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Wrightspeed, Ratto Group introduce range-extended electric refuse truck Green Car Congress / November 2, 2016 Wrightspeed, the leading manufacturer of range-extended electric vehicle (REV) powertrains for heavy-duty applications, and The Ratto Group, a Santa Rosa, California-based refuse, yard waste and recycling collection and processing company, unveiled the first commercial application of a range-extended electric refuse truck. Ratto and Wrightspeed will roll out 15 Route-equipped trucks—retrofits of trucks in Ratto’s fleet—over the next 12 months to meet community needs. With the support of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, communities in Sonoma and surrounding counties will be serviced by a fleet of clean, quiet trucks from The Ratto Group, powered by Wrightspeed’s range-extended powertrain, The Route. (Earlier post.) Designed to deliver economic, environmental and performance benefits in both OEM-installed new vehicles and existing fleet retrofits, The Route is a scalable solution that has been recognized by The State of California for its ability to help meet progressive climate and air quality mandates. Wrightspeed was awarded $7 million in grants by the California Energy Commission to further develop the technology for broad-based adoption. In a business that puts a premium on re-use, this represents the ultimate in recycling. We’re literally recycling the recycling truck. By integrating Wrightspeed’s powertrains into our existing commercial fleet, we’re initiating a progressive solid waste and recyclables collection strategy that will maximize the life of our vehicles, cut fuel consumption and emissions, and have a positive environmental impact on our service areas. —Lou Ratto, Ratto Group COO The Wrightspeed Route is a Range-extended Electric Vehicle (REV) powertrain designed for original or retrofit applications that can be customized to fit a variety of heavy-duty platforms, replacing the engine, the transmission and the differential systems. The Route electric powertrain drives more low-end torque to the wheels than conventional diesel engines, with less fuel, less emissions, and less noise. The on-board microturbine generator, the Fulcrum, is fuel-agnostic. The Wrightspeed range-extended electric powertrain is optimized for heavy-duty frequent-stop drive cycles. Wrightspeed designed its own motor, motor controller, clutchless transmission, and vehicle dynamics software (the Wrightspeed GTD drive system), as well as the Fulcrum. The Wrightspeed GTD features a four-speed clutchless gearbox using software controls in place of heavy and complex traditional transmission components, saving on weight while delivering an exceptional range of power and speed. In June, at WasteExpo2016, Mack Trucks showcased one of its LR model refuse trucks fitted with a Route 1000 powertrain. Capable of powering vehicles weighing up to 66,000 pounds up grades as steep as 40%, the Route provides the refuse market with the power-to-weight ratio needed for collection duty cycles. (Earlier post.) Outfitted with 730 kW regenerative braking power, as well as an 80 kW Fulcrum, the powertrain kit gives the vehicles unlimited range with refueling. The company’s patented Geared Traction Drive (GTD) digitally drives each rear wheel of the vehicle, providing the slip control needed to operate in tough road conditions. The Ratto Group’s fleet of refuse, recycling and compostable yard waste trucks services over 140,000 customers in Sonoma County, Mariposa County, the City of Novato, and West Marin. .

Wrightspeed, Ratto Group Launch Electric Refuse Truck Waste 360 / November 2, 2016 The Route is the first commercial application of a range-extended electric refuse truck. Wrightspeed and The Ratto Group unveiled The Route, the first commercial application of a range-extended electric refuse truck, at a press conference in Sonoma County, Calif., yesterday. With The Route and backing of the Sonoma County Board of Supervisors, communities throughout Sonoma County and neighboring counties will be serviced by a clean and quiet fleet of trucks. “[The unveiling] is a milestone for Sonoma County in terms of improving local air quality and upholding environmental standards,” said Sonoma County Chairman of the Board Efren Carrillo in a press release. “As a government entity, we have led with innovative programs to reduce greenhouse gases, such as the Sonoma County Energy Independence Program, Sonoma Clean Power and Evergreen, a nationally recognized Green Fleet, the Water Agency’s Carbon Free Water program and our Regional Climate Protection Authority. Sonoma County citizens have shown their high interest and support for innovative solutions that benefit our greenhouse gas reduction goals. We applaud Wrightspeed and The Ratto Group for their commitment to innovation and for blazing a path for the future of solid and compostable waste, as well as recycling in Sonoma County and beyond.” The Route, which has been recognized by the State of California for its ability to help meet progressive climate and air-quality mandates, is designed to deliver economic, environmental and performance benefits in both OEM-installed new vehicles and existing fleet retrofits. “As an early adopter of our powertrain technology, Lou Ratto has solidified Sonoma County as a leader in pioneering new technologies that will improve and preserve the region for future generations,” said Wrightspeed Founder and CEO Ian Wright in a press release. “We’re proud to collaborate with Lou and his team and to establish our powertrain technology as the economical and environmental choice for cleaner, quieter and more efficient communities. Currently, Ratto’s fleet of refuse, recycling and compostable yard waste trucks services more than 140,000 customers throughout Sonoma County, Mariposa County, the City of Novato and West Marlin. And to meet community needs, Ratto and Wrightspeed are rolling out more than 15 Route trucks over the next 12 months. “In a business that puts a premium on reuse, this represents the ultimate in recycling. We’re literally recycling the recycling truck,” said The Ratto Group Chief Operating Officer Lou Ratto in a press release. “By integrating Wrightspeed’s powertrains into our existing commercial fleet, we’re initiating a progressive solid waste and recyclables collection strategy that will maximize the life of our vehicles, cut fuel consumption and emissions and have a positive environmental impact on our service areas.” Additionally, Wrightspeed was awarded $7 million in grants by the California Energy Commission to further develop technology for broad-based adaption of The Route. .

And the serviceable 1RY torque rods don't supercede to a non-serviceable torque rod, per the current Volvo Group Mack brand parts system. Euclid..............https://www.meritorpartsonline.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/CategoryDisplay?urlRequestType=Base&catalogId=10051&categoryId=56021&pageView=detailed&urlLangId=-1&beginIndex=0&langId=-1&top_category=10001&parent_category_rn=10397&storeId=10154 Something like the TR20005, TR20009 or TR21014? ..................http://www.atrobushing.com/category/truck-torque-rod/

Secret Recordings Fueled FBI Feud in Clinton Probe The Wall Street Journal / November 2, 2016 Agents thought they had enough material to merit aggressively pursuing investigation into Clinton Foundation Secret recordings of a suspect talking about the Clinton Foundation fueled an internal battle between FBI agents who wanted to pursue the case and corruption prosecutors who viewed the statements as worthless hearsay. Agents, using informants and recordings from unrelated corruption investigations, thought they had found enough material to merit aggressively pursuing the investigation into the foundation that started in summer 2015 based on claims made in a book by a conservative author called “Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich.” The account of the case and resulting dispute comes from interviews with officials at multiple agencies. Starting in February and continuing today, investigators from the FBI and public-corruption prosecutors became increasingly frustrated with each other. At the center of the tension stood the U.S. attorney for Brooklyn, Robert Capers, who some at the FBI came to view as exacerbating the problems by telling each side what it wanted to hear. The roots of the dispute lie in a disagreement over the strength of the case, which broadly centered on whether Clinton Foundation contributors received favorable treatment from the State Department under Hillary Clinton. Senior officials in the Justice Department and the FBI didn’t think much of the evidence, while investigators believed they had promising leads their bosses wouldn’t let them pursue. These details on the probe are emerging amid the continuing furor surrounding FBI Director James Comey’s disclosure to Congress that new emails had emerged that could be relevant to a separate, previously closed FBI investigation of Mrs. Clinton’s email arrangement while she was secretary of state. Amid the internal finger-pointing on the Clinton Foundation matter, some have blamed the FBI’s No. 2 official, deputy director Andrew McCabe, claiming he sought to stop agents from pursuing the case this summer. His defenders deny that, and say it was the Justice Department that kept pushing back on the investigation. At times, people on both sides of the dispute thought Mr. Capers agreed with them. Defenders of Mr. Capers said he was straightforward and always told people he thought the case wasn’t strong. Much of the skepticism toward the case came from how it started—with the publication of a book suggesting possible financial misconduct and self-dealing surrounding the Clinton charity. The author of that book, Peter Schweizer—a former speechwriting consultant for President George W. Bush—was interviewed multiple times by FBI agents. Mr. Schweizer said in an interview that the book was never meant to be a legal document, but set out to describe “patterns of financial transactions that circled around decisions Hillary Clinton was making as secretary of state.” As 2015 came to a close, the FBI and Justice Department had a general understanding that neither side would take major action on Clinton Foundation matters without meeting and discussing it first. In February, a meeting was held in Washington among FBI officials, public-integrity prosecutors and Leslie Caldwell, the head of the Justice Department’s criminal division. Prosecutors from the Eastern District of New York—Mr. Capers’ office—didn’t attend. The public-integrity prosecutors weren’t impressed with the FBI presentation. “The message was, ‘We’re done here.’ ” Justice Department officials became increasingly frustrated that the FBI agents seemed to be disregarding or disobeying their instructions. Following the February meeting, officials at Justice Department headquarters sent a message to all the FBI offices involved to “stand down.’ Within the FBI, some felt they had moved well beyond the allegations made in the anti-Clinton book. At least two confidential informants from other public-corruption investigations had provided details about the Clinton Foundation to the FBI. The FBI had secretly recorded conversations of a suspect in a public-corruption case talking about alleged deals the Clintons made. The agents listening to the recordings couldn’t tell from the conversations if what the suspect was describing was accurate, but it was, they thought, worth checking out. Prosecutors thought the talk was hearsay and a weak basis to warrant aggressive tactics, like presenting evidence to a grand jury, because the person who was secretly recorded wasn’t inside the Clinton Foundation. FBI investigators grew increasingly frustrated with resistance from the corruption prosecutors, and some executives at the bureau itself, to keep pursuing the case. As prosecutors rebuffed their requests to proceed more overtly, those Justice Department officials became more annoyed that the investigators didn’t seem to understand or care about the instructions issued by their own bosses and prosecutors to act discreetly. In subsequent conversations with the Justice Department, Mr. Capers told officials in Washington that the FBI agents on the case “won’t let it go.” As a result of those complaints, a senior Justice Department official [Attorney General Loretta Lynch?] called the FBI deputy director, Mr. McCabe, on Aug. 12 to say the agents in New York seemed to be disregarding or disobeying their instructions. The conversation was a tense one, and at one point Mr. McCabe asked, “Are you telling me that I need to shut down a validly predicated investigation?’’ The senior Justice Department official replied: ”Of course not.”

Fed flags US rate rise as early as December The Financial Times / November 2, 2016 Central bank keeps benchmark unchanged days before presidential election The Federal Reserve signalled that an increase in short-term interest rates is in prospect as soon as its next meeting amid a pick-up in inflation, even as it held rates unchanged on Wednesday. The US central bank kept the target range for its benchmark rate at 0.25 per cent to 0.5 per cent as it avoided stirring up markets just days ahead of the presidential election. But in its post-meeting statement, the central bank reiterated that the case for a rise has “continued to strengthen”, adding that it was now just waiting for “some” further evidence of progress before pulling the trigger. The Fed’s next meeting — its final of the year — is on December 13-14. US stocks extended their losses after the Fed announcement while US Treasuries were little changed. The Fed dropped previous language that predicted inflation would stay low in the near term, saying that it expects a pick-up of price growth after the inflation rate increased somewhat since earlier this year. The Fed has now held rates steady for seven straight meetings as political uncertainty and mixed economic data stay policymakers’ hands. However, a growing contingent of policymakers has been agitating for a second rate increase since December’s rise, fretting that the central bank risks allowing the economy to get too hot and subsequently being forced to tighten more aggressively. By saying in its new statement that it only needed “some” further evidence before lifting rates, the Fed signalled that it was getting closer to lifting. Two members of the Federal Open Market Committee dissented in favour of an immediate increase — regional Fed presidents Esther George of Kansas City and Loretta Mester of Cleveland. Eric Rosengren, who had dissented at the Fed’s last meeting, fell in line with the rest of the committee in opting to hold fire. Traders have long seen a move on Wednesday as unlikely, as they assumed the US central bank will not risk roiling global markets with an unexpected rate increase less than a week ahead of the presidential election. But economic data leading up to this week’s meeting have been solid, with Gross Domestic Product growing at an annualised 2.9 per cent pace in the third quarter and monthly payroll employment growth averaging 178,000 so far this year. Janet Yellen, the Fed chair, argued in September that the labour market recovery had further room to run as she justified the central bank’s decision not to tighten policy, but she suggested a move was not a long way off. Even if the Fed does lift rates in December, it would still represent a glacial pace of tightening compared with previous recoveries. In December of last year policymakers were predicting four upward moves in 2016. Markets now expect a single, quarter-point rise in December. According to CME Group data before Wednesday’s decision, traders were putting the chances of a December increase at just under 70 per cent. A key risk ahead is the US election. If Donald Trump were to win next week, academic research suggests the victory could trigger a sell-off in financial markets. That would create fresh uncertainty as to the timing of the Fed’s next move.

The Guardian / November 2, 2016 Tablet that ‘switches off’ production of toxic amyloid proteins could be first treatment licensed in a decade if it is also shown to slow mental decline An Alzheimer’s drug has been shown to successfully target the most visible sign of the disease in the brain, raising hopes that an effective treatment could be finally within reach. A small trial of the drug was primarily aimed at assessing safety, but the findings suggest it effectively “switched off” the production of toxic amyloid proteins that lead to the sticky plaques seen in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. If the tablet, produced by pharmaceutical giant Merck, is also shown to slow the pace of mental decline – a crucial question that a major clinical trial should answer when it reports next year – it could be the first treatment for Alzheimer’s to be licensed in more than a decade. Prof John Hardy, a neuroscientist at UCL who first proposed that amyloid proteins play a central role in Alzheimer’s disease, welcomed the results. “People are excited,” he said. “This is a very nice drug and I’m sure Merck are feeling very pleased with themselves.” Matt Kennedy, who led the trial at Merck, said: “Today there are very limited therapeutic options available for people with Alzheimer’s disease, and those that exist provide only short-term improvement to the cognitive and functional symptoms. They do not directly target the underlying disease processes. There is an urgent need for [these].” How BACE1 blocking drug could reduce toxic proteins in Alzheimer's patients The new therapy is designed to do this by halting the steady production of amyloid-beta proteins, which are known to clump together in sticky plaques in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients. A leading theory of Alzheimer’s is that the accumulating proteins kill off healthy neurons, eventually leading to memory loss, cognitive decline and changes to personality. Kennedy said it was too early to predict when a drug might reach the market if the next step is successful. “We are eagerly awaiting the results of the phase three clinical trials,” he said. “It is premature to speculate on availability.” In the trial, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine on Wednesday, 32 patients with early stage Alzheimer’s disease were given the drug, called verubecestat, daily for seven days. Healthy volunteers were also given the drug for up to two weeks. This was not long enough to show visible changes to the accumulation of plaques in the brain, by MRI scans for instance. However, samples taken from the fluid surrounding the brain showed the drug had reduced the levels of two compounds that are known to be the building blocks for abnormal amyloid proteins. Hardy said that the changes to the biomarkers convince him that the drug is successfully targeting the buildup of plaques in the brain. The real remaining uncertainty, he said, was whether this would convert into cognitive benefits for patients. “What we have to be worried about is that the plaques have set off other pathologies - that it is too late,” he said. The drug works by blocking a brain enzyme called BACE1, which fuels the production of two small molecules that link together to form amyloids. Mutations in genes related to BACE1 have been found in people who appear to be protected against Alzheimer’s disease. There have been previous attempts to develop drugs that inhibit BACE1, but these have mostly failed due to unacceptable side-effects, such as liver toxicity and eye problems. The Merck drug appears to have very few side-effects and it will be the first of its kind to make it into a large efficacy trial. The company is running two phase three trials, in 1,500 patients with mild to moderate Alzheimer’s and in another 2,000 patients in the earliest stage of the disease. The results of the first of these are due to be reported in July 2017. There are 850,000 people with dementia in Britain, and this figure is expected to reach one million by 2025. Alzheimer’s is the most common form of the condition. Rosa Sancho, head of research at Alzheimer’s Research UK, welcomed the findings, adding that the Merck drug is one of several that are heading into the final stages of clinical testing. “There is a wave of potential new treatments currently being tested for dementia, with the results of these studies hotly anticipated over the course of the coming months and years,” she said. Competing drugs include one developed by the biotech firm Biogen, which reported promising results in August and which also targets the plaques. The Biogen drug aims to sweep the proteins away once they appear rather than halting the production of proteins in the first place, however. “With us, it’s a question of switching off the tap. With them it’s mopping up the water,” said Ian McConnell, a spokesman for Merck. Hardy suggested that Merck’s drug is likely to be far cheaper and easier to produce than the Biogen therapy, which involves injecting patients with antibodies.

Malaysia to buy navy vessels from China in blow to U.S. Bloomberg / November 2, 2016 Malaysia said it will buy at least four littoral naval Ships from China, as Prime Minister Najib Razak announced “new steps” in military cooperation between the two countries. A key security partner of the U.S., Malaysia undertook its first bilateral military exercise with China two years ago amid increasing uncertainty over Beijing’s territorial ambitions in the South China Sea. China’s claims to more than 80 percent of the waters that host around $5 trillion of trade a year were rebuffed by an international court in July. China has been Malaysia’s largest trading partner since 2009, with two-way trade last year valued at $86.3 billion. Nearly two years since Najib enjoyed a cozy round of golf with U.S. President Barack Obama, the two leaders’ close relationship was shaken in July by a U.S. Justice Department bid to seize $1 billion linked to alleged money laundering involving a Malaysian state fund known as 1MDB. The lawsuits allege over $3.5 billion was misappropriated from 1MDB, some of which ended up with a 'Malaysian Official 1,' identified later by U.S. and Malaysian authorities as Najib. Najib said that former colonial powers should not lecture nations they once exploited on their internal affairs, in a veiled attack on the West as he looks to strengthen ties with China. His visit to Beijing follows that of Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte, who announced a "separation" from the United States and signed a raft of memoranda of understanding for Chinese investment in the country. Najib said that larger countries should treat smaller countries fairly. "And this includes former colonial powers. It is not for them to lecture countries they once exploited on how to conduct their own internal affairs today," Najib said. "The truth is we could have bought these from a number of countries. But China is the only country that has provided political support for Malaysia during the 1MDB scandal. This is payback for that political support," said Najib.

Leaked emails reveal cast of Clinton’s courtiers The Financial Times / November 2, 2016 Correspondence offers clues to who might be in — and out — of a Democratic White House A stream of leaked campaign emails and a new FBI probe into Hillary Clinton’s private server have brought the 2016 presidential campaign to a virtual tie in some polls just one week before the election. Those emails, released by WikiLeaks, expose a cast of acolytes scrambling to head off damaging political fallout for the Democratic candidate while vying for influence inside the sprawling Clinton world. So who are these Clinton courtiers and what role would they play in any Democratic White House? Huma Abedin: the protector For years, political observers have wondered what role Huma Abedin, Mrs Clinton’s longtime aide, actually plays in her world, and whether she could be a candidate for chief-of-staff should Mrs Clinton be elected. Now, thanks to the hacked emails, as well as emails released from Mrs Clinton’s private email server, they have their answer. A near constant fixture by Mrs Clinton’s side, Ms Abedin plays the role of the Democratic nominee’s back-office, managing requests and acting as her first protector while staying out of the way of policy decisions. The renewed scrutiny of Ms Abedin and her estranged husband that has come on the back of the new FBI probe does not help her chances of becoming chief of staff though. While some aides are at times willing to criticise Mrs Clinton, Ms Abedin appears not to be one of them. When others advised that Bill Clinton should cancel a paid speech scheduled around the time that Mrs Clinton was to announce her presidential bid, Ms Abedin said she would tell Mrs Clinton that it was her husband’s decision to pull out, shielding her from the fact her former aides were going behind her back. “HRC very strongly did not want him to cancel that particular speech,” Ms Abedin, wrote, using Mrs Clinton’s initials. “I will have to tell her that [former president Clinton] chose to cancel it, not that we asked.” John Podesta: the realist The unwitting star of his own hacked emails, Mrs Clinton’s campaign chairman comes off much the way he does in the political arena: a dry-witted and no-drama political veteran with little motive to climb any higher in the Clinton world — or grab any more of the spotlight. In a universe dominated equally by sycophants and back-stabbers, Mr Podesta appears frank and realistic about Mrs Clinton’s flaws as a candidate, while remaining loyal to her. When there was talk of Mrs Clinton not taking any questions from the press duriing the summer of 2015 — the time when news of her private email server broke — Mr Podesta pushed back. “If she thinks we can get to Labor Day without taking press questions, I think that’s suicidal. We have to find some mechanism to let the steam out of the pressure cooker,” he wrote. Donald Trump has said he would dismiss Mr Podesta for the content of the emails if he were his own chief of staff. “I would say: John, you’re fired!’” Mr Trump told a rally on Tuesday night. Mrs Clinton, meanwhile, is reportedly looking to keep Mr Podesta on as White House chief of staff if elected, a job Mr Podesta also performed for her husband. Neera Tanden: the truth teller One of Mrs Clinton’s longtime policy advisers, Neera Tanden has long been a public surrogate and defender of Mrs Clinton on panels and television programmes. In the hacked emails, however, a starkly different profile of Ms Tanden emerges, as one of the few people in the Clinton world calling the candidate and her campaign the way she sees it, in the most blunt and biting terms. In one email, Ms Tanden suggested that the person who had come up with the idea for Mrs Clinton’s private email server should be “drawn and quartered”. In another, she declared that Mrs Clinton’s inability to apologise was “her Achilles heel”. When Mr Podesta suggested that it might have been Cheryl Mills, Mrs Clinton’s former chief of staff, who had greenlighted the private server idea, Ms Tanden responded: “I’m reading [Hilary Mantel’s] Wolf Hall. There is something to be said for the power of torture,” she deadpanned. While her emails make for fun reading, they may hurt Ms Tanden’s chances at securing a senior position in a Clinton White House. Robby Mook: the rising star Mrs Clinton’s campaign manager, Mr Mook, 36, is one of the youngest players in the Clinton world — but is also largely seen as one of its best additions and a reason that Mrs Clinton has fared better in the 2016 race than she did in the 2008 primary. Like Mr Podesta, Mr Mook is seen as low-drama and a voice of reason, something that comes out in Mr Podesta’s hacked emails. It was Mr Mook who pushed for Mr Clinton to cancel a paid Wall Street speech right before the campaign’s roll out and who initially argued that Mrs Clinton should not take any donations from people who worked as lobbyists for foreign governments. (He eventually relented when others on the campaign pushed back.) Like Ms Tanden, Mr Mook also had issues with Ms Mills, particularly when Ms Mills launched a cryptic internal investigation of the Clinton campaign. “What she is doing isn’t improving anything. It is secretly going around a transparent system we all agreed upon,” he complained to Mr Podesta. “…The secret shit has to stop.” Philippe Reines: the backroom guy A former senior adviser to Mrs Clinton while she was at the state department, Philippe Reines has not taken on an official position during her 2016 campaign. However, he continues to play an important role behind the scenes. In Mrs Clinton’s debate preparations, Mr Reines has played the role of Mr Trump and in recent days he has travelled with Mrs Clinton while Ms Abedin has stayed behind in the wake of the new FBI investigation. It was Mr Reines’ idea that Mrs Clinton’s team launch something called “Transparency Day”, one email shows. Yet in another email, Ms Tanden warned that Mr Reines was “going off the rails”, pointing to a drawn-out exchange he had entered into with Gawker, the now defunct media outlet. Donna Brazile: the casualty The former campaign manager for Al Gore in 2000, Donna Brazile has been one of the hardest hit by the release of the hacked Podesta emails. In October, Ms Brazile resigned from CNN, where she had served as one of the network’s political commentators, after it emerged that she had shared information with the Clinton campaign ahead of a CNN Democratic primary debate. “One of the questions directed to HRC tomorrow is from a woman with a rash,” Ms Brazile wrote to Clinton aides in March. “Her family has lead poison and she will ask what, if anything, will Hillary do as president to help the [people] of Flint.” CNN has severed ties with Ms Brazile, but she remains the interim head of the Democratic National Committee after former chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz resigned because she too was perceived as being too close to the Clinton campaign, something that emerged in a different set of hacked emails. .

RT / November 2, 2016 The US will have to negotiate with Russia on finding solutions to international issues as no state is now able to act alone, the Russian foreign minister said, adding that problems in bilateral relations began to mount long before the Ukrainian crisis broke out in 2014. The international community should not play by Washington’s rules despite the US being a great power, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Wednesday, referring to a recent statement by President Vladimir Putin. “Two or three months ago US President Barack Obama said it is they who set the rules,” Lavrov said. “If our American partners think so, they will go through quite painful periods of realizing [the fact] that no one in this world could act alone any longer,” he added. Both Washington and Moscow are destined “to negotiate anyway,” the foreign minister said, adding “the sooner it happens, the better.” US-Russia relations are now at their lowest point since the Cold War. Lavrov added that, contrary to widespread opinion, the problems did not surface overnight, but rather began long before the 2014 ‘Euromaidan’ coup in Ukraine that toppled the elected president, Viktor Yanukovich. “[The problems] emerged when the US saw … President Putin restoring independence in our foreign policy,” Lavrov said. The Russian president’s course, Lavrov emphasized, implies taking into consideration partners’ interests but “not lining up after a leader who is confident of his exceptionalism.”

Reuters / November 2, 2016 Volkswagen's supervisory board will hold an extraordinary meeting on Friday, Nov. 4, to consult on a wide-ranging restructuring of the carmaker. Management and labour leaders are seeking to agree on cost cuts and investments that will form part of the German carmaker's efforts to revive its fortunes more than a year after the diesel emissions scandal broke. Two weeks before the supervisory board is scheduled to ratify spending plans for the multi-brand group through 2021, the sheer number of issues facing the 20-member panel on Nov. 18 made the extraordinary meeting necessary. Europe's largest carmaker is under pressure to make cuts at high-cost operations in Germany to help to pay for a shift to electric cars and autonomous driving while still dealing with billions of euros in costs for the emissions scandal. Herbert Diess, head of Volkswagen's (VW) namesake brand, wants to cut annual costs at the troubled division by 3.7 billion euros ($4.11 billion) through 2021 in a so-called future pact with workers [Merely scratching the surface]. But VW's powerful works council* [union], whose members occupy almost half the seats on the supervisory board, have said they will support cut backs without a commitment from management to fixed targets and quotas for products, output and investment. [In today’s auto world, nothing can be “fixed”......every new day is evolving]. When announcing VW's post-dieselgate transformation plan in June, Chief Executive Matthias Mueller said the overhaul would require a double-digit billion amount of investment, funded by an efficiency drive aimed at delivering around 8 billion euros in annual savings. VW's two profit engines Audi and Porsche, will be under particular pressure to cut costs. * VW Group is the most inefficient "car" manufacturer in the world, all due to Germany's social welfare policies and its co-determination act of 1976 (Mitbestimmungsgesetz) which requires that half the seats on a company's board be held by Works Council (union) members (companies with over 2,000 employees).

Philippines' Duterte rails at U.S. 'monkeys' for halting gun sale Reuters / November 2, 2016 Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte chided the United States on Wednesday for halting the planned sale of 26,000 rifles to his country. U.S. State Department spokesman John Kirby said he regarded Duterte's latest salvo as "inexplicably at odds with the close relationship that we continue to have with not just the Filipino people, but the Filipino government." The State Department halted the sale of the assault rifles to the Philippine police after staff from U.S. Senator Ben Cardin's office said he would oppose it. Aides said Cardin, the top Democrat on the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee, was reluctant for the United States to provide the weapons given concern about human rights violations in the Philippines during Duterte's bloody, four-month-old war on drugs. "Look at these monkeys, the 26,000 firearms we wanted to buy, they don't want to sell," Duterte said. "Son of a bitch, we have many homemade guns here. These American fools." "They're blackmailing me that they won't sell weapons? We have lots of explosives here," Duterte said. " remember what the Russian diplomat said: Come to Russia, we all have here anything you need." More than 2,300 people [drug dealers and buyers] have been killed in police operations or by suspected vigilantes as part of Duterte's anti-narcotics effort, which was the linchpin of his election campaign. Duterte has vented his anger at the United States for raising concerns about the extrajudicial killings. "That's why I was rude at them, because they were rude at me," he said. The Philippine police chief, Ronald dela Rosa, said if the arms sale does not go ahead, "We have many options and it's their loss, not ours, if the report is true." Duterte reiterated that Russia and China had shown willingness to sell arms to the Philippines. "Russia, they are inviting us. China also. China is open, anything you want, they sent me brochure saying we select there, we'll give you.”

Aging Pipelines Raise Concerns The Wall Street Journal / November 2, 2016 More than 60% of U.S. fuel pipelines were built before 1970, according to federal figures. Recent disruptions on Colonial Pipeline Co.’s fuel artery running up the East Coast show why some energy observers worry that this is a problem. The pipeline, which began operating fully in 1964, was partially shut down for nearly two weeks in September. Fuel prices spiked throughout the Southeast, rising more than 20 cents a gallon in places like Atlanta. Motorists this week began to worry again after the company’s main gasoline pipeline, which supplies about a third of the gas consumed on the East Coast, was shut down. It was struck by construction equipment Monday, killing one person and injuring several others. The company has said the 5,500-mile pipeline, which runs from Houston to New Jersey and serves 13 states, could restart as soon as Saturday, though as of Wednesday afternoon the pipeline was still on fire. Gasoline futures fell 2.4%, to $1.4479 a gallon, on the New York Mercantile Exchange Wednesday after rising as much as 15% following the Colonial explosion. Colonial isn’t the only major pipeline constructed decades ago. That includes a 3,000-mile fuel pipeline that first opened in 1956 and serves California, Texas and five other states. Another system that now carries fuel more than 1,800 miles from the Gulf Coast to the Chicago area opened in 1971. Building pipelines has become harder amid opposition from landowners and environmental groups concerned about pipeline safety and stemming fossil-fuel development. Kinder Morgan Inc. had plans to build a new fuel pipeline from South Carolina to Jacksonville, Fla., by 2017. But it shelved the project after running into opposition, including legislation in Georgia aimed at keeping it from being built. Carl Weimer, executive director of the advocacy group Pipeline Safety Trust, said fuel pipeline systems can operate safely for decades if they are well maintained. But after 40 or 50 years, problems like corrosion increase. “Clearly, operators don’t have a complete handle on how to operate these older pipelines,” Mr. Weimer said, referring to maintenance issues that get harder as systems age. Companies, industry groups and even regulators have said that with advances in pipeline monitoring and repair techniques, as well as regular maintenance and inspection, pipelines can last a long time. Colonial’s pipeline carries more than 100 million gallons of fuel a day. Its role as a critical link between refiners on the Gulf Coast and consumers up and down the Atlantic Coast means that any problem on the pipeline can have an outsize impact on fuel supplies and prices at the pump. Most other regions that rely on pipelines to deliver fuel from far-flung refiners are located near a second system that could deliver fuel as a fallback. “If a pipeline from Los Angeles to Las Vegas goes down, there’s some capability to supply Las Vegas from Salt Lake City,” said David Hackett, president of consulting firm Stillwater Associates. Colonial Pipeline has spent more than $95 million on an upgrade that has allowed the pipeline to carry more than 200,000 additional barrels a day since 2011. But the company would need to expand its capacity by another 300,000 to 500,000 barrels a day to meet demand, Chief Financial Officer Dave Doudna said in a 2015 interview. He said that would require a new pipeline, which would cost more than a billion dollars and face large regulatory hurdles. “The permitting process takes a long time, the cost to build is expensive. And what you end up finding is that customers aren’t willing, or have not been willing to commit, for a period of 10 to 15 years,” he said. “I would say a lot of it is the regulatory environment we’re living in today.” Finding customers to underwrite the cost of a big investment like a pipeline is a challenge for the infrastructure industry broadly, said Rob Thummel, portfolio manager for energy-focused asset manager Tortoise Capital Advisors. In places like the Northeast, which can also take in fuel from overseas or waterborne shipments from the Gulf Coast in a pinch, customers aren’t always willing to lock in long-term contracts. Some customers worry that demand will change in the coming years or imports could become more attractive. “It’s not just, ‘Build it and they will come,’ ” he said. “You need a committed partner who is committed to pay the toll, not just for a year or two, but at least 10 years.” By contrast, more than 20,000 miles of new crude-oil pipelines have been built in the past decade, and natural-gas pipeline infrastructure has expanded as well, as production from U.S. shale formations increased rapidly, though these projects are also facing opposition. But the pipes that carry gasoline, diesel and other fuels haven’t experienced the same growth, because fuel demand isn’t rising everywhere and because some run through more populated areas than where crude is drilled and face more public resistance. .

Associated Press / November 2, 2016 Attorney General Loretta Lynch is facing a federal lawsuit to give details of a meeting she had with Bill Clinton days before she was to decide on his wife's fate. The meeting in June was barely a week before the Justice Department which she heads dropped its probe into Hillary Clinton's private email server. The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ) filed the lawsuit against the Department of Justice in Washington on Wednesday demanding more information about the meeting, which led to Lynch stepping aside from the server investigation. As head of the Department of Justice, Lynch was supposed to be deciding whether to proceed with charging Hillary Clinton over her unauthorized server arrangements while she was secretary of state. But she met with the Democrat's husband on June 27 on the tarmac of the Phoenix Sky Harbor International airport, Arizona. Bill Clinton delayed his flight's departure in order to meet with Lynch. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ ACLJ Press Release Jay Sekulow, Chief Counsel ACLJ Files Lawsuit Over AG Lynch’s Secret Meeting with Bill Clinton – Will Hold Obama’s Justice Department Accountable I told you about the Obama Justice Department’s incompetence and corruption when, over four months ago, I called for Attorney General Loretta Lynch’s resignation. I told you about General Lynch’s decision to hold a secret meeting on her airplane with former President Bill Clinton – just days before the FBI interviewed his wife, the former Secretary of State, as part of a criminal investigation; and just days before General Lynch announced the former Secretary of State would not be indicted. Here’s what I said in June: Misconduct. Dishonesty. Impropriety. No matter what word you choose, Attorney General Lynch’s secret meeting with former President Bill Clinton was flat-out wrong. She’s clearly disqualified from participating in the investigations into former Secretary of State Clinton’s private email server. And she must resign. I’m leading our senior litigation team preparing to file legal demands and ethics complaints. If the DOJ doesn’t respond and she doesn’t resign, we’ll be back in federal court. As promised, we took action. We sent Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests to the Obama Justice Department and the FBI, demanding answers on how such a careless and perhaps intentionally underhanded meeting was allowed to happen. The FBI acknowledged our FOIA requests, and even granted our request for expedited processing by determining that we had shown our requests concerned “[a] matter of widespread and exceptional media interest in which there exist possible questions about the government’s integrity which affect public confidence.” The Justice Department remained silent. Then, last week’s earth-shattering news hit that the FBI – a component of the Justice Department – was reopening the underlying criminal investigation. And early this week, the FBI advised the ACLJ Government Accountability Project that “[n]o records responsive to your request were located.” Hard to believe. What may be even harder to believe, though, is the fact that the Department of Justice completely ignored our lawful requests for records. Or maybe that’s just par for the course. So today, we’re forcing their hand. We’re taking the Obama Administration to federal court. Again. We’re filing a lawsuit against the Department of Justice, to ensure true justice. If the corruption and flippant disregard for the law won’t stop, neither will our Government Accountability Project, and neither will our lawsuits. As we explained in our Complaint, we’re demanding records like this: Any and all records containing the names of any DOJ official, staff or employee who participated in any discussion regarding the meeting between General Lynch and Bill Clinton that occurred on Monday, June 27, 2016, at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona. Any and all records, communications or briefings prepared, sent, received or reviewed by General Lynch or any other DOJ official, staff or employee, at any time, containing any discussion of or in any way regarding the meeting between General Lynch and Bill Clinton that occurred on Monday, June 27, 2016, at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona. Any and all records of any communication or briefing received by General Lynch, any DOJ official, staff or employee from Bill Clinton or his staff regarding the meeting between General Lynch and Bill Clinton that occurred on Monday, June 27, 2016, at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, regardless of whether the communication or briefing was received before, during, or after the meeting. Any and all records of any communication or briefing prepared, sent, received or reviewed by General Lynch, her staff, or any other DOJ official or employee or any other person from June 13, 2016 to Sunday, June 26, 2016, containing any discussion of or in any way naming, regarding, involving or referencing Bill Clinton. Any and all records of any communication or briefing prepared, sent, received or reviewed by General Lynch, her staff, or any other DOJ official or employee after the meeting on Monday, June 27, 2016, between General Lynch and Bill Clinton at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, containing any discussion of ethics rules or DOJ Standards of Conduct governing attorneys in connection with the meeting or Lynch’s relationship with Bill Clinton. Any and all records of any communication or briefing prepared, sent, received or reviewed by General Lynch, her staff, or any other DOJ official or employee after the meeting on Monday, June 27, 2016, between General Lynch and Bill Clinton at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix, Arizona, containing any discussion of the press, responding to the press, or the content of any press release or public statements in connection with the meeting. We told the Court: “The Defendant [DOJ] has wholly failed to respond to Plaintiff’s FOIA request.” In fact, the Obama Administration’s failure to respond violated the statute in two ways. So we brought two Counts. First, in Count I, we explained: Pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(A), Defendant was required to determine whether to comply to Plaintiff’s request within twenty (20) days, excepting Saturdays, Sundays, and legal public holidays. Pursuant to this same provision, Defendant also was required to notify Plaintiff immediately of the determination, the reasons therefore, and the right to appeal any adverse determination to the head of the agency. Then in Count II, we described the additional violation: Defendant is in violation of 5 U.S.C. § 552(a)(6)(E)(ii), in that Defendant has failed to make “a determination of whether to provide expedited processing,” which “shall be made, and notice of the determination shall be provided to the person making the request, within 10 days after the date of the request.” The bottom line of our lawsuit is this: the “Defendant is unlawfully withholding records requested by Plaintiff pursuant to 5 U.S.C. § 552.” The Justice Department’s answer to our suit will be due in about 30 days. We’ll let you know how they respond and keep you informed as our newest lawsuit progresses. General Lynch has disqualified herself from this critical investigation. She has no business having any involvement in an FBI investigation of this magnitude. We will do, and are doing, everything we can to hold her accountable. Today’s filing is our fourth major federal lawsuit filed against the Obama Administration over its corruption and failure to comply with FOIA – the law. We’ve filed eight FOIA requests demanding information from: 1) the Obama State Department about the Iran lie, 2) the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and its components about its “jihad” word purge, 3) the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI over Attorney General Lynch’s secret meeting on a plane with former President Bill Clinton, 4) the FBI and the DOJ regarding its decision to censor the Orlando jihadist’s 911 transcript, 5) the State Department over its funding of an organization that was involved in an attempt to unseat Israel’s Prime Minister, 6) the Obama State Department over its inaction on the ISIS genocide against Christians, 7) DHS and its components over the wrongful granting of citizenship to potential terrorists, and 8) the State Department over apparent pay-to-play collusion with the Clinton Foundation. We are currently in ongoing litigation against the Obama Administration over the Iran lie, inaction on genocide, collusion with the Clinton Foundation, and now the secret meeting between Attorney General Lynch and former President Bill Clinton. We are also winning in multiple federal lawsuits against the Obama Administration’s IRS over its unlawful targeting of conservatives groups. The stakes are high. The American people deserve a Justice Department with integrity. We must demand accountability for corruption. If we don’t, a constitutional crisis is imminent. The corruption must have consequences.

Two points here. 1) The Pentagon provided Iraq with 140 M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks. In one way or another, you know the U.S. taxpayer paid for them. 2) Apparently, the dated Abrams tank, still the backbone of U.S. forces, is not capable of dealing with the latest anti-tank weapons. In this video, you see an ISIS-fired Russian 9M133 Kornet ATGM (anti-tank guided missile), which utilizes a tandem "shaped charge" HEAT warhead, taking out an Iraqi Abrams around Mosul, Iraq. .

Hacked emails show Clinton campaign communicated with State Department Associated Press / November 3, 2016 A State Department official coordinated with Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign hours before the former secretary of state's exclusive use of private emails was first detailed in a news account last year, newly released hacked emails show. Emails from the files of Clinton's campaign chairman John Podesta show that the department official provided Clinton aides with the agency's official response to a New York Times reporter in advance of the newspaper's March 2015 report that Clinton had used a private email account to conduct all of her work-related business as secretary. The stolen emails were released Wednesday by WikiLeaks. In a March 1, 2015 email, State Department press aide Lauren Hickey told Clinton's spokesman Nick Merrill and two other advisers that then-State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki had "just cleared" a reply to the Times. Hickey provided the agency's response to the Clinton aides and also appeared to agree to a change requested by the campaign, saying: "Yes on your point re records - done below." It remains a secret what specific change was requested by Clinton and made. State Department spokesman John Kirby said Wednesday the department [your employees] refused to comment on alleged leaked documents. Kirby said the department's effort to "provide accurate information to the media" about Clinton's tenure at the agency has "at times required communicating with her representatives to ensure accuracy." [?????] In a hacked email chain from March 17, 2015, Clinton's campaign advisers discussed how to respond to a request by a Times reporter for comment on an upcoming story about how top State Department aides used private email accounts to communicate with Clinton. Clinton aide Philippe Reines wrote: "There's a lot to respond to here, but first and foremost the premise is wrong. There is nothing wrong with anyone having personal email addresses or her emailing someone's private account or vice versa. Maybe she was wishing (longtime aide) Jake (Sullivan) a happy birthday. Or I was sending her a note about her mom. ... We're allowed to have personal lives." Campaign spokeswoman Jennifer Palmieri wrote: "Strikes me as a big problem that the NYT is having selected emails leaked to them and I think we should do a call to discuss the proper way to handle." The email exchange occurred about a month before Clinton officially launched her presidential bid in a video released in April 2015. In an August 2015 email exchange, Clinton aide Huma Abedin points out that Clinton wasn't prepared for all of the questions surrounding the use of her private email and asks for a longer list of questions and answers "so at least it's out there and maybe she won't have to do it verbally again?" Separately, assistant attorney general Peter Kadzik wrote to Podesta in May 2015 to offer a "heads up" that a Justice Department official would be testifying before the House Judiciary Committee and would likely "get questions on State Department emails." Podesta forwarded the message to top campaign staff, writing: "Additional chances for mischief."

Matt Wood, Trade Trucks AU / November 2, 2016 To be launched later this month, Volkswagen has a new Amarok for the Australian market Ahead of it’s much anticipated local launch, Volkswagen has revealed that the upcoming Amarok TDV6 diesel ute [i.e. pickup, bakkie] will also feature an over boost function that will see peak power jump from 165kW (221hp) to 180kW (241hp). Torque will also jump from 550Nm to 580Nm. Over boost kicks in when the accelerator pedal passes the 70 per cent depression mark in 3rd or 4th gear. The extra power is on tap for 10 seconds but can be unleashed again after a period of 5 seconds. There’s been plenty of buzz around the new Volkswagen dual cab. Nissan previously held the most powerful 4x4 dual cab mantle on the Aussie market with its V6 Navara ST-X 550. However, the launch of the NP300 Navara last year saw the end of the admittedly expensive, yet much admired V6 Nissan. To date, Volkswagen says that it has fielded 6,000 advance orders for the top of the tree Amarok. Claimed performance times aren’t too shabby either with 0-100km reached in 7.9 seconds. Until now, the Amarok has relied solely on a 2-litre twin-turbo diesel power plant. The Volkswagen family diesel V6 used in the soon to be launched New Amarok can also be found in Porsche and Audi products as well. As the dual cab market continues to boom and mature, VW will be one of the first to the table in the premium ute stakes with the covers coming off the Mercedes Benz X-Class last week and the Renault Alaskan pickup also a possibility for Australia. According to Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Director Carlos Santos, "The Amarok V6 is not an over-hyped concept or a badge engineering exercise." "It’s real, it’s almost here and it brings the world’s best V6 turbo diesel, the same unit used by Porsche and Audi in luxury SUVs." The Amarok TDV6 will be launched locally in late November. Pricing and spec to be announced. .

McAleese trucking assets up for auction Australasian Transport News (ATN) / November 2, 2016 Auctioneer releases preliminary sale timetable for McAleese vehicles and equipment McGrathNicol has appointed online industrial auctioneer GraysOnline to handle the sale of assets including heavy vehicles and light trucks, cranes and general office and commercial equipment held by McAleese’s trucking arm. GraysOnline has published a preliminary sale timetable that lists the following for immediate sale: prime movers and low loaders/platforms (high spec prime movers, multi row low loaders and platforms, and dollys), 14 crawler cranes (Kobelco and Terex 110 - 400 tonne), seven all-terrain and rough cranes (Grove, Demag and Liebherr 30 - 220 tonne), franna cranes (AT20 and Mac25 units). There will be 30 prime movers and 60 trailers for sale in Brisbane, 20 prime movers and 20 trailers in Mackay, 13 prime movers in Melbourne, six prime movers and eight trailers in Perth, three prime movers in Adelaide, and some additional unreserved prime movers and trailers available for sale in Brisbane. The remaining assets are currently being assessed before being valued and listed for sale – a process, the company says, complicated by the fact that many of the assets have multiple components that need to located and documented first before they can be valued. The complete list of assets can be viewed on GraysOnline’s website, with sale and auction expected to commence soon. GraysOnline expects it will take up four months to complete the sale of all McAleese's Heavy Haulage and Lifting assets. The auctioneer says it is expecting interest from local and as well as international buyers. GraysOnline head of institutional and special situations Matt Aubrey says the GraysOnline team is working with administrators McGrathNicol to "assess, value, catalogue, market and ultimately dispose of" the McAleese assets. "Grays’ international network will have an important role to play in this sale," Aubrey says. "Over recent years we have a seen a consistent trend toward cross-border transactions, as offshore buyers in Asia, the Middle East and Africa seek quality used plant and equipment to support local projects. "That’s good for vendors in Australia as it ensures healthy tension in bidding." GraysOnline head of mining and transport Fenton Healy says the sale will be carried out in a series of auctions and direct sales based on the dynamics of each asset category. "Prices for the heavy transport assets have stabilised following the bottoming of the mining downturn," Healy says. "The market for general transport assets is generally pretty liquid and this part of the portfolio is well suited to a national, online auction. "Cranes are a more specialised category – we’ll be presenting the larger cranes to multinational buyers through our international network and putting the smaller Franna cranes into strategic sale lots depending on their age and condition. "It’s a complex assignment but one which the Grays team of experts nationally is uniquely placed to execute for maximum return to the administrators." McGrathNicol has been handling the restructure of McAleese since the company went into administration in late August. .

McAleese assets to be sold in record auction Prime Mover Magazine / November 2, 2016 Online industrial auctioneer, GraysOnline, has been appointed by advisory firm McGrathNicol to handle the sale of assets held by a key division of the McAleese Group. In "one of the largest industrial asset disposition programs seen in recent years", GraysOnline said it will be managing the auction and sale of heavy vehicles, light trucks, cranes as well as general office and commercial equipment belonging to McAleese Heavy Haulage & Lifting. The heavy transport specialist was part of the McAleese group of companies, which – with the exception of Sunshine Refuellers – was placed into voluntary administration on 29 August. GraysOnline said in structuring the sale, the company has been working directly with administrators McGrathNicol in order to "leverage their expertise in value realisation strategy, financial analysis and transactional execution". GraysOnline Head of Institutional & Special Situations, Matt Aubrey, explained the sale process would see the Grays national team mobilise rapidly to "assess, value, catalogue, market and ultimately dispose" of the McAleese Heavy Haulage & Lifting portfolio. “Grays has built a strong track record for being able to execute complex sales straddling national and international borders with minimum ramp-up period. Our appointment is a credit to the reputation our B2B/ industrial team has built in recent years,” Aubrey said, adding the McAleese Heavy Haulage & Lifting sale is expected to commence this month, with the process likely to take around four months. GraysOnline Head of Mining & Transport, Fenton Healy, commented the sale would be structured as a series of direct sales and auctions depending on the dynamics of each asset category, and he expected healthy buying interest. “Prices for the heavy transport assets have stabilised following the bottoming of the mining downturn. The market for general transport assets is generally pretty liquid and this part of the portfolio is well suited to a national, online auction,” he said. “It’s a complex assignment but one which the Grays team of experts nationally is uniquely placed to execute for maximum return to the administrators,” he said. Interested parties can learn more about the sale at the GraysOnline website. .

Truck News / November 1, 2016 Natural gas truck sales in the US and Canada are down 29% year-to-date. Market analysts say, however, that the slowdown could reflect the broader truck market, which has seen Class 8 demand slide from last year. “While sales of natural gas powered units have their own inherent challenges, part of the reason for softness may also be related to factors impacting the broader truck market,” said one analyst. “Regardless of the fuel used, heavy trucks are all competing for the same freight, which has failed to increase for at least the last five quarters.” He added, “Coincidentally, many truckers increased their fleet sizes just as freight growth was slowing, setting up the current situation of excess capacity that is keeping the brakes on new truck sales, irrespective of fuel type.”

Bloomberg / November 1, 2016 Convoy Inc., a Seattle-based startup that aims to become an Uber for trucking, has struck its biggest deal yet -- with consumer goods giant Unilever NV. The four-year agreement will have Convoy connect Unilever to trucks for tens of thousands of shipments a year and is worth millions of dollars over the next year, Convoy Chief Executive Officer Dan Lewis said in an interview. Unilever, the company behind Dove soap, Hellmann’s mayonnaise and Lipton tea, chose Convoy over several other trucking technology providers, the company said. The deal is a vote of confidence in Convoy, which uses software to match companies needing tractor-trailers with smaller providers, line up deliveries and track them to better ensure on-time pickup and receipt. It’s particularly important as car ride-hailing app Uber Technologies Inc. gets into the freight market through its acquisition of Otto. Uber and Anheuser-Busch InBev NV (also a Convoy customer) recently sent an 18-wheeler full of beer more than 120 miles down Colorado’s I-25 highway without a driver, a stunt intended to prove the company could use autonomous trucks for commercial deliveries. The company is working on trucking marketplace software to connect drivers of regular trucks with cargo loads and signing up shippers to try it when the app goes live, Uber said. Over time, Uber plans to merge the self-driving technology, obtained in its acquisition of Otto, and the marketplace app. “It doesn’t make me nervous -- the market is gigantic,” said Lewis about Uber. “All we see today is their self-driving truck. I haven’t seen anything in the field that implies there’s an actual freight service.” When Convoy, backed by Amazon.com Inc. CEO Jeff Bezos, Salesforce.com Inc.’s Marc Benioff and Uber co-founder Garrett Camp, started in April 2015, it was mainly focused on ad hoc deliveries for companies needing a truck here and there. It has since added deliveries scheduled ahead of time and on a regular basis, said Lewis. In fact, he’s starting to dislike the Uber-for-Trucking moniker because it leads people to think “we only mean an ad hoc truck waiting on the side of the road.” Besides Unilever, other customers include Anheuser-Busch, Peterbilt Motors Co. and lawn-care company Scotts Miracle-Gro Co. "We want to shift the mindset from Convoy is a little more niche to Convoy is going to build the highest service level trucking company in the world,” Lewis said. Becoming a regular trucking vendor for a consumer goods giant may help. Unilever has been trying Convoy since February and has graded the company against its existing trucking providers and other startups that use technology to try to improve the process. "Our partnership with Convoy allows us to jointly shape the future of on-demand trucking while adding flexibility into our supply chain," Reginaldo Ecclissato, a Unilever supply chain executive, wrote in an e-mailed statement. Convoy’s deal is not exclusive and Unilever will still be working with standard trucking companies, Convoy’s Lewis said. While it’s not as exciting as an 18-wheeler full of beer, organizing thousands of trucks full of soap, mayo and tea should be lucrative work for the startup.

Cummins Sees Its Business Slow Down as Demand Weakens The Motley Fool / November 1, 2016 Restructuring efforts can only do so much to offset the damage from a sluggish global economy. The global economy hasn't been kind to Cummins, and the engine maker has had to take dramatic actions to try to shore up its business and make the most of its opportunities despite facing tough conditions. Coming into Tuesday's third-quarter financial report, Cummins investors were bracing for declines in revenue and net income. Cummins' numbers on the earnings front were a bit better than most had expected, but tough sales conditions were evident and aren't likely to get better in the near future. Let's take a closer look at the latest from Cummins and whether investors should have much hope for better times ahead. Is Cummins stalling out? Cummins' third-quarter results revealed signs of just how tough the macroeconomic environment is for the engine manufacturer right now. Revenue dropped more than 9% to $4.19 billion, which was an even steeper drop than most of those following the stock had looked to see. Net income fell by nearly a quarter to $289 million, but even though the reported $1.72 per share in earnings was below the consensus forecast among investors for $1.96 per share, Cummins said that it suffered a $0.30 per share hit due to loss contingencies. On an adjusted basis, therefore, many saw Cummins as having beaten expectations. Taking a closer look at how Cummins fared, the reversal of fortune in where the company brought in revenue continued. The once-strong North American market suffered a 13% decline in sales, while international markets were down just 3%. In China, Cummins managed to increase revenue [primarily ISF light truck engines], helping to offset declines in the Middle East and Africa. The company blamed lower truck production in North America and weakness in demand for power generation equipment internationally for the overall drop in revenue. Cummins' key divisions were fairly weak across the board. The distribution business held up the best on the sales front, with segment revenue falling just 3%, but pre-tax operating income was down by more than a fifth. The components division suffered an 8% drop in sales but limited its profit decline to just 5%. Meanwhile, the engine segment and the power systems segment both saw their top lines fall double-digit percentages, and segment profit took hits as well. In particular, on-highway revenue for the engine segment fell 13% because of the pressure on heavy-duty and medium-duty truck production. CEO Tom Linebarger discussed the difficulties that Cummins faces. "Due to the slow pace of growth in the global economy," Linebarger said, "we continue to face weak demand in a number of our most important markets." The CEO noted that restructuring and cost-containment initiatives are helping to offset the negative effects of lower revenue, and he was proud of the operational performance that Cummins has had recently. When will Cummins start growing again? Unfortunately, Cummins doesn't see any immediate relief from the industry's tough conditions. It now expects full-year 2016 sales to fall 9%, which is at the midpoint of its previous guidance range for an 8% to 10% decline. However, Cummins did cut its expectations from pre-tax operating margin, now predicting a figure of 11.3%, down from its previous range of 11.6% to 12.2%. The company blamed the cut on higher loss contingencies from a field campaign that Cummins decided to expand, addressing emissions issues connected with third-party after-treatment systems about which some customers have reported problems. More importantly, the main downward impacts on Cummins' business don't appear likely to disappear anytime soon. The trucking industry is having its own problems, and that bodes ill for truck production, which is hitting both the core engine segment and the related components segment. Negative currency impacts have largely gone away as the dollar's strength wanes, but declines in organic sales on the distribution side of Cummins' business reflect the overall weak demand for its products overall. Meanwhile, power systems rely on healthy industrial sectors of the economy, and that strength hasn't been present, either. Cummins investors weren't happy with the report, sending the stock down more than 3% in pre-market trading following the announcement. Until conditions in the industrial economy start to improve, it will be tough for Cummins to see a return to fundamental strength in its core businesses.

Cummins third-quarter profit drops on weak truck production Reuters / November 1, 2016 Engine maker Cummins Inc on Tuesday reported a lower quarterly profit as revenue was hit by weak heavy-duty truck production in North America and poor global demand for power generation equipment. "Due to the slow pace of growth in the global economy, we continue to face weak demand in a number of our most important markets," Cummins Chief Executive Officer Tom Linebarger said. The Columbus, Indiana-based company provides engines for the large trucks that haul a large majority of U.S. freight. Truck makers have experienced a drop in sales this year as lackluster economic growth and high retail inventories have discouraged many trucking firms from putting in orders for new vehicles. The company reiterated its downbeat full-year revenue forecast. Sales in the company's engines unit were down 12 percent versus the same period in 2015. Third-quarter net income fell 24 percent to $289 million, or $1.72 per share, from $380 million, or $2.14, a year earlier. Excluding a one-time loss contingency charge, earnings per share were $2.02. Analysts, on average, expected $1.96.

Transport Engineer / November 2, 2016 Independent lubricants blender Millers Oils has acquired two Renault Trucks Range T rigids as part of its nine0strong HGV fleet revitalisation process. Both are 26-tonne Range T380 6x2 rigid curtainsided vehicles, supplied on a six-year contract hire deal through BRS, and follow two Renault Range D Wide 18-tonne curtainsiders which have been running on Millers Oils’ fleet since 2014. Delivering lubricants across the UK, the new Range T380 sleeper cabs – which have Roco Truck Bodies’ rigid curtains, Mellor Flow Trans’ inter pump hydraulics and full rear closure tail lifts – were specified with Renault Trucks Comfort Pack and Fuel Eco Pack. “Our drivers are out on the road for two or three days at a time, so it’s vital that we create an environment where they feel appreciated,” states Millers Oils managing director Jamie Ryan. “I was first introduced to the Range T two years ago at the CV Show: I sat in the truck and was extremely impressed by the size and comfort of the cab,” he continues. “Our drivers’ satisfaction is highly catered for in these top-spec Range Ts and we’ve even added extras such as air suspended seats, three ambient lighting modes, microwave, fridge, TV and DVD player.” But Ryan also points this new trucks’ fuel efficiency. “Through our Eclipse fuel treatments, Millers Oils is working hard to increase fuel efficiency, reduce emissions and maintain clean injectors. “Our specific aim was to invest in energy saving vehicles, like the Range T, which has had aerodynamic improvements made and … these new vehicles will help sustain and prolong our fleet life as well as helping to protect the environment too.” .