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Murder your son and face the death penalty? No, just a mere 10 years in prison. What will it cost taxpayers to incarcerate an admitted murderer for 10 years? ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Associated Press / January 19, 2018 Nearly three years ago, a state trooper conducting a traffic stop discovered a boy’s body in the trunk of his mother’s car. Quincy Jamar Davis hadn’t been seen for 11 years – his whereabouts unknown since 2004, around the time he was a middle school student in Virginia Beach, Virginia. He was never reported missing. This morning, his mother pleaded guilty to killing her son more than a decade ago. Tonya Slaton, 46, had been facing a second-degree murder charge, but under an agreement in Hampton Circuit Court, she pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of voluntary manslaughter. The judge then sentenced her to 10 years in prison – the maximum punishment for that conviction – with two years suspended. Court records place Quincy’s death sometime between July 24, 2004, and July 24, 2005 – when he was 14 or 15 years old. A medical examiner was unable to determine his exact cause of death, but Quincy had a broken vertebrae in his neck that had not yet healed, according to a summary of evidence read aloud in court by prosecutor Richard Shayegan. His body also showed multiple injuries over time. Quincy attended elementary and middle school in Virginia Beach, but friends didn’t see him after seventh grade. He was withdrawn from the Virginia Beach division in September 2003, when he would have entered eighth grade. In June 2015, Slaton was headed east on Interstate 64 in Hampton, Virginia when state police pulled over her Ford Mustang. The state tags were expired, and the license plate wasn’t registered with the state, Trooper Chad Dermyer wrote in a summary of the incident filed in court documents. VIN numbers on the car looked like they had been tampered with, Maurice Lockett, a state police trainee who was with Dermyer that day, previously testified. At first, the troopers thought Slaton may have been a victim, he said. They thought someone may have stolen the car, changed the VIN and sold it to her, Lockett testified. After spending more than 45 minutes on the phone with a DMV agent, Dermyer decided to call a tow truck to further investigate the VIN numbers, he wrote in his report. The troopers then searched the car. When Dermyer opened the trunk, he saw trash bags under a spare tire, according to his report. Slaton told him she had clothes in the trunk that she planned to take to the Salvation Army. But one bag caught his attention. It appeared to contain something long and thin, about the width of a roll of toilet paper, Dermyer wrote. The bag “seemed to be duct taped close to the item,” and it didn’t look like clothes, he wrote. Dermyer tore through several layers of garbage bags and noticed what appeared to be rotting flesh, he wrote. He turned and looked at Slaton. “What is this?” he asked. She said it was just clothing, grabbed another bag with a blanket and covered it up, Dermyer wrote. The trooper uncovered the bag again. He saw what appeared to be two legs, severely decomposed. “I could see from around the knee down to the feet, which were covered by socks,” he wrote. Dermyer detained Slaton, put her in the front of his patrol car and called dispatch, he wrote. Slaton initially was charged with one felony count of concealing her son’s body. Prosecutors dropped the charge in early 2016, and a grand jury directly indicted Slaton on the murder charge. Slaton’s prior record includes a 1997 misdemeanor assault and battery conviction for injuring Quincy when he was 6. Court records filed in her current case show she was convicted of misdemeanor assault and battery in 2002 in Virginia Beach. In 2008, Slaton was sentenced to serve four years in prison for felony attempted maiming and shooting at an occupied dwelling for firing a gun at her boyfriend during a fight in Hampton.

Trump administration says US mistakenly backed China WTO accession in 2001 Reuters / January 20, 2018 WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- The United States mistakenly supported China's membership of the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2001 on terms that have failed to force Beijing to open its economy, the Trump administration said on Friday as it prepares to clamp down on Chinese trade. "It seems clear that the United States erred in supporting China's entry into the WTO on terms that have proven to be ineffective in securing China's embrace of an open, market-orientated trade regime," the administration said in an annual report to Congress on China's compliance with WTO commitments. "It is now clear that the WTO rules are not sufficient to constrain China's market-distorting behavior," the report said. While the annual report from the U.S. Trade Representative's office has long taken China to task for unfair trade practices, the first such review under U.S. President Donald Trump takes a harsher tone against Beijing. It comes amid worsening trade tensions between the world's two largest economies and as the administration prepares actions to curb China's alleged theft of intellectual property. A decision in the so-called "Section 301" investigation is expected in the coming weeks. The report also points at Russia's behavior, saying Moscow had no intention of complying with its WTO obligations, a trend the administration said was "very troubling." A White House official said despite consultations with China, it had failed to follow through on promises of moving more toward a market-orientated economy and playing by international trading rules. "The president and his principal advisor are united in the belief that this is a problem that has gone on for too long and needs to be addressed," the official said. "In the past, conversations have focused more on discreet opening for discreet products, and what we're saying is systematically we're not going to tolerate broad-based policy that attempts to promote state-led enterprises," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. Trump told Reuters in an interview this week he was considering a big "fine" against China for forcing U.S. companies to transfer their intellectual property to China as a cost of doing business there. While the administration is also looking at whether foreign imports of steel, aluminum, washing machines and solar panels are harming U.S businesses, China's alleged theft of intellectual property is a particular concern to Trump because it affects a large swath of American firms, the official said. Trump did not specify what he meant by a "fine" against China, but the 1974 trade law that authorized an investigation into China's alleged theft of U.S. intellectual property allows him to impose retaliatory tariffs on Chinese goods or other trade sanctions until China changes its policies. In Beijing, many experts believe Washington is unwilling to pay the heavy economic price needed to upset prevailing trade dynamics between the two countries. In the report released on Friday, Trump's trade envoy, Robert Lighthizer, said the global economy was threatened by major economies who undermined the global trading system. "The global trading system is threatened by major economies who do not intend to open their markets to trade and participate fairly," Lighthizer said. "This practice is incompatible with the market-based approach expressly envisioned by WTO members and contrary to the fundamental principles of the WTO." The Trump administration has already pledged to transform 164-member trade body and has blocked WTO judicial appointments in a move to win WTO reforms. "What we want to do is see countries behave responsibly within the international trading system," the White House official said.

I believe the last year one could order a Class 6-7 Ford (F-650/F-750) with a Caterpillar (7.2L C7) was 2009. And the last year one could order a Class 6-7 Ford with a Cummins (6.7L ISB) was 2015. Fast forward to last year (2017), I think the lack of better credentials (Cummins powerplant, Allison automatic, Eaton transmissions) and lack of aggressive sales marketing are the root of Ford's problems in medium duty.

Ford faces questions from U.S. senators over 'do not drive' warning Reuters / January 18, 2018 WASHINGTON -- Two senators asked the Transportation Department on Thursday to explain why a "do not drive" directive issued last week by Ford Motor Co. is limited to about 2,900 older pickup trucks and if other vehicles are potentially at risk from defective airbag inflators. The company said it had confirmed a second death in a 2006 Ford Ranger caused by a faulty Takata Corp. airbag inflator and urged some owners to stop driving immediately until they can get replacement parts. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration should "swiftly and proactively address the deadly defect in Takata airbags and provide consumers with appropriate notice regarding the defect’s serious potential risk to life," wrote Senators Richard Blumenthal and Edward Markey, both Democrats, to Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao. Ford said both deaths in 2006 Ranger pickups occurred with inflators built on the same day. In a recall notice filed with NHTSA, Ford said data from the two incidents and an anomalous test all occurred with inflators from the same propellant production lot. The recall applies to Ford Rangers with inflators built on two days in September 2005, the company said. A NHTSA spokeswoman declined to immediately comment on the letter. Ford spokeswoman Elizabeth Weigandt said the automaker is "still investigating the issue with these inflators." At least 21 deaths worldwide are linked to the Takata inflators that can rupture and send deadly metal fragments into the driver’s body. The faulty inflators have led to the largest automotive recall in history. The other 19 deaths have occurred in Honda Motor Co. vehicles, most of which were in the United States. Ford issued a separate recall for trucks previously recalled in 2016. Of those 391,000 2004-06 Ranger vehicles, last week's recall affects 2,900 vehicles in North America, most in the United States. The company is paying to tow vehicles to dealerships for repairs and providing free loaners. The senators want NHTSA to require the same "do not drive" warning for all previously recalled Rangers unless Ford can explain why they do not pose the same heightened risk. Mazda Motor Corp. issued a similar recall and stop drive warning for 160 2006 Mazda B-Series trucks, which were built by Ford. Takata said in a statement it "strongly urges vehicle owners to check" to see if vehicles have been recalled. NHTSA also urged owners to heed Ford's warning. Takata said it would recall, or expects to recall, about 125 million vehicles from 19 automakers worldwide by 2019, including more than 60 million in the United States.

http://www.france24.com/en/20180118-usa-california-turpin-parents-torture-taunted-starving-kids-with-pie-house-horrors David and Louise Turpin should be placed in a windowless cell and starved (a spade for a spade)......to death. And authorities should spread the word.

Associated Press / January 17, 2018 RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A California couple tortured a dozen of their children for years, starving them to the point that their growth was stunted, chaining them to their beds for up to months, preventing them from using the toilet at times and forbidding them from showering more than once a year, a prosecutor said Thursday. “The victimization appeared to intensify over time,” Riverside County District Attorney Mike Hestrin said in announcing charges. “What started out as neglect became severe, pervasive, prolonged child abuse.” David Turpin, 56, and Louise Turpin, 49, were charged with multiple counts of torture, child abuse, dependent adult abuse and false imprisonment. David Turpin was also charged with performing a lewd act on a child under age 14. The litany of physical and emotional abuse was enough to invoke a house of horrors that apparently went unnoticed for years in California and Texas until Sunday, when a 17-year-old girl managed to escape and call 911. The girl and her siblings had plotted the escape for two years, Hestrin said. Another girl who escaped out a window with the teen turned back out of fear. When deputies arrived at the four-bedroom, three-bathroom house on a dead-end street in Perris, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southeast of Los Angeles, they were shocked by what they found. Malnutrition was so severe that it was consistent with muscle wasting and had led to cognitive impairment and nerve damage, Hestrin said. The oldest child, a 29-year-old woman, weighed 82 pounds. A 12-year-old was the weight of a typical 7-year-old. Some of the 13 children had been isolated so long they did not know what a police officer was. The victims range in age from 2 to 29. The torture and false imprisonment charges do not include the 2-year-old, who was not malnourished. All the children’s names begin with the letter J, according to court documents that didn’t provide their full names. The parents were jailed on $12 million bail each after pleading not guilty Thursday at their first court appearance. If convicted, they could be sentenced to life in prison. David Turpin’s lawyer, deputy public defender David Macher, had only begun to investigate the allegations, but said the case was going to be a challenge. “It’s a very serious case,” he said. “Our clients are presumed to be innocent, and that is a very important presumption.” David Turpin’s father, James, the grandfather to the children, said from his home in Princeton, West Virginia, that he did not believe the reports about the abuse. “I’m going to talk with the children, find out the real story on this as soon as I can get a call through to them,” James Turpin told The Associated Press. David Turpin had worked as an engineer for both Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman. Louise Turpin identified herself as a housewife in a 2011 bankruptcy filing. The charges date to 2010, when the couple moved to Riverside County from outside Fort Worth, Texas. The abuse began in Texas with the children being tied to beds with ropes and then hog-tied, Hestrin said. When one child was able to wriggle free, the couple began restraining them with chains and padlocks — for up to months at a time, Hestrin said. At one point in Texas, the parents lived in a separate house from most of the children and dropped off food to the others from time to time, Hestrin said. When not restrained, the children were locked in different rooms and fed little on a schedule. Punishments included being beaten and choked, Hestrin said. On Sunday, three children had been shackled to beds, though the parents freed two of them — ages 11 and 14 — when officers knocked on the door, Hestrin said. Deputies found a 22-year-old chained to a bed. Human waste in the house indicated the children were prevented from using the toilet. Sheriff’s deputies said the stench in the house was overwhelming. The children never received dental care, and they had not seen a doctor in more than four years. When the girl who escaped was asked if any pills were in the home, she did not understand what medication was. The children, who were schooled at home, were rarely seen outside the house, though the parents posted photos of them smiling together at Disneyland and in Las Vegas, where the couple renewed their wedding vows. In addition to raising them largely in isolation, the parents may have been able to hide the abuse by functioning while other families slept. The children were reared on the graveyard shift, with the family staying up all night and going to bed shortly before dawn, Hestrin said. In the neighborhood where the kids were hardly known, a steady flow of strangers visited the house Thursday and left stuffed animals and large bouquets of red heart-shaped balloons on the walkway. A home-made poster taped to the house said: “We stand united with the Turpin children.” Neighbor Josh Tiedeman-Bell grappled with how he and others in the tight-knit development that hosts an annual barbecue and Christmas decorating contest could be unaware of what happened there. He recalled seeing the Turpin children doing yard work in the evenings but it didn’t seem unusual in light of the blazing midday heat. He said a handful of the kids came to a neighborhood Christmas event one year and didn’t say much, but he would never have thought this was why. “We were all like a part of their nightmare,” he said, fighting back tears. While the children were deprived of food, the Turpin parents ate well and even tormented the children by putting apple and pumpkin pies on the kitchen counter, but not letting them have any, Hestrin said. Similarly, the children were not allowed to play with toys, though many were found throughout the house — in their original packaging. “This is depraved conduct,” Hestrin said. “It breaks our hearts.” One of the only things the children were allowed to do was to write in their journals. Investigators were combing through hundreds of journals found in the home, Hestrin said. They are expected to provide powerful evidence against the parents. .

Wards Auto / January 12, 2018 U.S. medium- and heavy-duty truck sales hit 43,534 in December, 24.3% above year-ago’s 36,365. With seven months of consecutive year-over-year gains, big trucks ended the year at 415,042 units, 3.5% ahead of like-2016’s 400,996. Class 8 sales posted a 48.5% gain, a third December best, to 22,355. The push wasn’t enough to equal last year’s total of 192,662, with 2017 falling 0.2% short to 192,252. Segment leader Freightliner almost doubled its volume, reaching 8,504 deliveries and accounting for a 38.0% market share. Volvo was the only truck maker in the group to underperform in December, down 12.8%, outweighing sister brand Mack’s 5.8% gain. That left Volvo Truck down 4.5% for the month. Medium-duty truck sales totaled 21,179, a 6.1% bump compared with year-ago’s 20,736, ending the year up 6.9% at 222,790 deliveries. All medium-duty classes exceeded 2016 sales, topped by Class 4’s 30.7% increase to 18,690 deliveries. Class 7 deliveries jumped 14.1% with large volume gains from Freightliner (+27.9%), Ford (+65.2%) and Kenworth (26.6%). Freightliner accounted for a 46.7% market share for the year and ended 2.5% above year-ago with 29,256 units. Class 6 was the only sector to finish below year-ago. Deliveries totaled 5,385 units, down 5.0%. Segment-leader Ford was the main downward force, with sales plummeting 39.3% from 2,883 units to 1,685. Runner-up Freightliner’s 49.0% bounce to 1,640 units wasn’t enough to offset Ford’s decline. Chevrolet’s LCF entered Class 6 for the first time in December with 7 units. Freightliner also clinched the No.1 spot in this class for the year with a 32.9% market share. Class 5 pulled off a 3.7% gain thanks to Ford’s 10.0% jump to 4,846 units and Hino’s 79.1% spike to 564. These gains offset FCA’s 15.0% plunge to 1,705 units. Ford held the No.1 spot in the class all year long, ending with a 63.0% market share and 9.9% gain over 2016. Class 4 continued to outperform any other class with demand jumping 30.3% to 2,328 trucks. Last month marked the best December since 2009 when 2,519 trucks were delivered. Hino was the only truck maker to decline, falling 8.5% below last year with 104 units. Mitsubishi Fuso saw the greatest improvement, soaring 710.0% from 15 to 117 units. For the year, Ford claimed first place with a 24.3% rise in sales and a 15.4% market share. With domestics and imports climbing 700.6% and 469.2%, respectively, GM grew from a 1.7% market share in 2016 to 9.3% in 2017. .

I observe a lot of growth in Class 5. But whereas in the past Ford would have dominated with the F-550, many companies, municipalities and utilities are instead buying Dodge (Ram) 5500s. The key reason being the class-leading Cummins engine. Class 5 sales also appear to be robbing sales from Class 4, customers purchasing a 5500 instead of the 4500. Bob, Ford could have given the Japanese low-cab-forward trucks some competition with the E-550. But only producing it for two years (2002-2003), they didn't give it a chance, nor did Ford make any effort to market it as a Hino/Isuzu/Fuso/UD alternative. It needed forward development (refinement), but it was a beginning. .

Business Day / January 18, 2018 Hino celebrated its 75th anniversary last year and its history goes beyond just trucks Hino has been in South Africa since 1972 and has always been a strong competitor in the truck market. The company has big plans to accelerate its strategy here including a mission to become the top-selling truck brand through expansion of its model range with new models and entry into new segments. Many people are unaware of the history of the brand, which falls under the umbrella of Toyota. It started out as the Tokyo Gas Electric Engineering Company (Gasuden) in 1917. Isamu Hoshiko, who is considered the father of the Hino brand, had joined this company as its technical officer for automobile development, and in that year it produced the first local trucks in Japan that went on sale to the public. Name changes Working with the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Gasuden developed a range of standard trucks under the Isuzu brand name in 1932. The corporate name was changed to Tokyo Automobile Industry in 1937 and to Diesel Motor Company in 1941. Its factory was in the Hino area of Tokyo. The following year Diesel Motor Industry, which was making Isuzu trucks, was split off from a new entity, named Hino Heavy Industries, and the Hino truck brand was born, based at the Hino City factory. The 75th anniversary of Hino as a standalone truck band was celebrated in 2017. What many people have been unaware of, including us previously here at Motor News, is that Hino even made a brief sortie into building and selling cars in 1953, starting with a tie-up with Renault. It later developed its own range of cars, called Hino Contessa, and a bakkie, the Briska. The company, which was renamed Hino Motors in 1959, set up a business partnership with Toyota that included building Hilux bakkies. The company stopped building cars under its own name in 1967, but continues contract assembly for Toyota at its Hamura plant, with Toyota models made there currently being the Land Cruiser Prado and Dyna light truck. Hino’s own focus has been on designing and making trucks and buses since 1967. It became a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Corporation in 2001 and its cumulative unit sales reached 3-million units in 2009. Over the years it has made many important technological advances, the most noteworthy being production of the world’s first diesel-electric bus, the Hybrid Inverter-controlled Motor and Retarder in 1991 — six years before Toyota launched its Prius hybrid passenger car. Dakar entrant It also entered the Dakar Rally for the first time that year and has continued to do so every year since then. It developed the world’s first engine equipped with electronically controlled, common rail fuel injection — the J08C — in 1995. Another breakthrough came in 2010 when several of its buses using fuel cells went into service on Tokyo airport routes. Diesel-electric hybrid powertrains have been expanded to include trucks and by 2012 more than 10,000 Hino hybrids had been sold, while a full electric Poncho bus went into pilot service that same year. The company has put increasing focus on exports in recent years and in 2007 the cumulative total of its vehicles exported from Japan, either built up or in kits, exceeded 1-million units. The number of exports also exceeded sales on the Japanese domestic market for the first time in 2007. Exports It now exports its trucks and buses to more than 90 countries worldwide and operates four plants in Japan as well as several full-scale manufacturing facilities in other countries, including Thailand, Pakistan, China and the US. In addition, it exports semi-knocked-down or knocked-down kits to several other countries for local assembly, including SA, where it began assembly of the new 500 Wide Cab variants in 2017.

Have a blood test done to confirm if you have a bacterial or viral infection. If the blood test indicates your neutrophil level is high and lymphocyte level is low, you have a bacterial infection which calls for a cephalosporin class antibiotic like Cefalexin. If your neutrophil level is low and lymphocyte level is high, you have a viral infection (antibiotics normally don't apply).

Automotive News / January 17, 2018 MUNICH -- Ford Motor, which has been cooperating with Deutsche Post on electric vans, said it's ready to help the German mail operator take its surprise hit vehicle global. The U.S. automaker started working with Deutsche Post last year on making an electric delivery van in Germany. The deal, in which Ford supplies the chassis of its Transit vehicle, added to an expanding lineup of no-frills, zero-emissions products the logistics provider has developed since 2014 after it couldn't find a suitable solution among automakers to meet its needs. "If there were appetite, we could help to replicate the business" elsewhere, Steven Armstrong, who heads Ford's European business, said Monday in an interview in Detroit on the sidelines of the Detroit auto show. "We have had an early discussion that we do have that global footprint." Deutsche Post bought electric-vehicle manufacturer StreetScooter in 2014 and now has 5,000 vans and 2,200 bicycles or tricycles built by the unit in its delivery fleet. The Bonn-based mail service eventually plans to operate only battery-powered models and is looking to sell StreetScooter products to third parties like bakeries and airports. Outside customers for StreetScooter's vans in Germany already include municipalities, a fish retailer and an electric utility, with the biggest deal so far a 500-vehicle joint order from leasing operator Comco and Bochum-based community bank GLS, said Alexander Edenhofer, a Deutsche Post spokesman. While the companies are constantly in talks as partners, there are currently "no concrete plans" for expanding the Ford agreement, he said. The success of a company with no auto manufacturing expertise has annoyed Volkswagen Group, which is making record investments in EVs and had hoped to . help Deutsche Post develop an electric van. Mercedes-Benz has also responded after its one-time customer became a competitor, announcing plans to roll out the eVito. StreetScooter will be able to produce 20,000 vehicles a year once a new plant begins operating in mid-2018. The Ford Transit-based model, the Work XL, is the largest of the Deutsche Post unit's three electric vans, with capacity for more than 200 parcels and a range of as much as 200 kilometers (124 miles). "We're helping to make 2,500 vans this year," said Armstrong. "I'd like to think of them as the first 2,500." .

It is bizarre.......very bizarre. Working people need to carry, meaning one needs the long bed (2317mm/7.6-foot at the floor) to do any meaningful work. That short bed (1549mm/5-foot at the floor) is just for groceries, especially if you have a tool box.

Paul Ritter, ex-Mack Trucks exec, to be buried in Huff’s Church cemetery The Morning Call / January 5, 2018 Paul C. Ritter, the former Mack Trucks Inc. executive who died Monday in his home, will be remembered next week in services at Huff’s Union Church in Berks County. The memorial service for Ritter, of Lower Macungie Township, will be 1 p.m. at the church at Conrad and Huffs Church roads, Hereford Township. Private interment will be in Huff’s Church Cemetery. Schantz Funeral Home of Emmaus is in charge of arrangements. Ritter, 81, a 1957 graduate of Lehigh University, worked 42 years in the sales and marketing staffs of Mack, serving in the company’s offices throughout the United States and Canada. In 1981, he was named president of Mack Canada Inc., where he served three years until his return to Allentown as a senior vice president of sales. He retired from Mack in 2001. Ritter also was a founder, board member and, recently, an adviser to the America on Wheels transportation museum in Allentown. Born in Hoboken, N.J., he was a son of the late Harry M. and Anne (Miller) Ritter. He was married to Rose (Esposito) Ritter, who died in 1996. They are survived by a son, Harry M. Ritter II of Bethlehem, and a daughter, Ann Maria McFarland of Seisholtzville.

Paul Ritter, ex-Mack Trucks executive, dies 11 days after crash; he was 81 The Morning Call / January 2, 2018 Paul C. Ritter, a former Mack Trucks Inc. executive from Lower Macungie Township, died Monday, 11 days after a tractor-trailer collided with his car. He was 81. Ritter died of natural causes, the Lehigh County coroner’s office said. An autopsy Tuesday found that his death was not related to the Berks County traffic accident. Ritter, of Steeplechase Drive, worked more than four decades in Mack’s heavy-duty truck sales and marketing, serving at the company’s Allentown headquarters and at offices throughout the United States and Canada. Robin Crawford, Mack executive director of corporate affairs, said Ritter was an ambassador of goodwill for the company. “I think everyone liked him,” she said. “He was well-suited for sales. He was very friendly, easy to get along with, and he understood the product. When you talk about Mack people, he was definitely Mack pride.” In 1959, he joined Mack Trucks. In 1981, he was named president of Mack Canada Inc., where he served three years until his return to Allentown as a senior vice president of sales. Ritter, who grew up in North Bergen, N.J., was a Lehigh University graduate with a bachelor of science degree in marketing. Ritter was pulling out of the parking lot of Moll’s Garage at 2936 Seisholtzville Road, Hereford Township, at 1:50 p.m. Dec. 21 when his car was hit by the tractor-trailer, according to state police at Reading. Troopers said he suffered a head injury in the crash, during which the truck dragged his car about 200 feet to a grassy embankment. Ritter was taken by ambulance to Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest, where he was treated and released the same day, authorities said. The truck driver, David L. Steffey, 26, of Leesport, was not at fault, police said. Crawford said she was shocked by Ritter’s death, because she had heard he had recovered from the crash. “He was even able to joke about the accident,” she said. “He told friends that he was hit by a truck, but it was not a Mack Truck.” State police noted his car was hit by a Freightliner model. Ritter was pronounced dead 3:45 p.m. Monday in his home. The autopsy found his head injury in the accident did not contribute to his death. Since his retirement from Mack, Ritter has served as a board member and as an adviser to the America on Wheels transportation museum in Allentown.

The Morning Call / January 6, 2018 Paul C. Ritter, 81, of Macungie, died suddenly in his home on January 1, 2018. He was a was the widower of Rose (Esposito) Ritter. Born in Hoboken, NJ, he was the son of the late Harry M. and Anne (Miller) Ritter. Paul was a 1957 graduate of Lehigh University. Paul worked for Mack Trucks, Inc. for 42 years, retiring in 2001 as Vice President of Marketing. He was a member of Huff's Union Church. He was also a mason and member of the former Warren Lodge #13 and Phillipsburg Lodge #52 F&AM and was a founder of the America on Wheels Museum. Survivors: Sons, Harry M. Ritter, II and wife Carole of Bethlehem; Daughter, Ann Maria wife of Jeffrey McFarland of Seisholtzville; Grandchildren, Sean, Aaron, Brittany Ann, and Chelsea. .

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Renault Trucks Press Release / January 12, 2018 . .

1/15/2018 IVECO dominates the Africa Eco Race 2018 in the truck category and finishes with the victory of Gerard De Rooy from Team PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO Gerard De Rooy wins the first place in the truck category of the Africa Eco Race 2018, having dominated the race from the start. In the Dakar 2018 Federico Villagra achieves his sixth podium in eight stages with a second place in stage 8 and IVECO places again three Powerstars in the top 10 of stage 8 The Africa Eco Race 2018 edition is over: after 12 stages and 6,500 km across 3 countries – 5 in Morocco, 6 in Mauritania and 1 in Senegal – fierce competition in breathtaking landscapes over fast rocky tracks and challenging dunes, the drivers and their crews have reached the shores of Lake Rose in Senegal to celebrate the winners and the big achievements of the rally. Gerard De Rooy, leader of team PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO, won the rally in the truck category, having maintained the lead over the trucks throughout the rally – on the fast rocky tracks as well as the extremely soft sands of the dunes. IVECO, official supplier of Team PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO for the eights consecutive year, provided the Africa Eco Race’s winning crew with the vehicles, engines and spare parts. The legendary reliability of IVECO trucks comes from this extreme experience, where every part of our trucks is put at the hardest test that could exist. Equipped with IVECO Cursor 13 engines – specially engineered by FPT Industrial, CNH Industrial’s powertrain brand – the vehicles deliver up to 1000 hp of power. The final stage saw the drivers compete in a short, final boost in the traditional last leg around Lake Rose, near Dakar. The crowds were out in force to encourage the competitors and celebrate the winners as they took their place on the podium on the beach of the lake. Dutchman De Rooy is very pleased with the rally: "I enjoyed both the beautiful specials and the toughness. That was what it was all about in the first place: having fun again. They were long specials, but still short days because we had almost no connection. I really look back on it with a very good feeling." In South America, the three IVECO Powerstars are fulfilling their potential, delivering consistently high performances and achieving placements in the Top 10 in the two stages after the rest day. In stage 7, Ton Van Genugten took the lead and never let go, winning the special two minutes ahead of teammate Federico Villagra, with Artur Ardavichus following 18 minutes later in seventh place. Stage 8 took the competitors on the 381 timed kilometers that ended the marathon stage between the Bolivian cities of Uyuni and Tupiza. The tracks were no big hazard for the IVECO crews in the world’s toughest Rally Raid: in spite of the heavy rain and flooded roads, the three IVECO Powerstars piloted by Federico Villagra, Ton Van Genugten and Artur Ardavichus reached the finish line of the special – and all three in the Top 10. Federico Villagra continued to deliver podium placements, crossing the finish line of stages 7 and 8 in second place. The Argentinian, who is aiming for victory through a consistent performance, is steadily closing in on leader Eduard Nikolayev. Ton Van Genugten followed his win in the stage 7 with a sixth place in the Uyuni-Tupiza special of stage 8, finishing 15 minutes behind the leader. Artur Ardavichus also delivered a consistent performance, completing stage 7 in seventh place and stage 8 in ninth, maintaining his position in the Top 10 of the overall classification. Due to bad weather in the south of Bolivia and north of Argentina, the organization decided to cancel Stage 9 (Tupiza – Salta). Overall Standings – Trucks Category – Africa Eco Race 2018 1. GERARD DE ROOY (IVECO) 45h53s 2. Tomas Tomecek (Tatra) + 5h12m32s 3. Johannes Van De Laar (DAF) + 6h49m12s Stage 8 – Rally Dakar 2018 1. Dmitry Sotnikov (Kamaz) 4h23m32s 2. FEDERICO VILLAGRA (IVECO) + 5m11s 3. Airat Mardeev (Kamaz) + 6m28s 4. Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz) + 8m33s 5. Martin Kolomy (Tatra) + 12m11s ---------- 6. TON VAN GENUGTEN (IVECO) + 15m36s 9. ARTUR ARDAVICHUS (IVECO) + 41m36s Overall Standings – Rally Dakar 2018 1. Eduard Nikolaev (Kamaz) 28h15m06s 2. FEDERICO VILLAGRA (IVECO) + 46m25s 3. Martin Macik (Liaz) + 3h29m25s 4. Siarhei Viazovich (Maz) + 3h59m35s 5. Airat Mardeev (Kamaz) + 4h23m20s ---------- 6. TON VAN GENUGTEN (IVECO) + 4h31m08s 8. ARTUR ARDAVICHUS (IVECO) + 5h28m16s

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