' PURCHASES WORLDWIDE

* South Africa - BC plans to buy 10 refuse trucks
Buffalo City,South Africa -Dispatch Online, by MAYIBONGWE MAQHINA -10 June 2006: -- With overflowing rubbish strewn all over the streets, Buffalo City Municipality this week announced plans to purchase 10 more refuse trucks... These will be in addition to the six that were purchased recently and are expected to be delivered within four months...

Controls - USA - More than 1,700 trucking violations found during 3-day crackdown

HARTFORD, Conn,USA -Boston Globe -June 9, 2006: -- State inspectors took more than 50 truck drivers off the road and discovered more than 1,700 violations during a three-day crackdown this week on Connecticut roads, officials said Friday... Inspectors from the state departments of Public Safety and Motor Vehicles conducted the targeted reviews of large trucks as part of a nationwide effort called Roadcheck 2006... About 1,740 infractions were issued and nearly 100 trucks were sidelined for safety defects and violations of state and federal laws, officials said... Fifty-four drivers also were ordered not to drive until problems were resolved with their log books, records of hours behind the wheel and other issues...

Fraud - USA - Orlando trucking school gave licenses without training

ORLANDO, Fla,USA - Bradenton Herald/Associated Press -9 Jun 2006: -- Two officials of an Orange County trucking school were arrested after an investigation revealed that they potentially put thousands of commercial truck drivers on the road with little or no training, the Florida Highway Patrol (FHP) said... C&L Solutions President Victor M. Cosme-Burgos, 59, of Orlando, and manager Robson L. Coco, 43, of Winter Park, were charged Thursday with defrauding students who sought licenses required to drive trucks, buses and other commercial vehicles... The arrests came after an investigation by state officials who became suspicious when an auditor noticed that the school hadn't failed a student in the last year and a half of driving tests. Most driving schools statewide fail about 20 percent of their applicants, the FHP said...

Safety - USA - Melton Truck Lines Wins Award From ATA

Melton takes 2nd place in the National Truck Safety Contest

Tulsa, OK,USA -Layover.com (Akron,PA) -9 June 2006: -- USA Melton Truck Lines was awarded second place in the American Trucking Associations (ATA) National Safety Award for Flatbed/Local Division. Winning this prestigious award helps to reinforce Melton Truck Lines' work in the expansion of its safety program... Over the past two years, Melton has initiated a new company-wide safety educational program, expanded our driver-training program, and launched other safety initiatives...

Global Trucking Landscape - Ireland - Get an Aerial View with a Special Focus on the US Market

DUBLIN, Ireland -Business Wire (San Francisco,CA,USA) -June 9, 2006: -- Research and Markets, has announced the addition of Trucking Industry - Global Outlook 2006 to their offering... The global outlook series on Trucking Industry provides a collection of statistical anecdotes, market briefs, and concise summaries of research findings. Get an aerial view of the global trucking landscape with a special focus on the US market. Illustrated with 45 tables, charts and graphs, the US market discussion is laced with trade/regulatory issues, and estimated and projected revenues of leading contenders in select segments, among other variables such as fleet size, and market shares. Also included is an expansive directory listing the addresses, and contact details of 1,369 companies worldwide, that have been indexed for easy reference...

EcoNews - USA - Truckmakers to make hybrid trucks

Could the technology work for larger vehicles -- trucks, say?... Truck manufacturers such as Bellevue-based Paccar Inc. believe so

Seattle,WASH,USA -Seattle Post Intelligencer, by BILL VIRGIN -June 9, 2006: -- Hybrid cars, which employ a technology combining gasoline and electric motors, are a hot item these days for motorists looking for ways to cut their fuel bills... The parent of Kenworth and Peterbilt says it plans to make hybrid-power medium-duty trucks available in 2008... Its competitors are also looking at the technology and, in some cases, already have hybrids on the market. Portland-based Freightliner (a unit of DaimlerChrysler) says it is supplying 93 hybrid-power chassis to FedEx and UPS for walk-in vans, according to a spokeswoman. Freightliner expects to make another announcement about hybrid vehicles later this summer... Volvo Group recently announced that it plans to introduce hybrid-technology trucks for such applications as in-city distribution and refuse trucks...

Dramatic Story - Australia - It's raining ... 19-tonne trucks

Sydney,New South Wales,Australia -Sydney Morning Herald, by Jano Gibson -June 9, 2006: -- The tranquil harbour views of Rose Bay were shattered for one family today ... when a 19-tonne truck landed on top of their multi-million dollar mansion... Now the two-storey luxury home may have to be demolished, says Woollahara Council... The owner of the house, who did not want to talk to the media, was "very angry", said one construction worker, who asked not to be named. "I just tried to calm him down," he said... The large truck was about to be loaded with sand at a neighbouring construction site in Tivoli Avenue when it rolled down a narrow laneway and smashed into the property at 7.45am...

Common Sense - USA - What passes for good news

Any day in which the U.S. Congress refrains from doing something destructive is about as good as it gets in Washington lately.

New York,NY.USA -The New York Times -June 9, 2006: -- On Thursday, the Senate cleared that low bar when it rejected efforts to repeal the estate tax... America is at war and the budget is so wildly out of balance that the government cannot pay its bills without borrowing money from foreign investors. The idea that this is a good moment to repeal a tax on people who inherit multimillion-dollar estates is mind-boggling. But Congress was on the brink of doing just that... Congress could easily have rationalized the tax structure, while protecting small businesses and family farms. But that would have forced everyone to admit that there's nothing wrong with asking people to pay a tax when they inherit enormous fortunes. For this Senate, the bar doesn't go nearly that high...

Award - USA - Lima Transportes Ltda as 2005 Global Carrier of the Year

Lima Transportes' Zero Incidents in 2005 Recognized by Chevron with Global Carrier of the Year Award

SAN RAMON, Cal,USA-Autochannel (USA) -June 5, 2006: -- In recognition of its high standards of operational safety, Chevron Global Marketing today announced Lima Transportes Ltda as the winner of its 2005 Carrier of the Year Award... Lima Transportes Ltda has worked with Chevron in Latin America since 2003, and was awarded Carrier of the Year for the Southern Cone in 2005 for zero accidents, zero mixes and zero spills, working in 11 terminals with 99.35 percent delivery reliability. Key factors that led Lima Transportes to first place include well organized documentation of processes, management's involvement in all issues, a modern fleet and thorough maintenance program, and a strong focus on safety, such as its safety incentive program for drivers...

EPA Regulations - USA - Help Drive Class 6-8 Truck Chassis Systems and Components

PALO ALTO, Calif.,USA -PRNewswire -June 8, 2006: -- As the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations on reducing emissions from class 6-8 trucks approach their final implementation phase in 2007, the trend of pre-buying trucks is becoming more prevalent. As replacement opportunities increase with the age of the truck, unit shipments for class 6-8 truck chassis systems and components in the short to medium term will increase... New analysis from Frost & Sullivan (http://www.transportation.frost.com ), North American Class 6-8 Truck Chassis Systems and Components Aftermarket, reveals that this market earned revenues of $2,401.3 million in 2005 and estimates to reach $2,740.4 million in 2012...

New Engine - USA - Detroit Diesel Corporation to Support Australian Trucking Market in 2008

DETROIT,Mich,USA -PRNewswire -June 8, 2006: -- Detroit Diesel Corporation today announced that it will offer a new Series 60® heavy-duty diesel engine to the Australian market in order to meet the country's emissions certification standards -- ADR 80.1 -- which take effect January 1, 2008... In order to meet the heavier loads, higher vehicle speeds and higher ambient temperatures as a result of hauling freight across Australia, the company has placed a significant amount of effort in its design and testing for this unique and demanding environment, which for the first time, will include extensive in-country testing that is already underway. The standard displacement on the engine will be 14-liters. Initially, the engine will be available with 500 hp and 1,850 lb-ft.-torque with additional ratings to follow...

Deep Fried Fuel - USA - Could soon fuel Dona Ana County trucks

The agency in charge of trash collection for Las Cruces and Dona Ana County is currently looking for prices on bio-diesel fuel

El Paso,TX,USA -KXTS/TV -June 7, 2006: -- Bio-diesel fuel burns just like regular diesel, only it's made from soybeans, seeds or recycled grease from fast food restaurants... It also burns cleaner than regular fuel and re-uses material that would have been sent to a landfill... If the plan is successful in the garbage trucks, other city and county government vehicles could also switch over to bio-diesel...

Liability Trials - USA - Trucking lawyer decries 'junk' evidence

USA -eTrucker, by Sean Kelley -8 June 2006: -- Trucking companies need to do a better job keeping irrelevant evidence or "junk" evidence out of liability trials, a top trucking lawyer told attendees at the CCJ Spring Symposium in Tuscaloosa, Ala., sponsored by Randall-Reilly Publishing... Michael Langford, an attorney with Scopelitis, Garvin, Light and Hanson said, some irrelevant evidence is so damaging it's like "a skunk in the jury box"...

Make-A-Wish - USA - Truck convoy brings smiles to area children

Chambersburg,PA,USA -Chambersburg Public Opinion Online, by Kathy Leedy -8 June 2006: -- Those who saw a large convoy of trucks on Saturday couldn't help but smile when they realized what was happening... The Franklin County Truck Convoy was brightening the spirits of Make-A-Wish children, who were riding in big rigs alongside professional truck drivers. Signs on trucks said, "Wish Child onboard"... Cressler Trucking, Shippensburg, hosted the event, which gave ill children a chance to see what riding in a tractor-trailor was like...

'Sick' - Australia - NSW budget does little for trucking

NSWales,Australia -supply chain review -7 June 2006: -- The trucking industry has been left unimpressed by the New South Wales Budget handed down yesterday, and the Opposition has attacked the Government for failing to invest in key freight routes... Hugh McMaster from the NSW Road Transport Association (NSWRTA) says there’s not a lot in it for trucking, but infrastructure spending across the board is positive... "Overall we're pleased with the capital spending across the board, because it means a little more business for our members," he says...

Earnings - USA - Trucking Companies Up

NEW YORK,NY,USA -AP -June 07, 2006: -- YRC Worldwide Inc. helped push shares of trucking companies higher Wednesday, after the Overland Park, Kan., company raised its second-quarter earnings outlook. YRC Worldwide cited a healthy economy and pricing that has been a little bit better than originally anticipated. YRC shares jumped 6.8 percent higher, but recently settled at $39.96, up 96 cents, or 2.5 percent... The Nasdaq Transportation Index is up 30 points, or 1.1 percent, to 2,572.34... As for other trucking companies, US Express Enterprises shares were recently up $1.20, or 5.5 percent, to $23.10; Old Dominion Freight Line Inc. shares rose $1.74, or 5.6 percent, to $32.55; and Arkansas Best Corp. shares rose $1.33, or 3.2 percent, to $42.70...

Prosperity - USA - Major trucking firms feel little pain at the pump

Customers absorb higher fuel costs
Detroit, Mich,USA -The Detroit Free Press, by DAVID BOWERMASTER/The Seattle Times -June 7, 2006: -- By levying fuel surcharges on customers such as Wal-Mart, Nordstrom and Home Depot that transport tons of stuff every day, trucking companies are feeling little pain at the fuel pumps... Indeed, revenue from fuel surcharges is rising even faster than fuel expenses at several of the country's largest trucking firms, suggesting some may be turning a profit on the fees... The prosperity has continued for the big trucking companies in 2006, even though diesel fuel now averages $2.89 per gallon:
-- J.B. Hunt Transport Services had a record first-quarter profit of $49 million on record sales of $780 million.
-- Knight Transportation, likewise, set records with $15.8 million in profit on $149 million in sales.
-- Swift Transportation's first-quarter profit soared 93% to $37.5 million and its stock reached an all-time high.
All three companies said the robust health of the economy, and particularly retail sales, more than made up for fat fuel bills... That is a big reason trucking companies are able to pass along higher fuel expenses...

Optimism - USA - Trucking companies' profits outpace rising fuel prices

Industry is able to pass costs on to customers

SEATTLE,Wash,USA -The Seattle Times, by DAVID BOWERMASTER/Houston Chronicle -June 7, 2006: -- At Paccar's upbeat annual meeting in April, shareholders applauded the truck builder's record $1.1 billion profit in 2005... The appreciative company, in turn, handed out coffee-table histories of its first 100 years... But a wary audience member interrupted the good times with a troubling question: With oil around $70 per barrel and diesel prices soaring, could freight haulers afford to keep buying Paccar's Kenworth and Peterbilt rigs?: Absolutely, Chief Executive Mark Pigott said: "Most of the trucking companies pass along their costs to their end-users"...

Compromise - Belgium - Overtaking ban instead of new speed limit for trucks

BRUSSELS,Belgium -Expatica (Netherlands) -7 June 2006: -- A special federal Cabinet meeting decided on Wednesday against imposing an 80kmh speed limit on trucks... A compromise was eventually reached to impose an overtaking ban on all trucks travelling on two-lane motorways... "An overtaking ban is less symbolic, but has more effect," Transport Minister Renaat Landuyt said... The new overtaking ban for trucks will be applied as a general rule, with exceptions for three-lane roads...

Workshop Personnel - Sweden - The World's Largest Competition for

Volvo Trucks Arrange it

STOCKHOLM, Sweden -Autochannel (USA) -June 7, 2006: -- The world's largest competition for workshop personnel is about to get underway. The organiser, Volvo Trucks, is hoping for at least 12,000 participants from all over the world. The goal is to raise the level of competence of the personnel as well as the status of working as a mechanic... A competition for workshops has existed in Sweden for 50 years, but it became global in 1977 and took on its current form and the name VISTA. Its purpose is to develop the competence of personnel working in the service workshops. The competition is decided through theoretical and practical exercises in which the participant' skill and knowledge of trucks and heavy engines are put to the test...

Enterprise News - UK - Plantforce adds Volvo FL and ultra-versatile FM to fleet

Chester,UK -Easier -7 June 2006: -- Leeds-based plant haulier Plantforce has added a brace of versatile Volvo rigids in the guise of a beavertail bodied 6x2 rear-steer FL and a Globetrotter cabbed FM-420 8x4 to the company’s fleet of four specialist trucks... Both feature heavy-duty and very detailed specifications, put together by Plantforce Director Keith Walker and Volvo Dealer Crossroads Truck and Bus, who supplied both vehicles...

New Engine - USA - Energy Efficient "Flex-Fuel''

Turbine Truck Engines Inc. Secures 10 Million Dollar Equity Line of Credit for

DELAND, Fla.,USA -Autochannel -June 6, 2006: -- Turbine Truck Engines Inc., is the owner of an exclusive license for manufacturing and marketing Heavy Duty Highway Truck Engines utilizing a new Pulse Detonation Technology embodied in U.S. Patent #6,000,214 "Detonation Cycle Gas Turbine Engine System Having Intermittent Fuel and Air Delivery" (DCGT)... Unique Features of the DCGT Engine:
-- Pulse Detonates Fuels - Complete Combustion
-- Runs On Gasoline, Diesel, Propane, Ethanol, Methanol & Hydrogen
-- Uses 30% Less Fuel Than Diesel Engines
-- Puts Out 30% Less Emissions & Greenhouse Exhaust Gasses
-- Cold Start Capability With Any Fuel
-- Simplified Mechanical Structure - No Reciprocating Parts
-- Air Cooled - Lighter Weight Than Diesel Engines
-- Less Maintenance - No Lube Oil, Filters, Pumps
-- Lower Manufacturing & Operating Costs

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30.6.06

Purchases - UK - To Buy 2,000 More Trucks from Germany’s MAN

Survey - USA - Canton-made trucks take top honors in

GreenNews - Canada - Trucking group pushes plan for reducing emissions

Recalls - Japan - Honda, Isuzu recalling faulty vehicles

Rules - China - Police intensify efforts to dismantle vehicles

EcoNews - USA - Sweeping air pollution plan proposed for LA/Long Beach ports

Take-over - USA - GM moves to buy out Vector SCM joint venture

Sea Transport - S. Korea - New generation of giant container ships developed

29.6.06

Sobriety Checkpoints - USA - Not Effective at Catching Drunk Drivers This 4th of July

New Program - USA - Oil Coolers and Fuel Cooler Modules

‘Boutique Fuels’ - USA - EPA Issues Report on

Project - USA - On Fuel Cell Auxiliary Power Unit (APU)

Cross-Border Trucking - USA - Teamster Delegates Stand Strong Against

Trucks' Media - USA - Prism Buys TTS’ FleetSeek

NAFTA - USA - Mexican trucks to enter U.S. freely?

Biodiesel - USA - Enginemakers greenlight B20 test standard

Production - Russia - Renault and Gaz Do Truck Engine Deal

Production - USA - Cummins-built engines to be exclusive on Paccar MD trucks

Production - Brazil - Iveco Targets Faster Development in

Sales - UK - Here we go delivering trucks in May...

Purchases - Canada - Ottawa to spend $1.2B on 2,300 military trucks

Public Offer - China - Truckmaker IPO

Study - USA - Trucking Restriction Makes Roads Safer

Roadcheck program - USA - CTA's Bradley questions usefulness of

27.6.06

Protection - USA - For Drivers of Tow Trucks

Success - USA - SoCAL Truck program

Sales - China - National Heavy-Duty Truck allocates 20 bln yuan R&D to 2010

Jobs - Canada - A shortage of HD diesel technicians

Research - USA - Indicates trucking capacity issues persist

26.6.06

Oil - Canada - $264M sale to oil sands pleases Finning

Acquisitions - USA - More trucks purchases

24.6.06

AUTOS' WORLD NEWS

Biofuel news - USA - One billion dollars gallons and more

High-tech - USA - City considers new garbage truck

Impact - USA - Truck and Bus Safety Enforcement Efforts

Security - USA - GOP rejects trucking security provision

Develop - USA - Eaton's hybrid electric system for refuse trucks

Oil - USA - Reclaims $70, with gas futures up

Oil & Gas - USA - Anadarko buys Kerr-McGee, Western

Strategies - USA - China and Saudi Arabia: interesting SPR team up?

23.6.06

Hydraulic hybrids - USA - Delivereds for UPS

Development - USA - Of Heavy-Duty Hybrid System For Class 8 Vehicles

Regulatory Changes - Canada - Canadian Trucking Alliance Cautions Transport Ministers on

Rule Changes - Canada - Put pressure on trucking firms

Distribution - USA - Exclusive Northern Europe Rights

Removing - Australia - ATA welcomes Fuel Tax Bill

Take Note - USA - Additives at issue during ULSD changeover

New web-based software - USA - Tackling cargo theft with technology

Save on Fuel - USA - EPA helps West Coast fleets

Market - USA - NHTSA rule may stimulate disc demand

Biodiesel - Canada - Task Force requests joint government effort

Study - USA - Truck Specs: Critical to fuel economy

Controls II - Australia - Trucks on the police radar

EcoNews - USA - Retrofiting Trucks May Help Clean North Portland's Air

Markets - Brazil - Fitch Downgrades ALL's Ratings

Markets - India - Daimler-Chrysler enters Indian truck market with Actros

Generosity - USA - Forgotten Harvest takes bruised goods to the hungry

Controls - USA - Turn attention to tanker trucks

Enterprises - Sweden - Volvo affirms market forecasts, eyes China links

22.6.06

Product - USA - EPA Unveils Unique Hydraulic Hybrid Diesel Delivery Truck

Adquisition - USA - Universal Express Completes Contract for Global Trucking

Background Checks - USA - Trucking group exec speaks out on

More - USA - Schneider sells its payment business

Buyers - USA - No end to high transportation costs

Production - Thailand - Becomes Asia's Pickup Capital

Overweight trucks - USA - Tearing up roads as fast as city repairs them

GreenNews - USA - OUC trucks to try biodiesel power

Bio-fuels - UK - British Sugar to manufacture next generation in the UK