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As a frequent flyer, my personal experience is this ranking is dead on. Emirates' economy class is the same price as US airlines, and yet you're treated like a person rather than cattle. Superb entertainment twice as good as a US airline, plus great food with metal cutlery. And the seats.......proof that economy class "can" be comfortable. 1. Emirates Dubai 2. Qatar Airways 3. Singapore Airlines 4. Cathay Pacific Hong Kong 5. ANA All Nippon Airways Japan 6. Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi 7. Turkish Airlines 8. EVA Air Taiwan 9. Qantas Airways Australia 10. Lufthansa Germany Note that not a single U.S. airlines in one the list. Nearly every flight on a U.S. airline is a unique nightmare.

I never heard a Ranger buyer "bemoan" the truck for being smaller than a full-size F-150. They purposely bought the Ranger because they didn't want/need a full-size truck. As for towing, of course a smaller truck has a lower towing capacity. But that said, the Ranger could easily pull most bass boats and other. That all said, the Ranger has "grown up". Designed by superb engineers at Ford Australia, the global Ford Ranger does it all.

Diane, contact the folks at Watts Mack (provider of the BMT website). 1-888-304-Mack (6225) http://www.wattsmack.com/parts-department/

You're more than welcome. We aim to please. You say it has a double frame, and it was originally a tractor. We didn't build a lot of double frame Super-Liner tractors in the US market. Is it possible that it wasn't originally built with that double frame?

F-150 sales undented by Chevy attack ad Automotive News / July 11, 2016 The Chevrolet Silverado grabbed its biggest piece of the U.S. full-size pickup market since January in the first month of its blistering ad campaign attacking the Ford F-150's aluminum body as too flimsy. But the F-150 emerged from the fray looking no worse for wear. Ford said F-150 sales soared 40 percent in June from a year earlier, and segment share for the full F-series line jumped to the highest level in 17 months. Ford normally doesn't report F-150-only numbers but did so for June to argue that the Chevy ads didn't hurt it. It's an intense battle between two longtime archrivals in which both sides act like they're winning, though Chevy's campaign clearly didn't deter the tens of thousands who bought an F-150 last month. "I love this truck," said Alan Monroe, an accountant in southern Illinois who bought an F-150 Lariat a few weeks after Chevy started airing the commercials in heavy rotation. The ads, launched June 8, show a load of concrete landscaping blocks and the corner of a toolbox gashing the F-150's bed, while the Silverado's steel box sustains lesser dings and scratches. Monroe, 55, who traded in a Ram 1500, said he researched Chevy's claims online and came away reassured. His Caribou-colored F-150 includes a $495 spray-in bedliner, a popular protective coating that wasn't on the trucks Chevy's marketers abused. "When somebody's trying that hard to prove something, there's probably not a whole lot of truth in it," Monroe said. Besides, he added, "98 percent of the time, the heaviest thing that will be in it will be my golf clubs." Although Silverado sales dropped 3.7 percent in June amid a 9.7 percent gain for the segment, Chevy deems the campaign a success. A spokesman, Jim Cain, said about 10 percent of Silverado buyers in June previously owned an F-150, the most in five years. The year-over-year sales comparison doesn't tell the whole story, Cain said. He said Ford's results from June 2015 were hampered by the slow rollout of the redesigned F-150 while GM had a big month, setting up an easier comparison for Ford. Including the Super Duty, which is soon to be replaced by a redesigned version, total F-series sales rose 29 percent in June. It was the first time in four years that either nameplate posted higher sales in June than in May. The pickups' month-over-month share gains came at the expense of the Ram and Toyota Tundra. The Silverado accounted for 26.7 percent of full-size pickup sales last month. That was up from 25.1 percent in May but down from 30.4 percent in June 2015, which was the highest of any month since early 2010. The F series' share rose from 32.5 percent a year ago and 37.5 percent in May to 38.1 percent in June. Ford started shipping the aluminum-bodied F-150 in December 2014, but production only reached full speed in June 2015, and it took several more months for inventories to reach normal levels. Ford offered smaller discounts on the F series last month than Chevy did on the Silverado, according to Autodata. It said average incentive spending climbed to $5,110 for the Silverado, $1,220 more than for the F series, even as Ford's discounts nearly tripled from a year ago. But Cain cited J.D. Power data that calculated Silverado incentives as $4,115 vs. a slightly higher $4,183 for the F series. 'Stronger validation' Cain said the Chevy campaign has worked on its target audience of retail pickup buyers, noting that the Silverado's share of the retail full-size pickup market rose 1.9 percentage points from May, to 27.7 percent, also citing J.D. Power data. Power data supplied by GM showed that the F-150's retail share fell 0.7 percentage points to 34.5 percent, though Ford said retail sales volume was up 41 percent from a year ago. Sandor Piszar, Chevrolet's truck marketing director, said the retail gain was significant: "Retail market share tells you how well you are doing with individual truck customers and small business owners. ... It means you have people's attention and clearly separated your truck from the competition. When conquest sales spike at the same time, it's an even stronger validation." Fleet buyers, who might order several dozen pickups at a time, are paying close attention as well, said Steve Hill, GM's head of U.S. sales. Hill told Automotive News last month that he has heard positive feedback on the campaign from fleet customers, who typically put a premium on durability and cost and wouldn't want to spend hundreds of dollars per truck on bedliners. Tough enough? But Ford said that fleet sales of the F-150 surged 40 percent in June and that the campaign -- particularly notable for taking direct aim at the F-150's carefully crafted image as being "Built Ford Tough" -- has not deterred orders from business and government customers. The F series is the U.S. auto industry's top-selling fleet vehicle. "Fleet is a profitable business for Ford, and we're very happy with our balance on all the components of fleet," Ford spokesman Mike Levine said. Levine cited customers such as Terracon, a Kansas-based consulting engineering company that has bought more than 100 F-150s this year. In a video Ford posted online June 30, Terracon employees laud the truck's durability and performance under strenuous conditions. All of Terracon's F-150s in the video appear to have bedliners. "We'll typically haul augers, large water pumps, big generators, bags of concrete, concrete cylinders, soil samples -- light loads, heavy loads, it performs the same," Jason Sander, manager of Terracon's Cincinnati office, says in the video. "We're able to do everything we want to do using that truck. It has not let us down." June marked the third time in the past four months that Ford sold more than 70,000 F-series pickups and the vehicle's highest share of full-size pickup sales since January 2015, when dealers were selling down discounted inventory of the outgoing F-150. Ford has not directly responded to Chevy with any ads of its own. Though automakers rarely run commercials disparaging specific rivals so overtly, Mark LaNeve, Ford Motor Co.'s vice president for U.S. marketing, sales and service, brushed off such gamesmanship as nothing unusual in a segment that's as competitive as it is lucrative. "We're the clear market leader," LaNeve said on a July 1 conference call. "They're going to try things. They tried this, and the numbers speak for themselves." Pickup share Ford, Chevy both gained U.S. full-size pickup share in June. Ford F series Chevrolet Silverado Jan. 36.30% 26.70% Feb. 36.40% 25.80% March 37% 24% April 36.50% 25.80% May 37.50% 25.10% June 38.10% 26.70% .

KamAZ Trucks Press Release / July 11, 2016 Rostec Group’s truckmaking subsidiary KamAZ has received European type approval on four new Euro-6 emissions level truck models. The new models include the KamAZ model 53605 4x2 rigid and 65115 6x4 vocational chassis, plus the 43502 4x4 and 43118 6x6 models for specialized applications. The trucks are now available for order in 28 European countries. "Work in this direction has been conducted in accordance with the company's plans to expand sales markets, in particular, strengthening our global sales footprint", said KamAZ R&D center head Yuri Rubinchik. European customers have appreciated the opportunity to spec KamAZ chassis due to the competitive price, flexible options and availability of a wide range of factory-installed bodies for the fire, rescue, crane and utility segments. Together with Euro-6 Cummins engines and ZF transmissions, KamAZ offers European customers a very competitive product that meets the latest environmental standards. Euro-6 certification is also welcomed by Asia-Pacific and Latin American countries. KamAZ received Euro-5 certification in 2012. In 2015, Europe adopted the stricter Euro-6 emissions standard. The release of new Euro-6 KamAZ models allows the truckmaker to build on its success in the Europe market. .

5 Statistics about police officers killing African-Americans The Daily Wire / July 7, 2016 The Alton Sterling and Philando Castile shootings have caused an uproar among leftists because they fuel their narrative that racist white police officers are hunting down innocent black men. But the statistics tell a different story. Here are five key statistics about police killing blacks. 1. Police killed nearly twice as many whites as blacks in 2015. According to data compiled by The Washington Post, 50 percent of the victims of fatal police shootings were white, while 26 percent were black. The majority of these victims had a gun or "were armed or otherwise threatening the officer with potentially lethal force.". Some may argue that these statistics are evidence of racist treatment toward blacks, since whites consist of 62 percent of the population and blacks make up 13 percent of the population. But as The Wall Street Journal writes, 2009 statistics from the Bureau of Justice Statistics reveal that blacks were charged with 62 percent of robberies, 57 percent of murders and 45 percent of assaults in the 75 biggest counties in the country, despite only comprising roughly 15 percent of the population in these counties. "Such a concentration of criminal violence in minority communities means that officers will be disproportionately confronting armed and often resisting suspects in those communities, raising officers’ own risk of using lethal force," writes Manhattan Institute Fellow Heather MacDonald. MacDonald also points out that blacks "commit 75 percent of all shootings, 70 percent of all robberies, and 66 percent of all violent crime" in New York City, even though they consist of 23 percent of the city's population. "The black violent crime rate would actually predict that more than 26 percent of police victims would be black," MacDonald said. "Officer use of force will occur where the police interact most often with violent criminals, armed suspects, and those resisting arrest, and that is in black neighborhoods." 2. More whites and Hispanics die from police homicides than blacks. According to MacDonald, 12 percent of white and Hispanic homicide deaths were due to police officers, while only four percent of black homicide deaths were the result of police officers. "If we’re going to have a 'Lives Matter' anti-police movement, it would be more appropriately named "White and Hispanic Lives Matter,'" said MacDonald. 3. The Post's data does show that unarmed black men are more likely to die by the gun of a cop than an unarmed white man...but this does not tell the whole story. In August 2015, the ratio was seven-to-one of unarmed black men dying from police gunshots compared to unarmed white men; the ratio was six-to-one by the end of 2015. But MacDonald points out that looking at the details of the actual incidents that occurred paints a different picture: The “unarmed” label is literally accurate, but it frequently fails to convey highly-charged policing situations. In a number of cases, if the victim ended up being unarmed, it was certainly not for lack of trying. At least five black victims had reportedly tried to grab the officer’s gun, or had been beating the cop with his own equipment. Some were shot from an accidental discharge triggered by their own assault on the officer. And two individuals included in the Post’s “unarmed black victims” category were struck by stray bullets aimed at someone else in justified cop shootings. If the victims were not the intended targets, then racism could have played no role in their deaths. In one of those unintended cases, an undercover New York City police officer was conducting a gun sting in Mount Vernon. One of the gun traffickers jumped into his police car, stuck a pistol to his head, grabbed $2,400 and fled. The officer gave chase and opened fire after the thief again pointed his gun at him. Two of the officer’s bullets accidentally hit a 61-year-old bystander, killing him. That older man happened to be black, but his race had nothing to do with his tragic death. In the other collateral damage case in Virginia Beach, Virginia, officers approached a car parked at a convenience store that had a homicide suspect in the passenger seat. The suspect opened fire, sending a bullet through an officer’s shirt. The cops returned fire, killing their assailant as well as a woman in the driver’s seat. That woman entered the Post’s database without qualification as an “unarmed black victim” of police fire. MacDonald examines a number of other instances, including unarmed black men in San Diego, California and Prince George's County, Maryland attempting to reach for a gun in a police officer's holster. In the San Diego case, the unarmed black man actually "jumped the officer" and assaulted him, and the police officer shot the man since he was "fearing for his life." MacDonald also notes that there was an instance in 2015 where "three officers were killed with their own guns, which the suspects had wrestled from them." 4. Black and Hispanic police officers are more likely to fire a gun at blacks than white officers. This is according to a Department of Justice report in 2015 about the Philadelphia Police Department, and is further confirmed that by a study conducted University of Pennsylvania criminologist Greg Ridgeway in 2015 that determined black police officers were 3.3 times more likely to fire a gun than other cops at a crime scene. 5. Blacks are more likely to kill cops than be killed by cops. This is according to FBI data, which also found that 40 percent of police killers are black. According to MacDonald, the police officer is 18.5 times more likely to be killed by a black than a cop killing an unarmed black person. Despite the facts, the anti-police rhetoric of “Black Lives Matter” and their leftist sympathizers have resulted in what MacDonald calls the "Ferguson Effect," as murders have spiked by 17 percent among the 50 biggest cities in the U.S. as a result of police officers being more reluctant to patrol neighborhoods out of fear of being labeled as racists. Additionally, there have been over twice as many police officers victimized by fatal shootings in the first three months of 2016. Anti-police rhetoric has deadly consequences.

Transport Engineer / July 11, 2016 Logistics business WH Bowker has taken delivery of 12 Volvo FM rigids – part of an order for 25 trucks – and has specified lower nearside windows as part of its bid to boost road safety. Supplied by Thomas Hardie Commercials, of Preston, the new additions to Bowker’s 120-strong fleet are Globetrotter-cabbed, FM-330 6x2 rigids, with windows fitted by Thomas Hardie Vehicle Solutions, of Chorley. The second delivery will be 13 Volvo FH-500 tractors, all of which are equipped as standard with AEBS, Forward Collision Warning and Lane Keeping System (LKS). Bill Bowker, director, says: “Volvo’s reputation for producing a safe vehicle continues to be paramount in our decision to operate a single make fleet. “Our drivers take part in training to help their awareness of vulnerable road users, particularly when delivering to, or transiting the urban environment. We are supporters of the CLOCS standard and the company is FORS Silver accredited. Our support for CLOCS and FORS reinforces our company-wide, integrated approach to safety.” He adds that the AEBS set-up on the FH tractors goes beyond compliance with General Safety Regulations, introduced in 2015: “The Volvo system is specified over and above the legislated standard as it includes a radar function and a head up warning display for the driver that not all other manufacturers can offer. “In my opinion, this manifests and supports Volvo’s position as the manufacturer whose core values revolve around safety, for drivers and other road users, including cyclists and pedestrians.” And, he adds: “We took the decision to go with a Volvo, single make fleet policy in 1978. We based that decision on the fact that Volvo is the best, the safest, had the best back-up and the best resale values. We made that choice and have grown with it.” .

FYI Established in 1998, Volvo's importing distributor for Russia, ZAO Volvo Vostok, is responsible for all Volvo operations in the Russian market including truck, bus, construction equipment and marine. ZAO Volvo Vostok's Moscow headquarters manages all sales and after-sales support including dealer administration and management, a spare parts distribution center, advertising and a Volvo training center. The Volvo brand has been registered in the Soviet Union / Russia since 1969. "Volvo Financial Services Vostok", a Volvo subsidiary, was established in 2003 to provide customers with financing and leasing options. As of 2009, Volvo financed over 11,500 trucks in Russia worth US$1.7 billion. Since 2003, Volvo truck sales have increased from 500 units to 3,000 in 2007. Volvo's truck sales in Russia rose 83% in 2006 to 2,436 units. Russia is Volvo's largest market in Central and Eastern Europe, with Poland in second place at 2,079 units. Volvo sold 3,904 trucks in Russia in 2007. Volvo sold 5,800 new trucks in Russia in 2008, a 27% increase over 2007. Volvo overall sold about 12,000 new and used trucks in Russia in 2008. Volvo imported 11,841 trucks to Russia in 2008, up 27% over 2007, including 6,580 new trucks and 5,261 used trucks. (Of the 6,580 new trucks, 4,189 tractors, 2,256 rigid chassis and 135 specialty chassis) Over 31,000 Volvo trucks are registered in Russia. Volvo began producing FM12 4x2 tractors at a joint venture plant near Moscow (Zelenograd) in 2003. Volvo owns 66% and "AFK Systema" owns 34%. But the plant's annual production capacity is only 500 units, not enough to meet Russia's fast growing demand. To increase local production, Volvo Group opened a US$132.6 million heavy truck factory in Kaluga (200km southwest of Moscow) on January 19, 2009. With an annual production capacity of 15,000 units, Volvo Group had hoped to produce 10,000 Volvo trucks and 5,000 Renault trucks annually including Volvo FH, FM and FL and FE models; and Renault Premium and Kerax models. However, due to dismal sales, the plant has remained in first gear. In May 2007, Volvo scored its largest single fleet order with 300 trucks to “Sunflower Logistics”, a large Russian car transport company. The contract included financing for all the trucks through Volvo Financial Services. Sunflower is expanding its truck fleet to meet the fast-growing market for passenger cars in Russia. The order was for 300 Volvo FM tractors with 440 horsepower D13 engines and I-Shift AMT transmissions. Coca-Cola operates over 1,000 Volvo trucks in Russia, including FM 4x2 tractors and FE rigids. Volvo has 39 authorized service locations and 20 sales offices in Russia, including two self-owned truck centers in Moscow and St. Petersburg.

Info-Commentator / July 11, 2016 At the International Industrial Exhibition "INNOPROM 2016" in Yekaterinburg, Volvo Group has signed a memorandum of intent with the Kaluga regional government to invest in the local production of Volvo I-Shift automated manual transmissions (AMT). The document was signed by Volvo Group CEO Martin Lundstedt and Kaluga Deputy Governor Vladimir Popov. Volvo Group has a number or ongoing projects in the Kaluga-South Industrial Park including its Volvo-Renault truck KD assembly plant, Volvo-Renault cab plant, Volvo Truck company-owned store, Volvo Customs Department and Volvo Construction Equipment (VCE) excavator plant. .

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Scania Group Press Release / July 8, 2016 . .

Fleet Owner / July 11, 2016 Points to ponder: The Federal Highway Administration is studying frequent freight standstill on America's roads. It's often a tangled infrastructure out there riddled with distracted driving, as multiple law enforcement agencies across the U.S. have attested. Meanwhile, the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration's (FMCSA) studies of crashes between heavy trucks and passenger cars, cyclists and pedestrians have shown that a decisive majority of the time, the accident isn't the truck driver's fault. And yet........reporting from Fleet Owner has elucidated a public perception of just the opposite: John Q. Public sees a heavy truck-smaller vehicle crash as a "big guy-little guy" situation and tends to point blame at the big, heavy equipment. With that in mind, here are three related arguments and things to consider that have come up recently regarding the use of video systems in heavy trucks. 1. They're playing juries against you. Noting as above that there can be a negative public perception — or fear — when it comes to heavy trucks on America's highways, it seems there are lawyers out there akin to so-called "ambulance chasers" looking for big injury settlements who've also figured this out. "In passenger vehicles vs. large truck [accidents], who's usually at fault? The passenger vehicle — that driver who didn't do an inspection on his vehicle before he started; that driver who's not responsible for compliance or regulated by enforcement; it's that passenger vehicle or pedestrian," notes Drew Schimelpfenig, senior manager of integration programs at fleet management systems provider Omnitracs. "You would think with those things being the case that [fleets' and trucking companies'] accident costs would be down," he says, "but what we've seen in this industry are some record-setting jury-awarded judgments against carriers" to the tune of tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars. And sometimes in these lawsuits, "the judgments are just not adding up with the circumstances" and are unexpectedly high, he argues: Schimelpfenig points to a large award in 2015 to a passenger car driver who crashed into a heavy truck that was stopped 12 ft. off the roadway. How is this happening? Schimelpfenig contends that some plaintiff attorneys are playing on juries' built-in fears and bias against big trucks and trucking. "They make you the carrier look like you are a danger and a threat to society, to the jury's community, to the jury's family, even the jury's children — they'll go that far," he says. "The way they do this is by using fear, not facts; the facts may not make it into the case much." He adds that attorneys Don Keenan and David Ball have published a sort of "user's manual" for this kind of trial strategy called the Reptile Theory. Because of such "bold and brash" strategies by attorneys, Schimelpfenig says video has become a "silent witness" that better-prepared motor carriers can use in their defense. 2. FMCSA's proposed program to determine whether crashes are preventable could include video input. Last week, FMCSA proposed a demonstration program for determining whether crashes reported on carriers' records are preventable or not. The program would take into account information reported from the scene of accidents by law enforcement and others such as tickets and citations issued, but could also include things like video showing the crash. Fleet Owner asked Joe DeLorenzo, director of FMCSA's Office of Compliance and Enforcement, specifically about the potential use of video in the demonstration program. This was his reply: "We didn't specifically address video in the proposal, but this has come up before recently. I think those kinds of comments [on including input such as video from a forward-facing, in-cab camera] are what we expect to get from this notice. "We ask specifically what type of information and what type of documentation would be useful, and if [video] becomes a continuing thing we may want to include — if we can find a way to get that submitted to the process — that may be something we can add as we move forward." So it appears that video will likely be relevant to an FMCSA crash preventability demonstration program, should it materialize. Also note that the National Transportation Safety Board earlier this year made "expanded use of recorders to enhance transportation safety" — which includes the use of cameras and video in trucking and transportation — one of its top 10 most important issues. 3. With carriers, there's been a tug-of-war going on regarding whether to put a camera on the driver — but if you have driver-facing cameras, be aware of this. Forward-facing cameras get lots of support, but fleets differ on whether to keep a camera on the driver. One video systems provider, PeopleNet, can include a driver-facing camera in a system but doesn't particularly encourage it. The company's Jim Angel, vice president for video intelligence solutions, continues to stress that instead of video, data such as telematics information coming off a truck's control module such as speed and when the brakes were applied can tell the story of what the truck driver was doing. "There's two sides of it with the driver-facing camera. Yes, I absolutely believe there is valuable information available by having a driver-facing camera," he tells Fleet Owner. "But I also know you have to be prepared to defend everything that you have." Angel says plaintiff attorneys can make a driver-facing camera part of their strategy in court. "What they're going to ask that carrier for in any collision is six months of history of that driver's video, because what I want to do is build the history of that driver," he says. "Maybe that day [of a collision] wasn't exactly his fault, but two months ago I see he was holding his cell phone and driving. Maybe three months ago, he wasn't wearing his seat belt or had a 32-oz. 'big gulp' in front of his face. "What the attorney then says, as ludicrous as it sounds, is, 'That driver shouldn't have even been in the truck that day. You guys didn't address these problems the driver had a long time ago, and he was in that position to have a collision with my client and he should never have been there in the first place," Angel contends.

Speaking of AMTs for vocational applications, the game-changing Voith Turbo Retarder Clutch must absolutely be mentioned. Mercedes-Benz is the first truckmaker to promote the technology. http://www.voith.com/en/products-services/power-transmission/turbo-retarder-clutch-viab-12877.html http://resource.voith.com/vt/publications/downloads/1569_e_g_2101_en_viab_2014-05_screen.pdf .

ZF must be mentioned here, a global leader in heavy truck transmission design. ZF AS Tronic, the automated manual transmission (AMT) system for heavy trucks was the first of its kind. Economy, safety, and comfort of the vehicle increase due to the fully automatic shift system. Today, AS Tronic has evolved into the Traxon modular transmission system. Note: ZF’s immensely popular AMT is, like Eaton’s UltraShift Plus, a dual countershaft design. .

Fleet Owner / July 11, 2016 Well, if you're an Old School, Manual Gearbox kinda driver disgusted by the infusion of automatic and automated transmission into long-haul fleets, there's always vocational, right? Because everyone knows that automated manual, and fully-automatic transmissions will never be able to cut it in the rough-and-tumble world of mixers, dumps and other construction or vocational applications. Well, not so fast. Charlie Cook, vocational product manager for Peterbilt, recently told me that more than 50 percent of the company's Class 8 trucks are rolling off the factory floor with AMTs. And while most of those vehicles wind up in long-haul applications, the number in vocational applications is growing at an impressive rate as well. And that's a trend that is only going to continue. One of the more remarkable stories behind the sweeping acceptance of AMTs in North America today has been the remarkably low number of design flaws they've exhibited. There are always going to be issues with new products and technology, of course. But widespread issues just haven't reared their ugly heads with AMTs. A big part of that reason can be credited to the fact that several AMT designs – most notably Volvo's I-Shift (aka. M-drive) – cut their teeth for years in Europe before being introduced in North America. And because the take rate for AMTs was much bigger, much faster than here, ensuring durability in vocational applications was a given. A few years back, I was able to visit Sweden on a Volvo trip and see for myself how well the I-Shift performed in really tough, off road logging work in a brutal environment on the very edge of the Arctic Circle. The fleet and drivers both had absolute confidence in their AMTs. And the work they were doing was in extremely harsh conditions – and it was June! I’m not sure I’d like see how an I-Shift performs in Sweden in January or February in person – but I’m sure it would handle the cold much better than I would. And if you visit Eaton's proving grounds just outside Marshall, Michigan, for some UltraShift Plus time, you can bet that an off-road course, and severe-service, steep-grade launches with GVWRs well over 80,000 pounds are going to be part of your day. This philosophy is reflected in the design of the company’s Procision AMT – which was expressly designed for vocational trucking applications. The bottom line is that durability has never been an issue for AMTs in vocational work. In fact, when it comes to maintenance, fleets often come out ahead by spec'ing AMTs just on clutch life alone. Clutches take a brutal pounding in many vocational trucking jobs with drivers often "riding" them as they attempt to power out of a deep pothole or get heavily-loaded dump moving in loose ground conditions. AMTs generally do a much better job of engaging a clutch, or skip-shifting, in those conditions than humans do – which obviously leads to improved clutch life and reduced maintenance. But not all vocational work is off-road. Refuse trucks, beverage trucks, street sweepers and a whole host of other vocational/municipal vehicles fall under this heading as well. And once again, AMTs offer fleets definite advantages in those roles. While AMTs do deliver better fuel economy than manuals in most driving situations, including cities, one of their strongest selling points in urban and municipal applications is driver comfort and safety. AMTs are simply easier to operate than manual gearboxes. And they're not a distraction, either. Drivers can keep both hands on the wheel and their attention on traffic and their surroundings. And this overall ease of use translates into more efficient vehicle use and driver productivity -- particularly when fleets are dealing with new drivers with limited experience driving either a truck or a manual transmission. And, as we all know, that is the case more often than not today. And it’s important to note that all of these advantages hold true for full automatic transmissions, as well. All told, it’s a potent combination of real-world benefits that more and more fleet managers are finding difficult to resist.

That's one of the Macungie-built Super-Liners on a Mack Western-designed chassis. Don't go to all of the trouble of crossmember replacement.......with used crossmembers. The plate type are far superior to what you have now. They don't break.

Next-gen Wrangler to respect tradition Larry P. Vellequette, Automotive News / July 9, 2016 Manley's mandate for brand icon: Don't screw it up Mike Manley, the head man at Jeep, regularly refers to the Wrangler as the "icon" and "anchor" of the brand, the vehicle that lends its rough-and-rugged, off-road DNA to all other Jeeps. And as Jeep finishes work on its first major overhaul in a decade on the Wrangler -- the lone vehicle that traces its lineage back through the brand's 75-year history -- Manley has a clear mission. Don't screw it up. For the new Wrangler -- expected to go on sale next summer or later -- it is rumored that Jeep explored all-aluminum construction, fuel-saving suspension changes and even leaving its historic production home in Toledo, Ohio. Now it is clear the next-generation Wrangler will keep its defining characteristics -- although in modified form. The 2018 Wrangler, a descendant of the Willys MB and decades of Jeep CJs, will retain its solid front and rear axles, its body-on-frame construction and its utilitarian boxy appearance. But under that clamped-down hood will be more efficient engine choices and a fuel-saving eight-speed automatic transmission. A lighter, stronger frame will underpin its construction, while aluminum will replace steel on many hang-on body parts, reducing weight. Spy photos confirm a more aerodynamic next-generation Wrangler with a much steeper rake for the windshield and seven-slot grille. But, Manley said: "You have to be very careful with the aero of Wrangler, because at the end of the day, it needs to be recognizable as a Wrangler. To some extent that restricts you on some of the aero that you can do. But with weight and a number of the changes that we've made, you're going to see that we've really pushed that vehicle forward in terms of its fuel economy." Manley said last month that additional Wrangler production capacity that will come from retooling part of Fiat Chrysler's Toledo Assembly Complex will be used domestically and internationally. "We're obviously hoping to continue the success of the next-generation Wrangler," Manley said. "We've push-ed this vehicle forward in many areas -- fuel economy being one of them and that's going to help us in many of the international markets."

Jeep designer has history on his side Larry P. Vellequette, Automotive News / July 11, 2016 As the head of Jeep design since 2009, Mark Allen is charged with both moving the brand forward and keeping it tied to its historic roots. Allen, 53, is a lifelong Jeep enthusiast and off-roader. Each spring, he and his co-workers design a stable of one-off Jeeps that they take out to the annual Easter Jeep Safari in Moab, Utah, where they interact with Jeep enthusiasts from around the globe. Allen spoke to Staff Reporter Larry P. Vellequette. Q: You started with Jeep as a designer in 1994. How have things changed? A: When I started here, all the attention went to cars and minivans. Trucks were even kind of disregarded a little bit, and Jeeps were maintained; they weren’t really pushing it. They would get somebody that was working on whatever and put them in Jeep for a little while, and then move them out. We weren’t branded the way we are now under Fiat. We had three products for a long, long time: We had Wrangler, which was something that we built and sold in the summer months. Honestly, without the four-door, we would have probably killed that car. It was never seen as a real big design challenge. The XJ, which was around forever and ever, was just updated, and the Grand Cherokee, which was still pretty new when I came on, was initially meant to be a replacement for the XJ. What’s your favorite Jeep design? That’s easy: the CJ-5 (which debuted in 1954). I have a real affection for the (1966) M-715 truck, but as far as design goes, the CJ-5. And I say that because, the flat fender, as lovely as it is and it’s the template for everything we do, was never designed. It just sort of happened. It was engineers putting things together; the body was really just there to cover the hood and hold the headlights up and keep mud off of people. But that created an image that is really ingrained in us: that classic Jeep shape that we use. The CJ-5 was really the first time that the people from my craft were really invited to the party. They got the clay out and they shaped the hood and cared about the fenders. What was the craziest thing that Jeep ever did? The craziest thing was the weird cart (the 1957 Mechanical Mule), where the guy sat in front of the front wheel. They made postal trucks. The Forward Control — what was cool about that was that it was really a tractor with doors, honestly. They re-used the underpinnings from the CJ, and it was all about space efficiency and size. That thing was actually pretty crazy, and no one else made a four-wheel-drive forward control vehicle like that, except maybe the Unimog. As you sit with a blank sheet of paper to design a new Jeep, what’s the first thing that goes through your mind? It’s really highly dependent on what the project is. A good example was probably the Renegade. The Renegade came out really well in my mind, but it was kind of a horror show to start because we were presented essentially an existing car package to design over. It makes sense now, but when we were doing the Renegade, we didn’t know which way to go, because nothing existed in that space for us. There were a lot of different proposals, but the Renegade was the one that kept speaking to us – it was the one that had the most charisma. How defensive do you feel about Jeep’s heritage when you’re working on a design, or are you OK stretching it? Obviously, I’m OK stretching it, but I always have the historical side of Jeep in my mind. That truly is in our soul; we think about that all the time. There’s a little bit of Wrangler heritage in everything that we do. We pick up design cues now, and in the future, from our very first car. Very few companies still do that: Porsche still does that, and Harley-Davidson. There’s always a direct link in the design that’s picked up in some of the details. But the Cherokee was a bit disruptive, and that worked out pretty good for us. The Renegade, too, was a bit disruptive. And Wrangler that has been redesigned for 2018? We’re neck-deep in that thing, but there’s no discussion: It’s going to look like a Wrangler. We had to do all the exercises [when designing Wrangler]. Although in our hearts, we knew what it would be, but we had to do all the wrong answers, too, visually. We did things that were Wrangler-like and the things that were disruptive to Wrangler styling, but in the end, we made the right call. What attracts you to Jeep? I like the weird engineering side of Jeep. It was never set up to be a car company. It was never set up to be a brand. They just put things together and somehow it worked. Look at the M715 truck. I love that thing to death. It’s not sexy. It’s not cool. It’s dorky. But I just think it looks so rugged and tough. Had we gotten involved in the styling department, we would have ruined it! But it gets by on all of its warty proportions. When they established Jeep as a brand and they were trying to scrap things together, they needed a station wagon, and they invented the SUV, for crying out loud, with the Willys Wagon. That lack of funding and lack of elasticity drove them into some really creative solutions, and I just think that’s so cool. . .

Lutz: Buying Jeep was 'turning point' for Chrysler Larry P. Vellequette, Automotive News / July 11, 2016 Bob Lutz, who was president of Chrysler Corp. when it purchased American Motors in 1987, says getting Jeep in the deal "marked a strategic turning point for Chrysler." "We acquired an iconic brand which had been undernourished," he said. Adding the Grand Cherokee to Jeep's lineup in 1992 was the first big move by the brand's new stewards. Lutz said the Grand Cherokee "was originally intended to replace the Cherokee but turned out too large and too costly, so we promoted it to "Grand' and kept the Cherokee underneath it. Between the Grand Cherokee and the Cherokee we suddenly had an additional 500,000 high-margin units." Chrysler "had people who understood the [Jeep] brand," said Lutz. "The only semi-slip-up was the Compass" because the "car-like" design is wrong for the brand. "Now, Jeep is over 1 million units, recognized the world over, respected universally, perhaps the strongest brand in the U.S. industry, one of the strongest globally," the retired Chrysler and General Motors executive said. "Without Jeep, FCA (Fiat-Chrysler Automobile) would die. The Jeep brand is worth more than FCA as a whole."

Jeep's 75-year campaign of global conquest Larry P. Vellequette, Automotive News / July 11, 2016 It is the most American of brands, one whose influence on competitors and popular culture is undeniable. Yet surprisingly, Jeep’s 75 year traverse through history has often been as rough and rugged as the terrain it always crosses. July 18, 1940 Karl Probst, a freelance designer from Detroit, working for American Bantam Car Co., of Butler, Pa., designs an all-new reconnaissance car for the Army in 18 hours. July 22, 1940 Willys-Overland of Toledo, Ohio, and Bantam deliver the only two bids for the Army reconnaissance car. Bantam is awarded the contract on Aug. 5. Sept. 23, 1940 Bantam delivers its finished prototype. Probst drives it 300 miles to Camp Holabird, Md., arriving 30 minutes before deadline. November 1940 Army contracts awarded to Willys-Overland and Ford Motor Co. to build competing models using Probst's design. Willys produces the 60-hp MA; Ford makes the 46-hp Pygmy, or GP. Full testing begins. July 16, 1941 Willys-Overland awarded first contract for 16,000 copies of the MB, later increased to 18,600, to be delivered by Jan. 18, 1942. Oct. 4, 1941 Ford signs contract to build 15,000 units of the GPW (essentially copies of the Willys MB design). Dec. 7, 1941 Japan attacks Pearl Harbor; U.S. enters World War II. Mid-1944 Willys begins designing civilian vehicles for postwar period. With no auto stamping capacity, designs are limited to those that can be stamped by appliance manufacturers, resulting in a boxy, flat appearance. The first is the CJ-2A, a civilian version of the MB. Aug. 15, 1945 Japan surrenders, marking the end of World War II. During the war, Willys produced 368,000 Jeeps and Ford another 277,000. July 1946 Willys-Overland begins producing 1946 Jeep Station Wagon, the first all-steel station wagon, with seating for seven. April 1947 Willys begins producing the first full line of Jeep pickups, with three-quarter and 1-ton versions and three available beds; later included delivery version. 1948 Jeepster phaeton convertible introduced. 1949 Jeep CJ-3A goes on sale; 4x4 Willys Jeep Station Wagon introduced (first-ever SUV) 1951 Willys-Overland begins production of the M-38-A1 for the military, its last high-volume military Jeep. April 1953 Willys-Overland assets sold to Kaiser Manufacturing Co. for $60.8 million; becomes Willys Motors Inc. Fall 1954 Willys introduces the CJ-5, the civilian version of the M-38-A1 1956 Willys introduces the CJ-6, adding 20 inches to the wheelbase of a CJ-5. 1957 Forward Control delivery trucks, the FC-150 and longer FC-170, introduced. 1960 International Harvester introduces the 1961 Scout, a direct competitor to the CJs. 1962 Willys introduces the 1963 Jeep Wagoneer, a four-door, four-wheel-drive family SUV, and the 1963 Jeep Gladiator full-size pickup. March 1963 Willys Motors changes its name to Kaiser-Jeep Corp. 1965 Ford introduces a direct competitor, the Bronco SUV. Jeep introduces the Super Wagoneer, a luxury version of the Wagoneer SUV. 1966 Jeep wins contract for the M-715 and M-725 truck and ambulance, military versions of the Gladiator pickup. 1967 Production begins for a new Jeepster, a 4wd two-door convertible, and the Jeepster Commando. Henry J. Kaiser dies Aug. 24. 1969 American Motors buys Kaiser-Jeep for $70 million in cash, debt and stock. 1971 AMC spins off Jeep's commercial, postal and military vehicle line into a new subsidiary, AM General. The company later would develop the M998 Humvee. 1972 The Jeep introduces Quadra-Trac full-time 4wd; each wheel can operate at its own speed. 1974 The Jeep Cherokee two-door SUV is introduced to take on the Chevy Blazer and Ford Bronco. 1975 The Jeep Cherokee Chief appears at the Detroit auto show. 1976 The Jeep CJ-7 replaces the CJ-6 in North America. Jeep crosses 100,000 civilian units annually in global sales for the first time. 1977 Four-door Jeep Cherokee introduced. 1978 The 1978 Jeep Wagoneer Limited becomes the first domestic SUV with leather interior. AMC factory in Brampton, Ontario, converted to build Jeep CJs. Negotiations begin between AMC and Renault on a strategic alliance. 1981 The Scrambler, a mini-pickup-based version of the CJ-7, appears. 1982 Selec-Trac debuts; allows user to switch from full-time 4wd to two-wheel drive. 1983 Debut of the smaller, lighter Cherokee and XJ Wagoneer, the first unibody SUVs, featuring new Quadra-Link front suspension. SJ Wagoneer name changed to Grand Wagoneer. Jeep also begins new joint venture in China, becoming the first American vehicle produced in China since before World War II. 1985 The Comanche pickup, based on the Cherokee, is introduced. Jeep's global sales top 200,000 for the first time. In November, company announces the end of the CJ line. 1986 Jeep Wrangler introduced as 1987 model; is immediately controversial in part because of its square headlights. AMC introduces optional 173-hp, 4.0-liter, inline-six-cylinder engine for XJ-based Jeeps. 1987 Chrysler Corp. buys AMC from Renault for $1.5 billion to obtain Jeep. Chrysler ends production of the J-series pickups. Chrysler dealers offered Jeep franchises. Jan. 7, 1992 Chrysler executive Bob Lutz drives a ZJ Grand Cherokee from Jefferson North Assembly through a plate-glass window at Cobo Center during the Detroit auto show. 1992 Grand Wagoneer production ends after a 30-year run. 1993 Jeep sales top 400,000 globally for the first time. 1996 Redesigned Wrangler returns to the CJ's traditional round headlights, among other upgrades. Jeep sales top 500,000 globally for the first time. 1997 Toledo successfully campaigns to win construction of an assembly plant to replace the ancient Jeep Parkway site. 1998 Chrysler and Daimler AG join to form DaimlerChrysler. 1999 Jeep introduces Quadra-Drive in redesigned Grand Cherokee, allowing vehicle to move even if only one wheel has traction. Jeep global sales hit a record 675,494. 2001 Toledo North opens and begins building the 2002 Jeep Liberty, with independent front suspension; XJ Cherokee production ends after 17-year run and 2.7 million units. 2002 The first Jeep Wrangler Rubicons are introduced for the 2003 model year. 2005 Jeep shows the Wrangler-based Gladiator concept pickup to wild enthusiasm, but the vehicle is never produced; the three-row Jeep Commander seven-passenger SUV debuts at the New York auto show. 2006 DaimlerChrysler brings out four-door Wrangler Unlimited for 2007 model year; introduces the carlike Compass and Patriot twins, which share a platform with the Dodge Caliber. 2007 Daimler sells Chrysler to Cerberus Capital Management, a private equity firm with no experience as an automaker. Daimler pays a $675 million premium. Bob Nardelli, former CEO of Home Depot, named CEO. 2009 Chrysler Group seeks bankruptcy protection; its assets are acquired -- with government financing -- by Fiat S.p.A. and the UAW Voluntary Employees' Beneficiary Association health care fund. 789 dealers are eliminated as part of the deal. 2010 Commander production ends. CEO Sergio Marchionne called the SUV "unfit for human consumption." 2012 Liberty production ends; Toledo North down for nearly a year for retrofit for the 2014 Jeep Cherokee. Global shipments top 700,000 for the first time, the first of four consecutive annual records. 2013 Cherokee production begins, but vehicles are held for months by shift quality concerns. Debuts in October, months behind schedule. 2014 Production begins in Italy of the subcompact Jeep Renegade. Jeep tops 1 million units annually in global sales for the first time. 2015 Jeep tops 1.2 million units in global sales. Production expands to Brazil and returns to China.

The industry's most copied brand Richard Truett, Automotive News / July 11, 2016 Jeep inspired Land Rovers, Land Cruisers, Broncos and Scouts Jeep can claim many milestones. But here's one you may not have thought of: It's the most copied brand of American vehicles. The World War II military Jeep -- the forerunner of today's Wrangler -- spawned the Land Rover in 1948 and, in the early 1950s, Toyota's BJ and FJ, which morphed into the Land Cruiser. Later the civilian Willys Jeep CJ series was the inspiration for all other competitors, from the International Scout and Ford Bronco of the 1960s to the Suzuki Samurai and Daihatsu Rocky of the 1980s. Then there's the 1984 Jeep Cherokee XJ -- the first unibody SUV -- which is the template for the modern SUV and has been copied universally. Early competitors tore apart the military Jeeps while creating their own versions. The first Land Rover prototype, built in 1947, had a Jeep chassis. In the book Land Rover: The Unbeatable 4X4, authors Ken and Julie Slavin document the creation of the first Land Rover, which over the years has proved to be the Jeep's toughest competitor. "Using the Willys Jeep as a jumping off point, the design team had to scrutinize every detail of the American product and drive it in all possible conditions to learn its limitations," the Slavins wrote. "Two Jeeps were acquired early on, solely for dissection purposes, but although certain of its stronger points were without doubt copied in the Land Rover, the Rover team maintained vehemently that there was nothing on the Land Rover that corresponded exactly to the Jeep." Today, the Wrangler, with its fold-forward windshield, exposed hinges, round headlights and other design cues, has no real competition. But the same cannot be said for all the other vehicles in the Jeep lineup, especially the Grand Cherokee, which traces its DNA back to the 1984 Jeep Cherokee and slugs it out in one of the most competitive market segments. Roy Lunn, Jeep's former director of engineering, led the team in the early 1980s that created the XJ. Lunn said the inspiration for the unibody SUV came from the fuel shocks of the 1970s. "Other companies didn't do it by choice. They said, "We'll make an SUV-type vehicle and what is the nearest vehicle to base it on?' They chose their light truck to derive it from. But the light truck line had a separate frame and normal heavy construction," Lunn said. "I chose unitized because it is stronger pound for pound and it is lightest for meeting fuel economy requirements."

Why it's a 'Jeep' and not a 'Leaping Lena' Larry P. Vellequette, Automotive News / July 11, 2016 Name's mysterious origins may trace back to Ford It's one of the eternal mysteries surrounding Jeep: Where does the name come from? There is no shortage of theories. Was the name in homage to a character in the "Popeye" comic strip from the 1930s or perhaps the pronunciation of the acronym for General Purpose? Some suggest it was a soldier's acronym for Just Enough Essential Parts. In his book Jeep: The History of America's Greatest Vehicle, Patrick R. Foster says the name came from veteran Willys test driver Red Hausmann. In February 1941, Hausmann was driving journalist Katharine Hillyer in one of the early prototypes of the Willys Quad across some extremely steep hills when she asked the name of the vehicle. In her story, Hillyer quoted Hausmann saying, "It's a Jeep." But one explanation that would seem to have a lot of credibility is that the name originated at Ford Motor Co., which built about 277,000 Jeeps during World War II. Ford's nomenclature for its vehicles used GP as the two-letter code for the Ford Pygmy, its entrant in the Army's request for bids to build a reconnaissance vehicle. When Ford was awarded a contract in October 1941 to build the approved Willys-Overland versions, it stamped those vehicles as GPW (GP-Willys). The magazine Scientific American published a full review of the military's new wonder buggy in its January 1942 issue. The author of that review, journalist Jo Chamberlin, had visited an Army base in Louisiana in September 1941 to try out the military's new "midget combat car" and came away duly impressed. Chamberlin made two mentions of the origin of the name, writing: "Our Army's youngest, smallest toughest baby has a dozen pet names such as jeep, peep, blitz-buggy, leaping Lena, panzer-killer. The names are all affectionate, for the jeep has made good. Only a year old, it stole the show in Louisiana. Now the Army plans to have 75,000 of them." In a prescient footnote, Chamberlin wrote: "Some army men call the bantam a "peep,' reserving "jeep' for the larger command car in which the brass hats ride. However, the term "jeep' (born of GP, an auto manufacturing classification) is used by newspapers and most soldiers, and apparently will stick."

The engine that drives FCA Larry P. Vellequette, Automotive News / July 11, 2016 Jeep barrels into global markets In its 75-year history, Jeep never has been in better shape than it is right now. The reason? Current owner Fiat Chrysler Automobiles has accomplished what a succession of previous owners only dreamed of: truly globalizing one of the world's most storied automotive brands. Worldwide, Jeep's deliveries in 2015 topped 1.2 million vehicles, its fourth consecutive record year for global production and sales. Jeep Renegades are now built in Europe (Italy), South America (Brazil) and Asia (China) for sale in those regional markets. By the end of the year, production of the replacement for the Jeep Compass will begin in Brazil and China, as well as Mexico. Jeep-branded vehicles also will soon begin rolling into India, with local production slated to begin in 2017. Meanwhile, sales in Jeep's largest and most profitable market, the United States, are up 17 percent through June over record 2015 sales. Jeep's lineup also is expanding. Brand head Mike Manley said last month that luxury full-size SUVs under the storied Wagoneer and Grand Wagoneer names will return with the development of a redesigned Jeep Grand Cherokee in 2019. On the other end of the size spectrum, a micro-segment Jeep, smaller than the Renegade, is under strong consideration, primarily for markets outside North America. Meanwhile, FCA is expanding production capacity of its profit-rich Wrangler by at least 50 percent, allowing the brand to fulfill what it sees as unmet domestic and international demand. The added capacity also will allow for the return of a pickup to the Jeep lineup for the first time since 1996. CEO Sergio Marchionne says Jeep is the engine that keeps his company going, no matter how tough the economic circumstances become. "One of the things that we've always faced in the United States in the production of Jeeps is to make this unfortunate Sophie's Choice about whether we sell in the U.S. or whether we sell overseas," Marchionne explained this year. "In the last probably three or four years especially, we've been forced to make choices about which markets get allocated product. "Even if there were to be a contraction of the U.S. market, there is unexplored potential in terms of outside U.S. markets, especially where we have not established local production," he said. "Anything which relates to either a Cherokee or a Grand Cherokee and eventually a Wagoneer or Wrangler will have additional means of expression in international markets."