Minimizer announced it redesigned its “The Brute” full fender and “The Brute Half” half fender, and both have new part numbers, MIN 900 and MIN 950, respectively. The new “The Brute” full fender and “The Brute Half” half fender, like their predecessors, will be used to fit a tandem axle tractor or trailer.

“The updated products are better suited for their role in the product lineup,” said Steve Hansen, Minimizer national account manager. “It was time to improve these particular products with new ideas we had been compiling for the past several years based on customer feedback.”

Specs on the redesigned MIN900 include:
· Designed to fit a tandem axle tractor or trailer;
· Four-piece set (4 – PM901 fender sections);
· Kit weighs less than 52 pounds; and
· Optional lightbox can be molded onto the rear section as one piece and has a backing plate to protect wiring.

Specs on the redesigned MIN950 include:
· Designed to fit a tandem axle tractor or trailer as a half fender;
· Two-piece set (2 – PM901 fender sections);
· Kit weighs less than 26 pounds; and
· Optional splash guards are available.

As part of its cooperative agreement with Michelin Americas Truck Tires, Love’s Travel Stops has expanded its over-the-road truck tire care service offering to its facility in Memphis, Tenn. Professional drivers now have access to Michelin truck tires and Love’s certified on-site and emergency roadside service. The Memphis Love’s becomes the 25th truck tire care service location to open since signing the agreement with Michelin in May 2008.

“Since we began offering Michelin tires, emergency roadside assistance and on-site tire care service at our travel stops last year, the response from customers has been very positive,” says Frank Love, president of Love’s Operating Companies, based in Oklahoma City. “Our customers are discovering this new service while taking advantage of the value and convenience we provide. We look forward to expanding even more in the coming days.”

With its 25 new truck tire care service locations, Love’s says it has provided more than 6,000 hours of training to their certified truck tire care employees. Love’s now provides on-site truck tire care service along the following corridors:
· I-20 (Shreveport, La., to Abilene, Texas);
· I-40 (Memphis, Tenn., to Tucumcari, N.M.); and
· I-35 (Tonkawa, Okla., to Ardmore Okla.).

“Love’s has earned a reputation of excellence in delivering much-needed products and services for the over-the-road customers,” said Guy Pekle, vice president of replacement sales for Michelin Americas Truck Tires, based in Greenville, S.C. “Their commitment to providing outstanding service to the trucking community mirrors that of Michelin, which makes this partnership very attractive for truckers coast-to-coast.”

Decisiv, Inc. recently announced it has expanded its Decisiv Service Management Platform (DSMP) to include Detroit Diesel MBE 900 and MBE 4000 engines.

“The Decisiv Service Management Platform in use at authorized Detroit Diesel and Freightliner Trucks service locations is now enhanced by the addition of real-time access to Detroit Diesel’s eParts information for the manufacturer’s MBE 900 and MBE 4000 models,” said Dick Hyatt, president of Decisiv. “This new capability further expands the DSMP’s features and capabilities and enables our growing number of service location subscribers to build repair estimates for MBE engines faster and with greater accuracy.”

For MBE models, the company said, the platform determines the unique engine serial number and uses it to navigate the user to the appropriate location in eParts. Part information can then be transferred to the Decisiv estimate and presented to the customer for review and approval.

Developed over nearly eight years, the Decisiv Service Management Platform provides a common and consistent service initiation and write-up process and eliminates the need to log into separate systems and open separate windows when a truck equipped with an Detroit Diesel MBE 900 or MBE 4000 engine arrives at a service location, the company said. In addition to faster in-context access to source information, the platform provides a communications bridge between service location subscribers and their customers streamlining the service initiation, review and approval process.

Mohawk Lifts announced all two-post style lifts now come with a 25-year structural warranty that covers the columns, carriages and swing arms.

“We made our warranty like our lifts because we know a shop can’t wear out a Mohawk lift” said Mohawk Lifts’ President Rick Wells.

Ranger Products said its DST-1200 Wheel Balancer adopts the latest 16-digit signal processor and single-chip architecture, providing an inherent boost in performance and accuracy. The DST-1200 consumes less power and features an improved rate of heat dissipation, according to the company, and users can choose from multiple methods for inputting wheel parameters, including button controls and a wheel rotation.

The calibration process also is easier, Ranger said; both static and dynamic calibrations can be made automatically through a photocell sensor, allowing original data to be accessed after each use. Unique wheel parameter data can be saved in the system, and the user can perform incremental distance and parameter diameter adjustments, according to the company; after six seconds, the LED display recommends the correct minimum weight and placement to achieve optimum balance.

Toyo Tires said it introduced the M647 premium drive tire, designed for local, regional and long haul highway applications and has a deep, 30/32-inch tread which provides improved wear and long service life.

The M647 is designed using Toyo’s e-balance technology which the company said minimizes the growth of the tread profile during operation. This helps to maintain a more uniform and flatter tread radius during the entire life of the casing which results in long wear for increased value. The casing profile is also enhanced with the combination of e-balance profile retention technology and a high stiffness bead. Sheer strain is reduced at the belt edge area in the tread and in the bead.

Irregular wear is reduced by incorporating high rigidity in the shoulder of the tire, thus improving the durability of the M647. Traction is also maintained over the life of the tread through deep slits engineered into the design that are equal to the main groove depth.

The initial size offering of the Toyo M647 premium drive radial is a 295/75R22.5 in a 14-ply, load range G.

The American Trucking Associations’ advanced seasonally adjusted (SA) For-Hire Truck Tonnage Index fell 2.2 percent in April, the second sequential decrease after plunging 4.5 percent in March. In April, the SA tonnage index equaled just 99.2, which is its lowest level since November 2001.

The not seasonally adjusted (NSA) index, which represents the change in tonnage actually hauled by the fleets before any seasonal adjustment, was down 2.9 percent from March. In April, the NSA index equaled 101.6.

Compared with April 2008, tonnage contracted 13.2 percent, which was the worst year-over-year decrease of the current cycle and the largest drop in 13 years. In March 2009, tonnage dropped 12.2 percent from a year earlier. ATA Chief Economist Bob Costello says truck tonnage is getting hit from both the recession and the massive inventory correction that the supply chain currently is undergoing.

“While most key economic indicators are decreasing at a slower rate, the year-over-year contractions in truck tonnage accelerated because businesses are right-sizing their inventories, which means fewer truck shipments,” Costello says. “The absolute dollar value of inventories has fallen, but sales have decreased as much or more, which means that inventories are still too high for the current level of sales. Until this correction is complete, freight will be tough for motor carriers.” Costello added that truck freight has yet to hit bottom and that it could be a few more months before this occurs.

ATA calculates the tonnage index based on surveys from its membership. The report includes month-to-month and year-over-year results, relevant economic comparisons and key financial indicators. The baseline year is 2000.

The national average retail price of a gallon of diesel climbed for the third consecutive week, moving up 4.3 cents to $2.274. However, the price – which has climbed 8.9 cents in the last three weeks – is still $2.449 less than the same week last year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, which delayed its weekly report one day because of Memorial Day.

All regions tracked by DOE saw price increases. The largest increase by region, 5.9 cents, was found in the Midwest, where week-over-week prices climbed to $2.229, still the nation’s least expensive diesel by region. The smallest increase by region, 0.8 cent, was found in New England, where week-over-week prices rose to $2.409. The nation’s most expensive diesel by region, $2.410, was found in the Central Atlantic, where week-over-week prices climbed 1.4 cents.

California, which DOE tracks separately for its weekly update, saw a price increase of 5.3 cents to $2.407; however, that price is $2.620 cheaper than last year.

Mack Trucks recently announced the company and the United Auto Workers reached a tentative settlement on terms of a new 40-month Master Agreement that would cover about 1,700 UAW members at seven facilities in three states.

The tentative agreement includes a successor collective bargaining agreement and the creation of a UAW-managed independent trust, known as a Voluntary Employee Beneficiary Association. The VEBA would permanently assume the sole obligation of providing retiree health benefits to current and future Mack-UAW retirees, spouses, surviving spouses and their dependents.

The successor collective bargaining agreement and the VEBA are conditional on ratification by the UAW membership. Thereafter, the VEBA will be subject to an approval order from the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, which could take up to 12 months.

The parent company of Lehigh Valley, Pa.-based Mack, Sweden-based AB Volvo, has agreed to fund the VEBA with $525 million in cash, which would be paid in equal installments over a five-year period. The first payment would be made no earlier than July 1, 2010.

The establishment of the VEBA would allow for continued health care benefits for the roughly 9,000 current Mack-UAW retirees, surviving spouses and dependents, as well as for future UAW retirees, while eliminating Mack’s health care liabilities for this group.

The proposed Master Agreement covers members in Allentown, Macungie and Middletown, Pa.; Baltimore and Hagerstown, Md.; and Jacksonville, Fla. Ratification meetings are being scheduled by the UAW, and will be held within the next few weeks.

Thermo King’s T-Series Roadshow began May 18th at the company’s national dealer sales meeting in Minneapolis and will tour the United States and Canada this summer. The Roadshow events are designed to showcase the all-new T-Series temperature control units for straight trucks to customers all across North America.

The Roadshow includes custom designed trucks that house walk-through exhibits and hands-on demonstrations to showcase the benefits of the new T-Series units as well as the entire range of products and services offered by each Thermo King dealer. Factory-trained experts will also be on hand at each location to answer questions and work with customers to address their specific business needs.

The T-Series was developed to provide customers with improved performance, new state-of-the-art features and a lower life cycle cost that makes a real difference on the bottom line, according to the company. Units available include the T-600, T-800, T-1000, T-800 SPECTRUM multi-temperature and T-1000 SPECTRUM multi-temperature units with new scroll compressor technology and the T-500R, T-600R, T-800R and T-1000R units with reciprocating compressors. The first of the new units go into production in August.

“The Roadshow offers our customers the unique chance to interact with the new units, see what’s really been improved and get their questions answered,” said Tim Ryan, truck product director for Thermo King.

Tour dates and locations include:

WEST
5/18 Minneapolis, MN THERMO KING HEADQUARTERS
5/21 St. Paul, MN THERMO KING SALES AND SERVICE
5/27 Coquitlam, BC THERMO KING OF BRITISH COLUMBIA
5/29 Seattle, WA THERMO KING NORTHWEST
6/2 Portland, OR THERMO KING NORTHWEST
6/5 San Leandro, CA TK SERVICES INC.- SAN LEANDRO
6/8 Fresno, CA THERMO KING OF FRESNO, INC.
6/10 Los Angeles, CA THERMO KING CALIFORNIA INC.
6/12 San Diego, CA TK SERVICES INC
6/16 Phoenix, AZ THERMO KING WEST
6/19 Denver, CO THERMO KING SALES OF DENVER
6/22 Hastings, NE HASTINGS PLANT
6/24 Kansas City, KS CENTRAL STATES THERMO KING INC
6/26 St. Louis, MO CENTRAL STATES THERMO KING INC
6/30 Dallas, TX THERMO KING OF DALLAS
7/2 Houston, TX THERMO KING OF HOUSTON
7/6 Baton Rouge, LA TS REFRIGERATION SERVICE INC
7/8 Jefferson, LA TS REFRIGERATION SERVICE INC

EAST
6/19 Charlotte, NC THERMO KING CAROLINA
6/22 Jacksonville, FL THERMO KING OF NORTH FLORIDA
6/23 Orlando, FL THERMO KING OF ORLANDO
6/29 Miami, FL THERMO KING OF MIAMI
7/1 Tampa, FL GULF COAST THERMO KING
7/6 Indianapolis, IN THERMO KING OF INDIANA INC
7/9 Chicago, IL ILLINOIS AUTO CENTRAL,INC.
7/10 Atlanta, GA THERMO KING OF ATLANTA
7/13 Detroit, MI THERMO KING MICHIGAN, INC.
7/15 Toronto, Ontario THERMO KING OF TORONTO
7/17 Montreal, Quebec MONTREAL THERMO KING
7/20 Boston, MA BOSTON THERMO KING
7/22 Long Island, NY THERMO KING OF LONG ISLAND
7/23 Carlstadt, NJ THERMO KING EAST INC
7/24 Philadelphia, PA CSTK EAST, LLC
7/29 Pittsburgh, PA THERMO KING OF PITTSBURGH INC
7/31 Baltimore, MD THERMO KING CHESAPEAKE