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Prime Mover Magazine / October 11, 2018 Commercial vehicle manufacturer, IVECO, has launched a Euro 6-rated Stralis X-Way as part of a new range specifically developed for vocational and construction applications. The range is suited to operations in which on-road work may also require a level of off-road mobility IVECO announced this week. These will include 6x4 AD/AT and 6x4 AS prime mover models as well as 6x4 AD/AT, 8x4 AD/AT and 8x4 AS rigids. The prime movers feature GVMs of 25 tonnes and GCMs of 45 tonnes while the rigids range between 25 and 30 tonnes GVM and 40 to 45 tonnes GCM. All prime mover models are equipped with rear 8 bag Electronically Controlled Air Suspension (ECAS) and front parabolic springs. Rigid variants use the same rear suspension. These will include ECAS suspension on the 8x4 models. The 6x4 AD/AT has a mechanical rear suspension option and standard front parabolic springs. Cabin options include a ‘Day’, ‘Sleeper’ and ‘Active Space Sleeper’ for prime movers and rigid models while wheelbase options are 3900 and 4200mm for the prime movers and 5720, 5800, 6300 and 6500mm depending on the rigid model selected. The Stralis X-Way project marks the culmination of a four-year engineering program between IVECO Australia and IVECO’s global engineering centre. This has resulted in models that combine extensive local development with the latest innovative technologies from Europe. New models have undergone extensive on-road testing in Australia and in Europe across a three year period with encouraging results. At the heart of the vehicles are new IVECO Cursor 9, 11 and 13 common rail engines with additional power and torque. Outputs range from 310 hp and 1300 Nm for the entry level Cursor 9 to 510 hp and 2300 Nm for the Cursor 13. The IVECO Cursor 11 and 13 engines benefit from a new turbocharger that provides immediate response at low engine speeds and superior engine braking. Complementing the engine range is IVECO’s new HiTroniX automated transmission. A 12-speed, direct drive unit, it delivers fast gear changes and also has the ability to more efficiently select the correct ratio for the conditions. As well as delivering more efficient vehicle performance, the HiTroniX can achieve an extended life (up to 80 per cent) compared to other AMTs, for durability of up to 1.6 million kilometres leading to lower vehicle cost-of-ownership. For greater flexibility across a range of applications, the HitroniX is equipped with ‘Rocking’ and ‘Creeping’ modes as well as four reverse gears. The Stralis X-Way range will be built in Australia at IVECO’s Dandenong manufacturing facility alongside current generation Euro 5 Stralis AS-L models, the ACCO and the Delta and Graduate bus chassis. .

Prime Mover Magazine / October 9, 2018 Commercial vehicle manufacturer, IVECO has used the launch event for it’s new Stralis X-Way to also reveal its plans to radically revamp the iconic ACCO range. The new ACCO will be manufactured at IVECO’s Melbourne production facility in Dandenong it announced this week, and will share architecture including the cab with the Stralis X-Way. Available in 6x4 and 8x4 configurations, the new vehicles will be aimed at ACCO’s current vocational applications. For refuse collection applications, IVECO will continue to offer a factory dual control system and is consulting extensively with the waste industry to develop a variety of body mounting and chassis layout options to suit a range of bodies. Assessment vehicles will be trialled over the next nine months with operators including Suez, Cleanaway and JJ Richards. Part of the strategy to use a completely new cab is the space requirements of the SCR Euro 6, Cursor 9 engines that will be used with between 310 and 360hp and 1300 and 1650 Nm of torque. Emission control will be handled via IVECO’s Hi-eSCR system. The engines will be matched to the Allison Generation Five 3200 Series, 6-speed full automatic transmission. Included as standard equipment are Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC), Anti-lock Braking System (ABS), Electronic Braking System (EBS), Advanced Emergency Braking System (AEBS), Electronic Stability Program (ESP), axle load indicator, electronic battery cut-out and L.E.D daytime running lamps and rear L.E.D lights. Operators will also benefit from the new cabin design that offers additional visibility and comfort combined with the easy access the previous generation ACCOs were well regarded for. Inside the cabin the operator is treated to an ergonomically designed workspace, with modern instrument cluster and intuitive dashboard layout. IVECO Australia Business Director, Bruce Healy, said the ACCO was an Australian transport industry legend, and that given its status in the market, IVECO was working tirelessly to ensure a new ACCO would do the iconic nameplate proud. “Developed for the Australian army in the years following World War II, the ACCO is Australia’s first locally-designed and manufactured truck,” said Healy. “To replace a transport legend is no mean feat, so extensive local development has been undertaken in preparation for the next chapter of the ACCO’s product life.” .

New Zealand Trucking / October 2018 Back home in Palmerston North, Chris went on a 13-week government course where he was taught warehousing and got his truck licence in a D series Ford with a petrol V8, 5-speed transmission and a 2-speed diff. After gaining his licence Chris worked for Daily Freight doing around town work, before getting a job with Pratt Contracting in Bunnythorpe. “ That was my first job driving big trucks, I had an NL Volvo 6-wheeler and a 6-wheeler trailer. I worked for them for two years then I started working for Elliot ’s Transport in Palmerston North.” After he’d been there a few months the owner, Ridley, asked Chris if he wanted to buy the truck that he had been driving for him. He said no at the time, but a year later bought the Japanese Ford Trader that he used to take vegetables to the supermarkets in Feilding. Chris changed trucks a couple of years later, then after another two years he headed to Southend On Sea in England. “I just decided I’d go and do something different. I sold my truck and was cashed up, I had $20,000 in my pocket – that lasted a month!” Chris says it took him about a month to get a UK truck driving licence and shortly after he was offered two jobs. “One of them was an Eaton crash box, Road Rangery type of thing that I’d never driven before, and the other was a DAF, a synchro, and I got offered both. One was moving tractors and one was moving cardboard boxes. I took the cardboard boxes because it was within walking distance of where I was living, and I didn’t have a car.” After seven months Chris went to stay with a cousin in Sussex and joined a driving agency, doing mainly aircraft freight between Gatwick and Heathrow. While working for the agency one of the jobs was for The Body Shop, leading to eight months of full-time work. “The job was night shift – two drivers, swap bodies on wagon and drag (truck and trailer) and drive home. I found out the first night why I got the job. I had been seen reversing the truck and trailer, and when we got to the destination, the other driver was about to reverse the drag under the swap bodies and says to me, ‘ok, how do I do this?’ I said, ‘I don’t really know, it comes naturally to me’.” When Chris’s time with The Body Shop was nearing its end, the fleet controller suggested he move on to a job with theatre transport company G. H. Lucking & Sons. “I worked for them for two years, moving all sorts of theatre shows.” Chris says most of the outs – when shows are packed up ready to be transported to the next location – were done on a Saturday night. “Depending on how big the show is and when it’s on next, sometimes you have to move straight after the out, and if it was a big out, you’d be working all night and then driving all day. We’d be forever going bobtail or moving empty trailers the length of the UK getting them closer to where the shows were coming out of or going to next.” Chris says the streets and roads are the same no matter where in the UK you are, it ’s just in the bigger populated areas they are a lot busier which makes it more difficult to access some of the theatres. “It’s all relative to how many people are watching you too. At Blackpool you drive up into a pedestrian street and then back ‘ blind side’ around the building and in to the dock door. The building that you back around has the corner cut off it so you can make the manoeuvre. I got there at 5am once in the dark and did it in one, and got back with my second trailer about 9am in daylight when people were everywhere and it took me about 15 tries!” Chris met his partner, Jill Barker [see last month’s issue for her story], when he was working at Luckings, and helped her gain her truck licence too. “While I was at Crawley I met a Kiwi who played hockey for the Penguin Hockey Club in Worthing. I had weekends down there because when I started at The Body Shop I went down to Littlehampton, and he introduced me to Jill.” Being in Littlehampton led to Chris working for Paul Mathew Transport, also theatre show movers. Some of the big shows Paul Mathew was involved with were Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon and Les Miserables. “I think they were about 30-trailer moves, which moved every two or three months. We did a couple of the ones on ice too, and Cats was another big one.” Jill says she has tried over the years to get Chris to move away from trucking so they would have more time together. “One time I thought I was successful; we were sitting on the side of the road in France having a cup of coffee, and a Renault truck went past, and he went, ‘ooh, Maaaaaagnuuuuuuum!’ And I thought ‘you’re a truck man, it ’s not going anywhere at all!’ I reckon if you cut him in half he’s got ‘trucker’ written right through the middle of him. I had a couple of tries but he went right back to it again. It ’s his calling, isn’t it?” Chris says his love of trucks dates back to his childhood, when his father worked for Marlborough Transport. “Dad had left trucking but he had friends who were still driving, they used to move the sheep around, and so after school when I was eight or nine I suppose, I would go up to the stockyards and see if any of them were there and if so I’d go for rides with them.” Most of the time Chris and Jill would be working separately, so as they wanted to spend more time together, Chris put an ad in a trucking paper in the UK. “It just said something like ‘two-up team wanting work’. A guy rang and said he didn’t have any work for me, but he wanted to have a chat. A little while later he rang back and said he had some work for us.” Chris says the business was called Lightning Trucks and they contracted to Stage Truck who moved music shows around. In between shifting shows they would move freight. “ The music was normally one driver and one truck. They’d send Jill into little tiny, hard to get to places, and send me somewhere that was really easy. “They didn’t want couples working together and they wanted us to go on different tours and we said no. We only did the one full tour which went for a month, Canadian singer Beck, but we did bits and pieces all the time, going to festivals and things.” Eventually Chris and Jill decided to take a six-month trip to see where they wanted to live. “We landed in Perth, and then spent six months travelling around Australia, New Zealand, and the west coast of Canada. Everywhere we went we said, ‘we like Perth’. I don’t know why, it just felt right.” Jill says travelling with Chris – or as she christened him ‘ Trucker Dundee’ – was all about trucks. “Every town we arrived at we didn’t go straight to all the nice coffee shops downtown, we had to go to the industrial estates like some fricking stalker!” At the end of the trip the couple returned to England and Chris went back to Paul Mathew Transport for about a year while they saved their money and sorted out visas for Australia. “Before we left England I Googled transport companies in Perth and there was one called Sykes that did all sorts, and one called Goldstar,” says Chris. “Once I had my licence in my hand I rang Sykes, but it was a Saturday morning and there was no one there, so I rang Goldstar. The owner answered the phone and told me to come down for an interview right then. We both went, and he said, ‘ The important thing to me is you show up every day and do your day ’s work and come back again tomorrow ’. I started on the Monday, and that ’s the only job I’ve had in Australia.” Chris does long haul work for Goldstar, with a little around town work when long haul goes quiet. “Our main work is moving the infrastructure and production equipment for engineering companies to the mine sites. We move a lot of dongers [accommodation huts] around, and we’ve moved a couple of whole camps between mine sites.” While Goldstar move the bulk of the production equipment, Chris says they contract out all the really heavy haulage. Chris says undertaking work in Australia’s outback requires drivers to be resilient. “You’ve got to do little repairs and change your tyres because there’s nobody out there. If you break down, you’ve got a long wait. One of the jobs I did was to the Tanami Mine site, on the road between Alice Springs and Hall’s Creek. It’s a kind of a short cut but it ’s all gravel road and it’s really crappy. So it took me 22 hours of driving time to do 500kms because of the corrugations in the road.” Chris says he loves moving, so being a truck driver suits him perfectly. “I think a Sagittarian thing is to be moving all the time. It’s not just trucks – I could do a cycle tour or drive a car or a loader or something, I just like moving.” As well as partner Jill, Chris has another love in his life. “ W hile on our six-month trip I saw a Freightliner Argosy pull up and when the driver opened the door the steps came out. That was 10 years ago. I’d never driven one, never looked in one, but I kept asking my boss [at Goldstar] when he was going to buy one. He said he was never going to buy one. It took about four years and then he said he’d get me a demo Argosy for two weeks while my Kenworth T904 was having its engine rebuilt.” Chris says after the Kenworth came out of the workshop the Argosy remained and he continued driving it. “I drove it for about four months, and he asked, ‘how is it?’ and I said, ‘oh, it’s brilliant, it’s really good, but the roof is too low and the bed’s too big’. He didn’t say much then another one arrived, the high cab one, with the smaller two bunks and cupboards and a wardrobe and all sorts, and a 130 ton rating for doing the triple road trains, which was quite a surprise.” His boss told him he’d bought it especially for him, and he was not allowed to leave until it was worn out. Goldstar is a family run operation and Chris says his boss, Sean Carren, is happy to look after his staff as long as they do the job required of them. “I think in the second year I was there I got best-kept truck in the fleet and I’ve got that and the driver of the year award a couple of times. Sean said he pulled up to a traffic light and he looked to the side and there was a truck next to him that looked really nice, the wheels were polished and it looked really good. He thought to himself, ‘I wish one of my drivers would keep their truck like that ’ and it was mine! “And speaking of moving ... as I’ve done the heat of the outback, maybe onward to driving trucks on the ice roads of Canada!” .

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Freightliner Australia Press Release / October 9, 2018 There has never been a better time to step up into a new Freightliner Argosy, packed with industry leading features. Take comfort in the biggest bunk on the road and the safety of our famous swing out staircase. If that’s not enough we now offer an impressive 4 year / 800,000km extended warranty. Built tough to suit the rugged Australian conditions and with one of the strongest support networks across the nation, the Freightliner Argosy delivers confidence for the long haul. .

http://airportjournals.com/ikes-aero-commander/ . .

Volvo Trucks Press Release / October 8, 2018 . . . .

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International Trucks Press Release / October 4, 2018 .

Mack Trucks Press Release / October 11, 2018 Mack Trucks today revealed the new NH series, a groundbreaking all-new tractor that meets the needs of today's long-haul trucking customers and professional drivers through cutting-edge innovations in efficiency, productivity, safety and uptime. Available in several configurations, including an all-new, 70-inch sleeper, the Mack NH series defines the shape of trucks to come. An available 16-lite MP10 engine with ratings up to 750 horsepower features Mack's patented wave pistons, a unique design that helps burn fuel more efficiently. Fuel is delivered by a proven common rail fuel system with proprietary features that improve fuel delivery precision, cut weight and reduce noise. .

https://www.flyingmag.com/john-travolta-donates-his-boeing-707-to-australian-museum

Reuters / October 11, 2018 U.S. President Donald Trump warned on Thursday there was much more he could do that would hurt China’s economy further, showing no signs of backing off an escalating trade war with Beijing. “It’s had a big impact,” Trump said. “Their economy has gone down very substantially and I have a lot more to do if I want to do it. “I don’t want to do it, but they have to come to the table.” However, Trump said the Chinese want to negotiate but he does not believe they are ready and he told them so. He blamed previous U.S. presidents for allowing China to pursue unfair trade practices and said he had to tell Beijing, “It’s over.” “They lived too well for too long and, frankly, I guess they think the Americans are stupid people. Americans are not stupid people. We were led badly when it came to trade.”

A classic Connie should be restored and flying, a symbol of America's aviation history, not broken apart to be a cocktail lounge. .

It might be to late to order more Teflon-coated Craftsman coveralls now.

Sears’ lenders encourage liquidation rather than reorganization The Wall Street Journal / October 11, 2018 Sears Holdings Corp. met with its lenders Wednesday night to discuss emergency financing for the embattled retailer. The meeting ended without an agreement that would keep Sears operating as a going concern. A group of lenders, including Bank of America, Wells Fargo and Citigroup are pushing for the company to liquidate its assets under a chapter 7 bankruptcy filing, as opposed to reorganizing the business under chapter 11, A bankruptcy filing is expected by Monday when Sears must repay $134 million in loans. The situation is fluid…..Sears could still find another source of capital to prop it up through a restructuring. Sears hired advisory firm M-III Partners to prepare a bankruptcy filing. The company, which had 866 Sears and Kmart stores as of Aug. 4, has been unprofitable for seven straight years.

I never liked the B-24. It had a greater payload than the B-17, but proved to have more issues. An example of what can go wrong when a plane is hastily designed in wartime. .

Scania Group Press Release / October 11, 2018 Symbolic presentation heralds deal to supply dairy giant with completely fossil-free fleet. Like Scania, global dairy company Arla has been at the forefront of sustainable business initiatives in recent years, and the two have become willing partners in the transport and logistics industry’s efforts to combat climate change. Arla, which is a farmer-owned cooperative involving 11,000 farms in seven European countries, recently took a step further towards a fossil-free future with Scania’s symbolic handover of vehicle keys to signify a deal to provide 48 vehicles powered by rapeseed methyl-ester (RME), a form of biofuel that emits around two-thirds less carbon dioxide than diesel. Fossil free by 2020 The fossil-free fleet of Scania trucks will be supplied to Arla’s Swedish distribution units in Järfälla, Linköping, Jönköping, Gothenburg, Örebro, Ronneby and Visby in 2019 and 2020. Arla already runs vehicles on RME, hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO) and Swedish-produced ethanol. Scania and Arla, have also worked with Lantmännen and ethanol producer SEKAB on a comprehensive concept, called Etha, to facilitate Swedish industry’s switch to fossil-free transport. “Arla has taken up the challenge of becoming fossil free in 2020, which is far more ambitious than the minimum required by the European Union timescale. Thanks to Scania’s ability to deliver vehicles that can run on alternative fuels, we are happy to say that we will get there,” says Berne Carlson, the vehicle manager at Arla. Fredrik Lundström, Fleet Sales Manager at Scania Sverige, adds: “Scania can provide vehicles and engines for all types of alternative fuels. While one type of fuel is not necessarily the solution for all, the conditions of each region, such as access and infrastructure, always influence what type of alternative fuel fits best. In this case, RME is the right fit and we’re delighted to help Arla in its efforts to become fossil free.” The advantages of RME fuel As a biofuel, RME, derived from the bright yellow flowering plant rapeseed, can cut carbon dioxide emissions by up to 66 percent. In January 2018, the Swedish fiscal authorities recognised the role the fuel can play in cutting emissions when it confirmed RME’s continuing tax exempt status. In turn, this is making RME more cost-competitive and having a positive effect on its availability. Since the authorities’ decision, sales of the biofuel have been performing strongly. .

The Dow fell 831 points yesterday. It wasn't a market crash, however it was a very, vary bad day. After the President commented on it, things went from bad to worse (I don't disagree with him, just laying out yesterday's timeline of events). -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “The Fed is making a mistake," said Trump. "They’re so tight. I think Fed has gone crazy. It’s a correction that we’ve been waiting for, for a long time. But I really disagree with what the Fed is doing, OK?” Later, Trump said “The Fed is going loco and there is no reason for them to do it.”

Yes, Ford was heavily involved in the war effort......on both sides. Ford-Werke AG produced thousands of trucks and half-tracks for Hitler's military.

Yet another one who knows more about Mack V8s than.......Mack engineers. Some people just have to learn the hard way.

Was expecting better mpg numbers.

Chevy's 2019 Silverado with 4-cylinder engine rated at 21 mpg combined Michael Wayland, Automotive News / October 10, 2018 DETROIT -- The 2019 Chevrolet Silverado with a new four-cylinder engine will achieve an EPA-estimated 21 mpg combined, or 20 city/23 highway. The ratings, for rear-wheel-drive models, are not much better than the fuel economy of the redesigned pickup's 5.3-liter V-8 engine, which offers 19 mpg combined (17 city/23 highway), according to the EPA's website. The 2019 Silverado 4x4 models with the four-cylinder engine will achieve 20 mpg combined, or 19 city/22 highway. The fuel efficiency of the Silverado's 2.7-liter turbo engine, which is standard on midlevel LT and RST models, is in line with other entry-level truck engines from Ford Motor Co. (3.3-liter V-6) and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (3.6-liter V-6 with a light hybrid system) that offer 22 mpg combined. Those engines, however, offer up to 25 mpg highway. The engine, according to GM, offers 14 percent more torque and 13 percent better city fuel economy. It is rated at 310 hp and 348 pound-feet of torque and is paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission. "It's fun to drive every day -- quick from the start, and pulling hard under acceleration," Tim Asoklis, chief engineer for the Silverado, said in a statement Wednesday. The four-cylinder engine, as reported, will offer maximum towing capacity of 7,200 pounds and a 2,280-pound maximum payload. The payload is up to 600 pounds better than comparable models from Ford and Ram, but the tow rating is up to 200 pounds less. The Silverado LT starts at $38,395 with the four-cylinder engine with a double cab and standard bed. The same RST model starts at $40,295. It's $2,400 more for each of the models with a short bed and crew cab, which makes up a majority of U.S. pickup sales. All pricing includes shipping. The 2019 Silverado will be offered in eight trims paired with six engine/transmission combinations. Models with V-8 engines are already on sale. The four-cylinder models are expected to begin arriving in dealers by the end of the year. It's unclear whether the redesigned GMC Sierra, the Silverado's sibling, will offer the same fuel economy. Some of the V-8 models in the Sierra offer slightly different fuel efficiency compared to the Silverado. .

Scania Group Press Release / October 10, 2018 Scania Australia helps crocodile researchers transport vital equipment. Every year since 2008, scientists and conservationists have been visiting the Steve Irwin Wildlife Reserve in Queensland, Australia, to study crocodiles. The largest and most successful crocodile research project in the world engages Australia Zoo, in partnership with the University of Queensland and Australia Zoo Wildlife Warriors. Scania Australia is assisting the researchers by supplying a new generation G 500 to transport vital equipment to the 135,000-hectare wildlife reserve. The truck will transport shipping containers filled with boats and traps for use during the annual crocodile research trip. Scania support lets zoo spend more on research The late Steve Irwin – who achieved worldwide fame with the Crocodile Hunter TV series – began crocodile research in the 1980s, and the reserve’s capture and study techniques remain the world’s best to this day. The Australia Zoo team captures the crocodiles, while the University of Queensland scientists carry out their research, take measurements, and attach trackers to the animals. “The truck will do a 5,500-kilometre round trip to the reserve and the money we would have used to rent a truck can now be used for further research into crocodiles and their conservation,” says Steve’s widow Terri Irwin, the owner and operator of Australia Zoo. The secrets of crocodile behaviour Every crocodile is fitted with an acoustic tag, which sends information to the researchers’ receivers for up to 10 years. For larger crocodiles, a GPS tracker is also fitted to help better track their movements, sending back data for around one year. These specialised tracking devices provide valuable information about the movements and behavioural patterns of adult estuarine crocodiles. After the researchers have fitted the appropriate device, they release the crocodile back into the river system, where its activity is closely monitored. So far the research has produced vital information on the crocodiles’ diet and on their movement patterns, including the fact that they can spend more than seven hours underwater. .