User-agent: Mediapartners-Google* Disallow: Trucks World News: July 2015
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Jul 31, 2015

TRUCKERS' HEALTH * USA: Twenty-nine truck drivers lost an average of 7.8 pounds

* DC - Feds spend $2.6 million to help truckers lose weight


-- The National Institutes for Health has spent over $2.6 million since 2011 on a program to motivate truck drivers to lose weight... The Oregon Health and Science University is conducting the program which sets up a weight-loss competition for truckers. Participants also get access to interactive health screenings, weight tips and motivational phone calls while they drive... According to the grant description, long-haul truck drivers have overweight and obesity rates almost 20 percent higher than the general population and published results from the ongoing study suggest that trucker obesity can lead to accidents behind the wheel... Truckers in the program record their weight and behavior every week and can receive free health screenings and win lottery prizes, the SHIFT website states... Twenty-nine truck drivers participated in the pilot study, according to the 2014 paper, and lost an average of 7.8 pounds, or “roughly 1 BMI unit,” in six months...
 (Photo from Flickr: Truckers' camaraderie)  --  Washington, DC, USA - The Washington Times, by Kellan Howell - July 29, 2015

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TRUCKERS' STORY * Canada & USA: The grueling life of a long-haul trucker

* Manitoba - Logging 12,000 miles a month

(Video My Trucking Life - Trip 32 Day 23 - "Back to home", by Trucker Josh)

-- Long-haul trucker Josh Giesbrecht lives a strange and solitary life, spending weeks on the road at a time while hauling cargo from point A to point B, covering vast distances on seemingly endless stretches of pavement. The 27-year-old native of Manitoba, Canada documents his trials and tribulations on YouTube, showing off his adorable dogs (Diesel and Sergeant) and his long and lonely hours on the road... I have my own rig, but I'm contracted to a company in Canada. I pull their trailers... 
... Having your own truck gives you a bit more freedom with what you can do. If you have a good, reliable truck you can make more money. You get paid more per mile – as an owner/operator, you get $1 to $1.20 per mile versus between $.35 and $.45 per mile as a company employee – but you have to take care of all the expenses like fuel, maintenance, and anything else that pops up... There's a lot more responsibility having your own truck. Anything that goes wrong is your problem... The worst thing that's gone wrong with my truck? I've gelled up before. That happened to me in Saskatchewan, above western North Dakota. I was pretty much between the cities of Yorkton and Saskatoon. There's nothing up there... Furthermore, in northern Ontario, you can have complete whiteouts where there's absolutely zero visibility. You could be driving through the mountains with half-mile cliffs on one side of you and possible falling rocks on the other, while you're trying to navigate tight corners with other trucks coming at you. If your brakes go out, you're going over the side and there's no real stopping you... All the fuel in the United States is only good to about minus 20 Fahrenheit, whereas all the fuel that's sold in Canada will stay liquid down to about minus 40... I get between six and seven miles per gallon. I have two, 150-gallon tanks, so 300 gallons total... I do 600 to 700 miles a day. I decide when I'm going to stop based on how the day goes. I figure out when I have to be at my receiver, and as long as I can get there the next day, I'll pull over if I get tired... 
Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN - Popular Mechanics, by Noah Davis - July 29, 2015

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Jul 30, 2015

PICKUP TRUCKMAKERS NEWS * USA: Testing the aluminium truck Ford F-150

* Michigan - Mixed crash-test results for aluminum Ford F-150s

-- A tough, independent crash test shows aluminum can be a safe material for pickup bodies. But two Ford F-150 models with different configurations — one a crew cab and the other an extended cab — scored far differently in safety tests... The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety on Thursday awarded Ford’s 2015 F-150 four-door crew cab its coveted Top Safety Pick. Its sister version, the two-door extended cab, got only a marginal rating in a test that measures what happens when the front corner of a vehicle hits a utility pole at 40 mph... F-150s are the only aluminum-bodied trucks on the market, and were the first full-size pickups to undergo IIHS testing of the so-called small overlap crash test...

... The test is more difficult than the head-on crashes conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It poses a challenge for the vehicle to manage crash energy... In the IIHS F-150 crew cab test, the occupant compartment remained intact. “The front-end structure crumpled in a way that spared the occupant compartment significant intrusion and preserved survival space for the driver,” IIHS said... In the IIHS test for the extended cab, the intruding structure after the crash “seriously compromised a driver’s survival space, resulting in a poor structural rating,” IIHS said... The toe pan, parking brake and brake pedal were pushed back about a foot toward the dummy, and the dashboard was jammed against the dummy’s lower legs... Tests suggested there would be a moderate risk of injuries to the right thigh, lower left leg and left foot in a real-world crash of this severity. The steering column was pushed back nearly 8 inches and came dangerously close to the dummy’s chest. The dummy’s head barely contacted the front air bag before sliding to the left and hitting the instrument panel... 
(Photos by Insurance Institute for Highway Safety - 2015 Ford F-150 crew cab. This crash test duplicates what happens when the front corner of the vehicle hits a utility pole at 40 mph. In the crew cab, the dummy's position in relation to the door frame, steering wheel, and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained well. But in the extended cab, the truck’s structure fared poorly)  --  Auburn Hill, MICH, USA - The Detroit News, by David Shepardson and Michael Martinez - 30 July 2015

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TRUCKERS' NEWS * USA: Ports' ones, supported by Long Beach Councilwoman, said “modern-day indentured servitude”

* California - Port truckers’ cause receives support from Suja Lowenthal


-- Long Beach Councilwoman, Suja Lowenthal, believes port truckers are working in conditions of “modern-day indentured servitude” ... Lowenthal made her statement Tuesday evening near the conclusion of a Tidelands and Harbor Committee study session focused on port truckers... The ongoing controversy around the harbor is over whether the more than 14,000 truck drivers who move goods between the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach should be considered employees or independent contractors. In some cases, the debate has prompted truckers to go on strike... The majority of truckers work on an independent basis. The Teamsters union and other labor groups want drivers to be classified as employees, and thus able to join unions... Five years ago, independent truckers’ median earnings were nearly $29,000, Smith said. That’s lower than $35,000 in median earnings paid to employee drivers, according to her data... Harbor Trucking Association Executive Director, Weston LaBar, was the only person who spoke Tuesday in defense of the independent contractor model, had much different numbers to show...  He said the Harbor Trucking Association’s wage survey shows local employee drivers earn less than their independent counterparts... Independent drivers can earn an average of $2,650 per week, compared to $800 in weekly earnings for employee drivers. Trucking firms, he said, have lately sought to improve compensation plans for drivers who would otherwise be losing out on pay as a result of port congestion limiting the amount of turns that can make from terminals to warehouses...  
(Photo: Movement of goods through Los Angeles' Port)   --  Long Beach, CAL, USA - The Press-Telegram, by Andrew Edwards - 28 July 2015


 * Tennessee - Trucker’s heart attack is compensable

-- A long-haul truck driver’s heart attack arose out of and in the scope of his employment, the Tennessee Supreme Court has ruled... On Oct. 21, 2011, Curtis Marvel started having chest pains while securing steel coils to the back of his flatbed truck in Rose Bud, Illinois, for Roane Transportation Services L.L.C., court records show. Though Mr. Marvel planned to carry out his scheduled delivery, he had to pull over at a truck stop for help when his chest pains worsened... Paramedics ended up taking him to Gateway Medical Center in Clarksville, Tennessee, where he was diagnosed with a heart attack, records show. He had a stent placed in one of his coronary arteries and spent five days in the hospital... Mr. Marvel learned he lost his job after being discharged, as Rockwood, Tennessee-based Roane Transportation decided he was “medically unable” to drive a truck, according to records. And, determining his injury wasn’t work related, Roane Transportation denied his claim for workers comp benefits... The Circuit Court of Sevier County found that Mr. Marvel’s heart attack arose out of and in the scope of his employment and that, as a result, he was permanently and totally disabled, according to records... On appeal, the Tennessee Supreme Court Special Workers’ Compensation Appeals Panel on Thursday affirmed the circuit court’s decision, ruling in favor or Mr. Marvel... 
Nashville, TENN, USA - Business insurance, by Stephanie Goldberg - 28 July 2015

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TRUCKING INDUSTRY PROGNOSIS * USA: Expected 50,000 trucks off Georgia highways

* Georgia - Appalachian Regional Port announced in Murray County


-- Atlanta-area drivers and Chattanooga's (Tennessee) Volkswagen assembly plant should both benefit from a new "inland port" due to open in 2018 in Murray County, said Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal... The Georgia Ports Authority, Murray County and CSX Transportation officials announced the "Appalachian Regional Port," at which shipping containers will be loaded onto trains and shipped to the Port of Savannah... When it opens in 2018, it will take 50,000 long-haul trucks off highways in the Atlanta area and elsewhere in Georgia, officials said... Deal said Chattanooga Volkswagen representatives were at the ceremony and are interested in shipping parts via rail, instead of by truck... 
(Photo: Appalachian Regional Port announced in Georgia) -- Chatsworth, GA, USA - Times Free Press, by Tim Omarzu - July 28th, 2015

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TRUCKING INDUSTRY * USA: Report predicts: Continued growth in freight and trucking

* Virginia - Class 8 trucks in use will grow from 3.56 million in 2015 to 3.98 million by 2026
-- A new report from American Trucking Associations projects freight volumes will increase by nearly 29 percent over the next 11 years... Between 2015 and 2026, pipeline volumes will increase an average of 10.6 percent a year and their share of freight will increase from 10.8 percent in 2015 to 18.1 percent in 2026, the report said... The report is a collaboration between ATA and IHS Global Insight, and projects a 28.6 percent increase in freight tonnage and an increase in freight revenues of 74.5 percent to $1.52 trillion in 2026... For the first time, this year’s forecast includes near-term projections for 2015 and 2016 and estimates for changes in the size of the Class 8 truck fleet. The number of Class 8 trucks in use will grow from 3.56 million in 2015 to 3.98 million by 2026, the report said... The report found that trucking will still be the dominant mode of freight transportation, although the share of tonnage it hauls dips slightly. Even though truck tonnage grows over the forecast period, trucking’s share will dip from 68.8 percent in 2014 to 64.6 percent in 2026... 
(Photo: Ice Road trucks' convoy)  --  Arlington, VA, USA - Transportation Infrastructure News - Jul 28, 2015


* New Jersey - US shippers, truck companies reap low fuel price benefits
-- If U.S. shippers feel less pain when it comes time to pay freight bills this year, they can thank the worldwide oil glut. With the third quarter under way, the very significant impact of the collapse in oil and fuel prices over the past year on U.S. freight transportation is clear... The 28 percent drop in diesel prices has benefited shippers and trucking companies alike, by reducing fuel surcharges levied by carriers and the reliance of some carriers on those surcharges. The drop in surcharges in many cases outstripped the decline in fuel costs alone... Inmediate result for many trucking companies was less total revenue. However, many companies did get more of a bang for their buck in the form of higher profits, partly thanks to reduced fuel costs and partly to ongoing improvements in utilization and management... At the same time,there are emerging signs that the rapid rise in contract truck rates since 2013 could slow in the months ahead, barring an unexpectedly strong surge in freight demand that would quickly consume available capacity. That’s good news for U.S. shippers eyeing the fall peak... The time is ripe for shippers to work with carriers to prepare for what will certainly be another period of tight capacity and price hikes in the next year or two, thanks to new U.S. regulatory requirements, particularly the electronic logging mandate for truckers expected this fall...
(Photo: Truck sunset on highway) Newark, NJ, USA - JOC, by William B. Cassidy - Jul 28, 2015

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Jul 29, 2015

TRUCKMAKERS NEWS USA: * Paccar's - * Caterpillar's

* Washington - Paccar rides strong truck sales to record second-quarter profit
-- Bellevue-based truck maker Paccar reported a record profit in the second quarter of this year, reflecting increased truck sales, especially in North America and Europe... The company’s quarterly financial report also showed record profit from Paccar parts division and robust results in the company’s financial-services division... Paccar delivered 41,600 trucks from April to June, a 23.4 percent increase compared with the second quarter of 2014. Deliveries in North America for the quarter were up 30.7 percent to 26,800. European deliveries were up almost 26 percent to 11,200 trucks, and other countries, including Mexico, South America and Australia, delivered 3,600 trucks, down 16 percent... Paccar shares were down 12 cents in afternoon trading Tuesday to $64.54, a decline of 0.18 percent... 
(Photo: A Peterbilt truck by Paccar)  --  Bellevue, WASH, USA - The Seattle Times, by Coral Garnick - July 28, 2015


* Texas - Caterpillar splits with Navistar, will design and build its own vocational trucks in

--The CT680 is Caterpillar’s latest vocational truck model, launched earlier this year in May... Caterpillar has announced a parting of ways with truck maker Navistar, ending a six-year partnership between the two companies that launched the Cat brand into the vocational truck market... Cat has worked with Navistar to design and build its line of vocational trucks, launching the CT660 in 2011, followed by the CT680 and CT681 since then... Beyond more control over the process, Cat customers will likely also appreciate that the move means its trucks will now be manufactured in the U.S.A. ...  The CT lineup is currently built in Escobedo, Mexico, but manufacturing will be moved to Cat’s plant in Victoria, Texas... The Victoria plant currently manufactures the company’s excavators. Truck manufacturing is expected to add 200 jobs at the facility... Cat says the transition to Victoria will begin immediately with plans to begin production there in the first half of 2016... 
(Photo: The CT680 is Caterpillar's latest vocational truck model, launched earlier this year in May) -- Vicgtoria, TXS, USA - Aggregates Manager, by Bobby Atkinson . July 28, 2015

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ENGINE MAKERS NEWS * USA: Cummins'

* Indiana - Diesel engine maker Cummins 2nd-qtr profit, revenue rise

 -- Diesel engine maker Cummins Inc reported a 4 percent rise in quarterly revenue, boosted by distributor acquisitions in North America and stronger demand in truck and bus markets... Total revenue increased to $5.02 billion in the second quarter from $4.84 billion in the same period last year... Cummins' revenue from North America jumped 12 percent in the quarter, while international sales fell by 6 percent, dragged lower by a weak economy in Brazil... Net income attributable to Cummins rose to $471 million, or $2.62 per share, from $446 million, or $2.43 per share, a year earlier... Cummins expects full-year 2015 revenues to grow between 2 percent and 4 percent... Shares of Cummins rose nearly 4 percent to $128.55 in premarket trade...
Columbus, IN, USA - Reuters, by Meredith Davis and Jeffrey Benkoe - Jul 28, 2015

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DRONES * USA: Workhorse Group creates UAV equipped delivery truck system

* Ohio - Amazon and Google aren't the only ones with a delivery drone

-- In the race to develop a drone that delivers packages, don’t count out Workhorse. Isn’t a high profile company, but on Tuesday it demonstrated an eight-rotor delivery drone designed to work with its electric trucks and utilize some of the same battery technology... So, if a driver had four deliveries in one part of town but only one in another, the drone might be able to handle that single, less convenient delivery. The technology combines autonomous and manual control... GPS is used to determine the delivery location, and the drone flies there without any human input, Elliot Bokeno, a mechanical engineer with Workhorse, said. But when it gets to the address, a downward-pointing camera switches on and an operator at a remote center takes over... The operator guides the drone down, making sure to avoid people and obstacles, and releases the package. The drone then resumes autonomous flight and makes its way back to the truck... For now, tests of the technology over relatively short distances continue. Workhorse is collaborating with the University of Cincinnati and hopes to begin multi-mile delivery tests soon... 
(Photo from University of Cincinnati, by Lisa Ventre: Drones cool 1) -- Loveland, Ohio, USA - IDG News Service/CIO, by Martyn Williams - Jul 28, 2015

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Jul 28, 2015

BORDER TROUBLES * Canada / USA: Bringing goods across the border by truck, more costly

* Ontario - Cross-border trucking more costly after 9/11, report says

-- A more costly environment for bringing goods across the border by truck has emerged over the past decade or so, and that may be hurting the competitiveness of Canadian goods, according to one border expert... Statistics Canada released a report this month which examined the cost of bringing goods across the border before and after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001... New security regulations were brought in following those attacks, which many thought would raise the price of moving goods from the U.S.A. into Canada and vice-versa... The Statistics Canada report found that from 2004 to 2009, it cost 25 per cent more to move goods across the border, as compared to taking those goods the same distance domestically. That was well above the 16 per cent premium that was paid from 1994 to 2000... Anderson said this apparent jump in costs has implications for everyone... But Anderson said a broader concern is about what this does to our competitiveness... Asked what can be done to limit this potential impediment to trade, Anderson pointed to the federal government's plan to build a new bridge between Michigan and Ontario... 
(Photo by Jason Kryk/Canadian Press - A Statistics Canada report looking at the cost of bringing goods across the border both pre- and post-9/11 found that the costs rose after new security regulations were brought in following those attacks) Windsor Bridge, ONT, CAN - CBC News - Jul 27, 2015

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TRUCKMAKERS NEWS * Canada: A Luxury Tank for the street

* Canada - Armoured vehicle maker combines bling with bang

  (Video by Mike Supercars TopSpeed - Jun 1, 2015: KNIGHT XV the world's most luxurious armored vehicle $629,000 - The Knight XV is CV’s luxury interpretation of the civilian version of company AAVI’s Gurkha F5) 
-- A black tank-like truck cruises downtown Toronto, prompting stunned pedestrians to whip out their smartphones to provide proof of what they’ve seen... What they’ve seen is the Conquest Knight XV. It is a rare beast. There are only 17 in the world, sold to the likes of the prince of the United Arab Emirates and a basketball star Dwight Howard... The vehicle starts at $629,000, but often sells for several hundred thousand dollars more. It weighs twice as a much as a GMC Hummer and it can stop a bullet from an AK-47... And it’s made in Toronto. By hand... It takes about six months to build a Knight XV, and Conquest Vehicles actually machine their own parts out of stainless steel and aluminum... 
Toronto, ONT, CAN - The Canadian Manufacturing/Canadian Press, by Liam Casey - July 27, 2015

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TRUCKMAKERS NEWS * Europe - MAN has 170 mln euros of restructuring costs in Q2

* Germany - MAN SE cuts 2015 profit expectations after Q2 loss

-- German truck maker MAN SE cut its profit and sales expectations for this year after posting a second-quarter loss due to restructuring costs and plunging demand in Brazil... The Volkswagen-owned manufacturer last month announced plans to cut 1,800 jobs at its main trucks division in Europe as part of the parent company's efforts to slim down the unit and revive profit... MAN is more exposed than rivals Daimler and Volvo to problems in Brazil, where it has been market leader for trucks of more than 5 metric tons for over a decade, because it lacks a presence in the growing North American market... The Munich-based group said on Tuesday it incurred a 19 million-euro ($21 million) quarterly loss as costs of 170 million euros to reorganize truck production hit results... 
(Photo)  --  Munich, Germany - Reuters -Jul 28, 2015

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TRUCK SALES * India: Price increase on account of a new safety legislation

* India -  Truck sales set to rise ahead of rule change

-- Fleet operators are set to advance truck purchases ahead of an impending change in rules, which could push up prices by as much as Rs.60,000- 80,000... New safety legislation, which includes compulsory ABS and speed limiters, will push up truck prices by Rs60,000-80,000... The price increase will be on account of a new safety legislation that will come into effect from 1 October and will make features such as anti-lock braking system (ABS) and a speed-control device mandatory for trucks... While the legislation allows selling trucks without such features till 31 March 2016, it prohibits production of such models from October. To beat the deadline, a number of firms are increasing production leading up to October... Tata Motors’ Pisharody said so far, the growth in the markets is being solely driven by haulage, or cargo trucks, and the contribution from tippers, which are deployed in mines and construction, has been almost negligible... 
(Photo: Bloomberg - Truck sales set to rise ahead of rule change)  --  New Delhi, India - Live Mint, by Shally Seth Mohile - 27 July 2015

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TRUCKS SALES * USA & Canada: Navistar's 9,000 vehicles

* Illinois - Navistar completes order to supply Quality Cos. with 9,000 trucks


-- Truck maker Navistar Inc. has finalized an agreement to supply Quality Cos. with 9,000 Class 8 tractors during the next three years... Quality Cos., a provider of truck- and trailer-leasing services, is a subsidiary of truckload carrier Celadon Inc. ... Navistar said the order consists primarily of International ProStar and LoneStar Class 8 tractors powered by the Cummins ISX15 engine... The manufacturer announced last week that it had received an order for the first 1,050 of the 9,000 trucks requested by the leasing company...
(Photo by John Sommers II: Celadon offices)  --  Warrenville, ILL, USA - Transport Topics/American Trucking Associations - 27 July 2015

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TRUCKMAKERS NEWS * USA: Kenworth's

* Washington - Kenworth truck assembly plant earns 2015 Best Workplace Award


-- Kenworth Truck Co.’ assembly plant in Renton, Wash., recently earned a 2015 Best Workplace for Waste Prevention and Recycling Award from the King County Solid Waste Division for exceptional efforts to reduce, reuse and recycle... That marks the seventh consecutive year that Kenworth-Renton has received the award, which enabled the plant to achieve King County’s Honor Roll status for the third consecutive year... Kenworth–Renton’s Zero Waste to Landfill initiative features the recycling of paper, cardboard, wood, plastics, metals, engine oils, antifreeze, batteries, electronics, light bulbs, toner cartridges — and even the cooking oil used in the cafeteria... The Kenworth program includes use of returnable shipping containers, recycling of wood pallets, reduced packaging material and waste-stream segregation... Kenworth’s plants in Renton, Wash., and Chillicothe, Ohio, both hold the prestigious ISO 14001:2004 certification for effective environmental management systems established to help build Class 8 trucks in an environmentally sustainable manner... 
(Photo: Kenworth Truck Co.’s assembly plant in Renton, Washington state)   --   Renton, Wash., USA - Trucking News - July 27, 2015

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TRUCKS' MAINTENANCE * Australia: Not enough

* Victoria - Too many trucking firms ignoring their responsibilities

-- Transport authority says recent inspections show companies need to lift their game on vehicle maintenance... The message has gone out to Victorian trucking companies to pay closer attention to vehicle maintenance procedures... Citing the findings from recent truck inspections in Melbourne’s suburbs, Victorian transport authority VicRoads says, not enough operators are implementing strong maintenance procedures... It says recent inspections as part of Operation Trishula in Melbourne’s eastern and western suburbs examined 252 vehicles, 224 of which recorded defects... VicRoads says common faults included steering and brake issues, worn or damaged tyres, broken lights, loose bolts and faulty seatbelts... 
(Photo: VicRoads says not enough trucking companies are regularly maintaining their fleet) -- Melbourne, VIC, Australia - Owner Driver -27 July 2015

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Jul 27, 2015

INFRASTRUCTURE'S FUNDS DISCUSSION * USA

* California - Conservative group offers ‘trucker-friendly’ toll plan, ATA says plan anti-truck

-- The Reason Foundation said the entire transportation system needs to be rebuilt and paid for using truck and car tolls. ATA, however, dismisses the Reason Foundations’ report and its findings... A new study by a libertarian think tank/foundation advances the idea of what it calls “truck-friendly tolls” to pay for repairing and expanding the nation’s aging interstate highway system, but a leading trucking organization says the concept discriminates against truckers and calls tolls inefficient... The Reason Foundation, which has strong libertarian leanings and is based in Los Angeles, says in its report, Truck-Friendly Tolls for 21st Century Interstates that much of our system of highways needs replacing – not just repairing – and claims a projected 40 percent increase in truck traffic will require some expansion. That would cost almost $1 trillion, according to the report authored by Reason founder Robert W. Poole, Jr. ... To pay for these major projects, Poole’s report says, “…most states could finance the replacement and selective widening of their long-distance Interstates with tolls of 3.5 cents/mile for cars and other light vehicles and 14 cents/mile for large trucks, as long as those toll rates were indexed for inflation” ... The Senate voted late Wednesday to allow a vote on the six-year DRIVE Act highway bill that, if enacted, would remove from public view carrier ... That would be made possible, according to the report, with expanded use of electronic toll systems such as Bestpass and Prepass Plus. Tolls would apply to all users – trucks and cars alike – driving on all interstates... The ATA said it believes the best way to finance infrastructure improvements is through fuel taxes... 
(Photo: Interstate-highway)   --   Los Angeles, CAL, USA - CCJ, by David Hollis - July 23, 2015

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IRREGULAR MIGRANTS & TRUCKS * GREECE / Europe

* Greece - Drop in trucks to Italy has migrants seeking other way West

-- Capital controls imposed last month have led to a significant decline in the number of cargo trucks leaving the western Greek port of Patra for Italy, which, in turn, has led to a drastic reduction in the number of irregular migrants squatting around the port in the hopes of sneaking onto a vehicle bound further into the European Union, Harbor Master Tryfon Korontzis has suggested... Korontzis said that in a single day at Patra Port, three regular ferries bound for Italy may carry a total of just 50 trucks containing cargo... The harbor master said that since the drop in vehicle traffic was noted after the imposition of capital controls, the number of migrants sleeping in abandoned buildings near the port or begging at traffic lights also appears to have gone down. He suggested that the two may be connected, with migrants seeking different routes westward into Europe... 
(Photo: Migrants at Greek Patra Port)  --  Athens, Greece - Ekathimerine - 25 July 2015

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TRUCKS HIJACKEDS and DESTROYED * Europe: By French farmers

* France - Highland trucks hijacked and destroyed by farmers in
-- A mob of 200 angry French farmers hijacked a convoy of seven lorries carrying fish from the Highlands to the continent... Drivers were threatened, their trucks smashed open and cargoes worth £200,000 were destroyed in the terrifying incident... Their three-hour ordeal started when they were herded into a roadblock trap in Brittany in the north-west of France... Farm vehicles, bales of hay and tyres had been to create a makeshift barrier on the main route used by Lochinver-based Hunter Transport to ferry fish from Sutherland to Lorient... 
(Photo: Cargoes worth £200,000 were destroyed)  --  Lorient, France - The Press and Journal by Iain Ramage - 24 July 2015 


 * France - Farmers attack trucks, IRU calls for action

-- Truck drivers have for the last two days been subjected to intimidation and seen their cargos destroyed during yet another strike in France, this time by farmers. The protests have also resulted in driving bans and significant delays. Yet again French police officers are standing by while these unacceptable attacks take place. France must act to guarantee freedom of movement in its territory. Its police must uphold the law... Marc Billiet, head of Goods Transport for the EU said, “It is absolutely unacceptable that the haulage industry is on the receiving end of total French incompetence or unwillingness to uphold the rule of law, again. We cannot have drivers being threatened, tyres being slashed and loads being destroyed” ... 
 Brussels, Belgium - IRU - July 23, 2015

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TRUCKS EFFICIENCY * USA: Corporate leaderships for green trucks

* DC - PepsiCo and FedEx among leading brands calling for truck efficiency

-- Freight is the work horse of the global economy, ensuring that the products consumers want land on shelves or doorsteps any time they wish... With 70 percent of goods in the United States being moved by truck, freight is a key source of our fuel consumption and corporate greenhouse gas emissions. Today, freight also offers companies a key opportunity to show leadership on climate... In recent weeks, Ben &Jerry’s, Cummins Inc., Eaton Corp., FedEx, IKEA, PepsiCo and Waste Management have voiced strong support for the new fuel efficiency and emissions standards for medium and heavy-duty trucks... PepsiCo Chief Executive Indra Nooyi summed it up like this in a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed post she co-authored with Environmental Defense Fund President Fred Krupp: “Less money spent on fuel means more to invest in our products, processes, people and communities” ... That kind of thinking is what we refer to as the business-policy nexus. It’s driving innovative companies to take the next step in corporate leadership, aligning corporate sustainability operations, strategy and policy... The next wave of business leadership must include helping to shape and support the regulatory and policy changes required to preserve the natural systems that people, communities and companies need to thrive... 
(Photo by Eric Aldrich) -- Washington, DC, USA - Enviromental Defense Fund, by Tom Murray - July 22, 2015

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SAFETY TRUCKS * USA: Trucking Group vs. CARB: About diesel truck filters

* California - Group blames ‘dangerous’ diesel filters for truck fires


-- A group representing California truckers, farmers and business owners is claiming the state attorney general’s office is ignoring a rash of recent truck fires it claims were sparked by faulty diesel particulate filters... The Alliance for California Business, a Chico-based nonprofit with more than 400 members, is blasting both the attorney general and the California Air Resources Board (CARB) for “refusing to investigate” the truck fires — and attempting “to block others from doing so... These diesel particulate filters [DPFs] are "the most dangerous pieces of equipment ever put on a truck,” said Alliance President Bud Caldwell, 65, a former “kingpin” for the California Truckers Association and owner of Northgate Petroleum in Chico... Caldwell said he formed the Alliance in 2013 “to lead the charge” against mandatory DPF laws in California, the only state in the country that currently requires them... But Karen Caesar, an information officer for CARB did forward a CARB report claiming DPFs are “effective and reliable” in removing 98 percent of toxic diesel emissions. The filters, the 56-page study concluded, “do not increase the likelihood of truck fires and are manufactured in accordance with federal and state safety requirements” ... The Alliance continues to dispute those conclusions and is now taking depositions of key CARB executive staff responsible for approving the DPFs... The Alliance plans to conduct its own investigation, he said, and “bring forth the experts required to prove that the DPF device should not be allowed on California highways” ... 
 (This 2013 photo from TV station KTLA shows a big-rig fire in the San Gabriel Valley of Southern California. A group is claiming that diesel particulate filters are to blame for a rash of California truck fires)   --  Chico, CAL, USA - The Business Journal, by George Lurie - 24 July 2015

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TRUCKMAKERS NEWS * Europe: MAN's / Daimler's

* Germany - MAN celebrates 60 years at its Munich plant
-- MAN is celebrating the 60th anniversary of the opening of its Munich plant by holding a big family open day for its employees and their families on Saturday 25 July 2015. Approximately 30,000 guests are expected to attend... The anniversary is also being marked with a parade of historic trucks for truckers and vintage vehicle enthusiasts. From 8:00 on Saturday, the sound of vintage engines will fill the air as the parade of ten trucks makes its way from the MAN plant in Dachauer Straße, along Gabelsbergerstraße and the Altstadtring to the Isartorplatz, where the parade is due to arrive around 9:00... The vintage vehicles are testament to the years of the economic miracle in Germany and the early days of long-haul transportation... Production of MAN trucks and buses dates back 100 years, but for the first few decades the vehicles were only produced in Nuremberg. In the first half of the 1950s, production and sales of the Nuremberg trucks continually increased until the plant reached capacity. The company management began looking for an alternative production site and ultimately decided on the site of the former BMW aircraft engine plant in Allach, Munich. MAN's senior management, including Otto Meyer, saw the new plant in Munich as a fantastic opportunity to expand the company's commercial vehicle production and set up improved and more independent development facilities for this area... (Photo: In 1955, the first truck rolled off the assembly line at MAN's Munich plant. Sixty years on, MAN is marking the anniversary with a big family open day and vintage truck parade)   --  Munich, Germany - Newswire Today - 24 July 2015


* Baden-Wuerttemberg - Daimler plans to test self driving trucks in Germany this year

-- German carmaker Daimler is planning to test self-driving trucks as early as this year, executive board member Wolfgang Bernhard told a German newspaper... First tests of semi-autonomous trucks will take place in Daimler’s home state Baden-Wuerttemberg while the start of production is two-three years away, Bernhard, who is in charge of Daimler’s trucks business, told the paper... Apple, Google and other companies were trying to position themselves in the promising business of autonomous driving... Google earlier this month began testing its self-driving cars in Austin, Texas, expanding efforts to gather information on how the prototypes interact with traffic, road conditions and people... Technology groups as well as automotive manufacturers and suppliers have said the technology to build self-driving cars should be ready by 2020... 
(Photo from Thinkstock - Truck on a road above a boat canal in Oldenburg) -- Stuttgart, Germany - Reuters/recode - July 25, 2015

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RAM - FIAT/CHRYSLER - RECALLS * USA

* DC - Fiat Chrysler recalling 2.2 million trucks
-- Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV said Saturday it will recall nearly 2.2 million trucks worldwide because of air bags that can deploy without warning... The announcement of two new recalls for inadvertent air bag deployments comes a day after Fiat Chrysler recalled 1.4 million vehicles for hacking concerns — and as it is negotiating a settlement with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration over concerns about its handling of nearly two dozen recall campaigns covering more than 11 million vehicles... The Italian American automaker said it will call back 1.35 million 2012-2014 Ram trucks (1500, 2500, 3500, 4500 and 5500) in the United States because of a steering wheel harness that may rub against the driver air bag module retainer spring. That could result in an inadvertent deployment of the air bag. Dealers will repair if needed the steering wheel wiring harness and will add protective caps to the air bag retainer spring ends... The recall covers 667,000 vehicles in the United States (of A.), 153,011 in Canada; 8,272 in Mexico and 14,847 outside North America. Until the recall is completed, Fiat Chrysler advises that owners of these vehicles exercise caution when closing doors... 
 (Photo: FCA - tHE 2014 RAN 1500)   --  Washington, DC, USA - The Detroit News, by David Shepardson - July 25, 2015


 * DC - Fiat Chrysler to face $105M penalty, oversight

-- Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV will face at least three years of oversight by an independent monitor into its auto safety efforts as part of a sweeping, record-setting $105 million settlement in the government’s investigation of nearly two dozen recalls covering 11 million vehicles... The Italian-American automaker admitted it broke the law in failing to quickly repair vehicles in three separate recall campaigns and agreed to buy back as many as 578,000 older Ram pickups for steering issues after some owners said they have waited 18 months or longer for repairs because of parts shortages... The agency is still reviewing Fiat Chrysler on other fronts... The penalty is the largest ever imposed by NHTSA against an automaker... 
(Photo by Carlos Osorio / AP - FCA headquarters in Auburn Hills, Mihigan)   --  Washington, DC, USA - The Detroit News, by David Shepardson - July 26, 2015


* Michigan  - Fiat Chrysler will recall vehicles over hacking worries


-- Under government pressure, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV agreed Friday to recall 1.4 million vehicles that can be cyber-hacked remotely — as Congress, automakers and regulators are raising increasing concerns about vehicle communications... The first-of-its-kind callback came just days after a magazine report showed hackers could wirelessly take control of some functions of a Jeep Cherokee... The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said it will open an investigation into the recall to ensure all vehicles that could be affected are covered... Owners will get a USB device that they may use to upgrade vehicle software, which provides additional security features independent of the network-level measures that largely addresses the problem... Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., called on NHTSA to ensure that the problem is not limited to Fiat Chrysler... Two senators this week introduced legislation requiring NHTSA to set new rules to guard against hacking. Foxx said it was critical that automakers and the government work closely together to address the issue... 
(Photo from Reuters - Car dashboards and infotainment systems can be hacked into through DAB radio broadcasts)   --   Auburn Hills, MICH, USA - The Detroit News, by David Shepardson - July 24, 2015

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