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This is what Car & Driver had to say about the USPS's Fiat Ducatos (rebadged as Promaster) full-size vans. http://www.caranddriver.com/comparisons/diesel-cargo-vans-compared-ford-transit-vs-mercedes-benz-sprinter-ram-promaster-comparison-test ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The Ram ProMaster, a Fiat Ducato with ram-head logos, is a detestable, shovel-faced thing that appears to have been cobbled together from spare parts. Too harsh? No, not really. The ProMaster itself is an insult. It is the only vehicle in any comparison test in memory to receive zero points in a subjective category from one of our ­voters. That would be for its dreadful single-clutch automated-manual transmission. The other voters each gave it one mercy point. Pull out onto a busy road and the vehicle comes to a near stop as the transmission pauses to find the next gear. It’s not just annoying, causing your head to bob fore and aft with every shift, it’s scary. The steering system is loose and numb and connected to a steering wheel that feels only a few degrees from a horizontal orientation. It’s better than the steering in an ex-military Hummer H1 or a Mercedes-Benz G-class, but worse than everything else. Its 3.0-liter inline-four turbo-diesel makes more power than the Mercedes’ smaller-displacement four, but the ProMaster returns the slowest acceleration in the test by two seconds to 60 mph. This despite being the shortest and lightest of the vans. It also takes the longest distance to stop from 70 mph. It was the loudest van, it was judged to have the worst ride, and its handling properties were bottom rung. Oh, and judging by the contorted position that Fiat/Ram forces the ProMaster’s driver into, the company must really hate plumbers and delivery drivers. Why? We don’t know. We probably should have specified the longer-wheelbase version, which would have brought it closer to other competitors in terms of length. But the problems that ail the ProMaster will not be solved by more ProMaster.

USPS Adds Another 3,000 Ram ProMaster Vans Heavy Duty Trucking / September 8, 2016 FCA has started delivering another 3,339 Ram ProMaster [Fiat Ducato] cargo vans to the U.S. Postal Service in a second order that follows a 9,113-vehicle order last year. USPS awarded the contract to FCA on March 24, and the vehicles will be delivered by the end of November, said Ralph Kisiel, an FCA spokesman. In all, FCA will deliver 12,472 vans, mostly from the 2016 model year and some from the 2017 model year. The postal service has been adding ProMaster vans set up with a Ranger Design rack system to replacing aging vehicles as it continues its development of a next-generation delivery vehicle to replace its Long Life Vehicles. USPS is purchasing ProMaster 2500 vans powered by a gasoline 3.6L Pentastar V-6 engine that produces 280 hp and 260 lb.-ft. of torque. The front-wheel drive van is available in more than 14 configurations. USPS now operates a fleet of about 215,000 vehicles, of which 163,000 are LLVs. .

International offers DuraStar powertrain warranty package Fleet Owner / September 8, 2016 International Truck announced today the availability of the International DuraStar Integrated Powertrain Warranty Package, a four-year/unlimited miles and hours integrated powertrain warranty on new orders of its DuraStar model Powered by Cummins ISB and configured with an Eaton Procision transmission, Dana Spicer axles and driveshafts. "The International DuraStar is one of the most reliable trucks in the medium-duty market," said Carl Webb, vice president and general manager, Medium-Duty Truck, International Trucks. "This new warranty is both a testament to the outstanding uptime this product delivers and also an example of our commitment to standing behind our products." According to the company, the four-year/unlimited miles and hours integrated powertrain warranty on the DuraStar features the most efficient engine ratings offered in the Cummins ISB6.7 diesel powered engine. “The DuraStar is the first truck in the industry to offer a powertrain that delivers outstanding drivability and high power density through high capacity gearing with the Dana E Series Steer and S140 Drive axle bundle,” International added. "Customers in need of a dependable truck that can handle the rigor of stop and go operation and withstand long idle times should strongly consider this specification of the DuraStar," said Webb. "It will deliver the efficiency they need with the peace of mind they require." To qualify for the DuraStar Integrated Powertrain Warranty Package, customers must either order or purchase a DuraStar from an International dealer between now and Dec. 31, 2016. Eligible truck applications include Dry Van, Refrigerated Van, Roll Back Recovery, Attic Van, Beverage (not tractor), Expedited Freight or Stake Flat with a max GVWR of 33,000 lbs.

One on one with DTNA’s Martin Daum Fleet Owner / September 8, 2016 Trucking has changed a lot in the past seven years. When Martin Daum was named president and CEO of Daimler Trucks North America in 2009, the U.S. economy was quietly descending into what’s now recognized as “the Great Recession,” and trucking was sliding from one of its boom cycles into an extended downturn. But the resulting fleet bankruptcies and consolidations haven’t brought the biggest changes to trucking over the last seven years, according to Daum. The biggest changes he’s seen haven’t been driven by the economy, but rather by the flood of new industry regulations. “Regulations make it really tough” to run a fleet these days, Daum told Fleet Owner. Whether it’s hours-of-service changes, safety recordkeeping requirements, or other newly imposed Federal regulation, “these are huge burdens for big or small fleets,” he said. The constant pressure fleets are under to find qualified drivers only adds to that burden, Daum said, as does the ever-present possibility of a liability suit that could close down almost any fleet. “And that burden keeps getting bigger with absolutely no easing on the horizon.” he said. One “positive surprise” over the last seven years has been fleet response to much lower fuel prices. “I expected their fuel efficiency technology [investment] to rise and fall with prices, but it hasn’t,” according to Daum. “They continue to make the investments because they expect [fuel prices] will go up again.” As a truck manufacturer, the biggest change over his initial seven years at DTNA has been the emergence of connectivity as a main driver in both truck technology and fleet operations. “For me, real-time information on how a truck is performing combined with smart analytics is necessary to deliver real value,” Daum said. “Our customers need information to run their businesses smarter. They can’t wait until the truck comes back in to get it, especially if it’s safety related. They want that information immediately.” When the company introduced its Virtual Technician remote diagnostics system four years ago, “I didn’t really see just how far it could go,” Daum recalls. “But our partner Zonar saw the possibilities, and being creative helped us, our dealers and our customers learn.” Looking forward, Daum believes “deep integration” of all truck systems will be absolutely necessary to achieve the highest levels of fuel efficiency, productivity and safety. “We’ll always offer choices [in vehicle specifications] because we have a diverse population of customers and our product line has to reflect that,” he says. But the gains in fuel economy promised for the next generation Cascadia and its highly advanced safety systems wouldn’t be possible without that kind of integration. “It’s inevitable,” concludes Daum.

Fleet Owner / September 8, 2016 Truck maker touts market share gains, new products over Q3 loss of $34 million Navistar International Corp. management on Thursday emphasized the focus on gaining market share with its current truck and engine lineup (and the soon-to-be revealed Project Horizon), deflecting questions about future powertrain products following the recently announced alliance with Volkswagen Truck & Bus. Still, the company currently has “no plans to displace Cummins” as an engine supplier, Navistar President and CEO Troy Clarke said. Earlier this week, Clarke had suggested that a Volkswagen-based powertrain could be available by 2019, an “illustrative” timeframe that’s “not tomorrow, but not well into next decade"—and that sparked speculation that Cummins would be on the way out as a third-party engine supplier. “We have no plans to displace Cummins engines between now and the 2019 date that, quite frankly, I wish we hadn’t said because there’s not as much substance behind that as a lot of people seem to consider,” Clarke said, in response to numerous questions from investment analysts during Navistar’s third-quarter earnings conference call. “Cummins is an important partner for us and they’re helping us create outstanding vehicles that are getting a lot of traction in the market. We’re including their product in all of the new product launches that will take place over the next 18 months.” Cummins engines are currently in more than 80% of the company’s vehicles and ultimately, he added, the customer will continue to make the decision on powertrain options. “We think we are the most customer-centric truck company, and let’s just live by that for a while,” Clarke said. Otherwise, he restated his earlier position that the Volkswagen alliance is in a very early phase, and only now that the deal has been announced can the two companies begin “to work together to figure out what we’re going to do when.” More immediately, Clarke pointed to the Project Horizon launch later this month as a critical part of International Truck’s ongoing effort to reclaim market share. “When we put a lot of energy and effort into a major redesign of our product, we have a lot of goals in mind,” Clarke said, naming improved quality, fuel efficiency, uptime, and operating cost. “And I think our trucks are more than pretty good today. We’re in launch—some of these products are coming off the line as we speak.” Questioned about reports of industry-wide price cutting in a down market, Bill Kozek, president of Truck & Parts, downplayed any significant impact. “Obviously, we’ve got a lot of capacity out there—Class 8 specifically. Everybody is getting more aggressive on their pricing,” Kozek said. “That’s just the way the industry is, but it’s nothing out of the ordinary and I’m not seeing any of our competitors doing anything that hurts the entire industry.” As for the earnings report, Navistar lost $34 million in the third quarter, worse than Wall Street had expected, as truck sales fell 24%. But Clarke emphasized improved cost savings and a lower break-even point, along with an increasing share of new orders—even as industry-wide truck sales slide. “This quarter's results show that we continue to make progress in the face of tougher market conditions, particularly in the heavy segment," said Clarke. “We are confident that as the industry works through its near term challenges, particularly in Class 8, our improvements in order share will translate to improved retail share as well.”

The Guardian / September 9, 2016 Colin Powell told Hillary Clinton, his successor as secretary of state, that he used a personal computer to email foreign leaders “without going through State Department servers”, a seven-year-old email exchange reveals. Powell dismissed some of the official security restrictions on him as “nonsense” and questioned why his personal digital assistant (PDA) was any more vulnerable to spies than a TV remote control or “something embedded in my shoe heel”. The email correspondence was released on Wednesday by Representative Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the House oversight committee, intending to show that Clinton’s handling of data was hardly less meticulous than previous secretaries of state. She was the only one to set up a private email server in her home, however, and has admitted this was a mistake. The emails also offer a rare glimpse of relations between America’s top diplomats across party lines, evolving technology in an era when the BlackBerry was still king and the daily frustrations of a security detail. Clinton and Powell were on first name terms. At 7.37am on Friday 23 January 2009, two days after she was sworn into office, she wrote flatteringly: “Dear Colin, I hope to catch up soon w you, but I have one pressing question which only you can answer! What were the restrictions on your use of your blackberry? Did you use it in your personal office? I’ve been told that the DSS [Diplomatic Security Service] personnel knew you had one and used it but no one fesses up to knowing how you used it!” Barack Obama was the first president to own a BlackBerry at a time when celebrities such as Angelina Jolie, Lindsay Lohan and Britney Spears made the hand-held device fashionable. He gave it up for a smartphone only this year, although his phone cannot text or play music for security reasons. Clinton wrote to Powell: “President Obama has struck a blow for berry addicts like us. I just have to figure out how to bring along the State Dept. Any and all advice is welcome. All the best to you and Alma, Hillary.” Skipping formalities, Powell replied that he did not have a BlackBerry but explained how he circumvented official channels: “What I did do was have a personal computer that was hooked up to a private phone line (sounds ancient.) So I could communicate with a wide range of friends directly without it going through the State Department servers. I even used it to do business with some foreign leaders and some of the senior folks in the Department on their personal email accounts. I did the same thing on the road in hotels.” Powell has previously admitted using a laptop on a private line and sending notes to ambassadors and foreign ministers via personal email, according to a report by the state department’s inspector general. In the message to Clinton, Powell said the main issue for him was PDAs – once-popular devices that included Palm Pilots – that the DSS would not allow into secure spaces. “When I asked why not they gave me all kinds of nonsense about how they gave out signals and could be read by spies, etc. Same reason they tried to keep mobile phones out of the suite. I had numerous meetings with them. We even opened one up for them to try to explain to me why it was more dangerous than say, a remote control for one of the many tvs in the suite. Or something embedded in my shoe heel. They never satisfied me and NSA/CIA wouldn’t back off. So, we just went about our business and stopped asking. I had an ancient version of a PDA and used it. In general, the suite was so sealed that it is hard to get signals in or out wirelessly.” Powell went on to offer Clinton a friendly warning first reported last week when the FBI released notes of its now closed investigation into her handling of sensitive information. “However, there is a real danger. If it is public that you have a BlackBerry and it it [sic] government and you are using it, government or not, to do business, it may become an official record and subject to the law … Be very careful. I got around it all by not saying much and not using systems that captured the data.” Giving an insight into the routine frustrations of balancing security with convenience, Powell, who was secretary of state under George W Bush, added: “You will find DS driving you crazy if you let them. They had Maddy [possibly a reference to former secretary Madeleine Albright] tied up in knots. I refused to let them live in my house or build a place on my property. They found an empty garage half a block away. “On weekends, I drove my beloved cars around town without them following me. I promised I would have a phone and not be gone more than an hour or two at Tysons or the hardware store. They hated it and asked me to sign a letter relieving them of responsibility if I got whacked while doing that. I gladly did. “Spontaneity was my security. They wanted to have two to three guys follow me around the building all the time. I said if they were doing their job guarding the place, they didn’t need to follow me. I relented and let one guy follow me one full corridor behind just so they knew where I was if I was needed immediately. Their job is to keep you hermetically sealed up. Love, Colin.” The email saga has continued to haunt Clinton’s presidential campaign even after the FBI concluded in July that she should not face criminal charges. She was quizzed about it closely during a “commander-in-chief” forum with military veterans on NBC News on Wednesday night. Cummings said the 2009 exchange showed that Republicans were unfairly critical of Clinton and argued that Powell “advised Secretary Clinton with a detailed blueprint on how to skirt security rules and bypass requirements to preserve federal records, although Secretary Clinton has made clear that she did not rely on this advice”. It “also illustrates the longstanding problem that no secretary of state ever used an official unclassified email account until the current secretary of state”, Cummings said. The date of the Clinton-Powell email exchange raises questions over Powell’s recent denial of responsibility for providing her advice. “The truth is she was using it for a year before I sent her a memo telling her what I did,” he told the New York Post. “Her people have been trying to pin it on me.”

France: ‘Imminent’ attack thwarted Reuters / September 8, 2016 Three radical Islamist women arrested on Thursday in connection with a car laden with gas cylinders found abandoned near Paris's Notre Dame cathedral were likely planning an imminent attack, French Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said. One of the women had stabbed a police officer during the arrest before being shot and wounded. The attacker was the missing 19-year-old daughter of the car's owner. The discovery on Saturday night of the Peugeot 607 loaded with seven gas cylinders, six of them full, prompted a counter-terrorism investigation. No detonator had been found, though the vehicle also contained three jerry cans of diesel fuel, adding to concerns that there had been a plan to explode the car. "These three women aged 39, 23 and 19 had been radicalised, were fanatics and were in all likelihood preparing an imminent, violent act," Cazeneuve said. Seven people have now been detained since Tuesday in connection with the investigation. The arrests took place in Boussy-Saint-Antoine, some 30 km (20 miles) south-east of Paris. The Peugeot was found in the early hours of Sunday morning on a Seine riverside road, just meters from Notre Dame cathedral. Documents with writing in Arabic were also found in the car, which had no registration plates and was left with its hazard lights flashing. The car owner was taken into custody earlier this week but later released. He had gone to police on Sunday to report that his daughter had disappeared with his car. His daughter, officials say, is known to police for wanting to leave for Syria, where scores of religiously radicalised people of French and other nationalities have joined the ranks of the Islamic State militant group. .

Former attorney general Alberto Gonzales weighed in on a newly released email from former Secretary of State Colin Powell to Clinton in 2009. Powell wrote how he used a personal computer connected to private phone lines while at the State Department. “It appears that Colin Powell did what he did or his advice was based upon convenience for him,” said Gonzales. “The fact that she [Hillary Clinton] would rely upon Colin Powell’s advice to me is also kind of interesting or curious because he’s a secretary of state, he’s not a lawyer, and so why wouldn’t she check with the attorney general? Why wouldn’t she check with the lawyers at the State Department? That’s who she should have checked with, not necessarily reliance upon Secretary Powell.” With the 15th anniversary of the September 11 attacks on Sunday, Gonzales worries “that America may be less safe today” with the rise of lone-wolf terrorists, who are harder to detect. “We are more safe in respect to attacks by hijack aircraft,” said Gonzales. “The next attacker of a 9/11 scale attack is likely to be an American citizen, someone who looks like you and I, speaks perfect English, can travel back and forth freely within this country, and that presents unique challenges to our law enforcement and intelligence communities.”

I've never liked the primitive way full fenders are mounted in North America, rigidly to the frame without any insulation at the frame mounting point. The every day road shock beats them to death. The fender supporting tubes should be mounted into frame mounts with rubber insulation within (e.g. picture below), or the tubes rigidly mounted to the chassis with rubber insulation at the fender mounting points, so as to allow a bit of "give". That said, I'd start by contacting Betts or Minimizer in the states and explain your Reyco 102W 4-spring mounting situation. Also, can you attach a bracket (s) under the top of the 5th wheel mounting angles? http://www.bettshd.com/fender-mounting-bracket-kits.html http://www.bettshd.com/contact_us.php http://www.minimizer.com/product-category/bracket-systems/ .

The New Zealand Waste Management-operated Hino 500s feature a pure-electric drive system designed by Netherlands-based Emoss Mobile Systems B.V. (http://www.emoss.biz/).

"A good example of why this testimony is simply not believable, in fact, I think a lot of it is just outright falsehood, let's remember, she was also on the Senate Arms Services Committee for 6 years before she became Secretary of State. She had to have a much better knowledge of what was classified and what was not classified [than she publicly admits]." Former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Bolton .

ABC Tulsa / September 7, 2016 Robert Bever, the older of two brothers charged with murdering their parents and three siblings last year, pleaded guilty Wednesday to all charges. The 19-year-old and his 17-year-old brother, Michael Bever, were charged with five counts of first-degree murder and one count of assault and battery with intent to kill following the July 2015 attack at the family's Broken Arrow home. Autopsies showed the brothers' parents, David and April Bever, were stabbed dozens of times, and the teens' siblings -- 12, 7 and 5 -- each had multiple stab wounds and blunt force trauma across their bodies. The Bevers' 13-year-old sister survived the attack, and their 2-year-old sister was unharmed. The brothers had previously both pleaded not guilty to all charges. In June, an attorney for Robert Bever asked the court to instruct surviving family members and other spectators during the trial to refrain from showing emotion and prohibit the jury's exposure to the victims' family and friends. After pleading guilty, Robert Bever was sentenced to five life terms in prison without the possibility of parole on the first five counts and another life sentence on the sixth count. He was also ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and a $1,000 victim's compensation act assessment on each of the six counts. According to the Tulsa County District Attorney's Office, the older brother entered the plea in exchange for District Attorney Steve Kunzweiler's agreement not to seek the death penalty against him. According to a statement from the DA's office, Robert Bever confessed in court to "acting in concert with his brother" in the murders of their parents and siblings Daniel, Christopher and Victoria Bever as well as the stabbing of their 13-year-old sister. Kunzweiler said the decision to negotiate a plea deal with Robert Bever was difficult. “Ultimately the single most important factor in my decision to resolve this case centered upon the needs of the surviving two children who lost everything in their lives," said Kunzweiler. "Those children deserve to be able to move on with their lives as best as they can without the continued torment of a trial and decades of appeals that a death penalty case would most likely bring. While I believe that Robert Bever deserves the death penalty for his savage actions, I feared that a death penalty prosecution would result in his teenage sister being forced to recount and relive the brutal details of the carnage that her brothers wrought again and again. The toddler sister, who mercifully was asleep and did not witness the horror, would grow up learning details of the carnage in repeated court hearings that could easily stretch into her teen years or beyond." Kunzweiler said he will never forget the day Broken Arrow police called him to the Bever home July 22, 2015. "It is seared into my memory," he said. "I will not presume to know how or why people choose to do the things they do, which bring harm to innocent lives." The district attorney says the Bevers' sister who survived the attack asked that he make sure Robert Bever never gets out of prison. "His plea and sentence guarantees that he will spend the rest of his days left to his demons behind the walls of a penitentiary where he will never draw a breath of free air again," said Kunzweiler. An attorney for Michael Bever moved to dismiss all charges against his client Wednesday, but Judge Sharon Holmes denied the motion. The younger Bever brother then stood mute and the court entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. His next hearing is scheduled for April 11 and the jury trial is set for June 5. .

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell told his successor, Hillary Clinton, that he used his own personal computer to communicate with friends and foreign leaders and sent emails without going through the State Department server, according to emails released Wednesday by congressional Democrats. Clinton has previously said she reached out to Powell when she began serving as Secretary of State to find out how he used personal devices. In a four-paragraph email response from Powell, he told Clinton he didn't use a BlackBerry, but detailed how he got around having his communications with both employees and people outside the State Department becoming part of the agency's official record. "What I did do was have a personal computer that was hooked up to a private phone line (sounds ancient). So I could communicate with a wide range of friends directly without it going through the State Department on their personal email accounts. I did the same thing on the road in hotels," Powell wrote. Powell has pushed back against reports suggesting that he might have given Hillary Clinton the idea to use a private email account as Secretary of State, telling media outlets last month that "her people are trying to pin it on me." In February, the State Department inspector general released a memo after its own review of private email practices by others, reporting it found two emails on Powell's private email and some on accounts of aides to former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that included classified information. Powell also told Clinton in 2009 "the real issue had to do with PDAs, as we called them a few years ago before Blackberry became a noun." Powell said officials at the State Department refused to allow them in secure spaces and when he resisted "they gave me all kinds of nonsense about how they gave out signals and could be read by spies, etc." Powell says officials had concerns about mobile phones, too, but tells Clinton: "I had numerous meetings with them." He also revealed that he had "an ancient version of a PDA and used it." The FBI's report on Clinton's email use includes information about Powell's warning to Clinton that using a government email meant her messages would become public. In the email exchange Powell wrote "there is a real danger." "Government or not, to do business, it may become an official record and subject to the law," he said. He added: "Be very careful ... I got around it all by not saying much and not using systems that captured the data." Powell's spokesperson recently said he wrote a memo about his own use of an AOL account to Clinton and said the account was for "unclassified messages and how it vastly improved communications within the State Department." [???] Stressing the major differences in technology between his tenure at the department and Clinton's, the spokesperson said: "At the time there was no equivalent system within the department. He used a secure State computer on his desk to manage classified information." Rep. Elijah Cummings, the top Democrat on the Oversight Committee who released the full email exchange, said that it "shows that Secretary Powell advised Secretary Clinton with a detailed blueprint on how to skirt security rules and bypass requirements to preserve federal records, although Secretary Clinton has made clear that she did not rely on this advice." The Maryland Democrat also argued Republicans who have been pressing for documents from the State Department had a double standard for their concern about use of private email, saying if they were worried about the issue, "they would be attempting to recover Secretary Powell's emails from AOL, but they have taken no steps to do so despite the fact that this period-including the run-up to the Iraq War-was critical to our nation's history." In addition to advising Clinton about government communications, Powell gave his assessment about the security protocols, not just for email, but for movements. He bristled at the restrictions they wanted on him, and recommendations that he be accompanied by agents. "You will find DS driving you crazy if you let them," he said. And in what may be a reference to Madeleine Albright, he says: "They had Maddy tied up in knots." Powell said he wouldn't let security agents live inside his house so they had to find a garage nearby. He also revealed "on weekends, I drove my beloved cars around town without them following me," which he said they "hated" and made him sign a letter "relieving them of responsibility if I got whacked while doing that. I gladly did." He closed his email, saying about the department officials "their job is to keep you hermetically sealed up. Love, Colin."

New Zealand Herald / September 8, 2016 Electric rubbish trucks will be rolled out in New Zealand later this year in a trial by Waste Management which also generates power from landfill gas. The trial involves battery-powered trucks weighing up to 25 tonnes. The company generates power from three landfills throughout the country and says the switch to electric vehicles represents "the perfect example of the circular economy." Waste Management runs more than 200 cars and 800 trucks. It is already charging six cars at its Redvale landfill in Auckland and now has the first of its first of three diesel trial trucks being converted to electric by a specialist in the Netherlands. The first waste collection truck to be trialled will be a "box body" inorganic collection vehicle which will start on Auckland streets later this year. A side-loader waste collection truck - used for residential kerbside wheelie bin pick-ups - is expected to go into use in Auckland before Christmas and another planned for Christchurch early next year. Tom Nickels, Waste Management NZ managing director, said he couldn't discuss costs of the conversion of the trucks for commercial reasons, because the industry was so competitive. The company will evaluate their performance over the next six to 12 months once they are on the road. "The development of battery technology is enabling this transition - over the next five to 10 years we will see most vehicles across the world migrate to plug-in electric power.'' The Redvale landfill electricity station can generate 12MW and power more than 12,000 houses. Video - http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11705404

Transport Engineer / September 8, 2016 Alien Concrete & Transport has taken delivery of the UK’s first Renault Trucks 32-tonne Range C430 tridem 8x4, fitted with and Renault Trucks’ Day & Night cab. The Cheadle, Greater Manchester-based contractor’s new truck has been mounted with a 9m³ Putzmeister concrete mixer body and joins its mixed fleet of 10 six- and eight-wheelers, which already includes a conventional 32-tonne Range C430 8x4. According to Alien managing director Keith Wiles, the tridem configuration, with its lifting and steering rear axle, improves handling in tight access locations often encountered on construction sites. It is also useful for working on- and off-road, offering a much tighter turning circle than conventional eight-wheelers, and so saving time when manoeuvring while also enabling greater payloads than alternative six-wheelers. “We need good versatility on site, and in tight spaces our standard eight-wheelers can struggle, but the Range C tridem allows us to run a larger capacity drum with all the manoeuvrability of a 6x4 to places not normally accessible with an eight-wheeler,” confirms Wiles. Beyond that, Wiles cites reliability and robustness as key to the decision to go with Renault Trucks for construction-related project work. “If a truck is off the road for any reason, it’s a cost to me,” states Wiles. “Our first Range C hasn’t let us down since we purchased it a year ago and that was a major factor in selecting the new Range C tridem,” he continues. “The truck will be looked after on a five-year Renault Trucks R&M package by our local dealer, Thompsons Commercials.” .

Transport Engineer / September 7, 2016 Iveco will give its New Stralis, the so-called TCO2 Champion, its world premiere at the 66th IAA Commercial Vehicles show, being staged in Hanover from 22—29 September 2016. The firm claims that New Stralis’s new driveline – available in here variants – offers best in class reliability and efficiency, while also delivers leading low total cost of operation (TCO), and CO2 reduction – hence the name. New Stralis XP – one of the international long-haul variants is claimed to deliver fuel savings of up to 11%, while Iveco’s new-generation up-time services add further savings of up to 3%, resulting in an estimated 5.6% reduction in TCO. Meanwhile, New Stralis NP (natural power), which runs on CNG and LNG (compressed and liquefied natural gas), represents what Iveco describes as a breakthrough for gas trucks. That is because its new engine delivers 400bhp and 1,700 Nm torque – equal to the diesel sweet spot – while the drivetrain continues with an automated transmission. Together, these contribute to a 3% reduction in TCO, compared to the previous model, which already showed fuel pump savings up to 40% against diesel. And the NP-CNG-LNG continues with the introduction not only of the latest new Euro 6 Step C compliant ML160 (16 tonne) version of Iveco’s mid-weight Eurocargo truck, now with full air suspension, but also a gas NP variant. The New Eurocargo Natural Power takes a new 204bhp engine that delivers 750Nm of torque from 1,400—1,800 rpm – a full 100Nm more than its predecessor. This too meets Euro 6 Step C emissions standards, due to come into force at the end of this year, and has been engineered to run on bio-methane derived from biomass or organic waste. It is also 3dB quieter than the equivalent diesel Eurocargo, again as a result of its engine technologies – meaning it can be taken into restricted traffic zones, inclouding for night-time work. Iveco says New Eurocargo NP has a range of 400km, and is designed formulti-drop urban distribution. .

Scania Group Press Release / September 7, 2016 The new Scania marine engine range is based on an exhaust gas aftertreatment system developed in-house, which reduces the emissions of nitrogen oxides. This represents the cutting-edge environmental aspect of Scania’s marine solutions. In anticipation of a wider adoption of the tough new emissions demands for marine engines that were introduced earlier this year by the International Maritime Organisation, Scania already has tried and tested new marine engine solutions that comply with the new limits. Under the IMO Tier III regulations that took effect in January, the limit for nitrogen oxide (NOx) emissions ranges from 1.96 to 3.4 g/kWh, depending on the engine’s maximum operating speed. This new limit is a significant reduction from the Tier II range of 7.7 to 14.4 g/kWh. However, although the regulations do not yet apply outside of the North American and US Caribbean Emission Control Areas, Scania has already prepared itself for the eventuality of the changes taking effect in the wider world. “To reach these new emission levels, an exhaust gas aftertreatment system is necessary for the engine sizes Scania provide,” explains Mats Fanspets, Manager for Marine Classification at Scania Engines. Scania has considerable experience of exhaust gas aftertreatment systems. The manufacturer’s Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) system is a tried and tested technology that has been used both in engines for trucks and industrial applications. And the NOx limit for Euro 6 trucks and Tier 4/Stage IV industrial applications is 0.40 g/kWh, comfortably within the new emissions requirements. As a part of its existing modular system, Scania’s IMO Tier III-compliant engine solutions have been developed for applications such as auxiliary engines, for example in conventionally-installed marine generator sets or in a diesel-electric setup for cargo vessels that operate in international waters. The solutions also work with propulsion engines, as well as auxiliary and propulsion engines for vessels operating on inland waterways with low emission requirements. To achieve an approved installation for marine applications, Scania offers installation recommendations on the dimensions and lengths of piping, the cables needed, and the parts needed for the aftertreatment system. This includes the SCR catalyst, a customised exhaust system, an evaporator for mixing urea and exhaust gas, and a three-way safety valve. The solution is available for Scania’s 13- and 16-litre marine engines. The product offering is complemented by the Scania service network, with more than 1,900 service points across the world already trained to support customers. “Scania’s Tier III-compliant engines have the same footprint as the current engine range. So when upgrading from an existing Scania installation, there’s no need to rebuild the engine bed,” adds Fanspets. For further information, please contact: Torben Dabrowski, Global Product Manager Marine, Scania Engines Tel: + 46 8 553 83692 E-mail: torben.dabrowski@scania.com Anders Liss, Vice President Sales, Scania Engines Tel: + 46 8 553 70525 E-mail: anders.liss@scania.com .

Scania Group Press Release / September 7, 2016 Scania’s new generation of trucks has been subjected to extreme stresses on Brazil’s expansive sugar cane fields over two years. The goal of the advanced field tests has been to understand where limits lie – both for the world’s best trucks and for the professional drivers who will drive them. The sugar cane fields around the city of Araraquara in the interior of the Brazilian state of Sao Paulo span from horizon to horizon. These vast, rolling fields are crossed by thousands of red mud-roads that connect the fields with the sugar refineries and ethanol factories. When the sun beats down on Araraquara, a fine red dust settles on everything and everyone. When it rains heavily, the roads turn to oozy mud. When conditions are at their worst, all activities on the sugar cane fields grind to a halt for safety’s sake. “We have here the perfect conditions for testing the durability of the new trucks under extremely tough and specific conditions that can’t be simulated or experienced at the same time elsewhere: lots of dust, high humidity and high temperatures,” says Carlos Fernandez, Manager Field-Test Vehicle Operations in Latin America. Exposing the vehicles to extreme stress The bumpy, poor quality roads create vibrations that, over time, shake every vehicle apart. That’s if the heat, the red dust, or torrential rain and muddy porridge don’t do the job first. “The goal of these advanced field tests is to produce the best truck in the world,” continues Fernandez. “This means that we need to expose the vehicles to extreme stresses to understand where their limits lie. Often the stresses are so extreme that we drive the vehicle or component that we are testing until it breaks. Once we know the limit for what a component can tolerate, we can develop it further to further increase durability.” Brazil is, by far, the world’s largest producer of sugar. The harvest season runs uninterrupted from March to December. At this time, each and every one of the specially built harvest machines cuts some 100 tonnes of cane per hour. The pieces of chopped sugar cane must reach the sugar mills or ethanol factories within a few hours, as the sugar content falls rapidly as soon as the cane has been cut. Tough conditions in the sugar cane fields Each vehicle combination used in transport is 30 metres long. On public roads, the sugarcane combinations weigh up to 74 tonnes, but on the privately owned fields’ mud roads, there are no limits and most sugar and ethanol producers load as much cane as can fit, often up to 120 tonnes. “Just like our customers here, we create extremely heavy loads, but we sometimes also drive unloaded, at high speed on the poor quality roads,” says Fernandez. “These creates major vibrations in the chassis and creates lots of problems – which is exactly what we want.” Another goal of the field tests in Brazil is to examine how professional drivers experience the level of comfort in the new cab under extremely challenging circumstances. One of the hired test drivers is Roberto Pereira da Silva, who is extremely experienced with the new trucks. He was contracted across the two-year test period to test the comfort of the new cabs under tough conditions, providing a driver’s perspective. “This new generation of trucks provides an extremely good driving experience, even on these distressed roads,” he says. “This is something new for us test drivers.” Da Silva continues, “I get a very clear sense of how Scania has thought of us professional drivers when this new generation of trucks was developed. It’s much simpler to find and set your working and driving position so that it’s perfect. I’m not small, but I had no problem at all finding a driving position that makes my work easier and more relaxed.” .

Breaking down the 2018 Freightliner Cascadia Sep 7, 2016 Fleet Owner / September 7, 2016 The “New Cascadia” combines state-of-the-art electronics, advanced powertrain integration, new technologies and refined aerodynamics to deliver up to an 8% improvement in fuel economy compared to the current Cascadia Evolution. We can't demonstrate how smooth and quiet the ride was on a 20-mile test drive near Colorado Springs, CO, last week, but here’s a closer look at some of the 2018 Cascadia’s features. Slide Show - http://fleetowner.com/equipment/breaking-down-2018-freightliner-cascadia#slide-0-field_images-200171

Fleet Owner / September 7, 2016 As everyone in the industry should know by now, two new truck engine oil blends are due to hit the market on Dec. 1 this year – blends meeting Proposed Category 11 or “PC-11” standards finalized back in February under the auspices of the American Petroleum Institute (API). The introduction of these two new engine oils, now known as CK-4 and FA-4, represents the largest change in oil specifications in a generation, so for some insight into how those oils may – or may not – affect heavy truck engines, Fleet Owner talked to Steve Haffner, North American market manager at Infineum USA L.P. Overall, when is it best to use FA-4 vs. CK-4? What conditions duty cycles need to be considered? It’s best to follow the recommendation of your engine manufacturer regarding when to use CK-4 or FA-4. Generally, CK-4 oils can be used in both new and old engines. But FA-4 oils may have some limited backwards compatibility, but again, fleets will need to check with their engine manufacturer as API language does not allow any backwards compatibility for FA-4 oils. While FA-4 will maximize fuel economy in the newest engines, we know that off-road diesel engine manufacturers are not planning to recommend FA-4 oils in the near-term and will instead recommend CK-4 or [the current] CJ-4 engine oil. Is engine displacement a factor in selecting what oil to use? Say in the case of 11 liter versus 15 liter for example? As of today, engine size/horsepower is not considered a factor in the application of the new oils. But generally speaking, larger engines used in off-road applications will recommend CK-4 oils. If by accident FA-4 gets mixed with CK-4 in the engine will there be problems? In applications calling for FA-4, the use of CK-4 will not cause a problem. The reverse situation would not be true if an FA-4 oil gets mixed with CK-4 engine oil in an application that does not allow FA-4. But we would not expect any impacts if use was only for a short period of time. One big question as you noted before is “backwards compatibility” for the new oils. How far back right now does the industry think CK-4 can be used? Back to 2010 engines or farther than that? In North America, CK-4 engine oils are expected to be fully backward compatible in the same SAE viscosity grades recommended for current and older diesel engines. Will CK-4 basically replace the current CJ-4 blend? CK-4 oils will provide enhanced engine protection and be used in applications which called for CJ-4, CI-4 PLUS, CI-4 and CH-4. Right now, FA-4 seems as if it won’t be backwards compatible. Think that will hold true going forward? This is still a large unknown as noted. API user language does not allow any back serviceability. No OEM as of today has issued any service bulletins allowing use of the new FA-4 oils in older engines and many are even still evaluating use of FA-4 in newer applications. The new oils in general sport lower viscosity than ‘older’ oils. Is it safe to use lower viscosity oil in older engines? Would using such oils actually improve performance and maybe fuel economy too? Owners should again check with the engine manufacturer to ensure their engine is compatible with the lower viscosity oil they are considering. The most conservative approach is to simply use the SAE viscosity grade that is recommended in your owner’s manual for your diesel engine. That said, since around 2012, many OEMs have allowed and even factory-fill engines with SAE 10W-30 CJ-4 oils. This would mean that an SAE 10W-30 CK-4 engine oil would be a nice fit for many fleets with both older and newer engines. If further fuel economy is desired and the engine manufacturer says FA-4 SAE 10W-30 oils are compatible with the engine, then around 0.5% additional fuel economy could be realized depending on application.

Knorr-Bremse Makes Takeover Bid for Haldex Transport Topics / September 7, 2016 Commercial vehicle supplier Haldex said Knorr-Bremse AG is the latest company to make a public takeover offer for all shares in the company. Knorr-Bremse is offering about $13.04 per share, which is 10% higher than ZF Friedrichshafen AG’s offer of about $11.85 per share, Haldex said. ZF Friedrichshafen’s bid values the Swedish company at $521 million, according to Bloomberg News. This is the third public offer for the Stockholm-based company since July 14, which its board considers clear evidence of the company’s strong position and successful strategy, Haldex said Sept. 5. Luxembourg-based SAF-Holland made an unsolicited bid for Haldex in July. That was followed by the higher bid in August from ZF Friedrichshafen, which is based in Germany. Its board will evaluate the offer and announce its opinion on it in accordance with applicable regulations and in good time to provide the shareholders with guidance in relation to the outstanding offers for Haldex, the company said in a release. Haldex said its expertise is in brake systems and air suspension systems for heavy trucks, trailers and buses. It called Knorr-Bremse one of the world’s leading braking technology companies.

Heavy Duty Trucking / September 7, 2016 Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx announced on Sept. 7 that almost $800 million in inaugural FASTLANE federal grants has been awarded to 18 transportation infrastructure projects in 15 states and the District of Columbia. In a call with reporters, Secretary Foxx said the grants will be combined with other funding from federal, state, local, and private sources “to support $3.6 billion in infrastructure investment.” The FASTLANE grant program was established by the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act highway bill passed late last year. The program is administered by DOT’s newly launched Build America Bureau. Per DOT, the bureau will streamline credit and grant opportunities while providing technical assistance and encouraging best practices in project planning, financing, delivery, and monitoring of transportation infrastructure projects. “The FAST Act gave us a set of tools to begin addressing America’s infrastructure deficit, and we have been moving full speed ahead to get critical road, rail, and port projects off the ground across the country,” said Foxx. “From eliminating traffic bottlenecks and enhancing port capacity to overhauling a major freight corridor, the 18 inaugural FASTLANE grants will enable people and goods to move more efficiently.” Among the projects that are receiving grants through the inaugural batch of FASTLANE awards are: The Atlantic Gateway project in Virginia is a corridor approach to improving mobility across the Eastern seaboard. Combining a $165 million FASTLANE grant with public and private funding from multiple partners, DOT said it will improve and expand key segments of the corridor. The Oklahoma Department of Transportation will be awarded $62 million to improve safety and efficiency of high-volume freight traffic along the US 69/75 corridor in southern Oklahoma. The project will implement grade separations, remove railroad/local street crossing conflicts, and increase speeds to increase mobility. The Arizona Department of Transportation will be awarded $54 million for bottleneck improvements along I-10 between Phoenix and Tucson. To increase driver safety, new dust storm early warning technology will also be installed along I-10. The Maine Department of Transportation will be awarded $7 million to improve the infrastructure, equipment, and technology at the Port of Portland. With improvements to the access and connectivity, the Port upgrades will replace truck shipments from Canada via congested interstates. Foxx said that FASTLANE grant recipients were selected through a review process to identify projects that will have “significant regional and national impacts by reducing congestion, expanding capacity, using innovative technology, improving safety, or moving freight more efficiently.” FASTLANE grants will address many of the challenges outlined in DOT’s Beyond Traffic report, including increased congestion on the nation’s highways and the need for a strong multimodal transportation system to support the expected growth in freight movement both by ton and value, Foxx noted. DOT said it awarded these 18 Fiscal Year 2016 grants, in the amounts noted, to the following entities to make improvements to: Interstate 10 Phoenix to Tucson Improvements Arizona Department of Transportation Pinal County, Arizona, Rural Amount: $54,000,000 SR-11 Segment 2 and Southbound Connectors California Department of Transportation and San Diego Association of Governments San Diego County, California, Urban Proposed Grant Amount: $49,280,000 Arlington Memorial Bridge Reconstruction Project National Park Service and District of Columbia Department of Transportation District of Columbia, Urban Amount: $90,000,000 Port of Savannah International Multi-Modal Connector Georgia Ports Authority Savannah, Georgia, Urban Amount: $44,000,000 I-10 Freight Corridor Rehabilitation and Expansion (CoRE) Louisiana Department of Transportation and Development Lafayette, Louisiana, Rural Amount: $60,000,000 Conley Terminal Intermodal Improvements and Modernization Massachusetts Port Authority (MASSPORT) Boston, Massachusetts, Urban Amount: $42,000,000 I-390/I-490/Route 31 Interchange, Lyell Avenue Corridor Project New York State Department of Transportation Town of Gates, New York, Urban Amount: $32,000,000 US 69/75 Bryan County Oklahoma Department of Transportation Calera, Oklahoma, Rural Amount: $62,000,000 Atlantic Gateway: Partnering to Unlock the I-95 Corridor Virginia Department of Transportation Commonwealth of Virginia, Urban Amount: $165,000,000 South Lander Street Grade Separation and Railroad Safety Project City of Seattle Seattle, Washington, Urban Amount: $45,000,000 I/39/90 Corridor Project Wisconsin Department of Transportation Janesville, Wisconsin, Rural Amount: $40,000,000 Truck Parking Availability Systems Florida Department of Transportation State of Florida, Rural (Small Project) Amount: $10,778,237 Cedar Rapids Logistics Park Iowa Department of Transportation Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Rural (Small Project) Amount: $25,650,000 U.S. 95 North Corridor Access Improvement Project Idaho Department of Transportation Kootenai County, Idaho, Rural (Small Project) Amount: $5,100,000 Maine Intermodal Port Productivity Project Maine Department of Transportation Portland, Maine, Rural (Small Project) Amount: $7,719,173 Cross Harbor Freight Program Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Jersey City, New Jersey and New York, New York, Urban (Small Project) Amount: $10,672,590 Coos Bay Rail Line – Tunnel Rehabilitation Project Oregon International Port of Coos Bay Lane, Douglas, and Coos Counties, Oregon, Rural (Small Project) Amount: $11,000,000 Strander Boulevard Extension and Grade Separation Phase 3 City of Tukwila, Washington City of Tukwila, Washington, Urban (Small Project) Amount: $5,000,000 .

Bidding war breaks out over potential Haldex acquisition Commercial Carrier Journal (CCJ) / September 7, 2016 Bendix Commercial Vehicle Systems’ [German] parent company has entered the bidding war for Haldex. One month after ZF offered $516 million to purchase Haldex AB – which was three weeks after SAF-Holland made a similar advance – Knorr-Bremse now upped the ante to $570 million for the Swedish manufacturer, Bloomberg reported this week. Knorr-Bremse is offering 110 kronor per share, which is up from the 100 Kronor per share offered by ZF. The acceptance period for the new offer is expected to begin later this month and run until early December, the company told Reuters this week. Bloomberg says, like ZF’s earlier offer, Knorr-Bremse’s bid is conditional upon receiving acceptance from 90 percent of Haldex shareholders. The board of Haldex, which had recommended the ZF offer, says it will evaluate Knorr-Bremse’s proposal. According to Bloomberg, Knorr-Bremse has already acquired 8.4 percent of Haldex. ZF says it secured 5.7 percent of the Swedish company’s shares after Haldex Chairman Goeran Carlson pledged to sell his holding.