TRUCKMAKERS NEWS * USA - Heckmann Orders 200 LNG Trucks

* California - Heckman Corp. has placed the single largest order for liquefied natural gas trucks by a U.S. customer

Palm Desert,CA,USA -Heckmann Corp/PressReleases -12 April 2011: ... Heckmann Water Resources will transition its water-transportation fleet from traditional diesel vehicles to natural gas...  The HWR subsidiary operates a recently completed 50-mile water disposal pipeline in the Haynesville Shale (Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas), which can treat and dispose up to 100,000 barrels of water per day... HWR has issued a purchase order for 200 Peterbilt Model 367 liquefied natural gas trucks incorporating Westport Heavy Duty Systems technologies. Although the purchase price of NGVs is higher than diesel trucks, the company says the significantly reduced life cycle operating cost of NGVs typically delivers payback in less than two years in field applications. Additionally, because of cleaner combustion, the average operating life of NGVs is considerably longer... The Westport HD System consists of a 15-liter engine, incorporating proprietary Westport fuel injectors, LNG fuel tanks with integrated cryogenic fuel pumps, and associated electronic components to facilitate operation. The Westport HD engine is certified and compliant to 2010 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and California Air Resources Board emission standards in North America... (Photo: Heckman Corp.'s headquarters)

* Michigan - Fiat Increases Ownership in Chrysler to 25 Percent

Auburn Hills,MICH,USA -Chrysler blog -January 10, 2011:  --  Chrysler Group today announced that Fiat's ownership interest in the Company has increased from 20 percent to 25 percent upon the Company’s achievement of the first of three performance-related milestones...

The ownership interests of Chrysler Group’s members are now:

UAW VEBA                   63.5 percent

Fiat                               25.0 percent

U.S. Treasury                  9.2 percent

Canadian Governments   2.3 percent

* North Carolina - Navistar charged up over commercial EV prospects

Charlotte,NC,USA -Fleet Owner, by Sean Kilcarr -Apr 11, 2011: -- Truck OEM Navistar believes electric vehicles (EVs) designed specifically for light commercial usage is “a product whose time is now,” largely due to the recent spike in diesel fuel prices; prices that are expected to remain high for the foreseeable future... Aubry pointed to a study conducted by global research firm Frost &  Sullivan last year that projects some 64,817 Class 2-3 light-duty EVs should be sold in North America by 2016, predominantly configured as parcel delivery vans, small shuttle buses, etc. He noted that is the very market Navistar is targeting for the eStar... By contrast, only 26,635 medium-duty EVs (between 3.5 and 16 tons GVW) and 565 heavy-duty EVs (16 ton GVW or greater) are expected to be built and sold in 2016, according to Frost & Sullivan... First introduced in 2009 and built via the Navistar-Modec EV Alliance, the all-electric eStar is a Class 2c-3 truck with a range of up to 100 miles per charge. That’s the typical distance covered by most urban P&D vehicles during an eight hour work shift... (Photo from autonorth)

* Michigan - Volvo, Freightliner add Eaton's UltraShift PLUS as option

Kalamazoo,MICH,USA -Truck News (CAN) -Apr 7, 2011:  --  Eaton's new UltraShift PLUS automated transmissions are now available as a data book option for Volvo's VN series of heavy-duty line-haul vehicles and Freightliner's Cascadia...  The UltraShift PLUS transmission is available on the Cascadia 125″ bumper to the back of cab (BBC) equipped with the Detroit Diesel DD13, DD15 or DD16 engine, as well as the Cascadia 113″ BBC equipped with the DD13...


* Greenville - Michelin, Volvo team up to find safest fleets

Greenville,SC,USA -Truck News -Apr 7, 2011:  --  Michelin Americas Truck Tires (MATT) is partnering with Volvo Trucks to award the 2011 Volvo Trucks Safety Award...  Two winners will be selected based on driving records from the 2010 calendar year. Division 1 is for fleets that annually travelled up to 20 million miles, while Division 2 is for fleets that travelled more than 20 million miles annually...  Fleets operating at least five Class 8 tractor units in the US or Canada are eligible, but only fleets operating with at least one Volvo tractor are eligible. Previous Volvo Safety Award winners are not eligible to win...  The two category award winners will be announced at the American Trucking Associations' annual Management Conference and Exhibition in October. Both fleets will receive a plaque of recognition and $25,000...