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“We're not on anybody's side, ever,” said former FBI Director James Comey in a March speech. “We're not considering whose ox will be gored by this action or that action, whose fortunes will be helped by this or that — we just don't care and we can't care.” .

Ending West's dominance in the power tools market China Daily / July 25, 2016 Chances are high that on your next visit to a hardware store in the United States, you may notice that Chinese fall clean-up tools are among the best-selling products, giving Germany's Bosch, the world's top power-tool maker, stiff competition. Before you attribute the sales to presumably lower prices of made-in-China goods, take a reality check: Worx products are costlier than Bosch's. That's not all. The cordless, lightweight Worx grass-trimmer won an award from the US Electronic Retailing Association in 2010 for its quality and innovation. There's more. GFK, a European research and consulting company, said in a report that some costlier Worx products outsell Bosch in the latter's home market Germany. The person behind the brand is Don Gao, president of Positec, a leading Chinese maker of power tools, lawn and garden equipment, and accessories. "It's not very easy to make inroads into some well-established markets such as the US, Germany and the UK because customers are very loyal to local brands. But we did it, step by step," he said. When it was founded in 1994, Positec was just a trading company engaged in exports of power tools, including hand drills, trimmers, chainsaws and mowers. Business was good, spurred by the country's foreign trade. But Gao knew the company had to grow beyond simple trading. For the long run, Positec had to have its own products. So, in 1995, Gao set up a factory in Suzhou in Jiangsu province, East China. The plant made products for large home improvement retailers overseas such as Sears and home improvement stores B&Q (UK) and OBI (Germany). Positec was clearly not aiming to be a glorified original equipment manufacturer. OEMs typically dream of making products for industry leaders such as Bosch and Black & Decker. But Gao was aiming higher. Not for him an OEM at the bottom of an industrial value chain. "We have no say in pricing because you always find someone sets prices lower than yours. The cut-throat competition in China squeezed profits of many traditional producers," he said. He asked himself: "Why can't we have our own brands?" In 1999, he decided to create his own brand of power tools. "The shift meant that your old partners became your competitors, so you faced a huge risk of losing orders." The risk was real and, to be sure, huge: turnover that year plunged by $50 million. Some erstwhile partners even threatened to withdraw their existing orders. "We said, 'Go ahead'." After several years' efforts and research, Gao finally launched a brand called Worx in 2004. In the same year, Positec acquired Rockwell, a well-known US brand founded in 1945. Positec, in order to avoid direct competition with local brands, took a shortcut to gain local resources in the US market. The Rockwell acquisition was a quick way to squeeze into a foreign market and help the company build up reputation and a distribution network. Positec spent some 15 percent of its annual revenue on TV commercials and online social media promotions in new markets. The campaigns worked so well US sales almost doubled, even during the housing crisis from 2008 to 2010. Gao said the key to winning a marketing battle lies in what he calls product innovation. "Consumers don't care about the technologies you are putting into products. They only care about whether it works well when they are cleaning up their gardens or assembling their own bookshelves," he said. A Forbes report said Positec now spends 6 percent of its revenue on innovation, much higher than Black & Decker's less than 2 percent and Bosch's 1.8 percent. In recent years, it has invested 1 billion yuan on innovation and launched more than 100 products every year, most of them complete with smartphone applications that allow remote control as well as access to product information and after-sales service. To keep up with the latest trends in power-tool products, Gao spends one-third of his time every year travelling around in the US and Europe and attending various fairs. "If there's a new launch of a product in the marketplace, I want to know," he said. The company has a distribution network and operations in 13 countries and three research and development centers in China, Italy and Australia.

The Bullen of IVECO Magirus dominates 2017 Austrian Truck Race Trophy at Red Bull Ring Iveco Trucks Press Release / May 15, 2017 A perfect weekend for IVECO: the Bullen of IVECO Magirus leads the team ranking following a superb start to the new season. Jochen Hahn is Number 1 in the driver ranking and Gerd Körber is in 4th place. The Bullen of IVECO Magirus Team, a brand new partnership between the two teams powered by IVECO, Hahn Racing and Schwabentruck, dominated the 2017 Austrian Truck Race Trophy at the Spielberg Red Bull Ring. The newly formed partnership tallied up two impressive victories plus a podium placement for Jochen Hahn of Team Hahn Racing, and two podium wins for Gerd Körber of Team Schwabentruck. The defending champion Jochen Hahn inaugurated his brand new IVECO truck – a Stralis 440 E 56 XP-R race truck with an IVECO Cursor 13 engine, specially prepared by FPT Industrial – by making a clean sweep of victories at Austrian Truck Race that placed him in the lead of the driver ranking. Gerd Körber of the Schwabentruck Team reached two podium places and finished the weekend in 4th place in the driver ranking. The Austrian Truck Race took place over the two days of the weekend with four competitions, two on Saturday and two on Sunday. On Saturday, Jochen Hahn took the first FIA European Truck Racing Championship race of the season at Red Bull Ring after a commanding display of his driving skills. Claiming his first win for IVECO, the champion converted pole position into a maximum points result, holding off Steffi Halm throughout the 20-lap race. Gerd Körber had to manage his pace in the closing stages of the first race but he held on to begin the new season with a 3rd place. In the second race, which started with a reverse grid respect to the first race arrival, Jochen Hahn reached the 5th place and Gerd Körber achieved another 3rd place on the podium. Local driver Markus Altenstrasser brought his Schwabentruck Team home in 8th and 9th place in the two races of the day. On Sunday, Jochen Hahn claimed his final victory of the weekend with a second win in the first event of the 2017 FIA European Truck Racing Championship at Red Bull Ring. He succeeded in moving up his new IVECO truck from 3rd place to the lead in one manoeuvre after contact between the leading pair Sascha Lenz and Adam Lacko. He closed the 3rd race ended with another podium – the 2nd place. Gerd Körber had some bad luck in this race because of an accident and finished in 11th place. In the final race, which started with a reverse grid respect to the first race arrival, Hahn closed with a first place and Körber succeeded in working his way up the placements and finished 5th. .

You're right. But the Mack brand remains in 6th place, no longer appearing to be on customer's short list. Remember, today's product is not the same product that we think of from 20 years ago. And, when Mack salesmen go in to bid on deals and, again and again, find themselves $10,000 to $15,000 higher than the competition, it becomes rather demoralizing. No. 1 Freightliner No. 2 Navistar No. 3 Kenworth No. 4 Peterbilt No. 5 Volvo No. 6 Mack In 1999, Mack ranked number 3, but now number 6. That speaks volumes in itself.

UD Trucks / April 25, 2017 .

Motor India / April 24, 2017 Ashok Leyland, the 2nd largest commercial vehicle (CV) manufacturer in India, has showcased recently its full range of future ready products, based on Intelligent Exhaust Gas Recirculation (iEGR) technology, and industry-leading services at its annual Global Conference 2017 in Chennai. Pioneering the indigenous development and application of the iEGR technology, Ashok Leyland will be the only domestic OEM to implement this technology successfully for its products above 130HP. Thus, Ashok Leyland has, once again, brought its technology prowess and Indian innovation to the fore for the benefit of its customers. Sharing his views at the Global Conference 2017, Mr. Vinod K. Dasari, Managing Director, Ashok Leyland, said, “Ashok Leyland has many innovative class leading firsts to its credit through the years. This showcase of the iEGR technology across our product range bears further testimony of our capability to roll-out technology-led future ready products. More so this indigenous technology will help us deliver on our brand promise of ‘Aapki Jeet, Hamari Jeet’ in multiple ways. For our customers it will mean ease of use and better cost efficiencies. For the environment it will mean more efficient fuel combustion and improved emissions. The indigenous development of iEGR technology will also mean faster time to market and minimal cost of implementation. We will emerge as the only OEM in India to have achieved this.” Intelligent Exhaust Gas Recirculation Intelligent Exhaust Gas Recirculation (iEGR) technology is a simple yet innovative solution to achieving the desired results in order to meet the BS4 norms. This technology is not only better suited to Indian conditions compared to Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) technology (based on European technology) but will also prove to be hugely cost effective, easy to operate and hassle-free to maintain. All of which will benefit the Ashok Leyland customer, resulting in better margins compared to products by OEMs which are based on SCR technology. With iEGR technology as the highlight, the company displayed a mix of over thirty innovative products and services, featuring trucks, buses, light commercial vehicles (LCVs), simulators, quick service bikes and gensets. .

Motor India / April 26, 2017 Eicher Trucks & Buses, part of the VE (Volvo-Eicher) Commercial Vehicles (VECV) joint venture, has launched the Eicher Pro 5000 series, a brand new range of heavy trucks from 16 to 40 with Euro-4 technology. With the launch of this advanced technology trucks range at competitive prices, Eicher plans to strengthen its presence in the heavy duty segment and this reinforces its vision of driving modernization in the commercial transportation. Commenting on the launch Vinod Aggarwal, MD & CEO, VE Commercial Vehicles said, “With the launch of Pro 5000 series of Heavy Duty (HD) trucks, Eicher now has the widest range of HD trucks at various price points to deliver superior value and suit the needs of all application segments of customers in basic, value and premium category of trucks. These trucks with new Euro-4 technology engines are based on i3-EGR technology that is innovative, contemporary and efficient. The new E694 engine also includes advanced features based on Volvo Group’s Engine Management system EMS 3.0 and offers first-in-the-industry features like fuel coaching and cruise control at a competitive price. HD trucks segment continues to be the biggest potential area of growth for us and the launch of Eicher Pro 5000 series will enable us to further enhance our market share in the segment” Eicher Pro 5000 series is a new range of durable Euro-4 trucks designed and developed to deliver unmatched reliability through highly efficient E694 engine with i3 EGR technology from Volvo Group’s EMS 3.0, tough and robust aggregates and Intelligent Driver Information System. These trucks are designed to deliver best-in class fuel efficiency and optimized operational cost, leading to quick returns on investment. Further, commenting on the aftermarket support solutions to the customers, Aggarwal added, “Eicher offers innovative and customized service solutions to partner the individual customer needs throughout vehicle life cycle from purchase to maintenance to resale. Our unique offerings like Dial-a-Part and GPS enabled mobile service vans leverage the technology to ensure quick response and maximum uptime for our customers. Apart from these services, there are a lot of innovative solutions like “Eicher Freedom – AMC Package”, “Eicher Sure – Used Trucks Business ”, and most importantly “Eicher Promise – to put the vehicle back on road in time” to ensure highest level of productivity for our customers, leading to better profitability and prosperity for them’’. Eicher Pro 5000 series will be available across all major markets of VECV. These trucks are loaded with features that make it ready to take on the harsh challenges of today’s trucking business and coupled with cost effective operations, these will meet the aspirations of ambitious fleet owners. .

Commercial Motor / April 26, 2017 .

Commercial Motor / May 10, 2017 .

Commercial Motor TV - sponsored by DAF Trucks / May 10, 2017 .

Commercial Motor TV - sponsored by DAF Trucks / May 3, 2017 .

Commercial Motor TV - sponsored by DAF Trucks / April 26, 2017 .

Commercial Motor TV - sponsored by DAF Trucks / April 20, 2017 .

Scania Group Press Release / May 11, 2017 Scaniamilen just one good example of how we pay attention to our employees’ health. Scania takes its employees’ freetime seriously. Yes, you read that correctly; a company that every day works full-pelt to produce trucks, buses and engines for global markets wants to ensure that the time its people are not working is as important as their working time. Therese Forsling Onsfalk, healthpromotor in Södertälje, explains why: “If you have employees that are healthy, they can also make a good contribution with their work, and so contribute towards the success of Scania.” Health facilities around the world The fact that Scania even has a health promotion team is proof of how seriously the company takes employee well-being. The company has sports and health facilities at various sites around the world. In Södertälje the Gröndal centre, open to staff and their family members, offers training facilities, personal training and group exercise classes, as well as other leisure activities including photography and kayaking. “It’s a fantastic facility,” says Therese. “And it’s also a wonderful way for a new employee to get to know fellow workers.” Therese also highlights the work done by colleagues such as Senay Tekeli in Zwolle to motivate those who, for various reasons, are more desk-bound or keeping to the production-line. “Senay introduced Power Sensation to Zwolle last year. It´s a schedule with movements for each month. The idea is that employees do different movements at their workplace (or on their free time) each day, movements for both their upper body and their lower body. You don’t have to change into gym clothes or go to the gym. The idea has caught on and at the start of this month we introduced it in Sweden at Södertälje, Oskarshamn and Luleå.” Scaniamilen – since 1993 Coupled with the Pausit programme on employees’ PCs, which is a bit like a desktop personal trainer, there’s no excuse for people not to stretch their legs (and arms), even if they are as busy as they should be! Also, for those addicted to the demon nicotine, Scania even offers help with giving up, so again, no excuses! One of the most popular health initiatives is the Scaniamilen, a run which has been taking place since 1993, and which also takes place at our sites at Angers in France, Slupsk in Poland and Zwolle in the Netherlands. This year’s Södertälje event takes place on Thursday (11 May) at Gröndal. Runners choose between five or ten-kilometre distances. There will be over 4,500 adults and 1,300 children running this time. Although there are prizes awarded to the top three runners in the men’s and women’s class at five and ten kilometres, the purpose of the event is not competition, but keeping fit and staying active, and doing so with colleagues. National ski team present The event is truly for everyone – the Swedish Cross Country national team is participating, and even some of the Scania bosses are taking part! Among them are Claes Erixon, Executive Vice President and Head of Research and Development, and Erik Ljungberg, Senior Vice President, Corporate Relations. For Claes, who is aiming for a time of 50 minutes in the ten kilometres, the event is about bringing employees together in an informal setting. “There’s a real community feeling to the event. It’s about ‘we’ as Scania employees doing something fun together. And of course it’s also good for people’s health.” Meanwhile Erik, a keen runner, is shaking off a knee injury and is using the five-kilometre run as part of his rehabilitation. “It’s a great event for employees and allows them to come together in a different and fun way outside of the work environment. They can bring their families along too. It also gives people a target to work towards, getting them training and, as a bi-product of that improving their health.” .

MAN Truck & Bus Press Release / May 11, 2017 MAN Engines recently delivered the first of its D2676 LE264 diesel engines to the French rail vehicle manufacturer Alstom. The 6-cylinder in-line engines, each with 353 kW (480 hp) at 1,800 rpm, are suitable for the use in hot countries and will be installed in "Coradia Polyvalent" diesel railcars (Diesel Multiple Unit – DMU). The single-stage turbocharged and common rail engines are well adapted to withstand to local climatic conditions, like high external temperatures, humidity as well as sandy and dusty environments. As in the conventional Coradia Regiolis, the engines are mounted on the roof, thus enabling easier access for maintenance work. This also increases passenger comfort at the same time, thanks to the space gained in the low-floor area. 102 units of the robust MAN engines will be fitted in 17 railcars for SNTF, the Algerian National Company for Rail Transport, which will then connect the capital city of Algiers with other major cities across the country. A further 60 engines will be installed in 15 railcars destined for use in Senegal to connect the new airport and the city of Dakar. The first trains are due to begin operation in the spring 2018 in Algeria. .

Iveco Trucks Press Release / May 10, 2017 For the first time ever, IVECO will be taking part in the full FIA European Truck Race 2017 as technical sponsor for two teams: will continue to support Team Schwabentruck, and it will back the Team Hahn, who will defend the title in 2017 on IVECO. The first round of the championship is set to take place in Austria at the Red Bull Ring, beginning Saturday 13th May and ending on Sunday 14th May. IVECO's presence on the track will be doubled at the 2017 edition of the FIA European Truck Race Championship. Team Schwabentruck has represented IVECO for the past eight years and this year also Team Hahn – the 2016 champion that will defend the title in 2017 with IVECO – has chosen to compete on board a Stralis race truck. Pierre Lahutte, IVECO Brand President, commented: "We have taken up the challenge of being 100% involved in the championship, with two highly competitive teams who will race bearing the colours of the IVECO flag. We are proud that our vehicles will be part of the exciting world of racing, which will engage and thrill our customers across Europe. This is a valuable opportunity to demonstrate the incredible performance of our trucks on circuits that will test the engines and the mechanics of the vehicles to their limits. These intense conditions are designed to test the durability of the vehicles and the reliability of the components used in the production of these trucks." IVECO is supporting Team Schwabentruck with two Stralis models designed for racing. German driver Gerd Körber, three times champion of the European Truck Race (1996, 2001 and 2003), and his teammate Markus Altenstrasser will drive a Stralis 440 E 56 XP-R 5.5-tonne race truck, featuring an IVECO Cursor 13 engine that delivers an impressive 1150 hp. These vehicles are specifically designed and equipped to reach 160 km/h, the maximum speed stipulated by sporting regulations. Team leader Gerd Körber will be competing for the first time to win the entire championship, participating in all races. Team Hahn was established in 1996 and driver Jochen Hahn took his father's place in 1999, when he won the title of Rookie of the Year thanks to the superb results he achieved. The glory years for Jochen and Team Hahn began in 2011, and they went on the take the title victory for three consecutive years, as well as a second place in 2014, third place on the podium in 2015 and first place again in the most recent edition. Team Hahn will also compete with a Stralis 440 E 56 XP-R race truck. In preparation for the first round in Austria, the two teams were in attendance at the official FIA test at the Most circuit in the Czech Republic, testing the latest developments on their vehicles and the new engines. The test at Most was attended by the majority of the teams that are set to face each other in the championship, and was an extremely useful opportunity to trial their competitiveness in the field. Both IVECO teams took full advantage of this first intense test to check the general functionality of the vehicles, with a specific focus on the performance of the new engines. It also represented an important opportunity for Jochen Hahn to gain confidence with the Stralis XP-R, which is different to the trucks he has driven in previous seasons. IVECO will take to the track on each of the nine championship circuits, as well as consolidating the brand’s presence in the paddocks with vehicle displays, fan shops and hospitality facilities. Two of the four IVECO Emotional Truck models will be on display as a special tribute to the great names of the world of motorsport: the Schwabentruck Emotional Truck and the vehicle dedicated to the Dakar Team PETRONAS De Rooy IVECO. The new Hahn Team Emotional Truck will be on display from the Misano competition onwards. .

The Morning Call (Allentown, PA newspaper) / May 13, 2017 Rickard Lundberg started his career in the Volvo Group in 1989 when he was only about 19 years old. Then, in the first of what would be many jobs with Volvo, he worked on the shop floor, turning crankshafts at the truck maker's engine factory in Skovde, Sweden. So perhaps it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that Lundberg, now 47, brings that same hands-on approach to his new job as the vice president and general manager of Mack Trucks' Lehigh Valley Operations. In fact, when Lundberg arrives at the massive Lower Macungie Township assembly plant — a little before 7 a.m. most days — he typically spends the next three hours on the shop floor, preferring to interact with some of the plant's 1,500 employees and understand issues firsthand rather than dissecting the facility's processes within the confines of a boardroom. "I'm born on the shop floor," said Lundberg, who started at Mack on Oct. 1 after a roughly three-year stint as vice president for powertrain production at a Volvo plant in Koping, Sweden. "That's where I started my career in this company many, many years ago, and that's where I hope to die sometime, I think — out there together with people." Now Lundberg — who built scale models of Mack trucks as a 10-year-old boy in Sweden — has the responsibility to ensure the Lower Macungie plant is properly reborn through an $84 million investment that aims to turn the structure into a world-class facility. That investment is slated for completion around mid-2018 and will make the 1-million-square-foot facility more modern, integrated and efficient. Lundberg, who doesn't smile for photos but maintains a sense of humor, spoke to The Morning Call earlier this month about the investment project, his career with Volvo and the possibility of getting a tattoo of the iconic Mack bulldog. Here are excerpts from the interview: Q. Why did you want to take this job at Mack? A. When my manager at the time called me and said there is a position for you if you would like to go there, I took the decision like that [snaps his fingers]. There are many things to it. The first one is of course the brand: Mack. It's easy to fall in love with the brand. I spent time in Volvo for 28 years before coming here, and I never thought about getting a Volvo tattoo, but I'm actually thinking about a bulldog up here [points to his arm]. I kind of promised during my first town hall that there might be a bulldog on my arm. There are 1,500 people that can hold me accountable for that. It's a childhood dream for me to be part of what we are doing here. I built Mack trucks long before I joined Volvo. As a 10-year-old boy, I built scale models. My friends, they built motorcycles and cars. But I built scale models of trucks, and it wasn't Volvo or Mercedes — what you see in Europe. It was American trucks. There were some Peterbilts there, yes, but there were Mack trucks and Freightliners. American trucks have been there for me for a long, long time. Q. How are you transitioning to the area on a personal level? A. Very well. We enjoy the area, both me and my family. I moved here with pieces of my family. I have four kids and two of them are adults — one of them right now is at a university in Sweden and other one is traveling around the world. My wife and two small kids — 5 and 7 years old — relocated here with me in November, and we live in Upper Macungie. Upper Macungie because we like it. We found a wonderful house, and we have a nice park just outside where we are living, where we take the kids and they can play. The soccer season started and both of them are active on soccer teams. We're really enjoying the area right here. The kids are in school — the big one in second grade and the small one in preschool activities, and my wife started working 1 1/2 months ago. We settled down really nicely. Q. Mack recently recalled 100 people back to work at the plant, and you're hiring another 50. Where do you see employment headed at this plant? A. There are two things that decide the employment. One is the market situation, and we will constantly try to adapt to the market. So if the market is showing we're going up, then we will hire people. If we go the other way, we will have other kinds of discussions. Right now, we hired 100 people, we added a second shift for one of our assembly lines and that is to follow where the market is going. And the other thing that will determine the number of people we have is the different ambitions we have at that moment. You said 150 — it's 100 related to the second shift we are putting in place, and the other 50 is connected to our ambitions right now to increase the quality level and to increase our ability to deliver trucks on time to our customers. Q. It seemed, by the summer of 2015, the relationship between Mack and the community might have atrophied a bit. When you got here, what did you see? A. I think you're probably painting a quite accurate picture. Looking into what my predecessor did and maybe some people before that, they wanted to really come back to a situation where people were aware of, "Hey, the headquarters moved in 2009, but we are still here." There's a big chunk of people in the plant — 1,500 people. We are still here. We are still producing all the trucks for the North American market in this place, and we are planning to stay. That's why we are investing $84 million because we are planning to stay in this facility. Q. How's everything going here at the plant with the upgrades, and what is Mack trying to achieve with the expansion? A. We are right in the middle of what we call Reborn. That's the branding name of the whole rebuilding of the plant — creating new infrastructure, how we bring material into the plant, how we can take care of the assembly operation within the plant and how we bring trucks out of the plant. When I joined here, it was more or less set up: This is what we're going to do. So for me, it's very much now that we make sure we do it in the best possible way. I would like to put a lot of emphasis on it's a clear aim to become a world-class facility. This facility was built in 1975 and not much was done over a number of years and now we're trying to do everything at one time. We also need to put much effort into the soft part of the change. Investments by themselves will not make us world-class. It's how we interact and engage people, how we work with people and processes, how we take care of the engaged men that we have on the shop floor. Q. With Volvo reorganizing its truck operations last year, did that give Mack more freedom but also more responsibility? A. After [Volvo President and CEO] Martin [Lundstedt] came in, he's been very clear on trying to give more responsibility to the brands, instead of centralizing and making sure everything is done according to how we decide it should be done in Gothenburg. But still, we are owned by Volvo. It's a fact, and it's also a strength for the Mack brand and for the all the brands that we belong to a big group. That helps us. I will just take the example for us here now: This is probably one of the most diverse plants on the globe right now, at least in the Volvo Group. We have people from India. We have people from South America, from Brazil, from Thailand, from China, from Belgium, from France. There is a Swede here as well, I heard. Right now, this is probably the plant in the Volvo Group going through the biggest changes. We are doing everything at the same time. And I'm telling you if we were Mack alone, we would not be able to mobilize all the knowledge, resources, etc., to do the change. I hear it sometimes, "Don't you want to be more on your own?" Of course, sometimes it's very fun when the parents are away, right? It's free time. But it's also good when the parents are there and taking care and supporting you. All the changes we are doing here right now, it's good with a big group behind you. But it's also important that we have the freedom of doing this our way because we are not Volvo, we are not Renault or any of the other brands. We don't want to become the Gothenburg plant or the other plants. We want to become a better version of Macungie. Q. How about your future plans? Would you like to stay here? A. For me, it's not a one- or two-year project to be plant manager. I need to be here a number of years to really do what we have started to do. At the same time, I don't think it's good to stay in the same position as a plant manager for 10 years. As I used to say, to start with, you're part of the solution. After a number of years, you become part of the problem, and then it's time to do something else. We'll take it year-by-year. Q. A fun question to end with: What are the first words you think of when you hear Mack? A. Tough. It's a tough truck. It's built for a tough environment and demanding customers. It's something — if you just need something that is not that special, you could probably go buy a Freightliner or whatever. But if you need a tough truck that will do the job, then you get a Mack — tough as a bulldog. Video - http://www.mcall.com/business/leadership/mc-mack-trucks-rickard-lundberg-20170513-story.html#nt=oft03a-1la1

Critics pan Trump’s ‘early harvest’ trade deal with China The Financial Times / May 14, 2017 President accused of being outplayed by Beijing as ‘gigantic’ agreement draws derision From the moment he descended an escalator at TrumpTower almost two years ago and announced his presidential candidacy, Donald Trump has vowed to put the US back on a winning path in its trade dealings with China. “I beat China all the time. All the time,” he declared to cheers that day in June 2015. But did Mr Trump just get outplayed in his first trade negotiation with China? A deal announced on Friday by officials in Beijing and Washington was billed as “gigantic” and “Herculean” by his administration in its efforts to reset the relationship between the world’s two largest economies. It also marked a major de-escalation from Mr Trump’s bellicose campaign rhetoric and widespread fears that he might set off a trade war. To some former US officials, Trump advisers, business executives and other close watchers of the US-China relationship, however, this was a poor deal in which Beijing had simply reheated old promises. They say it raises questions about the Trump administration’s strategic wherewithal and the very negotiating muscle the president has so often touted. “This is disappointing on many levels,” says Dan DiMicco, former CEO of US steelmaker Nucor and a campaign adviser to Mr Trump who has long advocated a tough approach on Beijing. “We are rewarding China before stopping their massive trade cheating.” “They got played,” was the blunter assessment of one former US official. The “early harvest” deal rolled out on Friday saw China agree to resume imports of US beef that were suspended in 2003, in a move that US cattle ranchers hailed as “historic” but which Chinese leaders had already agreed to last September. Beijing also committed to open its market to foreign-owned credit rating agencies and credit card companies — a pledge that addressed long-running US gripes but also resembled previous promises. Ahead of China’s 2001 accession to the World Trade Organization (WTO), China had agreed to open credit cards — or the broader market for electronic payments made in renminbi — to foreign-owned companies such as Visa and MasterCard. For its part the US has agreed to encourage natural gas sales to Chinese buyers and opened the door to imports of cooked chicken from China. More importantly, the US offered its tacit endorsement for Beijing’s “Belt and Road” project to revive the ancient trade route to Europe by sending a delegation to a Beijing summit that started on Saturday. That move upended the arm’s-length approach of the Obama administration and left the Trump administration struggling to explain why it was embracing a project many see as Beijing’s latest effort to replace the US as a trading and military power in the Asia-Pacific region. According to the administration, the deal — part of a 100-day plan hatched by Mr Trump and Chinese president Xi Jinping during the Florida summit in April — will turn out to be the first of many. But critics say that in its impatience to get a deal done, the new US administration had given up many key points of leverage that would have been useful for future negotiations. Meanwhile, in the name of reducing a trade deficit with China worth more than $300 billion last year, the administration showed no signs of addressing bigger strategic economic issues such as Beijing’s efforts to force US companies to use Chinese technology or to buy US companies in key sectors. “[The Trump administration has] a single metric for trade success and that’s ‘have we reduced the trade deficit with a country?’, says Robert Atkinson, head of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, a Washington-based think-tank. “And the Chinese fundamentally don’t care about the deficit. They are willing to give that away. What the Chinese care about is dominance in advanced industries.” “There are a lot of major concerns about the way China is operating and the things that China does,” says US National Foreign Trade Council president Rufus Yerxa, pointing to Chinese restrictions on tech products and cloud computing. “It’s a bit concerning that those issues aren’t front and center,” he says. Mr DiMicco says that with its promise to sell more natural gas to China, the Trump administration risked undermining what is now an important competitive advantage for US industry — cheap energy costs — and the manufacturing renaissance it has promised. “When the gas exports [to China] get large enough, which they will, it will drive up natural gas prices for our domestic manufacturers, and negatively impact our reshoring efforts,” he says. It also could have longer-term consequences for the US, he warns. “We do not want to have a colonial-like trade relationship with China whereby we try to balance our trade by sending them raw materials and farm products and they send us increasingly high-technology products.”

When I think of the Simplicity brand, it's the chrome hub-capped rear-engined riding lawn mowers from the 1960s that come to mind. May I ask, how much acreage are you cutting?

After AGCO purchased Massey Ferguson, Simplicity began building and selling the Massey Ferguson lawn equipment. Simplicity bought the Snapper company in 2002. Snapper had built Massey-Ferguson lawn tractors many years before. In 2004, was purchased by Briggs & Stratton. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplicity_Outdoor I'm thinking that Massey-Ferguson lawn equipment nowadays might be produced by MTD.

Ford of Canada recalls F-150s over brake issue after government pressure Automotive News / May 12, 2017 OTTAWA -- Ford of Canada has agreed to recall 43,600 F-150 pickup trucks after initially resisting Transport Minister Marc Garneau's call for the automaker to repair faulty brake parts that can increase stopping distances. Under the recall posted Thursday by Transport Canada, dealers will replace electric vacuum pumps and harnesses on 2012 and 2013 models of the pickup with 3.5-liter EcoBoost engines. Transport investigators say moisture can cause the pump to fail, reducing available brake assist immediately after first start-up. “Depending on the driver's reaction, (this) may result in extended stopping distance, which may increase the potential for a low-speed collision,” the agency said. In a press release, Ford said “typical driver brake pedal pressure” will stop the vehicle, but conceded that a pump failure “could result in unexpected extended stopping distance on the first brake application after a cold start.” The automaker said it is aware of 11 accidents associated with the issue. None involved injuries. In November 2016, Transport Canada said Ford was contesting its finding that the problem with its top-selling pickup was a safety risk. The agency said it had received more than 100 reports of pump failures. Feedback requested Garneau said he would order Ford to notify F-150 owners of the defect if the government received more complaints. “I am disappointed that Ford disagrees with our assessment, and that is why I’m inviting Canadians who have experienced these issues to provide feedback that will help me make my final decision,” Garneau said. Under current Canadian safety laws, the government can order manufacturers to issue a notice of defect, but not to make repairs under a recall. That would change under amendments before Parliament that would give the minister broader powers to order recalls, impose fines of up to C$200,000 ($146,000) for companies that violate the act and grant wider enforcement powers to Transport Canada inspectors. The bill was introduced in 2016 in the Senate, where it was modified to include compensation for dealers when vehicles on their lots are recalled. It passed first reading in the House of Commons in February. Pump warranty extended In resisting a recall of the EcoBoost F-150s earlier, Ford pointed to a finding by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in the U.S. that “the vehicle remained controllable” if the pump stopped working. Ford said an extended warranty has been put in place for all vehicles in the U.S. and Canada to cover the electric vacuum pump for 10 years or 240,000 kilometers (149,000 miles). On Thursday, Ford said the decision to issue the recall now was based on the latest data on pump failures. “Our decisions are driven by the available data and we move quickly on behalf of our customers when we determine a safety recall is needed,” said spokeswoman Michelle Lee-Gracey.

Heavy Duty Trucking / May 11, 2017 PHOENIX, AZ -- As Navistar works to move past the mistakes of the past and looks ahead to the future, International Trucks’ Jeff Sass opened HDT’s inaugural Heavy Duty Trucking eXchange fleet networking conference in Phoenix this week with a peek at the future, from electric trucks to autonomous vehicles. HDTX is a new invitation-only event for select truck fleet executives co-hosted by an array of suppliers. Sass, senior vice president, North America Truck Sales and Marketing, was up front about how the company’s failed emissions compliance strategy is still affecting customers plagued with reliability issues, but forthrightly dealt with customer questions and complaints. And he pointed out that Navistar has an all-new engine, the A26, introduced at the American Trucking Associations’ Technology & Maintenance Council meeting earlier this year. “All the people involved in the MaxxForce program are gone,” he said. The 12.4-liter A26 is the first product of Navistar’s Project Alpha and was designed with drivers and uptime in mind, he said. “But connected trucks is really where the industry is headed,” Sass said. Trucks will talk to each other, to the infrastructure around them, and to their owners. Reprogramming trucks remotely and being able to do advanced prognosis on trucks, he said, are “another aspect of making it easier to drive the trucks. Because we have a significant driver shortage. “We as an industry have adopted advances in automated connected vehicle technology,” he continued, noting that advanced driver assistance systems, such as lane departure warning, collision mitigation and cameras, are making truck driving easier and safer — and, he said, “will lead at some point to autonomous, driverless trucks. “Now, do I believe that on I-10 out here at 3 o’clock in the afternoon as my wife is driving my two daughters to soccer practice that there will be a truck with no driver in it? No. But there are short-term applications where driverless will make sense.” He then offered a couple of examples: Congested intermodal ports. At the Port of Long Beach, there’s a 4-mile-long line as drivers wait to pick up containers. “Every minute that driver is in that truck goes against their hours of service,” he said. “Why can’t that line be completely autonomous, driverless, inching forward minute by minute, and as it gets to be fourth in line the driver gets an alert, hops in the truck, and saves all that time and productivity? In fleet yards. While visiting a fleet recently, he observed a driver checking in at the guard shack, then going to the fueling bay, to the wash bay, parking the trailer, then parking the truck, a process that took some 17 minutes. “Why couldn’t that driver get out at the guard desk and go to the locker room and then autonomously have that truck go to the fuel bay, go to the wash bay, park the trailer, park the truck?” Sass suggested. “No one is going to have a problem with a truck on private property operating by itself.” He said another technology on the way is electric trucks. The cost of battery storage is rapidly diminishing, he said, and right now it’s about $185 per kilowatt hour. “If we can get it down to about $100 per kilowatt hour, you will find the inflection point where electric and diesel cross. So, at 100ish dollars per kilowatt hour that’s where it will make economic sense. Elon Musk [of Tesla] says it’s going to be in three years. Most people are saying around 2025.” Platooning is a reality as far as technology goes, Sass said, but he’s not sure the commercial model is there yet. “I’ve seen it happen at our test track in New Carlisle, Indiana. Two trucks 30 feet apart from each other going at 60 mph. Doesn’t sound like that big of a deal until you’re in that trail truck. It’s really close. Really close. If it brakes or has to veer, they talk to each other, the trucks know, and it’s been very safe for us.” However, he said, “can you imagine two fleets that are competitors with one another, both on I-10 right here in Phoenix at 2 in the morning, debating who goes in front? Because the trail truck is the one that gets 90% of the benefit. So, until there’s some sort of legislation, or tax credit, or something that provides a commercial aspect to it,” that’s unlikely to happen, he contended. Looking further down the road, he said that maybe there will be cabless autonomous electric vehicles — “kind of just a battery on wheels that pulls a trailer.” Perhaps there will be remote dispatching, where autonomous trucks that go from hub to hub and autodock at hubs will be controlled by someone pushing buttons on a screen — or a hologram. But in the nearer future, he said, there’s still a role for drivers, a very important one. “With all the increases of electronics on the truck … the role of a driver is becoming more like a pilot,” he said — the pilot handles takeoff and landing, with autopilot used in between, with pilots still right there in case there’s a problem. “I was on my 47th American Airlines flight this year this morning, and I’ll tell you, I feel very comfortable walking in and seeing that there’s pilots sitting in the cockpit. I don't know that I would actually get on a plane without a pilot. There will be drivers in our trucks for a long period of time.”