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John G Smith
John G. Smith is the editorial director of Newcom Media's trucking and supply chain publications -- including Today's Trucking, trucknews.com, TruckTech, Transport Routier, and Road Today. The award-winning journalist has covered the trucking industry since 1995.
Volvo showcases an electric future
GOTHENBURG, Sweden – Volvo Trucks has revealed a vision of the future, and it involves plugging into the power of electricity – especially when it comes to electric trucks. This spring the global manufacturer announced that it will produce electric versions of European FL and FE models beginning in 2019, initially focusing on refuse and urban distribution applications. These are hardly Volvo’s first foray into electric vehicles, though. The company has already produced about 4,000 electric-hybrid and battery-electric buses, and the trucks and buses will share many underlying technologies such as electric motors and charging systems.
Mob Rule: Italian mafia leading source of cargo theft
NIAGARA FALLS, Ont. – Todd Moore was playing hockey in Hamilton, Ont., when some guys came forward with 10 cases of Moosehead beer that had “fallen off a truck”. He knew exactly where it had come from, though. Everyone knew. The theft of two loads of beer in New Brunswick had been all over the news, complete with jokes about Moose being on the loose. It was no joke to the career police officer, now president of Canadian Armed Robbery Training Associates. All too many people turn a blind eye to the cost of cargo thefts, he said during a presentation to the Private Motor Truck Council of Canada. Contractors might see a cheap load of lumber as a way to cut costs, just like a chef who’s offered a deal on a load of beef that’s too good to be true. “People don’t see the significance. They say it’s ‘insurance’,” he admitted. “But everybody is paying.”
