According to the company, high capacity bearings and superior gear designs provide torque ratings up to 590 lbs. ft. or 800 Nm. There is no need to de-rate the P.T.O. for continuous applications, the company says.

The 511 has 17 mounting adapters that will allow it to fit on 131 transmissions. It features four shift options which are integrated into the PTO housing for a space saving design. The cam lock shift mechanism is said to provide positive engagement for each shift cycle. The four direct mount pump flange options come standard with the company’s Wet Spline design and provide increased PTO and pump shaft life.

The new Wingfoot Truck Care Centers are located in Gulfport, Miss., and Sulphur Springs, Texas, according to Wingfoot President Paul Wanstreet. (Wingfoot is a wholly owned subsidiary of The Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company.) With these additions, there are now 44 Wingfoot Truck Care Centers throughout the United States.

Like other Wingfoot Truck Care Centers, the Gulfport and Sulphur Springs locations provide the following products and services:

• 24/7 roadside assistance to get trucks back on the road quickly.
• New Goodyear and Dunlop truck tires, plus retreaded tires.
• Oil changes and other preventive maintenance services.
• Light mechanical services, including brake, electrical, heating/air conditioning repair, and more.

Each outlet spans 10,400 sq. ft. and has three service bays. One bay is used for tire replacement and tire-related services, another is devoted to light mechanical work, and the third bay features a full-length oil change pit. It also serves as the location’s express lube bay.

“These Wingfoot Truck Care Centers are strategically located on Pilot Flying J properties to give truck drivers even greater access to our product and service offerings,” says Wanstreet.

“The Gulfport center is located on a Flying J property at Exit 31 along Interstate 10, a major highway that stretches from Arizona to Florida. The Sulphur Springs center is located on a Flying J property at Exit 122 along Interstate 30, which runs from Texas to Arkansas.”

Cornell has six years executive administrative experience in the insurance and marketing industries.  She will develop and coordinate customer communications and initiate KEA project documentation uniformity.

Fenn has 16 years of executive truck dealership experience as controller, CFO and regional general manager for Lake City International, Idealease and Rush Enterprises.  He will focus on developing the KEA Advisors PROFIT Accountability Reporting, and dealership strategic and succession planning products.

Hernly has more than 20 years of direct customer communication and project management experience. She will manage the administration of KEA Advisors’ projects and coordinate the company’s internal data library.

This expansion in staff will enable KEA Advisors to take its business model and services to the next level of productivity, the company says.

The app is an extension of www.freightlinertrucks.com/70years, which provides a snapshot of Freightliner’s legacy of innovation with videos and a detailed timeline that celebrates the company’s products and technological milestones.

In addition, the new app includes:

• Dealer locator: This intuitive tool provides a complete listing of Freightliner Trucks dealerships based on the driver’s current location or by entering a city, state or zip code. The interactive locator features a map, contact information, services, hours of operation and real-time, dealer-specific special offers.
• Event listing: App users can access Freightliner’s schedule of trade shows and special events. Show hours, special guest appearances and booth events are included with each listing.
• Product information: For quick reference, Freightliner’s truck models and base specs are featured on the app, as well as a gallery of truck images.

“Not only are we celebrating our history in a technologically advanced way, but we continue  to support our customers by offering a thorough and easy-to-use reference tool that helps drivers while they’re on the road,” says David Marx, manager brand development for Freightliner Trucks. “We’ve spent 70 years developing products to help simplify our customers’ lives, and this app is yet another innovative solution from Freightliner Trucks.”

Android and iPhone users can download the free Freightliner Trucks app in their respective App Stores.

Retired U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark on Tuesday, May 15, said the investment, development and use of alternative fuel technologies in all sectors of American life is more than simply a means of weening the United States off foreign oil – it’s also the most important component for establishing a new golden age of economic prosperity that will benefit everyone.

Clark, who retired as a four-star general, began his career as a West Point graduate and junior officer in a combat command in Vietnam and rose through the ranks, eventually becoming commander of NATO forces in Europe. In 2008, Clark ran for U.S. president on the Democratic ticket, and today he is a businessman heavily invested in alternative energy markets, including shale, natural gas, wind, tidal and biofuels.

As keynote speaker at the opening session of the Alternative Clean Transportation Exposition in Long Beach, Calif., Clark said the knowledge-based economic boom of the 1990s seemed to be the fitting conclusion to the “American Century,” as the Internet and the rise of personal computers fed an ever-growing economy that was the envy of the world. But as American wealth grew, the country as a whole invested in real estate instead of manufacturing, research and development.

At the same time, Americans discovered to their dismay that a knowledge-based economy was difficult to contain within national borders. “As it turns out, knowledge moves very quickly overseas,” Clark said. “We discovered that people in Eastern Europe and Asia can write programming code and create software just as good as anyone in America can.”

Today, with the American economy flat and slowly regathering momentum, Clark said that while the United States has no real superpower rivals at the moment, the Chinese are gaining steam and telling the world that America was the economy of the last century – while the future belongs to Beijing.

To counter this, Clark said the United States needs a growth policy – an idea that seems alien to many Americans. “We’ve always grown naturally,” he said. “But for most countries around the world, an economic growth plan is absolutely vital to create and sustain prosperity.”

Brazil is an example of this, he said. The Brazilian government realized that as long as the country was sending billions of dollars overseas to purchase oil, it never would be able to invest adequately to grow its own economy and spur growth. So Brazil decided to shift energy production within its own borders with an aggressive ethanol fuel program. “It worked,” Clark said. “Not overnight. But today, Brazil is one of the premier up-and-coming economies in the world.”

The United States today now is in a similar position, Clark said. “We send over $300 billion overseas to purchase oil every year,” he said. “That’s about $1,000 for every man, woman and child in this country. That’s money that we can keep at home to create up to 8.5 million jobs – and taxes to cut our deficit and invest in sustained economic growth.”

Currently, Clark said, that $300 billion a year gets the United States about 9.5 million barrels of oil a day, and he thinks Americans need to pull together across the board – “Everything from ‘Drill, baby, drill!’ to improved fuel economy standards, to wind, solar and tidal power” to steadily chip away at those 9.5 million barrels of oil.

Clark challenged fleet managers attending the conference to ask themselves what they could do to help their country and grow the economy by looking into and investing in alternative fuel technologies where possible. “We all have to work together on this,” he stressed. “The beauty of this is we can develop these alternative fuel technologies without government programs.”

Clark said Wall Street is sitting on $2 billion that could be invested in such technologies. “Overseas investors would love to invest in the United States – because in spite of all our current problems, we still have the strongest and safest economy in the world,” he said. “We just have to step up and give them a vision and goals they can feel confident putting their money in.”

Thermo King is offering up to $200 savings now through Sept. 30 on the following parts categories: belts, filters, starters, alternators and compressors. Mixing and matching within the product categories will allow customers to increase their savings, the company says.

The EFX90 modular inground lift incorporates three heavy-duty scissor sections to lift vehicles weighing up to 90,000 lbs., including articulated buses and vehicles with tandem axles, such as fire trucks, dump trucks, semi trucks, and other vocational and over-the-road vehicles.

The EFX90 includes the company’s patented universal style lifting saddle with flip-up adapters. The unit is said to be compatible with the industry’s widest selection of lightweight adapters. It has an infinite adjustment range, so technicians can precisely position adapters exactly where they’re needed for proper lifting, the company says. The adapters swivel, making it possible to pick up vehicles by either the frame or the axle.

“Technicians love how easy it is to set up our heavy-duty scissor lifts,” says Doug Spiller, Rotary Lift heavy-duty product manager. “They can set up the EFX90 in just a few minutes, letting them get to work faster, for less vehicle downtime.”

The EFX90 uses heavier centering links that are 33 percent stronger than those of comparable lifts, according to the company. Its heavier pivot pins are said to be 37 percent stronger and offer 12.5 percent more bearing surface area for extended service life. The pins also are protected by Rotary Lift’s Smartguard corrosion protection.

NVOCC-arranged import volume grew 2.8 percent in 2011, while traditional carrier cargo volume grew by 2.2 percent, the report adds. Likewise, NVOCC-associated cargo value in 2011 increased by 1.9 percent compared to an overall containerized import cargo value increase of 1.7 percent. In relative terms, NVOCC market share showed the largest gains in the Oceania trade (+18.1 percent), West Coast South America (+15.5 percent) and Central America (11.9 percent) and NVOCC cargo value market share increased in seven of the fourteen trade regions.

The report further shows that while NVOCC growth is positive, the industry has slowed considerably from its performance between 2006 and 2010. It adds that the remainder of 2012 is not expected to show markedly better performance for the NVOCC industry as global growth is forecasted to range from between 2.5 percent and 4.2 percent with ocean cargoes suffering another year of only marginal growth.

The report emphasizes, however, that the performance of the NVOCC industry in the coming years will hinge on whether shippers will prefer to work more with NVOCC and other third-party logistics providers during down times than during periods of higher growth.

“In general, the report shows NVOCCs faced a thinner market in 2011 than in 2010, and global growth forecasts show 2012 will not be much different,” says PIERS Executive Vice President, Gavin Carter. “Because PIERS has been documenting the NVOCC involvement in the market since 2002, we can offer detailed business intelligence to the container shipping industry with highly targeted insights on NVOCC participation.”

The report enables users to track import growth of NVOCCs in the U.S. and around the world. It includes both aggregate NVOCC industry and individual NVOCC company market share by major trade region, volume, value of trade and carrier (VOCC) association. These assessments offer a view of performance over time so the U.S. can compare NVOCC performance with overall market growth.

The report is available for a complimentary download or by visiting www.piers.com/NVOCCMarketReport.

Sam Memmolo and Dave Bowman, hosts of Motorhead Garage

The episode will air on Sunday, May 20, at 11:30 a.m. and on Monday, May 21, at 4:30 p.m. (check local listings, as times may vary). Motorhead Garage’s Big Rig Series brings television audiences an inside look at trucking’s latest technology. The show, which is hosted by Sam Memmolo and Dave Bowman, has almost one million.

“We’re excited to give people across America a sneak peek at the specialized process Inland uses to get truckers back on the road quickly and safely,” says Dave Scheer, president, Inland Truck Parts. “Sam and Dave worked with our team here to show how our broad menu of services, combined with in-house component repair capabilities and our store network, helps deliver maximum uptime to each truck that comes through our shops.”

Viewers will see a demonstration of Inland’s shop and remanufacturing services, including driveline repair, flywheel resurfacing, transmission remanufacturing and dynamometer (dyno) testing. Also featured is Inland’s parts inventory.

The facility is located on 10 acres with easy access to both highways. “After an extensive search and study of the commercial truck and trailer market in southern Idaho, we decided this is the perfect location to build a world class facility to serve the medium and heavy truck industry,” says Bart Warner, CEO of Warner Truck Centers. “There is obviously a lot of trucking activity in this area and we are excited to be here”.

The Warner Truck Center is a family-owned business headquartered in Salt Lake City. Its Utah facility consists of a 100 acre complex with more than 500,000 sq. ft. of facilities. Warner says the opportunity to expand into Southeast Idaho came in July of 2010 when they purchased Southern Idaho Freightliner from Orlan Stearns.

Southern Idaho Freightliner was operating in two smaller and older facilities. After the sale was completed, the Warner’s immediately began the search to consolidate the facilities into one larger location.

The new facility is more than three times larger than the former two including: a 500 hp dynamometer, a 70 ft. long paint bay, 18 mechanical bays and an additional 15 body, trailer and tank repair bays as well as a computer controlled alignment machine and fast lube pit. A 7.5 ton bridge crane spans the entire length of the two shops to improve efficiency and improve safety for the technician, the company says.

The truck center opened a night shift after the first week which has picked up additional business. The facility includes a large conference room that can seat more than 100 people which will be used to put on “Fleet Nights” allowing heavy truck vendors and component suppliers to come in and provide training to local technicians.

According to Steve Swope, the local general manager, the parts department will be able to stock more than three times the amount of parts inventory the dealership has been carrying in the past. Driver amenities include a large driver lounge with cable TV and large recliners, showers, a workout area and a quiet room with free wireless internet.

In addition to the full line of Freightliner products, this new facility will sell Sprinter Vans.

Swope projects that with this new facility they plan on growing at least 50 percent in the next year. He will focus on hiring another 20 to– 25 people. “We will be focusing on hiring the best technicians we can find and then invest in them with the training necessary to bring them up to speed on Detroit Diesel and Freightliner products,” he says.