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Daimler Press Release / March 27, 2017 German truck driver Friedhelm Schäfer emigrated to Finland eight years ago. Since then, he has been driving his four-axle Mercedes-Benz Arocs with a nine-axle truck/trailer combination for a Finnish lumber transport company. His daily load comprises 76 tonnes of lumber, which he transports distances of between 80 and 280 km on snowy and icy roads at minus 20°C. In tricky conditions like these, Friedhelm Schäfer really appreciates the handling, comfort and winter performance of his 630 horsepower Arocs, his trusty companion across Finland's prairies. .

Daimler Press Release / March 27, 2017 Al Khaldi Transport Group (Damman, Saudi-Arabia) orders 540 medium and heavy duty Mercedes-Benz trucks Mercedes-Benz models Actros, Atego und Accelo will be operating in energy and infrastructure sector All 540 trucks come with a full service and maintenance contract Stefan Buchner, Head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks: „It is our clear ambition at Mercedes-Benz to build trucks fulfilling highest standards and requirements delivering quality and excellence to our customers. The latest major order of approx. 540 Mercedes-Benz trucks by our standing customer Al-Khaldi Transport further proves that we succeed in our ambition. This fleet deal is also the result of our new Regional Center MENA in Dubai, which makes us even more effective in the Middle East and in North Africa – not only in sales, but also in customer services.” Dubai – For the toughest transport business you need the best trucks. That might have been the ratio for Saudi transport group Al Khaldi from Damman (Kingdom of Saudi-Arabia) to vote again for medium and heavy duty trucks from Mercedes-Benz signing a purchase order for approx. 540 units on March 23rd in Dubai. With this deal the Al Khaldi transport group increased their total fleet of Mercedes-Benz trucks to approx. 1,045 units. The Mercedes-Benz models Actros, Atego und Accelo will be operating in the energy and infrastructure sector in the Gulf region. With its extreme weather conditions the region around Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states is supposed to be the most challenging terrain for trucks on and off road. „It is our clear ambition at Mercedes-Benz to build trucks fulfilling highest standards and requirements delivering quality and excellence to our customers. The latest major order of approx. 540 Mercedes-Benz trucks by our standing customer Al-Khaldi Transport further proves that we succeed in our ambition. This fleet deal is also the result of our new Regional Center MENA in Dubai, which makes us even more effective in the Middle East and in North Africa – not only in sales, but also in customer services,” emphasized Stefan Buchner, Head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks, present at the signing in Dubai. Customized Service Package for maximum reliability Offering transport services for oil fields, construction sites and the chemical industry since 1972, the Al Khaldi Transport Group ordered the vehicles with a customized support package, including service and maintenance, comprehensive trainings for drivers and mechanical engineers and a 24/7 roadside assistance guarantee. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is a core market in the MENA region for Mercedes-Benz trucks, with more than 43,500 Mercedes-Benz trucks delivered by the local retail partner Juffali Industrial Products Company (JIIPCO) since 2002. Mercedes-Benz’ reputation builds on a long standing heritage – the brand holds a leading position in the market of heavy duty road transportation. Stronger customer focus with Regional Center DCV MENA The major Al Khaldi order is another proof for successful sales and services activities of Daimlers Regional Center Middle East North Africa (DCV MENA) located in Dubai. With its further regionalization since 2015 the business is even closer to the market beat, capitalizing on long standing product and service competence combined with the broad vehicles portfolio of Daimler Commercial Vehicles. DCV MENA sells trucks, vans and buses from the company’s brands Mercedes-Benz, FUSO and Setra. .

Two mobile devices help you to stay connected Volvo Trucks Press Release / March 27, 2017 See how easily you can combine your work and private communication with hands-free access. Welcome to Volvo Trucks system for services and infotainment. Volvo Trucks system for services and infotainment combines easier navigation and more efficient fleet management with quality audio entertainment. Learn more: https://youtu.be/XJWvlsxYHvE .

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Freightliner Trucks Press Release / March 27, 2017 . . .

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2017 Ford Super Duty Tops Three-Quarter-Ton Work Truck Challenge, Bests All Domestic and Import Truck Brands PickupTrucks.com, a Cars.com company, tested the latest three-quarter-ton work trucks from Ford, Chevrolet, Nissan and Ram, and chose the 2017 Ford F-250 Super Duty XL as the best work truck for 2017 Winning six empirical tests including acceleration and braking, and maximum horsepower and fuel economy, the 6.2-liter V8-powered Super Duty took additional points for interior layout, quality build, and convenience items like bed tie-downs and lighting features Award is the latest in a series of accolades for the all-new 2017 F-Series Super Duty by the automotive press, and highlights Ford’s yearlong #40YearsTough celebration as America’s best-selling trucks for 40 consecutive years DEARBORN, Mich., March 27, 2017 – In a year full of recognition and accolades, the all-new 2017 Ford F-Series Super Duty has won PickupTrucks.com’s three-quarter-ton work truck challenge – beating out competitors from Chevrolet, Nissan and Ram. Based on a series of empirical tests conducted at Wild Horse Pass Motorsports Park in Chandler, Arizona, the all-new F-250 Super Duty XL 4x2 outscored the competition handily. Powered by the 6.2-liter flex-fuel V8 engine mated to a heavy-duty six-speed SelectShift-G automatic transmission, Super Duty led the pack in 0-60 mph and quarter-mile acceleration, 60-0 braking, maximum horsepower and measured fuel economy. PickupTrucks.com editors also noted “Super Duty’s striking interior layout and quality materials, its numerous large and small storage spaces, top-notch acceleration and braking feel, more bed tie-downs and lighting features than the others.” The award is the latest in a series of accolades Ford’s all-new F-Series Super Duty has earned. Motor Trend named Super Duty its 2017 Truck of the Year, while the Texas Auto Writers Association placed it at the top of its class at the 13th annual Texas Truck Rodeo. The recognition highlights Ford’s yearlong celebration of F-Series as best-selling trucks in America for 40 consecutive years, and 35 years as the best-selling vehicle in America. Join the #40YearsTough celebration at www.40YearsTough.com. PickupTrucks.com’s three-quarter-ton work truck challenge can be found here. .

Ford's health plan: Slim down inventory Automotive News / March 27, 2017 Cuts in production are expected, even if it means revenue will take a hit Ford Motor Co. is determined to avoid a glut of unsold cars and trucks piling up on dealer lots by trimming production -- even if U.S. vehicle volumes are relatively healthy compared with the rest of the industry. Ford had a 78 days supply of vehicles at the end of February, down 17 days compared with a month earlier. At the start of March, all but four of the company's nameplates had seen month-over-month declines in days supply, according to the Automotive News Data Center. Ford's sales were down 2.5 percent through February. Still, CFO Bob Shanks warned analysts and investors, "don't be surprised" if Ford cuts production or temporarily idles assembly lines across North America in the coming months. It's a strategy meant to avoid bloated inventory, but will also eat into revenue. "Closing a plant down for a week or reducing a shift reduces the amount of vehicles made and therefore reduces revenue," Dave Sullivan, manager of product analysis at forecasting firm AutoPacific, told Automotive News. "That's what makes it dangerous; when you know your revenue is what you push out the door. If there is no demand, you can continue to push, and that's when bad things happen." The likeliest candidates to see added downtime will be some of Ford's car plants, including Michigan Assembly in Wayne and Cuautitlan Assembly in Mexico. Ford's overall car inventory was at 73 days supply, down from 98 the month before. That's partly because of high incentives on many car models and recent added downtime. Late in 2016, Ford temporarily shuttered five factories in North America, including its Flat Rock Assembly Plant to cut down on Mustang stock. During the first week of 2017, Ford idled its Kansas City Assembly Plant as it tried to pare down its F-150 pickup and Transit van inventory. Sullivan suggested Kansas City could be due for more cuts, although F-series inventory fell from 108 days supply at the beginning of February to 97 days supply at the start of March, and Transit inventory dropped from 97 days to 77 days supply during that same stretch. The production-cut warning came as Shanks predicted Ford's first quarter will be especially impacted because of launch costs and other expenses. Ford said last week it expects a full-year pretax profit of $9 billion, down from $10.4 billion in 2016, as it invests in autonomous cars and new mobility services. The automaker expects earnings per share of 30 cents to 35 cents in the first quarter, down from the same period last year. The automaker still expects that its 2018 financials will rise, and be higher than the $10.4 billion it earned in 2016.

U.S. attorney general: sanctuary cities may lose Justice Department grants Reuters / March 27, 2017 U.S. cities that do not cooperate with federal immigration authorities may lose millions of dollars in grant money from the Justice Department, U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions said on Monday. So-called "sanctuary cities" help illegal immigrants avoid deportation by limiting cooperation with federal agencies, often by refusing to notify U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) when they plan to release an illegal immigrant from incarceration. President Donald Trump, who made a crackdown on illegal immigration a key part of his campaign, ordered the government to cut off funding to sanctuary jurisdictions in a Jan. 25 executive order. "Failure to deport aliens who are convicted of criminal offenses puts whole communities at risk, especially immigrant communities in the very sanctuary jurisdictions that seek to protect the perpetrators," Sessions said at a White House news briefing. The Justice Department grants typically are used to help police improve crime fighting techniques, buy new equipment and assist victims of crime. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has not yet named which jurisdictions they consider to be sanctuary cities but they include New York City and Los Angeles County, which all have policies that place restrictions on cooperation between local law enforcement and federal immigration authorities. Sessions may find his ability to influence local decision-making through the Justice Department's purse to be limited, because only a fraction of the Justice Department’s grant dollars flow directly to the cities and counties that determine whether to cooperate with federal immigration agents. In the 2016 fiscal year, federal records show the Justice Department gave $1 billion to state governments and $430 million to nonprofit groups but only $136 million directly to city and county governments. Session said the Justice Department plans to award $4.1 billion in grant money in the current fiscal year. Sessions' statement drew swift pushback from New York state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who said his office would continue helping local governments "have the tools they need to protect their [illegal] immigrant communities." NO SANCTUARY STATES So far no state has adopted policies that prevent cooperation with immigration authorities. Last week, Maryland's Democratic-controlled House of Delegates approved legislation to bar police statewide from checking the immigration status of individuals they arrest or from keeping them locked up longer than otherwise warranted at the request of federal agents seeking to deport them. The state's Republican governor, Larry Hogan, has said he would veto the bill. "I strongly urge our nation's states and cities and counties to consider carefully the harm they are doing to their citizens by refusing to enforce our immigration laws and to rethink these policies," Sessions said. He gave as an example Kate Steinle, who was shot to death in San Francisco two years ago by illegal immigrant Francisco Sanchez, who had already been deported five times and had seven felony convictions. Trump also cited the Steinle case during his campaign. The city had released Sanchez from custody in another case even though immigration authorities had filed a request that he be kept in custody until they could pick him up for removal, Sessions said. San Francisco may not be affected by the new Justice Department restrictions, as the city and county did not receive any funding from the department in the most recent fiscal year. However, Sessions' order could impact other sanctuary jurisdictions. New Orleans, Philadelphia, Chicago and New York City, which were all singled out as “possibly” noncompliant by the Justice Department’s inspector general last year, collectively received $15 million in the past fiscal year for projects including crime prevention, and a missing children’s task force. According to Trump’s executive order, Sessions would have to wait until the Homeland Security Department determines what constitutes a "sanctuary city" before he could decide whether to restrict funding. DHS last week published a list of 118 cities and counties that it deems uncooperative, although the agency has not finalized the list.

Yes Bob, I'm sure Metalsa supplied Bluediamond. Macungie and New River Valley are final assembly plants.

Simply put, today's Mack is not the product of 20 years ago.

To my knowledge Bob, the same Mexican group (Metalsa) that produces frames for Volvo (and Mack) also produces the frames for the F-650/750.

MAN Truck & Bus Press Release / March 24, 2017 In January 2017, the Bocholt-based haulage firm Spedition Hillert acquired four MAN TGX 18.460, including the first TGX Efficient Line 3 produced by MAN, and its 500th MAN truck. Three quarters of the MAN branded fleet of vehicles with 96 units are semitrailer combinations of the 1st and 2nd generations of EfficientLine. Services offered by MAN, such as MAN TeleMatics, training sessions by MAN ProfiDrive and Connected CoDriver, optimise the company’s economic efficiency. MAN showcased the nine vehicles of the 2017 model year at IAA 2016, and transport efficiency has been optimised further with the 3rd generation of MAN TGX EfficientLine. Hillert Managing Director Dirk Pelster believes the vehicles delivered by MAN are the answer to the sector’s challenges: “Efficiency, sustainability, preserving the environment and reducing the consumption of diesel are issues that matter to us. We therefore believe, after our positive experiences with previous MAN models, that we will now be well-placed with the MAN TGX EfficientLine 3. For us, this is the most cost-efficient vehicle on the market.” Dennis Wirtz, Fleet Manager for Spedition Hillert, sees a clear savings potential in the services offered by MAN: “Driver training by MAN ProfiDrive has provided us with a fuel saving of around 5%. The result of individual driver training by MAN Connected CoDriver are excellent consumption values. What is more, MAN TeleMatics is also very useful for assessing economic efficiency, drafting reports and managing the fleet of vehicles.” The haulage firm has been relying on this tool since the introduction of MAN Telematics in 2002, and has equipped the entire fleet of 96 vehicles with it. A look back to 2010: MAN described their commitment to increasing transport efficiency with the slogan “Consistently efficient”, in order to optimise the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of hauliers. Since the introduction of the MAN TGX EfficientLine semitrailer combinations in 2011, MAN has continuously developed the product further and showcased the third generation at IAA 2016. The high-torque MAN D26 CommonRail engine, optimisations in aerodynamics and the combined TCO-supporting assistance systems EfficientCruise and EfficientRoll all contribute to making the EfficientLine 3 both more powerful in its performance and torque, but simultaneously also more economical than its predecessors. The production of vehicles for the 2017 model year with a new external and internal design and the Euro 6 driveline, optimised for any application, began at MAN’s production facilities in January 2017. Hillert GmbH & Co. KG, a medium-sized haulage firm based in Bocholt, was founded in 1953 and has been on the move with semitrailer combination and swapbody transport since 1962. MAN’s vehicles have been part of the fleet since the early 1980s; prior to this, it was Büssing that supplied the vehicles. In 2017, Hillert put into service its 500th MAN vehicle. The fleet currently has 96 units. The haulage firm also has a workshop and a truck washing station. MAN Story on the use of the 1st MAN TGX EfficientLine 3 by Spedition Hillert on Youtube .

Scania Group Press Release / March 24, 2017 By 2020, Scania will globally utilise fossil free electricity wherever possible. This is Scania’s pledge for Earth Hour 2017. All electricity supplied for its operations in Denmark, France, Norway, Poland and Sweden is already fossil free. Scania’s efforts in driving the shift towards sustainable transport systems is about developing smart and energy-efficient transport solutions, but also about streamlining the company’s own energy usage. ”Scania itself must be a forerunner in this shift. We place high demands on our suppliers to adhere to the highest environmental standards and deploy new and innovative technology. Many of our customers also have ambitious environmental targets,” says Anders Williamsson, Executive Vice President and Head of Purchasing, Scania. Switching to fossil free energy leads to a significant reduction of the carbon emissions for a manufacturing company of Scania’s magnitude. Scania’s commitment however, is not limited to its production sites but includes all operations, not the least the hundreds of Scania workshops. In Scandinavia, the energy supplied to Scania is primarily sourced from hydroelectric power plants. In France and Poland, wind and solar power is most common. In countries without deregulated energy markets, Scania is unable to procure fossil free electricity. In these countries Scania will use available alternatives for carbon offsetting. Scania’s goal is to conclude the shift to fossil free electricity by 2020 in all countries where these alternatives exist. At present, 79 percent of the electricity Scania purchases or generates internally derives from fossil free sources. Countries that are next in line to switch to 100% fossil free electricity are, among others, Italy, Netherlands and the UK.

Volvo Trucks Press Release / March 24, 2017 In traffic limited visibility compromises safety, both for drivers and other road users. This is why we design our cabs to minimise distractions and offer maximum visibility. .

Volvo Trucks Press Release / March 24, 2017 With just a push of a button, Volvo Trucks’ night mode makes it safer and easier to drive at night. Night mode instantly improves visibility and helps drivers to focus on the road. Limited visibility compromises safety. Therefore, we design our cabs to minimise distractions and offer maximum visibility. .

Inge's Milk Run | Driver's Day | Episode One Scania Group Press Release / March 24, 2017 In the first episode of our new series, we visit Norwegian driver Inge Råheim as he makes the morning milk run in his Scania R580 V8, visiting dairy farms throughout the picturesque Sunnfjord region of Western Norway. .

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C'mon, you've heard G.W. Bush speak behind the podium. Though I didn't care for his performance as president, I don't want to knock him. However, an accomplished speaker he is not. I myself have never heard anyone describe Reagan as a simpleton.