HINO CELEBRATES 10-YEAR ANNIVERSARY MANUFACTURING TRUCKS IN WEST VIRGINIA
Hino Motors Manufacturing facility in Williamstown, West Virginia, celebrates 10 years of medium-duty truck production. This 245,000-sq-ft location produces Hino’s award winning Class 6 and Class 7 Conventional body style trucks. The West Virginia plant has seen exponential growth over its decade of production, facilitating the country’s fastest growing medium-duty truck.
This anniversary is a substantial milestone when considering the growth that Hino has experienced since 2007. Production per year has increased by more than 500 percent, and the production facility has been expanded and capacities enhanced.
As part of the 10-year celebration, Hino held an onsite ceremony to honor this achievement. The ceremony included statements from state and local government officials, as well as Hino leadership.
www.hino.com
NTEA ANNOUNCES COMMERCIAL VEHICLE CERTIFICATION SERIES
Continuing to serve as the work truck industry’s source of technical, regulatory, and safety information, NTEA is releasing a three-part article series on vehicle certification basics. With the trend toward global chassis platforms progressing, the Association’s technical services department explains the certification process of three markets—the US, EU, and Canada.
While all certification requirements have the same goal (ensuring safe and compliant vehicles), these three entities take different approaches. The distinctions in how certification is achieved are very important to final-stage manufacturers completing or altering a truck for use in any of those geographic regions.
“Our goal is to deliver relevant information to help companies in the work truck community conform to government mandates,” says Bob Raybuck, NTEA’s director of technical services. The available first article explores the vehicle certification process in the US, and the remaining two will appear in the September and October issues.
www.ntea.com
PETERBILT AND PACCAR FINANCIAL ANNOUNCE MEDIUM-DUTY FMV LEASE PROGRAM
Peterbilt has partnered with PACCAR Financial (PFC) to offer an attractive fair market value (FMV) lease program in the US. The program offers a Peterbilt Model 337 with a 26-ft Supreme van body on a 60-month term with monthly payments as low as $799, depending on vehicle specifications.
“The Model 337 FMV Lease program gives Peterbilt customers a great opportunity to lease the high quality medium-duty Model 337 and take advantage of extremely competitive pricing,” says Robert Woodall, assistant general manager, Sales and Marketing.
Peterbilt provides a comprehensive array of aftermarket support programs through its 350-plus North American dealer locations that complement its full lineup of on-highway, vocational, and medium-duty products, including alternative fuel vehicles. Peterbilt offers industry leading service and support, including SmartLINQ remote diagnostics, preventive maintenance plans, expedited Rapid Check diagnostic services, automated parts inventory replenishment, and 24/7 complimentary customer assistance.
www.peterbilt.com
DICA TO FEATURE NEW AND UPDATED OUTRIGGER PAD AND CRIBBING PRODUCTS AT ICUEE
DICA will introduce Cavity Pad Plus outrigger pads and show design updates to ProStack™ interlocking cribbing from Booth #3551 at the International Construction & Utility Equipment Expo (ICUEE), to be held October 3 through October 5 in Louisville, Kentucky.
The Cavity Pad Plus model joins the company’s SafetyTech® Outrigger Pad product line. SafetyTech Outrigger Pads provide a strong, rigid, and easy-to-use foundation for a wide variety of outrigger enabled equipment, including mobile cranes, digger derricks, hi-lift aerials, and concrete pumps. Cavity Pad Plus features a one-inch-high footbrake with an interior beveled edge.
The inverted bevel design traps the outrigger foot, which prevents it from sliding off of the outrigger pad. “This is a significant improvement in the design of our original Cavity Pad,” says Kris Koberg, CEO. “The inverted beveled design creates a higher level of safety. In addition, the new design contributed to reductions in manufacturing costs enabling us to pass savings onto our customers.”
Constructed of a proprietary engineered thermoplastic material, SafetyTech pads have crush ratings up to 750 psi and rated capacities up to 325,000 lbs. At the show, DICA will also feature SafetyTech Hi-Viz Outrigger Pads available in yellow or orange. “Hi-Viz SafetyTech Outrigger Pads are a common safety department request from many utility companies,” says Koberg. Made from DICA’s proprietary engineered thermoplastic material, yellow and orange D1818 and D2424 pads are designed for stabilizer enabled equipment frequently used in electric utility applications.
Look for additional product announcements from DICA at the show, as well as examples of outrigger pads, cribbing, and training products in action at many OEM equipment displays. SafetyTech outrigger pads will be displayed with Altec, Dur-A-Lift, Elliott, Hiab, Manitowoc, Skylift, Spiradrill, Terex, and TIME/Versalift equipment. Altec will also show ProStack cribbing and the TrainSmart™ Pole Barrier System.
www.dicausa.com
NAVISTAR TO END PRODUCTION OF PROPRIETARY MEDIUM-DUTY 9/10-LITER ENGINE BY 2018
Navistar announces that it will cease all engine production at its plant in Melrose Park, Illinois, by the second quarter of fiscal 2018. The company will continue the facility’s transformation into Navistar’s technical center, including truck and engine testing and validation, as well as used truck sales and reconditioning, continuing the process that started in 2010.
The majority of engines produced at Melrose Park are medium duty 9/10-liter engines used in International® Class 6 and Class 7 vehicles, for which alternative engine options are currently offered in all applications. Once completed, the cessation of engine manufacturing at Melrose Park is expected to affect about 170 employees and reduce Navistar’s operating costs by approximately $12 million annually. The company will take an approximate $43 million charge as a result of this action, including approximately $8 million of cash related charges.
“Ceasing production of engines at Melrose Park is a difficult decision, but represents an important step on our journey to strengthening the company’s competitiveness,” says Persio Lisboa, Navistar chief operating officer. “As we approach future regulatory requirements, low volume of the platform could not justify further product development investments.”
In 2013, Navistar reintroduced the option of a 6.7-liter Cummins engine for its Class 6/7 medium-duty vehicles, followed in 2016 by a 9-liter Cummins engine option, both of which have been well received by customers. All of the engines Navistar and its partners manufacture for the US market will continue to be built in America. The Cummins engines that are used in the medium-duty Class 6/7 segment are manufactured in Indiana and North Carolina, while Navistar’s big bore engine plant, which makes engines for Navistar’s Class 8 trucks, is in Alabama.
“Ending production anywhere is a difficult decision because it affects employees,” Lisboa says. “We continue to be committed to investing in our Melrose Park facility as we complete its transformation into a technical center that is integral to our product design, engineering, and sales teams. Given the investments we’ve made, we expect to have a significant presence in Melrose Park for years to come.”
The transformation of the Melrose Park facility began in 2010, when the company added a state-of-the-art truck testing and validation center at the 80-acre campus, complementing the existing engine test center there, and bringing hundreds of engineering jobs there from out of state. With truck and engine testing now being conducted at Melrose Park, in close proximity to Navistar’s product development teams in Lisle and to the company’s New Carlisle, Indiana, proving ground, Navistar has reduced costs and improved product design.
Over the last several months, the company has added to its investment in Melrose Park by opening a used truck evaluation and reconditioning facility and its flagship Used Truck Sales Center. Additional consolidation in the former manufacturing space is possible in the future, which would allow even more employees in product design, engineering, service, and sales units to work alongside each other.
www.navistar.com
MILLER ANNOUNCES MAKE MY MILLER GIVEAWAY
Miller Electric Mfg. Co. announces the Make My Miller giveaway to recognize enthusiastic welders and reward one participant with a customized Miller machine. It’s the second of three different giveaways in 2017 that are part of the WE BUILD campaign, which recognizes the many ways that welding makes our world a better place.
Make My Miller invites participants to pick the Miller machine they would like to win from a list of five possible machines—and then tell Miller how they would customize the machine if they were selected as the winner. Participants are encouraged to submit a photo of their suggested design, but that is not a requirement to enter. The winner can choose from the Multimatic™ 215 with TIG kit, the Maxstar® 161 STH, the Syncrowave® 210, the Bobcat™ 250 EFI (Kohler), or the Spectrum® 625 X-TREME™.
From August 7 through September 15, participants can enter the giveaway by completing an entry form on the Miller Facebook page or at Miller’s website. After submitting their form, entrants will have the opportunity to earn one bonus entry for each person they successfully refer to enter the giveaway. Approved entries that include an image will be displayed in a gallery on the entry form, providing new participants with a source of inspiration as they share their own custom design ideas.
At the end of the submission period, the winner will be randomly selected and then work with an artist, selected by Miller, to design the custom artwork that will appear on their machine. The winner will be announced the week of September 25.
In addition, all Make My Miller entrants will automatically be entered for a chance to win an all-expenses-paid trip to Miller headquarters in Appleton as part of the WE BUILD VIP Experience giveaway.
www.millerwelds.com
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MODERN WORKTRUCK SOLUTIONS: AUGUST 2017 ISSUE
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