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AP Explains: How Robert E. Lee went from hero to racist icon Russell Contreras, Associated Press / August 13, 2017 Confederate Army Gen. Robert E. Lee was vilified during the Civil War only to become a heroic symbol of the South's "Lost Cause" - and eventually a racist icon. His transformation, at the center of the recent violence in Charlottesville, Virginia, reflects the changing moods in the United States around race, mythology and national reconciliation, historians say. Lee monuments, memorials and schools in his name erected at the turn of the 20th Century are now facing scrutiny amid a demographically changing nation. But who was Robert E. Lee beyond the myth? Why are there memorials in his honor in the first place? THE SOLDIER A son of American Revolutionary War hero Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, Robert E. Lee graduated second in his class at West Point and distinguished himself in various battles during the U.S.-Mexico War. As tensions heated around southern secession, Lee's former mentor, Gen. Winfield Scott, offered him a post to lead the Union's forces against the South. Lee declined, citing his reservations about fighting against his home state of Virginia. Lee accepted a leadership role in the Confederate forces although he had little experience leading troops. He struggled but eventually became a general in the Confederate Army, winning battles largely because of incompetent Union Gen. George McClellan. He would win other important battles against other Union's generals, but he was often stalled. He was famously defeated at Gettysburg by Union Maj. Gen. George Meade. Historians say Lee's massed infantry assault across a wide plain was a gross miscalculation in the era of artillery and rifle fire. A few weeks after becoming the general in chief of the armies of the Confederate states, Lee surrendered to Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant at Appomattox Court House in Virginia on April 9, 1865. THE SLAVE OWNER A career army officer, Lee didn't have much wealth, but he inherited a few slaves from his mother. Still, Lee married into one of the wealthiest slave-holding families in Virginia - the Custis family of Arlington and descendants of Martha Washington. When Lee's father-in-law died, he took leave from the U.S. Army to run the struggling estate and met resistance from slaves expecting to be freed. Documents show Lee was a cruel figure with his slaves and encouraged his overseers to severely beat slaves captured after trying to escape. One slave said Lee was one of the meanest men she had ever met. In a 1856 letter, Lee wrote that slavery is "a moral & political evil." But Lee also wrote in the same letter that God would be the one responsible for emancipation and blacks were better off in the U.S. than Africa. THE LOST CAUSE ICON After the Civil War, Lee resisted efforts to build Confederate monuments in his honor and instead wanted the nation to move on from the Civil War. After his death, Southerners adopted "The Lost Cause" revisionist narrative about the Civil War and placed Lee as its central figure. The Lost Cause argued the South knew it was fighting a losing war and decided to fight it anyway on principle. It also tried to argue that the war was not about slavery but high constitutional ideals. As The Lost Cause narrative grew in popularity, proponents pushed to memorialize Lee, ignoring his deficiencies as a general and his role as a slave owner. Lee monuments went up in the 1920s just as the Ku Klux Klan was experiencing a resurgence and new Jim Crow segregation laws were adopted. The Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, Virginia, went up in 1924. A year later, the U.S. Congress voted to use federal funds to restore the Lee mansion in the Arlington National Cemetery. The U.S. Mint issued a coin in his honor, and Lee has been on five postage stamps. No other Union figure besides President Abraham Lincoln has similar honors. A NEW MEMORY A generation after the civil rights movement, black and Latino residents began pressuring elected officials to dismantle Lee and other Confederate memorials in places like New Orleans, Houston and South Carolina. The removals partly were based on violent acts committed white supremacists using Confederate imagery and historians questioning the legitimacy of The Lost Cause. A Gen. Robert E. Lee statue was removed from Lee Circle in New Orleans as the last of four monuments to Confederate-era figures to be removed under a 2015 City Council vote. The Houston Independent School District also voted in 2016 to rename Robert E. Lee High School, a school with a large Latino population, as Margaret Long Wisdom High School. Earlier this year, the Charlottesville, Virginia, City Council voted to remove its Lee statue from a city park, sparking a lawsuit from opponents of the move. The debate also drew opposition from white supremacists and neo-Nazis who revered Lee and the Confederacy. The opposition resulted in rallies to defend Lee statues this weekend that resulted in at least three deaths. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Statue at the Center of Charlottesville’s Storm The New York Times / August 13, 2017 Since white nationalists marched Friday in Charlottesville, Va., the quiet college town has seen a nighttime brawl lit up by torches and smartphones, and worse violence that left one person dead and dozens injured. At the center of the chaos is a statue memorializing Robert E. Lee. It depicts the Confederacy’s top general, larger than life, astride a horse, both green with oxidation. The white nationalists were in Charlottesville to protest the city’s plan to remove that statue, and counterdemonstrators were there to oppose them. The statue — begun by Henry Merwin Shrady, a New York sculptor, and finished after his death by an Italian, Leo Lentelli — had stood in the city since 1924. But over the past couple of years some residents and city officials, along with organizations like the N.A.A.C.P., had called for it to come down. One local official made a similar suggestion as early as 2012 and quickly discovered that emotions surrounding the issue run deep. ‘Ugly stuff bubbled up’ It was during the Virginia Festival of the Book, a series of readings and events held every year in AlbemarleCounty, which includes Charlottesville. At a talk given by the author and historian Edward Ayers, a Charlottesville city councilor, Kristin Szakos, asked about the city’s Confederate monuments. She wondered whether the city should discuss removing them. People around her gasped. “You would have thought I had asked if it was O.K. to torture puppies,” she recalled during a 2013 conversation on BackStory, a podcast supported by the Virginia Foundation for the Humanities. The response to her comment was heated, and swift. Ms. Szakos said she received threats via phone and email. “I felt like I had put a stick in the ground, and kind of ugly stuff bubbled up from it,” she said. It was a local turning point, helped along by national events. Ms. Szakos’s comment came about a month after the shooting death of Trayvon Martin, 17, in Florida. The trial and eventual acquittal of the man who shot him, George Zimmerman, helped fan the flames of the Black Lives Matter protests, which erupted into full force in 2014 following the police shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo. By 2015, debates about Confederate flags and monuments were heating up in Southern states including South Carolina, Texas and Louisiana. Those who favored removal saw the symbols as monuments to white supremacy, but their opponents accused them of trying to erase history. In Charlottesville that year, someone spray-painted “Black Lives Matter” on the foundation of the Lee statue. City workers cleaned it quickly, leaving only a faint outline. Buildup to a vote By 2016, Wes Bellamy, another Charlottesville city councilor and the city’s vice mayor, had become a champion of efforts to remove Confederate monuments. At a news conference in front of the Lee statue in March of that year, he said the City Council would appoint a commission to discuss the issue. “When I see the multitude of people here who are so passionate about correcting something that they feel should have been done a long time ago, I am encouraged,” he said to the crowd of residents in front of him. Some clapped. Others shouted, accusing Mr. Bellamy of sowing division. That same month, Zyahna Bryant, a high school student, petitioned the City Council asking for the Lee statue to be removed. “My peers and I feel strongly about the removal of the statue because it makes us feel uncomfortable and it is very offensive,” she wrote in the petition, which collected hundreds of signatures. The City Council established its special commission in May 2016. Later that year, it issued a report suggesting that the city could either relocate the Lee statue or transform it with the “inclusion of new accurate historical information.” The addition of historical context might have been welcomed by some defenders of the statues. One group, Friends of C’Ville Monuments, said on its website that statues could be improved “by adding more informative, better detailed explanations of the history of the statues and what they can teach us.” But in February, the City Council voted to remove the statue from the park. Opponents of the move sued in March, arguing that the city did not have the authority to do so under state law. That court case is continuing, and the statue has remained in place. It was the focal point for a gathering held in May by the white nationalist Richard Spencer, who was among the demonstrators in Charlottesville this weekend. In June, the City Council gave Lee Park a new name — EmancipationPark. ‘Unite the Right’ The rally that descended into violence Saturday was organized by Jason Kessler, a relative newcomer to the white nationalist scene who is well known in Charlottesville, where he has fought against the city’s status as a sanctuary city for immigrants. A self-described “journalist, activist and author,” Mr. Kessler also waged a monthslong online media campaign against Mr. Bellamy, whom he depicted as anti-white. More recently, Mr. Kessler became involved in the fight against renaming Lee Park — one reason for the “Unite the Right” rally this weekend. The rally was by far Mr. Kessler’s largest undertaking yet. Last week, he won an injunction in federal court against the city, which had voted to revoke a permit for the rally. “This is my First Amendment right,” Mr. Kessler said of the rally during a news conference on Thursday. “This is the right of every American to be able to peaceably assemble and speak their mind free of intimidation. That’s why I decided to do it.” With the lawsuit over the Lee statue still unresolved, it remains unclear what will become of it. The violence this weekend was one of the bloodiest fights over the campaigns across the South to remove Confederate monuments, and the statue remains a lightning rod in Charlottesville. Mr. Spencer, for his part, has promised to return. .

You cleaned up the metal shavings ??? Did you photograph the "evidence" beforehand?

For heaven's sakes, don't any of these people have a life........something better to do? Three lives senselessly and prematurely snuffed out. Why not head down to the Outer Banks with your family for some fishing, take them down to Virginia Beach, head over to West Virginia and canoe the Greenbrier river, or get on with restoring your prized classic car or truck? All lives matter........white, black, purple, pink and other. If/when our sun dies, a nuclear mushroom appears on the horizon, or an overdue meteor hits the earth with such force that.................., all this is going to immediately fade into insignificance. Cultural decay and declining standards of behavior in our beloved United States. . . . .

In choosing a truck, it is so important to choose a strong dealer as well. It's all about the owner, the distributor. His "attitude", good or bad, spreads throughout the dealer. After the US truck makers (Mack, International, ect.) got away from factory-owned branches, Scania went the opposite direction to as to offer a consistent customer experience. Today, most Scania sales and service locations are owned directly by Scania. You can promise so much more when you're in control. But that's only half the story. You have to genuinely care about the customer, which Scania does. "Real" silicone coolant hoses from good manufacturers like Flexfab are good, Silicone-appearing fake coolant hoses are junk.

So you have contacted a lawyer, ceased disturbing the "evidence", and plan to contact Mack corporate on Monday demanding nothing less than a complete reman engine............yes?

There is no website I know of in the world that has such a warm family, such a fine group of people. It is a genuine honor and privilege to be a part of this very special family that extends throughout the world. Barry, you must be so proud.

I myself believe this is something to pay attention to. First, the development of artificial intelligence is likely 3 times further ahead in development than is openly acknowledged, owing to the potential for military applications (in the never-ending race to destroy ourselves). And second, there's always that group of scientist that thinks they know what's best for mankind..........and think they can control it..............

Elon Musk issues a stark warning about artificial intelligence CNBC / August 11, 2017 Tesla CEO Elon Musk fired off a new and ominous warning on Friday about artificial intelligence, suggesting the emerging technology poses an even greater risk to the world than a nuclear conflagration with North Korea. Musk—a fierce and long time critic of A.I. who once likened it to "summoning the demon" in a horror movie—said in a Twitter post that people should be concerned about the rise of the machines than they are. Reacting to the news that autonomous tech had bested competitive players in an electronic sports competition, Musk posted what appeared to be a photo of a poster bearing the chilling words "In the end, the machines will win." Musk, who is spearheading commercial space travel with his venture SpaceX, is also the founder of OpenAI, a nonprofit that promotes the "safe" development of AI. His stance puts him at odds with much of the tech industry, but echoes remarks of prominent voices like Stephen Hawking—who has also issued dire warnings about machine learning. If you're not concerned about AI safety, you should be. Vastly more risk than North Korea. pic.twitter.com/2z0tiid0lc — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2017 Nobody likes being regulated, but everything (cars, planes, food, drugs, etc) that's a danger to the public is regulated. AI should be too. — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 12, 2017 ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Stephen Hawking warns artificial intelligence could end mankind BBC / December 2, 2014 Prof Stephen Hawking, one of Britain's pre-eminent scientists, has said that efforts to create thinking machines pose a threat to our very existence. He told the BBC:"The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race." His warning came in response to a question about a revamp of the technology he uses to communicate, which involves a basic form of AI. Prof Hawking fears the consequences of creating something that can match or surpass humans. "It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever increasing rate," he said. "Humans, who are limited by slow biological evolution, couldn't compete, and would be superseded."

Speaking with a great deal of understanding of how North American and global truckmakers work, I once more respectfully suggest, and much more so now, that you call Volvo Group's Mack brand customer satisfaction hotline (U.S. and Canada) at +1 (866) 298-6586 and start working this problem from that angle as well. It would make a huge difference when the dealers involved know that Greensboro is following this. I myself would have called Mack, and also had a reman head installed at the original repairing dealer's expense. That Volvo Group's Ontario PDC (parts distribution center) didn't have reman heads in stock for your truck is another red flag.

Now I'm going to get serious.............. I think that it's pathetic that a truckmaker charges Mack truck operators money for an Operator's Handbook. In the interest of spurring greater sales, wouldn't Volvo want operators to fully understand the operational features of their truck for maximum satisfaction and optimized operation? How would it harm the Mack brand to offer the handbook by free PDF download ? Even if the recipient bought the truck used, providing an Operator's Handbook free-of-charge could result in a new truck sale down the road. We're not talking about comprehensive service manuals. Online Operator's Handbook PDF downloads would cause no expense to Volvo Group, and yet be a display of goodwill to serve the Mack brand's image. For now, you have to pay $19 for a TS82304 (Mack CX Series Operators Handbook. 2003-2004) https://macktrucks.vg-emedia.com/InformationListing.aspx?GroupId=593

You can upgrade 34,000lb Mack taperleaf (parabolic) springs to 38,000 taperleaf (4QK3368AM to 4QK3369AM). But you wouldn't want 44,000 capacity taperleaf springs (if even aftermarket available) on 34,000 capacity Mack (ST34) axles.

Dodge boosts 2018 model 3500 HD pickup Trailer-Body Builders / August 11, 2017 With the start of 2018 model year production, Dodge Truck is boosting the capability of its 3500 HD pickup model; increasing available torque for its optional diesel engine package and adding an optional fifth wheel designed by Ram Engineering that can tow up to 30,000 lbs. Working closely Cummins, Dodge said the 3500 model for 2018 will feature higher boost limits through a variable geometry turbo and flow rate increases through the fuel delivery system for its optional Cummins 6.7-liter I-6 diesel engine. Those improvements produce an additional 30 lb.-ft. of torque for 930 total lb.-ft. of torque. Dodge noted that its 30,000-lb. fifth-wheel towing uprating will allow customers to move away from Class 4 and 5 trucks to haul trailers that would have otherwise been limited to 24,000 lbs. Dodge 3500 Heavy Duty maximum gooseneck and conventional hitch maximum trailer weight ratings for the 2018 model year are 31,210 lbs. and 20,000 lbs., respectively.

The switch with the snowflake initiates the truck's magnetoplasmadynamic drive system, in effect releasing plasma from the deuterium fusion reactor to power the magnetic coil. The switch with the circle-shaped arrow with an X releases inertia from the propellant to prevent time dilation, a possibility in the event of an abrupt system shutdown. Check your Mack manual under "Drive Systems - Operation" for more details.

What you received might have been tagged wrong at the PDC (parts distribution center). Have your Mack brand dealer request the blueprint to confirm the part. Also, the part number supercession sounds fishy to me, 570AM5M replaced by 570AM6M. Have your Mack dealer dealer call Mack specifications to review the blueprints and confirm the supercession.

Watching Paul and his adventure, and it feels as though he's just down the street (BMT Lane), is like stopping by your best friend's or brother-in-law's garage at the end of the day to see how he's coming along. The BMT family, good people.......second to none.

Tesla Semi 'has truckmaker disruption potential' Trade Trucks AU / August 11, 2017 Expert sees creativity and innovation making battery truck a commercial proposition With Tesla’s prototype battery-drive long-haul prime mover due to be unveiled next month, there has been plenty of debate in the US on whether founder Elon Musk has bitten off more than he can chew. On the affirmative side are those who believe the physics, competitive propulsion sources and existing manufacturers, particularly Toyota, and new ones, such as Nikola, will spoil Musk’s trucking party. On the other are those, such as engineering expert Randy Carlson, who speculate that the Tesla Semi will be of a radical design and come with innovative battery replacement services to help boost its range and reduce costs. After undertaking careful analysis of the possible options, Carlson believes the use of induction motors, innovative cooling solutions and planetary reduction gearing, along with a hollow box-beam frame, amongst other developments, will help Tesla’s cause. He calculates that, after 30,000 miles per month, the cost per mile could be around 20 per cent lower than a comparably sized diesel-powered Freightliner Cascadia. If this was borne out, the challenge would be for existing manufacturers to avoid deep disruption. Despite that, he acknowledges Tesla has formidable manufacturing challenges ahead. "The difficulty for established truck makers should Tesla's truck be a success will be similar to the problem legacy ICE car makers are facing with the advent of practical, good performing electric cars," Carlson says. "In the case of heavy trucks, however, the shift in market demand - driven largely by economic considerations - could be much more abrupt. This could leave legacy truck makers scrambling for three things: High speed, compact, liquid cooled induction motor drivelines, sufficient cell supply to build lots of trucks with huge batteries, and charging or battery swapping infrastructure to support their electric truck models in service. "All of the things legacy truck makers need to compete in electric line-haul heavy trucks are things Tesla is good at, things where Tesla holds a lead in technology, manufacturing or capacity. And, when it comes to cell supply and electric driveline engineers, carmakers scrambling to enter the electric car arena will be competing for those assets, too. "Tesla building say 10,000 heavy trucks of the kind described would require the equivalent of 60,000 Model 3 motors, inverters and drivelines - something significant but manageable. A much more significant impact would be on the battery side. "If the 10,000 Tesla heavy trucks each use the 2MWh battery, and swapping stations average one inventory turn per day, then 4MWh of truck batteries will be needed for each truck (one battery in the truck + one battery in inventory at a swap station). "Ten thousand trucks a year on this basis would require 40GWh of additional cell supply. This is more than the entire design capacity of the fully built out Nevada GigaFactory. It is also more cells than Tesla will need to make 500,000 Model 3 cars. "No wonder Elon Musk is talking about building a lot more GigaFactories."

Big Rigs / August 10, 2017 The second half of the 1980s was a time of change. It could be called the era of the Super-Liner, the time when Mack's flagship reached its peak and many older drivers still think of the period as the age of the real truck. The Super-Liner Mk II was seen to be the epitome of truck engineering, back in the days when the glory trucks, the trucks on the posters, the dream trucks, were seen to be the bulldogs. Oh yeah, the Kenworth was popular but the bulldog was the truck. The Bicentennial Macks encapsulated what the Mk II Super-Liner was completely - here was a truck built to work in the roughest conditions yet as far as comfort goes, broke new ground entirely: the cab was air-conditioned, drivers had television, a video player and a whole suite of home comforts. Today, of course, the Mk II Super-Liner is a collector's item and the Bicentennial version is probably the hottest ticket on a collector's shopping list. I did a run in one of the new Bicentennials that had been bought by Dick David for Road Trains of Australia. I travelled with the driver, Jack "the Admiral” Taylor, one of the old Buntine drivers, many of whom - like Jack himself - were legendary in the Northern Territory. At the time, the country in north Queensland was in the grip of drought. Jack Taylor sat high in his Super-Liner searching for the turnoff to Lavera Station in Queensland's Gulf Country. Ned Kelly was the name of the big Bicentennial Mack, pulling two trailers, four empty decks, across the dead plains. The wet season had not come, the graziers were in trouble. We passed Dalgonelly Station and the road train began following a narrow bush track. "You got a copy, Jack?” The long-distance radio chortled into life and Jack shouted point-blank into the microphone that yes, he did have a copy. "When you cross the second rocky causeway, swing hard to the left. You can't go wrong.” So Jack swung her hard at the second rocky causeway and 5km later we pulled into Lavera's trucking yards. Two RTA trucks were parked and already loaded. Jack pulled Ned Kelly up to the loading ramp. The clanking of iron gates and the first draft of calves rattled and blurted up the ramp onto the top deck of the lead trailer. Then came a draft of mother cows, still strong, just starting to show the ravages of drought. The cattle rushed up the loading ramp, up the trailer ramp and onto the top deck, cows bellowing to calves, a maternal bellowing they would continue for the next 24 hours until the animals were hoarse. Once loaded, the convoy consisted of 12 decks of cows and calves. After a quick cup of tea, the string of road trains headed out across the wide sea of gulf country plains, the dust clouds billowing into the sky. The haul back south was slow over the rough narrow station tracks. At the roadhouse at Julia Creek, 15 road trains from all over Queensland and the Territory mustered in the dusty parking area, in our group all were Macks except one RTA Kenworth. The trucks travelled eastward from Julia Creek, following the ribbon of black bitumen across the blackened plains. A head wind played havoc with the road speeds. Bill was in the lead driving an RTA 500hp Super-Liner and it was pumping out all of those horses and more. We brought up the rear in Ned Kelly, as Jack was boss drover and it was his responsibility to make sure all was going well. In the middle was Brad in the "little” 400hp Kenworth, where he copped the worst from the wind, the double-decker stock rates having the aerodynamic qualities of a brick wall. There was a whooshing explosion and a tyre went and Jack pulled the road train off the highway at the first opportunity. Of course it was an inside dual on the dolly and in a matter of minutes Jack had it changed, with the rhythm of a job done a thousand times. We travelled into the night, stock trucks were everywhere, road trains to horse floats, the activity was frantic, the urgency of too much stock to shift and too few trucks, the needs of drought. We fuelled up, had a feed and cleaned up at a roadhouse just outside Charters Towers and headed south along the Developmental Rd, driving through the dark and the dust clouds of road trains ahead. With daylight came a different world, filled with green grass, shining cattle and waterholes brimming. Fences and bridges told the story of recent floods, we were in the country but Cyclone Charlie had speared, plunging deep into central Queensland bringing heavy rains and floods ... and green fresh feed. Jack had a spell in the bunk, lying back in the lavish upholstery of the big air-conditioned sleeper. The television was on, a boomerang of an antenna picking up national ABC and he watched with intense interest the kids' program Play School. For a man who had spent most of his life driving the hot, rugged B-model Macks, the fact he could sit back in comfort and watch television was more of a revelation than the program he was watching. But the fun was not yet over. There was a twisting dirt track on the way into the yards where we were to unload and a steep creek crossing with a tight corner on the other side. Bill made it across with his four decks, Brad in the Kenworth made a run, hugged the corner a little too tightly and the second trailer sagged into the soft bank. He was stuck. Bill, on the other side of the crossing, dropped his second trailer and backed onto the Kenworth, we stiffed barred the two trucks together and the Mack and Kenworth pulled clear. Then it was Jack's turn. Ned Kelly bellowed as the master spurred the 500 horses down the creek bank. A twin jet stream of black smoke fumed from the stacks and Jack swung wide, pulling his trailers around and safely up onto the opposite bank. Delivery point was made and it was time to unload. .

Land Line (OOIDA) / August 10, 2017 Paccar is recalling certain Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks after an issue with the electrical system was discovered, according to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration documents. Nearly 6,000 trucks are affected by the recall. More specifically, certain Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks model 2013-2017 are affected. The vehicles have a spotlight that may short-circuit internally, according to a NHTSA recall acknowledgment. The short circuit may increase the risk of a fire at the cab fuse block. Among the affected trucks: 2013-2017 Kenworth T680 2013-2017 Kenworth T880 2013-2016 Peterbilt 567 2013-2016 Peterbilt 579 Owners of affected trucks will be notified by Paccar. Dealers will change the polyfuse switch in the spotlight circuit to a standard fuse for free. Recalls will start on Aug. 31. For more information, call Paccar customer service at 940-591-4220. Paccar’s number for this recall is 17KWC and 717-B.

Commercial Motor / August 10, 2017 Exclusive spy shots of the next MAN cab show that six years on from its acquisition by the Volkswagen (VW) Group, there is still little evidence of its intention to develop synergies with sister brand Scania. Both brands appear to be pursuing separate driveline programmes, with the adoption of the Scania 12+2 Opticruise transmission only in a limited number of MAN variants. There had been expectations that MAN’s much-needed replacement cab would be based on Scania’s new range, currently part way through its launch programme. This has been backed up by rumours from VW Group suggesting a new cab for MAN’s heavy truck range is imminent. However, as these scoop pictures taken during hot climate testing in Spain’s Sierra Nevada mountains show, the next MAN cab to arrive seems to be a makeover of the current unit. But they do give some hints as to the likely styling changes. If this disguised vehicle includes the new cab, the front panel appears remarkably similar, with only minor changes to the air intakes. However, the side styling is different. Most prominent on the doors is a smooth curve at the bottom of the window aperture, replacing the sharp dog leg, with a reshaped door handle. The previously plain wheelarch is echoed by a distinct crease, and the pronounced signature five-line fluting appears to have changed to three less-pronounced strips. .

Commercial Motor / August 10, 2017 Volvo's new FM 8x4 takes to the roads of London to test its new safety technology and try a new approach to operating tippers. .

Commercial Carrier Journal (CCJ) / August 10, 2017 Mesilla Valley Transportation (CCJ Top 250, No. 75) has purchased 1,000 eNow solar energy systems for its tractors, saying it will help fuel economy and battery life and power auxiliary power units. Headquartered in Las Cruces, New Mexico, the fleet has about 1,600 drivers. MVT and eNow will show off the system at the NACFE “Run on Less” program Sept. 5-25. MVT is not the first fleet to turn to solar panels as a way to cut costs and improve efficiency. Groupe Robert, headquartered in Montreal, installed solar panel systems on its trucks as a way to extend battery life. The fleet’s solar panels generate up to four additional hours of battery life and fully recharge in eight to 10 hours of normal daylight. Related reading: https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/42361-thermo-king-develops-truck-solar-panel/?tab=comments#comment-308908 https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/26172-trucking-news-mesilla-valley-retrofits-4000-tractor-trailers-with-trailertails/?tab=comments#comment-128208 https://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/42167-international-prostar-to-feature-allison-tc10-automatic-transmission-with-cummins-isx15/?tab=comments#comment-307407

Transport Topics / August 10, 2017 OEM Posts 2.6% Increase in First Six Months of Year Cummins Inc., the last independent engine maker, clawed back some market share from truck makers’ integrated powertrains to reclaim first place in North American engine sales during the first half of 2017. Cummins was the only manufacturer to install more engines in North American Class 8 trucks during the first six months of this year, with an increase of 2.6% to 42,062 for the period, compared with 40,999 engines from January through June 2016. “Cummins is pleased with our gains in North American market share and with our overall second-quarter sales increases in all four business segments,” company Vice President of Sales Amy Boerger said. Overall, the North American engine market contracted 10.5% to 112,511 heavy trucks from 125,715 year-over-year. The figures come from a WardsAuto.com report on North American factory sales of heavy-duty trucks, including their engines, released July 31. Daimler Trucks North America dropped to second place this year with 36,566 engines, down 12.9% from last year’s first-half level of 41,966. In the first half of 2016, DTNA owned first place as Freightliner and Western Star customers specified in-house Detroit brand and Mercedes-Benz engines. Despite the decline, DTNA is pleased with the progress of its integrated equipment lineup, said Kary Schaefer, DTNA general manager for marketing and strategy. “Penetration of Detroit engines and Detroit integrated powertrain components has never reached higher penetration levels in DTNA products,” Schaefer said. “Our Detroit components are viewed by our customers as critical in achieving incredible reliability, fuel efficiency, and an integral component of the new Cascadia and our complete Freightliner product line.” The Ward’s report breaks Class 8 engines into two segments, with 10 liters as the dividing line. DTNA kept first place among large engines, which includes 11- to 16-liter models, topping Cummins. However, Cummins’ lead among the smaller heavy-duty engines, typically installed in trucks often called “Baby Eights,” allowed the Columbus, Ind.-based manufacturer to take the lead among all Class 8 engines. North American truck makers sold 98,702 of the larger Class 8s during the first six months and 13,809 Baby Eights. Of the smaller heavy-duty models sold, 73.5% had a Cummins engine. The 9-liter ISL is Cummins’ main product in this market. Cummins also dominated the Class 7 market, placing its engines in 54.6% of those trucks during the first half of the year. All heavy-duty truck makers have been trying to get their customers to select engines made in-house rather than by an independent supplier. The truck OEMs argue that when a truck, its engine and transmission are designed by a single engineering team, it maximizes the opportunity for improving fuel economy. Sometimes the truck makers even add tractor drive axles as part of the design process, which is known broadly as vertical integration. Among all North American Class 8 trucks, 37.4% had a Cummins engine during the first half of this year, up from 32.6% during the same time in 2016. DTNA had 32.5% of the engine market, down from 33.4% year-over-year. Volvo Group’s two North American companies, Mack and Volvo Trucks, combined for third place with 15.6% of engines, down from 17.3%. Paccar Inc., the parent of Kenworth Trucks and Peterbilt Motors, placed 12.1% of engines, a dip from 12.4% a year ago. Navistar International Corp. declined to 2.4% of North American engines from 4.2%. “The reduction in Mack’s engine market share reflects the smaller overall Class 8 market we’re anticipating for 2017,” said Scott Barraclough, Mack technology product manager. “As pioneers of integration, Mack strongly believes in the benefits it enables, and we continue to refine and optimize our integrated powertrain,” including Mack brand engines, automated manual transmissions and drive axles, he said. John Moore, Volvo’s product marketing manager for powertrain, offered similar comments. While Kenworth and Peterbilt buy a lot of Cummins X15 engines, especially for customers that do oil field work, the two OEMs also use many 11- and 13-liter engines made by Paccar, said Landon Sproull, Paccar powertrain vice president. “For on-highway customers, they look at fuel economy and weight, so the MX-13 is attractive,” Sproull said. “Big liters [15 or 16] are not as important as they used to be. Look at Europe, it’s all 13 liters over there,” Sproull said. The MX-11 has a maximum of 430 horsepower and the MX-13 goes to 510 hp, Sproull said, providing much more power in less space than 10 to 15 years ago. He said Kenworth and Peterbilt will continue to offer X15s to fleets and drivers that want them, but the 11- and 13-liter market probably will continue to grow and Paccar wants to dominate there. The timing of the Ward’s report did not include Navistar’s latest effort, the 12.4-liter A26 engine. The Lisle, Ill., OEM announced its first shipments of A26s on June 30. Navistar said Aug. 3 it is phasing out its 9- and 10-liter engines, currently made in Melrose Park, Ill. The N9 and N10 power plants often are used in Baby Eight and Class 7 International trucks, but lately customers have switched to Cummins engines. .

As batteries become lighter, smaller, higher capacity and faster charging, changes already taking place at record speed, it will make electric power a viable reality. As for how to keep the batteries charged, it will depend on the application. I still like the micro turbine concept over fuel cell, either of which can endlessly recharge the batteries as required. We'll see over the next ten years how it all turns out.

I'm deeply troubled with what I'm seeing here. If you "like" a comment, you see the message "xxxxx reacted to this". "reacted to this"..............sounds almost like "politically correct" terminology. The bizarre and silly facial icons, I feel, are demeaning to the website. Until now, BMT has had a professional feel, something we've all been proud of. Born out of that pride, I'm extremely concerned about the new "tone" coming about here. With all due respect, I don't care for the heart icon either. I'm sure it would be ideal for a dating website, but for BMT? Good change can be........good. However, not all ideas for change are.......good.