General Motors will produce for the 2009 model year special fuel economy models of four of its biggest, thirstiest trucks, the Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra pickups and the Chevy Tahoe and GMC Yukon SUVs.

Grouped under the moniker XFE, which Chevrolet has already used on a high-mpg version of the Cobalt small car, the trucks will return 15 mpg in the city and 21 on the highway. That represents a single mile-per-gallon improvement for both city and highway, compared to non-XFE versions with the same 5.3-liter V8 engine.

Unlike the two-mode hybrid versions of the company’s big trucks, the XFE models use totally conventional means to achieve their improvements. All XFEs will use six-speed transmissions and a 3.08 axle ratio, and the Silverado and Sierra XFEs get aluminum lower control arms for the front suspension, and an aluminum spare wheel and aluminum 17-inch wheels wearing low-rolling-resistance tires (with higher recommended tire pressure). To improve aerodynamics, the pickups’ suspension has been lowered and the XFEs carry deeper front airdams and soft tonneau covers.

The SUVs get the same mechanical changes as the pickups.

The XFE suite of equipment is offered only on two-wheel-drive versions of the trucks and SUVs and only in pickups in the crew-cab body style.

GM has not announced pricing on the models. They will be in dealership showrooms in the fourth quarter of this year.

2007 Chevrolet Avalanche LT 4WD’s strength and weakness is that it tries to be “All things to all men” (First Corinthians). Indeed, the 2007 Chevrolet Avalanche LT 4WD comes well equipped at a base price of $35,295 ($47,730 as tested), with a 3 year/36,000 mile basic warranty, a 5 year/100,000 mile powertrain warranty and an EPA estimate of 15 mpg city/20 mpg highway. Can Avalanche cause a landslide of opinion?

First Glance at the Chevy Avalanche

For 2007, the armor is gone, and Avalanche looks leaner, more athletic and just plain cooler than before. Beauty is more than skin deep in this case. Avalanche now rides on the new GMT900 platform, the same architecture that underlies the 2007 Cadillac Escalade, GMC Yukon and Sierra, and Chevrolet Tahoe and Silverado, among other GM offerings. There’s something about the proportions of the half pickup/half SUV that always throws me — kind of like when you see a Welsh Corgi running at the dog park. It looks like a real dog, but where’s the rest of it? Avalanche looks like a pickup, but where’s the rest of the bed? After the initial sense of imbalance, Avalanche starts to make sense, especially once you start driving it and using it.

Fit and finish on Avalanche is very good, with rich paint and subtle, firmly attached trim pieces. Big headlights and taillights do a good job of making the truck highly visible, as did my test vehicle’s Sunburst Orange Metallic paint job.

The Mayor of South Ribble has paid a visit to the Leyland Trucks plant at Farington as part of a series of visits to local companies during the final weeks of her mayoral year.

Councillor Kath Beattie, was accompanied by her consort, Mr Frank Redfern, a former employee of the company, for the visit earlier this week.

Councillor Beattie enjoyed a tour of the huge site - which covers 60 acres - during which she met a number of the 1,400 employees.

The Mayor was able to see the complete assembly process of DAF trucks destined for the UK and Continental markets and Peterbilt and Kenworth trucks for markets around the world.

Weak demand for full-size sport utility vehicles and a shortage of critical parts have forced General Motors to lay off second-shift workers at an assembly plant in Arlington, Texas.Workers at the GM assembly plant in Janesville, who also build the big SUVs, learned Monday that the automaker would cut the local plant’s second shift in July. The result will be the loss of at least 750 jobs.

While the second-shift cut in Janesville is permanent, the Arlington cut will be for next week only.

All Arlington workers are in the third and final week of a three-week layoff tied to the United Auto Workers strike against American Axle, which supplies GM with axles and other parts for SUVs and pickup trucks. First-shift workers in Arlington will resume production next week while second-shifters will continue on lay off.

The Arlington plant, which has about 2,400 hourly workers, builds Chevrolet Suburbans and Tahoes and GMC Yukon XLs and Yukons. About 2,600 hourly employees also make those four vehicles in Janesville.

But Arlington workers also build Cadillac Escalades, Escalade ESVs and the two-mode hybrid versions of Tahoes and Yukons.

A GM spokesman said Tuesday that Arlington’s wider product mix was the reason it avoided the permanent second-shift cut that landed on the Janesville plant.

The Arlington plant has ranked consistently higher than Janesville in the annual Harbour Report on plant productivity.

Enrique “JR” Flores Jr., president of UAW Local 276 that represents hourly workers at the Arlington plant, told the Dallas Morning News: “We’re happy we have what we’ve got.

“We’re also saddened about what happened at Janesville. But we understand

Gleeman Truck Parts was named as the naming rights sponsor of the annual 50-lap Speedcar race at Tyrepower Parramatta City Raceway on Saturday.

Finalising details with TPCR’s Managing Director Steven Green, Gleeman Parts Manager Glen Giffin said he was delighted to have his company again sponsor the 50-lapper for the second consecutive season.

“It is good to sponsor this race, it is good for our business and it helps raise the awareness of Speedcar racing,” Giffin said.

“This 50 lapper is gaining in status, largely because it is a 50-lapper. I would like to think that it will become the number two race in the country – second only to the national title,” he added.

Meanwhile Steven Green welcomed Gleeman Truck Parts and said the company’s involvement was also very beneficial to Speedcar racing.

“To have Gleeman Truck Parts onboard as naming rights sponsor is not only great for Speedcars, but also gives our 50-lapper more credibility.”

Gleeman Truck Parts also sponsor second generation driver Nathan Smee who is the defending winner of the 50-lap event following his victory in 2006. That was the last time the race was run after rain washed out the 2007 edition of the 50-lap marathon.

Steve Green topped up the prizemoney pool for the race to provide a further lucrative incentive for the Speedcar division. “I have always loved Speedcar racing and the very high calibre of competition the division puts on here at TPCR is very exciting. They certainly deserve to get a prizemoney bonus.”

With prizemoney from TPCR, plus the Gleeman Truck Parts sponsorship and a lap-by-lap money endorsement raised by the Speedcar Association of NSW, there is upward of $9,500 on offer for the 50-lapper making this race one of the most lucrative midget events of the season.

Queenslander Barry Velentino already has confirmed he will be a starter at TPCR, while New Zealander Stevie Walsh has also been named as a starter.

The wet weather Thursday didn’t keep local kids from having the chance to play with some very big toys at Cosmopolitan Park. The Columbia Parents as Teachers program put together its yearly Tons of Trucks event to give kids the opportunity to explore all sorts of trucks. Children of all ages got to climb inside and explore.

Organizers say this is a great opportunity for families to have some fun with their children.

“Activities for children, you need to do the things that they like,” said Linda Romine, program coordinator. “This is an opportunity for them to learn about community service workers, they can learn about lots of different vehicles, have an expansive vocabulary, and see big trucks, little trucks, big wheels, little wheels.”

Stunning is a word that gets thrown about a lot at auto shows, but rarely comes true. How many Yugo Cabriolets really have the power to stun?

Then there’s the Pontiac G8 sport truck, a truly stunning vehicle that’s about to make its world debut at the New York auto show.

Why’s it so shocking? Well, when’s the last time you saw a V-8-powered sports sedan with a pickup truck bed attached to the back?

If you recall from the 1970s, the last time this idea came from General Motors, it fathered the El Camino. This time around, it’s being borne from the Australian arm of General Motors, which already sells a car/truck half-breed Down Under.

The new G8 sport truck blurs the lines of cars and trucks right down the middle. Halfway back, down its sides, a pickup bed replaces where you’d expect to see another set of doors. And the pickup bed’s a useful, real one: Pontiac says it can tote 1000 pounds of payload and that the truck can tow 3500 pounds, while the bed’s long enough for some serious wood.

It’s based on the G8 sedan (a version of Australia’s Holden sedans) but the sport truck gets a longer wheelbase and longer overall body than the four-door version. And under the hood it gets a big V-8 that puts out 361 horsepower through a six-speed automatic. Pontiac says that’s good enough for a run to 60 mph in 5.4 seconds, faster than any truck we’ve driven lately.

Inside, the sport truck carries much of the same gear as the G8 sedan. Standard features include side and curtain airbags, anti-lock brakes, cruise control, power windows/locks/mirrors, and Bluetooth, along with a 230-watt, six-disc stereo. Options will include leather seats with two-tone trim.

Rising gas prices are leaving some local truckers with nothing — no job, no rig and no home.

“I know two guys who took money out of their homes to buy trucks and now they are losing both,” said Tom Holden, owner-operator of Holden Trucking in Hesperia. “Unfortunately, it’s not uncommon.”

Holden, who has been in business for some 16 years, said his fuel costs were about $7,000 a month and jumped to $11,000 in the past few months.

“When companies pay 32 cents per mile and some older trucks get something like two miles to the gallon, the cost of fuel is more than the load pays,” said Dave Green, a mobile truck mechanic from Hesperia.

He added that some of the newer, lower-emission trucks get worse gas mileage than the ones built around 2005.
Skyrocketing gas prices are just one of the many problems facing the trucking industry, said Julie Sauls, spokesperson for the California Trucking Association. New environmental bills are pushing many truckers to flee the state while they still can experts said.

“At this moment I am keeping watch on 80 bills that can impact the trucking industry,” Sauls said.

The San Pedro Area Clean Air Action Plan may make the biggest impact, Sauls said.

According to the San Pedro plan, trucks need to make certain changes in order to meet environmental and air quality guidelines, including having to purchase either new lower-emission trucks or making modifications to existing trucks.

Many see this as a difficult balancing act.

“When you try to solve the environmental problem, which does have to be addressed, people don’t realize that it’s trucks that drive the food into the markets,” said Eddie Moreno, co-owner of Quality Driver Solutions, a driver-recruitment center in Ontario.

The CTA is working every day to strike a good balance between reducing emissions and transporting goods, said Sauls. Some of those efforts include California’s use of ultra-low sulfur fuel for almost a decade and traveling at more fuel-efficient speeds.

The ultimate increase in price in passed onto the consumer, said Sauls.

“This is the worst I have ever seen it in 19 years in the business,” said Green.

“Coupled with diesel prices topping off at more than $4 a gallon, some of the owners are finding it harder to conduct business and are operating on a thinner margin,” Sauls said.

The price of diesel in California has also impacted out-of-state drivers.

“We don’t fuel up in California,” said Robert Schaefer of Oklahoma. Other long-haul truckers share Schaefer’s sentiments.

“The big problem is that we don’t get any of that increase, the company doesn’t see the money. It all lines the pockets of those oil mongrels,” said Lisa Serrao of Arizona.