Volvo Trucks North America and subsidiary Mack Trucks say they’ve eliminated freight charges in most cases for shipments of emergency replacement parts from its parts distribution centers (PDCs).

The new program, which the companies say will allow customers now get the parts they need without having to pay additional shipping costs, took effect in the U.S. in mid-January and becomes effective in Canada at the end of March.

This means if a part is not available at a Volvo or Mack dealership, but is available within Volvo’s network of eight and Mack’s seven U.S. and Canadian PDCs, it will be shipped overnight to the dealer at no cost to the customer.

In addition, parts can be ordered after hours and received the next day or ordered on Saturdays for Monday delivery, all with no freight charge. Oversize parts (weighing more than 150 pounds) are shipped via LTL carrier, again with no freight charges to the customer.

“Volvo’s goal is to have better than 90 percent over-the-counter parts availability at its dealers,” said Joy Johnson, director of parts support for Volvo. “If the part is not at the dealer, but is in our industry-leading PDC network, it will be shipped overnight with no freight charge for the customer.”

Adds Chris Gossler, director of parts sales for Mack: “This program eliminates customer freight costs associated with getting an emergency part, on the off chance the part is not in stock.”

Kenworth Truck Co. will build liquefied natural gas (LNG) powered trucks in Renton beginning next year.

The Kirkland-based subsidiary of Paccar Inc. (NASDAQ: PCAR) will build its Kenworth T800 LNG trucks using fuel system technology from Westport Innovations Inc. of Vancouver, British Columbia.

The Westport technology will be installed in the Cummins ISX 15-liter truck engine.

Kenworth and Westport previously teamed up to offer the LNG-powered Kenworth trucks in an aftermarket conversion process on trucks used by the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Those California ports recently approved a $1.6 billion plan to replace nearly 17,000 heavy-duty trucks that serve the ports with LNG-powered vehicles by 2012.

Westport’s LNG fuel system, according to Kenworth, is the only alternative fuel technology eligible for financial support as part of the ports’ new program.

Swedish heavy-vehicle maker Volvo reported a six per-cent increase in pre-tax income for the fourth quarter 2007, saying it expected higher demand for trucks in Europe while demand was still weak in North America and Japan.

Pre-tax income was 5.6 billion kronor ($A968.91 million), compared to 5.22 billion kronor in the corresponding period 2006 for the Volvo group that does not include the Ford-owned car division.

Net sales were up 25 per cent to 84.55 billion kronor ($A14.7 billion), compared to 67.27 billion kronor ($A11.5 billion) in the corresponding business period 2006.

For full-year 2007, net sales increased 10 per cent to 285 billion kronor ($A249 billion) while pre-tax profit was 21.55 billion kronor ($A3.6 billion).

Chief executive Leif Johansson said in a statement that “nearly all markets continued to show favourable development, with the exception of North America and Japan.”

Volvo estimated that “the truck market in Europe will grow by 5-10 per cent compared with 2007, with the industry’s delivery capacity as the limiting factor,” Johansson said.

Sales in Asia tripled in the quarter and the region is Volvo’s second largest market.

For North America, Volvo expected sales “on about the same level as in 2007,” Johansson said.

Volvo sold a total of 57,012 trucks during the quarter, up 27 per cent from 2006, with strong growth in Asia, Western and Eastern Europe.

In North America, the overall heavy truck market in 2007 fell 40 per cent to 207,847 trucks owing to earlier purchases of trucks with old engines and lower freight volumes.

The bus division sold 5,173 units, up 13 per cent on fourth quarter 2006 but order bookings in the quarter declined, Volvo said.

The Volvo group had 101,698 employees at the end of December compared to 83,187 at year end 2006. Most of the increase was due to acquired companies.

The group sells trucks and heavy vehicles, buses and construction machinery, and includes the divisions Volvo Aero and Volvo Penta.

Uncovered garbage trucks can no longer use the South Road Properties (SRP) road in going to the Inayawan landfill starting Monday.

Nagiel Bañacia, SRP’s newly appointed chief executive officer, announced Tuesday that the city will ban all uncovered trucks at the SRP to keep the area clean.

“This will keep the SRP area clean and free from falling garbage and filth,” Bañacia said.

Banacia said he noticed uncovered garbage trucks from the Department of Public Services (DPS) and the different barangays (villages) using the SRP road in going to the landfill.

Since the trucks were not covered, the garbage fell on the road. This happened especially to speeding trucks.

Banacia said the maintenance crew at the SRP spent more time cleaning the area of fallen garbage.

Banacia said cleanliness in the SRP area is important because this is the city’s prime project to attract investors.

He said he made the recommendation to Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmena who agreed to his proposal to ban uncovered trucks.

Banacia said the ban also applies to other types of uncovered trucks like hauler trucks and dump trucks carrying sand and gravel.

“If they want to use the SRP road, they should cover their trucks,” he said.

Starting Monday, Banacia said checkpoints will be posted at different entrances of the SRP.

Barangay captains were all notified.

Banacia said DPS chief Dionisio Gualisa is aware of the new rule.

Banacia added that by Monday, strict traffic rules will also be implemented in the SRP to avoid accidents, like the wearing of helmets for motorcycle riders, and backriders should be limited to just one person.

Despite an overall solid sales month for General Motors, deliveries of full-size sport-utility vehicles made in Janesville declined in January.The automaker reported Friday that compared to January 2007, last month’s sales of Chevrolet Suburbans were down 14.4 percent, whiles those of the Chevy Tahoe dropped 12.1 percent.

Deliveries of GMC Yukon XLs fell 19 percent, while sales of GMC Yukons were down 17.3 percent.

The four vehicles are made at GM’s assembly plant in Janesville as well as at GM plants in Arlington, Texas, and Silao, Mexico.

Last month’s drop continues a declining trend in the full-size SUV market that’s been taking shape for several years. That trend has been fueled by an uncertain economic situation and a consumer shift to crossover vehicles that get better gas mileage.

Last year, GM sold 338,600 Suburbans, Tahoes, Yukon XLs and Yukons, a drop of 4.7 percent from 2006. The 2007 sales number extended a decline that dates to at least 2002, when GM sold more than 500,000 of the trucks common to the Janesville, Arlington and Silao plants.

Expecting that decline to continue, GM will slow its production rate in Janesville starting in April. The local assembly line will slow from 52 jobs an hour to 44.

The slowdown, layoffs and an expected GM buyout plan are expected to decrease employment levels in Janesville, where 2,500 hourly and 200 salaried personnel now work.

On a corporate basis, GM shined in January while the rest of the industry took a dive. GM posted a 2.6 percent sales gain in January.

U.S. consumers bought just 1.04 million cars and trucks last month, down 4.3 percent from the same month a year ago. The performance translated into an annual seasonally adjusted selling rate of 15.24 million cars and trucks, making last month the worst January in a decade.

Nearly every major automaker posted declines. Sales were down 12.1 percent at Chrysler, 7.3 percent at Nissan, 3.9 percent at Ford and 2.3 percent at both Toyota and Honda.

The mountain of twisted metal and debris scattered along the Trans-Canada Highway in the Alberta Rockies looked like the scene of a plane crash to crews who worked Thursday to carefully pry apart wreckage from a spectacular chain-reaction collision involving five semi-trailer trucks.

Three people in one vehicle died and five others received non-life threatening injuries when five, fully loaded transport trucks collided around 9 p.m. Wednesday along a narrow, dark stretch of single-lane highway about two kilometres west of Lake Louise in Banff National Park.

“One like this, it’s a little bit like a plane crash because those trucks just came apart,” said Douglas Kerr, area highways manager for Parks Canada on Thursday.

“I’ve seen many accidents involving transport trucks but to have five of them at the same time in the same location is quite unusual,” he said.

The curving stretch of highway that winds through some of the most spectacular mountain scenery in the Rockies was strewn with a chaotic jumble of debris from the crash — the impact so great that material being hauled by the trucks was flung about 350 metres, he said.

RCMP are still investigating what may have caused the collision in an area that is used as a main route for transport trucks.

Investigators know that all the vehicles slammed into one another within the space of a few minutes.

“It appears the first west-bound semi lost control and jackknifed across the road which caused a collision with an east-bound semi,” said Constable Brad Malacko.

“From there a second west-bound semi collided with the two first involved in the impact, then a second east-bound semi collided with that,” he said.

The driver of a fifth semi managed to avoid hitting the tangled pile of transport trucks but struck some debris and hit the ditch, Constable Malacko said.

The road conditions at the time weren’t particularly icy and the area had not had snow in the 24 hours before the collision, he said.

Police are investigating whether excessive speed or mechanical issues may be factors. Constable Malacko said it’s not believed the driver of the first semi fell asleep or slammed on the brakes to avoid wildlife on the road.

“He was probably going a bit too fast for the road conditions,” he said.

No names have been released and RCMP are refusing to say which provinces the trucks may have been from.

The highway was closed after the collision and remained closed Thursday while crews worked to clear the debris.

One trucker was airlifted to hospital in Calgary, suffering from broken bones, another was taken to hospital in Banff and was then released, while three others were treated on the scene for scrapes and bruises, Constable Malacko said.

“Basically we’re in the mountains and we have winter driving conditions. People need to drive for winter driving conditions,” Constable Malacko said.

The operators of at least two front-end loaders brought in to help clear away the debris had to carefully avoid toppling into steep ditches on either side of the highway filled with nearly two metres of snow, said Mr. Kerr.

“It’s a fairly confined area so there’s only so much equipment that you can operate at a scene like this,” he said, adding he hasn’t seen the crash site, but workers provided him with detailed descriptions.

The loaders slowly jockeyed back and forth across the narrow highway, scooping up bucket-loads of cultured stone which was flung out of one of the trucks and onto the road.

“A lot of it is unsafe, so you just can’t go in there and start working. You’ve got to understand what may still fall down,” said Mr. Kerr.

“It’s a lot of steel … so you’ve got to be very careful when you send people in there that they don’t get in there trying to deal with it,” he said.

Four large wrecking trucks and several tractor-trailer units hauling flat-bed trailers were brought in from as far away as Golden, B.C,. and Calgary to pry apart the cabs of the badly damaged semis and haul the debris away.

Tractor trailers like the ones involved in Wednesday’s collision can weigh as much as 63,000 kilograms and be almost 17 metres long, Kerr said.

Road conditions at the time of the collision were in fair to good winter driving condition and the road, which had compacted snow, had been recently sanded, Mr. Kerr said.

There’s a high proportion of commercial transport trucks that use that stretch of highway and Kerr estimated 8,000 vehicles per day use it.

The posted speed limit in the area is 90 kilometres per hour.

Emergency crews, including RCMP, volunteer fire departments and ambulance crews from Lake Louise and nearby Field, B.C., had to work in inky blackness Wednesday to find the bodies of the three people who were killed, and to extract the injured from the wreckage.

It shouldn’t have happened- another answer to a question nobody asked, but it happened. The El Camino is looking to make a U.S. comeback tour. The new El Camino is expected to be badged as a Pontiac, and sold in the U.S. as a derivative of the Austrailian “ute” platform. Shades of the “GTO” methinks.

Called the “G8 ST,” the new vehicle will be made available with GM’s corporate 6.0 liter V8, and nothing else. Details on further options, colors and accessories have not been revealed yet, but expect the Elky, err, G8 to cost around 30 large. Yep, 30 grand for a pickup truck, uh, car with no ground clearance, a gas-hog V8, two seats, and ho-hum styling. One has to be a little leery of the announcement, as (formerly) DCX’s Magnum was cut after just a few short years, and the revived Subaru BRAT (Baja) was a dismal failure. Oh well, best of luck to ‘em- mebbe they can throw in a few George Thorogood CDs to complete the package. In the mean time, I’ll break out my best wife beater and a tall boy to celebrate.