USA: Testing the aluminium truck Ford F-150

* Michigan - Mixed crash-test results for aluminum Ford F-150s

-- A tough, independent crash test shows aluminum can be a safe material for pickup bodies. But two Ford F-150 models with different configurations — one a crew cab and the other an extended cab — scored far differently in safety tests... The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety on Thursday awarded Ford’s 2015 F-150 four-door crew cab its coveted Top Safety Pick. Its sister version, the two-door extended cab, got only a marginal rating in a test that measures what happens when the front corner of a vehicle hits a utility pole at 40 mph... F-150s are the only aluminum-bodied trucks on the market, and were the first full-size pickups to undergo IIHS testing of the so-called small overlap crash test...

... The test is more difficult than the head-on crashes conducted by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. It poses a challenge for the vehicle to manage crash energy... In the IIHS F-150 crew cab test, the occupant compartment remained intact. “The front-end structure crumpled in a way that spared the occupant compartment significant intrusion and preserved survival space for the driver,” IIHS said... In the IIHS test for the extended cab, the intruding structure after the crash “seriously compromised a driver’s survival space, resulting in a poor structural rating,” IIHS said... The toe pan, parking brake and brake pedal were pushed back about a foot toward the dummy, and the dashboard was jammed against the dummy’s lower legs... Tests suggested there would be a moderate risk of injuries to the right thigh, lower left leg and left foot in a real-world crash of this severity. The steering column was pushed back nearly 8 inches and came dangerously close to the dummy’s chest. The dummy’s head barely contacted the front air bag before sliding to the left and hitting the instrument panel...
(Photos by Insurance Institute for Highway Safety - 2015 Ford F-150 crew cab. This crash test duplicates what happens when the front corner of the vehicle hits a utility pole at 40 mph. In the crew cab, the dummy's position in relation to the door frame, steering wheel, and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained well. But in the extended cab, the truck’s structure fared poorly) -- Auburn Hill, MICH, USA - The Detroit News, by David Shepardson and Michael Martinez - 30 July 2015

Truckmaker News USA: * Paccar's - * Caterpillar's

* Washington - Paccar rides strong truck sales to record second-quarter profit



-- Bellevue-based truck maker Paccar reported a record profit in the second quarter of this year, reflecting increased truck sales, especially in North America and Europe... The company’s quarterly financial report also showed record profit from Paccar parts division and robust results in the company’s financial-services division... Paccar delivered 41,600 trucks from April to June, a 23.4 percent increase compared with the second quarter of 2014. Deliveries in North America for the quarter were up 30.7 percent to 26,800. European deliveries were up almost 26 percent to 11,200 trucks, and other countries, including Mexico, South America and Australia, delivered 3,600 trucks, down 16 percent... Paccar shares were down 12 cents in afternoon trading Tuesday to $64.54, a decline of 0.18 percent...

(Photo: A Peterbilt truck by Paccar) -- Bellevue, WASH, USA - The Seattle Times, by Coral Garnick - July 28, 2015

* Texas - Caterpillar splits with Navistar, will design and build its own vocational trucks in



--The CT680 is Caterpillar’s latest vocational truck model, launched earlier this year in May... Caterpillar has announced a parting of ways with truck maker Navistar, ending a six-year partnership between the two companies that launched the Cat brand into the vocational truck market... Cat has worked with Navistar to design and build its line of vocational trucks, launching the CT660 in 2011, followed by the CT680 and CT681 since then... Beyond more control over the process, Cat customers will likely also appreciate that the move means its trucks will now be manufactured in the U.S.A. ... The CT lineup is currently built in Escobedo, Mexico, but manufacturing will be moved to Cat’s plant in Victoria, Texas... The Victoria plant currently manufactures the company’s excavators. Truck manufacturing is expected to add 200 jobs at the facility... Cat says the transition to Victoria will begin immediately with plans to begin production there in the first half of 2016...
(Photo: The CT680 is Caterpillar's latest vocational truck model, launched earlier this year in May) -- Vicgtoria, TXS, USA - Aggregates Manager, by Bobby Atkinson . July 28, 2015

Truckmaker News * India: Tata's

* India - Tata Motors to grow exports of trucks to offset slow India sales



-- Tata Motors Ltd, India's biggest automaker by revenue, plans to triple exports of its trucks and buses to countries in Asia and beyond to counter slow sales growth in India, it said on Wednesday... "This (exports) is something we are stressing heavily," said Ravi Pisharody, executive director of Tata's commercial vehicles business, who plans to grow exports to 150,000 vehicles in 3 to 4 years from 45,000 vehicles in the year that ended on March 31... The company, which mainly exports to neighboring nations Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, will look at increasing shipments to countries in the Middle East and Southeast Asia... Tata's exports of trucks and buses grew 39 percent in the April-June quarter to nearly 13,000 vehicles from a year ago, while domestic sales fell 1 percent over the same period to about 66,000 vehicles, industry data showed... Growth in sales of large trucks in India is largely linked to the economy and reflects a pick-up in industrial activities like mining and construction... While sales of medium and heavy commercial vehicles at Tata Motors grew 15 percent to more than 127,000 units in the fiscal year ended March 31, according to industry data, Pisharody said this was largely due to replacement of an ageing fleet of trucks by owners...

(REUTERS, by Vivek Prakash - Tata Motors logos are pictured outside their flagship showroom in Mumbai, India) -- Mumbai, India - Reuters, by AMAN SHAH - Jul 22, 2015

Truckers' Life * Australia: some of the places you go in the bush are just spectacular

* New South Wales - Throwing away long haul for a truck with a view


(Photo: Tumut, Australia)

-- Burnt out from years of driving interstate up the east coast, Robbie Caldwell headed for the forests... He has spent more years than he cares to remember driving up and down the east coast... More to the point, most of the 22 years of his married life were spent out on the highway... He drove for Iannelli Transport for 16 of those years, including a stint behind the wheel of a gold Kenworth T604 hauling a fridge van... Things went slowly downhill for Robbie, and he ended up in hospital. Once out of hospital he decided it was time for a change, so he went for his B-double licence... He scored a job with Monaro Logging, which harvests and hauls timber for the Forestry Corporation of New South Wales (FCNSW) in Bombala, as well as harvesting for PF Olsen in Tumut... Robbie has been with Monaro Logging for six years now. His current steed is a new Kenworth T909, one of six in the Monaro Logging fleet... Robbie says when he first started with Monaro Logging, he wasn’t sure if the job would suit him... "But I do like a bit of a challenge," he says...



(Photography by Peter Schlenk: The Monaro trucks are kept in tip-top condition)
... "Anyone can drive around with a single freezer van. It was good, but some of the places you go in the bush are just spectacular. When you are out near Tumut, you can look out and see forever" ...
Bombala, NSW, Australia - Owner Driver, by Peter Schlenk - 23 July 2015

The Canadian Trucking Show * In Winnipeg from July 18-19

* Manitoba - Canadian Trucking Show to be held July 18-19 at Winnipeg truck stop



-- The Canadian Trucking Show will be held July 18-19 at the Husky Travel Centre in Winnipeg with more than 40 vendors, live music, special guests, DJs, truck judging and light show, a fireworks display and a church service by Chaplain Len Reimer of Transport for Christ... The event will be a family affair and in addition to the shiny trucks on display, fireworks and vendors a play area will be available for children... Cars and motorcycles also will be on display as “toys transportation enjoys” ... Truck parking staging will take place all day Friday, July 17 with the show opening at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 18... Special guests on site during the show will be Ice Road Truckers...

(Photo: A real trucker on the Ice Road) -- Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN - The Trucker News Services - 13 July 2015