Maxidyne

We still use wood ties because the railroads have tried concrete ties and found they didn't always work better- Wood ties can flex with the loads where concrete is unforgiving and brittle. We have the best freight rail system in the world, our passenger rail system is another matter.

See a lot of bulk haulers running day cabs with a long wheelbase to meet the bridge formula and several feet gap between tractor and trailer. In a lot of cases an extended cab would cut the wind resistance by shortening that gap and pay for itself in fuel savings.

Surprised these haven't made a comeback what with all the frame space the EPA mandated junk takes up. Ford were masters at fitting enough fuel capacity for a road drivers shift and then some into a less than 150 inch wheelbase tandem.

That engine should pull strong way below 1500: AMI 370 data sheet

USPS tends to spec heavy axles on straight trucks, usually a 12k front and at least 20k rear, which would put them into an F750 and Class 7. The trucks with the 24 foot bodies will probably get single wheeled tag axles like the previous 24 foot bodied straight trucks did. Too bad Ford didn't have the new Cargo available here so they could have bid on both cabover and conventional cab trucks.

Up until the late 90s USPS didn't even consider conventionals for anything bigger than a pickup. I don't know if purchase price was the deciding factor or what, but since then USPS fleet management has made conventionals the default- Local fleet managers and drivers have to beg to get cabovers instead of conventionals. Comparing the International 4000 series conventional to the Cargo from the last purchase, the International was a couple decades newer design and somewhat made up for the Cargo's better manueverability with more creature comforts and a quieter cabin. In this purchase the LF cabover's better visibility and maneuverability and more modern design make it a better truck in almost every way than the ancient Pete conventional.

Link to the deployment list: https://www.21cpw.com/spartan-motors-awarded-214m-cargo-van-contract-for-usps-fleet/ Looks like the 2004 vintage International conventionals and a few Cargoes are finally getting replaced. About 80% of the order will be conventionals, with the cabovers mostly going to more congested cities in the east. Wonder if Paccar got the contract because only they could supply both conventionals and cabovers?

Makes sense, trying to enforce current EPA standards on vehicles that can be assembled in any good sized garage isn't going to work anyway.

Cenex Roadmaster has always been my first choice for diesel, often when chain stations fuel was waxing Cenex had no problems. As for Cenex oils, they now offer a pretty comprehensive engine warranty if you use their lubricants and they don't seem to be going broke paying warranty claims.

IIRC, Mack still provides the E6 as a "ReMack" engine. As for the incompetent parts finders, wish Mack would put their parts books online. I prefer to deal with suppliers like NAPA, Ford, VW, Max BMW, etc. that put there parts and inventory online so I can look up the parts and see if they're in stock before I make the 20 mile trip to their parts counter.

Highly unlikely- Ford's current V8s with their overhead cams are simply too wide. I've heard the EcoBeast V6 will be an option, and it's 400+ horses should be more than enough for a Ranger!

Agreed, doesn't hurt to have more dealers and appeal to a bigger audience. Perhaps soon to appear at International dealers here?

Back in the early 80s when I was working on a masters degree I wrote a research proposal for an experimental psych course using one of the early Rockwell truck data recorders to detect fatigue. When we're sleepy our ability to maintain steady speed and keep a vehicle on a straight course deteriorates, and even with those ancient data loggers and some code it'd be easy to measure fatigue and tell the driver when it's time for sleep. With today's tech and the multitude of data a truck produces now you could almost predict with a smart phone App when the driver will fall asleep at the wheel and wake him up five minutes before. That makes logbooks obsolete, and ELDs are nothing but electronic logbooks that are a bit harder to cheat.

Badge engineered VW Crafter?

Was looking at the prices they're offering to our DOT for the HX and they're pretty competitive.

The TDI buyouts are mostly over and with it that drain on VW's profits. VW's real vulnerabilities are too many models and excess capacity. For example, the Chattanooga plant that builds the North American version of the Passat was running only one shift and a car/light truck plant needs to run 2 shifts and 200,000+ vehicles a year to turn a profit. VW compounded that mistake by spending a billion to double the capacity of Chattanooga to build their cookie-cutter unit body SUV, which despite intro promotional pricing is selling at only a 50,000 unit a year pace. If VW needs to sell anything it's Ducati, a corporate marriage made in hell. If a Ducati TDI comes out of that marriage I'll buy one, but while BMW could get away with such a 100 MPG bike, Ducati's customers won't let them.

Good points. It says something of how well the CH was designed that it's still competitive after three decades, Mack designers and engineers did their job well. But instead of taking pride in this timeless good design, Volvo tries to pass it off as a new truck. They ain't foolin' nobody but maybe a few newbies, and Volvo is destroying what little credibility they have left in the process.

Note how well the sloping window, wheel cutout, and other lines would line up with a sloping hood...

300 plus horses in a small tall tippy truck, what could go wrong?

So how are the dealers supposed to move the 2017s with half the bumper to bumper warranty? Was by a VW dealer the other day and they were offering free service to 6 years/72,000 miles on the 2017s! Being I just bought a new 2015 TDI with 11 year/ 162,000 mile warranty on the engine, fuel, and emissions systems a mere 6/72 warranty doesn't impress me!