December 1, 2009
Editorial
Living in a world of fallen walls
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM, by Bruce Sauer
RONALD Reagan, speaking at the Berlin Wall in 1987 gave a rousing speech that urged Mikhail Gorbachev to tear down this wall! It was a historical speech....
Industry Newsdesk
Economic recovery begins; truck freight growth lags
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
The recovery has begun, according to the latest issue of The North American Commercial Truck and Trailer Outlook published by FTR Associates, but the...
ATA Truck Tonnage Index Dips 0.2% in October
Nov 24, 2009 1:56 PM
The American Trucking Associations’ advance seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index decreased 0.2 percent in October, following a 0.3 percent contraction in September...
Spartan Motors To Acquire Utilimaster
Nov 20, 2009 9:24 AM
Spartan Motors, Inc. (NASDAQ: SPAR) announced it has reached an agreement to acquire Utilimaster Corporation from John Hancock Life Insurance Company, a unit of Manulife Financial Corporation, a leading Canadian-based financial services group, in an all-cash transaction valued at approximately $45 million...
2009 Fleet Study indicates slow demand for 2010 units
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
The 2009 Fleet Study conducted by CK Commercial Vehicle Research indicates a likely slow demand for new 2010 EPA-compliant power units when they are initially...
Class 8 net truck orders spike upward in October
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
FTR Associates has released preliminary data showing Class 8 net orders for all major North American OEMs totaled 21,792 units in October 2009, reflecting...
Kentucky Trailer, High Tech Performance Trailers Form JV
Dec 3, 2009 2:30 PM
Kentucky Trailer, the long-standing custom trailer manufacturer based in Louisville, Kentucky, and High Tech Performance Trailers, a manufacturer of Motorsports Racing Transporters based in Painesville, Ohio...
Oshkosh Corp will build E-coat facility
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
Oshkosh Corporation is working with the city of Oshkosh WI on plans to expand the company's manufacturing facilities there with a new 150,000-square-foot...
Azure Dynamics Sells Four Balance Hybrid Electric Units
Dec 3, 2009 2:13 PM
Azure Dynamics Corporation (TSX: AZD) announced that it will supply its Balance Hybrid Electric lift-equipped shuttle buses to Clermont Transportation Connection (CTC) in Batavia, Ohio...
Sapa Extrusions’ Cressona Facility to Add 3,600-Ton Extrusion Press
Nov 20, 2009 9:12 AM
Sapa Extrusions has announced plans to install an advanced, large-capacity extrusion press as an addition to the press line at its Cressona, Pennsylvania, facility. The equipment will bring the total number of presses operated by the Cressona plant to eight...
SORL enters joint venture with MGR
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
SORL Auto Parts Inc, a brake system manufacturer in China, has entered into a joint venture with Hong Kong-based MGR to expand SORL's global sales and...
VPG schedules volume production of MV-1 vehicle
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
The Vehicle Production Group LLC (VPG) announced that volume production of the MV-1, the first factory-built and assembled wheelchair-accessible vehicle...
Dutch firms develop heavy and long vehicles concept
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
Netherlands-based D-TEC and Burgers Carrosserie have joined forces to develop a new heavy and long vehicles concept. In this project, the separable container...
Mack Receives Three More Orders From Army
Nov 2, 2009 12:00 PM
Mack Trucks, Inc. has received three additional delivery orders for MACK Vision Elite model tractors from the U.S. Army TACOM Life Cycle Management Command. The orders are part of a three-year $28.5 million contract for 152 heavy-duty tractors and trailers, as well as spare parts...
Automation of MRO distribution catches on with industry players
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
Detroit Diesel, BAE Systems, Parker-Hannifin, Cooper-Standard Automotive, Mahle, Crown Battery, NTN Driveshaft, Kautex Textron, and Denso Manufacturing...
Haldex Updates South Carolina Friction Center
Nov 11, 2009 10:06 AM
Haldex Commercial Vehicle Systems has announced that its brake relining network is undergoing the next planned expansion at the Columbia, South Carolina, Friction Center...
Hypertherm offers commercial curriculum covering plasma cutting, gouging
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
Hypertherm announced the availability of the first commercial curriculum specifically for plasma cutting and gouging. Created with input from welding...
ArvinMeritor finalizes sale of Meritor Suspension JV
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
ArvinMeritor Inc has completed the sale of its 57% stake in the Meritor Suspension Systems Company (MSSC) joint venture to Mitsubishi Steel Mfg Ltd (MSM)...
USA Harness achieves ISO certification
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
USA Harness Inc announced it has been certified to the ISO 9001:2008 quality management systems standard. This registration was achieved September 19,...
Cover Story
CIMC opens new trailer plant in China to produce reefers for US, Europe
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Bruce Sauer
THE world just got a little smaller. Conventional wisdom says that it's not feasible to set up a trailer manufacturing plant and sell thousands of those...
CIMC: a brief background
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
Few companies in the transportation business have experienced the growth of China Intermodal Marine Container (CIMC). Formed January 1, 1980 in Shenzhen,...
Vanguard National finishes in Indiana what CIMC starts at a trailer plant in China
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
Building a refrigerated trailer on the Vanguard National assembly line is like building a dry freight van. It's a matter of putting the pieces together....
Features
A U S company finds good reasons to manufacture in China and not just source there
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Bruce Sauer
AMERICA is a major consumer of products that are fabricated in China. What would it be like if an American company owned the manufacturing plant? So far,...
Fabtech International shows new products for improving plant performance
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Bruce Sauer
FABRICATORS found a wide range of new products that can make manufacturing plants more productive and their products higher quality. The venue: the annual...
How to reduce MIG shielding gas usage
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
Manufacturers can slash their welding gas consumption by identifying and correcting three major reasons for the excess gas use, according to Jerry Uttrachi,...
NATM heads to The Biggest Little City in the World for annual convention and trade show
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Rick Weber
THE National Association of Trailer Manufacturers (NATM) is taking its annual convention and trade show to Reno, The Biggest Little City in the World....
Product Profiles
PTO/pump combo simplifies, saves money
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
Parker Chelsea, the power transfer systems provider to the work truck market, makes PTO and dump pump installation on Allison 3000 and 4000 series transmissions...
ArvinMeritor drum brake line meets shorter stopping-distance regulations
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
ArvinMeritor Inc announced that its portfolio of Meritor Q Plus drum brakes will enable North American truck operators to meet the recently issued US...
Neck-It! device deters fuel siphoning
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
Hansen International announces Neck-It! anti-siphon device is available for all Class 7-8 trucks manufactured in North America. In use in Europe for the...
Stewart beam rollover device provides safe, economical way to rotate beams
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
Stewart Engineering & Sales Co, which manufactures a beam rollover device for structural steel fabricators, tried it successfully recently on a Fontaine...
Waltco LPF-25 offers 2,500-lb capacity
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
Waltco's LPF-25 large-platform liftgate features all the advantages of the LPF-30 and 40 series but now in a 2,500-lb capacity. It has a 60-deep 80-wide...
Product Focus
Millermatic Reach extends work area
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
The new Millermatic Reach wire feeder extends the work area of the Millermatic 212 with Auto-Set, 251, 252, and 350/350P MIG welders up to 40 feet and...
Shelving stores large press brake dies
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
Proper Storage Systems has launched a new pneumatic press brake die storage unit for very large press brake dies. This unit provides easy, organized access...
The Road Ahead
BigBags deliver lots of flux for arc welding
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
ESAB Welding & Cutting Products introduces the BigBag, a new economical way to deliver flux for high-production submerged arc welding applications. The...
Fume extractor helps cut downtime
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
Adding to its recently introduced Filtair series of welding fume extractors, Miller Electric Mfg Co introduces the Filtair MWX-S, a self-cleaning mobile...
Aquacron product line covers varied uses
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
PPG Commercial Coatings offers the Aquacron water-based product platform for light industrial applications. This environmentally responsible product line...
Tregaskiss Quick Load liners reduce replacement time and expense
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
To minimize downtime and cost for MIG gun liner replacement, Tregaskiss offers Quick Load liners for its semi-automatic and robotic MIG guns. These liners...
DegaSeal 24 provides rapid skin times
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
BASF Construction Chemicals-Building Systems has launched a new general-purpose sealant designed with fast skin times to enhance production applications...
Lightweight bevel cutting head provided
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
Koike Aronson/Ransome Inc announces its lightweight bevel, a fully automatic contour bevel cutting head that offers outstanding performance at a budget-friendly...
ESAB Sabre DX gantry cutting machine
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
ESAB Cutting Systems introduces the new Sabre DX heavy-duty gantry cutting machine. Designed to carry plasma and oxy-fuel cutting stations, the new machine...
Sealant provides higher tensile strength
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
Specially formulated for automated assembly, new Dow Corning HM-2520 assembly sealant combines the immediate green strength of a hot melt adhesive with...
Lincoln teaches welding via virtual reality
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
To help improve training of the nation's future welders, Lincoln Electric has developed a new way to teach welding techniques through a new virtual welding...
Wolf integrates Fanuc ARC Mate Robots with SmartPositioners
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
Wolf Robotics now offers robotic arc welding cells featuring Fanuc ARC Mate Robots and Wolf SmartPositioners. The SmartPositioners are a complete family...
Calendar
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
January 18-21, 2010 Heavy Duty Aftermarket Week (HDAW), Las Vegas NV 708-226-1300www.hdma.org February 9-12, 2010 American Trucking Associations' (ATA)...
NASCAR’s Roush to Speak at Green Truck Summit 2010
Nov 24, 2009 1:51 PM
Jack Roush, chairman of Roush Enterprises and CEO/co-owner of NASCAR team Roush Fenway Racing, will be one of the keynote speakers at the Green Truck Summit 2010, March 9-10, 2010, the National Truck Equipment Association (NTEA) and CALSTART announced...
People and Positions
Trailer, truck, & body OEMs
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
Jim Brown has been named product manager over Omaha Standard-Palfinger branded products. He started his employment with Omaha Standard Inc in 2000 as...
Component manufacturers
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM
Grote Industries has appointed Jim Braun as chief financial officer. Braun most recently served as vice-president of corporate strategic planning and...
50 in the Rearview
It happened this month
Dec 1, 2009 12:00 PM, By Rick Weber
December 1959 The Association of Food and Drug Officials of the United States develops a new code that specificies that zero degrees F is the maximum...
