User-agent: Mediapartners-Google* Disallow: Trucks World News: May 2007
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May 30, 2007

"GREEN" NEWS * USA - U-Haul Partners With The Conservation Fund's Go Zero Program

U-Haul International, Inc. today announced its partnership with The Conservation Fund's Go Zero Program.

Phoenix,AZ,USA -PRIME NEWSWIRE -May 29, 2007: -- Customers renting equipment at participating U-Haul locations across North America and on uhaul.com will have the option to donate to The Conservation Fund's Go Zero Program to offset carbon emissions... The Conservation Fund launched its Go Zero Program in an effort to make it easy and affordable for individuals, corporations and even entire communities to "Go Zero" by measuring and then offsetting their carbon emissions by planting trees. This effort will address climate change, protect the wildlife habitat and enhance North America's public recreation areas...

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posted by Unknown @ 10:50 AM  0 comments

EVENTS * USA - 'Tricked trucks' highlight weekend fest on 18 wheels

They aren't your ordinary "18-wheelers."

MI,USA -MLive.com/Muskegon Chronicle, by Dave Alexander -May 29, 2007: -- Polished chrome and flashy paint jobs on the outside conceal inside "living" quarters that include everything from custom upholstery to big-screen TVs, old-fashioned jukeboxes and even hot tubs. And it's all done within the ordinary confines of a commercial truck cab... Local people will get to view some of these rigs when they roll into town June 22-23 for the first West Michigan Truck Show 2007, which is being staged by Kirksey & Associates Inc., a local event marketing company...

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posted by Unknown @ 10:15 AM  0 comments

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS WORLDWIDE

* China - Cummins venture reaches million milestone
Xiangfan, Hubei, China -Truck News (Ontario,CAN), by Steven Macleod -30 May 2007: -- Dongfeng Cummins Engine Company (DCEC), a 50/50 joint venture between Cummins and Chinese auto maker Dongfeng Motor Corporation (DFM), has reached a significant milestone by producing its one millionth engine.The engine, a Cummins ISLe to be installed in a Dongfeng heavy-duty Tianlong truck, highlights the companies' engine partnership in China that dates back to 1986...

* France - Renault Trucks to create 500 jobs at two assembly plants
Paris,France -Automotive World (UK) -29 May, 2007: -- Renault Trucks will create 500 additional jobs this year at its manufacturing sites in France, according to the company... The OEM notes that it has decided to increase its staff at the Bourg-en-Bresse, Ain and Blainville-sur-Orne, Calvados plants to me...

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posted by Unknown @ 9:56 AM  0 comments

SAVING FUEL COST


* USA - Trucking firm looks a way to cut - Rising gas prices probably have many local motorists scrambling to find fuel-saving possibilities. One local hauler has taken the job into its own hands




Oil City,PA,USA -The Oil City Derrick, by NICHOLAS A. HESS -29 May 2007: -- Klapec Trucking of Reno, which operates more than 70 diesel-powered trucks, has introduced several cost-saving programs, hoping the changes will help company revenues and perhaps pay for themselves in the long haul... Cindy Urban, the president of Klapec Trucking, said the firm is testing various additives in its vehicles. She thinks the changes could help reinvent the company and prepare it for the possibility of further increases in diesel prices... Each truck holds 200 gallons of diesel fuel and gets about six miles to the gallon. With diesel prices rounding out at above $3 a gallon and Klapec Trucking delivering to 48 states and to parts of Canada, fuel charges can be daunting... The company offers its drivers discounted fuel prices; bulk fuel tanks containing about 7,500 gallons of diesel each are on site. The company pays for the drivers' fuel... Another cost-saving options are: the use self-contained generators called Auxiliary Power Supply Units, in each truck to reduce costs during idle time. Urban said the rigs use one gallon of diesel fuel per one hour of idling time. With the new generators, trucks would only require two-tenths of a gallon of diesel fuel per hour... Klapec has not had any cutbacks and recently purchased seven new trucks and 11 new trailers, also increasing employment... (Photo: Klapec Trucking Company driver Jim Patterson refills his truck with diesel fuel at the company's on-sight station in Reno. The local business has taken several measures to decrease fuel usage due to rising costs)

* Israel - Ingenuity Builds Fuel-Saver for U.S. Truckers
Tel Aviv,Israel -Israel National News/Isra Good -30 May 2007: -- Professor Avraham Seifert and his colleagues at the Iby and Aladar Fleischman Faculty of Engineering at Tel Aviv University have developed a device which is likely to save the U.S. trucking industry some $400 million per year... The drag reduction device, an actuator, was exhibited at the “World’s Best Technologies Showcase” in Texas... Through the combined action of suction and pulsed blowing of airflow, the device reduces drag in a controlled manner when it is attached to the back of the truck or trailer... Israeli researchers say the device is projected to increase fuel economy in trucks and trailers by as much as ten percent...

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posted by Unknown @ 9:37 AM  0 comments

May 29, 2007

RECALL * Japan - Mitsubishi to doit with Super Great trucks

Melbourne,Australia -The Age -May 29, 2007: -- Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp said Tuesday it will recall 5,023 units of the Super Great truck to fix a defect in its engine mount for free... In a report filed with the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, the subsidiary of DaimlerChrysler AG said the affected trucks were manufactured between December 1999 and February 2006 and that it has received a total of 22 complaints from users... The engine could move out of position because the bolts fixing the engine on the truck's underbody could fall away as they were not fastened properly, it said...

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posted by Unknown @ 11:22 AM  0 comments

Report * Canada - Too soon to judge 07 engines

Surprise: Diesel particulate filter (DPF) re-generations are occurring "every 25,000 miles instead of 50,000 miles”

Toronto,Ont,CAN -Truck News, by James Menzies -28 May 2007: -- Everyone at the Canadian Fleet Maintenance Seminars this morning was curious to hear first-hand reports on the performance of new 2007 engines. Performance of the new engines is the industry’s “best kept secret,” according to Technology and Maintenance Council (TMC) co-chairman, Darry Stuart... To date, the biggest surprise is that diesel particulate filter (DPF) re-generations are occurring far more frequently than expected, said Rob Braswell, technical director of TMC... “We’re seeing re-generations every 25,000 miles instead of 50,000 miles,” Braswell said. Other concerns have arisen about the intense heat created during re-generations – as much as 1,200 C. The high re-gen temperatures have actually melted the cowlings off some auxiliary power units, Braswell said... Beyond that, 2007 engines appear to be operating relatively problem-free, according to Stuart...

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posted by Unknown @ 11:08 AM  0 comments

* Canada - Truckers blast Councillor's second attempt at T.O.

The OTA says the idea to ban Toronto bound trucks in rush hour is 'absurd' and 'impractical.'

Toronto,ONT,CAN -Truckstop Canada News -29 May 2007: -- Toronto Councillor Michael Walker renewed calls recently to ban all trucks from hogtown's downtown core during rush hours... It's deja vu all over again at City Hall as Walker is once more asking city council's executive committee to study his plan to restrict delivery trucks from downtown from 7 to 10 a.m. and 3 to 6 p.m.... Ontario Trucking Association President David Bradley said as much this time around when he described the plan as being "designed solely to garner headlines and votes for Michael Walker as opposed to doing anything to resolve gridlock."... And just as when the controversial idea was first floated (and subsequently scrapped) two years ago, trucking, shipping and retail groups have responded by calling the plan "absurd," "ill-conceived," and "impractical."...

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posted by Unknown @ 10:58 AM  0 comments

HOV * Canada - Ontario paves way for more lanes, on 400 series hwys

Most truck drivers won't be allowed on them

Toronto,Ontario,Canada -Truckstop Canada News, by Harry -May 29, 2007: -- Greater Toronto's 400-series highways are getting more vehicle lane capacity, the Ontario government announced -- except most truck drivers won't be allowed on them... Faced with a "commuter logjam" that could see up to two million more vehicles on Toronto-area highways in the next 25 years, the Ontario government will expand the number of high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes on the province's 400-series highways to encourage car pooling and transit use... The HOV lanes are restricted to vehicles carrying at least two occupants. Motorists without passengers who are caught using the lanes face fines of $110 and three demerit points...

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posted by Unknown @ 10:48 AM  0 comments

Teamster vs. FedEx * USA - Scuffle could pinch local trucking cos.

Despite engine noise, unions may be coasting

Worcester,MA,USA -The Worcester Business Journal, by Matthew L. Brown -28 May 2007: -- The ongoing dust-up between Teamsters Local 170 in Worcester and FedEx Ground in Northborough over whether the company’s drivers should be classified as employees and be permitted to vote on whether to unionize doesn’t have Central Massachusetts trucking companies worried... But perhaps it should... The Teamsters have accused FedEx of threatening, intimidating, punishing and economically injuring drivers who were trying to form a union in late 2005 and early 2006... FedEx considers its drivers independent contractors. The union thinks otherwise, and has been fighting over it with FedEx before the National Labor Relations Board and in courtrooms. The NLRB has previously sided with the union, but that decision is being appealed by FedEx, preventing a vote from moving forward... Central Massachusetts has a number of smaller over-the-road trucking companies that use independent contractors, or a mix of independent contractors and company drivers. Why hasn’t Local 170 targeted them for unionization?... According to the company, it’s because FedEx is a big target... (Photo: The FedEx Ground facility in Northborough)

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posted by Unknown @ 10:05 AM  0 comments

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS WORLDWIDE

* India - Ashok Leyland enters used trucks market
Jaipur,India -PTI/The Hindu News -May 29, 2007: -- Hinduja group Flagship company Ashok Leyland has announced entering the market for buying and selling pre-owned trucks, making it the first commercial vehicle manufacturer in the country to do so... The trucks would be given a complete makeover and resold under the name 'Altrux' at half the price of new vehicles... Refurbishment of the body and chassis would be carried out to set Altrux quality standards by qualified personnel to ensure optimum performance and enable the buyer to operate the truck right from delivery point...

* Russia - GAZ intends to raise the dividends
Moscow,Russia -"AK&M" -29 May 2007: -- GAZ BOD recommended the holders to approve the 2006-dividends payment at the annual meeting June 21, the company informed... In 2005 the dividends were paid at 38.4 rub./stock in the total volume of 560.1mln rub. which is 100 fold higher prior year figures... The 2006-net profit (RAS) increased to 1.36bn rub. from 836.234mln; revenues - 23.765bn rub. from 23.136bn rub... GAZ Group is the largest car maker in Russia. It involves the car, trucks and buses producers. The major holder is Russian Machines...

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posted by Unknown @ 9:35 AM  0 comments

May 28, 2007

Border crossing charges * USA - Set to increase in June

Ottawa,Ont,CAN -Truck News, by Steven Macleod -28 May 2007: -- It now appears certain the US will proceed with its plan to impose a border crossing fee of $US 5.25 per truck on June 1st...- The levy is designed to fund additional agricultural quarantine inspections on the Canada/US border. The fee will be applied to trucks that pay to enter the US on a per crossing basis - regardless of what they are carrying - but will not impact those carriers who have already purchased a 2007 user fee transponder...

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posted by Unknown @ 4:43 PM  0 comments

TRUCKS´ SALES WORLDWIDE

* Russia - Major order for Volvo Trucks

Russia -The Easier (Chester,UK) -27 May 2007: -- Russian logistics company Sunflower has signed a contract to buy 300 trucks from Volvo Trucks in Russia... The order covers 300 Volvo FM trailer trucks powered by the D13 engine with a power output of 440 hp. The new Volvo FM will also have the latest-generation I-Shift, Volvo’s automatic gear changing system. The system enables the driver to focus solely on the road and the surroundings, thus improving traffic safety... Deliveries of the new Volvo FM trucks will start at the end of May 2007 and will be completed during the first quarter of 2008...

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posted by Unknown @ 4:28 PM  0 comments

DEBATE: RECORDING DEVICES * USA

* Use recorders to keep tired truckers parked

Cherry Hill,NJ,USA -The Cherry Hill Courier Post -May 27, 2007: -- ... New Jersey's representatives in Washington should work to make our highways safer by voicing their support for the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's effort to get more trucking companies to install devices on trucks that make sure drivers don't stay behind the wheel for more than 11 hours at a time... The idea is to cut down the number of accidents caused by drowsy driving... Truckers, by the nature of their job, are more likely than the average driver to drive for long, continuous stretches. The problem is, after 14 or 15 hours on the road and 700 miles, a driver can be incredibily fatigued while operating a huge, dangerous vehicle... Federal "hours of service" regulations say truck drivers can't drive more than 11 hours in a row without calling it a day... But what's stopping truckers and their bosses from fudging the books?...

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posted by Unknown @ 3:53 PM  0 comments

DEBATE: TRUCK LANES * USA - Big-rig lobby wants to slam brakes on mandatory toll use

The state is getting to the point of making some decisions, and controversy is starting to surface

Atlanta,GA,USA -The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, by ARIEL HART -27 May 2007: -- ... No decisions have been made about what to build to deal with increasing truck traffic from the Atlanta airport and the Savannah ports and other business passing through the Georgia crossroads of metro Atlanta — or how to pay for it... Even now, traffic tops 10,000 trucks per day on the north end of I-285 and 30,000 trucks per day on parts of I-75... It's not the usual: Truckers and car drivers who might be expected to brawl over who owns the highway frequently seem in harmony over the benefits of building separate lanes for trucks, for safety if nothing else... What often divides them is whether truckers should be forced to use them and pay a toll... State and national trucking groups couldn't disagree more. They point out that they pay 24.4 cents federal tax per gallon of diesel to car drivers' 18.4 cents per gallon of gas, and that they carry goods those car drivers wear, eat and use. They say truckers should have a choice... The stagnant gas tax, which doesn't rise with inflation, is one reason tolls are an issue at all...
* USA - Make truckers pay for lanes
Atlanta,GA,USA -Atlanta Magazine On Line, by Doug Monroe -May 27, 2007: -- Toll truck-only lanes are a good idea. Have you been on the interstates around here lately? All trucks. All speeding. Truckers like the idea of truck lanes, until they're asked to pay... "I didn't know they were going to be tolled," [truck owner Perry Wilson] said. If they're mandatory, "that's going to put it on the back of the trucking companies to build the roads"... They SHOULD build the roads. Of course, the trucking industry doesn't want to pay for tearing up the highways. They've never paid their fair share for the damage they cause and they lobby very effectively to remain a beneficiary of the socialistic world of road-building -- the state bears the cost of their doing business...

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posted by Unknown @ 2:51 PM  0 comments

DANGEROUS DRIVERS * South Africa - Roadworks truck and lorry collide

KwaZulu,South Africa -IOL/sapa -May 15 2007: -- Nine people were injured when a heavy duty lorry collided with a stationary road works lorry in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands on Tuesday, traffic authorities said... Netcare 911 spokesperson Chris Botha said three of the nine injured were taken to hospital in a critical condition... Four others were described as being in a serious condition. Two were listed as having minor injuries... Pietermaritzburg.Govender said the cause of the accident was not known, but the driver had been charged with reckless and negligent driving...

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posted by Unknown @ 2:30 PM  0 comments

May 26, 2007

LHVs a modern thing?... You obviously haven't heard about this older longer heavier vehicle...

London,UK -Biglorryblog. Picture thanks to Bob Tuck -26 May 2007: -- ... is referring to is none other than Carters Royal Berkshire Steam Fair who run a bunch of vintage Scammells, Atkinsons and AECs amongst others... and he got to drive a roadtrain (pictured above) not once but three times all the way from Wandsworth to Hemel Hempstead. "This was one of those jobs that I would have done for nothing..."

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posted by Unknown @ 3:20 PM  0 comments

... or this... a three-trailer Daimler roadtrain!

London,UK -Biglorryblog. Picture thanks to Will Shierstells -26 May 2007: -- ... Clearly we've all be labouring under the false impression that longer heavier vehicles (LHVs) are something new. However ... take a look... Apparently this picture is from Motor Transport's old picture archives and dates back to December 1925. "All the caption on the back says is Daimler road train" concluding, "Note the air brakes on all 16 wheels" ... ¿?

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posted by Unknown @ 3:08 PM  0 comments

FMCSA study * USA - Tractor-trailer crashes prove costly

A single truck crash in the U.S. costs nearly $100,000

Washington,DC,USA -TruckStop Canada, by Harry -May 24, 2007: -- ... The bill for longer tractor-trailer accidents, however, costs significantly more, according to a new study commissioned by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration... The new study provides the latest estimates of unit costs for highway crashes involving medium-duty and heavy trucks by severity. Based on the latest data available, the estimated cost of police-reported crashes involving trucks with a gross weight rating of more than 10,000 lbs averaged $91,112 (in 2005 dollars)... Crashes involving long combination vehicles (LCVs) -- trucks with two or three trailers -- were the rarest, but their cost was the highest among all crashes -- $ 289,549 per crash... Straight truck crashes with no trailers had the lowest cost – $ 56,296 per crash. The average cost of property damage only (PDO) crashes was $15,114; while the costs per non-fatal injury crash averaged $ 195,258... Not surprisingly, fatal crashes cost more than any other incidents. The average cost was $ 3,604,518. The total estimate excludes mental health care costs for crash victims, roadside repair costs, cargo delays, earnings lost by family and friends caring for the injured...

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posted by Unknown @ 2:26 PM  0 comments

Dangerous Enterprises * USA - Trucking company in maze crash sees license suspended

Sabek Trucking's hazardous materials license is pulled as officials celebrate freeway re-opening

CA,USA -The Daily Review Online, by Erik N. Nelson, Josh Richman and Ian Hoffman -25 May 2007: -- ... the trucking company involved in the fiery April 29 gasoline tanker wreck that weakened the ramp lost its license to carry gasoline... The California Highway Patrol slapped Sabek Trucking of South San Francisco with an indefinite suspension of its hazardous materials transportation license, in effect killing its only business of hauling gasoline to a about 20 Bay Area convenience stores... It was the first time the state suspended any trucking company since 1992, when the law empowering the highway patrol commissioner to do so was enacted...

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posted by Unknown @ 2:17 PM  0 comments

* USA - FMCSA Moves to Protect Fleets From ID Theft

Alexandria,VA,USA -Transport Topics, by Eric Miller -May 21, 2007: -- Brent Jones first got word March 27 that his trucking company’s name was being used as part of a freight load board fraud scheme... “I got a phone call from a credit agency,” said Jones, owner of Baja Enterprises Inc... “They said they were doing some research and something seemed fishy because our company had an address in San Francisco”... Fishy indeed, because Baja’s headquarters are in Cedar Falls, Iowa. It didn’t take Jones long to discover that someone had gone into a Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration Web site and changed the address of his company. The address change apparently allowed a California-based freight-load broker to receive payment for fraudulent contracts using Baja’s name and federal motor carrier number... Jones said his small trucking company was lucky that it has not suffered any apparent financial damage... Web site security improvements aside, truckers such as Regina Wood, co-owner of Apple Trucking Inc., Germantown, Wis., said she now checks the FMCSA Web site every day to make sure her company’s information has not been altered... Wood discovered in March that someone had changed the address of her two-truck company to somewhere in California when she got a call from an insurance agent who was wondering what happened to a trailer full of roses that Apple was supposed to deliver... Right away, Wood knew something was wrong because her company owns no refrigerated trucks... She said Apple’s information on the FMCSA Web site has since been corrected, but she remains vigilant...

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posted by Unknown @ 1:05 PM  0 comments

MEXICANS`S TRUCKS DEBATE * USA

* Pilot program restrictions expected to pass Congress
Washington,DC,USA -Land Line Magazine, by Jami Jones -May 24, 2007: -- A supplemental spending bill has emerged from a congressional conference committee with a provision restricting the Mexican cross-border program attempt by the Bush administration... The DOT faces a lot more paperwork before launching the pilot program if the bill is signed into law... The bill would mandate a list of laws and regulations, including commercial driver’s license requirements, that the Secretary of Transportation will accept compliance with a corresponding Mexican law. That notice will also have to include an analysis of how the U.S. and Mexican laws and regulations differ...

* Border Opening, SafeStat Scores
Mechanicsville,Va,USA -TTNews, Letters to the Editor, by Stephen Bradley (Overland Distribution Corp.) -22 May 2007: -- Opening the border to Mexican trucks will hurt the American trucker and thousands of owner-operators. By allowing Mexican trucks in, we will lose thousands of dollars in road taxes... Who is going to make them pay what we do in taxes?... Also, if we open the border to Mexican trucks, who is going to police them?... Who is going to foot the bill?... The American people and the politicians need to open their eyes and see what the real problems are going to be. A lot of Americans are going to lose their jobs if we open the borders. The Mexican truckers will drive our already suffering freight rates into the ground. They will start hauling freight for little or nothing. Most of their trucks are junk — scrap buckets...

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posted by Unknown @ 1:00 PM  0 comments

TRUCKMAKERS` NEWS

* USA - Mack options idle-free system for trucks
Lehigh Valley,PA,USA -Truck News, by Steven Macleod -May 24, 2007: -- Mack Trucks has introduced the Idle Free Hybrid System as an option on its trucks, in an effort to allow drivers to heat or cool their cabs, and run electric items without idling the engine... This non-polluting anti-idling system utilizes battery power to provide reliable electrical power and to save fuel, noted the truck maker...

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posted by Unknown @ 12:42 PM  0 comments

Statistics * USA - ATA Truck Tonnage Index Falls 2.2 Percent in April

Alexandria,Va,USA -Truck Line -May 25, 2007: -- The American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 2.2 percent in April, after posting a 1.2 percent jump in March... ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello said the year-over-year decrease was not surprising, given the weak anecdotal reports from carriers as well as the unexpected strength in March. “April’s tonnage figures highlight that the economy hasn’t turned the corner just yet. We can expect this volatility to continue over the next few months, with the potential for more year-over-year contractions.”...

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posted by Unknown @ 12:37 PM  0 comments

Electric Trucks * UK - European manufacturer to double output of electric vehicles

Newcastle-Upon-Tyne,England,UK -Truck News (Canada), by Adam Ledlow/Reuters -24 May 2007: -- Electric vehicle maker Tanfield Group plans to double output this year to meet growing demand from emissions-conscious customers... Tanfield currently assembles five vehicles a week, but will make 10 a week by the end of the year and 30 next year, the report said... At present, Tanfield offers a variety of electric vehicles, including a 7.5-tonne Newton truck, a 9.0-tonne variant and a 12-tonne vehicle scheduled to launch shortly... (Picture: The Tanfield Group`s Smith ST is designed to carry heavier loads and larger volumes than most commercial electric vehicles)

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posted by Unknown @ 12:27 PM  0 comments

TOLL ROADS DEBATE * USA

* OOIDA takes truckers’ privatization concerns to DC
Washington,DC,USA -Land Line Magazine -May 24, 2007: -- The privatization of public assets is a lot like taking Aunt Sophie’s china set to a pawnshop. You get a little quick cash for the short term, not getting nearly what the items are worth, and then you still need something to eat on next Thanksgiving when the price goes up for dishes... This was just one of the sentiments shared Thursday, May 24, when OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer testified during a hearing before the U.S. House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Highways and Transit... Spencer pointed out that when highways are privately owned, those private companies are able to raise toll rates year after year. It is the Association’s position that the motoring public has already paid taxes and user fees to build those roads. Subsequent toll raises may force highway users on to alternate routes on local roads, resulting in congestion and safety hazards, along with additional costs to purchase those roads... (Photo by Dustin Watkins, OOIDA staff - OOIDA Executive Vice President Todd Spencer, second from left, testified Thursday, May 24, before the U.S. House T&I Committee’s Subcommittee on Highways and Transit. Also testifying were, from left, Bill Graves, president of ATA, Greg Cohen, president of the Highway Users Alliance, and Michael Replogle, transportation director for Environmental Defense)

* American Trucking Associations Against Public-Private Partnerships

USA -Truck Line -24 May 2007: -- Bill Graves, President and CEO of the American Trucking Associations, testified this morning before the House Subcommittee on Highways and Transit of the Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure regarding public-private partnerships... The American Trucking Associations opposes the lease or sale of existing toll roads, bridges or tunnels to private parties and has called on government to abandon these financing techniques... The trucking industry supports the objective of a toll-free national highway system where funds to finance highway improvement primarily come from highway user fees...

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posted by Unknown @ 12:12 PM  0 comments

May 25, 2007

TRUCKERS' STORIES * India - "The truck took 8 days averaging speed of 11 kms per hour to cover 2150 kms"

Man Mohan @3: Good Roads, but Many New Speed-breakers

India -Indra’s Drishtikona (Viewpoint) -25 May 2007: -- Here is a study that appeared in Times of India: A truck’s journey from Kolkata to Mumbai on NH 6 carrying a 9 tonnes of cargo is revealing. The truck took 8 days averaging speed of 11 kms per hour to cover 2150 kms, as it wasted 32 hours in just waiting at toll booths (1,940 minutes) and border posts (840 minutes)... After completing the loading at 2pm, it could have departed only after 10pm when ‘no entry’ hours get lifted, but the traffic jam at the city’s exit point made it leave only at 4am. The truck reached WB-Jharkhand border at 6pm, but had to halt, as night clearance was not allowed. It took 2 hours for clearance on WB-Jharkhand and Jharkhand-Orissa borders and Nagpur Naka, and 4 hours at Orissa-Chhatisgarh border. When it reached Mumbai at night, and called octrai agents, it waited all night for processing. Can’t the delays of the journey be reduced or eliminated to attain the global benchmark? An Indian truck manages to log just 7,500 kms every month as against 17,500 kms in USA...

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posted by Unknown @ 12:44 PM  0 comments

* Malaysia - Port Klang: Potential tourist port city?

There are no places of attraction for tourists - no shopping malls or cultural centres. Just a skyline dotted with gantry cranes, huge haulier trucks and other heavy machinery on the ground and miles and miles of warehouses, depots and godowns

Port Klang,Malaysia -The Business Times, by Kang siew Li -May 25 2007: -- Despite its success as a principal gateway for a huge portion of Malaysia's trade, Port Klang has remained what it is - just a port... The port, which handles close to half of Malaysia's containerised cargo remains largely a destination for only those who have dealings with imports, exports and all matters related to maritime trade and the shipping industry... Port Klang is included in the voyages of many of the world's major shipping lines. Maersk Line, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, Cosco Container Lines, Evergreen Marine, Hanjin Shipping and France's CMA-CGM call on the port, and international corporations such as Schenker Logistics, Kuehne & Nagle and BAX Global have set up their logistics activities in the vicinity... Nonetheless, Port Klang has a long way to go before becoming a port city as it requires extensive development of facilities and attractions which involve huge costs... (Picture: "Little India": Klang is the biggest Indian street in Malaysia)

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posted by Unknown @ 12:30 PM  0 comments

The Future of Trucking? * USA - Chassis Chief Thinks it Will be Plug In and Go

P&D fleets likely to lead the way

Union City,IN,USA - Vocus/Emediawire (press release-Ferndale,WA) -May 24, 2007: -- A recent trade show sponsored by the National Truck Equipment Association included a special display of hybrid trucks. At the same show, a special hybrid truck seminar sponsored by International Truck and Engine Corporation attracted an overflow crowd... Don't be surprised if trucking fleets will just plug in to an electrical outlet to refuel in the not-so-distant future. Jay Sandler, vice president of commercial products for Workhorse Custom Chassis, a truck chassis manufacturer, thinks medium-duty work trucks of all kinds powered mainly by electricity are only five to 10 years away... While hybrid electric cars have been in the news for some time, only recently have hybrid truck options come to the fore for heavy-duty pick up and delivery chores, as well as for an array of construction, maintenance and service trucks... (Biglorryblog (UK) Photo: "Can you see yourself running a truck like that in future John?")

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posted by Unknown @ 12:08 PM  0 comments

TECHNO NEWS

* Japan - Nissan Says U.S. Mobile Phones May Disable Altima, G35 Key
Tokyo,Japan -Bloomberg, by Alan Ohnsman -May 25, 2007: -- Nissan Motor Co., Japan's third- largest automaker, said U.S. mobile phones may disable a high- tech key used on two of its newest U.S. models, erasing a code that lets the key open doors and start the car... "Intelligent Keys'' used on Tokyo-based Nissan's 2007 model Altima sedan and Infiniti G35 sports car have been disabled when certain types of phones are kept too close to the device, erasing electronic codes, spokesman Tim Gallagher said today. Nissan plans to send new keys to customers later this year, he said...

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posted by Unknown @ 12:00 PM  0 comments

TRUCKS' MARKETS

* Belgium - European Truck Sales Plunge 40% After Surge Last Year
Brussels,Belgium -Bloomberg, by Chad Thomas -May 24, 2007: -- European heavy-truck sales in April plunged 40 percent after a surge a year earlier when customers bought vehicles ahead of European Union regulations requiring trucks to have tamper-proof mileage-measurement devices... Registrations of trucks heavier than 16 tons plummeted to 28,254 vehicles from 47,336 a year earlier, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said in a statement today. Four-month sales fell 11 percent to 103,483 units...

* Germany - Stocks Rise, Led by DaimlerChrysler, Lufthansa, Telekom
Germany -Bloomberg (NY,USA), by Henrietta Rumberger -May 23, 2007: -- Germany's benchmark DAX Index rose for the fifth day, led by DaimlerChrysler AG after Morgan Stanley analysts said the stock has potential to gain... DaimlerChrysler, the world's fifth-largest carmaker, rose 2.45 euros, or 3.8 percent, to 67.84 euros. Volkswagen AG, Europe's largest carmaker, advanced 2.86 euros, or 2.6 percent, to 113.96 euros... DaimlerChrysler is "our preferred way to play trucks in Europe,'' Morgan Stanley analysts including Adam Jonas wrote in a note to investors... "Our 75 euros price target implies 16 percent upside, but we see 55 percent upside to 100 euros as possible in the event of a more focused organization with improved margins.''...

* China - Daimler Sells China Venture Stake; Poised for New One
Shanghai,China -Bloomberg, by Tian Ying -May 21, 2007: -- DaimlerChrysler AG, the world's largest commercial-vehicles maker, sold its stake in a 10-year- old Chinese bus-making venture, paving the way for it to form a separate partnership producing trucks... Jiangsu Yaxing Motor Coach Co., the other partner in Yaxing Benz Co., bought DaimlerChrysler's 50 percent stake in March, Trevor Hale, the German automaker's Beijing-based spokesman said by phone today... Selling the Yaxing stake will enable DaimlerChrysler to cooperate with Beiqi Foton Motor Co., the country's biggest light-truck maker... Overseas automakers are only allowed two commercial vehicle-making partners in China, the world's second largest auto market...

* Iran, Belarus Form Alliance in Face of U.S. Pressure
Teheran,Iran -Bloomberg, by Lucian Kim -May 21, 2007: -- Iran and Belarus, both under U.S. sanctions, formed a "strategic'' alliance today to boost energy ties and counter American pressure on their economies... Iran plans to assemble Belarusian MAZ trucks, and Belarus is preparing to produce Iran Khodro Co.'s Samand passenger car...

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posted by Unknown @ 11:14 AM  0 comments

Two Million Mile Haul * USA - B20 vs. Diesel in

Santa Fe,NM,USA -CleanAIR Systems -24 May 2007: -- The Two Million Mile Haul is the first major study in a real-world setting comparing the performance of B20 biodiesel (a mixture of 20% soy biodiesel and 80% diesel) with diesel on long haul trucks on an over-the-road test covering 2 million miles... To date the test has completed 350,000 miles of its goal with favorable results and only minor issues... Final conclusions and assessments concerning mileage and fuel efficiency will not be available until the 2 million mile mark has been reach...

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posted by Unknown @ 11:05 AM  0 comments

DEBATE: "Congestion Pricing" * USA - New York Voters Oppose Manhattan Car Fees, Poll Says

A majority of New York City voters oppose Mayor Michael Bloomberg's proposal to impose fees on drivers entering congested parts of Manhattan, according to a Quinnipiac University poll

New York,NY,USA -Bloomberg, by William Goldschlag -May 24, 2007: -- The mayor is asking the state Legislature to approve a three-year pilot program for "congestion pricing'' that would charge most car drivers $8 and truckers $21 between 6 a.m. and 6 p.m. on weekdays to travel south of 86th Street in Manhattan... Citywide, voters are against the plan by 56 percent to 37 percent, the Quinnipiac poll found. In the five boroughs, only voters in Manhattan favored it, 62 percent to 29 percent. Opposition elsewhere was 67 percent to 26 percent in the Bronx, 63 percent to 29 percent in Brooklyn, 61 percent to 32 percent in Queens and 69 percent to 26 percent in Staten Island... (Posted by Bob Fois /NewsCopyNewYork)

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posted by Unknown @ 10:47 AM  1 comments

TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS

* Japan - Hino's Fourth-Quarter Profit Falls on Costs, Year-Earlier Gain
Tokyo,Japan -Bloomberg, by Naoko Fujimura & Kae Inoue-April 25, 2007: -- Hino Motors Ltd., half owned by Toyota Motor Corp., posted a 43 percent drop in fourth-quarter earnings as the price of raw materials rose and it had a one-time gain from selling assets a year earlier... The company said rising prices of platinum, copper and resin used to make trucks and buses increased costs by 8 billion yen in the year just ended, while sales of assets boosted net income in the year-earlier period by 2.2 billion yen. Hino, Japan's largest maker of heavy-duty trucks, is trying to raise sales in overseas markets as the domestic truck market is shrinking...

* Japan - Hino May Build Truck Assembly Plant in Colombia for Tax Benefit
Tokyo,Japan -Bloomberg, by Chris Cooper -May 25, 2007: -- Hino Motors Ltd., Japan's largest maker of heavy-duty trucks, is considering building an assembly plant in Colombia to make vehicles at less than the cost of importing them from Japan... Hino's President Shoji Kondo seeks to catch up to rivals Isuzu Motors Ltd. and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp. in sales of mid- and heavy-duty trucks that can haul more than 4 metric tons. More than half of Hino's sales in the last business year came from Japan, the company said in its April 25 earnings statement...

* Japan - Isuzu Motor Revamps Forward Trucks to Take on Hino
Tokyo,Japan -Bloomberg, by Naoko Fujimura -May 24, 2007: -- Isuzu Motors Ltd., Japan's biggest truckmaker, redesigned its mid-duty trucks for the first time in 13 years to compete with Hino Motors Ltd. and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp.... Isuzu plans to sell 15,000 mid-duty Forward trucks a year in Japan... The Forward is priced between 6.53 million yen ($53,700) and 10.2 million yen, excluding the cost of modifications... The new vehicle may help Isuzu compete in the mid-duty truck segment in Japan, where it lags behind Hino...

* Japan - Fuso Warned by Japan's Government on Failing Repairs
Tokyo,Japan -Bloomberg, by Naoko Fujimura -May 23, 2007: -- Mitsubishi Fuso Truck & Bus Corp., 85 percent owned by DaimlerChrysler AG, was warned by Japan's Ministry of Transport to improve operations after failures were found in auto parts the company recalled three years ago following a fatal accident... The truckmaker reported one fractured clutch housing and seven cases of cracks formed in the parts. No accidents involving injuries resulted from the eight cases, the ministry said...

* Sweden - Volvo Four-Month Truck Sales Drop 17% as U.S. Deliveries Plunge
Gothenburg,Sweden -Bloomberg, by Chad Thomas -May 24, 2007: -- Volvo AB, the world's second-largest truckmaker, said vehicle sales in the first four months of the year declined 17 percent as U.S. deliveries plunged after tougher emissions standards made trucks more expensive... Sales through the end of April fell to 60,536 vehicles worldwide from 72,661 trucks a year earlier... North American sales plummeted 57 percent to 9,964 units... Volvo said May 11 that first-quarter North American truck orders, an indicator of future sales, declined 80 percent to 5,273 vehicles...

* Brazil - Volkswagen May Hire 200 at brazilian Truck and Bus Unit
Sao Paulo,Brazil -Bloomberg, by Romina Nicaretta & Joao Oliveira -May 21, 2007: -- Volkswagen AG, Europe's largest carmaker, may add as many as 200 jobs at its truck unit in Brazil to boost output 21 percent by the end of the year... The division, which employs 3,700 people, is seeking to increase daily production to 200 units from 165 to meet rising demand in the domestic market, Antonio Roberto Cortes, president of the division, said today in an interview in Sao Paulo...

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posted by Unknown @ 10:12 AM  0 comments

DRIVERS' JOBS * Canada - First Nations recruited for trucking industry

Prince George,British Columbia,Canada -The Prince George Citizen, by GORDON HOEKSTRA -23 May 2007: -- A north-central B.C. aboriginal training group and the B.C. Trucking Association on Tuesday agreed to work together to examine marketing trucking as a career to First Nations communities... B.C. Trucking Association president and CEO Paul Landry said, the trucking industry can accommodate virtually any lifestyle choice, including a nine-to-five job or a more adventurous one. "For the right people, a rewarding career in the trucking industry is a real opportunity," he said. "We are a growing industry. We provide a vital and important service. We are the lifeblood of the economy"... McLeod Lake Indian Band chief Alec Chingee, who attended the ceremony, said he believed the co-operative move was long overdue. The way forward for First Nations is to work with industry, he said...

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posted by Unknown @ 10:00 AM  0 comments

May 23, 2007

STUDY * Canada - Asian carmakers on cusp of overtaking Big Three in NA

One of the most significant impacts on the Canadian economy over the last 20 years has been the rapid change automotive industry landscape

Ottaswa,BC,Canada -Today's Trucking -23 May 2007: -- So says a new report by Statistics Canada, titled Canada's changing auto industry... Still, the auto industry in Canada remains on a solid footing, according to the report... Overseas carmakers moving their auto production to North America, following their success in sales, has left a lasting impression on the domestic market. Asian auto manufacturers have sustained output, investment and employment in this industry at a high level, with the prospect for future growth... Japanese-based manufacturers have filled much of the gap left by the traditional North American automakers in production in Canada. In 2006, Japanese automakers produced just over 900,000 automobiles in Canada, double their level in 1998. As a result, their share of the domestic market in production jumped from 16 percent to more than one-third (36%) during this period... (Picture: More overseas brands than North American cars have been sold in Canada every year since 2001)

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posted by Unknown @ 7:05 PM  0 comments

TECHNO NEWS * USA - "Ultra High-Efficiency Engine Concepts"


Sanderson Engine Receives Technology Patents For -- Patents cover core mechanical advancements that enable new generation of engines, pumps and compressors --

Upton,Mass,USA -By Tiziani Whitmyre, Inc. (Boston,Mass) PR -May 22, 2007: -- Sanderson Engine Development Company, a developer of ultra high-efficiency engine technology, has announced the receipt of three new patents by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office... The patents cover a highly innovative piston assembly, an associated piston connecting joint, and a variable compression ratio mechanism. The piston joint and associated components are core components of the Sanderson Rocker Arm Mechanism (SRAM) invented by Robert and Albert Sanderson... The SRAM mechanism is being evaluated for use in a new type of high-efficiency engine presently undergoing development and testing. The engine combines revolutionary technologies that allow direct conversion between reciprocating and rotational motion without use of a conventional crankshaft. The result is an internal combustion engine for vehicles that is much simpler and more fuel efficient than conventional piston engines...

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posted by Unknown @ 6:29 PM  0 comments

* USA - A Look at the Culture That Moves Us

Behind the Wheel With American Truckers

CAL,USA -abcnewsnow, by CHRISTINA LaROSA -May 22, 2007: -- It's easy to forget that America runs on trucks in this age of instant electronic communication. Yet everything we have, including the food, clothes and goods we buy online, has at one point traveled through the country in the back of an 18-wheeler... "The only thing that's not delivered by trucks is babies," said Kim Reierson, the photographer behind the new book "Eighteen — A Look at the Culture That Moves Us"...

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posted by Unknown @ 6:26 PM  1 comments

SAFETY * USA - Officials want truckers to be safe for long haul

Anderson is a small part of a larger message that local law enforcement officials are sending directly to big rig drivers: Buckle up or face a traffic ticket

Roanoke,VA,USA -The Roanoke Times, by Annie Johnson -23 May 2007: -- In response to a survey which found that only 52 percent of truckers use their seat belts, law enforcement officials are sending a direct message to big rig drivers: Buckle up or face a traffic ticket... David Anderson scoots slowly up and down Interstate 81, listening to music with no real place to go... He is unlike most truck drivers, who deliver freight across the country on ultra-tight schedules... "Everybody passes me," he said. "I'm like a turtle.".. Anderson drives an ad truck -- a 13-foot-high, 36-foot-long mobile banner that tends to be difficult to maneuver in high winds... He makes about $12 an hour cruising up and down I-81 between Bristol and Wytheville on his most recent of jobs, toting a banner that reads, "Smokey Prowling For Violations Next 50 Miles."...

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posted by Unknown @ 6:13 PM  0 comments

TRUCKERS' STORIES

* USA - U-Haul Renting Tips: "That truck is a real clunker"

Savannah,GA,USA -successCREEations, by Chris -May 22, 2007: -- We made it back to Savannah. But along the way it was far from a sure thing... We rented a little truck like the one here in the photo (LEFT). Only ours wasn’t as nice... To quote what the technician who checked us back in at the U-Haul store here in Savannah told his Assistant Manager,"That truck is a real clunker"... Yep. That’s me and Gorgeous. We live on the edge... We’re just the type to rent a clunker to drive a bunch of prized possessions 1300 miles or so across country... We specifically requested a newer vehicle when we reserved our truck weeks in advance because we were driving so far. Then we took the clunker they offered because I didn’t want to take the time to argue about it...


* USA - I Love Penske Trucks
Cleveland,OH,USA -pomomusings, by Adam Walker -22 May 2007: -- While I was enjoying my Penske truck, I did feel sorry for all those U-Haul renters on the road, with their old-looking, U-Haul trucks that would probably break down somewhere... We drove from Atlanta to Hagerstown, Maryland today. I’ll admit it - I was just a little terrified getting on I-85 today in Atlanta with the 22 ft. Penske truck... We ended up filling the whole truck; so there I was, a newbie “trucker” with all of our worldly possessions in the back. The first time two semis passed me on both sides, I about screamed. But…it got better. Soon I realized I could go faster than 55mph…faster than 65mph…but no faster than 70mph. It probably wouldn’t have been good to go faster than 70mph, but the truck really wouldn’t go any faster than that. I started to get into my groove with the truck, and after a few hours, felt pretty comfortable in it...

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posted by Unknown @ 6:03 PM  0 comments