TRUCKMAKERS' NEWS * USA - President Directs Purchase of Alternative Fuel Vehicles

By 2015 all federal fleet buys should be hybrid, electric or non-oil fuels

Washington,DC,USA -The Journal of Commerce Online, by John D. Boyd -Mar 30, 2011: -- A new vehicle procurement directive by President Obama ordered agencies to buy only non-petroleum fueled vehicles by 2015, announced during an energy security speech Wednesday at Washington’s Georgetown University... The White House said federal agencies operate more than 600,000 fleet vehicles, which include passenger cars and light trucks, up to heavy duty tractor-trailers as well as specialty vehicles such as buses and ambulances...  However, a harder push for cleaner burning cars and trucks also means policymakers in Washington must quickly figure out how to pull in fee revenue from vehicles that do not burn gasoline and diesel lest they escape taxes that go into highway improvements. Obama also touted the rising production of high-mileage U.S. cars; fuel tax specialists say those cars also generate far lower receipts for the Highway Trust Fund per mile than cars have in the past...

* Oregon - Freightliner to offer pre-wire option for Telogis platform

Portland,ORE,USA -Fleet Owner -Mar 29, 2011: -- Freightliner Trucks will offer vocational customers a pre-wire option to easily install Telogis’ telematics platform, including Telogis Fleet, a GPS-based fleet management system... The option is available in Cummins-equipped Freightliner Business Class M2, 108SD, and 114SD vocational trucks. The pre-wire option allows for the quick upfit of a Telogis system... In addition to Telogis Fleet, Telogis also offers Telogis Route, a multi-vehicle route planning, optimization and scheduling system...

* Ohio -  Cummins' early start revs growth in China

Columbus,OH,USA -The Indianapolis Business Journal, by Greg Andrews -March 26, 2011:  --  Now based in Beijing, Chapman oversees Cummins’ sprawling Chinese operations, which employ 8,000 people and racked up 2010 sales of $3.1 billion—a 79-percent increase from the previous year...  The Columbus-based company, directly or through joint ventures, operates 14 manufacturing plants and two technology centers in the world’s most populous country...  Thanks to its early arrival—plus some savvy business decisions along the way—Cummins is the largest foreign diesel-engine maker in China. And it has long-standing partnerships with key buyers of engines and components that are expected to power rapid growth here for years to come...  For example, Chapman negotiated Cummins’ first deal with China’s largest truck manufacturer, Dongfeng, in 1987. That blossomed into a joint venture, generating $1.4 billion in sales last year. In a nation where relationships are paramount, an ally like Dongfeng is invaluable...  The access Cummins has to the Chinese market because of its Dongfeng venture “is just uncopyable,” Cummins President Tom Linebarger said at an analyst conference last year...  (Photo/Cummins Inc.: Cummins makes light-duty diesel engines in Beijing under a 5-year-old joint venture formed with Beiqi Foton Motor Co. Cummins has 10 joint ventures in China)

* Virginia - Volvo, UAW ratify five-year contract

New River Valley,VA,USA -Fleet Owner -Mar 28, 2011: -- Some 1,300 UAW members working at the Volvo Trucks North America (VTNA) plant in New River Valley, VA, have approved a new five-year contract. The plant assembles the Volvo VN and VHD... The vote formally ratifies a tentative agreement that was announced last week. The previous UAW contract at the place expired on Mar. 17... “We are the only manufacturing group still building trucks for this market exclusively in the United States, and agreements like this one help us keep American manufacturing competitive,” said Denny Slagle, president & CEO of VTNA. “Working with the UAW, we’ve arrived at an agreement that increases Volvo Trucks’ long-term competitiveness in the North American market, while continuing to offer our employees a great quality of life”...

* Ohio - UAW Approves Three-Year Contract at Dana

Maumee,OH,USA -Transport Topics -28 March 2011: -- About 2,500 United Auto Workers members ratified a new three-year labor contract with truck and auto components maker Dana Holding Corp., the union said...  The deal covers workers at 13 plants in nine states, giving them pay raises and a profit-sharing plan...  It is the first agreement between the UAW and Dana since the supplier emerged from Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January 2008, the union said...  A spokesman for Dana, which makes axles, driveshafts and transmissions, declined to comment on the vote... (Photo from wikimedia: Dana corporate headquarters)