Ford Bolsters Commercial Truck Lineup With Three New Offerings
from TruckingInfo
Ford Motor Co.'s Commercial Truck arm officially added three van-based products to its sales-leading list of vehicles at the National Truck Equipment Association's Work Truck Show in Chicago. All have gasoline engines and automatic transmissions, with executives making no mention of diesel power except that none will have diesels, at least initially. More

Navistar Makes Headlines at Work Truck Show
from CCJ Magazine
Continuing on its path to meet the next round of emissions standards required for 2010, Navistar unveiled its 2010 MaxxForce DT Advanced EGR (exhaust gas recirculation) midrange diesel engine at the National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA) Work Truck Show in Chicago. More

Natural Gas is the Answer, Pickens Says
from Medill
The U.S. has the resources to reduce its dependency on foreign oil, according to Texas billionaire and alternative energy aficionado T. Boone Pickens, giving the Green Truck Summit keynote speech at the Work Truck Show. More

Auto Team's Visit Gives Rise to Hope
from Detroit Free Press
After weeks of hearing about Detroit's problems, President Barack Obama's auto task force -- charged with finding a fix for the long-ailing U.S. auto industry – came to see firsthand what's wrong and what's worth saving. There's little time left for the team to make decisions. The task force faces a March 31 deadline to decide whether General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC have made enough progress on their turnaround plans to keep the government loans. The automakers, and their teetering suppliers, say they need billions more, within weeks, to stay afloat. More

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UAW, Ford Agree on New Pact
from The Detroit News
The United Auto Workers at Ford Motor Co. accepted concessions to their 2007 national labor contract aimed at saving billions for the struggling automaker, and now the clock is ticking for General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC to forge similar deals with their unionized hourly workers. Fifty-nine percent of Ford's production workers and 58 percent of skilled-trades employees agreed to the changes, which protect their wages but suspend bonuses, alter work rules and essentially kill a controversial lay-off program called the jobs bank. The changes also allow Ford to finance part of a retiree health care trust with more stock and less cash than originally intended. More

Hybrid Truck Market Faces Challenges, but Growing
from Today’s Trucking
Despite growing interest in hybrid vehicles, manufacturers have been slow to integrate hybrid technologies into commercial trucks and buses, a study has found. NextGen Research of Oyster Bay, N.Y, states that some manufacturers consider the efficiency of diesel engines too hard to beat, while others await fuel-cell technologies that can be integrated with commercial drivetrains. Still others are producing and testing concept vehicles they hope will be the cornerstones of commercial hybrid fleets. More

American Honda to Test Hybrid Diesel Electric Truck
from Environmental Protection
As part of its ongoing effort to reduce its global carbon dioxide footprint and fuel consumption, American Honda Motor Co., Inc., of Torrance, Calif., introduced a Class 8 hybrid diesel electric truck into its fleet at its parts center in Alpharetta, Ga., according to a March 6 press release. Built for Honda by Peterbilt Motors Company, the Smartway-certified Model 386 hybrid truck is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by almost 45 tons per year, as compared to its diesel counterpart. More

AT&T to Invest in Eco-friendly Ford Cars
from Reuters
AT&T Inc will spend $565 million over 10 years to replace or buy about 15,000 vehicles in its corporate fleet with cars and other vehicles that run on alternative fuels, the company said. The telecommunications giant said the investment would be the biggest of its kind by a U.S. company, with struggling Ford Motor Co a key beneficiary. More