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Driving the new Paccar rear axle, 2017 MX engines Truck News / October 14, 2016 Integration has been the name of the game as truck manufacturers have striven to bring unprecedented fuel economy to their vehicles, and Paccar has upped its efforts with the introduction of its first North American axle. “With the greenhouse gas push for better fuel economy, I think the rear axle is a key component in having better performing fuel economy,” Anthony Gansle, Peterbilt’s marketing manager for on-highway vehicles told me before letting me drive one of the first trucks equipped with the new tandem axle. It was a Peterbilt 579 EPIQ package with a 40,000-lb rated Paccar rear tandem axle, powered by the new 2017 Paccar MX-13 engine, which itself received several updates. I also drove, soon after, a Kenworth T680 with that same Paccar axle and updated 2017 MX-13 engine. It’s not easy to evaluate an axle. Any advantages delivered by a proprietary axle are likely to show up on the fuel economy reports and won’t be noticed from behind the wheel. And this is where Paccar is confident some tangible savings will be seen. “Two of the three major components are now in place,” said Kevin Baney, Kenworth’s chief engineer. “This is really about building a Paccar powertrain going forward, largely around our Paccar engines.” The obvious omission is the transmission, but Baney said he’s pleased with the level of integration Kenworth has achieved by working closely with Eaton. Both trucks I drove had a Fuller Advantage automated 10-speed. Paccar has worked closely with Eaton to ensure the transmission is optimized to work with its engine. The fuel savings provided by Paccar axle – figures have not yet been disclosed – will come from reduced weight and internal friction. Gansle said the new axle is 80-140 lbs lighter than competitive offerings. “This is going to be more efficient than anything out there,” vowed Baney. Weight was taken out by laser-welding internal components. Less oil is required as well. And Baney said there’s less friction within the axle. A pinion throughshaft design simplifies power flow in the axle for improved efficiency, Paccar claims. Ratios from 2.47 to 3.70 are offered with engine torque compatibility of up to 1,650 lb.-ft. and a multi-torque rating of up to 1,750 lb.-ft. It was designed for linehaul applications. The gross vehicle weight limit is 80,000 lbs. Enhancements to the Paccar engine we more appreciable from behind the wheel, in the form of added torque and power. The MX-11, which I drove in a Kenworth T680 Advantage day cab, features an extra 100 lb.-ft. of torque. The MX-11 I drove was rated at 430 hp/1,650 lb.-ft. and was able to pull some pretty significant grades near Kirkland, Wash. without trouble. It was surprisingly sprightly for an 11-litre and may open the engine up to some new applications. “We think of the MX-11 in terms of vocational applications, but with the additional torque it’s going to be a nice linehaul engine for us when you think of the significant weight reduction it provides,” said Gansle. Peterbilt, of course, also offers the MX-11, though I didn’t drive one in a Pete. Kenworth’s Baney said the MX-11 and MX-13 now collectively cover about 85% of customer applications. The MX-13 was given an extra 10 hp, bringing its top rating to 510 hp. In addition to bringing some improved performance to its MX engines, Paccar also made changes to the design that will improve fuel efficiency by 3%, the company claims. These include a new variable geometry turbo on the lower horsepower-rated MX-13s, a variable displacement oil pump and a variable speed coolant pump. It’s all about limiting the power consumed by these components to what’s actually required. “It will help prevent a lot of engine efficiency losses,” Gansle said. “We will see fuel economy benefits and the customers will see cost of ownership benefits. Our oil intervals will improve and some other intervals for maintenance are going to improve.” Oil change intervals are being extended from 65,000 miles to 75,000. Baney said Paccar addressed three areas to improve the fuel economy of its engines: air management, the combustion cycle and making components variable speed. Also new is a single-canister aftertreament system designed by Cummins. “We have integrated the DPF, SCR and DEF pipe into a single can,” Baney explained. “It really helps with packaging and also in managing weight reduction.” The new aftertreatment system shaves about 100 lbs off the weight of the vehicle. Paccar has seen a solid uptake of its proprietary engines since bringing them to the North American market in 2010 and by the end of this year, will have 135,000 on the road here. Nearly half of all Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks sold this year were powered by Paccar engines. The company is hopeful its first rear axle will be received just as enthusiastically. It’ll be the standard offering in the databook. The new axle will enter production in January. Paccar officially introduced the new axle and enhancements to its MX engines at the American Trucking Associations Management Conference & Exhibition earlier this month. You can read that report here.

Driving the new Paccar rear axle, 2017 MX engines Truck News / October 14, 2016 Integration has been the name of the game as truck manufacturers have striven to bring unprecedented fuel economy to their vehicles, and Paccar has upped its efforts with the introduction of its first North American axle. “With the greenhouse gas push for better fuel economy, I think the rear axle is a key component in having better performing fuel economy,” Anthony Gansle, Peterbilt’s marketing manager for on-highway vehicles told me before letting me drive one of the first trucks equipped with the new tandem axle. It was a Peterbilt 579 EPIQ package with a 40,000-lb rated Paccar rear tandem axle, powered by the new 2017 Paccar MX-13 engine, which itself received several updates. I also drove, soon after, a Kenworth T680 with that same Paccar axle and updated 2017 MX-13 engine. It’s not easy to evaluate an axle. Any advantages delivered by a proprietary axle are likely to show up on the fuel economy reports and won’t be noticed from behind the wheel. And this is where Paccar is confident some tangible savings will be seen. “Two of the three major components are now in place,” said Kevin Baney, Kenworth’s chief engineer. “This is really about building a Paccar powertrain going forward, largely around our Paccar engines.” The obvious omission is the transmission, but Baney said he’s pleased with the level of integration Kenworth has achieved by working closely with Eaton. Both trucks I drove had a Fuller Advantage automated 10-speed. Paccar has worked closely with Eaton to ensure the transmission is optimized to work with its engine. The fuel savings provided by Paccar axle – figures have not yet been disclosed – will come from reduced weight and internal friction. Gansle said the new axle is 80-140 lbs lighter than competitive offerings. “This is going to be more efficient than anything out there,” vowed Baney. Weight was taken out by laser-welding internal components. Less oil is required as well. And Baney said there’s less friction within the axle. A pinion throughshaft design simplifies power flow in the axle for improved efficiency, Paccar claims. Ratios from 2.47 to 3.70 are offered with engine torque compatibility of up to 1,650 lb.-ft. and a multi-torque rating of up to 1,750 lb.-ft. It was designed for linehaul applications. The gross vehicle weight limit is 80,000 lbs. Enhancements to the Paccar engine we more appreciable from behind the wheel, in the form of added torque and power. The MX-11, which I drove in a Kenworth T680 Advantage day cab, features an extra 100 lb.-ft. of torque. The MX-11 I drove was rated at 430 hp/1,650 lb.-ft. and was able to pull some pretty significant grades near Kirkland, Wash. without trouble. It was surprisingly sprightly for an 11-litre and may open the engine up to some new applications. “We think of the MX-11 in terms of vocational applications, but with the additional torque it’s going to be a nice linehaul engine for us when you think of the significant weight reduction it provides,” said Gansle. Peterbilt, of course, also offers the MX-11, though I didn’t drive one in a Pete. Kenworth’s Baney said the MX-11 and MX-13 now collectively cover about 85% of customer applications. The MX-13 was given an extra 10 hp, bringing its top rating to 510 hp. In addition to bringing some improved performance to its MX engines, Paccar also made changes to the design that will improve fuel efficiency by 3%, the company claims. These include a new variable geometry turbo on the lower horsepower-rated MX-13s, a variable displacement oil pump and a variable speed coolant pump. It’s all about limiting the power consumed by these components to what’s actually required. “It will help prevent a lot of engine efficiency losses,” Gansle said. “We will see fuel economy benefits and the customers will see cost of ownership benefits. Our oil intervals will improve and some other intervals for maintenance are going to improve.” Oil change intervals are being extended from 65,000 miles to 75,000. Baney said Paccar addressed three areas to improve the fuel economy of its engines: air management, the combustion cycle and making components variable speed. Also new is a single-canister aftertreament system designed by Cummins. “We have integrated the DPF, SCR and DEF pipe into a single can,” Baney explained. “It really helps with packaging and also in managing weight reduction.” The new aftertreatment system shaves about 100 lbs off the weight of the vehicle. Paccar has seen a solid uptake of its proprietary engines since bringing them to the North American market in 2010 and by the end of this year, will have 135,000 on the road here. Nearly half of all Kenworth and Peterbilt trucks sold this year were powered by Paccar engines. The company is hopeful its first rear axle will be received just as enthusiastically. It’ll be the standard offering in the databook. The new axle will enter production in January. Paccar officially introduced the new axle and enhancements to its MX engines at the American Trucking Associations Management Conference & Exhibition earlier this month. You can read that report here.

GM invests millions in Mexico as Ford absorbs Trump's blow Bloomberg / October 14, 2016 After more than a year of watching Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump bash Ford Motor Co. for moving jobs to Mexico, General Motors Co. has pushed ahead with its own expansion. It just hasn't said as much as Ford. GM is advancing on an $800 million investment for its global small-car lineup that includes a factory retooling in San Luis Potosi state. That plant and another factory in Mexico will also build the redesigned Chevy Equinox crossover next year, people familiar with the matter said. The automaker has only said that the next Equinox will be built in a factory in Canada and two other sites, keeping mum about Mexico and avoiding both attention from Trump and the chance that the news might have roiled labor talks in Canada last month, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the matter is private. Taking a lower profile has kept GM out of Trump's cross-hairs and helped the Detroit company reach an agreement with its Canadian union, even as the Republican candidate singled out Ford's latest Mexican factory plan as "an absolute disgrace." For Mexico, GM's tight-lipped approach hints at how U.S. companies might operate if Trump wins the election after campaigning against the North American Free Trade Agreement. "Big American companies are being cautious, they don't want to have issues with the presidential candidates," Mario Chacon, head of global business promotion at Mexico's foreign investment agency, said in an interview. "They're feeling repressed because anything they say can be used against them." GM has been clear about its investment in Mexico, starting with an announcement in late 2014 that it would spend $5 billion there. The automaker just hasn't said much about the details since then. Ford splash Ford made a splash in April when, in the heart of primary season, the company said it would invest $1.6 billion in Mexico to make small cars. Ford CEO Mark Fields then said in September that the company would move all small-car production there. Trump's attacks have forced a reaction from Ford Chairman Bill Ford, who is great-grandson of the company's founder. Ford said in late September that the company makes more cars in the U.S. than any other automaker and that, "we are everything that he should be celebrating about this country." GM's investment in its factory in the Mexican state of San Luis Potosi was initially announced in November 2015, without specific plans or details. The plan came in addition to the $5 billion the company said it would invest in December 2014 to expand and retool existing plants in the country. GM says it isn't hiding its investment in Mexico. "For competitive reasons -- especially as it relates to future product -- the specific details behind the investments get rolled out as we deem appropriate," Pat Morrissey, a spokesman for the automaker, wrote in an e-mail. Morrissey also said GM has invested $20 billion in its U.S. operations since 2009 and employs 97,000 people in the U.S. and 15,000 in Mexico. In past years, GM has been vocal in promoting its new investments in Mexico. It held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for a new railway extension in San Luis Potosi in 2014, invited a governor to announce an expansion in Coahuila in 2010, and fired off press releases detailing even its smallest investments -- including an $87 million contribution to a stamping plant in March 2015. That same month it also announced a new model it would produce in Mexico: the new generation Chevrolet Cruze. Investing 'quietly' By contrast, GM has no press statements on its website about investments in Mexico this year. There has been no information about the Equinox in Mexico, nor on where all of the $800 million pledged in November would be spent. The automaker has confirmed it will build the Chevrolet Equinox at a plant in Ingersoll, Ontario. GM also said it would make the Equinox and its stablemate, the GMC Terrain, at two other unidentified factories. "Companies don't halt their investment decisions for political reasons, they simply do it quietly," Chacon said. "No company wants to have big announcements now because they could see a negative reaction from unions in other countries. So decisions aren't made out in the open but they continue. They can't stop." GM President Dan Ammann had little to say about the political controversy that has embroiled Ford during election season. "We're observing," Ammann said in an interview with Bloomberg. Mexican benefits Labor costs that are about a fifth of U.S. levels have lured most carmakers to set up shop or expand in Mexico in recent years. Since the beginning of 2010, Mexico has snared $25.8 billion in announced investments, according to the Center for Automotive Research in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Kia Motors Corp. and Volkswagen AG's luxury Audi unit inaugurated billion-dollar plants last month. A joint venture of Daimler AG and Nissan Motor Co. is working on a factory that will assemble compact vehicles, while Toyota Motor Corp. plans to produce Corollas. BMW AG is also building a plant. In addition to lower labor costs, Mexico also offers a network of international trade deals and proximity to the U.S. car market. "Mexico's free trade agreements, geography and labor costs make it more attractive than Brazil," Horacio Chavez, Kia's Mexico country chief, said in an interview last month. "It allows us to reach many markets."

The Wall Street Journal / October 16, 2016 CEO Doug Oberhelman invested heavily in production of machinery and equipment. Then commodities began their slide Doug Oberhelman spent his first years as Caterpillar Inc. ’s chief executive plowing billions of dollars into factories to build more of its familiar yellow machines and move the company deeper into mining equipment. It was a bold bet, spectacularly mistimed. The world was gripped by a global commodities boom in 2010 when he took charge, along with strong postrecession demand from developing markets and the energy industry. The world was ordering excavators and bulldozers and giant dump trucks at a rapid clip. Mr. Oberhelman bet he could grab an outsize share if he could just make more equipment. He spent almost $10 billion world-wide on plants and equipment from 2010 through 2013. Much of that went toward building more of its flagship CAT construction machinery. It also paid $8.8 billion in 2011 for Bucyrus International Inc., a Milwaukee mining-equipment maker, to gain a position in giant open-pit-mining shovels and underground-mining machines Caterpillar didn’t make. In China, Caterpillar was “going to play offense and we’re going to win,” Mr. Oberhelman proclaimed in 2010. It had missed opportunities in China before. From 2011 to 2014, Caterpillar roughly doubled its number of plants and facilities there to 26. “Everybody was convinced that this time would be different,” said Ken Banks, who retired in 2013 as manager for Caterpillar’s electric mining shovels. “They thought the Chinese market was so hot, that commodity prices would continue to be very strong and Caterpillar would increase sales substantially.” The year 2012 would prove to be a peak for Caterpillar. Soon after, miners began shelving equipment-buying plans as commodity prices fell. China’s growth slowed. Then oil prices fell, along with demand for related equipment. Caterpillar now faces its fourth straight year of falling sales, the longest decline in its history. Its stock is up 29% this year—the best-performing in the Dow Jones Industrial Average—but trades 25% below its 2012 peak. “Everybody was surprised by the size of the downturn and the length of it,” Mr. Oberhelman, 63 years old, said at a September mining trade show in Las Vegas. “I firmly believe we couldn’t have forecast that at the time” of the Bucyrus deal. The company declined to make Mr. Oberhelman available for comment for this article. Slumps are common in Caterpillar’s world, and rivals are suffering, too. Caterpillar, though, has long been a flagship American firm, a reliable blue chip in the Dow industrials and a major job creator with plants around the world. Now, it has fallen behind in the slow-growing economy. Caterpillar has reduced its workforce 20% in the past four years, about 30,000 jobs, and has said it expected to close or consolidate as many as 20 plants. In China, Caterpillar said, it has closed one plant and is operating many others at low production rates. Caterpillar in August said it would sell off some of the mining-equipment lines it gained with the Bucyrus acquisition. Its stock, up 46%from the beginning of Mr. Oberhelman’s tenure, trails the S&P 500 index’s 107% rise. “They overlooked the possibility that the whole market would collapse,” said Charles Yengst, a Connecticut equipment consultant. “They opened factories all over the place to operate at a market peak that doesn’t happen every year or even every 10 or 15 years.” Caterpillar is still the world’s largest seller of construction and mining equipment and continues to gain market share, especially in China. The Peoria, Ill., company has posted annual profits throughout Mr. Oberhelman’s CEO tenure. “In what is likely to be our fourth down year for sales and revenues, we’re proud of what we’re accomplishing,” Mr. Oberhelman said in a July release, adding that “our machine market position has increased, including in China, product quality continues to be at high levels, and the safety in our facilities is world class.” Caterpillar spokeswoman Amy Campbell said Caterpillar expects to handle the next upturn with a more-nimble manufacturing operation. “We’re lowering our cost structure,” she said. “The company has learned a lot of lessons on how you drive more capacity without spending on capex.” The possibility of a market collapse was almost unthinkable when Mr. Oberhelman, who joined Caterpillar in 1975, became CEO in July 2010. The northeast-Illinois native, whose father was a Deere & Co. salesman, had been chief financial officer in the 1990s and developed a cost-reduction contingency plan credited with helping Caterpillar navigate the last recession. “Doug had been in the succession pipeline for a number of years,” said Gail Fosler, a Caterpillar director who left the board in 2010. “The board felt he would bring a performance discipline to the company that it really needed.” Expansion strategy His strategy was to expand Caterpillar’s dominance into the developing world. In particular, he set sights on markets such as Brazil and China where mining and infrastructure construction were running full tilt. Meanwhile, strong crude prices were driving sales of oil-field-related equipment, especially in North America. Mr. Oberhelman voiced determination to avoid production-capacity constraints that had clipped Caterpillar’s sales growth before the recession. He increased production of the equipment that contractors use to construct buildings and roads and pipelines—Caterpillar’s forte—in existing plants. Caterpillar built new factories such as one in Victoria, Texas, to produce some excavator models and another near Athens, Ga., for small dozers—machines it previously made overseas and imported. Mining companies were telling Caterpillar they wanted to buy more of their equipment from one source. Caterpillar already made some mining machinery, such as the giant dump trucks strip mines and quarries use. To produce more trucks at its Decatur, Ill., plant, Caterpillar used a tack it repeated during the boom: It narrowed the plant’s assembly lineup by relocating some other work to new, smaller plants. The approach would come to hurt the Decatur plant’s workforce, but during the mining boom it allowed Caterpillar to pledge a 30% increase in mining-truck production capacity. The company also planned to double production capacity in East Peoria, Ill., for large bulldozers it mainly exported to mining customers. What Caterpillar still needed in its catalog were the gargantuan shovels used in open-pit mines and rock-shearing machines for underground mining, among other pieces of mining machinery. Rather than building capacity in-house, as it traditionally did, Caterpillar agreed to buy Bucyrus, the largest deal in the company’s history. Caterpillar thus secured a line of shovels, underground-mining equipment and large assembly plants in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Texas. In less than six months on the job, Mr. Oberhelman had turned Caterpillar into a full-line mining-equipment player. In China, Mr. Oberhelman went on an investing spree. In 2008, Caterpillar had bought Chinese construction-equipment concern SEM, gaining a local brand to sell in lower price ranges; it now invested to expand the brand. It expanded existing factories and built new plants to produce more machines and engines, and Bucyrus made Caterpillar a stronger competitor there. It acquired ERA Mining Machinery Ltd. in Zhengzhou for nearly $700 million, which sold hydraulic roof supports for mechanized underground coal-mining systems. Months after the 2012 deal closed, Caterpillar said, it discovered ERA had inaccuracies in reported profit, revenue and inventory. Caterpillar eventually wrote down ERA’s value by $580 million. Mr. Oberhelman’s strategy still looked like a winner. Caterpillar reported profit of $5.68 billion in 2012, nearly 60% above 2008 results. After the peak The year 2012 would prove to be the high point. Afterward, prices for mined and other commodities began to fall. China’s GDP growth waned, and equipment sales slowed around the world. The market weakened in 2013 as developing countries cut construction and consumed fewer commodities. Caterpillar’s machinery and engine sales fell 16% in 2013 from 2012. In 2014, oil prices began falling. Caterpillar sales fell 15% in 2015 as fracking drillers deployed less equipment. U.S. coal mining fell as pollution regulations and cheap natural gas reduced the generation of coal-produced electricity. Caterpillar continued layoffs and in September 2015 said it would make permanent job cuts that could exceed 10,000 positions through 2018. Rivals were hurt, too. Mining-equipment maker Joy Global Inc. of Milwaukee expects revenue of about $2.4 billion for its current fiscal year, down from $5.6 billion in 2012. Japan’s Komatsu Ltd. , which in July agreed to acquire Joy, said it expects a 5% to 10% drop in demand for its construction equipment in its current fiscal year and a 15% to 20% decrease in its mining business. A significant sign of strategic retreat was Caterpillar’s August announcement that it would sell some underground-mining equipment lines that serve markets Mr. Oberhelman had aimed to expand in by acquiring Bucyrus. “The amount of investment it would take to make that business successful we thought was better placed elsewhere in our product portfolio,” said Denise Johnson, president of the mining-equipment group, at the Las Vegas trade show. “We have to make choices in this environment.” In its Decatur, Ill., plant, Caterpillar’s mining emphasis has cost jobs. To focus on the giant trucks, Caterpillar moved away assembly of some other products including graders, used in road building, which it shifted to a new plant in North Little Rock, Ark. Now Decatur didn’t have those lines to fall back on, as it had in many past downturns, when big-truck orders waned. “Graders kept the lights on for a lot of years,” said Craig Karnes, president of the United Auto Workers Union Local 751. “When we lost them, it hurt us.” Fewer than 600 mining and other off-highway dump trucks left the Decatur plant last year, down 78% from the plant’s 2011 peak, according to market-research firm Power Systems Research, which forecasts 543 trucks this year. Decatur’s production workforce has fallen to about 800 workers, the lowest in more than 50 years and a third of 2012 levels, Mr. Karnes said. Caterpillar confirmed the plant’s volume and production workforce have declined, but had no comment on the research firm’s or the union’s calculations. The company plans to send some powertrain-assembly work back to Decatur that it moved to a new plant in Winston-Salem, N.C. Charlotte Opalka was laid off April 2015. “I like building those big mining trucks,” said Ms. Opalka, 45, who assembled hoods and cowls. Each month without work puts more strain on her family. “It took our pay and cut it in half,” said Ms. Opalka, whose three small grandchildren live with her. Caterpillar has enough production capacity to benefit from the next upturn, industry analysts say. And investors have shown renewed confidence in Caterpillar, which has remained profitable by slashing expenses, driving its stock price up in 2016. U.S. construction-machinery sales, though, are being held down by a slow-growing economy and persistent inventories of used fracking-related equipment. In the mining-equipment market, sales droughts typically last seven or eight years. Caterpillar said it expects overall revenue—including sales and revenue from its finance business—of about $40 billion this year, down 39% from 2012, and profit of $2.75 a share after restructuring expenses, down 68%. Through the first six months of 2016, Caterpillar’s overall revenue was $19.8 billion, down 21% from the same period in 2015; profit dropped 60% to $821 million. Mr. Oberhelman may not be at the helm when fortunes turn. Caterpillar chiefs by tradition haven’t stayed beyond age 65, leaving him about two years. Caterpillar declined to comment on whether Mr. Oberhelman intends to depart in the next two years. Spokeswoman Rachel Potts said the board is “actively engaged and has a robust process for managing succession planning,” which it reviews annually. Mr. Oberhelman recently warned that a recovery probably wouldn’t start this year. Still, he said at the Las Vegas show, “When the industry emerges, we’ll be a very key player and a very solid performer for our customers.” .

WikiLeaks: Clinton avoided criticism of Wall Street in Goldman Sachs speeches The Guardian / October 16, 2016 Transcripts show Clinton said she worked closely with Wall Street as a senator and ‘the jury is still out’ on whether Dodd-Frank reforms were needed Hillary Clinton avoided direct criticism of Wall Street as she examined the causes and responses to the 2008 financial crisis during a series of paid speeches to Goldman Sachs, according to transcripts released by WikiLeaks. Three transcripts, released Saturday as part of the hack of her campaign chairman’s emails, did not contain any damning revelations showing she was unduly influenced by contributions from the banking industry, as her Republican opponent Donald Trump has said. Still, her soft-handed approach in the speeches may remind liberals of fears, raised by her former Democratic rival Bernie Sanders, that the party’s nominee is too close to Wall Street to be an effective check on its excesses if elected. In October 2013, the transcripts show, Clinton told bankers she had “great relations” and worked closely with Wall Street as New York’s senator, and said “the jury is still out” on whether the Dodd-Frank financial reforms, enacted after the crisis, were appropriate. She said more openness from the start could have prevented the uproar on Wall Street over those reforms. “What happened, how did it happen, how do we prevent it from happening? You guys help us figure it out, and let’s make sure that we do it right this time,” she told the bankers, according to the transcripts. Working to relate her speech to her audience, Clinton likened her experience as secretary of state to finance, saying: “It’s like anybody’s balance sheet,” with both opportunities and potential liabilities. In one exchange, a conference participant from Texas told Clinton that she had “the honor to raise money for you” during her 2008 presidential campaign. Clinton responded: “You are the smartest people.” In the hard-fought Democratic primary, Sanders repeatedly called on Clinton to release the transcripts of her speeches to Wall Street, some of which earned her hundreds of thousands of dollars. In an ironic twist, the transcripts ended up becoming public because her campaign aides had distributed them among themselves in an effort to prepare for any attacks she might face. Those internal campaign emails were then leaked in the hack of campaign chairman John Podesta’s emails. The transcripts, all from 2013, include speeches and question-and-answer sessions with Clinton at a Builders and Innovators Summit, an Alternative Investment Management Summit and a gathering of CEOs, all hosted by Goldman Sachs. In another speech, Clinton said that after 2010 leak of US diplomatic cables, she had to go on an “apology tour” while serving as Barack Obama’s secretary of state. In those cables, US officials and diplomats characterized some foreign leaders as “vain, egotistical, power hungry, corrupt. And we knew they were. This was not fiction.” “I had grown men cry,” Clinton recalled. “I mean, literally. ‘I am a friend of America, and you say these things about me?’” Clinton said she apologized to world leaders by saying ambassadors “get carried away – they want to all be literary people”. [Your U.S. ambassadors and consul generals around the world mouthed the truth. Rather than stand by them, Clinton caused them to lose face and stature by apologizing for their comments.] Lloyd Blankfein, CEO of Goldman Sachs, then told Clinton that she had put on “an Italian accent”. “Have a sense of humor,” Clinton replied. “And so you said, Silvio,” Blankfein answered, alluding to the then Italian prime minister, Silvio Berlusconi. Hillary Clinton praised other leaders, including Chinese president Xi Jinping, who had assumed power in the fall of 2012. Clinton described Xi as “a more sophisticated, more effective public leader” than his predecessor, Hu Jintao, and said that he could “work a room”. “You can have him make small talk with you, which he has done with me,” she said. Clinton also told bankers that she would have liked to see the US intervene in Syria “as covertly as is possible” – and complained about reports to the press. “We used to be much better at this than we are now,” she said. “Now, you know, everybody can’t help themselves. They have to go out and tell their friendly reporters and somebody else: look what we’re doing and I want credit for it.”

New Navistar 6x6s for the Kurdish Peshmerga. Freightliner tractors for the Iraqi army. All gifts of the American tax payer. You are so kind. Never mind that your local roads are falling apart, and that your kids have to study in leaky portables outside the outdated main school building because there's no federal funding. Never mind that you're funding this show on the other side of the world, rather than the oil wealthy local UN of sorts in that neighborhood, the Arab League, or the Gulf Cooperation Council*. * Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman and the UAE There is limited funding for your own U.S. neighborhood........because we're funding the MIddle East. Why don't they mind their own store? .

And be sure to use a new Mack center bolt, part number 21SU18. Cut off the excess after torquing to spec.

With all due respect, it can be easily argued that Trump is not a successful businessman, and does not employ tens of thousands of employees. Trump has filed no less than four times for Chapter 11 bankruptcy...........not exactly the mark of success. I can accept one bankruptcy, e.g. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. However I can't accept four bankruptcies........there's a repeating pattern there. Too many times, people were not paid, or not paid in full, for services provided because Trump hid under the blanket of bankruptcy protection. In comparison, genuinely successful businessmen like Warren Buffett, Bill Ford and Jack Welch have never filed for bankruptcy, and have indeed employed tens of thousands of employees.

In my humble opinion, an individual who is adequately qualified and experienced to be president, is not only a very sharp individual, but also a high caliber individual with integrity. Neither nominee appears to be remotely suitable for the position. If our system of government has any integrity, new nominees must be chosen, OR, the voting booth must have a third option where Americans can vote for new nominations rather than these two candidates. No small wonder, the world is laughing at us right now. With each passing day, we're losing what respect we have left. The U.S. was born to lead, and we did fairly well for decades. But we've lost an incredible amount of stature in the world order (many Americans who don't travel may not be aware of that....it's not publicized in the news). Our success and quality of life, in no uncertain terms, depends on our position in the world order. We haven't had an exceptional president since Eisenhower. At at time when the world is fractured and our position can best be described as weak and still slipping out of relevance, we need an exceptional president this time around.

I can assure you that the part number is correct as I described. Those descriptions mentioning E6 are wrong.

http://www.bigmacktrucks.com/topic/30466-when-mack-roamed-europe-the-middle-east-africa-and-western-asia/

Hillary Clinton 'cannot recall' email server details BBC / October 14, 2016 US Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton has said she cannot recall key details about using a private email server while secretary of state, documents show. She had been asked to give sworn responses to 25 written questions from a conservative legal group. At least 21 responses used variations of "does not recall", the documents, provided by her lawyer, show. Mrs Clinton denies handling classified information in her private emails. Questions over her use of a private email server while secretary of state have dogged her presidential campaign. Her responses under oath to the Judicial Watch group were provided by her lawyer, David Kendall. Mrs Clinton also made various legal objections to the wording or formation of 18 of the 25 questions, the documents show. Correspondents say her answers provide no new information beyond what Mrs Clinton told FBI agents during a recent investigation. Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said the group's lawyers would be closely reviewing her responses. "Mrs Clinton's refusal to answer many of the questions in a clear and straightforward manner further reflects disdain for the rule of law," he said. Judicial Watch has filed multiple lawsuits to try to obtain copies of government documents from Mrs Clinton's time as secretary of state.

Elizabeth Warren urges Barack Obama to fire SEC chief Mary Jo White The Financial Times / October 14, 2016 Scourge of Wall Street accuses president’s appointee of standing in the way of transparency Barack Obama is being pressed by the Democratic party’s left wing to sack Mary Jo White, chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission and one of his most senior appointees. In a blistering letter on Friday, Senator Elizabeth Warren called on Mr Obama to use exceptional powers to eject Ms White, accusing her of standing in the way of greater corporate transparency. Her move lays bare dissatisfaction in the party with the head of the market watchdog and Wall Street reform with barely three months remaining of a presidency that began in the throes of the financial crisis. “I have tried both publicly and privately to persuade Chair White to direct the agency’s resources toward pressing matters of compelling interest to investors and the public,” wrote the outspoken Wall Street critic. “But after years of fruitless efforts, it is clear that Chair White is set on her course.” Ms White was confirmed in her role in 2013 and is widely expected to be replaced by an appointee of the next president, as is customary when a new administration takes office. Ms Warren, a Massachusetts senator who has attacked the SEC chair before, accused her of “undermining [the Obama] administration’s priorities and ignoring the SEC’s core mission of investor protection”. She said Ms White had an “anti-disclosure” agenda and zeroed in on her alleged failure to develop a rule mandating the disclosure of political spending by companies — a hot issue since a loosening of restrictions on US campaign finance in 2010. “Chair White’s refusal to move forward on a political spending disclosure rule serves the narrow interests of powerful executives who would prefer to hide their expenditures of company money to advance their own personal ideologies,” she wrote. At a Senate hearing in June, Ms Warren expressed her frustration with Ms White, who replied: “I am disappointed in your disappointment.” The senator, — a close ally of Bernie Sanders, the former presidential candidate, is a member of the Democratic leadership in Congress and is likely to take on a more prominent role if Democrats take back control of the chamber in November elections. The SEC is no stranger to criticism. Its alleged lack of vigilance under the George W Bush administration was blamed for contributing to the financial crisis. Those accusations have given way to complaints that it has been too weak in the Obama era. Ms Warren told the president he could use a little-known provision of the law to demote Ms White and replace her with one of the SEC’s other commissioners. When Ms Warren accused Ms White’s SEC of being timid and slow in mid-2015, Ms White hit back by saying the senator had been wrong in her characterisation of her statements and the agency’s accomplishments. Since Ms White was appointed the SEC says it has proposed or adopted more than 50 significant sets of rules. This week it said that in the 12 months to the end of September it had filed a record 868 enforcement actions exposing misconduct by companies and executives. The SEC was created in 1934 to protect investors and consumers, one of the reforms of the Great Depression that followed the 1929 stock market crash. After the last crisis it was asked to implement many Dodd-Frank reforms and ensure regulations were enforced. Even the agency’s most ardent defenders recognise it is not fleet-footed, saying it needs time to grapple with complex issues and adapt to changes in markets in the five years since Dodd-Frank became law.

His model and serial number......... RD822SX-1100

Speaking of Penske Commercial Vehicles in Australia and New Zealand, Penske has the MAN and Western Star Franchises. With MAN, Penske has deepened his ties to VW Group. Penske already owns 51 Volkswagen dealerships in Europe. With Western Star, he's tied into Daimler, the world's largest truckmaker and whom he sold Detroit Diesel to. They have a long time relationship. In Oz, he also had the franchise for the world's best refuse truck, Dennis Eagle, At his Premier Truck Group, with 15 U.S. locations and 5 in Canada, he sells Freightliner, Western Star and Thomas-built buses.

At one time, Mack was the number one brand in Australia, by a mile. Later, Kenworth came and made itself a competitor to be reckoned with. Fast forward to the present, as in the US market, the Mack brand in Australia is languishing while the Volvo brand is pushed ahead. Gothenberg's priorities and end game are clear by its actions. For heaven sakes, you have Isuzu outselling Mack in Class 8. That is damning to the marque. US Market Ranking Australian Market Ranking Volvo 5 2 Mack 6 4

Steve Brooks, Australasian Transport News (ATN) / October 14, 2016 Aussie-built trucks lead heavy-duty market but Isuzu still the stand-out performer Judging by sales figures to the end of September, 2016 certainly won’t be remembered as a boom time for truck makers. However, the good news is that the two biggest players in the premium heavy-duty category – Kenworth and Volvo – continue to manufacture or at least assemble their trucks in Australia. What influence the ‘Aussie made’ factor has on customers’ buying decisions and actual sales volumes is difficult to quantify. Yet it’s perhaps fair to assume that with Kenworth entrenched at number one in the heavy-duty contest and Volvo an increasingly close number two (with Brisbane-built corporate cohort Mack at number four), local engineering plays a significant role in tailoring trucks to Australian conditions and subsequently meeting the distinctive requirements of this market’s truck buyers. Kenworth and Volvo are not, of course, the only brands putting trucks together in this country. Iveco continues to make and assemble a number of models led by the home-grown ACCO. Of course, ACCO’s numbers are not what they once were and with Iveco holding just 5.1 per cent of the heavy-duty market up to the end of September, the brand’s performance is well short of inspiring. Nonetheless, the sales of all locally built or assembled models from Kenworth, Volvo and Mack, and Iveco, amount to as much as 50 per cent of all the heavy-duty trucks sold in Australia. Still, as the Truck Industry Council (TIC) recently commented, the heavy-duty sector continues to struggle for sales while down the weight scale, light and medium-duty markets are notching solid results. According to TIC, the 2016 heavy-duty market "… is lagging 2015 results by 3.8 per cent with only 6947 heavy-duty trucks sold in Australia to the end of September this year". Meanwhile, the total market for trucks is actually tracking up 2.4 per cent over the same period last year. At the end of September Kenworth’s place at the head of the heavy-duty pack stood at a formidable 20.7 per cent with Volvo in second spot on a healthy 16.2 per cent. Volvo Group Australia also stacks up best in the contest for corporate supremacy with its three brands – Volvo, Mack and UD – holding a collective 26.3 per cent of the heavy-duty contest to the end of September with the Paccar pairing of Kenworth and DAF on 23.6 per cent. However, the big achiever in the heavy-duty stakes is third placegetter and overall market leader Isuzu. Along with its powerful 43.1 per cent leadership of the light-duty market and 38 per cent domination of the medium-duty sector, Isuzu up to the end of September also held a respectable 13.8 per cent of the heavy-duty category. From there it’s a quick slide into single figures with Mack on 8.6 per cent, then a congested scrap for minor placings: Scania on 6.4 per cent, Freightliner 6.2, Iveco 5.1, Mercedes-Benz 4.5, Fuso 4.1, Western Star 3.8, Hino 3.0, DAF 2.9, MAN 2.1, UD 1.5, and Cat and Dennis Eagle with just 0.7 and 0.3 percent respectively. Yet despite all the attraction and emphasis of the heavy-duty truck business, it’s the smaller end where the Australian market remains strongest and where Japanese brands continue to hold absolute domination. The Top Three Sales Results for the 3rd Quarter 2016 HEAVY-DUTY Kenworth 1,439 units - 20.7% Volvo 1,125 units - 16.2% Isuzu 958 units - 13.8% Mack 8.6% Scania 6.4% Freightliner 6.2% Iveco (includes ACCO) 5.1% Mercedes-Benz 4.5% Mitsubishi Fuso 4.1% Western Star 3.8% Hino 3.0% DAF 2.9% MAN 2.1% UD (Nissan Diesel) 1.5% Caterpillar 0.7% Dennis Eagle (refuse) 0.3% MEDIUM-DUTY Isuzu 2220 units – 43.1% Hino 1497 units – 29.0% Fuso 766 units - 14.9% LIGHT-DUTY Isuzu 2967 units – 38.0% Fuso 1592 units – 20.4% Hino 1555 units – 19.9% .

Penske reinforces commitment to MAN Prime Mover Magazine / October 14, 2016 On the back of the launch of MAN’s new TGX D38 model on Tuesday, Penske Corporation Chairman, Roger Penske, reinforced his commitment to the German brand. “I think MAN is a strong brand and we can be proud to be working with it. European trucks in general have come such a long way technology-wise, they’re leading the way now,” he told journalists at the TGX unveiling outside Brisbane – pointing out that volatile exchange rate have made trading difficult of late. “We want to build on that with MAN here in Australia, and that also means we won’t give trucks away cheap just to get business.” Agreed MAN’s Jeroen Lagarde, who flew in for the launch from Europe: “We haven’t been as successful in Australia as we would have liked to be, but that lies in the past now. We’re looking forward again, and we think Penske is the perfect fit for it. “We’ve learned from the past and realised that the Australian market has some very unique requirements we need to align ourselves with. The TGX D38 is a direct result of that thinking.” .

KrAZ Trucks Press Release / October 7, 2016 KrAZ Trucks will show its newest vocational truck, the 8x4 model 7133С4, at the 2016 Mining World Ukraine exhibition on October 12-14 at the KievExpoPlaza Exhibition Centre. The 7133C4 offeres customers a combination of optimized 8x4 weight distribution, modern cabover design, powerful Euro-5 engines and available 20 cubic meter “half round” factory-installed dump bodies. With a payload capacity of 26 tonnes, the 7133C4 helps reduce the cost of transportation and increase profitability. Featuring a twin-steer front axle configuration and planetary hub reduction read drive axles, the 7133С4 has a curb weight of just 15.5 tonnes and a GVW of 41.5 tonnes. Cabover design allows for a tight turning radius, resulting in better maneuverability on and off road. The cab’s ergonomically-designed interior layout enhances driver comfort while reducing fatigue. The KrAZ truck display will be located outdoors at the KievExpoPlaza (2б Salyutnaya Street) opposite Hall No 1 (entrance B). .

Reuters / October 13, 2016 Truckmaker MAN will offer job guarantees to some of its staff until at least 2025, a person familiar with the matter said, as parent company Volkswagen pushes ahead with steps to realign its heavy goods vehicle brands. Job guarantees will apply to staff at MAN Truck & Bus in Germany and Austria and automatically extend through 2030 if not terminated prior to that date, the person told Reuters on Thursday. MAN has 36,000 workers globally. Volkswagen (VW) had been seeking to build a global trucks business by integrating the heavy goods vehicle operations of Scania and MAN divisions even before the company's diesel emissions scandal came to light a year ago. VW last month announced details on how Scania and MAN will in future share development of engines, transmissions, axles and emissions-treatment systems to try to align the two manufacturers more closely to boost profits. With Thursday's decision, MAN is reassuring workers after restructuring last year culminated in 1,800 job losses in Europe designed to revive languishing profitability and tackle high fixed costs. Workers at MAN Truck & Bus were scheduled to be briefed about the plans at a staff gathering in Munich later on Thursday, the source said. VW and MAN Truck & Bus were not immediately available for comment. Volkswagen's works council chief said on Wednesday the company could cut up to 25,000 staff over the next decade as older workers retire to help the carmaker achieve cost-cuts needed to revive the VW brand.

Paccar Press Release / October 13, 2016 BELLEVUE, Wash. - Paccar is launching exciting new power, torque and fuel efficiency enhancements to its MX-13 and MX-11 engines for North America. The new engines will be available in Kenworth trucks in January 2017. “The MX-13 and MX-11 engines are designed to deliver optimum performance, durability, fuel economy, and the lowest total cost of ownership for our customers.” said Landon Sproull, Paccar vice president. Paccar increased the MX-13 engine’s output to 510 hp and 1,850 lb.-ft. of torque and increased the MX-11 engine’s output to 430 hp and 1,650 lb.-ft. of torque. The enhanced MX-11 engine also adds a new 335 hp and 1,150 lb.-ft. torque rating in the lower end of the power range. The MX engines deliver peak torque at 900 RPM for the majority of engine ratings, supporting increased performance and driving flexibility. Paccar (DAF) designs MX engines to an industry-leading B10 life of one million miles. This means 90% of the MX-13 and MX-11 engines are expected to reach one million miles without the need for a major overhaul. Each MX engine also comes standard with factory installed remote diagnostics to deliver proactive customer support. This translates into low cost of ownership and superior uptime for truck owners. The 2017 MX-13 and MX-11 engines include a new single cylinder air compressor, variable displacement oil pump, and variable speed coolant pump providing customers with fuel economy gains over the previous engine design. The latest MX-13 and MX-11 engines extend oil and fuel filter change intervals from 60,000 miles to 75,000 miles, a significant cost savings for customers over the life of the vehicle. The MX-13 and MX-11 engines now utilize a single canister aftertreatment system that reduces weight by 100 lbs., improves serviceability and lengthens service intervals. Paccar (DAF) is one of the leading diesel engine manufacturers in the world with the design, manufacture and production of 1.4 million engines globally since 1957. “Paccar will have 135,000 MX engines in operation in North America by year end. Nearly 50 percent of Kenworth trucks delivered to customers in North America this year will be powered by a MX engine,” said Sproull. “This strong adoption level is a testament to the outstanding performance, durability, fuel economy and low cost of service delivered by the MX-13 and MX-11 engines.” .

Paccar Press Release / October 13, 2016 BELLEVUE, Wash. - Paccar is launching a new proprietary tandem axle that is the industry’s lightest and most efficient axle in its class. “Paccar is pleased to deliver the most fuel efficient axle in the industry to complement the superior performance and fuel economy of our Paccar (DAF) MX Engines,” said Landon Sproull, Paccar vice president. The new Paccar axle is designed to improve the operating efficiency for line haul, regional haul and pick-up and delivery customers. The new axle is rated at 40,000 pounds, supporting a gross combination weight of 80,000 lbs. Kenworth will begin offering the axle to customers in January 2017. “Paccar’s axle reduces vehicle weight by up to 150 pounds, and provides improved fuel economy,” noted Sproull. The Paccar axle features a unique pinion-through-shaft design that simplifies power flow in the axle for maximum efficiency, and incorporates an innovative laser-welded carrier design that reduces weight and improves fuel economy. The Paccar axle comes with an industry-leading warranty of five years or 750,000 miles. Ratios from 2.47 to 3.70 are offered, with engine torque compatibility up to 1,650 lb.-ft. and multi-torque rating compatibility up to 1,750 lb.-ft. . .

Test drive: International LT Series Commercial Carrier Journal (CCJ) / October 13, 2016 Navistar CEO Troy Clarke often says his company builds the most driver friendly truck on the highway, so it only makes sense that he doubled-down when it came time to overhaul the company’s flagship on-highway truck. Many of the refinements that went into International’s LT Series, which the company unveiled earlier this month in Las Vegas, were gleaned from feedback provided by more than 400 drivers. Adding a crowd-sourced element to the design process of a truck that will eventually replace the company’s ProStar is in step with Clarke’s pro-driver charge. Denny Mooney, Navistar senior vice president of global product development, adds it also hones the company’s focus on building a truck that can become a tool for driver recruitment and retention, since driver feedback has begun predicating purchasing decisions. “We’ve had fleets tell us that if the drivers don’t want to drive your truck, we’re not going to buy your trucks,” Mooney says. “Driver retention equals cost of ownership,” adds Jeff Sass, senior vice president of sales and marketing for Navistar. Sass says keeping drivers in the seat has begun to trump fuel economy and efficiency benefits due to the investment in the driver’s equipment and training. “Everything we’re doing today is for the driver.” This week, I was able to take the LT for a quick spin around Navistar’s New Carlisle, Ind., proving grounds to get a feel for just how driver-friendly the final product is. The company borrowed many of the LT Series’ exterior elements from its SuperTruck project, a multi-million dollar joint endeavor with the U.S. Department of Energy. Upgraded aerodynamic features on the new International LT Series include an aero-contoured hood (with 4 inches added to the slope), fender, wheel opening and chassis skirts and an aero-enhanced three-piece front bumper. Longer side extenders also shorten the trailer gap. Standard LED headlamps offer a bump in durability and efficiency over halogen predecessors. The exterior may have been inspired by efficiency, but the inside is all about comfort. Based on a review of more than 500 points where the driver and truck interact, the LT features an all-new interior that offers better elbow room, hip room and leg room. In a shout-out to all the shotgun riders, the LT Series passenger side gets two extra inches of room over the ProStar. The air brake release has been relocated from the left side of the B-panel, giving the driver easier access to switches more applicable for driving and improving egress into the sleeper. “There’s no reason to have the primary real estate on the B-panel because you don’t touch [the air brakes] unless the truck is stopped,” Sass says, “[and] you don’t bump it with your right knee if you happen to be swinging into the sleeper.” The redesigned interior also features a premium dash cluster with a digital driver display that features up to 15 customizable digital gauges. It can be manipulated with a steering-wheel mounted toggle and offers real-time fuel economy monitoring. A column-mounted gear-shifter also helps un-clutter the dash and shares the right side of the steering column with a three-stage engine brake switch. The air horn was relocated back to its traditional position over the driver door in another nod to driver feedback. The truck features a redesigned one-piece side window for a clearer line of sight and the mirrors have been engineered so the driver will have to turn their head 15 percent less on the driver’s side and 5 percent less on the passenger side – a change Sass expects to improve driver fatigue. It’s also a design element that contributes to LT’s “wrap around” feel from the driver’s seat. A better HVAC system – more tightly sealed vents and improved reliability and performance – is sure to be popular with International loyalists. Bendix Wingman Advanced Collision Mitigation system also comes standard in the LT Series. The LT Series will initially be available with the 2017 Cummins X15 engine, offering a horsepower rating of up to 500 hp in the efficiency series and up to 565 hp in the performance series. My white 73-inch SkyRise sleeper LT test unit featured a horsepower rating of 450 and was matched to an Eaton Fuller Advantage 10 speed automated manual transmission. My brief test only flirted with 60 mph a couple of times, but the truck is a comfortable driver. Sass says aero enhancements also provide a four-sone decrease in wind noise inside the cab. I didn’t spend a lot of time at highway speeds so I’ll defer to their experts on that, but the cab is noticeably quieter than a ProStar similarly equipped. International’s predictive cruise control uses preinstalled GPS maps and the latest commercial route data to make adjustments to cruising speed without the need to pre-drive the route. It looks ahead of the vehicle and recognizes the terrain and continuously calculates the most efficient speed and gear for optimal fuel economy in real time. My test was on a closed track so I didn’t get to fully deploy this feature. A 2017 Navistar N13 engine will be available early next year and rated up to 475 hp with up to 1,750 lb.-ft. of torque on LT models. Its design is expected to be 500 to 600 pounds lighter than traditional big bore engines. Reception to the LT since its debut barely two weeks ago has been strong, and Sass says more than 3,000 have been ordered to-date with 1,150 slated to be built by year’s end. All in all, if International was looking for a truck that carries the mantle of the company’s driver-centric mission a little further, the LT Series seemingly fits the bill with its mixture of traditional elements to keep drivers happy and technological innovations that help boost efficiency and the bottom line. .

Associated Press / October 13, 2016 The New York Times' general counsel has informed Donald Trump's lawyer, in scathing terms, that it will not retract its story about two women who claim that Trump touched them inappropriately. In a letter to Trump attorney Marc E. Kasowitz sent Thursday, New York Times general counsel David McCraw wrote, of the request that the Times retract the story, "We decline to do so." McCraw then laid into Kasowitz and his client, writing, "The essence of a libel claim, of course, is the protection of one's reputation. Mr. Trump has bragged about his non-consensual sexual touching of women. He has bragged about intruding on beauty pageant contestants in their dressing rooms. He acquiesced to a radio host's request to discuss Mr. Trump's own daughter as a 'piece of ass.' Multiple women not mentioned in our article have publicly come forward to report on Mr. Trump's unwanted advances." He continued: "Nothing in our article has had the slightest effect on the reputation that Mr. Trump, through his own words and actions, has already created for himself." There were spontaneous bursts of applause for McCraw when he walked through the paper's newsroom on Thursday afternoon. Trump said at a Thursday afternoon rally in Florida that "we are preparing" a suit against The Times. Legal experts have doubts that Trump will actually file such a suit. The Times story featured two women, Jessica Leeds and Rachel Crooks, who said that Trump made inappropriate physical advances on them. When Times reporter Megan Twohey interviewed Trump by phone Tuesday night, "he threatened to sue us if we published these allegations," said Twohey. She quoted Trump as saying that "none of this ever took place." She said Trump shouted at her and called her "a disgusting human being." Twohey also received a legal letter from a Trump attorney Wednesday afternoon. The Times published the story online shortly before 7 p.m. Eastern. "I think it is pretty evident this story falls clearly in the realm of public service journalism, and discussing issues that arose from the tape and his comments since it surfaced," says Times executive editor Dean Baquet. Shortly after midnight Thursday, a lawyer representing Trump, Marc E. Kasowitz, sent a letter to Baquet saying "your article is reckless, defamatory and constitutes libel per se." "We hereby demand that you immediately cease any further publication of this article, remove it from your website and issue a full and immediate retraction and apology. Failure to do so will leave my client with no option but to purse all available actions and remedies," Kasowitz wrote. The letter lacks any substantive facts to cast doubt on the Times story, and is not a lawsuit. In his response to Kasowitz, McCraw wrote, "The women quoted in our story spoke out on an issue of national importance -- indeed, an issue that Mr. Trump himself discussed with the whole nation watching during Sunday night's presidential debate.... It would have been a disservice not just to our readers but to democracy itself to silence their voices.... If Mr. Trump disagrees, if he believes that American citizens had no right to hear what these women had to say and that the law of this country forces us and those who would dare to criticize him to stand silent or be punished, we welcome the opportunity to have a court set him straight." In the Times story, Leeds says Trump, whom she says she had never met before, grabbed her breasts and tried to put his hand up her skirt while the two were on an airplane more than three decades ago. Crooks, who worked in Trump Tower at a company that Trump did not own, says Trump kissed her outside an elevator after she introduced herself. The Post features a woman named Mindy McGillivray who says she was groped by Trump at Mar-a-Lago when she was 23. Twohey said Crooks, who was was initially reluctant to speak publicly, reached out to the newspaper after it published a story in May titled "Crossing the Line: How Donald Trump Behaved With Women in Private." Leeds contacted the newspaper after Sunday's debate, when Trump was asked by CNN's Anderson Cooper if he had ever done the things he described in that video. "No, I have not," Trump said. The Times report comes in the wake of the release of a 2005 recording in which Trump boasted about being able to kiss women and grope them in ways that would amount to sexual assault.