Trucks World News

Mar 13, 2017

TRUCKING NUCLEAR BOMBS across USA each day

* DC - Office of Secure Transportation big rigs haul nuclear weapons and highly enriched uranium on the nation's highways each day

(Video by John Callender - Aug 12, 2011: We read an article about the special road train built by Perkins to haul nuclear waste from San Onofre to Utah, and it just happened that we were driving to Mammoth at the same time it was going to be parked by the side of the road in Bishop. So we drove by and gawked)

--- The unmarked 18-wheelers ply the nation’s interstates and two-lane highways, logging 3 million miles a year hauling the most lethal cargo there is: nuclear bombs. The covert fleet, which shuttles warheads from missile silos, bomber bases and submarine docks to nuclear weapons labs across the country, is operated by the Office of Secure Transportation a troubled agency within the U.S. Department of Energy so cloaked in secrecy that few people outside the government know it exists...

(Photo from Office of Secure Transportation: Security officers protect big rigs hauling nuclear weapons)

... Among the findings of the Times investigation:
- The agency is 48 agents short of its planned staffing of 370, a result of budget cuts. Weapons and tactics classes were canceled in 2011 and 2012 for lack of money.
- More than a third of the workforce has been putting in more than 900 hours a year of overtime, which former couriers and Energy Department officials say has contributed to a breakdown in morale and rapid turnover.
- In 2010, an inquiry by the Energy Department’s inspector general found widespread alcohol problems. It cited 16 alcohol-related incidents over a three-year period, including an agent on a 2007 mission who was arrested for public intoxication and two agents on a 2009 mission who were handcuffed and detained by police after a fight at a bar.
- In 2014, the commander of the agency’s operation at the Y-12 National Security Complex in Tennessee threatened to kill an employee in an altercation, but no disciplinary action was taken.
- The agency’s top executive in 2009 was charged with drunk driving after police found him parked on a sidewalk with an open bottle of beer and a blood-alcohol concentration of 0.15%, nearly twice the legal limit, according to New Mexico court records.
- The agency’s truck fleet is antiquated by commercial standards and well past its operational life even under the department’s own guidelines. About half the tractors are more than 15 years old. The high-security trailers used by the agency are even older, designed before the current era of terrorist threats.

... The agency has been able to purchase five new rigs a year. More potent self-defense systems for the trucks are on the way in a trailer dubbed the Mobile Guardian, which the Energy Department is spending $670 million to develop. But the new trailers are not expected to hit the road until 2023 — long after the weapons modernization program is underway... Meanwhile, the older rigs are well maintained and log fewer miles than comparable commercial trucks, and agency officials are confident they will be able to do the job, said Al Stotts, a spokesman for the nuclear administration...
Los Angeles, CAL, USA - The Los Angeles Times, by Ralph Vartabedian and W.J. Hennigan - 13 March 2017

* California - Digitization bolsters demand for connected devices in heavy-duty defense trucks

--- The value of connected defense trucks in the market will create growth opportunities in cybersecurity and data analytics, finds Frost & Sullivan's Mobility team... With the escalation of political tension and civil unrest in various parts of the world, defense budgets have received a boost. The evolving mission requirements and need for enhanced mission efficiencies are compelling manufacturers of heavy-duty (HD) defense trucks to incorporate digital technologies in their vehicles. Most of the technological advancements in trucks will be driven by manufacturers and tier-1 participants to reduce operational costs and improve fleet efficiency... Frost & Sullivan analysis, Global HD Defense Trucks Market Trends, Forecasted to 2025, finds that APAC, Africa, and the Middle East will emerge as the top three regions for procurement of heavy-duty (HD) defense trucks. By 2025, the number of HD defense trucks in operation globally, is expected to rise by a compound annual rate (CAGR) of 1.0 percent...
Santa Clara,CAL, USA - PR Newswire/Yahoo Finance - March 10, 2017

Labels: dangerous cargos, military transportation

Oct 25, 2016

TRUCKS USED by ISIL * Syria & Iraq: Arab purchasers involved on

* North Carolina - Toyota reveals Arab purchasers of its pickup trucks used by ISIL terrorists

--- Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE and Jordan have been involved in purchasing thousands of Toyota pickup trucks that have been supplied to the ISIL terrorists in Syria and Iraq, Toyota customers' list in the Middle East shows... After photos of hundreds of ISIL's Toyota pickups seized or targeted by the Syrian Army were sent by the Russian army to the Toyota Company in Japan, the company revealed a list of its main customers that have bought the vehicles... The customers' list shows that a Saudi firm has purchased a sum of 22,500 trucks, Qatar 32,000, the UAE 11,650 and the Jordanian Army 4,500 vehicles from Toyota company. The Jordanian Army had received loans from several Saudi banks for payments... A large number of the purchased-vehicles by the four Arab countries have already been delivered to the ISIL terrorists in Syrian and Iraq... Informed sources have confirmed that ISIL has now over 6,000 Toyota vehicles... The US official had previously announced that they want to conduct a probe to find out how ISIL had received these vehicles, but analysts said further that Washington itself had been involved in export of hundreds of these pickup trucks to Syria...
Otto, N.C,, USA - FARS News Agency/SOTT - 23 Oct 2016

Labels: military transportation, truckmakers news worldwide

Sep 13, 2016

MILITARY TRUCKING * Kuwait: Summer temperatures topped 129 degrees Fahrenheit

* Kuwait - From blizzards to sand storms, this company keeps trucking

--- All deploying units have to make adjustments, but perhaps no unit has had to face and overcome a bigger change in environment than the 109th Transportation Company... Based out of Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, the 109th TC, 553rd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 17th Sustainment Brigade, 1st Sustainment Command (Theater), is currently deployed to Kuwait, where this summer's temperatures have topped 129 degrees Fahrenheit... During their time in Alaska, drivers looked out for moose and dealt with blizzards. In Kuwait, drivers watch fcamel crossings and sand storms... Since their deployment began in March, the 109th TC has moved over 14 million pounds of supplies by convoys traveling more than 200,000 miles. Their cargo has included all classes of supply and supported service members in Kuwait and other countries... Along with the heat, 109th TC drivers also face the challenge of driving vehicles like the Army's Heavy Equipment Transporter, which is more than 50 feet long with wide turning radiuses. The HETs are big enough to carry trucks, mine-resistant ambush protected vehicles, and even tanks... With a top speed of just over 40 mph, the HETs are difficult to drive on Kuwaiti freeways where the speed limit is usually 75 mph and lanes aren't marked the same way they are in the United States...
(Photo: Pfc. Desmond Jones, a motor transport operator with the 109th Transportation Company, 553rd Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 17th Sustainment Brigade, 1st Sustainment Command -Theater-, ground guides a Heavy Equipment) -- Camp Arifjan, Kuwait - Army.mil, by Staff Sgt. Victor Joecks - September 9, 2016

Labels: military transportation, trucking industry news USA

Jun 28, 2016

MILITARY TRUCKING * Afghanistan / USA

* DC - Army seeks truck haulers in Afghanistan

--- The U.S. Army is seeking local Afghan trucking companies to transport equipment among U.S. military outposts in that country... According to a June 16 sources-sought notice, the U.S. Army wants vendors "with the capability of providing a secure and reliable means of distributing reconstruction material, security equipment, fuel, miscellaneous dry cargo and life support assets throughout the Combined Joint Operations Area-Afghanistan (CJOA-A) to and from Forward Operating Bases (FOBs), Combat Outposts (COPs) and other designated delivery sites. Transportation services include secure movement of supplies or equipment throughout Afghanistan/CJOA-A." ... The required transportation services include hauling bulk fuels, dry cargo and heavy cargo, according to the notice... Prospective vendors should have the "ability to fully mobilize within 30 days" and preferably be able to transport all three forms of cargo, although the Army will look at companies that can haul one or two of those forms, the notice states. They should also provide a list of the types and numbers of trucks they have on hand... Responses to the notice are due by 3:00 p.m. Central Time on June 30...
(Photo: MAN SV trucks enhanced palletised load system (EPLS) Combat Logistic Patrol Afghanistan) -- Washington, DC, USA - Inside Defense (USA), by John Liang - June 21, 2016

* Virginia - Bemused motorists spot white 'combat vehicles' on the interstate

--- Military U.N. vehicles have been spotted in Virginia. The white trucks, equipped with large off-road tires, were seen being transported on Interstate 81 on Friday. They appear to be Alpine Armoring's Pit-Bull VX SWAT Truck models... The trucks models which cost from $225,000 to over $300,000...

(Image from Alpine Armoring's catalogue shows the vehicle specifications)
... The VX weighs in at 16,600lbs. Seating for two plus eight crew. Windows do not roll down, instead there are locked gun ports on the vehicle that can be opened to shoot bullets out or accept documents in and are even big enough to pass through a can of soda. Glass is a mini, and internal fans can keep bad air out, such as in the event of a gas attack, or bring fresh air in when reversed... PA system to speak to the outside world. Remote-controlled spotlights on the roof and pairs of red and blue strobe lights are mounted to each four sides of the vehicle... Every window on the vehicle is filled with ballistic glass that'll shed small arms fire like they're pebbles and even resist a close-range shot from a high-powered rifle. There are nine gun ports. The angled roof and floor are designed with anti-mine protection in mind and can repel modern frag explosives. Every door overlaps with ballistic steel so no stray bullets can penetrate at an angle... Fuel tank is fully protected and encased in ballistic steel...
(Photo by Jeff Stern:'Can't begin to tell you how many of these I passed today on 81 near Lexington VA, Interesting times ahead!') - VA, USA - The Mail Online, by Charlie Moore - 27 June 2016

* Virginia - U.N. denies knowledge of military truks labeled UN: ´These are not our vehicles … We don't have vehicles'

--- The identity of the owner of the military-style trucks painted with the United Nations’ initials seen being transported through Virginia this week was narrowed on Wednesday. A little... They most probably are owned by Afghanistan. Or Albania, Algeria, Andorra or Angola … or any of the rest of the 193 member states of the international organization. All the way through Zambia and Zimbabwe... “These are not our vehicles. … We don’t have vehicles,” U.N. spokeswoman Ismini Palla told WND... Just a day earlier, WND consulted with a couple of major defense contractors who denied they knew anything about the vehicles... Alpine Armoring had reported earlier to a fact-checking website that the vehicles “seen in these photographs were purchased by the United Nations for use outside the United States”...
(Image by BOB UNRUH - Bloggers were quick to point out the curiosity of U.N. trucks being transported on U.S. highway) -- VIR, USA - WND - 30 June 2016

Labels: military transportation, trucking industry news worldwide

May 16, 2016

MILITARY TRUCK TRANSPORT * USA

* North Carolina - Locked & loaded with Motor Transport Marines

--- U.S. Marine Corps Cpl,. Derrick Matthews, a motor vehicle operator with the headquarters regiment of the 2nd Marine Logistics Group (MLG), offloads supplies from a medium tactical vehicle using a light capacity rough terrain forklift during the II Marine Expeditionary Force Exercise 2016 (MEFEX) at Landing Zone Albatross at Camp Lejeune, N.C., earlier this month... When you are a motor transport operator in the military, you’re a truck driver in uniform providing critical logistics support for combat troops. When you’re a motor transport operator in the U.S. Marines, however, you go along on combat missions and thus need vehicle maneuvering and weapons skills. That’s why military training exercises are so critical for Marines tagged to haul freight under fire...
(U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Tyler W. Stewart) -- Camp Lejeune, N.C., USA - American Trucker, by Sean Kilcarr - May 13, 2016

Labels: military transportation

Jul 19, 2008

Military Transportation Network * USA - Keeps U.S. military running

Scott Air Force Base, Ill,USA -McClatchy Newspapers/BND.com, by DAVE MONTGOMERY -19 July 2008: -- ... Each day, hundreds of airplanes, ships, rail cars and trucks - which Transcom operates through three component commands - engage in a by-the-clock ritual of moving cargo and people across the globe... With a $10 billion budget and nearly 138,000 personnel worldwide, Transcom operates like a giant multinational corporation, measuring its output in statistical superlatives. The amount of cargo shipped through Transcom in the post-Sept. 11 era, for example, would fill a line of tractor trailers from Seattle to Miami... Ships with Transcom's Military Sealift Command have plucked survivors from tsunamis and sinking ships. Evacuation crews with the Air Mobility Command have rushed wounded soldiers to lifesaving treatment in the United States. The Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command choreographs a daily parade of trucks and rail cars laden with supplies and equipment for troops overseas... The 2001 terrorist attacks and the deployment of combat forces overseas have infused Transcom with an urgent wartime tempo. Since shortly after Sept. 11, Transcom has logged 103,000 airlift missions, 786 shiploads and, in the United States, 2.4 million truck shipments and 191,000 rail car shipments... Gen. Norton Schwartz's (Commander of the U.S. Transportation Command, headquartered at Scott Air Force Base) assessment, Transcom in many ways is like an offensive lineman, often unheralded but always indispensable...