kscarbel2

Honda to invest $2.75 billion in GM's Cruise autonomous vehicle unit Michael Wayland, Automotive News / October 3, 2018 DETROIT -- Honda Motor Co. will invest $2.75 billion in General Motors' autonomous vehicle operations, including plans to develop and deploy a purpose-built self-driving vehicle. The Japanese automaker will receive a 5.7 percent stake in GM Cruise LLC for the investment, which includes an immediate $750 million and another $2 billion for development and deployment of self-driving vehicles over the next 12 years, GM and Honda executives said Wednesday. Click here for the press release. Honda, according to GM CEO Mary Barra, will provide Cruise with additional engineering, design and technology expertise and assist in the company’s “global reach and the ability to deploy at-scale.” “It will really expand Cruise’s leadership in the development and deployment of autonomous technology,” Barra told reporters Wednesday at the company’s technical center in suburban Detroit. The investment values Cruise at $14.6 billion -- $3.1 billion more than when SoftBank Vision Fund, a prominent technology investment firm, announced plans to invest $2.25 billion in the operations in May. That deal gave SoftBank a 19.6 percent stake in GM Cruise, which includes Cruise and Strobe Inc., a lidar company GM acquired in October 2017. The announced partnership sent GM shares up 2.1 percent to $33.99 as of 10:27 a.m. The investment from Honda comes roughly nine months after GM announced plans to launch public ride-hailing services with self-driving vehicles that don't have manual controls such as steering wheels and pedals, starting in 2019. GM President Dan Ammann said next year “remains the objective,” however he stressed that safety will be the determining factor on when the vehicles launch. New AV Cruise CEO Kyle Vogt, in a post on Medium, said the company has already started “quietly prototyping a ground-breaking new vehicle over the past two years that is fully released from the constraints of having a driver behind the wheel.” “Building a new vehicle that has an incredible user experience, optimal operational parameters, and efficient use of space is the ultimate engineering challenge,” he wrote. “We’re going to do this right, and by joining forces with Honda we’ve found the perfect partner to help make it happen.” Ammann, who oversees Cruise, on Wednesday said the vehicle will be the first purpose-built vehicle at-scale that’s “free from the constraints of having to think about vehicle design and having a driver at the wheel, and all the traditional approaches to that.” “This takes us into the true future of mobility,” he said, later declining to provide a timeline for production or deployment of such a vehicle. Cruise’s current self-driving fleet is based on the Chevrolet Bolt EV. The newest iteration of the car took out the manual controls such as pedals and steering wheels, however still has the traditional interior of the car. Vogt, in the post, questioned why shouldn’t the “car of the future” include “giant TV screens, a minibar and lay-flat seats? Maybe it should,” he wrote. A teaser photo of the front end of the vehicle released Wednesday shows a rectangular, pod-like vehicle with large vertical illuminated headlights. Ammann, on a call with investors Wednesday, said the plan is for GM, not Honda, to manufacturer the vehicle. GM was expected to begin testing its autonomous vehicles this year in New York. However, Barra on Wednesday said the company is focusing its current efforts in San Francisco. “We’ve really refocused the efforts to make sure that we are as efficient as possible to be able to deploy safely,” said Barra, adding the company continues “early work” in the Big Apple. A company spokesman confirmed Cruise has completed mapping streets in the city. ‘Running start’ Ammann described the Honda partnership as having “a running start,” as the automakers have previously teamed up on the development of other advanced technologies. He called the relationship between the two companies “longstanding and deeply trustful.” Honda’s investment in GM’s Cruise comes four months after the two companies announced plans to develop a new generation of batteries aimed at cutting costs and accelerating the companies’ rollout of electric vehicles. The companies also previously formed an advanced-technology alliance announced last year between GM and Honda, which have been working on advanced hydrogen fuel cells for deployment in 2020. Honda Executive Vice President and Representative Director COO Seiji Kuraishi, via teleconference Wednesday, said Honda hopes the collaboration “will further strengthen” the company’s efforts and partnerships with GM. When asked about reported conversations between Honda and Google’s self-driving affiliate, Waymo, Kuraishi declined to directly comment on those talks. “As we’ve announced today, we decided to announce an exclusive collaboration with GM and Cruise,” he said through a translator. While the tie-up is exclusive on Honda’s end, GM is not ruling out adding other partners to Cruise. “In terms of other partnerships and opportunities, we will evaluate things as they come along but we have an incredibly well-resourced plan and a huge pool of talent behind this effort now that’s going to enable us to go as quickly as we possibly can,” said Ammann, adding the company has been “extremely selective” in taking on partners.

Ford's 2019 Transit Connect Wagon gets 29 mpg on highway Michael Martinez, Automotive News / October 3, 2018 Ford Motor Co.'s freshened Transit Connect Wagon gets best-in-class highway and combined EPA fuel economy ratings, but the automaker said it is aiming even higher for its new, yet-to-be-rated diesel offering. The passenger wagon, on sale now, comes standard with a 2.0-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine mated to an eight-speed transmission. The long wheelbase, front-wheel-drive model gets an EPA-estimated fuel economy ratings of 24 mpg city, 29 mpg highway and 26 mpg combined. That is an improvement over the previous generation's 19 mpg city, 27 mpg highway and 22 mpg combined. The 2019 Transit Connect beats the Nissan NV200 Cargo Van's 24 mpg city, 26 mpg highway and 25 mpg combined rating, and also leads the 2018 Ram ProMaster City's ratings of 21 mpg city, 28 mpg highway and 24 mpg combined. But Ford is expecting to crack the 30 mpg barrier with its upcoming 1.5-liter EcoBlue diesel engine. Ford says it expects "at least" 30 mpg when the engine earns its EPA rating sometime early next year. Ford unveiled freshened passenger wagon and cargo van versions of its Transit Connect small van earlier this year. The cargo wagon has not yet been rated. Officials say the wagon accounts for about 15 percent of Transit Connect volume, but Ford hopes to grow that to 20 to 25 percent. It will offer a class-leading towing capacity of 2,000 pounds when equipped with an available trailer tow package, Ford says. The vehicle also comes with a host of new driver-assistance features. The refresh is meant to further grow Ford's dominant share of the commercial vehicle segment. Last year, Ford sold 34,473 Transit Connects in the U.S., down 20 percent but nearly double the sales of the second-place NV200. Ford owned about a 45 percent share of the compact van segment in 2017 and hopes to grow that number by targeting active baby boomers who might not be able to afford a traditional minivan or large crossover. The Transit Connect's U.S. sales fell 9.3 percent to 23,218 units through September of this year, Ford's monthly sales report said on Tuesday. .

The big event was in 1998, when Dana purchased Eaton's heavy axle and brake unit. http://dana.mediaroom.com/index.php?s=26450&item=69130 As part of the transaction, Dana and Eaton entered into a marketing agreement whereby Eaton will market a complete heavy-duty Class 8 Eaton-Spicer drivetrain consisting of Spicer steer and drive axles; Spicer brakes, Spicer driveshafts, Eaton Spicer clutches, and Eaton Fuller transmissions.

Come to your senses, turn the fuel back down to stock, and use the appropriate Mack spec Spicer clutch. Don't place yourself and Dale Francis above the Mack engineers who created the E9.

.

Meritor Press Release / October 1, 2018 .

Dana impresses !

BPW Bergische Achsen Press Release / September 14, 2018 Loading and unloading often involves manoeuvring in tight spaces – in particular for vehicles such as tankers that collect milk from farms or trucks that deliver drinks to supermarkets. This takes a great deal of time and frequently results in damage to the vehicle. Until now, mechanical self-steering axles could only be of assistance when the vehicle was travelling forwards. The innovative auxiliary steering system from the BPW Group now also provides steering functionality – and therefore trailer manoeuvrability – during reverse manoeuvres. The vehicle can therefore be manoeuvred quicker and automatically in reverse. .

That's an earlier version with the one-piece grille (versus the later 3-piece). Nice truck.

If you want to enjoy that Mack V8 for many more years, then turn it back down to stock spec. That's adequate power. Otherwise you're going to be needing parts that are either NLA or cost a fortune.

Ford's Stock Slump Sends Dividend Yield to Highest Since 2001 Bloomberg / October 2, 2018 Ford Motor Co.’s plummeting share price has sent its dividend yield to the highest in 17 years, an indication of just how rich a disbursement the company is paying during troubled times. The automaker’s stock fell to $9.20 on Tuesday, the lowest close since August 2012. That means Ford’s 15 cents a share quarterly dividend currently has an annualized yield of 7.93 percent, a level last seen in September 2001. Wall Street has warned that Ford may have to pare back its dividend -- the most generous among its automotive peers -- as earnings evaporate overseas and the company initiates a restructuring that it’s said may cost $11 billion and take as much as five years. The company has insisted it’ll maintain the payout.

Unless the engine has been modified. stick with the Mack spec Spicer clutch that the truck was engineered with. Don't second guess Mack engineering. A new 108935-94 is exactly what's needed. Mack never installed Lipe......they don't offer a Mack spec clutch. The Spicer clutch I speak of is not an off-the-shelf clutch from Spicer. It was built by Spicer to Mack engineering's specification, and was never sold to any other OEM. If you have juiced up the engine above 500 horsepower, buy the 108935-15. But if you haven't, don't buy it.

Reuters / October 2, 2018 U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell on Tuesday hailed a “remarkably positive outlook” for the U.S. economy that he feels is on the verge of a “historically rare” era of ultra-low unemployment and tame prices for the foreseeable future. It is a view, he said, based on how a changed economy is operating today, with businesses and households immunized by strong central bank policy from the inflationary psychology that caused unemployment, inflation and interest rates to swing wildly in the 1960s and 1970s. It is an outlook that includes an economic performance “unique in modern U.S. data,” with unemployment of below 4 percent expected for at least two more years and inflation remaining modest even as wages rise. And it is an outlook he feels will even survive the Trump administration’s efforts to rewrite the global trading system, a policy shift Powell said may lead to one-time price hikes, but not to persistent changes in the annual rate of inflation going forward. “This forecast is not too good to be true,” Powell told the National Associate for Business Economics, but instead “is testament to the fact that we remain in extraordinary times.” “These developments amount to a better world for households and businesses which no longer experience or even fear the scourge of high and volatile inflation.” Asked about the impact of tariffs on inflation, he replied that, so far, “we don’t see that in the data.” Powell spoke as debate among economic analysts and investors has begun turning toward a central question: Will the current low rate of unemployment inevitably doom a near decade-long expansion by driving inflation to levels the Fed will have to suppress with faster and higher than expected rate increases? That’s not the view contained in the Fed’s most recent round of forecasts, which sees a hot job market, steady economic growth, steady 2 percent inflation and only modest rate increases through 2021 - as if the United States had slipped into the sort of pleasant long-run equilibrium described in textbook economic models. Seeds of Trouble But several economists here argue that the seeds of trouble have already been planted, with companies using the recent tariff hikes on steel and other goods as an excuse to raise prices more generally, and to perhaps keep doing so. At a time when Amazon announced a nationwide minimum wage increase that could put pressure on other retailers, the administration was trumpeting a trade pact with Mexico and Canada that will steer auto production to higher wage locales, and leaves in place new tariffs on steel, a key industrial input. Boston Federal Reserve bank president Eric Rosengren said the current debate over globalization was not so much a “trade war” but “more of a supply chain war” that could take years to sort out as companies shift around production to higher-cost locales to escape tariffs on imports from China. “Big importers will tell you it is not that easy to change...It becomes a real risk if all of a sudden you are not sure what your price is going to be,” he said on Monday. Catherine Mann, global chief economist at Citigroup and former chief economist at the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, said the spark could be lit early next year. The costs of adjusting to tariffs and to trade uncertainty “gives firms cover to say, ‘I’m going to raise my prices,’” she told the NABE annual conference. “I’m timing it for the beginning of the year,” Mann said, when a windfall from this year’s tax cuts fade. Powell, in his remarks, said the Fed is not blind to the possible “revenge” of prices rising as they have before during times of sustained low unemployment. The central bank is guarding against that with its current, gradual interest rate increases, and will respond “with authority” if an inflationary mindset threatens to take hold. But he noted that many current and past Fed officials, himself among them, had warned in the years following the 2007 to 2009 financial crisis that falling unemployment and the Fed’s printing of trillions of dollars of new money would unhinge inflation at any moment. It never happened, and he said there is no reason now to expect it will. “I am glad to be able to stand here and say that the economy is strong, unemployment is near 50-year lows, and inflation is roughly at our 2 percent objective,” Powell said. “The baseline outlook for forecasters inside and outside the Fed is for more of the same.”

I can tell you for a fact that 4MR334P21 is indeed the Mack part number.

You want a new coaxially dampened ceramic button Spicer. Mack model number CL7984 (part number 11HB59P120) (9 spring / 6 paddle 15.5'" discs) Spicer number 108935-94 reference: https://www.stemontreal.com/cat/Eaton-Fuller-Clts/Clts-Mack-App-Guide.pdf

What's the number you're seeing?

Diesel News Australia / September 2018 After being shown at an expo next week, there will be an example of Iveco’s Electric Acco on the road. The new truck will be an Australian-first, an operational Iveco Acco waste truck, not powered by traditional diesel but by battery electric power. The joint project between waste body equipment manufacturer, Superior Pak and Australian electric drivetrain manufacturer SEA Electric, will see the Acco enter full service shortly after the expo with WM Waste Management Services. Superior Pak have the exclusive distributorship for the vehicle within the Australian Waste Industry. Powering the truck is a SEA-Drive 180 electric driveline featuring 220kWh NMC (nickel manganese cobalt oxide) batteries, which provides the vehicle with a range of approximately 250km at full GVM (up to 23.5 tonnes) along with a limited top speed of 100km/h. The vehicle features a 22kW on-board charger allowing the truck to be plugged-in and charged from any three-phase power source. Battery charging time from totally flat to full charge is reckoned to be approximately eight hours. Battery longevity is calculated at 3,500 charge cycles. The first truck off the production line is a special order featuring a two-in-one body incorporating an industrial cage with electric ramp for picking up white goods and similar heavy items, while at the rear is a more traditional compactor body, it will be used on a hard waste collection with the City of Casey in Melbourne. “We’ve had a similar electric powered collection vehicle operating in New Zealand for some time now, and the owners are very pleased with the performance,” said Rob Wrigley, Superior Pak Managing Director. “The payback on the vehicle is attractive as is the low operating costs and lower total cost of ownership. “So when the idea came to develop a vehicle for Australia we again looked at the Iveco Acco platform. The Acco is such an icon of the industry and we’re already extremely familiar working with this platform, so our choice of truck was easy. “Being locally manufactured was another consideration for us in using the Acco, as the build process was more streamlined and we could also offer the market a complete, Australian designed and built, turn-key solution.” Iveco’s production line can provide Superior Pak and SEA Electric with a ‘glider’, essentially this is a complete cab chassis minus the driveline and associated equipment such as exhaust, fuel tanks, traditional battery boxes and related items. “These vehicles normally operate on known fixed routes where their travel range can be managed,” said Tony Fairweather, SEA Electric Group Managing Director. “The work is also ‘back to base’ in nature, meaning that at the end of a route, the vehicle has completed the job and can then be fully charged before the next working day.” .

Cloudy but no rain. https://weather.com/weather/5day/l/USPA0925:1:US

“This isn’t a revolutionary deal. It’s a modification of a deal already in place,” said Eric Winograd, senior U.S. economist at AllianceBernstein, an investment and research firm. “The total economic impact will be very small. I do not expect it to boost the U.S. economy.” “We see this rebranded NAFTA agreement as a marketing exercise,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at MUFG Union Bank. “The harsh war of words from Trump’s economics team terrified markets, consumers and businesses for a time, but what the U.S. actually got was much more modest than what the angry war of words seemingly demanded.” Lorenzo Caliendo, an economics professor at Yale University’s School of Management who co-authored a NAFTA study published in 2015 that concluded each American had gained about $45 a year from that treaty, said the new agreement would “clearly not” return significant numbers of manufacturing jobs to the United States.

RT / October 1, 2018 A fiery speech by an Iranian representative, responding to Saudi accusations at the UN General Assembly, blamed terrorist activity around the globe on Riyadh – and even quoted Hillary Clinton to back that up. Accusing Iran of supporting terrorism was a “strange and outlandish claim” by Saudi Foreign Minister Adel Jubeir the Iranian representative said. He was addressing the United Nations in Arabic, explaining that he was doing so in order “to make sure that our position is rendered clear” to Riyadh. “Everybody knows that Saudi Arabia supports terrorism in a very blatant and widespread manner,” the diplomat said. He then added, unexpectedly, that “in the framework of WikiLeaks in 2009, Hillary Clinton is said to have stated that Saudi Arabia is the greatest donor to terrorist groups around the world.” WikiLeaks did publish a memo by Clinton – which she put together in 2009, while being the US Secretary of State – that said that “donors in Saudi Arabia constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide… Saudi Arabia remains a critical financial support base for Al-Qaida, the Taliban… and other terrorist groups.” Tehran accuses Riyadh of being responsible for terrorist attacks “in the Middle East, north Africa and Europe” as well as of backing Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS/ISIL) and Al-Qaeda.

Renault chief says governments have ‘condemned’ diesel Financial Times / October 1, 2018 Changing government policies over diesel have “condemned” the fuel by leaving car buyers afraid of feeling “trapped” with vehicles they cannot sell, the chief executive of Renault has warned. Carlos Ghosn, who heads the global alliance of Renault, Nissan and Mitsubishi Motors, said on Monday that consumers buy cars based on price, running cost and resale value and “do not care” what engine their vehicles have. “They use common sense. Governments decide to support diesel, then the consumer goes in that direction,” he told an audience in Paris on the eve of the Paris Motor Show. “When governments give signals that it’s not good, they are going to stop incentives, stop using diesel cars in cities, consumers are saying ‘why should I buy diesel car to find myself trapped three to four years down the road with something that is a big investment’.” He added: “Diesel is condemned because policymakers have condemned diesel. That is it.” Governments across Europe had incentivised diesel technology as a way of lowering CO2 emissions, because the fuel is about 20 per cent more efficient than petrol. But many have begun phasing out incentives, or proposed banning the fuel type outright, following concerns over inner-city air quality, an issue linked to nitrogen oxide (NOx) fumes from older diesel cars. Concerns over the extent of diesel pollution were also raised by the 2015 Volkswagen scandal, when the carmaker admitted to selling 11m cars worldwide that emitted far higher levels of NOx on the road than in laboratory tests. Paris wants to ban all diesel cars from the centre of the city as soon as 2024, while several cities in Germany have begun banning older diesel cars in their most polluted streets. The public’s appetite for the fuel has also collapsed, with diesel’s market share falling from more than 50 per cent to about a third of sales. Carmakers are planning to phase out diesel engines, with Nissan, Toyota and Fiat Chrysler all killing off diesel from passenger cars in the coming years. Renault will halve the number of diesel cars it offers, Mr Ghosn said. “We have to follow the technology but at the same time listen to political trends . . . because those trends will define which technologies will win,” he said. In a barb at the mayor of Paris, Anne Hidalgo, he used her plans to ban diesel cars from the French capital as an example of the kind of policies condemning diesel and influencing consumer choices. Mr Ghosn’s comments come in the week that the European Parliament votes on tough new rules that will force the car industry to cut CO2 emissions by 2030. While the industry wants a 20 per cent by the end of the next decade, some countries are pushing for a 30 per cent reduction, which would be much more difficult to achieve. Carmakers already have to reduce CO2 emissions by 2020 or face significant fines, a goal that is spurring the launch of electric cars across Europe over the next two years.

Matt Cole, Commercial Carrier Journal (CCJ) / October 1, 2018 More than 28,000 International trucks are included in two separate recalls announced recently by Navistar, according to documents from the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Continental Tire also announced a recall of approximately 2,000 commercial truck tires. The largest of the two Navistar recalls affects 26,288 trucks equipped with Cummins ISX15 or X15 diesel engines. In certain driving conditions, such as on a long downhill grade, the fuel line may burst if the fuel pump cooling circuit screen becomes restricted. This is the same issue that prompted Daimler Trucks North America to recall 4,500 trucks. Affected International trucks include: 2017-2018 International 9900I 2017-2019 International HX 2017-2019 International LoneStar 2018-2019 International LT 2017 International PayStar 2017-2018 International ProStar Cummins will notify owners of affected trucks. A remedy for the recall is still being developed. Affected truck owners can contact Navistar customer service at 1-800-448-7825 or Cummins customer service at 1-800-286-6467. NHTSA’s recall number is 18V-588. Another recall from Navistar affects approximately 2,089 vehicles equipped with long stroke brake chambers and spring actuated parking brakes. The recall affects a number of International buses in addition to several truck models. In the affected trucks, the spring actuated parking brake may be improperly crimped to the long stroke service brake chamber, causing an air leak and the possible separation of the spring brake chamber from the service brake section. Affected trucks include: 2019 International DuraStar 2019 International HV 2019 International HX 2019 International LoneStar 2019 International LT 2019 International MV 2019 International RH 2019 International WorkStar Navistar will begin notifying owners on Nov. 6, and dealers will replace the brake chamber assemblies for free. Owners can contact Navistar customer service at 1-800-448-7825 with recall number is 18512. NHTSA’s recall number is 18V-597.