Mack Trucks, UAW Extend Terms of Contracts for Second Time

Mack Trucks Inc. and the United Auto Workers has agreed to extend the terms of union contracts that would have expired at midnight Wednesday, a company spokesman said.

The new deadline is midnight Dec. 14, marking the second time the contracts have been extended for 2,200 workers represented by UAW Local 677 in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Florida.

The Truck manufacturer is based in Allentown and is owned by AB Volvo of Sweden.

Instead of spending Thanksgiving at home in New Alexandria, Jeff Tenerovich is on the road in a Mack truck. Dinner today is in Danbury, Conn.

Tenerovich said he couldn’t pass up a unique opportunity to accompany the 2007 U.S. Capitol Christmas tree from Vermont to Washington, especially since he gets to stop and visit veterans in hospitals and nursing homes along the way.

“It’s sad when you see some of these veterans, and they don’t have anybody, and this might be their last Thanksgiving,” said Tenerovich, 58. “It’s a small price to pay as far as missing one Thanksgiving at home.”

Tenerovich is driving one of 15 trucks in the caravan. While 14 of them, including the one transporting the 60-foot balsam fir, are antiques, Tenerovich is driving a 2008 Mack Truck.

What makes it different is that it’s painted with a mural of American military personnel from conflicts throughout the nation’s history.

Tenerovich got the opportunity through his membership in the Antique Truck Club of America and his job at Gribble Transport in Rockwood, Somerset County.

Gribble is under contract with Mack Truck Corp. to move the company’s trucks around for trade shows, dealer openings and other events.

The military tribute truck Tenerovich is driving, dubbed “Rolling Thunder,” is owned by Mack Truck.

Members of a Vermont chapter of the Antique Truck Club, who are driving the Capitol tree and 80 other trees in the caravan, knew of Tenerovich’s connection to Mack and asked if he could get access to the military tribute truck.

The truck fits with the caravan’s theme of honoring the nation’s veterans.

Tenerovich’s truck is escorting the Antique trucks, which range in model year from 1950 to 1968.

The tree was cut Friday from the Green Mountain National Forest near Bennington, Vt. After a town celebration Monday in Bennington, the caravan hit the road. They’ll traverse through Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Maryland before arriving Monday in Washington.

Tenerovich is getting to visit veterans homes and hospitals along the route, dropping off cards, gifts and Christmas trees.

“It’s just really awe-inspiring for me. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime trip you’ll make,” Tenerovich said. “It’s real awesome to be a part of this and interact with the people. These are truly, truly good people.”

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Fifteen Truck drivers will blockade a Mack Trucks site this morning in protest of what they say is neglect from the manufacturer in maintaining their trucks.

The drivers from concrete company Rinker will block the road and entrance to Mack Trucks at Chipping Norton in south-west Sydney from 10am.

The Transport Workers Union (TWU) says Mack has refused to continue repairing their vehicles after the warranties expired.

“Drivers have had to contend with serious mechanical issues, rendering their Trucks unsafe and not roadworthy unless fixed,” the union says.

Drivers say they will block access to the Mack facility until management agrees to negotiate.

Volvo Group truck makers Mack Trucks Inc. and Volvo Trucks North America today characterized the recently issued Environmental Protection Agency guidance on selective catalytic reduction (SCR) as a key step in the ongoing effort to dramatically reduce diesel engine emissions, specifically with regard to federal regulations scheduled to take effect in 2010.“This document is a critical guideline for the many stakeholders dedicated to bringing this important emissions control technology to the United States,” said Mack president and CEO Paul L. Vikner. “We are convinced that in addition to its environmental benefits, SCR will deliver the fuel economy, reliability, and performance Mack customers demand; and we’re committed to working with the EPA, the truck industry, and other stakeholders to ensure that the infrastructure is in place to support this solution.”

Volvo likewise said it considers the guidance an important step in the effort to bring this technology solution to market.

“We are convinced that SCR is the best choice for continuing to dramatically reduce diesel engine emissions in 2010, while delivering optimal performance and fuel efficiency for our customers,” said Volvo Trucks North America president and CEO Peter Karlsten. “The EPA has provided an important guide for the many stakeholders working to address the urea infrastructure and other issues necessary to bring this clean diesel technology to the North American market.”

Mack, according to the news release, has been successfully running SCR systems on prototype trucks since 2000, logging more than 2 million miles on 10 customer vehicles. Mack’s parent company, the Volvo Group, has logged more than 23 million miles of SCR road testing in Europe, and has produced more than 40,000 SCR-equipped vehicles since the Euro 4 emissions standards took effect in October 2006.

Volvo Trucks North America reported it has accumulated more than six million test miles with SCR systems on customer trucks in the U.S.

Life-saving highway driving tips were presented today as part of the American Trucking Associations’ national Share the Road highway safety tour by top professional truck drivers and other safety partners.

In the past year, a poll cited traffic congestion as the #1 problem in the greater Charlotte region, and a study found that congestion in North Carolina will more than double in the next 25 years. Traffic delays in Charlotte will mirror those currently seen in Chicago, indicating the need for motorists to learn safe driving techniques.

The American Trucking Associations, the North Carolina Trucking Association, North Carolina Highway Patrol, the Governors Highway Safety Program, Charlotte Mecklenburg School driver trainers, AAA Carolinas, and the Share the Road sponsors, Mack Trucks and Michelin North America, joined the elite group of drivers to discuss highway safety on Charlotte highways. The Charlotte, NC stop at Mack Trucks Charlotte demonstrated to drivers how to share the road safely with large trucks.

“Over 90.9 percent of the workforce and many high school and college students in the Charlotte area drive to work or school each day,” said Larry Shelton, a professional truck driver from Old Dominion Freight Line. “Most automobile drivers were never taught what they can do to avoid an accident with a tractor-trailer,” Shelton added.

Featured at the event were professional truck drivers Larry Shelton and Ralph Hamilton with Old Dominion Freight Line, Tony Sifford with FedEx Ground, Jerry Avossa with FedEx Freight, and Rick Whittle, a truck driver for Bulldog Hiway Express. Those drivers are members of an elite team of million- mile, accident-free truck drivers who deliver the trucking industry’s safety messages across the country. Mr. Sifford told reporters at the media event that, “Share the Road allows me as a truck driver to give people life-saving advice. By being aware of the blind spots around trucks, all drivers can more easily avoid crashes. This information, and other safety advice, will help everyone to share the roads safely.”

Today’s presentation of Share the Road safety measures is important to area motorists because, according to national statistics:

• Around three quarters of all truck-involved fatalities are unintentionally initiated by car drivers (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration).

• 35% of all truck-involved highway fatalities occur in a truck’s blind spots (Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration).

• Watching this demonstration will help reduce accidents and save lives.

Following the safety demonstration at Mack Trucks of Charlotte, reporters, photographers and CMS driver trainers were given tractor-trailer rides on I-85. From the truck driver’s perspective they viewed safe merging and stopping distances, and learned up close and personal some of the differences between how cars and large trucks operate on the highways. Today’s demonstration was designed to teach specific skills in order for motorists to drive safely around other automobiles and around trucks and large commercial vehicles on the highways, and to arrive safely at their destinations. (See the Share the Road safety guidelines that follow.)

The American Trucking Associations’ Share the Road is a highway safety program that delivers life-saving messages to hundreds of U.S. cities and reaches millions of motorists annually, designed to educate automobile drivers about sharing the roads safely with trucks. The program, sponsored by Mack Trucks, Inc. and Michelin North America Inc., is represented by an elite team of professional truck drivers with millions of miles of accident-free driving on America’s highways. http://www.atastr.org/

Truck and trailer makers are offering 2007 models certified by the Environmental Protection Agency’s SmartWay program. The EPA says the trucks can save owners $11,000 annually while reducing greenhouse-gas emissions and air pollutants.

Freightliner, International, Kenworth, Mack, Peterbilt and Volvo are participating in the program. SmartWay-designated models include the International ProStar and Volvo VN and, in 2008, the Freightliner Century Class S/T and Columbia.

SmartWay-approved equipment can reduce fuel consumption 10 to 20 percent by reducing wind resistance, the EPA says. Each Smartway truck can save 2,000 to 4,000 gallons of diesel per year – or $5,680 to $11,360, at current retail prices.

SmartWay trucks or engines have: